No. 7 Texas Capitalizes on Arkansas’ Mistakes

Cedric Benson rushed for 188 yards and scored two touchdowns and No. 7 Texas took advantage of a late Arkansas fumble deep in Longhorn territory to hold off the Razorbacks, 22-20, on Saturday night at Fayetteville, Ark.

The Longhorns turned back the Razorbacks three times in the final 9:58 after Arkansas closed within two points at 22-20. Razorback quarterback Matt Jones gave up the crucial fumble and Texas recovered at the eight-yard line with three minutes left.

Jones’ desperation pass was intercepted on the final play.

Texas (2-0) earned long-term bragging rights in a border-state rivalry that dates to the days of the old Southwest Conference. The teams are off each others’ schedule after this season and no renewal has been planned.

Arkansas (1-1) gave Texas the margin of victory on the game’s first drive. Long snapper Brett Goode sailed the ball over Jacob Skinner’s head and out of the end zone for a safety, putting Texas ahead, 2-0, with less than 30 seconds gone.

Arkansas led at halftime, 17-16, but Texas scored on its first possession of the second half to make it 22-17.

Quarterback Vince Young, under pressure and with a Razorback hanging onto his jersey, found Benson with an outlet pass for a 13-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

No. 3 Georgia 20, South Carolina 16 -- David Greene struggled early but finished with 213 yards passing and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs (2-0) rallied from a 16-0 deficit and defeated the Gamecocks (1-1) in a conference opener at Columbia, S.C.

No. 6 Louisiana State 53, Arkansas State 3 -- The Tigers (2-0) tuned up for Saturday’s showdown at Auburn with a rout of the Indians (0-2) at Baton Rouge, La.

Louisiana State, which struggled to defeat Oregon State a week earlier, had no trouble with Arkansas State, rolling to a 50-3 lead after three quarters.

No. 11 Florida 49, Eastern Michigan 10 -- Chris Leak threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns as the Gators won their opener at Gainesville, Fla. The game was interrupted for 64 minutes midway through the second quarter because of lightning.

Leak completed 16 of 25 passes before being replaced by Galvin Dickey at the start of the fourth quarter. Eastern Michigan is 1-1.

No. 18 Auburn 43, Mississippi State 14 -- Carnell Williams ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns at Starkville, Miss., as the Tigers scored on three of their first four possessions and routed the Bulldogs (1-1) in a conference opener.

Auburn (2-0) won its fourth in a row in the series, the last three by an average of nearly 30 points, and handed Sylvester Croom his first loss as Mississippi State coach.

Alabama 28, Mississippi 7 -- Brodie Croyle threw two touchdown passes and Ray Hudson rushed for a career-high 116 yards and scored two touchdowns to lift the Crimson Tide (2-0) past the Rebels (0-2) in a conference opener at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Crimson Tide has won 21 of the last 22 meetings with the Rebels in Tuscaloosa and seven in a row.