Georgia survives thriller

Associated Press

Wade Payne / AP

Tennessee running back Montario Hardesty was tackled by UCLA's Datone Jones during the second half on Saturday.

Rennie Curran broke up a fourth-down pass at the goal line and No. 21 Georgia held off South Carolina 41-37 in a wild game Saturday night in Athens, Ga.

The nearly four-hour contest wasn't decided until Curran, a linebacker, batted down Stephen Garcia's final throw on a fourth-and-4 play at the Georgia 7 with 27 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs (1-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) avoided their first 0-2 start since 1996. South Carolina (1-1, 0-1) was hurt by a blocked extra point after its final touchdown, which prevented the Gamecocks from going for a tying field goal.

The game had a little of everything. Georgia's Brandon Boykin set a school record with a 100-yard kickoff return. South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood returned an interception 35 yards for a TD. There was even an errant snap on a punt attempt by the Bulldogs, the ball rolling through the end zone for a safety.

UCLA 19, Tennessee 15: UCLA stopped Tennessee's Montario Hardesty on fourth-and-2 in the closing minutes, and the visiting Bruins made it two in a row against the Volunteers with a victory.

"We will be a better offense," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "But given the way our offense was playing, I thought it was better to put it in (the defense's) hands."

Trailing by 6, the Vols (1-1) had a chance to take the lead after driving 52 yards, but UCLA (2-0) held fast and Lane Kiffin lost for the first time as Tennessee coach.

The Vols' defense had been battering the Bruins' offense for much of the day. UCLA had only 186 yards of offense compared to Tennessee's 208.

After Hardesty was stopped, Tennessee got a safety when Dennis Rogan sacked UCLA's Kevin Prince.

But an inept Jonathan Crompton couldn't do anything with the last-minute opportunity after getting the ball back, taking a sack and throwing three incomplete passes. Crompton completed 13 of 26 passes for 93 yards in the game. He also threw three interceptions. Hardesty finished with 89 yards rushing.

Prince finished 11-for-23 for 101 yards and the one touchdown.

No. 11 Louisiana St. 23, Vanderbilt 9: Keiland Williams rushed for 72 yards and LSU's only two touchdowns in a rain-soaked win. The Commodores (1-1, 0-1 SEC) trailed by only one touchdown midway through the fourth quarter as they attempted to win in Tiger Stadium for the first time since 1951.

LSU (2-0, 1-0) pushed it to 23-9 with 6:01 to go after Williams' second touchdown. He slipped a tackle at the line of scrimmage, cut back, then faked a defender before hurdling over him and into the end zone for the 14-yard score.

Larry Smith scored Vanderbilt's only touchdown on a 6-yard quarterback keeper in the first half. Vanderbilt freshman Zac Stacy rushed for 89 yards.

Auburn 49, Mississippi St. 24: Kodi Burns had three 1-yard touchdown runs and threw for another in host Auburn's win Saturday night.

Ben Tate ran for 159 yards and Onterio McCalebb got 120 yards, becoming the first Auburn freshman to run for more than 100 in his first two games.

Burns, the Tigers' former starting QB, took snaps from the Wildcat formation on all four TDs he had a hand in, including the 13-yard pass to Philip Lutzenkirchen.

Anthony Dixon carried 20 times for 92 yards and a score for Mississippi State (1-1, 0-1) after sitting out a game following a DUI arrest.

Darvin Adams caught five passes for 116 yards, all in the first half for Auburn (2-0, 1-0).

No. 4 Alabama 40, Florida International 14: Greg McElroy completed a school-record 14 straight passes, freshman Trent Richardson rushed for a pair of second-half touchdowns and Alabama pulled away for a victory at home..

The Crimson Tide (2-0) couldn't shake the 33-point underdog Golden Panthers (0-1) until Richardson scored from 9 and 35 yards in the final 19 minutes. Terry Grant added a 42-yard TD run.

Richardson finised with 118 yards on 15 carries in the first significant action for one of the team's top recruits.

McElroy completed 18 of 24 passes for 241 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown to Mike McCoy.

No. 1 Florida 56, Troy 6: Tim Tebow threw four touchdown passes, ran for another score and host Florida beat Troy in its final tuneup before beginning Southeastern Conference play.

"We're thinking about Tennessee right now," linebacker Ryan Stamper conceded.

But Florida (2-0) looked plenty prepared Saturday and tied a school record with its 12th consecutive victory.

Although the Gators started slow — they punted twice and fumbled twice in the first five possessions — once Tebow & Co. got on track in the rain, the Trojans (0-2) could hardly stop them. Florida scored 28 unanswered points in a 7½ -minute span in the second quarter to turn a close game into a rout.

Tebow completed 15 of 24 passes for 237 yards and equaled his career high with four TD passes. He also ran 13 times for 71 yards. Jeff Demps ran for 87 yards and a touchdown. Chris Rainey added 85 yards on the ground and a score.