THE BIG STORY

Earl Bennett became the all-time leading receiver in Southeastern Conference history on the third play of Vanderbilt’s 24-13 win Saturday over Miami (Ohio).

Bennett tied the mark of 208 catches set by Kentucky’s Craig Yeast from 1995-98 on a two-yard reception, then followed on the next Commodore play with a seven-yarder on third-and-2 from the Vanderbilt 40.

“The last couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to get him the ball very much and you haven’t heard a peep out of him,” Coach Bobby Johnson said. “We’re just glad it happened for him. We’re very happy for Earl. It’s good to see his name at the top.”

The junior was held to just two catches in the South Carolina victory, and only three against Georgia. On Saturday, he finished with eight receptions for 85 yards, giving him 215 in 31 games.

“That’s a remarkable record,” Johnson said. “There have been a lot of great receivers in the SEC, catching balls from a lot of great quarterbacks. Earl has been extremely consistent, he works hard in practice, he’s a total team player. We’ll start building on that record and hopefully nobody can pass it.”

With 2,661 career receiving yards, Bennett has now moved into 10th place in the league in that category.

“Stats and things like that really don’t matter to me; I’m just happy to be playing on a team like this,” Bennett said. “There have been a lot of guys that have played in this conference, and just … to be mentioned among some of the great names, it’s overwhelming for me.”

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Game week for Alabama-LSU officially arrived Sunday night, with players for each team arriving back from a bye weekend to begin formal preparations for the other. As if fate sending Nick Saban — who accepted the Alabama coaching job Jan. 3 — against his program of three years ago wasn’t enough, the hype train has delivered even more for Saturday’s 4 p.m. tussle at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide endured three practices last week before receiving a rare off weekend. Rather than turn immediate attention to LSU, Saban stressed fundamentals and improvement for his team. “We’re aware of what they’re exposed to every day, but at the same time, I think they did a good job this week of focusing on what they needed to do, working on the fundamental things,” Saban said on his weekly radio show. “I think our players are starting to believe that if they work and do things the right way, they’re going to have the best chance to be successful.” Alabama is coming off its best performance of the season in a thorough 41-17 victory over Tennessee. It was particularly surprising since five players were suspended the night before due to impermissible receipt of textbooks. Saban called it a “major distraction,” to which his squad “never skipped a beat.” The Tide can’t be sure if Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Marlon Davis, Marquis Johnson and Chris Rogers will be available against the Tigers. The players practiced last week with their respective playing status in limbo pending an extensive UA inquiry into possible NCAA violations regarding textbook receipt for scholarship athletes.

ARKANSAS

Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick was injured 3 minutes and 35 seconds into the second quarter of last Saturday’s 58-10 win over Florida International when he was blindsided by safety Ashlyn Parker. While the hit looked bad, Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Sunday that he doesn’t believe it will have any lingering effects on his starting quarterback — other than some temporary pain. “I think he’ll be ready to go by tomorrow,” Nutt said. “(He’s) just a little sore, a little bruised and I think he’ll be fine.” Nutt said he anticipates Dick to practice Tuesday in full pads, and the junior is expected to start Saturday night when Arkansas (5-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) hosts No. 23 South Carolina (6-3, 3-3). Dick suffered bruised ribs and a slight concussion when he was hit by Parker on the rightside of his body while looking left to throw a deep ball. The quarterback spent several minutes on the turf while being examined by Arkansas’ athletic trainers, and he was later taken to Washington Regional Medical Center for a precautionary CT scan. Arkansas athletic trainer Dean Weber said Dick could have returned to the game, but it wasn’t needed. Backup quarterback Nathan Emert did just fine filling in for the junior.

AUBURN

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said the Tigers had a conservative offensive plan in Saturday night’s 17-3 win over Ole Miss. They hoped to take advantage of the Rebels’ rushing defense, ranked last in the Southeastern Conference. “We probably played it close to the vest a little bit too much,” Tuberville said. “We were on the verge of scoring a few more points. The red zone kind of hurt us tonight. We weren’t that much of a well-oiled machine on offense, but we’ll go back to work and try to get better for next game.”. . .Junior tailback Brad Lester almost did it. He almost had his first 100-yard rushing game. Lester needed just one yard on his final carry, but he lost three and finished with 96 yards on 23 carries. “I was fighting for that hundred,” Lester said. “I told Ben (Tate) to let me get in there. Ben joked that I would lose yards.”

