COLLEGE FOOTBALL : SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Alabama Bounces Back to Beat Mississippi, 23-9

It wasn’t returning to the state where he was a high school standout that motivated Alabama linebacker Dwayne Rudd.

Rudd, a sophomore from Batesville, Miss., sacked Josh Nelson on the third play of Saturday’s game for a safety in No. 21 Alabama’s 23-9 Southeastern Conference victory over Mississippi at Oxford, Miss.

The Crimson Tide bounced back from a 41-14 home loss to No. 6 Tennessee, which was only the 14th team in 992 games to score more than 40 points against Alabama.

“After what happened last week, we had to bounce back,” Rudd said. “We had to force Nelson to do some bad things. He made some mistakes, and we capitalized on them.”

The safety and a 61-yard interception return by linebacker Ralph Staten put Alabama ahead 9-0 midway through the first quarter.

“We put pressure on them right away and took control of the game,” Alabama Coach Gene Stallings said.

The Crimson Tide, 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC, led for good after sacking Nelson twice on the first three plays. On the second sack, the ball was knocked loose by Rudd and eventually rolled out of the end zone.

Ole Miss (3-4, 1-4), despite outgaining Alabama 304 yards to 239, was limited to Tim Montz’s 38-yard field goal in the third quarter and a five-yard touchdown run by Dou Innocent late in the game after Alabama had extended its lead to 23-3.

No. 13 Auburn 34, Western Michigan 13--The Tigers didn’t run up the score on the Broncos but it wasn’t because of a lack of trying as the SEC’s top-rated offensive team slogged through an afternoon of uncharacteristic miscues at Auburn, Ala.

The Tigers (5-2) were not sharp or emotional following last week’s dizzying 49-38 loss with No. 3 Florida. After that loss, Auburn seemed unable to get pumped for a team from the Mid-American Conference.

Auburn Coach Terry Bowden said, “They say your players can’t get up for every game, and I say, ‘Why Not?’ ”

While Auburn fooled around with errant throws, dropped passes and mistaken routes, Western Michigan (4-4) hung in there until late in the third quarter.

South Carolina 52, Vanderbilt 14--Steve Taneyhill threw for five touchdowns in another record-setting performance and the Gamecocks’ quick-strike, no-huddle offense needed only a quarter to blow past the Commodores in an SEC game at Columbia, S.C.

Taneyhill threw for two touchdowns and 187 yards in the first quarter for South Carolina (4-3-1, 2-3-1), which has had a tie and three victories the past four weeks after starting 1-3.

The senior quarterback’s first scoring pass was his 21st of the season and broke the school mark he shared with Todd Ellis. Taneyhill, who had earlier set a team record with five touchdowns against Louisiana Tech this year, finished 31 for 40 for 354 yards.

The Commodores (0-6, 0-4) nearly doubled their point total of 16 they scored the previous four games with Jermaine Johnson’s runs of one and three yards.

Georgia 12, Kentucky 3--Kanon Parkman kicked four field goals, two set up by turnovers and two by Hines Ward passes to Juan Daniels, giving the Bulldogs (5-3, 3-2) an SEC victory over the Wildcats (3-4, 2-3) at Athens, Ga.

Lousiana State 49, North Texas 7--Kevin Faulk rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns for LSU (4-3-1) at Baton Rogue, La. North Texas (1-6) moved up to Division I-A this year, after 13 years in Division I-AA.