Seven days ago, Florida was the toast of the Southeast. By Saturday evening, the Gators were the latest proof that nothing lasts long in the SEC.
No. 25 Missouri flattened No. 8 Florida 45-17 in Columbia, one week after the Gators routed then-No. 4 Ole Miss in the Swamp. Mississippi State, unbeaten and ranked No. 16, got the same rude treatment at home from No. 7 Alabama, 56-23. Meanwhile, No. 4 Miami walked into Memorial Stadium and beat Clemson 41-13 to take sole possession of first place in the ACC.
The new Associated Press poll, released Sunday afternoon, reflected the chaos. Missouri vaulted 11 spots to No. 14, Florida slid eight places to No. 16 and Alabama moved up to No. 6. The top five held: Texas, idle this week, stayed No. 1, followed by Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State. The SEC now has nine ranked teams. And next Saturday, Georgia visits Alabama in a matchup of unbeatens.
No. 25 Missouri 45, No. 8 Florida 17
Missouri made Florida one-dimensional, then ran away from it. Austin Simmons completed 23 of 30 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamal Roberts ran for 211 yards and three scores, including an 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Cayden Lee caught eight passes for 110 yards as the Tigers piled up 560 yards of offense.
After a 10-10 tie late in the first half, Missouri scored 35 straight points. The bigger story was what the Tigers did to Jadan Baugh. The Gators' Heisman-hopeful running back, who entered with 11 rushing touchdowns, finished with 13 yards on 12 carries. Florida, which had been averaging 532.8 yards per game, managed 325.
The win snapped Missouri's nine-game losing streak against ranked opponents. Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) falls to No. 16; Missouri (4-1, 1-1) climbs to No. 14.
No. 7 Alabama 56, No. 16 Mississippi State 23
In a meeting of previously unbeaten teams in Starkville, Alabama never let it get interesting. Keelon Russell threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another, and Rico Scott caught two touchdown passes. The Tide held the Bulldogs to 18 rushing yards and forced four turnovers.
Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor left with an undisclosed injury in the second half, and the Bulldogs have now lost 17 straight to Alabama. The Tide (5-0, 3-0 SEC) are 5-0 for the first time under Kalen DeBoer and moved up to No. 6. Mississippi State (4-1) slipped one spot, to No. 17.
No. 2 Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 14
Georgia took a while to wake up on Homecoming. Vanderbilt tied the game 7-7 on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Blaze Berlowitz to Junior Sherrill and trailed only 21-14 at halftime. The Bulldogs then shut the Commodores out in the second half, holding them to 61 yards after the break.
Gunner Stockton completed 25 of 32 passes for a season-high 295 yards and three touchdowns, and Dwight Phillips Jr. had five catches for 75 yards and a score. Vanderbilt played without freshman quarterback Jared Curtis, who was scratched before the game with an undisclosed injury. Georgia (5-0, 3-0) has won every game by at least 24 points.
No. 4 Miami 41, Clemson 13
Miami hadn't won at Clemson since 2010. It never trailed Saturday night. Darian Mensah hit Cooper Barkate on a tunnel screen for a touchdown on the Hurricanes' second snap, later scored on a 34-yard run and finished 18 of 27 for 227 yards. Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for two touchdowns, and JJ Dunnigan closed the scoring with a 39-yard interception return.
The Hurricanes sacked freshman Tait Reynolds six times, five of them in the first half, and outrushed Clemson 192-55. Reynolds threw for a career-high 295 yards but no touchdowns. Miami (5-0, 3-0 ACC) is alone atop the league.
No. 17 Tennessee 24, Auburn 14
Tennessee trailed 7-3 at halftime after Josh Heupel benched freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, who was 3-for-8 for no yards and an interception. Then the Vols handed the game to DeSean Bishop. The former walk-on from Knoxville ran 34 times for a career-high 220 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including scoring runs of 25 and 44 yards on back-to-back snaps in the third quarter.
Auburn's Byrum Brown threw for 159 yards and ran for 107 but was intercepted twice. It was Tennessee's first home win over Auburn since 1999. The Vols (4-1) moved up to No. 15.
