No. 1 Gators Trample the Thundering Herd

Florida put on an opening-night show worthy of its No. 1 ranking.

Rex Grossman set his career high by halftime and finished with 375 yards passing Saturday night to lift the Gators to a 49-14 victory against undermanned Marshall at Gainesville, Fla.

The sophomore quarterback threw for three touchdowns and Earnest Graham scored three times as the Gators improved to 12-0 in openers under Coach Steve Spurrier.

No. 8 Tennessee 33, Syracuse 9--Casey Clausen connected with Donte Stallworth on a 37-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the game, but the Volunteer offense struggled throughout in a victory over the Orangeman (0-2) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Travis Stephens, a fifth-year senior and last year’s backup to Travis Henry, scored from four yards out to give the Volunteers a 19-3 lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter.

Stephens, who has been plagued by injuries and lost starting jobs to Jamal Lewis and Henry, finished with a career-high 111 yards in 14 carries, including long runs of 40 and 34 yards.

No. 14 Louisiana State 48, Tulane 17--LaBrandon Toefield scored three touchdowns and Rohan Davey passed for two more at Baton Rogue, La., as the Tigers won their sixth consecutive season opener.

The game renewed a 94-year rivalry, with LSU defeating the Green Wave for the 14th time in a row.

No. 21 South Carolina 32, Boise State 13--Derek Watson scored twice at Columbia, S.C., as the Gamecocks ended the Broncos’ win streak at seven.

It was a triumphant return for Watson, who was suspended by Coach Lou Holtz for the Outback Bowl after crashing a teammate’s car in December. He was disciplined by Holtz in February for allegedly shoving a student referee during an intramural basketball game. Then came an arrest in May for misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a female student, and a second suspension.

Mississippi 49, Murray State 14--Eli Manning broke school records with 18 consecutive completions and five touchdown passes at Oxford, Miss., as the Rebels had their way the Division I-AA Racers.

Manning, the youngest son of former Rebel great Archie Manning, was 20 for 23 for 271 yards against the overwhelmed Racers, earning a rest for the final 18 minutes.

Auburn 30, Ball State 0--Freshman Jason Campbell threw for one touchdown and ran for another for the Tigers at Auburn, Ala. Campbell, the first freshman quarterback to start for the Tigers in 11 years, completed 16 of 28 passes for 214 yards. He also ran five times for 17 yards.

Ball State never advanced the ball into Auburn territory.

Georgia 45, Arkansas State 17--David Greene passed for 285 yards and two touchdowns in his first start and Musa Smith scored three times at Athens, Ga., as Mark Richt won his debut as Bulldog coach.

Arkansas State was a 351/2-point underdog, coming off a 1-10 season and rotating two true freshmen at quarterback. That made things easy for Richt, the former offensive coordinator at Florida State who succeed Jim Donnan as Bulldog coach.

Louisville 36, Kentucky 10--Dave Ragone threw for a career-high 368 yards and three touchdowns at Lexington, Ky., as the Cardinals (2-0) defeated the Wildcats for the third year in a row.

Ragone completed 21 of 34 passes, including a career-best 82-yard strike to Zek Parker on the third play of the game.

Louisville outgained Kentucky, 486-213, and forced four turnovers to spoil Guy Morriss’ debut as Wildcat coach.