[Tuck4Bama]

AUBURN - Al Borges would like to use all sorts of creative passes and runs to light up Auburn's fancy new $2.9 million scoreboard.

Sometimes, you have to just plug along.

"You put your ego on the shelf and find a way to win," said Auburn's offensive coordinator, who did just that when he junked an ineffective running game and ordered up some basic passing to squeeze out a 23-13 victory over Kansas State on Saturday night. Brandon Cox's 3-yard touchdown pass to Gabe McKenzie with 2:01 remaining put Auburn up to stay, but the excitement of the comeback win gave way to soul searching Sunday.

Auburn woke up looking for better ways to protect Cox and needing a spark for its running game.

"A lot of it had to do with Kansas State running some things we hadn't seen," said coach Tommy Tuberville. Some were caused by Cox, who called the wrong protection at the line of scrimmage and some were caused by, Tuberville said, "guys' technique not being very good. You can't win games rushing for 50 yards. It's almost impossible."

Auburn rushed for 62 yards, and that eye-opening number shouldn't seem that strange. The Tigers only rushed for 67 against Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl, and went for only 72 against LSU and 60 against Arkansas last year, too.

Auburn managed to win three of those four games, but it's hardly a trend that a run-first coach like Tuberville can endorse.

Tigers now know the running game needs some spark- al.com