ATLANTA — Tennessee sophomore running back Daune Morris on Saturday night went from a reserve needing experience to a very capable option when senior starter DeSean Bishop is needing a breather.
Morris, who played at Red Bank through his sophomore season of high school before finishing up at Murfreesboro’s Oakland, rushed 10 times for 98 yards and a touchdown as the Volunteers pounded out a 45-24 victory over the Yellow Jackets inside Bobby Dodd Stadium. The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder had a 47-yard touchdown run with 1:30 to play, which was after the contest had been decided, but he also had three consecutive carries for 29 yards in the second quarter.
Those carries set up Faizon Brandon’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Staley that put the Vols up 24-10 with 4:21 before halftime.
“It was just Daune being Daune,” Bishop said afterward. “He’s a guy who has really taken the next steps. He’s someone who is willing to learn, and he has a bright future ahead of him. Obviously his freshman year wasn’t what he wanted it to be, because he didn’t get to play a lot. He’s found his way into the rotation this year, and he’s continuing to grow.”
Said Brandon: “He’s just a very electric guy. We see him move in practice and stuff, and you’re just really getting to see it happen in games. It’s nothing new for us.”
Morris did get quality carries in last November’s 31-11 win at Florida, but he finished last season with only 133 yards. He has 118 through two games this year, and he’s averaging 7.9 yards per rush.
“You guys know that I have liked where he’s grown and matured and what he’s done,” Vols sixth-year coach Josh Heupel said Saturday. “I’m not surprised with anything that he did tonight, and I say that as a compliment to him. He’s ready to play at a really high level.
“I love what we saw from him.”
The Southeastern Conference has a deep contingent of quarterbacks this season, and nobody at this point should be overlooking Mississippi State sophomore Kamario Taylor.
In Saturday’s 38-13 road dismantling of Minnesota, the 6-4, 230-pound Taylor completed 16 of 22 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 13 times for 86 yards on an offense that leads the SEC through two weekends with 620.5 yards per game.
“The way he played in the first half was about as clean and as good as you could possibly play,” Bulldogs third-year coach Jeff Lebby said. “I thought he was incredibly clean and in incredible command. He dominated the atmosphere, which I loved for him.”
Taylor, who became the starter late in his freshman season, will try to win his first league game this weekend at South Carolina.
Georgia’s Gunner Stockton leads the nation in passing efficiency with an eye-popping rating of 284.45.
Through routs of Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, the fifth-year senior has completed 28 of 32 passes (87.5%) for 436 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. The Bulldogs scored the first 35 points against the Tigers and the first 49 against the Hilltoppers, so Stockton has yet to take a second-half snap.
“He is executing at a high level,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.
Texas sixth-year coach Steve Sarkisian said Saturday night’s 24-23 win over Ohio State was his favorite triumph inside Darrell K Royal—Texas Memorial Stadium.
The Longhorns trailed 20-3 at halftime, so what was his message at the break?
“When we first got to the locker room, there was a little bit of shock,” Sarkisian said in his postgame news conference. “We felt like we had a good plan and that the things we wanted to do we could do and that the scoreboard was screwed up. It was like, ‘What just happened?’ There was a little bit of shock, and I was trying to get everybody to focus on looking forward to what the second half was going to look like.
“There was a kind of frustration for some guys, but in the end it was about picking them up and playing one play at a time, and they believed it. As a coach, that’s what you hope for — that your players believe in your messaging.”
Sarkisian said the adversity that Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning went through last season helped him in Saturday’s comeback.
“That’s probably fair,” Manning said. “I did not want to come in here after a loss at home to Ohio State and hear y’all telling me that we’re not any good and all this stuff. I could not let that happen.”
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt have 10 games remaining against 10 power conference opponents.
Auburn routed Southern Miss 43-8 Saturday night inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, with Andre Jordan Jr. scoring the quickest touchdown in Tigers history with his 29-yard interception return at the 14:50 mark of the first quarter.
The Tigers racked up 613 yards and held the Eagles to 221, but winning coach Alex Golesh was far from pleased.
“I was just so beyond disappointed in the sloppiness,” he said. “I was beyond disappointed in the block in the back on the punt return and the fumble in the red zone. I don’t care what the score is. A win is a win, and winning college football games is hard, but if that’s what our standard looks like, then we’re going to have a really, really, really long season.
“We have to have a sense of urgency on cleaning this up, and that’s on me more than anybody else. Like, I want to throw up.”
In wins over East Carolina and Kentucky to start the season, Alabama has allowed one third-down conversion in 25 attempts. … Arkansas kicked off Saturday night’s 43-10 loss at Utah at 10:30 Eastern, the latest start in Razorbacks history. … Florida’s Vernell Brown III set a single-game program record in the rout of Campbell with four punt returns for 173 yards, which included scores from 64 and 70 yards out. … LSU’s 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech marked its 40th consecutive victory over an in-state team, last losing to Tulane 31-28 in 1982. … Missouri’s 38-21 victory at Kansas on Friday was its fifth straight in a series the Tigers now lead 59-54-9. … Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy has at least one rushing touchdown in 11 straight games, the longest such streak since such school records started being kept in 1956. … South Carolina’s 102 points through two games are the most since the 1980 season, when running back George Rogers won the Heisman Trophy. … Texas A&M returned two interceptions for touchdowns in its 48-20 triumph over Arizona State, a first for the program since 1999. … Vanderbilt has won nine consecutive home games for the first time since the 1954-56 seasons.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.