SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Majors Returns, Tennessee Rolls

Johnny Majors came back, Tennessee moved on and Louisiana State fell another notch Saturday night.

No. 7-ranked Tennessee unleashed its powerful offense, rolling up 412 yards but its lowest point total of the year in a 20-0 victory over LSU at Baton Rouge, La.

“There’s a lot of difference in winning and losing, and I am certainly very happy about this victory because it was hard earned,” Majors said. “I can’t think of an area where our football team didn’t contribute to the win, starting with the shutout. It’s pretty hard to lose when you shut somebody out, and our offense did just what it took.”

The victory is the Volunteers’ second consecutive shutout. Tennessee, which beat Cincinnati, 40-0, the previous Saturday, is 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference, atop the SEC’s Eastern Division.

LSU, which had suffered last-minute losses in two previous games, got behind early and stayed there--unable to even move into Tennessee’s end of the field in the first half.

The Tigers (1-4, 1-2) got into Tennessee territory only once in the first half--a brief incursion to the 46-yard line--and their closest attempt at scoring was a 39-yard field-goal attempt that sailed wide right.

No. 9 Alabama 48, South Carolina 7--The Crimson Tide’s maligned offense came alive in an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama (5-0, 3-0) took a 38-0 lead before the Gamecocks (0-5, 0-4) got a first down, with 2:31 left in the half.

The Tide’s defense is rated best in the nation, but the offense had been having difficulty getting into the end zone.

Not this time.

Six touchdowns were scored by five players, with Chris Anderson, who rushed for 120 yards in 13 carries, getting two. Derrick Lassic had 100 yards in 13 carries and scored the Tide’s first touchdown.

South Carolina Coach Sparky Woods said he hadn’t been misled by the Tide’s offensive problems in earlier games.

“I think they always had potential,” he said. “But they’ve had a few fumbles, dropped passes and penalties.”

Fumbles hurt the Gamecocks in this game. They put the ball on the ground seven times and lost it twice.

No. 16 Georgia 27, Arkansas 3--The turning point in this SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark., came in the third quarter when a defensive holding call nullified a juggling interception of a screen pass and a 41-yard return by the Razorbacks’ Darwin Ireland.

“The interception they had called back was the key point in the game,” Georgia Coach Ray Goff said. “We’re only ahead 17-3 and all of a sudden, they’ve got the ball on the 20. I think the official made the right call, though, because they had one of our receivers driven all the way out of bounds. Fortunately, the official saw it. If he hadn’t, things could have been a lot different.”

Said Arkansas interim Coach Joe Kines: “It looked like we could make a game of it at that time. Our cornerbacks were playing tight on their receivers all day. That was the only time they called holding. I’m anxious to see the film.”

Georgia’s Eric Zeier, a sophomore who already has two of the top three passing performances in school history, threw for one touchdown under pressure--a 12-yard play to Scott Mitchell--and set up another touchdown with a perfect 27-yard completion to Andre Hastings.

Zeier completed 14 of 25 passes for 174 yards.

Georgia (4-1, 3-1) survived a couple of Zeier’s early misfires when Todd Wright missed field-goal attempts of 44 and 48 yards. Arkansas (1-4, 1-2) showed only slight improvement offensively despite the addition of former Clemson coach Danny Ford to the coaching staff early in the week.

Auburn 31, Vanderbilt 7--James Bostic and Tony Richardson scored on long runs in the fourth quarter as the Tigers breezed past the Commodores in an SEC game at Auburn, Ala.

The Commodores, who haven’t beaten Auburn since 1955, never got their option offense untracked in the steady rain at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn (4-1, 2-1) built a 17-0 lead over Vanderbilt (2-2, 1-2) and put the game away in the fourth quarter.

Mississippi 24, Kentucky 14--Cory Philpot rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown in 28 carries and the Rebels (3-2, 2-2) blunted a second-half rally by the Wildcats (3-2, 1-3) at Oxford, Mass.

It was Kentucky’s 13th consecutive road loss.

With the help of three Kentucky turnovers, Ole Miss built a 17-0 lead in the first half.