SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : South Carolina Hurdles Georgia

Brandon Bennett was more worried about the time remaining than the Georgia defense when he took a handoff in the final seconds of Saturday’s game at Athens, Ga.

Bennett hurdled into the end zone with two seconds left to give South Carolina a 23-21 Southeastern Conference victory over No. 14 Georgia.

“I was scared that we weren’t going to snap the last play on time,” Bennett said. “They knew it was coming. I was determined to make it in.”

South Carolina, which blew a 17-7 fourth-quarter lead, drove 52 yards in the final 2:52 to win the season opener for both teams.

“All I could remember was the Georgia-Auburn game last year,” South Carolina Coach Sparky Woods said.

Last year Georgia held on to beat Auburn when the Tigers were unable to get off a play from the one in the final seconds.

South Carolina quarterback Steve Taneyhill completed two key passes during the winning drive, a 35-yarder to Stanley Pritchett at the 15 and a 13-yarder to Boomer Foster at the two.

Taneyhill is 6-1 since taking over as the starter last year after the Gamecocks lost their first five games.

No. 8 Florida 44, Arkansas State 6--Terry Dean, a fourth-year junior, took control of Florida’s “Fun ‘N Gun” offense and led the Gators to a nonconference victory at Gainesville, Fla.

The victory extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 19 games.

Dean completed 16 of 22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns in his first college start. He finished with 11 consecutive completions.

Errict Rhett, who rushed for 108 yards in 16 carries, scored on a one-yard run for Florida, which had 513 yards.

Arkansas State, outscored 141-0 in its first three games last season, led 6-3 after the first quarter. Marquis Williams scored for the Indians on a three-yard run, two plays after Florida’s Willie Jackson mishandled a punt and Marcel Jefferson recovered at the Florida 12.

Willie Jackson, who led the Southeastern Conference in touchdown receptions the past two years, had seven catches for 108 yards. Jack Jackson, who set a Florida freshman record with 35 receptions in 1992, caught five for 84 yards.

Arkansas State, in only its second year of Division I-A competition after a 10-year hiatus in Division I-AA, has lost 20 of its last 23 games.

No. 10 Tennessee 50, Louisiana Tech 0--Heath Shuler passed for three touchdowns at Knoxville, Tenn., as the Volunteers gave Phillip Fulmer his first regular-season victory as full-time head coach.

Fulmer served as interim head coach for the first three games last season while Johnny Majors was recuperating from heart surgery. Majors returned to finish the regular season, but was forced to resign before the Hall of Fame Bowl. Fulmer took over the program in December and led the Volunteers past Boston College.

Memphis State 45, No. 23 Mississippi State 35--Steve Matthews, showing no ill effects from a strained thumb ligament, threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as the Tigers pulled off a mild upset at Starkville, Miss.

The left-handed Matthews sat out a day of practice last week and still had some soreness in his throwing hand, but set a school record by completing 29 of 45 passes for 340 yards. He completed eight of nine in the first quarter as the Tigers took a 10-0 lead.

The Tigers held off a late Bulldog comeback for their second straight victory at Scott Field. Two years ago, the Tigers won, 28-23, there.

Memphis State scored 21 points in the second half before Mississippi State managed a first down. The Bulldogs had just three plays, all incomplete passes, during the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Mississippi State made it close with three fourth-quarter touchdowns against a prevent defense.

Kentucky 35, Kent 0--Pookie Jones threw for touchdown pass plays of 56 and 28 yards and had scoring runs of nine and 60 yards to lead the Wildcats at Lexington, Ky.

Jones, a junior, finished with a career-high 130 rushing yards in 16 carries. He also completed six of 12 passes for 181 yards in amassing 311 total yards.

Vanderbilt 27, Wake Forest 12--Backup tailback Cliff Deese rushed for 118 yards and first-stringer Tony Jackson got 110 more and each scored touchdowns to lead the Commodores over the Demon Deacons at Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Commodores rushed for 431 yards in ruining the coaching debut of Jim Caldwell, a former Penn State assistant.