SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Florida Gets Title--and a Scare

Florida won its first Southeastern Conference championship in 58 years Saturday, but not before 36-point underdog Kentucky put a scare into the fifth-ranked Gators.

“We were certainly tested,” Coach Steve Spurrier said after Florida beat the Wildcats, 35-26, before a sellout crowd of 84,109 at Florida Field in Gainesville.

The Gators improved to 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the SEC and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl. It will be Florida’s first New Year’s Day bowl appearance since 1974.

The Gators also finished first in the conference in 1984, 1985 and 1990 but were denied the crown and the SEC’s automatic berth in the Sugar Bowl because of NCAA probation.

Kentucky (3-7, 0-6) rallied from a 22-point halftime deficit, but Errict Rhett, who rushed for 154 yards in 26 carries, bailed out the Gators by leading a 71-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown drive to put the game away. Rhett had 50 yards on the drive and scored on a two-yard run with 2:22 left.

Gator wide receiver Tre Everett, back in the lineup after sitting out three games with a hamstring injury, caught two touchdown passes from Shane Matthews on plays covering 65 and 33 yards as Florida built a 28-6 halftime lead.

Matthews, who continued to rewrite the conference record book, finished with 26 completions in 39 attempts for 362 yards. His 10 career 300-yard games are tops in SEC history, and the 27 touchdown passes he has thrown in 1991 is a conference single-season record.

No. 7 Alabama 10, Memphis State 7--The Crimson Tide also got a scare at Memphis, but John Copeland caused and recovered a fumble with 3:39 left to halt a Memphis State drive deep into Alabama territory and preserve the nonconference victory.

Alabama (9-1) struggled throughout against a Memphis State defense which allowed only one truly big play--a 75-yard touchdown pass play from Jay Barker to Kevin Lee with 5:24 left in the first quarter.

Those were to be the last points Alabama would score as the Tide watched the Tigers (5-6) botch two field-goal attempts in the second half. A bad snap caused kicker Joe Allison to shank one from 40 yards and he was wide right on a 23-yard attempt.

No. 10 Tennessee 36, Mississippi 25--James (Little Man) Stewart rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns as the Volunteers held off the Rebels in an SEC game at Knoxville, Tenn.

The Volunteers (7-2, 3-2) are expected to accept an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl to play No. 8 Penn State on New Year’s Day.

Stewart’s 215 yards were the most ever by a true freshman at Tennessee, eclipsing the record of 169 yards set two weeks ago by Aaron Hayden against Memphis State.

Hayden started at tailback, but left in the first half with an ankle injury and Stewart took over. He carried 38 times, 23 times in the second half as the Volunteers virtually abandoned their passing game.

Tennessee built a 19-0 lead at halftime, then kept the ball on the ground the second half while the Rebels (5-5, 1-5) tried to rally behind two long scoring passes by Tom Luke.

Georgia 37, Auburn 27--Freshman Eric Zeier passed for 229 of his 261 yards in the first half to build an 18-point lead and the Bulldogs hung on for an SEC victory at Athens, Ga.

The Tigers (5-5, 3-4) trailed 28-10 at halftime but cut the lead to 28-27 on Jim Von Wyl’s 42-yard field goal with 10:29 remaining. Georgia (7-3, 4-3) then drove 74 yards, with Larry Ware scoring on a 19-yard run.

Mississippi State 28, Louisiana State 19--Quarterback Sleepy Robinson ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third as the Bulldogs (6-4, 3-3) beat LSU (4-6, 3-4) in an SEC game before a homecoming crowd of 67,724 at Baton Rogue, La.

A standout in defeat was LSU’s Todd Kinchen, who caught nine passes for an SEC-record 248 yards, including 75 for a touchdown on the second play of the game.