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Lester, Auburn hold off lowly Mississippi

Oct 28, 2007 - 3:03 AM AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) -- Brad Lester and Auburn almost made it two disappointing losses in a row.

Lester ran for 97 yards and an early touchdown and the defense stiffened in the fourth quarter Saturday as the 23rd-ranked Tigers held off anemic Mississippi with a sluggish 17-3 victory in a Southeastern Conference matchup.

Brandon Cox threw a late TD for Auburn (6-3, 4-2 SEC West), which moved one-half game behind Louisiana State (7-1, 4-1) and Alabama (6-2, 4-1) - both idle on Saturday - for the top spot in the SEC West.

"We kept plugging. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win - an SEC win," Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said. "It got us to six wins. We have a non-conference game next week (vs. Tennessee Tech), and we have to get some people healthy.

"(Linebacker) Craig Stevens hurt his foot. They X-rayed it. Brandon bruised his non-throwing shoulder, and he will probably be out a couple of days. He will be real sore."

But the Tigers will have an uphill climb thanks to their crushing loss against the Bayou Bengals last Saturday. LSU came back to secure a 30-24 victory over Auburn with a 22-yard touchdown pass with one second left in the contest.

Auburn still seemed to be shell-shocked from that game, failing to pull away the lowly Rebels until the final minutes.

"One of the hardest things in our profession is to bounce back after a disappointment," Tuberville said. "Last week, we had a huge one. This week, we came back and regrouped. We didn't play great, but we fought hard. We did some things good, but we were pretty conservative offensively."

Mississippi drove to the Auburn 20 before backup quarterback Brent Schaeffer's pass was intercepted in the end zone by defensive back Patrick Lee with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

"We were in man coverage. We had good coverage on all of their receivers," Lee said. "Our defensive line and linebackers had great pressure on the quarterback. He had to force a throw he did not want to make, and I had to do what I had to do.

"I was able to come off the receiver and get the football. I wanted to run out of the end zone, but I didn't see any lanes, so I finally took a knee."

On the ensuing possession, Cox connected with Rodgeriqus Smith for a 34-yard score with 3:15 left to provide the final margin.

"We have been moving the ball well all game," Cox said. "We just took it down and didn't make any mistakes. This time we put it in the end zone. They brought everybody at me on the last play. I didn't even see Rod when he made the catch."

Lester started the scoring with a one-yard plunge to cap a nine-play, 60-yard drive with 2:41 left in the first quarter. He admitted much of his success is due to his offensive line.

"They came out and looked good again," Lester said. "They are getting better each week. It is amazing to see how they are improving. I am excited to see what they are going to do next year."

Ole Miss stayed in the game with an impressive 14-play, 57-yard drive just before halftime - capped by a 51-yard field goal by Joshua Shene as time expired to make it 7-3.

Wes Bynum's 36-yard field goal gave the Tigers a seven-point advantage with 7:59 left in the third quarter.

Starting signal-caller Seth Adams threw for just 88 yards for the Rebels (2-7, 0-6), who are the only winless team in SEC play.