STARKVILLE, Miss. – Thrilling nail-biters have become the norm for Mississippi State this season. But more importantly, so too have the wins.
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Vick Ballard rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown, and No. 23 Mississippi State relied on its running game and defense to beat Kentucky 24-17 on Saturday. The Wildcats threatened to tie the game in the final minute, but quarterback Mike Hartline’s pass was intercepted by Johnthan Banks at the goal line to seal a sixth straight victory for Mississippi State (7-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) – its longest streak since 1999. Kentucky (4-5, 1-5) hasn’t beaten a ranked team on the road since 1998. Randall Cobb caught 12 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown.
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In the days leading up to Saturday's annual Florida-Georgia game, Gators senior punter/kicker Chas Henry walked around practice chanting "redemption week, redemption week'' to anyone within earshot.
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Gators junior safety Will Hill didn't play early in the season. When he finally took the field, Hill was often quiet as a mouse. Hill roared like a lion in the Gators' 34-31 win over Georgia on Saturday at EverBank Field. Hill had two interceptions, six tackles and broke up a two-point attempt by Georgia when he picked off Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray in the end zone.
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Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said he had no update on injured receiver Greg Childs following Saturday’s 49-14 win over Vanderbilt.

Childs was injured early in the fourth quarter on a 17-yard reception to the Commodores 2. The junior receiver, who injured his ankle last week, immediately pounded his hands on the ground in anguish and was eventually helped off the field by a pair of trainers, before being taken straight to the locker room. According to Arkansas’ radio broadcast, he suffered an injured knee.

Childs had five catches for 87 yards prior to the injury. He is Arkansas’ leader in receptions (46), yards (659) and touchdowns (6) this season.

“I’m always concerned when I see Greg go down like that,” running back Knile Davis said. “He’s always in an awkward position because he’s real greedy and wants to get into the endzone. You’ve got to have that attitude when you get the ball.”

Davis scored on the next play to give the Razorbacks a 42-14 lead. Senior tight end D.J. Williams said there was no talk of taking the starters out when the fourth quarter began, despite leading by 21 points.

“That’s just one of those decisions you know before you go out there for a drive,” said Williams, who noted the drive began in the third quarter. “That’s just how it was.”

Arkansas has been battling injuries at receiver. Joe Adams missed Saturday’s contest with an ankle injury suffered in last week’s win over Ole Miss.

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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It only lasted three plays, but its effect lasted three quarters in Arkansas’ 49-14 win over Vanderbilt Saturday night.

Leading 14-13 on the road against a ranked opponent, the Commodores uncharacteristically switched quarterbacks. Despite leading Vanderbilt on a pair of touchdown drives to begin the game, Larry Smith was sidelined for a series in place of Jared Funk.

“We hadn’t seen that back-up quarterback until the end of the game situations,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “Maybe that was one of their thoughts was to have a two-quarterback rotation.”

Presumably the move was made to change the pace – a frenetic one the Commodores had used to rack up 130 yards of total offense in the first 13 plays of new offensive coordinator Des Kitchings’ tenure in the role. Instead, it changed momentum when Razorbacks safety Rudell Crim intercepted Funk’s third down pass and returned it to the Vandy 20.

Ryan Mallett hit Jarius Wright for the first of two 15-yard scoring strikes shortly thereafter to give Arkansas a 20-14 lead and the rout was on.

Jerry Franklin stripped Smith in the endzone for a safety on the next play from scrimmage to make it 22-14. Lance Ray returned the ensuing kick 66 yards to the Vandy 25 and Mallett needed only three plays to hit Wright for another touchdown to make it 29-14.

When it was all said and done the No. 19 Razorbacks had scored 23 points in the span of 6 minutes, 59 seconds.

Arkansas would go on to give up just 23 more yards the entire game.

“The defensive line was doing a great job,” Franklin said. “They were getting sacks and putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback tonight.

“After those first couple of series we got everything together, started running to the ball and making plays.”

Smith and the Commodores never found the same offensive groove they enjoyed in their first two offensive drives. Vanderbilt’s final 11 plays of the first half went for minus-13 yards as Arkansas recorded three sacks in the second quarter.

The Razorbacks defense scored nine points in the game. In addition to Franklin’s safety, Jerico Nelson returned an interception 39 yards for a score in the fourth quarter. Nelson’s interception also came off Funk, playing his second series of the evening.

“It felt great,” Franklin said. “I think that was our first time to score on the defensive side of the ball this year. It’s always a good feeling when you can help the offense out.”

Arkansas needed little help, offensively. Mallett broke his own school record with 409 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, while Knile Davis rolled up 82 yards and a pair of scores on the ground.

After trailing 14-6 at one point, Arkansas scored 43 unanswered points to end the game and earned bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season.

“We have a lot of confidence in our offense,” said tight end D.J. Williams, who won the Crip Hall Award for most outstanding senior on Homecoming. “Ryan did a great job of delivering the ball and Knile rushed the ball well to balance it out a little bit. We didn’t start off the way we wanted to on our first drive but got rolling after that for the rest of the game.

“I want to say it was the most complete game we’ve played as a team. The special teams gave up a couple of big plays on kickoff, but did well in the other phases. We got points from the defense. As a team we clicked well tonight.”

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

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After a slow start, the Hogs were able to put Vandy away in convincing fashion, rolling to 555 total yards of offense and holding the Commodores to a measly 23 yards after the first quarter (153 total). Continuing with the positives, Ryan Mallett looked very sharp, Knile Davis ran hard once again and, after making Larry Smith look like Cameron Newton in the opening minutes, the defense made him look like, well, Larry Smith for the rest of the game.

On the negative side, penalties remain a major issue and – most ominously of all – Greg Childs left the game with a very bad-looking knee injury in the 4th quarter (when the Hogs were already ahead by 21).

We’ll have more thoughts later…in the meantime, what do you think?

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We’ll post our thoughts tomorrow, but what did y’all think about the 49-14 schalacking in Fayetteville?

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Will Hill's interception return in OT helped the Gators secure a win over Georgia. (Photo by Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel)

Florida coaches have been asking for more from free safety Will Hill all season, and Saturday they got it.

The Gators’ junior had six tackles and two interceptions, including one he returned 89 yards to stop Georgia’s offensive drive in overtime.

“You saw it today. He played. He played like a Florida safety plays,” said defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. “He made some wonderful plays out there today. He was physical, he hit guys, he intercepted the ball, he did a great job for us today. Really proud of him.”

If Austin’s proud, he’s probably more so because of the journey Hill has taken this season.

Suspended for the first two games, Hill has made minimal impact since his return to play. The renewed commitment Hill talked about in the offseason seemed to be missing.

Saturday, despite a cold that had him subbing himself out because he couldn’t breathe, it finally came together.

“I was struggling like earlier in the season, and coaches never gave up on me, teammates never gave up on me,” Hill said. “And for me to come out and playing like this, it’s like me playing the team back.”