SEC FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Peyton Barber paces Auburn to victory over San Jose State

AUBURN, Ala. — Its offense badly in need of a boost after consecutive losses, Auburn found it from sophomore running back Peyton Barber.

Rushing for all five of the Tigers’ touchdowns Saturday, Barber led them to a 35-21 non-conference win over San Jose State at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Barber scored on runs of 2, 2, 5, 1 and 36 yards, the last coming with 4:43 left in the game, and finished with 147 yards on 28 attempts. His last score enabled Auburn (3-2) to win despite losing the statistical battle.

With running back Tyler Ervin rolling up 164 yards and a score on 27 carries, San Jose State (2-3) maintained possession for nearly 34 minutes and collected 406 yards to Auburn’s 342. But the Spartans coughed the ball up four times, three coming in the first half, and the mistakes were too much to overcome.

Quarterback Joe Gray completed 21 of 33 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown for San Jose State while running for a score, but also tossed two interceptions.

Tigers quarterback Sean White tried just 10 passes, completing six for 108 yards.

Missouri 24, South Carolina 10

In a battle of true freshman quarterbacks, Drew Lock outmanaged Lorenzo Nunez as Missouri beat visiting South Carolina.

Lock, getting his first career start in place of suspended starter Maty Mauk, played a safe if unspectacular game, throwing for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 21 of 28 passing. Nunez, getting his second career start, threw interceptions on three consecutive third-quarter drives before leaving the game with a fourth-quarter shoulder injury.

It was the first game in SEC history with two true freshmen starting quarterbacks.

Missouri (4-1, 1-1 SEC) leaned on its ground game with running back Ish Witter carrying the ball 17 times for a career-high 98 yards and a touchdown. His 1-yard score in the third quarter pushed the 17-10 halftime lead to the 24-10 final. It was the Tigers’ first rushing touchdown by a running back this season.

South Carolina (2-3, 0-3) struggled to get its running game going for most of the game, finishing with 112 yards on 34 carries. It was the Gamecocks’ lowest rushing output of the season. Running backs David Williams and Shon Carson were held to 45 yards on 17 carries.