FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral entered Saturday’s game against Arkansas with just one interception. He left with six more.
The Razorbacks scored 24 points off seven Ole Miss turnovers and won a second Southeastern Conference game for the first time since 2016, beating the Rebels, 33-21.
The Arkansas (2-2, 2-2) defense flustered Corral, who entered the game second in the SEC in passing efficiency and yards passing.
The Razorback took advantage early, pitching a 20-0 shutout behind three Ole Miss giveaways at halftime.
Ole Miss didn’t punt in the second half, with each of its eight series ending in either a turnover, on downs, or a touchdown. Two of the three second-half touchdowns resulted in the Rebels pulling within a touchdown, but the interceptions resulted in the finish.
Clark, a walk-on cornerback, was a surprise name on the depth chart last week at Auburn. Against the Rebels, he found himself a surprise starter.
“Well, they’ve heard of him now. Three times at least,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said.
The three first-half turnovers weren’t the only Ole Miss (1-3, 1-3) issue. Twice the Rebels were stopped at the 1 on fourth down. The first time came on a fumble, the second an old-fashioned stuffing.
Throw in the interceptions and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s demeanor after the game was expected.
“Had we not screwed all that up early, we’re up by three or four scores,” Kiffin said. “You can’t turn the ball over like that and expect to win.”
Kiffin stuck with Corral and the sophomore nearly led a comeback. Corral threw for 200 yards and two scores, which came late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to pull within 20-14.
But Arkansas’ sophomore Treylon Burks answered on the ensuing drive. Burks, who missed last week’s game at Auburn, caught a one-handed touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone. He managed to place one foot inside the end zone before falling out of bounds.
Burks finished with 11 catches for 137 yards and added another 46 yards rushing on four carries. Feleipe Franks was 21-of-34 passing for 244 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Arkansas.
“The drive when it was 20-14 was huge,” Pittman said. “Treylon, what a great catch he had in the corner. What a wonderful catch, an outstanding catch he made. That drive was huge.”
But the giveaways were too much. After forcing an Arkansas punt, Corral threw his fifth interception and Grant Morgan’s 23-yard pick-6 with 3:07 left provided the game’s final points.
“No excuses for a performance like that at all,” Corral said. “With a performance like that, you’re supposed to lose the game. That’s what happened.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Arkansas has won two SEC games for the first time since 2016. The Razorbacks six interceptions were their most since 2003 when they had six against Mississippi State.
Ole Miss sits at the bottom of the SEC West and has given up the most points in the conference.
FEELING GOOD
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman was full of smiles after the game. The Razorbacks hadn’t won an SEC game the last two seasons and only won one the year before that. But he was on the Arkansas staff during the first years of the Bret Bielema era when the Razorbacks went to three straight bowl games.
HE SAID IT
“Look, there’s not really any pressure on us,” Pittman said. “The expectations weren’t high outside the building. … I don’t know as much about what happened over the last three years here. I knew this was Arkansas and this is where the University of Arkansas is supposed to be on the football field.”
UP NEXT
Arkansas has a bye next week before playing on Halloween at No. 11 Texas A&M for the first time since 2012. The teams had played their games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since.
Ole Miss returns home on Saturday to face No. 15 Auburn.
SOUTH CAROLINA 30, AUBURN 22
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn was tired of hearing he didn’t have the ball skills to be a truly exceptional cornerback.
His play against No. 15 Auburn proved he did — and led the Gamecocks to a breakthrough win over the Tigers on Saturday.
Horn had the first two interceptions of his career and his pass break up led to a third — all which South Carolina turned into touchdowns — for a 30-22 victory that was its first win over Auburn in 87 years.
Horn is a junior who’s been a lockdown corner most of his career.
“If a team throws at him like that every game, he’ll have a game like that every game,” Gamecocks receiver Shi Smith said of Horn, the son of NFL receiver Joe Horn.
“I heard a lot of people saying I (don’t) have any ball skills, which is crazy to me,” Horn said. “I just knew the day would come when I’d have a lot of opportunities to make plays.”
South Carolina made plenty of them throughout to beat Auburn for the first time in 87 years.
Kevin Harris ran for two touchdowns, Smith added a 10-yard TD catch and Horn and the defense did enough to stop Bo Nix and the Tigers’ attack.
Auburn (2-2) had won eight straight in the series and jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes. But Nix, the sophomore quarterback, threw three picks and the Gamecocks (2-2) cashed in each time to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a year.
Smith had eight catches including his score midway through the third quarter that put South Carolina ahead for good, 20-19.
Auburn was driving on its following series when Nix threw his third interception — and second to c Horn who brought the ball down the left sidelines to the Tigers’ 8. Harris was in the end zone a play later for a 27-19 lead and Auburn could not recover.
