SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Alabama Finds Way to Beat Tennessee

Alabama came up with an unorthodox way to generate some offense in the midst of a defensive struggle, and Philip Doyle made it pay off.

The result was a 9-6 Alabama upset of No. 3 Tennessee Saturday at Knoxville, Tenn.

The offense came in the form of a blocked field-goal attempt with 1:35 left in the game. The ball bounced hard off the chest of the Crimson Tide’s Stacy Harrison and bounced 23 yards downfield to the Tennessee 37.

Four plays later, Doyle won it with a 47-yard field goal, his third of the game, as time expired.

“When the ball was blocked, when I saw the ball rolling past the 50-yard line, I knew it was a victory all the way,” Harrison said. “We have one of the best, if not the best, kickers in the nation. The whole team has a lot of confidence in him.”

It was a big victory for Alabama Coach Gene Stallings, whose team improved to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee fell to 4-1-2 and 2-1-1.

The blocked field goal “worked out great for us,” Stallings said. “It gave us 30 or 40 yards when we needed offense. It was great to get that. We hadn’t made that much in a while.”

Doyle called it “the biggest kick of my life.”

“Every kid dreams of winning the game on the last play, and to do it my senior year against the No. 3 team in the country is the most unbelieveable feeling I’ve ever had.”

Defense dominated on both sides. Alabama held Tennessee to 175 yards, and the Crimson Tide offense managed 222.

Doyle had field goals of 30 and 26 yards earlier in the game. Tennessee’s Greg Burke had a 20-yarder in the first quarter and a career-best 51-yarder five minutes into the final quarter that tied the score, 6-6.

Tennessee had a nation-leading, 12-game unbeaten streak halted.

No. 17 Florida 59, Akron 0--The Gators, coming off a 45-3 loss to Tennessee, bounced back with an easy victory over outmanned Akron at Gainesville, Fla.

Quarterback Shane Matthews paced an offense that produced 595 yards, completing 20 of 32 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. Willie McClendon rushed for 105 yards and one score.

The Gators have a week off and then play No. 5 Auburn on Nov. 3.

Akron (3-4-1) gained only 87 yards against Florida and didn’t make a first down in the second half.

The victory before a homecoming crowd of 74,558 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium improved Florida’s record to 6-1.

Akron lost quarterback Jeff Sweitzer to a shoulder separation in the second quarter and Coach Gerry Faust played reserves most of the second half. “We have some important games left and we didn’t want to get anyone else hurt,” Faust said.

Georgia 39, Vanderbilt 28--Garrison Hearst rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns and Joe Dupree and Andre Hastings connected on a 68-yard touchdown pass play for the Bulldogs in an SEC game at Athens, Ga.

The Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2) also got a 58-yard touchdown run from Larry Ware and John Kasay kicked field goals of 38 and 48 yards.

It was the 21st consecutive SEC road loss for the Commodores (1-5, 1-3), who had cut Georgia’s lead to 33-28 four plays before Dupree, making his first appearance of the year, connected with Hastings on the long scoring pass.

LSU 30, Kentucky 20--Harvey Williams rushed for a career-high 213 yards in 28 carries, scored on a 60-yard run, and caught a four-yard touchdown pass to lead Louisiana State (4-2, 2-2) over the Wildcats (2-5, 1-2) at Baton Rogue, La.

Williams had 155 yards by halftime.

LSU also got three field goals from Pedro Suarez, and Chad Loup, a redshirt freshman, passed to Todd Kinchen on a 45-yard touchdown pass play.

No. 18 Mississippi 42, Arkansas State 13--Randy Baldwin scored four touchdowns in the first 19 minutes as Ole Miss routed the Division I-AA Indians at Oxford, Miss.

The Rebels (6-1) rolled up 495 yards, one shy of their season high. They also ensured a second consecutive winning season, the first time Ole Miss has accomplished that since 1970-71.