Party Time for Georgia After 37-17 Win Over Florida

Finally, Georgia was the life of the party at Jacksonville, Fla.

The Bulldogs turned out the lights on No. 6 Florida’s bid to win a fifth consecutive Southeastern Conference title Saturday with a 37-17 victory that set off a celebration not felt by the Bulldogs in eight years.

“The Florida Gators have aggravated us for so long,” offensive tackle Matt Stinchcomb said. “With three minutes to go, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It lived up to everything I thought it would.”

With Robert Edwards tying a school record by running for four touchdowns and quarterback Mike Bobo and Hines Ward coming up with the critical plays, Georgia beat the Gators for the first time since 1989 in one of the most intense rivalries in the South.

It is renowned as the “World Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” This time, Georgia--7-1 overall and 5-1 in conference--sent the Florida fans home early.

“Georgia is just a better football team than the mighty Gators, and they proved it tonight,” Florida Coach Steve Spurrier said. “We’ve not got excuses. They just beat us.”

This loss was costly for the Gators, whose outside chance of defending their national title disappeared, and their hopes of going to Atlanta for the SEC championship game went with it.

Florida (6-2, 4-2) would need losses by Tennessee and Georgia to tie for first in the Eastern Division.

No. 8 Tennessee 22, South Carolina 7--After being burned by Peyton Manning for three consecutive years, South Carolina wasn’t about to let the Tennessee quarterback to do it again.

He didn’t. Jamal Lewis did.

Manning had his worst passing numbers in three years, but Lewis gained 205 yards and scored twice to lead the Volunteers at Knoxville, Tenn.

South Carolina “really committed to stopping the pass,” said Manning, who was eight of 25 for 126 yards, with an interception. “We’ve had some success throwing against them the last couple of years, so they came in here and said they weren’t going to get beat by passing again. Obviously in the second half we made the adjustments and Jamal Lewis hurt them.”

Lewis’s second 200-yard game in four starts included a 65-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Volunteers (6-1, 4-1) ahead, 19-0, against the Gamecocks (5-4, 3-4). The freshman carried 24 times.

No. 16 Louisiana State 63, Kentucky 28--Kevin Faulk rushed 28 times for 212 yards and a school-record five touchdowns, leading the Tigers to victory at Lexington, Ky.

Faulk scored two touchdowns and Herb Tyler ran for one in the third quarter after Kentucky turnovers on its first three possessions as LSU (6-2, 4-2) took control of the game.

Tim Couch completed 41 of 66 passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns for Kentucky (4-5, 1-5). The four touchdown passes give him 34, two more than the NCAA season record for a sophomore set by Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer in 1989 and matched by Houston’s Jimmy Klingler in 1992.

Louisiana Tech 26, Alabama 20--Tim Rattay threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to their biggest win of the season at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The win put Louisiana Tech (7-2) in good position for an Independence Bowl berth. The Bulldogs needed a win over a notable opponent to solidify their postseason chances and defeating Alabama (4-4) may have done it.