NO. 25 FLORIDA 38, NO. 3 MISSISSIPPI 10
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Will Grier was sick all right.
He was downright nasty.
Grier threw four touchdown passes, all in the first half, and No. 25 Florida upset third-ranked Mississippi 38-10 on Saturday night to give Coach Jim McElwain a signature victory in his first season in Gainesville.
“You don’t downplay it,” McElwain said. “That was a good football team we beat. That was really a good football team, and our guys took it to them.”
Grier was one of more than 20 players who battled a stomach virus during the week. Grier was feeling so ill Thursday and Friday that the Gators (5- 0, 3-0 SEC) considered giving Treon Harris the nod. Grier made enough progress to start and was sharper than ever.
The freshman completed 24 of 29 passes for 271 yards against the Rebels (4-1, 2-1). He was poised in the pocket, precise with every throw and even closer to perfect than he was down the stretch against Tennessee last week.
Grier’s start was the difference in the latest victory for Florida (5-0, 3-0). His impressive first half gave him six touchdown passes in a span of three quarters.
With All-American Robert Nkemdiche draped all over him, Grier found Demarcus Robinson on a 36-yard scoring play in the first quarter. He hooked up with Jake McGee for a 2-yard touchdown strike a few minutes later.
Grier added two more touchdown passes in the second quarter, beating a thirddown blitz with a quick slant to Brandon Powell. Powell slipped a tackle and outran two defenders down the sideline for a 77-yarder. Grier added a 15-yarder to Antonio Callaway with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
Grier got plenty of help.
Florida’s defense dominated the line of scrimmage. Chad Kelly was pressured early and often, burned timeouts because of crowd noise and confusion, and took a beating when he scrambled.
“They beat us in every facet of the game,” Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said.
Kelly finished 26 of 40 for 259 yards with 4 sacks, 2 fumbles and 1 interception.
NO. 9 LSU 44, E. MICHIGAN 22
BATON ROUGE, La. — Leonard Fournette highlighted his third consecutive 200-yard game with a 75-yard touchdown run, and LSU beat Eastern Michigan.
Fournette had 233 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 carries to remain among the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy. He also became the first player in the SEC to rush for 200-plus yards in three consecutive games. But some might have expected even more from the 6-foot-1, 230-pound sophomore against the Eagles (1-4), who came in allowing a nation’s-worst 373.2 yards rushing per game.
The Eagles stacked their defense to stop the run, but the Tigers (4-0) struggled to cash in through the air. LSU quarterback Brandon Harris was 4 of 15 for 80 yards with 1 interception.
Sports on 10/04/2015