All about the BCS: Auburn's D clamps down in easy win

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Courtney Taylor caught a 13-yard touchdown pass three minutes into the game. Gameball goes to... Ben Tate. The freshman running back, filling in for a banged up Kenny Irons, rushed for 93 yards on 11 carries. Stat of the game... 2,000. Taylor, who had four catches for 116 yards, became the fourth Auburn receiver with 2,000 career yards. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	14	16
Total Yards	177	399
Passing	89	251
Rushing	88	148
Penalties	4-36	7-57
3rd Down Conversions	3-11	4-9
4th Down Conversions	0-2	0-0
Turnovers	2	4
Possession	34:35	25:25

Individual Leaders

Arkansas State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Leonard 9/17 61 0 0 Hewitt 3/4 28 0 1	Auburn Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Cox 12/21 251 2 2 Field 0/1 0 0 1
Arkansas State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Arnold 11 37 0 13 James 7 37 0 20 Wilkerson 9 24 0 6	Auburn Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Tate 11 93 0 38 Lester 12 62 0 18 Stewart 2 3 1 2
Arkansas State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Jones 4 34 0 14 Jordan 2 22 0 13 Miller 2 15 0 13 Johnson 1 12 0 12	Auburn Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Taylor 4 116 1 57 Stewart 3 41 1 19 Guess 1 38 0 38 Billings 1 21 0 21

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				ARST	AUB
	TD	12:08	COURTNEY TAYLOR 13 YD PASS FROM BRANDON COX (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 57 yards.	0	7
	FG	1:15	JOHN VAUGHN 21 YD FG Drive info: 6 plays, 67 yards.	0	10
SECOND QUARTER				ARST	AUB
	FG	4:15	JOHN VAUGHN 22 YD FG Drive info: 7 plays, 66 yards.	0	13
THIRD QUARTER				ARST	AUB
	TD	9:31	CARL STEWART 1 YD RUN (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 42 yards.	0	20
	TD	4:01	CARL STEWART 19 YD PASS FROM BRANDON COX (JOHN VAUGHN KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 45 yards.	0	27

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Brandon Cox is still waiting for that dominant performance from No. 6 Auburn's offense.

Not that it was needed Saturday.

The Tigers' defense limited Arkansas State to 177 total yards -- most of them in the fourth quarter -- in a 27-0 victory.

Cox passed for 251 yards and two touchdowns but was also intercepted twice and lost a fumble, spoiling any chance for Auburn (9-1) to roll up the score.

"Offensively, it was the same old story," said Cox, who was 12-of-21 passing and fell 2 yards shy of his season-high in yards. "We put up some good numbers, but we still didn't put up enough points. We scored enough points to win but not enough to satisfy us."

The defense got some satisfaction with its second shutout of the season.

The Indians (5-4) gained 86 yards and four first downs in the first three quarters before finally starting to move the ball against Auburn's backups.

The Tigers were looking for an easy win and trying to pile up some style points for positioning in the Bowl Championship Series standings -- especially with fellow BSC hopefuls like No. 5 Florida and No. 2 Michigan struggling Saturday.

At least they accomplished the first goal, but their season-ending rivalry games with Georgia and Alabama lost some luster with both rivals getting upset earlier in the day.

Auburn avoided any such stumble, though coach Tommy Tuberville admitted it was "a pretty ho-hum game."

"It was one of those games we were just trying to get through and get the win and get it over with," coach Tommy Tuberville said.

Still, the Tigers had Cox on the field until late in the fourth quarter. He set his season-high with 253 passing yards at Mississippi last week.

Courtney Taylor had four catches for 116 yards, all in the first half, and became the fourth Auburn receiver with 2,000 career yards. He had catches of 41 and 57 yards to set up first-half field goals.

Auburn tailback Kenny Irons, bothered by an ankle injury for much of the season, played only the opening series. The Southeastern Conference's No. 2 rusher couldn't handle a pitch on a play that lost 10 yards and had one carry for no gain after that. Irons watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.

"We started out Kenny Irons just to make sure he got the rust off," Tuberville said. "Luckily, we did."

Irons' subs fared far better. Freshman Ben Tate gained 93 yards on 11 carries, and Brad Lester added 62 yards on 12 runs.

The Indians finally drove into Auburn territory against reserve defenders in the fourth quarter, then had a botched snap on a 19-yard field-goal attempt ruin their best scoring chance.

The Tigers' reaction to that shutout-preserving mistake? "A big sigh of relief," linebacker Karibi Dede said.

"You always shoot for the highest standard defensively, and that's a shutout," he said.

The Indians have now been held scoreless in two straight games, coming off a 29-0 loss to Florida Atlantic.

"We came down here to compete and have an opportunity to win and obviously we did not get that done," Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts said.

But his team, which came in with 13 interceptions, kept the score from getting uglier by adding three picks. Auburn backup quarterback Blake Field was intercepted on his only pass attempt.

Auburn had committed just nine turnovers through nine games. The Tigers managed 399 total yards despite the miscues.

The Tigers led 13-0 at halftime, with two promising drives ended by turnovers and two more with short field goals by John Vaughn.

"We moved the ball all over the field," Taylor said. "When you get in certain situations, you're jumping offsides and basically shooting yourselves in the foot."

Arkansas State's Corey Leonard was 9-of-17 for 61 yards, while leading rusher Reggie Arnold managed 37 yards on 11 carries. Leonard was impressed by the Tigers' speed.

"They are a really good defense," he said. "I have nothing against them but when I lined up I thought, 'Those guys aren't as big as you think.' But as soon as that first snap comes, you see why they are as good as they are.

"They are fast everywhere from their defensive tackles to their safeties."

Auburn safety Eric Brock sprained his left ankle early and didn't return.