Volunteers Roll Crimson Tide

The fourth quarter belonged to Casey Clausen and Travis Stephens.

Clausen and Stephens capped big games with late one-yard touchdown runs as No. 11 Tennessee defeated Alabama, 35-24, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday.

Clausen was 21 of 28 for 293 yards and two scores while Stephens racked up 33 carries for 162 yards and two touchdowns for the Volunteers (4-1, 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference).

“With the game on the line, we needed to step up and make plays,” Clausen said. “There were a bunch of guys out there that stepped up.”

Tennessee became the first team to win seven games in a row against the Crimson Tide (3-4, 2-3) and exorcised a 26-24 loss to Georgia in its last outing.

Alabama, which last defeated Tennessee at home in 1991, has blown fourth-quarter leads three times in the last four games.

“The kids played their hearts out,” Alabama Coach Dennis Franchione said.

“We fought to the end. We are very proud of that. We’re close to getting there and we are getting there.”

Alabama’s defense still couldn’t stop anybody in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee gained 156 yards in the quarter. Alabama, meanwhile, lost three.

Stephens was the workhorse, running 14 times in the final quarter for his fourth consecutive 30-carry day.

Clausen was nearly flawless in leading a 16-play, 86-yard drive that consumed nearly nine minutes of the quarter. He finished it by scampering untouched into the end zone on a one-yard bootleg for a 28-24 lead.

Only Sewanee had beaten Alabama six times in a row and that streak endured from 1896-1911.

“Hopefully, we can make it eight, nine or 10 straight,” Stephens said.

No. 17 Georgia 43, Kentucky 29--Freshmen David Greene and Fred Gibson won a shootout with Jared Lorenzen, connecting on two long touchdown plays to lead the Bulldogs at Athens, Ga.

Gibson broke a 59-year-old school record with 201 yards on nine receptions, including touchdown catches of 68 and 56 yards.

Greene had his third consecutive 300-yard game. He was 22 of 36 for a career-high 364 yards, throwing for three touchdowns and running for another score.

Georgia (5-1, 4-1), which hasn’t won a league championship since 1982, rallied from a 22-7 deficit to set up a showdown with No. 7 Florida on Saturday in Jacksonville.

Kentucky (1-6, 0-5) lost its fifth in a row even though Lorenzen, in his first start since a season-opening loss, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another score.

No. 16 South Carolina 46, Vanderbilt 14--Phil Petty was 13 of 21 for 208 yards and two touchdowns at Columbia, S.C., as the Gamecocks rebounded from a loss at Arkansas.

South Carolina is 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC East and controls its destiny.

“We’re not in the driver’s seat, but we are in the car,” Coach Lou Holtz said.

Brian Scott caught six passes for 143 yards, all in the first half. Andrew Pinnock and Derek Watson both ran for 105 yards and a touchdown.

South Carolina set the school yardage record a week after scoring only seven points and gaining 272 yards at Arkansas.

Greg Zolman was seven for 20 for 126 yards for Vanderbilt (1-5, 0-4), which was held to 194 yards.

Now the Gamecocks turn their attention to Tennessee.

South Carolina had a similar 5-1 SEC record when the Volunteers came to Columbia and left with a last-minute 17-14 victory last season.

“That left a bitter taste,” said running back Ryan Brewer, who caught three passes for 69 yards and ran for 34 yards.

Holtz thinks this team is ready to go face a hostile Tennessee crowd.

“We’ve been here and we’ve done this, now let’s see if we can do it a little bit differently,” Holtz said.

Louisiana State 42, Mississippi State 0--Rohan Davey and receiver Josh Reed hooked up 10 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns at Starkville, Miss., as the Tigers won consecutive road games for the first time in four years.

The Tigers (4-2, 2-2) beat the Bulldogs (1-5, 0-4) for the ninth time in 10 meetings, but none have been easier.

It was the Tigers’ most lopsided victory in the series since a 47-0 rout in 1986.

Davey was 16 of 25 for 255 yards and three touchdowns.

Mississippi State, which began the season ranked, has lost five in a row for the first time in 13 years and is 0-4 in the SEC for the first time since 1995.

Dicenzo Miller’s return to the lineup after missing two of the last three games because of an ankle injury.

He was the lone bright spot for Mississippi State. The tailback had 122 total yards.