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SEC roundup
SEC Game of the Week
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No. 1 Florida State 30, No. 3 Florida 23 |
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A little bit of Warrick and Weinke, a little bit of Janikowski and a whole lot of Florida State defense has the top-ranked Seminoles poised to play for the national championship. Peter Warrick ran for one touchdown and set up another with a 38-yard catch, and Sebastian Janikowski kicked three field goals -- one from 54 yards -- as Florida State beat No. 3 Florida 30-23 on Saturday to complete its third perfect regular season.
The win essentially clinched a spot for coach Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles (11-0) in the Sugar Bowl, the site of the Bowl Championship Series' national title game. The Gators (9-2), who lost for just the fourth time at home in 10 years under coach Steve Spurrier, will play in the SEC title game on Dec. 4, needing a win to qualify for either the Orange or Fiesta bowls.
Chris Weinke, playing in his first national-title caliber game after missing last year's games against Florida and Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl, was 24-of-36 for 263 yards and a touchdown -- a 30-yarder to Marvin Minnis with 6:03 remaining that put the Seminoles ahead 30-16.
Florida State needed to pull out all stops against its bitter rival in a game that wasn't decided until the final play. With the Gators on the FSU 40, Jesse Palmer threw a desperation pass into the end zone, where a half-dozen players were waiting for the ball. It was tipped by several Florida State defenders and fell to the ground before Brian Haugabrook had a chance to grab it.
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Other SEC action
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No. 7 Tennessee 56, Kentucky 21 |
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Travis Henry ran for 179 yards and a career-high three touchdowns to lead the Volunteers' 15th straight win over their border-state rival, topping 50 points for the fourth year in a row. One week after a 28-24 loss at Arkansas ended their national title hopes, Tennessee (8-2, 5-2 SEC) returned to form against Kentucky (6-5, 4-4). Tennessee, ranked fifth in the Bowl Championship Series standings, strengthened its claim to one an at-large berth in the Fiesta or Orange bowl.
After Tennessee built a 27-0 lead in the first half, Kentucky scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to close the gap to 27-14 at halftime. But the Volunteers scored four second-half touchdowns to put the game away. |
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Clemson 31, South Carolina 21 |
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New coaches and an exciting finish couldn't change the same old story -- Clemson is back in a bowl and South Carolina is left looking for answers. Travis Zachery rushed for two touchdowns and Woody Dantzler threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Rod Gardner on 4th-and-10 with six minutes left as the Tigers handed Lou Holtz's South Carolina team its 11th defeat without a victory this season.
Clemson heads probably to the Peach Bowl, while South Carolina's national-longest losing streak will start next season at 21 games. |
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No. 21 Georgia 20, No. 16 Mississippi 17 |
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Quincy Carter threw for 349 yards and Hap Hines kicked four field goals as Georgia (7-3, 5-3, Southeastern Conference) controlled most of the game but
had to turn to Hines when they got close to the goal. His 48-yarder for the
winning points came with 5:24 left.
The Bulldogs rolled up 456 yards of offense to 316 for the Rebels (7-3, 4-3),
and had the ball nearly twice as long (39:36 to 20:24). Carter completed 26 of 41 passes. His one touchdown came on 4th-and-goal from the Ole Miss 3 when he hit Terrence Edwards for the score. Carter then threw a 2-point conversion pass to Michael Greer to tie the game at 17-all with
8:25 left to play.
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No. 8 Alabama 28, Auburn 17 |
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Shaun Alexander scored three touchdowns and ran for 182 yards -- 101 in the fourth
quarter -- as eighth-ranked Alabama stormed back over rival Auburn. The win gave Alabama (9-2, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) the SEC West title and sent the Crimson Tide back to the league championship game -- against Florida -- for the first time in three years.
It also was Alabama's first-ever win at Auburn, where the Tide had lost its
previous four games. The loss assured Auburn (5-6, 2-6) of consecutive losing seasons for the first
time since 1980-81.
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No. 22 Arkansas 14, No. 12 Mississippi State 9 |
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Clint Stoerner completed 7-of-10 passes on one touchdown drive and threw a 33-yard pass to Anthony Lucas to set up a second TD as Arkansas handled Mississippi State.
Matt Wyatt guided Mississippi State (8-2, 5-2 SEC) to the Arkansas 18 with 20 seconds to play, but Wyatt misfired on second down, Carlos Hall hit the quarterback's arm on third down, and Orlando Green defended perfectly on a pass to C.J. Sirmones. Arkansas (7-3, 4-3 SEC) remained in the running for the Cotton Bowl by winning for the fifth time in its last six games, including 28-24 over
Tennessee a week ago.
Stoerner passed for 62 yards on Arkansas' first touchdown drive, including a 9-yarder to Emmanuel Smith for the score with 21 seconds left in the half. Smith caught five passes on the 71-yard drive. Stoerner's pass to Lucas came three plays before Cedric Cobbs hurtled into the end zone from the 3 for a 14-6 lead.
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