By KYLE ROBERTS

Associate Sports Editor

After facing its third top 10 nationally ranked team of the season, the Bulldogs fell to the No. 6 Auburn Tigers Saturday in front of a crowd of 77,016 in Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., by a final score of 52-7.

Auburn's offense amassed 472 total yards with 198 yards on the ground and 274 in the air.

"Obviously, they are a very good football team," head coach Jack Bicknell III, said. "They are one of the best teams in the country, and we did not play well enough to win."

Auburn wasted no time getting 14 points in the first quarter on the legs of senior running backs Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and Ronnie Brown for touchdowns from six yards and three yards out, respectively. The tandem bruised Tech's defense and combined for 196 of Auburn's 472 total offensive yards.

Auburn had a 24-0 lead going into halftime after a field goal from sophomore kicker John Vaughn and an interception returned for a touchdown by senior defensive back Carlos Rogers.

The third quarter was no different for the Tigers as senior quarterback Jason Campbell threw his first touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Ben Obomanu for a 31-0 lead.

Tech then shocked the stadium with a 78-yard touchdown pass from Matt Kubik to junior wide receiver Johnathan Holland. Freshman kicker Danny Howerdel's point-after was good to close the gap to 31-7. Kubik finished the game throwing 12-of-22 for 179 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

"I thought [Kubik] did some good things," Bicknell said. "He showed some toughness against a good team and made some good throws."

The Tigers retaliated with Campbell's second touchdown pass of the day, as he tossed an Auburn record 87-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Silas Daniels.

The air attack did not stop from Auburn as they completed two more touchdown passes in the second half to end the game 52-7 after replacing Campbell with redshirt freshman backup quarterback Brandon Cox.

Tech's ground attack was almost non-existent and was held to 37 yards after junior star running back Ryan Moats went out with an ankle injury in the first quarter.

"Ryan is no doubt a great player," Bicknell said. "I can't say if the game would have ended any differently if he had played the entire time, but I thought [freshman running back] Freddie Franklin came in a did a great job."

Franklin finished with 75 yards rushing on 13 carries. Moats rushed three times for no gain before going to the sidelines.

The Bulldogs will regroup and travel to Dallas, Texas, this Saturday for their third Western Athletic Conference showdown in the 2004 campaign against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs in Gerald J. Ford Stadium.