The Tigers closed to 30-22 on Anders Carlson’s 22 yard field goal with 6:39 left. Auburn got the ball back once more with 2:15 left and drove to the South Carolina 13. Nix, though, was called for intentional grounding trying to avoid a sack and the Gamecocks held on to beat the Tigers for the first time since 1933.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said his team will have to get past this quickly. “We’re just going to have to be big boys and we’re going to have to man up and put it behind us and go into next week and find a way to win,” he said.
Auburn’s offense looked unstoppable the first half and doubled up South Carolina in yardage (243-119) the first 30 minutes — except when Nix put the ball in danger.
Nix had 272 yards passing and was sacked three times.
Bigsby, the Auburn freshman, had 111 yards rushing and went past the century mark for a second straight game.
Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe said the next week was critical for his team.
“We’re just going to stay together,” Pappoe said.
THE TAKEAWAY
Auburn: The Tigers have some offensive issues. Nix had thrown only one interception on the season before his three here. And Nix and receiver Williams looked to have some feisty words on the sidelines in the third quarter. Teammate Eli Stove said the two “love each other,” but things like that happen at times. “People want to win. It’s a competition. Seth’s trying to tell Bo something about what the DB’s doing, and Bo is trying to tell him what he saw,” Stove said.
South Carolina: If the Gamecocks felt good about defeating Vanderbilt last week, they’ll be absolutely giddy with this ranked win before heading to LSU to face the defending — and struggling — national champions next week. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo yelled “Yes, sir!” as he left the press box area for the locker room.
HELP UP FRONT
The Gamecocks got a boost from defensive tackle Kier Thomas, a senior, returning to the lineup after not traveling to the Vanderbilt game due to COVID-19 issues. Thomas had two of the three sacks on Nix, including the one late where Nix was called for intentional grounding.
PROBLEMS FOR CHAD
It has not been a fun experience for Auburn offensive coordinator Chad Morris at Williams-Brice Stadium. Morris lost twice at South Carolina while he held the same job at Clemson, then was defeated in this one. Two of the three games, his offense had outgained the Gamecocks, including Saturday when Auburn had 481 yards to just 295 for South Carolina.
UP NEXT
Auburn is at Ole Miss on Saturday.
South Carolina goes to LSU on Saturday night.
KENTUCKY 34, TENNESSEE 7
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two years ago, Kentucky was playing well before being shut down at Neyland Stadium by a Tennessee team with a losing record.
Wildcats coach Mark Stoops was convinced something had to change.
What he did in 2020 was build a detour into his team’s three-hour bus ride Friday from Lexington to Knoxville. A small change, but worth a try to snap a 17-game losing streak at Tennessee.
Mission accomplished: The Wildcats beat the 18th-ranked Volunteers 34-7 on Saturday.
“Two years ago, we didn’t come out and play well at the start of the game,” Stoops said. “Stopping at the University of the Cumberlands broke up our (travel) day. ”
The University of the Cumberlands is a small, private college about an hour north of Knoxville in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and a couple blocks off Interstate 75.
“(Stopping Friday) helped us get our legs under ourselves,” said Wildcats linebacker Jamin Davis, who had an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown. “It was definitely worth it.”
Kelvin Joseph also returned an interceptions for a touchdown in the first half and Kentucky shut out Tennessee in the second half.
It was Kentucky’s first win in Neyland Stadium since 1984, the Wildcats’ largest margin of victory in Knoxville since 56-0 in 1893 and their most lopsided victory in the series since 1935.
“I don’t like our team inheriting 20, 30 years of history that’s not on these guys. We’re responsible for what we’ve done lately,” Stoops said. “Two years ago, I didn’t like how I had them ready to play and we altered that, got some things fixed and played much better. That’s on me as much as it is on the team.”
After getting six interceptions and allowing only a safety against Mississippi State last week, Kentucky (2-2) picked off three passes against the Vols (2-2).
“This game was definitely personal for us,” Davis said. “We came out and put our foot on their necks. We’re tired of leaving here empty-handed.”
Tennessee has now followed up an eight-game winning streak with a two-game losing streak.
Joseph’s 41-yard touchdown and Davis’ 85-yard return — both off interceptions thrown by Jarrett Guarantano — helped put Kentucky up 17-0 in the second quarter.
With about 5 minutes left in the third quarter and trailing by 20, Tennessee went three-and-out for a second consecutive possession and was showered with boos from the sparse crowd of 22,519.
All-America offensive guard Trey Smith, the face of the Vols, defended his quarterback.
“Going forward, I don’t want to see any Guarantano slander,” he said. “I just don’t want to see it.
“We’ve just got to get better. At the end of the day, we’ve got to get better and we’ve got to execute better.”
