SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : South Carolina Stuns Mississippi State

Talk about a week of ups and downs.

On Monday, South Carolina Coach Sparky Woods was told by his players they thought he should quit.

On Saturday, the previously winless Gamecocks upset No. 15 Mississippi State, 21-6, in a Southeastern Conference game at Columbia, S.C.

“This is a great victory for South Carolina,” said a relieved Woods, who gave game balls to his seniors. “We really were faced with a crisis and, usually, good people respond to a crisis.”

While his seniors played well, it was freshman quarterback Steve Taneyhill who threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

After the game, Woods, Taneyhill and the rest of the team were cheered loudly as they left the field with their first win in 10 games, which was the longest current losing streak in Division I-A.

Taneyhill completed seven of 14 passes, his first to wide receiver Toby Cates for a 35-yard gain and his second to Penny for 10 yards and a touchdown that put the Gamecocks, 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the SEC, ahead 6-0. The point-after kick was blocked.

South Carolina stopped Mississippi State (4-2, 2-2) and then began another scoring drive at its 41. Five plays later, Brandon Bennett ran three yards around left end for South Carolina’s second touchdown. A two-point conversion pass from Taneyhill to Cates made it 14-0.

The Gamecocks had been averaging 225 yards per game, but racked up 505 yards to Mississippi State’s 316.

Florida 24, Auburn 9--Shane Matthews passed for two touchdowns and ran for another at Gainesville, Fla.

The victory before a crowd of 84,098 at Florida Field was the second in a row for Florida, trying to recover from a 1-2 start after compiling the SEC’s best record each of the past two seasons.

The Gators have won 15 consecutive games at home.

Florida (3-2, 3-2) scored on three of its first four possessions to build a 17-3 lead, then added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 16-play, 78-yard drive that ran more than seven minutes off the clock.

Matthews completed 19 of 34 passes for 208 yards, the 24th time in 28 starts he has thrown for more than 200 yards. He threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Houston in the first quarter and teamed with Willie Jackson on a 20-yard scoring play in the second period.

The senior quarterback, SEC player of the year the past two seasons, scored the Gators’ last touchdown on a one-yard sneak with 3:37 remaining in the game.

Auburn (4-3, 2-3) had 264 yards of offense, including 136 rushing, but couldn’t get the ball into the end zone. Scott Etheridge kicked field goals of 22, 36 and 44 yards for the Tigers, who are 1-9 in their last 10 visits to Florida Field.

Kentucky 27, Louisiana State 25--Backup Craig Walker gained 40 yards during a third-quarter drive that gave Wildcats the lead at Baton Rogue, La., and a late rally the the Tigers fell short.

Kentucky (4-2, 2-2) snapped a 13-game road losing streak and assured LSU (1-6, 1-4) an unprecedented fourth consecutive losing season. The game drew only 57,641, the first time in 15 years that attendance at Tiger Stadium fell below 60,000.

Walker, who didn’t touch the ball in the first half, capped his contribution with a nine-yard run on third and nine from the LSU 14 in the third quarter. He appeared to be stopped well short but bulled through several tacklers to get a first down.

Damon Hood scored from the two to give Kentucky a 24-17 lead.

Mississippi 17, Arkansas 3--Cory Philpot carried 25 times for 123 yards and a blitzing defense stifled the Razorbacks at Little Rock, Ark.

Philpot ran for more than 90 yards in the second half, much of it on draw plays.

The Rebels (4-2, 3-2) led, 10-3, at halftime. The Razorbacks are 2-5 and 2-3.