They called November 7 Separation Saturday. The big separation day winners were Georgia, Notre Dame, Alabama, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Wake Forest as far as the College Football Playoffs go. The unfortunate losers were Ole Miss, LSU, Missouri, Ohio State and BYU. Ole Miss fell nine spots in the AP rankings from 10 to 19. Georgia reclaimed the top spot in the rankings taking over for Miami.
Georgia manhandled Ole Miss Saturday night in Oxford, 42-7. Bulldog quarterback Gunner Stockton fired four touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the Dogs offense.
The loss was devastating to the Rebels’ playoff chances. No team with three regular season losses has ever made the CFP. Ole Miss’s unraveling came early as the visiting Bulldogs exploded for four touchdowns in the first half with scoring drives of 72, 96, 61 and 50 yards. Pete Golding’s defense has been vulnerable to big plays all year. In the three losses things seemed to go south very quickly for Ole Miss, as they did Saturday. Ole Miss (6-3, 4-3) will travel to Oklahoma this Saturday at 3:15
Mississippi State suffered their fifth straight loss as they fell to Vanderbilt, 25-23, in the Bulldogs’ homecoming contest. MSU was held scoreless in the first half for the fourth straight SEC contest as they trailed the Commodores, 16-0. Vandy kicker Brock Taylor tied an SEC record with six field goals, including two over 50 yards. The Bulldogs drove the length of the field in the final two minutes to pull within two points as A.J. Swain hit Sanfrisco Magee for a TD. MSU failed on the two-point conversion attempt.
Mississippi State (4-5, 2-5) will host Auburn Saturday morning.
Southern Miss fell to James Madison last Thursday, 54-23, at the Rock. USM scored late in the first half to take a 14-13 lead that was short lived as the visitors kicked a field goal to take back the lead at 16-14 at the half. The second half was all James Madison (8-2, 5-2). Redshirt sophomore John White got the nod at quarterback for Blake Anderson’s offense. White is the Mississippi High School all-time passing record holder as he threw for over 15,200 yards. The former Madison Ridgeland Academy signal caller passed for 266 yards as he hit on 21-of-35 passes. Kaden Saunders and Mario Sanders each had six catches for 122 and 98 yards, respectively. USM (3-6, 2-3) will head to La. Tech (7-2, 5-0) Saturday at 4 p.m.
Jackson State moved back into the Eastern Division lead as they whipped Mississippi Valley, 38-7. JSU quarterback Jared Lockhart passed for 299 yards and four touchdowns. JSU (7-2, 4-2) travels to Alabama State (5-4, 3-3) while Valley (3-7, 2-4) heads to Florida A&M (2-8, 1-5) Saturday.
Jaylon Tolbert passed for four touchdowns as Alcorn rolled over Florida A&M, 38-20. The Braves are in a three-way deadlock for first place in the Western Division of the SWAC. Alcorn (6-4, 4-2) will travel to Southern University (5-5, 3-3) Saturday.
Millsaps stunned Berry College, 30-29, Saturday. The Majors (7-2, 5-1) travel to Maryville, Tennessee Saturday.
Belhaven lost their final home game of the season falling to LaGrange, 31-15. The Blazers (4-5, 3-3) will end the season at Huntingdon Saturday.
After having an open date, Delta State (5-3, 1-0) will host Valdosta State Saturday.
JUCO Champs
Northwest Community College won their third consecutive Mississippi Junior College football championship with a last-minute win over Hinds, 33-29, as Ranger quarterback Noah Gillion threw a touchdown pass with 1:19 to play. Northwest (9-2) will wait to see if they are one of the four teams selected for the NJCAA D-1 playoffs that begin November 20.
In basketball action last week, the Jackson State Tigers upset Tulane, 87-85.
Soccer
The William Carey Crusaders won the Southern State Athletic Conference soccer championship, 2-0, over Faulkner. The Crusaders (16-3-2) will represent the SSAC in the NAIA playoffs that begin November 17.
The Belhaven Lady Blazers won the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) with a 2-0 win over Huntingdon.
Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show Tuesdays and Fridays at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is Alabama sportswriter Colin Gay of the Tuscaloosa News To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
