Southeastern Conference Roundup : Florida Can’t Stop Worley, Georgia

Florida fans remember Georgia’s Tim Worley as the tailback who ruined their team’s one-week reign as the nation’s No. 1 team in 1985.

Worley did in the Gators again Saturday, rushing for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns as the 19th-ranked Bulldogs trounced Florida, 26-3, in a Southeastern Conference game at Jacksonville, Fla.

“We felt like we had something to prove,” said Worley, who rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown in Georgia’s 24-3 upset of Florida 3 seasons ago. “We knew we had a chance for the (SEC) championship and that had us motivated.”

Worley, who scored on runs of 1 and 51 yards in the fourth quarter, went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark early in the first half and has 1,110 yards through 9 games.

John Thomas also scored on a 22-yard pass from Wayne Johnson, and John Kasay kicked field goals of 47 and 45 yards for Georgia (7-2 overall, 5-1 in the SEC) as Coach Vince Dooley scored his 199th career victory.

Only nine Division I-A coaches have won 200 games.

“We really played the best and most complete game that we have all season long,” Dooley said. “We showed the consistency that had been lacking in our previous efforts.”

The Bulldogs, tied with Auburn and LSU for the SEC lead, can clinch at least a tie for the conference title with a victory at Auburn next week.

“Auburn--everybody is thinking about it,” Worley said. “It’s not going to be easy. Today wasn’t easy. We just took care of business.”

Florida (5-4, 3-3) lost its fourth consecutive game despite the return of star tailback Emmitt Smith, who rushed for 68 yards in 19 carries after sitting out 3 weeks with a sprained left knee.

The Gators have lost 9 of the last 11 games in the series, played in Jacksonville’s Gator Bowl since 1933.

Auburn 38, So. Mississippi 8--Reggie Slack threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for another as the No. 9 Tigers snapped the Golden Eagles’ 7-game winning streak at Auburn, Ala.

Auburn (8-1), which entered the game with 3 consecutive shutouts, won its fourth straight since losing to Louisiana State and did not allow any points until there was 1:47 left. Brett Favre threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Ray Jackson for the first points against Auburn in 239 minutes 49 seconds.

Favre completed 25 of 43 passes for 212 yards for Southern Mississippi (8-2).

Tennessee 10, Boston College 7--Preston Warren returned an intercepted pass 31 yards for a touchdown, and Chip McCallum hit a 43-yard field goal to get the Volunteers past the Eagles at Knoxville, Tenn.

Boston College (2-6) appeared to take the lead with 1:26 to play when Mike Power hit Marcus Cherry on an 80-yard pass play on third and 19 from the Boston College 20-yard line. However, the play was called back because the Eagles, who were penalized 17 times for 165 yards, had an ineligible receiver downfield.

Warren saved Tennessee (2-6) with 2 other interceptions inside the Volunteer 10. His 3 interceptions tied a school record.

Kentucky 14, Vanderbilt 13--Alfred Rawls and Al Baker each ran for a touchdown, and the Wildcats survived two late scares to hold off the Commodores in an SEC game at Lexington, Ky.

Eric Jones hit Andy McCarroll on a 5-yard scoring pass with 32 seconds left to get Vanderbilt (3-5, 2-4) close, but Jones’ 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete. The Commodores recovered an onside kick, but Johnny Clark’s 47-yard field goal attempt fell short with 11 seconds left and Kentucky (5-4, 2-3) had its third straight victory.

Tulane 14, Mississippi 9--Terrence Jones passed for 246 yards and a touchdown as the Green Wave broke a four-game losing streak by beating the Rebels at Oxford, Miss.

Jones hit Jerome McIntosh with a 32-yard touchdown pass play in the second quarter, and Melvin Adams scored on a 2-yard run for Tulane (4-5).

Bryan Owen kicked field goals of 48, 57 and 45 yards for Ole Miss (4-5).