SOUTHEAST ROUNDUP : Webb, Kelly Lead No. 11 Tennessee Over LSU

Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors had a hard time singling out a turning point Saturday, there were so many.

Chuck Webb, who rushed for 134 yards in 30 carries, ran for three touchdowns, Greg Amsler scored twice, and Carl Pickens ran a kickoff back 93 yards as the 11th-ranked Volunteers outlasted Louisiana State, 45-39, at Baton Rouge, La.

Tennessee is 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU is 1-6 and 0-3, the Tigers’ worst start since 1956.

“There were so many plays, I can hardly think about when the big play was in a game like that,” Majors said. “Without a question, the kickoff return had to be as big a play as any we’ve had this year.”

LSU led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, but Tennessee came back to go in front, 28-17, early in the third.

Volunteer quarterback Andy Kelly, who during a stretch in the first half had nine consecutive completions, led the comeback.

LSU built its early lead on a pair of touchdown pass plays by Tommy Hodson--30 yards to Tony Moss and two yards to Eddie Fuller.

Hodson also hit Fuller with a 23-yard scoring pass midway through the fourth quarter and connected with Todd Kinchen for an 11-yard touchdown with 26 seconds left in the game.

Hodson, who holds almost all of LSU’s passing records, had his first 300-yard passing game and first rushing touchdown. He threw for 438 yards, completing 31 of 49 passes.

After LSU took a 17-14 lead on a field goal with 19 seconds left in the half, Pickens took the ensuing kickoff at his seven-yard line, started up the middle, swung to the right sideline and broke into the clear at midfield. He got a key block on kicker Pedro Suarez at the 25-yard line.

Tennessee scored twice in the third quarter, a one-yard plunge by Webb and a two-yarder by Amsler sandwiched around Hodson’s two-yard scoring sneak for LSU.

Webb scored his final touchdown on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Auburn 14, Mississippi State 0--James Joseph rushed for a career-high 172 yards and one touchdown in 35 carries in what otherwise was a defensive struggle that the No. 16 Tigers won at Auburn, Ala.

After a scoreless first half, Mississippi State was forced to punt from its six after taking the second-half kickoff.

The Tigers quickly drove 48 yards, with quarterback Reggie Slack scoring from the two.

Joseph, a redshirt junior, later scored on a one-yard run to cap an 81-yard drive that followed a missed 29-yard field-goal attempt by Joel Logan. The kick hit the left upright.

Auburn is 4-2 and 3-1; the Bulldogs are 4-3 and 1-3.

Mississippi 24, Vanderbilt 16--For a third consecutive week, Ole Miss used a fourth-quarter comeback to pull out a victory, using touchdown runs by Russ Shows and Tyrone Ashley in an SEC game at Oxford, Miss.

Two weeks ago, Ole Miss scored a touchdown with 31 seconds to go defeat Georgia and then a week ago beat Tulane on a touchdown with four seconds to play.

This time around it was a relative laugher.

Ole Miss trailed 10-0 at halftime and 13-10 early in the final quarter against nine-point underdog Vanderbilt.

But Mississippi drove 70 yards in 11 plays with Shows, a backup quarterback, scoring from three yards on an option play to make it 17-13. Ole Miss went 79 yards in just four plays for the clinching touchdown, a 16-yard run by Ashley.

Ole Miss, 6-2 overall, its best record at this point since 1971, is 3-1 in the SEC. Vanderbilt is 1-6 and 0-5.

Georgia 34, Kentucky 23--Rodney Hampton scored touchdowns on runs of 18, 20 and 35 yards as the Bulldogs continued their domination of the Wildcats in this SEC game at Athens, Ga.

It was the Bulldogs’ 11th victory over the Wildcats in the last 12 years and saddled Kentucky with its 15th consecutive road loss in SEC play.

Hampton gained 184 yards in 31 carries and also caught four passes for 43 yards.

Hampton’s third touchdown came with 2:45 left in the game and was followed by Kentucky’s biggest play of the day, a 100-yard kickoff return by Kurt Johnson.

Georgia (4-3 and 3-2) got its other touchdown on a 34-yard pass play, Greg Talley to Arthur Marshall.

Kentucky (4-3 and 1-3) hasn’t won an SEC road game since beating Tennessee, 17-2, in 1984.