No. 24 Kentucky 35, South Carolina 34 (OT)
Kentucky trailed 17-0 in the second quarter and still found a way. After LaNorris Sellers put South Carolina back on top in overtime with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Brown II, Kenny Minchey answered with a 6-yard scoring pass to Henry Boyer. Kentucky went for two and won it when Minchey found Willie Rodriguez in the back of the end zone. It was the largest road comeback in program history.
Minchey threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Sellers passed for 226 yards and two scores and ran for 147. The Gamecocks (2-3, 0-3 SEC) have lost eight straight SEC games. Despite the win, Kentucky (4-1, 2-1) dropped out of the AP Top 25.
Around the Southeast
No. 11 LSU 63, McNeese 14: Sam Leavitt threw three touchdown passes in a half's work, and Harlem Berry ran for 125 yards as the Tigers piled up 731 yards. LSU rose to No. 10.
Florida State 38, Virginia 7: Ashton Daniels ran for five touchdowns, a record for a Florida State quarterback, including an 81-yarder. The Seminoles (3-2, 1-1 ACC) recorded 10 sacks and held Virginia to 37 rushing yards.
NC State 31, Louisville 28: CJ Bailey threw for a career-high 373 yards and two touchdowns, and Popo Aguirre recovered three fumbles as the Wolfpack forced four. Kanoah Vinesett's third field goal broke a 28-28 tie in the fourth quarter.
No. 3 Notre Dame 37, North Carolina 26: CJ Carr threw four touchdown passes and ran for another in a rainy Chapel Hill. Carolina fell to 2-2.
No. 20 Houston 27, UCF 17: UCF led 17-0 before Conner Weigman ran for three second-half touchdowns to rally the Cougars.
Wake Forest 57, Stanford 3: Gio Lopez accounted for five touchdowns, and the 54-point margin was a program record for the Demon Deacons in an ACC game.
Pittsburgh 35, Virginia Tech 33 (Friday): The Hokies' John Love missed a 36-yard field goal as time expired, wasting a career-high 434 passing yards from Ethan Grunkemeyer. Pitt (5-0) entered the AP poll at No. 25.
Temple 17, South Florida 13: USF, the American's lone unbeaten, lost for the first time when Temple quarterback Ajani Sheppard broke a 34-yard touchdown run with 3:08 left.
Ole Miss and Georgia Tech were idle.
Around the Top 25
No. 5 Ohio State 31, No. 14 Iowa 14: Jeremiah Smith had 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns and broke Ohio State's career records for receiving touchdowns and receptions. Iowa fell to No. 20.
No. 6 Indiana 47, Rutgers 15: Josh Hoover threw four touchdown passes and Turbo Richard ran for a career-high 204 yards as the Hoosiers stretched the nation's longest winning streak to 21. Indiana slipped one spot to No. 7.
No. 10 BYU 17, TCU 10: Bear Bachmeier ran for both BYU touchdowns, but star running back LJ Martin left in the first quarter with a right leg injury. The Cougars moved up to No. 8.
No. 12 Texas Tech 29, Colorado 7: Down 7-3 at halftime, the Red Raiders intercepted Colorado on all three of its third-quarter drives and added a defensive touchdown when John Curry picked off a pass in the end zone.
No. 18 USC 25, Washington 21: The Trojans rallied from 21-10 down, then stopped Washington's final drive in the red zone.
Looking Ahead
The schedule gets heavy fast. No. 2 Georgia visits No. 6 Alabama on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET), and one of the SEC's last three unbeatens will lose. No. 1 Texas returns from its bye for the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma in Dallas (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). No. 10 LSU visits Kentucky, South Carolina goes to No. 16 Florida, and No. 9 Ole Miss comes off its bye at Vanderbilt. In the ACC, Florida State plays at Louisville on Friday, Wake Forest visits NC State, and No. 25 Pitt hosts North Carolina. USF plays at UTSA on Thursday night.