Backup RBs Tate, Lester lead No. 2 Auburn past Buffalo

WERE YOU THERE?

Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories today with ESPN's Sports Passport. Enter the games you attend, upload your photos and share your memories! I was there »

Top 25 Overview

It was over when... It was scheduled. The hapless Bulls do have one reason to be happy: They are the first team to score a TD against Auburn since the Tigers' season opener. Gameball goes to... Ben Tate. The freshman RB finished with 111 yards on seven carries and tied for a team-high two touchdowns. Brad Lester also chipped in two TDs and 82 yards. Stat of the game... 237: This game was won on the ground, as Auburn rushed for 237 yards. All five touchdowns came from Tigers backs. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	14	19
Total Yards	198	414
Passing	111	153
Rushing	87	261
Penalties	3-15	7-52
3rd Down Conversions	2-14	4-7
4th Down Conversions	3-4	0-0
Turnovers	0	1
Possession	33:24	26:36

Individual Leaders

Buffalo Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Willy 12/21 111 1 0 Paoli 0/3 0 0 0	Auburn Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Cox 6/10 134 0 1 Field 4/4 19 0 0
Buffalo Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Starks 20 66 0 17 King 3 22 0 8 McCune 3 11 0 10	Auburn Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Tate 7 114 2 42 Lester 18 83 2 13 Smith 8 57 1 23
Buffalo Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Upshaw 4 63 0 23 Starks 3 10 0 7 Yealu 1 23 0 23 Breaux 1 9 0 9	Auburn Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Taylor 3 48 0 22 Billings 2 26 0 18 Stewart 1 54 0 54 Smith 1 14 0 14

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				BUFF	AUB
	TD	2:46	BRAD LESTER 2 YD RUN (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 60 yards.	0	7
SECOND QUARTER				BUFF	AUB
	FG	0:00	JOHN VAUGHN 46 YD FG Drive info: 3 plays, 11 yards.	0	10
THIRD QUARTER				BUFF	AUB
	TD	12:28	BRAD LESTER 4 YD RUN (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 54 yards.	0	17
	TD	5:33	EVAN WALLACE 5 YD PASS FROM DREW WILLY (TAYLOR PACKWOOD KICK) Drive info: 15 plays, 80 yards.	7	17
	TD	0:40	TRE SMITH 2 YD RUN (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 71 yards.	7	24
FOURTH QUARTER				BUFF	AUB
	TD	11:17	BEN TATE 42 YD RUN (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 63 yards.	7	31
	TD	3:44	BEN TATE 28 YD RUN (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 3 plays, 49 yards.	7	38

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- No. 2 Auburn wasn't playing a highly ranked team again, and it showed.

Without tailback Kenny Irons or much passing, the Tigers eventually wore down Buffalo's defense and then used a late surge for a 38-7 victory Saturday.

Favored by six touchdowns, Auburn (4-0) led by only 10 points until late in the third quarter of a game sandwiched between a physical 7-3 victory over No. 10 LSU and a Thursday game at South Carolina.

Overmatched from the start
While never really threatening an upset, Buffalo kept it respectable for much of the Bulls' game against No. 2 Auburn on Saturday. And while moral victories still hold no weight in the polls, Buffalo should feel good about itself, especially given its recent history compared with that of the Tigers. Here is how the two programs stack up since 2000.
	Auburn	Buffalo
W-L	59-21	11-61
Win Pct.	.738	.153
Winning seasons	6	0
Longest win streak	15	2

"Guys were expecting to be up 30-0 in the first quarter," tailback Brad Lester said.

Instead, the Tigers plodded to a win that only looked effortless on the final scoreboard. Lester ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns in place of Irons. Freshman Ben Tate didn't play until the fourth quarter, but ran for touchdowns of 42 and 28 yards and gained 114 yards on seven carries.

Irons watched his understudies from the sidelines with a sprained toe and ankle, though the offense appeared to limp more than him at times. Coach Tommy Tuberville said he and defensive starters Jonathan Wilhite and Karibi Dede were held out as precautions.

Auburn's conservative game plan helped the Bulls (1-3) keep it a 10-point game until the final minute of the third quarter. It wasn't a particularly inspired performance from a team -- and a crowd -- drained from last week's big victory.

"When you don't play with emotion, you don't play very well," Tuberville said. "And that's part of the equation. You can't play with it every week. You could tell even with the crowd, everybody was kind of still thinking about last week."

Buffalo was just thinking about hanging in there in its first game against a Southeastern Conference opponent. The Bulls had not played a team ranked higher than 23rd since moving up to Division I-A in 1999.

How close was this one going into the fourth? The two teams each had 13 first downs.

"We came here to play hard and we came here to win the football game," first-year Buffalo coach Turner Gill said. "That's the way I coach and that's the way our players play.

"That's what we talked about all week."

But Tre Smith ran for a 2-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left in the third and Tate took over to finally allow Auburn a more comfortable margin.

Brandon Cox was just 6-of-10 passing for 134 yards with an interception for the Tigers, mostly content to hand off to a series of backs. He left the game one drive into the fourth quarter, and his mobility was hampered by a bruised left leg that was a remnant from the LSU game.

Potentially needing a dominant showing to secure its hold on the No. 2 spot, the Tigers sputtered to a 10-0 halftime lead. And that only came with Robert Dunn's 35-yard punt return to set up a 46-yard field goal by John Vaughn on the final play.

"We kind of woke up in the second half," guard Tim Duckworth said.

Tuberville had said he had no intention of running up a big score just to impress poll voters. He didn't, instead letting his team wear down the Bulls with the ground game.

The Tigers finished with 261 yards rushing against a defense ranked next-to-last in Division I-A against the run.

Auburn's offense finally got going on the opening drive of the second half, capped by Lester's 4-yard touchdown run, making it 17-0. Fullback Carl Stewart caught a pass in the flat and rambled 54 yards to the 14 to set up the TD.

Then the Bulls, pushing around a defense that held LSU to three points last week, mounted a 15-play, 80-yard drive. Drew Willy scrambled away from pressure and hit Evan Wallace for a 5-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal.

It was the first touchdown Auburn had allowed in a span of more than 12 quarters dating back to the opener against Washington State.

James Starks ran 20 times for 66 yards for Buffalo. Willy was 12-for-21 for 111 yards.

The Bulls had their chances in the first half to make it even closer.

They had the ball in Auburn territory three times, failing on fourth down, missing a 30-yard field goal and giving up two sacks to kill another drive.

Tuberville said his players didn't need a tongue lashing at halftime.

"There wasn't a lot of hollering and screaming," he said. "They understood. You have to play with a lot more fire than what we played."