AUBURN, Ala. -- Lionel James and Bo Jackson rolled for 245 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night to spark the 3rd-ranked Auburn Tigers to a 24-3 season-opening victory over Southern Mississippi.
James led the Tigers with 172 yards on 16 carries and scored on an 8-yard run. Jackson picked up 73 yards on 11 rushes and scored on a 10-yard run and a 44-yard pass from quarterback Randy Campbell.
Auburn linebacker Gregg Carr recovered a fumble by fullback Clemon Terrell on the Golden Eagles' 12-yard line to set up an early second-quarter touchdown. Two plays later, James scampered 8 yards to put the Tigers up 7-0 before a crowd of 73,500, the largest opening-day attendance ever at Auburn.
Southern Mississippi, 1-1, then drove from its 20 to the Auburn 22 behind the running of tailback Sam Dejarnette and a 23-yard pass completion by quarterback Robert Ducksworth to tight end Mike Landrum.
But the Tigers defense stiffened and the Eagles had to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Steve Clark.
Auburn's second score, which came on its second possession of the second quarter, was helped by a 32-yard pass interference call against Southern Miss on a bomb from sophomore quarterback Pat Washington to split end Chris Woods.
A combination of short runs by James and Jackson set up a 10-yard score by Jackson. Jackson's unhampered sprint to the left gave Auburn a 14-3 lead going into the half and culminated an 85-yard, eight-play drive.
Auburn added a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter by Al Del Greco after a 14-yard punt by Larry Boyd that left the Tigers on the Eagles' 47.
Jackson then put the game out of reach with his second score, as he grabbed a pass from Campbell and sped 44 yards untouched for the score with less than five minutes left.
Southern Mississippi coach Jim Carmody said the Tigers took advantage of his team's mistakes.
'You have to play a near errorless game to have a chance against them. They don't beat themselves,' he said. 'We couldn't move the ball offensively. Our passing attack was poor. We found out tonight that we can play well against a great football team if we eliminate our mistakes.'
Carmody praised James and Jackson as 'two of the best backs we have played against since I've been at Southern.' He said he believed Auburn had improved since last year and the Tigers appeared 'more polished' on the option.
Auburn coach Pat Dye said he was pleased with his defensive line, but was 'disappointed that we didn't have a more efficient offense.
'I know it wasn't a very pretty football game from our viewpoint,' he said. 'We weren't very consistent offensively and we had too many mistakes that stopped our drives. We have to be more physical on offense to beat Texas,' he said of Auburn's next opponent.
He especially criticized the Tigers' pass blocking, claiming 'we got sacked more times tonight than we did all of last year.' Dye said he hoped the game would help his team improve.
'We needed this test because Southern Mississippi was a good hard-nosed football team. I think playing more people helped to wear down Southern Miss to a point. I hope this is the type of team that will improve and get better each week,' Dye said.
Dye also announced his team would sign the game ball and present it to the mother of Greg Pratt, a fullback who died from heat stroke during a pre-season running drill.
