Auburn roughs up Tennessee Tech

AUBURN, ALABAMA - Brandon Cox completed his first seven passes, leading No. 19 Auburn to three early touchdowns before leaving the game in the second quarter, and the Tigers cruised to a 35-3 win against Tennessee Tech on Saturday.

Cox completed 9 of 11 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown and Auburn (7-3) scored on its first three possessions on homecoming.

The Golden Eagles (4-6), who play in the Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), fell to 0-19 against major college teams.

Cox finished his work at 13:59 in the half when he completed a 16-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Robert Dunn, giving Auburn a 21-3 lead. It was the first of two touchdown catches for Dunn.

Backup Blake Field led the Tigers for much of the remainder of the game completing 6 of 11 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.

The highlight for Tennessee Tech came early in the first quarter after Auburn had taken a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard run by Ben Tate.

Henry Sailes took the kickoff and raced 67 yards down the sideline to the Auburn 16. The Golden Eagles could only move the ball to the 10 and settled for a 28-yard Justin Kraemer field goal.

The Tigers took control from there. Cox threw a short pass over the middle to Carl Stewart, who raced 55 yards to the Auburn 2. Stewart ran it in on the next play.

Auburn only scored one offensive touchdown after Cox left. That came on the Tigers' first possession of the second half when Field completed a 20-yard pass to Dunn after a 13-play, 90-yard drive.

The Golden Eagles threatened in the fourth quarter driving from their 17 to the Auburn 9, but Walter McFadden intercepted Lee Sweeney's pass and raced 93-yards down the sideline for Auburn's final score. It was the third longest interception return in Auburn history.

Auburn held the Golden Eagles to 304 yards and forced four turnovers.

Mario Fannin ran 14 times for 59 yards for Auburn, while Derek White had 66 yards on 18 carries for Tennessee Tech.