Kimrey Keeps South Carolina Unbeaten

Erik Kimrey was there when Lou Holtz needed him.

On his first play after replacing injured Phil Petty, Kimrey threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to give South Carolina a 23-19 victory over No. 25 Mississippi State on Saturday at Columbia, S.C.

Kimrey, a sophomore who had thrown only eight passes this season, came in on a fourth-and-10 play after Petty injured his right ankle with less than five minutes left.

Kimrey lofted the ball toward the left sideline for Jermale Kelly, and Reid Bethea’s extra point put the Gamecocks ahead.

“I only got a little bit of warm up. I wanted something that didn’t take too much precision,” Kimrey said. “I said, ‘Let’s throw the fade route.’ The line did a great job of protecting me, and Jermale made a great play.”

The win gave South Carolina its first 4-0 start since 1988 and first 2-0 Southeastern Conference start. The Gamecocks, who began the season with a 21-game losing streak, have never had a winning SEC record and had not beaten Mississippi State since 1995.

After Kimrey’s touchdown pass, the Gamecocks held Mississippi State (2-1, 0-1) to three-and-out on the next possession.

Petty passed for 305 yards. Kimrey’s only completion resulted in the go-ahead touchdown.

No. 3 Florida 59, Kentucky 31--Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer tied a school record by rushing for four touchdowns at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida (4-2, 2-0 in the SEC) defeated Kentucky for the 14th consecutive time.

Palmer scored on two one-yard sneaks, a bootleg from 14 yards and a 13-yard scramble. He also threw a 32-yard touchdown pass.

Palmer became only the fourth player at Florida to score four rushing touchdowns, the first since Fred Taylor against Florida State in 1997. Palmer also completed 12 of 19 passes for 190 yards.

Kentucky (2-2, 0-1) piled up 504 yards, the most by an SEC team against Florida since Steve Spurrier took over as coach in 1990.

Kentucky’s Jared Lorenzen completed 35 of 59 passes for 363 yards.

No. 13 Tennessee 70, Louisiana Monroe 3--Backup quarterback Casey Clausen passed for three touchdowns in his first game and Travis Henry and Travis Stephens each rushed for two touchdowns at Knoxville, Tenn.

The Volunteers scored 70 points for the first time since 1929. Tennessee defeated Carson-Newman, 73-0, on Nov. 9, 1929.

Clausen, a freshman from Mission Hills Alemany High, replaced starter A.J. Suggs after Tennessee built a 21-0 lead just 10:31 into the game.

Clausen threw a touchdown pass on his first play as the Volunteers (2-1) built a 49-0 halftime lead. He completed 12 of 15 passes for 133 yards.

No. 20 Auburn 31, Northern Illinois 14--Rudi Johnson rambled 56 yards into the end zone with 2:47 left at Auburn as the Tigers survived a fourth-quarter rally.

Auburn is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1997.

Northern Illinois (1-2) is 0-8 against SEC opponents.

No. 24 Georgia 37, New Mexico State 0--The Bulldogs (2-1) rushed for 237 yards at Athens, Ga., and recorded their first shutout in three years.

It was Georgia’s first shutout since a 47-0 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 4, 1997. New Mexico State (0-3) was also shut out in its opener against South Carolina, 31-0.

Arkansas 28, Alabama 21--Robby Hampton’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Marcellus Poydras with 64 seconds left gave the Razorbacks the victory at Fayetteville, Ark.

Backup Alvin Ray, in the game because of injuries to Cedric Cobbs and Fred Talley, put Arkansas (3-0, 1-0 SEC) in position to win with a 32-yard run to the Alabama 15. Just before the big play, the Alabama (1-3, 1-1) was penalized for defensive holding after Hampton threw an incomplete pass on fourth down.

Alabama Birmingham 13, Louisiana State 10--Rhett Gallego kicked a 32-yard field goal on the final play to give Alabama-Birmingham (2-1) the victory at Baton Rouge, La.

LSU (2-2) tied the score, 10-10, on John Corbello’s 35-yard field goal with 2:33 left.

Vanderbilt 26, Duke 7--Greg Zolman completed 23 of 37 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns and John Markham kicked four field goals as Vanderbilt (1-3) won at Nashville, Tenn.