|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
OXFORD, Mississippi (Ticker) -- Hap Hines kicked a 48-yard field goal -- his school-record fourth of the game -- with 5:24 left to break a tie as No. 23 Georgia held on for a 20-17 victory over 16th-ranked Mississippi. The Southeastern Conference game was a battle to improve bowl prospects for both schools, which will be headed to the postseason. Both are holding out hopes to be playing in a bowl game on New Year's Day and both have games next weekend against their archrivals. Georgia (7-3, 5-3 SEC East) will visit Georgia Tech, while the Rebels (7-3, 4-3 West) finish their regular season slate at Mississippi State. Ole Miss has not won nine games in a season since going 9-3 in 1990. Georgia, which avoided losing a third straight game for the first time since 1990, leads the all-time series, 25-12-1. Ole Miss held a 10-9 lead heading into the final quarter when Deuce McAllister exploded down the right sideline for an 84-yard touchdown run -- the longest in the conference this season --and a 17-9 lead with 13:54 left in the game. "I had a good block on the safety and I just beat him," McAllister said. But Georgia fought back. Quincy Carter capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive that took 5:29 with a three-yard scoring pass to Terrence Edwards. Carter's pass to Michael Greer for the two-point conversion tied it, 17-17, with 8:25 left. Carter drove the Bulldogs 44 yards in seven plays over 99 seconds and Hines made it pay off by sneaking his 48-yard field goal over the front left of the goal post for a 20-17 edge. "I have tears of joy tonight," Hines said. "I feel so happy I could just cry. It's good for your teammates to call you 'Happy' again. They used to call me 'Happy.' ... I just told myself that I do this all the time in practice. It's just one of those things where you have to go in there and keep your rhythm. I like to take the Brett Favre mentality and say, without a doubt, that this is going to be good." "All of them are good, but that was a big one, the biggest all year," Georgia coach Jim Donnan said. "It's been a long career and I'm glad to see him go out with that one." Strong safety Terreal Bierria made it stand up by intercepting Romaro Miller at the Georgia 7 with 4:02 remaining. Georgia was able to run out the clock as Carter completed a 36-yard pass to tight end Randy McMichael on 3rd-and-6 and ran for a yard on 3rd-and-1. "From my perspective, it looked like a good call," Mississippi coach David Cutcliffe said of the interception. "If the man has the integrity to say he made a wrong call, then another man says, 'hey, I saw it without question,' I would rather them get the call right. "Football, as I say all the time, is not an exact science. The football bounced the other way a few too many times." The Bulldogs held a 456-316 advantage in total yardage and had 28 first downs to 12 for Ole Miss. But the Rebels stayed in the game by running for 202 yards -- 104 by McAllister and 103 by Joe Gunn. The pair carried a total of just 21 times, allowing Georgia to keep the ball nearly twice as long. "The time of possession killed us," Ole Miss offensive lineman Todd Wade said. "They kept us out on the field a long time," said Rebels free safety Syniker Taylor. Jasper Sanks paced Georgia with 83 yards on 26 carries, while Carter completed 26-of-41 passes for 349 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. Edwards, a true freshman, hauled in eight passes for 47 yards, while tight end Jevaris Johnson had five for 67. Edwards tied the school single-season record with his ninth touchdown catch. Brice Hunter set it in 1993 and matched by Hason Graham the following season. Miller was 10-of-24 for 114 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. But he injured his ankle and played the second half in pain. His status for the "Egg Bowl" against Mississippi State on Thanksgiving Night is questionable. "The defender fell on my ankle the wrong way," Miller said. "The injury affected me a great deal in the game. That's why we went to the shotgun. ... I really don't see any way I'll miss the Mississippi State game, especially after missing it last year." "In the third quarter, Romaro got hurt and from that point in time, we were completly different because we had to be," Cutcliffe said. "We'll have to evaluate him tonight. He played through a lot of pain." McAllister got the Rebels out to a 7-0 lead with 6:17 left in the first quarter, scoring on a three-yard run to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive. Georgia countered with an 11-play, 63-yard march than ended in Hines' 27-yard field goal. Les Binkley nailed a 44-yarder with 13:25 left in the first half and the teams went to the intermission with Mississippi holding a 10-3 lead. Hines hit a 23-yarder with 9:15 left in the third quarter and drilled a 51-yarder 3:35 later to pull the Bulldogs within 10-9. His four field goals tied the school record, set by Kim Braswell, Kevin Butler (twice), Steve Crumley (twice) and Kanon Parkman.
|
