SOUTHEASTERN ROUNDUP : Stewart Has Four Scores and 211 Yards to Lead Tennessee, 41-23

James Stewart rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns in 24 carries to lead No. 19-ranked Tennessee over No. 23 Georgia, 41-23, Saturday night in a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga.

Stewart scored on runs of three, six, 71 and 15 yards, the 71-yarder coming with 7:44 remaining when he broke two tackles on his way to the left sideline from where he outran the defense.

Tennessee plays host to Florida next Saturday in a showdown of the teams expected to battle for the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division crown.

Junior Todd Helton, a Tennessee baseball star making his first start at quarterback as a replacement for injured Jerry Colquitt, kept the Bulldogs off balance throughout the game with a few key passes, but mostly through the running of Stewart and Aaron Hayden, who had 113 yards.

The Vols netted 383 yards on the ground.

It was the SEC opener for the Vols, who opened last week with a 25-23 loss to UCLA when Colquitt was lost for the season with a knee injury on the seventh play of the game. Georgia fell to 1-1.

No. 11 Alabama 17, Vanderbilt 7--The Crimson Tide needed a strong defense and a turnover-free offense to get past Vanderbilt in an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama’s defense forced four turnovers, setting up both touchdowns, and the plodding offense had trouble moving the ball but never gave it away.

“I thought Vanderbilt played extremely tough,” said Alabama Coach Gene Stallings. “But when we really had to have it, we got a couple of interceptions and a fumble and turned the game around.”

Alabama has dominated Vanderbilt over the past quarter-century, winning 24 of the last 25 meetings, but didn’t look very dominating Saturday. The offense managed only two drives of more than 23 yards and quarterback Jay Barker was sacked seven times.

Vanderbilt even had a chance to go ahead when Steve Yenner lined up for a 37-yard field goal attempt with the score tied, 7-7, late in the third quarter. But Shannon Brown blocked the kick.

The Crimson Tide (2-0, 1-0) managed only 151 yards in the first three quarters but eventually wore down the Commodores (1-1, 0-1).

No. 12 Auburn 44, Northeast Louisiana 12--Patrick Nix threw for 224 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers (2-0) won at Auburn, Ala., to extend their winning streak to 13 games, longest in the nation.

The Indians, in their first year in Div. I-A, lost to a ranked team for the second week in a row. They were beaten by Colorado, 48-13, in their opener.

Auburn Coach Terry Bowden got his reserves involved in the offense midway through the second quarter, with the Tigers already up 20-0.

Mississippi 59, Southern Illinois 3--Josh Nelson threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as the Rebels rolled up 539 yards to overwhelm the Division I-AA Salukis at Oxford, Miss.

Ole Miss (1-1) went 71 yards in 10 plays after the opening kickoff and was in control the rest of the way against the Salukis (0-2), losers of 16 of their last 18 games.

It was Mississippi’s biggest scoring night since a 61-7 victory over Memphis State in 1980.

Louisiana State 44, Mississippi State 24--Jamie Howard passed for two touchdowns and Eddie Kennison returned a punt 100 yards for a touchdown as the Tigers scored an SEC victory at Baton Rogue, La.

LSU (1-1, 1-0) had a 21-3 lead reduced to 21-18 at halftime and the Tigers were ahead only 24-18 before pulling away in the fourth quarter.

Howard’s second touchdown pass of the game, on a 41-yard play to Brett Bech with 13:08 to play, made it 31-18.

Two minutes later, Robert Toomer’s 25-yard run, his second touchdown of the game, gave LSU a 37-18 lead. The touchdown was set up when an LSU punt bounced off Mississippi State’s Joe Macon and was recovered by Derrick Thynes.

Kennison, whose 30-yard return set up Howard’s touchdown pass to Bech, set an LSU record and tied a national mark with his 100-yard return, only the third in the history of the SEC.

Mississippi State fell to 1-1, 0-1.

South Carolina 14, Arkansas 0--Fullback Stanley Pritchett scored two touchdowns and the special teams blocked two kicks as the Gamecocks won an SEC game at Columbia, S.C.

The victory for South Carolina (1-1, 1-1) was the first for Coach Brad Scott and it came against Arkansas Coach Danny Ford, who was 7-3-1 against the Gamecocks during his 11 years at Clemson.

The Razorbacks fell to 1-1, 0-1.