Final
Todd sparks Auburn past Southern Miss
Sep 6, 2008 - 9:23 PM AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) -- Auburn's new spread offense under first-year coordinator Tony Franklin remains a work in progress.Chris Todd passed for 248 yards Saturday as the 10th-ranked Tigers overcame four turnovers to post a 27-13 victory over Southern Mississippi.
"I tried to come out and lead the team, take care of the ball and be smart," Todd said of his first career start.
Todd got the start ahead of Kodi Burns, who is nursing a leg injury, and played well, completed 20-of-31 passes. However, the turnovers allowed the Golden Eagles (1-1) to stay in the game.
"(Todd) made good decisions in the first half," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We got a little lackadaisical in the third quarter, but sometimes you lean on your defense a little too much."
Three different Auburn running backs fumbled and Todd's interception led to the first of Austin Davis' two TD passes to Shawn Nelson after the Tigers opened a 24-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
Auburn put together drives of 73 and 64 yards on its first two possessions but came away empty, fumbling inside the Golden Eagles' 15 each time.
"Hopefully, we get it (the turnovers) out of our system," Tuberville added. "We gave them an opportunity to possibly get back in the game. We fumbled twice today in the red zone."
Robert Dunn's 32-yard punt return gave Auburn possession at Southern Mississippi's 26, and the Tigers finally scored on Ben Tate's 1-yard TD run with 13:10 left in the first half.
Tristan Davis added a 13-yard TD scamper to give Auburn a 14-0 halftime lead.
The Golden Eagles had a chance to score before halftime, reaching Auburn's 10, but a fumbled snap and sack led to Britt Barefoot's missed 44-yard field goal.
Burns took over for one series at the start of the second half and led Auburn to a field goal, then scored on a 1-yard run to make it 24-0 with just under seven minutes left in the third period.
Davis tried to rally the Golden Eagles, completing 32-of-49 passes for 266 yards. His 1-yard TD pass to Nelson got Southern Miss on the board with 2:33 remaining in the third period.
It was first points allowed this season by Auburn, which opened with a 34-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. In that game, the Tigers did not score their first offensive touchdown until the first minute of the third quarter.
Auburn was held to 132 yards on the ground, with Tate rushing for a team-high 71 yards on 15 carries.
"We were playing pretty well, but we made a couple mistakes as far as turning the ball over goes," Tristan Davis said. "But other than that, we did what we said we were going to do."
Austin Davis did cause problems for the Tigers in the second half, capping a 90-yard drive with a 17-yard TD toss to Nelson that pulled Southern Miss within 24-13 with 11:48 to play.
"Southern Miss is a good football team," Tuberville said. "Their receivers are going to give a lot of people problems. They really gave us problems."
Nelson finished with 12 receptions for 118 yards, while Deandre Brown had eight catches for 88 yards.
- CORRECTION
NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SOUTHERN MISS 0 0 6 7 13
AUBURN (9) 0 14 10 3 27 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: AUBURN - TD, BEN TATE 2 YD RUN (WES BYRUM
KICK), 1:50. AUBURN 7-0
AUBURN - TD, TRISTAN DAVIS 13 YD RUN (WES
BYRUM KICK), 6:37. AUBURN 14-0
3RD QUARTE
Sep 6 4:04 PM - NCAAF
FG AUBURN
WES BYRUM 22 YD
SOUTHERN MISS 13
AUBURN (9) 27 7:02 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Southern Mississippi 13, Auburn(9) 27 4th - 7:02Sep 6 3:31 PM - NCAAF
TD SOUTHERN MISS
SHAWN NELSON 18 YD PASS FROM AUSTIN DAVIS
(BRITT BAREFOOT KICK)
SOUTHERN MISS 13
AUBURN (9) 24 11:48 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Southern Mississippi 13, Auburn(9) 24 4th - 11:48Sep 6 3:22 PM - NCAAF END, 3RD QTR
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SOUTHERN MISS 0 0 6 6
AUBURN (9) 0 14 10 24 END, 3RD QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: AUBURN - TD, BEN TATE 2 YD RUN (WES BYRUM
KICK), 1:50. AUBURN 7-0
AUBURN - TD, TRISTAN DAVIS 13 YD RUN (WES
BYRUM KICK), 6:37. AUBURN 14-0
3RD QUARTER:
AUBUR
Southern Mississippi 6, Auburn(9) 24 End of 3rdSep 6 3:09 PM
TD SOUTHERN MISS SHAWN NELSON 1 YD PASS FROM AUSTIN DAVIS (PAT FAILED)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 24 3rd - 3:26Sep 6 3:04 PM
TD SOUTHERN MISS SHAWN NELSON 1 YD PASS FROM AUSTIN DAVIS (PAT FAILED)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 24 3rd - 3:26Sep 6 3:04 PM
TD AUBURN KODI BURNS 1 YD RUN (WES BYRUM KICK)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 24 3rd - 6:49Sep 6 2:45 PM
TD AUBURN KODI BURNS 1 YD RUN (WES BYRUM KICK)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 24 3rd - 6:49Sep 6 2:45 PM- NCAAF
TD AUBURN
KODI BURNS 1 YD RUN
(WES BYRUM KICK)
SOUTHERN MISS 0
AUBURN (9) 24 6:49 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 24 3rd - 6:49Sep 6 2:45 PM - NCAAF
SOUTHERN MISS 0
AUBURN (9) 17 12:38 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 17 3rd - 12:38Sep 6 2:25 PM - NCAAF HALFTIME
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SOUTHERN MISS 0 0 0
AUBURN (9) 0 14 14 HALFTIME
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: AUBURN - TD, BEN TATE 2 YD RUN (WES BYRUM
KICK), 1:50. AUBURN 7-0
AUBURN - TD, TRISTAN DAVIS 13 YD RUN (WES
BYRUM KICK), 6:37. AUBURN 14-0
Sep 6 1:53 PM
TD AUBURN TRISTAN DAVIS 13 YD RUN (WES BYRUM KICK)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 14 2nd - 8:23Sep 6 1:33 PM
TD AUBURN TRISTAN DAVIS 13 YD RUN (WES BYRUM KICK)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 14 2nd - 8:23Sep 6 1:33 PM- NCAAF
TD AUBURN
TRISTAN DAVIS 13 YD RUN
(WES BYRUM KICK)
SOUTHERN MISS 0
AUBURN (9) 14 8:23 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 14 2nd - 8:23Sep 6 1:33 PM
TD AUBURN BEN TATE 2 YD RUN (WES BYRUM KICK)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 0 2nd - 14:55Sep 6 1:20 PM
TD AUBURN BEN TATE 2 YD RUN (WES BYRUM KICK)
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 0 2nd - 14:55Sep 6 1:20 PM- NCAAF
TD AUBURN
BEN TATE 2 YD RUN
(WES BYRUM KICK)
SOUTHERN MISS 0
AUBURN (9) 7 13:10 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Southern Mississippi 0, Auburn(9) 7 2nd - 13:10Sep 6 1:20 PM - NCAAF END, 1ST QTR
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SOUTHERN MISS 0 0
AUBURN (9) 0 0 END, 1ST QTR
Sep 6 1:12 PM
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