SEC FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Late field goal helps Wisconsin upset LSU

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The first act of Leonard Fournette’s Heisman Trophy campaign was upstaged by a place-kicker.

Wisconsin’s Rafael Gaglianone made three field goals, including a game-winning 47-yarder with less than four minutes to play, as unranked Wisconsin upset Fournette and No. 5 LSU 16-14 on Saturday afternoon at Lambeau Field.

Gaglianone’s last kick was the difference after the Tigers’ defense quickly turned a 13-0 deficit into a 14-13 LSU lead in the third quarter.

LSU moved into field-goal range after the last field goal, but D’Cota Dixon intercepted Brandon Harris’ pass at the Badgers 25 with 35 seconds left.

Fournette overcame a slow start to finish with 138 yards on 23 carries. But he never reached the end zone as the LSU offense scored just seven points.

Wisconsin had a 13-0 lead and a firm grip on the game before things changed midway through the third quarter.

LSU’s Tre’Davious White intercepted a Bart Houston pass and returned the ball 21 yards for a touchdown to make it 13-7.

Moments later White picked up a Badgers fumble at the Wisconsin 41. Two plays later Harris threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Travin Dural and the Tigers had a 14-13 lead with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

On its first possession of the third quarter, Wisconsin rolled right down the field and Corey Clement ran 5 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead.

Wisconsin had taken a 3-0 lead on a 30-yard field goal by Gaglianone with 4:13 left in the second quarter.

After Fournette was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 from near midfield just before halftime, the Badgers doubled their lead as Gaglianone kicked a 48-yarder with 54 seconds left.

Wisconsin dominated the first-half statistics. The Badgers ran 42 plays and the Tigers ran 21. The Badgers gained 180 yards and the Tigers 64. The Badgers possesses the ball for 21 minutes 52 seconds and the Tigers had it for 8:08.

Texas A&M 31, No. 16 UCLA 24 (OT)

Trevor Knight threw for 239 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores, including one in overtime to lead Texas A&M to a victory over UCLA in his debut with the Aggies.

The Aggies had a fourth-and-1 from the 1 in overtime when Knight waltzed into the end zone untouched for the score in the opener for both teams.

Texas A&M sealed the victory when Justin Evans knocked down Josh Rosen’s pass at the goal line on fourth down.

Knight, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma, outplayed Rosen.

Rosen threw three interceptions while working under heavy pressure from a defense led by Myles Garrett.

South Alabama 21, Mississippi State 20

Sophomore quarterback Dallas Davis threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Gerald Everett with 57 seconds remaining as South Alabama rallied to upset Mississippi State in nonconference play at Starkville, Miss.

The fourth-down pass completion culminated the Jaguars’ comeback from a 17-0 halftime deficit. The win was secured when Mississippi State junior Westin Graves missed a 28-yard field-goal attempt by hitting the left upright with six seconds remaining.

Davis passed for 285 yards and two touchdowns as South Alabama (1-0) defeated an SEC team for the first time in school history. Josh Magee had seven receptions for 111 yards.

Junior quarterback Damian Williams passed for 143 yards and rushed for 93 yards as Mississippi State (0-1) attempts to replace departed standout Dak Prescott. The Bulldogs had possession of the ball for nearly 13 1/2 fewer minutes than South Alabama.

West Virginia 26, Missouri 11

Quarterback Skyler Howard returned from a first-half injury scare and West Virginia’s rebuilt defense proved resilient until the final two minutes in a win over Missouri.

Justin Crawford ran for 101 yards and a score, Rushel Shell ripped off a 23-yard touchdown and Mike Molina was 4-for-4 on field goals in place of suspended All-Big 12 kicker Josh Lambert to spoil Barry Odom’s debut as Tigers coach.

Howard completed 23-of-35 passes for 253 yards with an interception and failed to throw a touchdown for only the second time in 16 career starts. Daikiel Shorts caught eight passes for a career-best 13 yards.

Missouri (0-1), among the worst FBS offenses last season, posted 462 yards but couldn’t finish its chances under new coordinator Josh Heupel.

Arkansas 21, Louisiana Tech 20

Arkansas junior quarterback Austin Allen connected with senior tight end Jeremy Sprinkle for a 4-yard touchdown on a late fourth-and-goal play, and the Razorbacks’ defense came up with a series of big plays late to slip past Louisiana Tech at Fayetteville, Ark.

A pair of third-quarter field goals gave Louisiana Tech (0-1) a 20-14 lead against the heavily-favored Razorbacks. But Arkansas (1-0) took the lead for good when it put together the 13-play, 77-yard drive capped by Allen’s connection with Sprinkle in the back corner of the end zone with 6:37 remaining.

No. 25 Florida 24, Massachusetts 7

Quarterback Luke Del Rio threw two touchdowns in his Florida debut, and the No. 25 Gators relied on their defense to survive a scare from Massachusetts in the victory on the newly-named Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Del Rio, a sophomore and the son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway in the first quarter. He then sealed the Gators’ 27th straight season-opening win by leading three four-quarter scoring drives.

Brandon Powell caught seven passes for 73 yards and turned a quick sideline hitch into a 26-yard touchdown to put Florida up 21-7 with eight minutes to play. Del Rio, who was making his first career college start after spending time at Oregon State and Alabama, completed 29 of 44 passes for 256 yards and the two touchdowns.

The Gators put relentless pressure on UMass quarterback Ross Comis and limited the Minutemen’s rushing attack to 46 yards on 35 carries, an average of 1.3 yards per rush. The UMass scored points came on Comis’ 5-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter.

Southern Mississippi 44, Kentucky 35

Quarterback Nick Mullens threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more, and running back Ito Smith rushed for a career-high 173 yards and a touchdown as Southern Miss scored the final 34 points to upset Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.

Mullens was 18 of 28 for 258 yards and overcame three first-half interceptions as the Golden Eagles (1-0) scored on seven straight possessions en route to snapping a 13-game losing streak versus SEC foes. Southern Miss running back George Payne ran for 100 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Drew Barker was 15 of 24 for 323 yards and four touchdown passes — including two to wide receiver Garrett Johnson — for the Wildcats (0-1), who fell to 21-3 against Conference USA after leading 35-10 late in the first half. Barker, who was intercepted once, threw for 36 yards in the second half.

Johnson finished with 163 receiving yards while cornerback J.D. Harmon intercepted two passes for Kentucky.

The Wildcats seemed to take control with a series of big plays. Wide receiver Jeff Badet caught a screen pass near the line of scrimmage and raced 72 yards for a touchdown and Barker connected with Johnson for a 43-yard score 2:06 later.

Wide receiver Kayaune Ross’ 9-yard touchdown catch on third-and-goal gave Kentucky a 21-7 lead after one quarter and came seven plays after a spectacular one-handed interception by Harmon.

Barker and Johnson hooked up again, this time for 53 yards to put the Wildcats on top 28-7 in the second quarter.

Mullens and wide receiver Isaiah Jones combined for a 71-yard score with 26 seconds left in the first half and Mullens called his own number for a 1-yard score on the opening drive of the second half to trim the deficit to 35-24.

The Golden Eagles got to within 35-31 when Mullens found tight end Julian Allen in the corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. Mullen scored the go-ahead touchdown on another keeper from the 1 on fourth down with 1:01 left in the third.

Parker Shaunfield salted the game away with two field goals — a 49-yarder with 10:30 remaining and a 25-yarder with 2:24 left.