Auburn 63, Ball St. 3

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Posted 8:26PM on Saturday, September 17, 2005

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) The Auburn Tigers were looking to audition kickoff men and tailbacks. The Tigers got plenty of opportunities to do both in a 63-3 victory over Ball State on Saturday when every drive ended with a touchdown and every tailback supplied a big play or two. Kenny Irons and Brad Lester rushed for two touchdowns each and Lester returned a kick 93 yards for another TD for Auburn (2-1), which had five tailbacks score and averaged 10 yards per play. A mismatch from the start, the Tigers made it into a numbers game: How high could they go. ``At halftime, we were up 35-0 and Coach said he wanted to score 50,'' said quarterback Brandon Cox, a pristine 16-of-19 passing for 171 yards and a touchdown. ``We said we wanted 60, and we did it.'' They did just about everything else they wanted to as well against the Cardinals (0-3). Irons carried 11 times for 147 yards, including a 68-yard score, and didn't play in the second half. The Tigers had been searching for a tailback tandem among four contenders, and Irons and Lester did their part to emerge from the logjam. Lester had a 70-yard run to set up his 3-yard TD in the fourth quarter and gained 91 yards on seven carries. ``It's our jobs on the line because after a few weeks they're only going to take two backs,'' he said. ``All of us are going to be competitive and pick it up a step.'' The Tigers gained 390 yards rushing and even reserve Tristan Davis slipped in a 52-yard TD run in the closing minutes during a brief stint on offense. The defensive back/tailback also made a tackle on the next series. ``Our goal was to score every time we got the ball on offense, and we did that,'' Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. ``I thought we would throw in a couple of field goals.'' The kickers got plenty of other work between John Vaughn's extra points and three players getting their shots at kickoff after Tuberville opened that job up to all comers. Punter Kody Bliss who effectively got a day off from his regular job started but his final kick went out of bounds, one of the problems that had plagued the Tigers. Lester's kick return in the third quarter ruined Ball State's momentary good mood after the team's lone score, a field goal. It was Auburn's first score on a kick return since 2000, and the blockers gave him a big hole to dart through. ``They just made my job easy,'' Lester said. ``They kicked everybody out and once I got past the kicker it was pretty much just a light stride from there.'' Ball State has given up 169 points in its first three games and was short-handed, with seven players suspended in a continuing investigation of alleged NCAA violations discovered last spring. Things don't get any easier for the Cardinals, who visit Boston College next week to continue a brutal schedule. ``There is no good news out of this football game,'' Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. Auburn gave several starters the day off to recuperate from minor injuries and started playing some reserves well before halftime. Overall, the Tigers got 74 players in the game. Ball State quarterback Joey Lynch thinks his team had something to do with Auburn looking so dominant. ``Not to take anything away from them, but I don't think Auburn is as good as we let them show today,'' said Lynch, who was 14 of 24 for 127 yards . ``We didn't do our part at all. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)