ATHENS, Ga. — Blair Walsh kicked a 37-yard field goal on the final play and No. 21 Georgia escaped an upset, beating Arizona State 20-17 Saturday on another big night for A.J. Green.
Green caught eight passes for 153 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown in the first quarter that sparked Georgia to a 14-3 lead. After the Sun Devils rallied, the sophomore receiver played a little defense - getting his left elbow on Bobby Wenzig's 38-yard field goal attempt that could have put the Sun Devils ahead with 4:21 remaining.
Green, who had a career-best 159 yards receiving against Arizona State a year ago, came up with a 36-yard grab for his final reception of the nigh that set up Walsh's winning field goal.
Georgia (3-1) barely held up its end of next week's SEC showdown against No. 7 LSU, which had survived an upset bid of its own earlier in the day to beat Mississippi State 30-26.
A driving rain that swept through Athens before the game had moved out by the second half, so that couldn't be blamed for Georgia allowing Arizona State to get back in the game.
The Bulldogs committed three turnovers after halftime, two of which led to touchdowns for Arizona State (2-1). The Sun Devils led 17-14 heading to the fourth quarter after Jarrell Holman returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown.
Joe Cox, coming off a five-touchdown performance the previous week against Arkansas, threw another interception with 5 1 /2 minutes remaining to put the Sun Devils at the Georgia 20 with the score tied at 17.
The Sun Devils failed to move the ball, calling on Wenzig to attempt a go-ahead kick.The freshman handled the duties because of an injury to regular kicker Thomas Weber, who is expected to miss five or six games with a groin ailment.
Wenzig made his first attempt, a 43-yarder in the opening quarter, but he got off a low kick with the game hanging in the balance. The 6-4 Green leaped up and felt it strike his elbow, the ball fluttering harmlessly into the end zone, far short of the goal posts.
TENNESSEE 34, OHIO 23
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Jonathan Crompton threw for two touchdowns as Tennessee (2-2) turned to its unsteady passing game to beat Ohio (2-2).
Crompton threw a 26-yard screen pass to Bryce Brown to give the Vols a 31-20 lead with 2:38 in the third quarter and lobbed a 3-yard scoring strike to Brandon Warren at the end of the first.
With a stable of tough running backs, the Vols relied on their strong running game in their first three games to protect the turnover-prone passing game.Against the Bobcats, they rushed for 177 yards while Crompton completed 17 of 34 passes for 222 yards.
Crompton threw his eighth interception of the season to Noah Keller, who returned it 10 yards to the Tennessee 30. Theo Scott connected with LaVon Brazill on a 2-yard touchdown pass four plays later, giving the Bobcats a 14-7 lead with 7:08 in the first quarter.
Scott finished 30 for 52. Brazill had 92 yards on 8 catches, and Taylor Price added 90 yards on 4 catches.
Chris Garrett took advantage of the Vols' poor special teams coverage and returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
VANDERBILT 36, RICE 17
HOUSTON - Vanderbilt (2-2) ran the ball 43 times for 216 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns to defeat Rice (0-4).
Warren Norman ran the ball 11 times for a game-high 119 yards and scored a 58-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to break open the game for the Commodores, who ended a two-game losing streak.
Kennard Reaves, John Cole and quarterback Larry Smith each scored on the ground for Vanderbilt.
Charles Ross had 7 carries for 63 yards and 1 touchdown for Rice.
John Thomas Shepherd was one of three quarterbacks who played for the Owls, who managed just 17 first downs and converted 3 of 18 on third-down plays in their home opener.
Shepherd completed 6 of 14 passes for 58 yards and 1 touchdown.
AUBURN 54, BALL STATE 30
AUBURN, Ala. - Chris Todd passed for 287 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes to lead Auburn (4-0) to victory over Ball State (0-4) in another rain-delayed game for the Tigers.
Auburn trailed 7-0 early, but rallied with an impressive offensive showing, gaining 487 yards in a game that was delayed for 30 minutes because of heavy rain and lightning.
It was the second week in a row that storms had delayed the start of an Auburn game. Last week's game against West Virginia was delayed for more than an hour by rain and lightning.
Todd's aerial show included touchdowns of 46 yards and 65 yards to Terrell Zachery in the second quarter. Zachery had five catches for 122 yards.
Onterio McCalebb rushed eight times for 86 yards for Auburn.
Kelly Page passed for 101 yards and one touchdown and ran for another to lead the Cardinals.
Sports, Pages 35 on 09/27/2009