SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Third-Stringer Guides Mississippi State, 14-7

Who needs a first- or second-string quarterback when the third-stringer can get the job done?

Third-string quarterback Todd Jordan made the plays he needed to make and Mississippi State’s defense continued its domination as the No. 18 Bulldogs beat Auburn, 14-7, Saturday night at Starkville, Miss.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn (4-2, 2-2), which now has little hope of winning the SEC West, had not lost in Starkville since 1950.

Jordan, a junior who hadn’t started a game since his freshman year, was pressed into service when backup Greg Plump went down in the first quarter with a sprained neck. Plump was playing because starter Sleepy Robinson was lost for the season when he tore ligaments in his left knee last week against Florida.

Jordan completed 13 of 27 passes for 144 yards, all season highs for Mississippi State’s run-oriented offense.

“I thought Todd came in and did the best job he has done of handling the football,” Mississippi State Coach Jackie Sherrill said. “We were sure Todd was ready to play. We just told him to protect the ball.”

Both defenses were able to stop the opponent’s offense, and the biggest play of the night came on special teams.

With Mississippi State trailing 7-6 early in the fourth quarter, Tony James fielded a 55-yard punt, cut to his left, and shed several tacklers before breaking free around midfield and streaking up the left sideline 63 yards for a touchdown. Jordan passed to Olanda Truitt for a two-point conversion.

Auburn quarterback Stan White was 17 for 38 for only 182 yards and threw three interceptions. The Tigers also lost two fumbles.

The Tigers’ only score came on a 63-yard bomb from White to Orlando Parker on Auburn’s second play of the second half.

No. 6 Alabama 37, Tulane 0--The Crimson Tide was held to two field goals in the first half but then got going in the second at New Orleans.

The Alabama players delivered their own pep talk at halftime. Quarterback Jay Barker, who was sacked twice in the first half, said: “Some of the senior guys got up--mainly (running back) Derrick Lassic--and talked to Coach (Gene) Stallings and asked him if we could have a moment to ourselves.

“Then some of the seniors and captains got up and talked. It got us hyped up and we came out and played at a higher level.”

Lassic, who rushed for 188 yards in 20 carries, finally got Alabama into the end zone with a five-yard run in the third quarter. The Tide scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter--a two-yard run by Chris Anderson, a four-yard run by Sherman Williams and a 57-yard run by Anderson.

No. 23 Florida 28, Louisiana State 21--The final score was about the only thing Steve Spurrier liked about his team’s sloppy victory at Gainesville, Fla.

“I feel a little bit like it was a loss because of the way we let it end,” Spurrier said after the defending SEC champions held off a fourth-quarter rally led by LSU’s Jamie Howard. “I am happy we won the game--don’t get me wrong--because we needed the victory,” Spurrier added. “But obviously, a good team just doesn’t allow a game to end that way.”

Shane Matthews completed 25 of 37 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns, and Errict Rhett ran for two second-half scores for the Gators (2-2, 2-2).

The win hiked Florida’s record at home under Spurrier to 15-0, but it wasn’t nearly as easy as expected. LSU (1-5, 1-3), a two-touchdown underdog, trailed only 14-13 at halftime.

No. 12 Georgia 34, Georgia Southern 7--Garrison Hearst had a big day in a short time at Athens, Ga., but he and came away with a lot of respect for the Division I-AA Eagles.

Hearst carried 20 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns, one a 75-yarder, but he got hurt on his sixth carry late in the first quarter and spend the second on the sidelines.

“I had to ask them about 50 times before they let me go back in,” Hearst said. “It was intense. They (Georgia Southern) play hard and they hit hard. We knew we were going to have to fight to beat ‘em.”

The Bulldogs (5-1) hurt the Eagles (3-2) with two other big-play scores, a 69-yard interception return by Mike Jones and a 52-yard pass play from Eric Zeier to Andre Hastings.

It was the first meeting ever between the Bulldogs and Southern Georgia, the I-AA national champion four times in the last seven years.

Wake Forest 40, Vanderbilt 6--Ned Moultrie rushed for three touchdowns and George Coghill returned an interception and a fumble for two more as the Demon Deacons (2-3) routed the Commodores (2-3) in a nonconference game at Nashville, Tenn.