FLORIDA

Tim Tebow was emotionally hurt. The Florida quarterback choked back tears when asked to describe the heartache of Florida’s 42-30 loss to Georgia Saturday. Tebow was also in physical pain. The right shoulder contusion suffered the previous week against Kentucky prevented Florida’s Heisman Trophy candidate from running the ball effectively against the Bulldogs. “He’s hurting,” Gators coach Urban Meyer said of Tebow’s shoulder. “He won’t tell you. He keeps saying, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m fine.’ ” Tebow even admitted afterward his shoulder was in pain. “It bothered me a little bit,” Tebow said. “You’re going to have bumps and bruises throughout the year.” This was a big bruise for Tebow. Making his first start in his hometown, Tebow rushed 13 times for negative-15 yards and was sacked six times. Tebow had only been sacked five times all season entering Saturday’s game. “Georgia did a good job of mixing up their blitzes,” Tebow said. “I should have done a better job of making better protection calls and get the ball out. Something we’re going to have to work on.” For most of this season, though, Tebow has been able to avoid sacks by using his legs to run when protection breaks down. That didn’t happen against Georgia. “Tim wasn’t as mobile as he’s been,” Meyer said. Asked if the injury was something Tebow will have to deal with the rest of the season, Meyer answered, “I don’t know.” Tebow’s inability to run changed Meyer’s gameplan “a little bit,” the coach said. But it seemed to change it a lot. Tebow’s first true rush occurred in the final minute of the first half. Tebow, though, was effective in goal-line situations. The sophomore carried the ball for touchdown runs of two and three yards in the second half. The amount of pain Tebow was in became evident after one of his second-half touchdown runs when he jumped back to Florida’s sideline waving his left arm up and down while his right arm stayed by his side. “During the week, he’s been grimacing a little bit,” roommate and safety Tony Joiner said. “He’s been holding his right shoulder.”

GEORGIA

After redshirt freshman Knowshon Moreno’s 33-carry, 188-yard performance helped lift Georgia to a 42-30 victory over Florida on Saturday, Moreno leapt into the Bulldogs’ student section. “I just wanted to get excited with the fans,” said Moreno, who gained the most rushing yards for Georgia since Verron Haynes racked up 201 against Georgia Tech in 2001. “It was a big win for us. I was excited. The whole team is excited.” Moreno - who was making his second career start - became the first Georgia player to rush for 100 yards in consecutive games since Thomas Brown did it in 2004. He also recorded career highs in carries, yards and touchdowns. The New Jersey native said he never even rushed 33 times in a high school game, but Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said it was necessary against the Gators. “The plan was to give it to him until he couldn’t tote it anymore,” Bobo said. The 5-foot-11, 207-pounder carried on all but one of Georgia’s first nine plays, a drive that ended with a 1-yard Moreno leap into the end zone. Moreno also had two receptions for 17 yards, and coach Mark Richt was confident that the back could excel in the absence of injured seniors Kregg Lumpkin and Brown. “We were hopeful that he could handle it at least 30 times,” Richt said. “We were thinking 30-35 that he might be able to handle. With TV timeouts the way they are now, there were a couple of times when we were going to take Knowshon out of the game. And then the TV timeout was 4 minutes, and by then we felt like he was rested enough to be able to continue to play.”

KENTUCKY

UK was second in the nation in turnover margin last year, forcing its opponents into 32 miscues while committing just 17. But after Saturday’s turnover-plagued loss to Mississippi State, the Wildcats now find themselves on the minus side of the turnover battle. UK gave the ball away six times yesterday, forcing MSU into just one turnover. “It just seemed like anything we could do wrong, we did today,” Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks said. The Wildcats now have 19 turnovers on the season, which is two more than they committed all of last year. UK’s opponents have committed 17. Kentucky also lost the turnover battle 4-0 in its 38-23 loss to South Carolina and didn’t force Florida into any mistakes in a 45-37 loss last week. . .Freshman running back Derrick Locke got his first career start yesterday, finishing with 46 yards on 11 carries. Locke was slowed in the second half after taking a hit by a Mississippi State player diving for what he thought was a loose ball. Brooks said Locke suffered ankle and toe injuries and would be re-evaluated. Sophomore Alfonso Smith got his first carries since suffering a sprained ankle in the South Carolina game and finished with 22 yards on four carries. Freshman Moncell Allen had the most extensive action of his young career, carrying six times for 30 yards. Allen also ran into Woodson on a fourth-down play that resulted in a loss and a change of possession. “It’s emotional because everybody’s looking at you and watching closely,” Allen said. “If you make a mistake, it can be difficult to regain confidence, but you’ve got to step it up and play.” Senior receiver Keenan Burton (knee), sophomore linebacker Micah Johnson (knee), senior running back Rafael Little (thigh), sophomore cornerback Paul Warford (shoulder) and junior running back Tony Dixon (ankle) all did not play.

