Fake field goal helps LSU past South Carolina

LSU kicker Colt David played soccer most of his life.

Now Steve Spurrier and a multitude of football fans know David can make plays with his hands as well and his feet.

No. 2 LSU put one over on the Ol' Ball Coach, scoring on a fake field goal and piling up 290 rushing yards to defeat No. 12 South Carolina 28-16 on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.

The fake widened LSU's lead to 21-7 at halftime, deflating a South Carolina defense that had kept LSU within a touchdown on David's 42-yard miss a drive earlier.

Next time, the Tigers set up from 32 yards, but the holder, quarterback Matt Flynn, tossed a no-look flip over his shoulder to David, who ran for the score with ease.

"It was pretty close until then, and that just put another dagger in them," David said. "It always works (in practice). We felt confident with it. I've been playing soccer all my life, but I also can catch footballs."

LSU coach Les Miles said he only wanted to get a first down and took no special joy in using a trick play to beat Spurrier, a master of offensive trickery himself.

"We would have liked to have gotten the first down without having to use that play," Miles said. "It was there and it was certainly executed well."

Jacob Hester's power and Trindon Holliday's speed were key for LSU on the ground, and its dominant defense did the rest with 2 interceptions and a pair of stops on fourth-and-short yardage situations. The Tigers' hard-hitting defense unsettled Spurrier to the point he switched quarterbacks several times.

"We had to try something different," Spurrier said. Blake Mitchell "maybe didn't do all that poorly, but we had to give (Chris) Smelley a chance. We're going to give him a chance next week and see what happens."

LSU held South Carolina to 7 points for most of the game, with South Carolina getting a field goal and late touchdown when the result was no longer in doubt.

There were heavy hits all over the field, including one in which Craig Steltz flattened Jared Cook to break up a long pass over the middle. Cook stayed down for a couple of minutes before coaches got him up and off the field.

"We just tried to dislodge them from the ball," Steltz said. "If we can't catch it, nobody can."

Meanwhile, Holliday ended up with a career-high 73 yards rushing, including a 33-yard touchdown, while Hester finished with 88 yards and a score.

The Gamecocks' tandem of standout running backs, Cory Boyd and Mike Davis, combined for only 27 yards and 1 TD by Davis. Because of sacks, South Carolina's net rushing total was only 17 yards.

Smelley ended up with the best passing numbers for the Gamecocks, going 12 of 26 for 174 yards and a late 1-yard TD pass to Kenny McKinley. He was intercepted by Chevis Jackson, while Danny McCray intercepted Mitchell to set up the fake field goal.

"They are obviously a big, strong team that controls the line of scrimmage," Spurrier said. "We couldn't run the ball very well at all. … We're just not a real smart bunch right now."

Florida 30, Mississippi 24: Tim Tebow passed for 2 touchdowns, ran for 2 more and set a school record for quarterbacks with 166 yards rushing, leading No. 3 Florida (4-0) past host Mississippi (1-3).

The Gators got off to a slow start and allowed the Rebels back into the game at the start of the fourth quarter.

But Tebow came up with a handful of clock-killing runs after he engineered two second-half touchdown drives, scoring on a 6-yard run and throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy.

W. Virginia 48, E. Carolina 7: Pat White threw for 2 touchdowns and ran for 2 more as host No. 5 West Virginia (4-0) routed East Carolina (1-3).

Steve Slaton rushed for 110 yards and a score to match a school record for career touchdowns, and the Mountaineers rolled up 599 total yards against the Pirates, who suffered their most lopsided loss under third-year coach Skip Holtz.

The Mountaineers didn't allow a score until the final two minutes, limiting the Pirates to 9 first downs and 160 total yards.

California 45, Arizona 27: Justin Forsett rushed for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns, and host No. 6 California (4-0, 1-0 Pac-10) beat Arizona (1-3, 0-1).

Nate Longshore passed for 235 yards and a touchdown, while Jahvid Best and James Montgomery made scoring runs for the Golden Bears, whose 24-20 loss in Tucson last season denied them an outright Pac-10 championship and a probable trip to Cal's first Rose Bowl in nearly a half-century.