Pruitt also used J.T. Shrout and freshman Harrison Bailey under center. Neither was effective.
Eric Gray, who rushed for 105 yards on 24 carries, was the only bright spot for Tennessee.
Earlier in the season, Kentucky had shown signs of having difficulty recovering from adversity. Against Ole Miss, a missed field goal was followed by 21 straight Ole Miss points and a 42-41 loss.
Kentucky seemed to solve that Saturday.
After falling behind 17-0 in the second quarter, Tennessee was able to grind out a 75-yard drive to cut the deficit to 10 at the half.
The Vols had the first possession of the third quarter, but went three-and-out. The Wildcats’ offense responded with a 76-yard march that ended in a 1-yard TD pass from Terry Wilson to Allen Dailey, Jr.
Chris Rodriguez had a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to stretch the Kentucky lead to 34-7.
Four Tennessee turnovers — three interceptions and a fumble — dictated the first half.
Wilson, who had also been getting some criticism, is now just the second Wildcats QB along with Derrick Ramsey to win in at Tennessee and Florida.
“That’s great company to be in,” said Wilson, who completed 12 of 15 passes for 101 yards and a TD. “That was one of the main things I wanted to do. I know a win like this means a lot to the state and the University of Kentucky.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Kentucky: The Wildcats’ 17 straight losses at Neyland was the longest such streak in major college football. Temple’s 15 straight losses at Penn State was No. 2.
Tennessee: Guarantano was benched after two picks and Shrout was intercepted on his first attempt by Tyrell Ajian. That pick was turned into a field goal and a 17-0 lead.
Guarantano’s performance off the bench in last year’s 17-13 win at Kentucky fueled his resurgence. That carried him through the final three games of last season and the start of this season.
But it’s apparent that Tennessee again has a questions at quarterback.
UP NEXT
Kentucky will face Missouri at home Saturday night after the SEC shuffled its schedule to make up a couple of postponed games.
Tennessee will entertain No. 2 Alabama Saturday.
TEXAS A&M 28, MISSISSIPPI STATE 14
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Texas A&M controlled the line of scrimmage and the clock.
Isaiah Spiller ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns and Kellen Mond threw for two scores to help the No. 11 Aggies beat Mississippi State 28-14 on Saturday.
“When you’re on the road, you’ve got to be able to control clock, control tempo, and you’ve got to run the football to do that,” Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said. “And we did at times today. The other part was running out the last five, six minutes of the game when we got the ball and we got down there and could have had a score. We didn’t, but eating that clock up and not giving it back, that was huge.”
Mississippi State (1-3) had little offensive rhythm for the third straight game. The Bulldogs’ first touchdown came on Emmanuel Forbes’ interception return in the third quarter.
“I thought we literally squandered the first half,” Bulldog coach Mike Leach said. “Right now we’re one team on Tuesday and Wednesday and another team on Saturday. We need to be able to transition that to the field. And if you think that’s frustrating for you, you should try it from my perspective.”
Leach benched starting quarterback KJ Costello midway through the second half for freshman Will Rogers, same as he did last week in a 24-2 loss at Kentucky. Rogers connected with Malik Heath for a 15-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, we were a bunch of pincushions out there,” Leach said. “And I think its mental on the part of our o-line, because we can block our own defensive line consistently in practice and A&M couldn’t even do that. So, it’s definitely mental.”
Texas A&M’s defense continually disrupted the line of scrimmage, finishing with six sacks and eight tackles for loss. Mississippi State had minus-2 yards rushing and just 217 yards of total offense.
“Day 1 we believed in the game plan,” tackle Jayden Peevy said. “We saw Kentucky come with a three-man front. We watched a lot of film against these guys. We saw (Kentucky) get a victory so we planned on it all week.”
CONTROLLING THE CLOCK
With just over 11 minutes left in the game, Heath’s touchdown put Mississippi State down just two scores. The Aggies went three-and-out on their next possession, but the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize and Texas A&M ran out the final five minutes by pounding the ball on the ground with eight straight rushes by Smith.
Texas A&M will look to move up in the Top 25 after the key Southeastern Conference road victory. The five teams immediately above the Aggies were all idle Saturday.
THE TAKEAWAY
The Aggies continue to put points on the board, scoring 28 or more points for the second straight week. Meanwhile, Leach’s maiden voyage in Starkville continues to take on water in a second straight home loss.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M is off next week before hosting Arkansas.
“Next week we have Arkansas,” offensive lineman Carson Green said. “They’re a hell of a team. That’s why people love watching the SEC. It can go either way every game. This year especially everybody is seeing that. A lot of unranked people are beating ranked people and switching the whole Top 25 all the time.”
Mississippi State also is off before hosting Alabama.
Photo credit – Michael Woods / Associated Press / Fayetteville, AR