Mississippi State Stuns Alabama

Brian Hazlewood kicked a 39-yard field goal in the fourth quarter as Mississippi State beat No. 8 Alabama, 17-16, at Starkville, Miss., for only the second time in 39 years.

The much-maligned Mississippi State defense, ranked last in the Southeastern Conference giving up 375 yards a game, held on by stopping Alabama on its last three possessions.

Alabama (8-2, 5-2) drove to the Mississippi State 39 in the final minute, but Freddie Kitchens’ fourth-and-four pass was incomplete. Mississippi State (4-5, 2-4) broke a four-game SEC losing streak and gave Coach Jackie Sherrill his first victory in eight tries against his alma mater.

John Brock, whose missed extra point proved costly, had given Alabama its only lead with a 42-yard field goal with 11:27 left.

On the next offensive play, Mississippi State quarterback Derrick Taite threw a short pass to 248-pound tight end Reginald Kelly, who rumbled 69 yards to the Alabama 11. Four plays later, Hazlewood booted the game-winner into a stiff wind with 8:49 left.

Both goalposts were torn down within two minutes after the final buzzer as the Bulldogs celebrated its first victory over the Crimson Tide since a 6-3 shocker in 1980 that broke top-ranked Alabama’s record 28-game SEC winning streak.

Georgia 56, No. 20 Auburn 49--A flustered Georgia football program found life in dramatic fashion thanks to Mike Bobo, who rallied the Bulldogs from 21 points down for a four-overtime victory at Auburn, Ala.

Bobo, benched in favor of Brian Smith, came in midway through the second quarter and threw for 360 yards and two touchdowns to rally his team from a 28-7 deficit.

After the victory, Georgia players carried first-year Coach Jim Donnan off the field and the Bulldogs, 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the SEC, ran to the stands to celebrate with the 2,500-or-so fans who made the trip to Auburn.

It was the 100th and wildest meeting between the rivals as the teams combined for 1,095 yards and 60 first downs.

However, the excitement was lost on the Tigers (7-3, 4-3), who were eliminated from the SEC West title race as they prepared to face Alabama next Saturday.

The celebration came after defensive tackle Jason Ferguson wrapped up Auburn quarterback Dameyune Craig on fourth and three in the fourth overtime. Georgia had the ball first in the fourth extra session and took a 56-49 lead on Torin Kirstey’s one-yard run.

No. 12 Tennessee 55, Arkansas 14--The Volunteers (7-2, 5-1) needed an 86-yard punt-return touchdown from Terry Fair to break a 14-14 tie five minutes into the second half at Knoxville, Tenn., then went on to pound the Razorbacks (3-6, 1-5).

Tennessee’s Peyton Manning, hobbled by a sprained knee suffered in the first quarter, completed 28 of 41 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns before a homecoming crowd of 103,158.

No. 17 Louisiana State 39, Mississippi 7--Kevin Faulk ran for 117 yards in 28 carries and scored three second-half touchdowns as LSU started slowly before rolling to an SEC victory over Ole Miss at Oxford, Miss.

Faulk, who became the Tigers’ the fifth 1,000-yard rusher, had scoring runs of 21, six and one yards as LSU (7-2, 5-2) scored on its first six possessions of the second half.

With his 117 yards in 28 carries, Faulk has 1,009 for the season. Herb Tyler had fourth-quarter touchdown passes of two and eight yards and Wade Richey kicked a 35-yard field goal for the Tigers.

Mississippi (4-5, 1-5) managed just one touchdown on a 100-yard kickoff return by John Avery in the fourth quarter.

Kentucky 25, Vanderbilt 0--Billy Jack Haskins threw for a career-high 217 yards and two touchdowns and the Wildcat defense came up with seven sacks in a shutout over the Commodores (2-8, 3-4) at Lexington, Ky. Kentucky (4-6, 3-4) won its third in a row, all since Bill Curry was fired as coach.

Haskins, who completed 17 of 30 passes, hit Craig Yeast on a 57-yard scoring strike in the first quarter and Isaac Curtis on a three-yard touchdown toss.