SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Alabama Sinks Southwestern Louisiana

John Mangum’s 14th career interception ignited Alabama and the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide scored 17 fourth-quarter points to defeat Southwestern Louisiana, 24-17, Saturday at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The victory gave Alabama a 5-0 record heading into its Southeastern Conference showdown against Tennessee, also 5-0, next Saturday.

Southwestern Louisiana (4-3) led, 10-7, late in the third quarter when Mangum intercepted a pass from Brian Mitchell and returned it 30 yards to the Southwestern 48-yard line. Alabama’s Martin Houston eventually scored from the one to put the Tide ahead 14-10 early in the final period.

A short punt on the next series gave Alabama the ball at the Southwestern 33, and Philip Doyle kicked a 42-yard field goal.

On Alabama’s next possession, Murry Hill, Alabama’s leading rusher with 97 yards, ran 46 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead.

Mitchell passed for 176 yards and ran for 51. In his four years, he has passed for 4,746 yards in 332 completions, both school records.

Auburn 10, LSU 6--Shayne Wasden’s 33-yard punt return set up a one-yard touchdown run by Stacy Danley with 6:07 to play, lifting the 12th-ranked Tigers at Auburn, Ala.

Wasden returned the punt to the Louisiana State 37-yard line and it took Auburn, 4-1 overall and 2-1 in SEC play, five plays to score.

Reggie Slack completed passes of six yards to James Joseph and 12 yards to Victor Hall before Danley, who had a 13-yard run in the drive, scored to erase a 6-3 deficit.

LSU (1-4, 0-2) had taken the lead on David Browndyke’s second field goal of the game, a 41-yarder, 55 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Joseph had 41 yards in six carries in a 71-yard drive after the opening kickoff that ended on Win Lyle’s 26-yard field goal, giving Auburn a 3-0 lead midway through the period.

LSU tied the score on the second play of the second quarter when Browndyke kicked a 31-yard field goal. The Bengal drive covered 74 yards, with Tom Hodson completing four of five passes for 54 yards.

Mississippi 17, Georgia 13--John Darnell threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Reid Hines with 31 seconds remaining as the Rebels ended a 12-game losing streak against the Bulldogs at Oxford, Miss.

Mississippi drove 65 yards in 1:52 after recovering a Georgia fumble for the winning touchdown, and then intercepted a Georgia pass on the Rebels’ seven-yard line on the final play of the game.

Darnell, who threw for 302 yards, completed six passes in the winning drive. He also scrambled 19 yards for a first down at the Georgia 18-yard line and two plays later threw the winning pass to Hines.

The victory lifted Mississippi to 4-2 overall--its best late-season mark since 1976--and 2-1 in the conference. Georgia, which lost its third in a row, fell to 2-3 and 1-1.

Kentucky 33, Rutgers 26--Ken Willis equaled a school-record four field goals to lead the Wildcats at Lexington, Ky., only a week after he missed two field goals and an extra point attempt in a loss to Auburn.

Willis made attempts from 19, two from 20 and another from 38 and added three extra-point kicks in setting a school record for place-kickers with 15 points in a game.

Kentucky (3-2) also scored on Freddie Maggard’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Al Baker in the second quarter and Andy Murray’s one-yard run and a 69-yard scamper by Alfred Rawls in the fourth quarter.

Memphis St. 34, Cincinnati 17--A pair of interceptions set up 10 fourth-quarter points as the Tigers held on for the win at Cincinnati.