Gators Take a Bite Out of the Wildcats

Rex Grossman passed for 302 yards and four touchdowns as Florida defeated Kentucky, 44-10, in a Southeastern Conference opener on Saturday at Lexington, Ky.

Grossman completed 22 of 36 passes, including 52-, 29-, six-and four-yard touchdown passes, to remain the SEC’s leading passer through three games. But the story for the No. 2 Gators (3-0) was their defense, which gave up 504 yards last season to Kentucky in a 59-31 victory at Gainesville, Fla.

This time the defense held strong, giving up only 288 yards as the Gators won their 15th in a row in the series.

“We got a lot of opportunities thanks to our defense,” Florida Coach Steve Spurrier said. “We didn’t get any turnovers, but we made big stops that were crucial to the outcome of the game.”

Redshirt freshman Shane Boyd completed 23 of 39 passes for 203 yards, including a two-yard touchdown pass in his second career start for Kentucky (1-2).

Florida held a 16-3 lead at halftime.

“We were in the game but couldn’t make the plays we needed to at the right times,” Kentucky cornerback Derrick Tatum said. “We kind of lost our focus in the third quarter. Our defense is getting better, it’s just not good enough.”

Spurrier was pleased with the Gators’ effort and is looking ahead to a home game against Mississippi State, which defeated Florida last season.

“It was a good win and I’m proud of our guys,” Spurrier said. “We’ll enjoy this one and get ready for Mississippi State next week.”

Syracuse 31, Auburn 14--James Mungro rushed for 142 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback R.J. Anderson scored on an eight-yard run at Syracuse, N.Y., as the Orangemen (2-2) won their second in a row.

Auburn (2-1) entered the game ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense, having given up 55 yards a game in victories over Ball State and Mississippi. Mungro had 99 yards in the first half and went over the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive game and eighth time in his career. The Orangemen finished with 228 yards rushing.

Syracuse took advantage of five Auburn turnovers.

Mungro scored on a 20-yard run with 10:06 left after Syracuse cornerback Latroy Oliver forced a fumble by Justin Fetsko after a 30-yard reception.

Justin Sujansky added a 40-yard field goal with 7:55 left.

Syracuse had opened with losses to two top-10 teams--Georgia Tech and Tennessee.

Alabama 31, Arkansas 10--Reggie Myles and Thurman Ward scored defensive touchdowns and Tyler Watts threw a 39-yard scoring pass for the Crimson Tide at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

In a battle of the SEC’s lowest-scoring offenses, the Crimson Tide (2-1, 2-0) had seven sacks and converted three turnovers into touchdowns.

Arkansas (1-2, 0-2), which had won three of the last four meetings, outgained Alabama, 315-249, but had three quarterbacks struggle to put points on the board.

Vanderbilt 28, Richmond 22--Greg Zolman threw two touchdown passes and Lew Thomas ran for two scores as the Commodores won at Nashville, Tenn., for their first home victory since Sept. 23, 2000.

Richmond (0-2), which had not played since losing to Virginia, 17-16, on Sept. 1, built a 16-7 first-half lead, but could not hold on.

Vanderbilt (1-2) trailed, 16-14, at halftime, but two one-yard touchdown runs by Thomas in the third quarter put the Commodores in front for good.