LSU

Backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux and reserve linebacker Derrick Odom were both at the scene of a ruckus at the Varsity music club next to the Chimes restaurant on Highland Road at the LSU gates at closing time early Friday morning. Baton Rouge police were called to the scene at about 2 a.m. Friday and broke up a fight involving about 20 men at the Varsity, but there were no arrests, according to police spokesman Jeff Smith. “There was an incident,” Smith said Saturday night. “It’s under investigation. No LSU players have been arrested.” Perrilloux and Odom were at the scene, according to their attorney, Nathan Fisher, who has represented each of them in recent months. Perrilloux, 20, was cited by Baton Rouge police last spring for attempting to enter a downtown gambling casino with false identification that said he was 21. Perrilloux, a sophomore from East St. John High, was also questioned by federal authorities late last year for his tertiary role in a counterfeiting ring in his hometown of LaPlace. Odom, a redshirt freshman from Jackson, Miss., was arrested twice in recent months on misdemeanor charges — one for damaging an automobile of a woman and the other for damaging an automobile and the door of a man and threatening the man and his father. Both have remained on the football team after LSU coach Les Miles suspended each of them. Perrilloux, who was suspended from summer workouts, returned to the team when practice began in early August and has been at times a vital part of the Tigers’ offense this season for the first time in his career. He has completed 29 of 41 passes for 414 yards and six touchdowns and rushed 40 times for 192 yards. Odom was suspended for two weeks early this season, but he has played sparingly. LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette said both remained on the team as of Saturday night. Bonnette said Miles would have no comment at this time but will after he has a chance to discuss the situation with his assistant coaches and players. LSU was off Saturday and its coaches were out of town recruiting while many players went home for the weekend. Fisher said he spoke with Miles Saturday and met with Perrilloux throughout the day and night Saturday. He said he had not yet spoken to Odom. “I have some ideas about what might have happened,” Fisher said. “But it’s not appropriate to discuss it at this time.” Fisher said he first heard about the incident on Friday morning and spoke to Perrilloux then. One idea Fisher has is that Perrilloux may not have been an aggressor in the incident. “My advice to Ryan was that he should not file charges against anybody,” Fisher said.

OLE MISS

Ole Miss managed just three points in Saturday’s 17-3 loss to No. 23 Auburn, and if those points came he hard way. Placekicker Joshua Shene had to kick twice to get it done. With five seconds remaining in the half and the Rebels trailing 7-0, Shene lined up for a 41-yard field goal. He nailed it, but a holding penalty was called, backing up the Ole Miss offense 10 yards. Rebel coach Ed Orgeron was flabbergasted.”That’s the first time I’ve seen a holding penalty like that on a field goal,” Orgeron said. “I guess they happen.” Now Shene’s attempt was a much more difficult 51-yarder. The Auburn crowd of 87,000-plus cheered, figuring the Rebels had just knocked themselves out of range for three points. But the field goal unit set up again and Shene’s attempt looked like a mirror image of the first. A perfect snap, hold and kick - and then the 51-yarder cleared the uprights. The 51-yarder was one yard short of Shene’s career best that he made last season against Northwestern State. Shene, a sophomore, is 9-of-14 on field goal attempts this season after making 14 of 17 during his freshman season.

MISS. STATE

Christian Ducre’s instructions from Mississppi State coach Sylvester Croom when he entered Saturday’s 31-14 victory over No. 14 Kentucky couldn’t have been more simple. “Two hands on the ball,” Ducre said. Then, he laughed. “That’s it. And run hard.” Croom had no interest in seeing Ducre develop the same fumble-itis that plagues starter Anthony Dixon, particularly not at such a key part late in such a key game. That explains the short instructions. And the results? “From an offensive standpoint, it was the difference in the ballgame because for whatever reason (Dixon) couldn’t hold onto the ball today,” Croom told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “He was running well, but he just didn’t hold the ball today.” Ducre rushed 19 times for 119 yards and a touchdown, playing a key role in the Bulldogs’ upset victory. The plan wasn’t to give it to the sophomore backup, but Dixon forced Croom’s hand. He fumbled - not once, not twice, but three times. The last time, he didn’t fall on his own fumble. It was the last time Dixon carried. “He’s been trying to do too much,” Croom said. “We’ve been talking to him about it. He can be a great player whenever he learns that the little things - he has so much talent that he thinks he can win just on his ability alone.” But with Ducre, Croom largely doesn’t have that problem. Though he lacks much of the pure power and speed Dixon brings, Croom, a former NFL running backs coach, has marveled at how well the Tulane transfer has adapted as a technical runner this season. Ducre gave credit to his line and fullback - also a pretty shrewd technical decision. His 34-yard touchdown rush developed from an up-the-middle run and ended in a score that broke the Wildcats’ backs. “My read, he went across my face,” Ducre said. “Every time your read comes across your face you usually have a cutback so I just went full speed and it was right there.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

