SOUTHEAST ROUNDUP : Jackie Sherrill Up to Old Tricks, Beats Texas for Sixth Consecutive Time

Jackie Sherrill, the new coach at Mississippi State, was up to his old tricks against Texas on Saturday.

Sherrill’s Bulldogs came through with big defensive plays to upset the 13th-ranked Longhorns, 13-6, at Starkville, Miss.

It was the sixth time in a row a Sherrill-coached team has beaten Texas. Sherrill, former Pittsburgh and Texas A&M; coach, was out of football the past two years.

“It was one of those days where our players didn’t believe Texas would win,” Sherrill said. “They weren’t afraid of Texas as much as I was.”

Rodney Stowers capped a fourth-quarter defensive stand with a sack of Texas quarterback Peter Gardere, ending a Longhorn drive that had reached the Mississippi State 19.

Texas lost its season opener for the fifth time in Coach David McWilliams’ six seasons.

“I felt like we were ready, but we fell flat,” McWilliams said. “State’s defense did a great job and we were just too spotty. We never were in sync as a team.”

Texas drove 45 yards to a first down at the Mississippi State 19 with about three minutes to play. Keith Joseph and Jerome Brown combined to block a Gardere pass, another throw was batted down near the goal line, and Kevin Henry blocked another pass on third down to set the stage for Stowers’ drive-ending tackle with 2:19 to play.

Texas, a 9 1/2-point favorite, missed another opportunity earlier in the fourth quarter after Bo Robinson’s 46-yard interception return to the Mississippi State six.

The Longhorns, who were limited to 211 yards total offense, were held out of the end zone and had to settle for Jason Ziegler’s 22-yard field goal with 7:57 remaining.

Mississippi State quarterback William Robinson teamed up with tight end Treddis Anderson on a 35-yard pass play for the game’s only touchdown. It came with 17 seconds left in the first quarter when Robinson connected across the middle with Anderson, who was wide open at the 20-yard line and bulled over Texas safety Lance Gunn at the two to get into the end zone.

The Bulldogs (2-0), who also got field goals of 36 and 34 yards from Chris Gardner, ended Texas’ nine-game regular-season winning streak.

Georgia 31, Louisiana State 10--Garrison Hearst scored two touchdowns and Larry Ware went 38 yards on a screen pass for another in leading the Bulldogs over the Tigers at Athens, Ga.

The Bulldogs (2-0) shut down LSU’s offense in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. It also was the season opener for the Tigers.

Hearst capped a 74-yard drive after the opening kickoff with a three-yard run and scored on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Ware, who rushed for 112 yards in 19 carries, scored on the screen from Greg Talley to give Georgia a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Kentucky 23, Miami (Ohio) 20--Brad Smith passed for two touchdowns, including a 34-yard strike to Kurt Johnson with 3:57 left in the game, to lead the Wildcats over the Redskins at Lexington, Ky.