AUBURN, Ala.-Darius Slayton's 50-yard scoring catch late in the first half gave No. 6 Auburn the lead and the Tigers pulled away for a 42-14 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday to set up next week's visit from No. 1 Alabama.
Kam Martin scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, in the third quarter. Nick Ruffin scored on a 45-yard interception return in the fourth. Despite a sluggish first half, Auburn's final production was still impressive: 317 yards rushing and 552 total yards.
Auburn (9-2, No. 6 CFP) can earn a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game by beating Alabama next week.
Kerryon Johnson, the SEC's leading rusher, ran for 137 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He had six carries for 37 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown run, on Auburn's opening drive.
No. 1 Alabama 56, Mercer 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.-Jalen Hurts passed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in a little more than a quarter and No. 1 Alabama beat FCS team Mercer on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (11-0, No. 1 CFP) raced to a 35-0 halftime lead in what amounted to a tuneup for the team's biggest game. Now, Alabama heads to No. 6 Auburn with the winner of the Iron Bowl facing No. 7 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game in Atlanta.
The Bears (5-6) also lost to Auburn 24-10 early in the season, when the Tigers committed five turnovers.
Hurts led Alabama to touchdowns on each of his four possessions, completing all seven of his attempts and running for 30 yards. He hit a wide-open Calvin Ridley for a 66-yard touchdown, giving Ridley 103 yards on three catches before the half.
No. 7 Georgia 42, Kentucky 13
ATHENS, Ga.-Nick Chubb and Sony Michel led a dominant running game and No. 7 Georgia bounced back from its first loss of the season, wearing down Kentucky for a 42-13 victory Saturday.
In the final home game of their careers, Chubb and Michel went out with a bang on Senior Day between the hedges.
Chubb rushed for 151 and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard burst down the sideline to seal the victory early in the fourth quarter . Michel rambled for 87 yards and three scores of his own, most notably a 37-yard TD that sent the Bulldogs into the half with a 21-6 lead.
Georgia (10-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 7 CFP) returned to form after getting stuffed on the ground in a 40-17 loss to Auburn, a dismal performance that knocked the Bulldogs out of the top spot they held for two weeks in the College Football Playoff standings.
Georgia finished with 381 yards rushing against the Wildcats (7-4, 4-4), averaging 8.7 yards per carry. The previous week, the Bulldogs were held to 46 yards by Auburn, with both Chubb and Michel enduring their worst games of the season.
South Carolina 31, Wofford 10
COLUMBIA, S.C.-Jake Bentley ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third to lead South Carolina to eight wins, its most in four years, with a victory over Wofford on Saturday.
The Gamecocks (8-3) heavy favorites over Wofford of the FCS Southern Conference. But with memories of South Carolina's stunning 23-22 loss to FCS Citadel two years ago still fresh, fans at Williams-Brice Stadium weren't taking anything for granted.
Down 3-0 in the second quarter, Bentley finished off a 50-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard TD run. Bentley hit Bryan Edwards with a pretty, 23-yard scoring pass on the next series and the Gamecocks were on their way to their 17th straight victory over Wofford (9-2).
South Carolina had not won eight games in a season since 2013, the last of three consecutive 11-2 marks under former coach Steve Spurrier.
Florida 36, UAB 7
GAINESVILLE, Fla.-Eddy Pineiro kicked five field goals and Florida used a stifling defense to overwhelm UAB 36-7 on Saturday.
The Gators (4-6) ended a five-game losing streak with a strong second half when they gained 228 of their 409 total yards. Florida accumulated 257 yards on the ground with three players - Adarius Lemons (89 yards), Lamical Perine (86) and Mark Thompson (78) accounting for most of the yards.
Pineiro connected on all five of his field-goal attempts, connecting from 39, 26, 50, 50 and 42 yards. He became the first player in Florida history to make two field goals from 50 yards or longer in a game.
Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks passed for 152 yards and had touchdown passes to C'yontai Lewis (11 yards) and DeAndre Goolsby (13 yards).
No. 21 LSU 30, Tennessee 10
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams combined to run for 165 yards and three touchdowns and No. 21 LSU beat Tennessee 30-10 in stormy conditions Saturday night.
Guice ran 24 times for 97 yards and one touchdown to help LSU win for the fifth time in its last six games. Williams rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.
LSU (8-3, 5-2 SEC, No. 20 College Football Playoff) scored 10 points after recovering two fumbled punt returns by Tennessee's Marquez Callaway in the red zone. The Tigers also began a touchdown drive after making a fourth-down stop at Tennessee's 21.
Tennessee (4-7, 0-7) was playing its first game under interim head coach Brady Hoke after the firing of Butch Jones.
The Volunteers must beat Vanderbilt next week to avoid their first eight-loss season in school history. A loss to Vanderbilt would cause Tennessee to finish a season winless in SEC competition for the first time since the league's formation in 1933.