The 27-24 overtime loss at Tennessee was a crusher to the Gamecocks’ SEC championship hopes. But USC showed signs of an offensive awakening following an eight-quarter slumber. USC (6-3, 3-3 SEC) finished with nearly twice as many first downs as the Volunteers, out-gained them 355 to 112 in the second half and finished with its most yards (501) against an SEC opponent in three seasons under Steve Spurrier. But when Ryan Succop’s 40-yard field goal attempt went wide right in overtime, it left the Gamecocks looking up at Tennessee and Georgia in the SEC East standings and needing help to reach the conference championship game for the first time in school history. “We could’ve been in very good shape in the Eastern Division. … I guess mathematically we’re not completely out of it, yet,” Spurrier said Sunday. “We’ll get over it. We’re not the first team to out-play an opponent and still lose. I’ve done that before and I’ve probably won some where the opponent out-played us. So you take it with a grain of salt and don’t let it knock you down too low.” The Gamecocks’ second loss in as many weeks dropped them eight spots in both national polls. USC slipped to No. 23 in The Associated Press’ rankings and to No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll. USC fell a game behind Georgia and a half-game back of Tennessee with two conference games remaining. The Gamecocks travel to Arkansas this week before playing host to Florida on Nov. 10. After an open week, USC closes the regular season Nov. 24 against Clemson.

TENNESSEE

Starting left tackle Eric Young will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn quadriceps tendon in his left knee Sunday. The senior was injured late in the Vols’ 27-24 overtime victory over South Carolina. Cornerback Marsalous Johnson, who was scratched from the starting lineup Friday with an injury to the meniscus in his knee, will undergo surgery Thursday. UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Sunday night that doctors will know more about Johnson’s short-term availability after surgery, but it is thought the sophomore will be out for the season as well. “They won’t know for sure until they get in there, but it’s probably season-ending,” Fulmer said. That’s the definite answer for Young, who is UT’s most experienced offensive lineman. Young, a native of Union, S.C., made his 21st consecutive start Saturday and started 23 games in his UT career. He started all 13 games last season at right tackle, before replacing All-American Arron Sears at left tackle this season. He is expected to be released from UT Medical Center today. “Eric had been playing well, really for the entire season,” Fulmer said. “He’s a guy that we moved over to that tough left tackle position spot to protect the quarterback’s backside. Had great confidence in him. He’d been playing very well.” In Young’s absence Saturday, Chris Scott moved to left tackle and Jacques McClendon replaced Scott at right guard. That will be the plan for Saturday’s 4 p.m. homecoming game against Louisiana-Lafayette (No TV), with Ramone Johnson backing up Scott at left tackle, Fulmer said. Tennessee’s offensive backfield wasn’t immune to injuries, either. True freshman tailback Lennon Creer practiced Sunday night, but could miss time due to a left knee injury that has been an issue the last few weeks, Fulmer said. On his second carry, reserve tailback Montario Hardesty aggravated a right ankle sprain that caused him to miss two games in September. Fulmer said Hardesty could have returned in the first half, but that the sophomore’s ankle became too stiff after halftime.

VANDERBILT

The Commodores committed four turnovers and drew four penalties with an ejection, while utilizing three quarterbacks and almost every defensive back on the roster — all in a 24-13 homefield victory over Miami of Ohio that pulled the team within one win of bowl eligibility for the first time in 25 years. “It’s good to see we can pull out a win when we have so many turnovers and mistakes,” senior tailback Cassen Jackson-Garrison said after rushing for 75 of the team’s season-high 290 yards, along with the 15-yard fourth-quarter touchdown that virtually sealed the victory. Vanderbilt (5-3) scored the game’s first touchdown on its opening drive but came back from a couple of three-point deficits to win for the second straight week. “At times we were our own worst enemy,” Commodores Coach Bobby Johnson said after the team reached the five-win plateau for the second time in his six-year tenure. “We came back in the second half and played very had on defense, and we overcame some obstacles on offense. To hang in there and get a victory, I don’t care how it happens. Miami played very well; they were opportunistic, to say the least. Statistics don’t tell the story. We were sweating it out in the fourth quarter.”