AUBURN 30, IDAHO 23

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Ben Leard completed 16-of-19 passes for 165
yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns and Rusty Williams
rushed for two scores to lead Auburn to a 30-23 win over Idaho on
Saturday night.

The Tigers (2-0), playing in their 1,000th game, narrowly escaped
with the win against a heavy underdog for the second straight
week. The Vandals (1-1) got three fourth-quarter touchdown passes
from backup quarterback Ed Dean after many of the Auburn fans had
left.

Idaho had opportunities to make it even closer. But the Vandals
failed to cash in after recovering an onside kick, then had
another fourth-quarter drive stalled by Rob Pate's second
interception of the night deep in Auburn territory.

Dean's 7-yard scoring pass to Chris Lacy with 41 seconds left
capped the rally try.

The Tigers, who have won 24 of their last 25 non-conference
games, squandered a 23-0 lead in the final quarter. Last week,
Auburn needed Leard's 33-yard touchdown pass to Ronney Daniels
with 38 seconds left to beat Division I-AA Appalachian State.

Leard staked the Tigers to the big lead late in the third quarter
before backups Gabe Gross and Jeff Klein took over. Leard, who
opened the season as a backup, set an Auburn game record for
highest completion percentage (84.4 percent). He completed all 11
first-half passes.

But the Tigers failed to convert a first down on Gross's three
series, losing a fumble to set up Idaho's first touchdown. That
came on a 7-yard toss to Rossi Martin. Dean added a 20-yarder to
Ryan Prestimonico with 7:40 left.

For the second straight week, the Vandals had to turn to Dean in
the second quarter after starter John Welsh was injured. Welsh
broke his right ankle in the second quarter, a week after getting
a hip pointer in the Vandals' 48-21 win over Eastern Washington.

Dean threw for three scores in both games. He finished 18-for-32
for 169 yards against the Tigers.

Williams' 11-yard scoring jaunt with 8:26 left in the game proved
the difference. Klein, a redshirt freshman, sparked that drive
with a 29-yard pass to Ronney Daniels on his first career play.


                   1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                   --- --- --- ---  -----
Idaho               0   0   0  23    23
Auburn             13   7   3   7    30


First Quarter
     Aub-Williams 3 run (Bironas kick), 9:48
     Aub-Schwieger 3 pass from Leard (kick failed), 7:13
Second Quarter
     Aub-Cooper 14 pass from Leard (Duval kick), 0:23
Third Quarter
     Aub-FG Bironas 23, 4:53
Fourth Quarter
     Ida-Martin 7 pass from Dean (Dean run), 12:39
     Aub-Williams 11 run (Bironas kick), 8:26
     Ida-Prestimonico 20 pass from Dean (Jones pass from Dean),
7:40)
     Ida-Lacy 7 pass from Dean (Davis kick), 0:41

                          Ida      Aub
                          ---      ---
First downs                23       30
Rushes-yards            26-59    45-85
Passing                   190      202
Comp-Att-Int          22-43-3  18-23-0
Return Yards               53      140
Punts-Avg.            10-41.1   8-42.9
Fumbles-Lost              0-0      4-3
Penalties-Yards          7-53    12-82
Time of Possession      27:20    32:40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Idaho, Tenner 8-32, Alderson 5-26, Dean 7-16, Welsh 4-1,
Moody 1-0. Auburn, Williams 18-42, Owens 11-30, Cooper 1-29, C.
Robinson ,4-14, Evans 1-(minus 3), Gross 2-(minus 7), Leard
5-(minus 10).

PASSING-Idaho, Welsh 4-11-1 21, Dean 18-32-2 169. Auburn, Leard
16-19-0 165, Gross, 1-2-0 7, Klein 1-2-0 29.

RECEIVING-Idaho, Martin 11-103, Prestimonico 3-38, Townsley 3-14,
Jones 2-17, Lacy 2-14, Grey 1-4. Auburn, Daniels 4-69, Cooper
3-37, Willis 2-28, Schwieger 2-23, C. Robinson 2-(minus 2),
Diamond 1-25, Evans 1-12, Hooker 1-8, T. Robinson 1-7, Owens
1-(minus 5).

A-76,365.