SOUTHEASTERN : Florida Cruises, Auburn Up Next

Terry Dean threw his 18th touchdown pass of the season and Anthone Lott scored on an 88-yard interception return as No. 1 Florida tuned up for next week’s showdown against No. 9 Auburn with a 42-18 victory over Louisiana State on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference game at Gainesville, Fla.

Fred Taylor rushed for 136 yards and scored on runs of 16 and two yards for Florida, 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC. The Gators also got three field goals from Judd Davis.

LSU (1-4, 1-3) had limited success offensively before becoming the first team to score on the Gators in the second half when Jermaine Sharp ran two yards for a third quarter touchdown.

Dean completed 20 of 38 passes for 217 yards. He threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Jack Jackson, who had 10 receptions for 99 yards, and also scored on a five-yard quarterback bootleg for a 29-3 halftime lead.

East Carolina 56, South Carolina 42--Marcus Crandell threw for 344 yards and four touchdowns, three to Mitchell Galloway, and the Pirates (3-2) held off the Gamecocks (4-2) in a nonconference game at Columbia, S.C.

East Carolina led, 27-0, in the second quarter, but was ahead by only a touchdown when tailback Junior Smith scored on a 54-yard reverse with 1:37 left to put the game away. Smith finished with 192 yards and two touchdowns.

South Carolina’s Steve Taneyhill completed 40 of 59 for 451 yards, all school records, as the Gamecocks got within seven points three times during the fourth quarter. East Carolina responded with a score each time, however.

Crandell finished 19 of 28 with three interceptions. Three of his scoring throws came during a four-touchdown barrage in less than five minutes of the second quarter.

Cornerback E. McDaniel returned a tipped pass 46 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-28 and Crandell hit Galloway on a 64-yard pass play touchdown to give the Pirates a 49-35 lead with 4:20 left.

Tennessee 38, Arkansas 21--James (Little Man) Stewart and Mose Phillips each scored twice and the Volunteers took advantage of six Razorback fumbles for a SEC victory at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee (3-3, 2-2) got touchdown passes of 23 and 27 yards from Peyton Manning, one each to Stewart and Phillips, and linebacker Tyrone Hines returned a fumble for a touchdown.

The Vols converted three Arkansas fumbles into two touchdowns and a field goal, but gave three of them back with turnovers of their own--two in the Arkansas end zone and one at the Razorbacks’ four yard line.

Arkansas (2-4, 1-3) got 128 yards from Oscar Malone and a big performance from reserve quarterback Robert Reed, who completed seven of 11 passes for 159 yards and an 82-yard touchdown to Carl Johnson, the third-longest scoring pass in school history.

Georgia 40, Clemson 14--Eric Zeier passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns to break the SEC career total offense record, then sat out the final quarter after the Bulldogs (4-2) built a 23-0 halftime lead in a nonconference game at Athens, Ga. Georgia was never seriously challenged by Clemson (2-3).

The rivals were meeting for the final time in Sanford Stadium under a contract that ends with next season’s game at Clemson. The Tigers fell to 2-19 in Georgia’s stadium. Georgia is dropping the Tigers from the schedule because of the SEC’s mandatory eight-game league schedule.

Zeier completed 24 of 40 passes and added 14 yards rushing to end the day with 9,325 career yards. Florida’s Shane Matthews held the old SEC record of 9,241 yards.

Vanderbilt 34, Cincinnati 24--Ronnie Gordon scored two of his three touchdowns in the final 3:09 to rally the Commodores in a nonconference game at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati (0-4-1) stunned the Commodores with Paul Blackwood’s 23-yard touchdown run for a 24-20 lead with 5:54 to play. But Gordon led Vanderbilt (2-3) out of a three-game losing streak by working the option perfectly.

Gordon went 42 yards on an option to set up his two-yard touchdown run with 3:09 to play. After Jay Stallworth sacked Eric Vibberts and forced a fumble, Gordon scored on a six-yard run to put the game out of reach.

Vanderbilt’s Eric Lewis rushed for 134 yards in 20 carries.