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August 31, 2000
From Wire Reports
AUBURN- Ben Leard threw a pair of touchdown
passes in the first quarter and Rudi Johnson rushed for 174
yards and three scores, leading Auburn to a 35-21 victory over
Wyoming in the season opener for both clubs. After fumbling on the game's opening possession, Leard ignited
Auburn's offense, tossing a 66-yard TD pass to Ronney Daniels
midway through the first quarter to cap a four-play, 94-yard
drive. Wyoming had a chance to open the scoring, driving to the Tigers
3 following Leard's fumble. But linebacker Alex Lincoln
intercepted Jay Stoner at the Auburn 6. Leard fired a 15-yard
scoring strike to Johnson to make it 14-0 with 2:42 left in the
quarter. Wyoming answered quickly on Matt Swanson's 55-yard option pass
to Brock Ralph with 30 seconds left in the period, but Johnson
scored on TD runs of six yards in the second period and 33 yards
in the third quarter to give Auburn a 28-7 cushion. Stoner tried to rally Wyoming in the final period, tossing TDs
of 12 and eight yards to Ryan McGuffey to bring the Cowboys
within 28-21. The Tigers put away the contest on Johnson's
70-yard tackle-breaking rumble with 3:24 to go. Leard completed 12-of-19 for 266 yards. Stoner was 19-of-35 for
158 yards. Wyoming was held to just 29 rushing yards. Auburn improved to 84-22-2 in openers, including 15 of the last
16 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville
remained perfect against non-conference opponents (17-0) in
his career.
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