COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Southeast Roundup : Auburn Beats Georgia Tech, 31-10

Auburn tailback Brent Fullwood took over the role of game-breaker Saturday against Georgia Tech, a role Bo Jackson played very well last year.

“Fullwood just broke tackles and took the game in hand when he had to,” Georgia Tech Coach Bill Curry said after Fullwood rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown in seventh-ranked Auburn’s 31-10 victory at Auburn, Ala..

Last year, Jackson, Auburn’s Heisman trophy winner, broke a long touchdown run to give the Tigers a 17-14 victory over Georgia Tech.

This year, Fullwood ripped for the second-half clincher, and Jeff Burger threw two first-half touchdown passes to keep Auburn undefeated.

Burger, a junior giving the Tigers a passing attack they have lacked in recent years, guided Auburn to scores on its first four possessions to build a 24-3 halftime lead.

When Tech narrowed the gap to 24-10 in the third quarter, Fullwood, the Southeastern Conference’s leading rusher, almost single-handedly put the game out of reach, bursting for 44, 10 and the final 13 yards in one drive to make it 31-10.

For the day, Burger completed 12 of 21 passes for 165 yards and two scores. Fullwood got his 183 yards in 21 carries.

The victory lifted the Southeastern Conference Tigers to 6-0, while the Yellow Jackets of the Atlantic Coast Conference fell to 2-3-1. Auburn leads the series, 46-39-4, and has won the last eight games.

Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 16--Tailback Lars Tate scored three touchdowns, and quarterback James Jackson ran for one and threw for another as the Bulldogs dominated the Commodores in a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga.

“Obviously, I’m very pleased with the win,” Georgia Coach Vince Dooley said. “I thought we played well on offense and defense until the last quarter, when we started substituting on defense.”

Georgia, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SEC, erupted for 21 points in the second quarter when Tate, who had 112 yards in 19 carries, scored on runs of 12 and 6 yards, and Jackson threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to John Thomas for a 24-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, Jackson scored on a 17-yard run in the third quarter, and Tate had a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Vanderbilt (1-5, 0-3) averted a shutout in the fourth quarter when quarterback Tim Richardson scored on a one-yard run.

LSU 25, Kentucky 16--Eddie Fuller scampered 16 yards for a touchdown with three minutes left to help the 12th-ranked Tigers beat the Wildcats in a Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky.

Fuller’s run came after Kentucky had trimmed the margin to 18-16 on Joe Worley’s 49-yard field goal with 9:01 to go.

Louisiana State won its third straight game to improve to 4-1 overall, 3-0 in the SEC. Kentucky is 3-2-1 and 0-2.

Mississippi St. 34, Tulane 27--At New Orleans, Don Smith rushed for 104 yards and 1 touchdown and passed for 125 yards and another score to lead the 13th-ranked Bulldogs past the Green Wave.

Smith’s touchdown came on an eight-yard run. He passed 18 yards to Louis Clark for the other score.

Rodney Peters, who came into the game with 133 yards, rushed for 125 yards for Mississippi State (6-1). Tulane is 1-5.

Mississippi 21, SW Louisiana 20--Cornerback Stevon Moore intercepted a two-point conversion attempt with 1:17 to play at Oxford, Miss., to ensure the Rebels’ homecoming victory.

A last-gasp 59-yard field goal attempt by Ragin’ Cajun kicker Patrick Broussard also failed in a game that many thought was finished after Mississippi rolled to a 21-6 third-quarter lead.

Quarterback Matt Young scored two touchdowns and passed for another, and Howard Moss made two third-quarter interceptions for the Rebels. But an error-prone offense almost blew the nonconference game for Mississippi (4-2-1). Southwestern is 4-2.