SOUTHEAST ROUNDUP : Stallings Is a Loser in Alabama Debut

Southern Mississippi is making a habit of knocking off highly rated teams early in the season, and this time it ruined Gene Stallings’ debut as Alabama’s coach.

The Golden Eagles used alert defensive play and Alabama breakdowns to defeat the 13th-ranked Crimson Tide, 27-24, before 75,962 Saturday at Birmingham, Ala.

A year ago, Southern Mississippi upset Florida State, 30-26, in the first game of the season.

Senior quarterback Brett Favre, whose status was questionable because of surgery stemming from a summer traffic accident, completed nine of 17 passes for 125 yards. Not impressive statistics, but good enough to impress his coach, Curley Hallman. “Just his presence out there made a difference,” Hallman said.

He said he did not decide until earlier in the day to play Favre.

Jim Taylor kicked a 52-yard field goal with 3:35 left for the winning margin.

Tony Smith, who picked up 62 yards and two touchdowns for Southern Mississippi, said he and his teammates had no problem with the 95-degree temperature. “We just kept our head up and believed we could win,” he said.

Stallings, former Texas A&M; and Phoenix Cardinal coach who last January succeeded Bill Curry, now the coach at Kentucky, said: “We mishandled punts, we fumbled, we threw interceptions for touchdowns. . . . We made enough mistakes to cost you two ballgames.”

The Golden Eagles intercepted three passes and returned them a total of 100 yards, and recovered one fumble.

Safety Kerry Valrie picked off two passes, returning one 75 yards for a touchdown and the other 22 yards to the Alabama 10 to set up a score that put Southern Mississippi ahead, 24-17, in the third quarter.

On Alabama’s next possession, quarterback Gary Hollingsworth picked up a blitz and lofted a soft pass to Craig Sanderson for a 60-yard play that made it 24-24.

A 34-yard pass from Favre to Eddie Ray Jackson set up the winning field goal.

Florida 50, Oklahoma State 7--Shane Matthews passed for 332 yards and one touchdown as Coach Steve Spurrier’s new offense made a successful debut at Gainesville, Fla.

Matthews, a sophomore who began spring practice as the fifth-string quarterback, completed 20 of 29 passes, including a 50-yard scoring play to Tre Everett, who had five receptions for 128 yards.

Florida’s defense was outstanding, too, forcing three second-half turnovers, blocking a punt and field goal, and scoring a touchdown and safety.

LSU 18, Georgia 13--Todd Kinchen caught six passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, and Pedro Suarez kicked two second-half field goals to lead the Louisiana State over the Bulldogs at Baton Rouge, La.

Harvey Williams ran for 131 yards to lead LSU’s ground game.

LSU had to hold off a Georgia rally led by second-string quarterback Greg Talley and fourth-string tailback Garrison Hearst.

Mississippi 23, Memphis State 21--Ed Thigpen powered over from the one to give Ole Miss a come-from-behind victory at Oxford, Miss.

Thigpen’s score capped an 87-yard, 10-play drive in the closing minutes of Ole Miss’ season-opening win before a crowd of 41,300 in the first game played under lights at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Rebel Chris Mitchell intercepted a pass from quarterback Keith Benton on the Memphis State 33 to kill the Tigers’ last drive in the closing seconds.