COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Southeast Roundup : Florida Holds Hodson to 72 Yards Passing and Beats LSU, 19-6

Coming off a career-high performance, Louisiana State quarterback Tommy Hodson may now be at a career low.

Sophomore cornerback Richard Fain scored the game’s only touchdown on a 32-yard interception return in the first half and an aroused Florida defense twice forced Hodson to the bench for ineffectiveness Saturday as the 17th-ranked Gators beat 14th-ranked LSU, 19-6, in a Southeastern Conference game at Gainesville, Fla.

Hodson, who threw for a career-high 299 yards last week against Ohio State, completed just 7 of 19 passes for 72 yards and was intercepted 3 times while dodging a relentless pass rush.

The Gators, off to their first 5-0 start since 1969, improved to 3-0 in the SEC as Emmitt Smith reeled off his eighth straight 100-yard game and John David Francis kicked field goals of 25, 44, 35 and 28 yards.

The Tigers, who fell to 2-2 with their second straight loss, saw Hodson hounded all day by a defense that has yielded just 21 points in 5 games. LSU gained only 197 yards and converted 3 of 13 third-down situations.

David Browndyke kicked field goals of 26 and 42 yards to account for LSU’s only scoring. The Bayou Bengals came into the game averaging 31 points per game.

Mickey Guidry replaced Hodson for one possession in the second quarter and directed the Tigers 46 yards for their only first-half points, a Browndyke field goal. The points were the first against Florida in four home games.

Hodson led LSU into Florida territory only once. That first-half drive ended when the Gators’ Joey Nicoletto stopped Eddie Fuller for no gain on fourth and 1 at the 31.

Florida’s redshirt freshman quarterback, Kyle Morris, completed 15 of 27 passes for 148 yards.

Smith carried 27 times for 132 yards to crack the 2,000-yard rushing mark after just 16 college games. The only player to reach 2,000 yards sooner, Herschel Walker of Georgia, passed the milestone in the third game of his sophomore season of 1981. Smith has played 5 games as a sophomore.

Georgia 36, Mississippi 12--Tim Worley scored 2 touchdowns, one on a 93-yard run with the opening kickoff, and completed a 27-yard halfback pass for another score as 15th-ranked Georgia won a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga.

Worley’s 1-yard run less than 5 minutes into the second half erased a 12-10 Ole Miss halftime lead. That got the Bulldogs (4-1 and 3-0) rolling to a strong third-quarter that created a 26-12 lead.

Ole Miss fell to 1-3 and 0-2 and dropped its 12th straight game in the series.

Worley, who rushed for 121 yards in 16 carries, set up his own 1-yard scoring run with a 45-yard scamper to the Ole Miss 7.

Alabama 31, Kentucky 27--Reserve quarterback Vince Sutton threw a touchdown pass to Gene Newberry on fourth and goal with 10 seconds remaining to cap 24 fourth-quarter points for Alabama and give the 12th-ranked Crimson Tide a Southeastern Conference win at Lexington, Ky.

Newberry, a third-string tight end, came off the bench for the final Alabama offensive play, after Crimson Tide Coach Bill Curry decided to go for the victory instead of attempting a field goal that could have tied the game.

Sutton completed 8 of 14 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns. Murry Hill, playing at tailback for the injured Bobby Humphrey, gained 143 yards in 21 carries, including a 76-yard touchdown run and a crucial 2-point conversion run in the fourth quarter.

Alabama improved to 3-0 overall and and 2-0 in SEC. Kentucky fell to 2-3 and 0-2.

Kentucky held Alabama to 33 total yards in the first half while jumping out to a 17-0 lead.

Auburn 47, North Carolina 21--Freshman Henry Love ran for a pair of touchdowns and receivers Alexander Wright and Freddy Weygand each scored on reverses to lead the fourth-ranked Tigers to a nonconference win at Auburn, Ala.

Love, a third-string tailback pressed into action after starter James Joseph injured a hamstring during warmups, scored on runs of 11 and 3 yards.

Wright scored on a 13-yard reverse in the first quarter and Weygand scored from 34 yards out in the second as Auburn (4-0) built a 33-0 lead late in the third quarter.

Two of Carolina’s losses were to ranked teams, 31-10 to South Carolina and 28-0 to Oklahoma. But Coach Mack Brown, after North Carolina dropped to 0-4 in his first season, said that Auburn “is the best football team we’ve played.”

Duke 17, Vanderbilt 15--Doug Peterson kicked a 44-yard field goal with 3:47 to play as the Blue Devils improved to 5-0 with the nonconference win at Nashville, Tenn.

The Blue Devils, off to their best start since 1957, won it only after Vanderbilt kicker Johnny Clark’s 32-yard field goal attempt with 10 seconds to play, sailed wide right.

Vanderbilt is 2-2.

Memphis St. 31, Mississippi St. 10--Tim Jones passed for 3 touchdowns and 208 yards to lead the Tiger win at Memphis, Tenn.

The victory pushed independent Memphis State’s record to 2-3, while Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference dropped to 1-4.