The final score read Auburn-29, University of Alabama at Birmingham-0, but the big stories of the night revolved around the scrappy play of the outgunned UAB Blazers and a junior college transfer who gave Auburn fifteen unexpected points.

Auburn's offensive woes showed up in full force as the Tigers looked downright hapless offensively on several occasions.

"I'm happy with the win, but I'm not happy with the way we played offense tonight," Head Coach Terry Bowden said. "I'm particularly proud of our defense. We have a lot of young players, and they went out and made big play after big play."

In the first half, UAB stacked as many as eight different defensive players on the line in an attempt to thwart the Auburn running attack. The plan worked well and Auburn continually stalled out on drives near the goal line.

In came junior kicker Jaret Holmes, a transfer from Hinds Community College in Mississippi. Holmes didn't start kicking field goals until his freshman year at Hinds, but no one in the stands could tell as Holmes connected on five field goals scoring Auburn's first 15 points.

"I was hoping I'd get a shot to show everybody what I could do, but this by far was above and beyond any of my dreams," Holmes said.

The kicker represented a dream come true for many Auburn fans as Holmes provided Auburn with clutch kicking, something the Tigers haven't had since Scott Etheredge graduated in 1993.

"Holmes did a great job for us. Here's a guy who comes out in his first SEC game and hits big field goals. Have you ever seen a greater kicking day from one guy?" Bowden asked reporters after the game.

GREG WALKER/Editor

Brumbaugh, a defensive lineman, blocked a UAB field goal and Houston, a defensive back, intercepted UAB quarterback Rodney Hudson's pass near the goal line to end another scoring threat.

"We wanted to show all those critics out there that the Auburn defense is good, and we definitely showed that tonight," Houston said.

The offense finally came to life late in the game as Auburn managed to gain big chunks of yardage on the ground.

Senior running back Eric Hines-Tucker scored on a five-yard run and freshman phenom Markeith Cooper scored on a 13-yard run.

Junior quarterback Dameyune Craig failed to dazzle in his starting debut, but this didn't bother Bowden.

"I think Dameyune was okay, but he had a lot of first game jitters. His performance was a lot like Pat Nix's performance against Ole Miss in '94," Bowden said.

Memories and a hope for the future are all that remain of the 50-year-old Sports Arena.

The structure burned to the ground during Saturday night's football game.

Hit hardest by the blaze are the 14 young women who make up Auburn's gymnastics team.

The fire destroyed everything they had Ñ all their practice gear, all their competition equipment, everything.

"We've got 14 young ladies that are very upset. Everything we had was in that building," Head Coach Robert Dillard said.

"We lost all our equipment, our uniforms and even the music for our routines. We lost it all," he said.

The entire history of gymnastics at Auburn was housed in that building Ñ every record, roster, picture, award and piece of memorabilia.

"Everything that was ever Auburn gymnastics is gone," senior Jenessa Collins said. "All the stats and the history of Auburn gymnastics is burned. Every picture, every videotape. There is no record of Auburn gymnastics left except for us."

The 'us' Collins was referring to are the current members of Auburn's gymnastics team.

To them, the Sports Arena was much more than just that old white building across from Parker Hall.

"It was like our home," Collins said. "It may have been an old building, but it was one of the biggest and best training gyms in the country."

The women often spent spare time in the building between classes and before and after practice, and they will definitely miss it.

"It's going to be hard walking by the building going to class every day and seeing it," senior Kim Watanabe said.

"I've been doing gymnastics since I was 6, so it feels like part of me is gone right now. I spent lots of time in there," Collins said. "This is the worst day of my life."

Watching it burn was not an easy task for the team, but they all did it.

"After the fire started, we all left the game and went and sat outside to watch it," Watanabe said.

"I couldn't do anything but stand there and cry," Collins said.

Their coach was also upset by the fire. The normally talkative Dillard appeared pale and withdrawn at press briefings after the burning, responding with short answers.

"He lives and breathes gymnastics, and I think he was devastated by it," Collins said. "He spent so much time up there planning on what to do to make it better for us. I'm sure there were nights he spent in his chair."

Despite his personal distress over the blaze, Dillard remains the team's coach.

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Collins said Dillard reassured the team that everything was going to be OK and the fire would turn out to be a good thing for the program.

Dillard, along with Athletics Director David Housel, met with the team on Sunday to update them on what was going on and try to lift their spirits.

"David Housel told us that we didn't begin the program, but the new program starts here and this team is the foundation for the new era of Auburn gymnastics," Watanabe said.

Housel said they are like the Phoenix that rose from its own ashes, inspiring the team to gather ashes from the remains in order to carry them on road meets.

"They lost everything in the fire, but the important thing is nobody was hurt. We still have good athletes and good coaches, and we'll use them to build a new foundation," Housel said.

The women agree with Housel, saying they believe the fire is going to turn into something positive for the team.

"I think everyone's going to pull together to prove we can still do it," senior Rebecca Balogach said.

"I think it's a motivational factor because we used to gripe about little things, and little things don't mean anything anymore," Watanabe said.

With their first meet of the season Jan. 10, the women had already started preparing for the new season.

The team will continue to prepare, even without a practice gym or equipment.

"We start practicing tomorrow. We're going to run on the track and lift weights until they bring the new equipment in," Balogach said.

"We're so far behind everyone else in the country because we're on quarters, and now this sets us back even further," Collins said about practicing without any equipment.

Housel assured the women Auburn would find some place for them to practice, even if they had to rent a building off campus.

Plans to tear down the Sports Arena and replace it with an academic building, moving the gymnastics program to its own free-standing building near the coliseum, have been accelerated, the team members said.

However, the new building will not be ready this season. When it is, the current seniors said they plan to donate personal memorabilia to the program to help get it started again.

A slightly charred copy of the gymnastics media guide was found in the rubble.

"We plan to have all the girls autograph it and donate it to the Athletic Museum," Collins said. "We may be down right now, but we're not out."

Like a battle-hardened soldier emerging from war, Auburn returned from Oxford scarred and weary, but victorious.

Leading the nation in scoring defense going into the game, and 10th in overall defense, Auburn had not been scored on in its two previous games.

That didn't last long, as the University of Mississippi capitalized on an Auburn turnover late in the first quarter.

After recovering a dropped punt, Ole Miss went 20 yards in two plays for the touchdown.

The defense played fairly well, giving up only one more score until the fourth quarter.

When sophomore defensive back Martavius Houston went down in the second half with cramps, the defense found itself involved in a life or death struggle with the Ole Miss offense.

For a while Ole Miss was winning that battle, but with the return of Houston to the lineup in the fourth quarter, the tide began to turn.

With its leader back, Auburn began to stop the Ole Miss passing attack and managed to keep them out of the end zone for the rest of the game.

Playing through, and still winning despite the lack of leadership in the secondary during the time Houston was out, will be a boon for the players as they prepare for the rest of the SEC games.

"I think the young guys took good things from this game," Houston said.

Helping the defense out were four interceptions by two Tiger defenders.

JEFFREY HAHNE Assistant Intrigue Editor

True freshman Antwoine Nolan added two more interceptions including one in the end zone to end Ole Miss' last possession.

The four interceptions against Ole Miss gave Auburn 10 for the season, leading the NCAA.

Offensively, the Tigers looked sharp, with only a short time in the second half where they had problems moving the ball.

Junior Auburn quarterback Dameyune Craig threw the longest pass of his career, a 67-yard strike to sophomore wideout Robert Baker for a score.

Baker had a career high 161 yards receiving on five catches with two touchdowns.

That total places him seventh on the Auburn all-time list for most receiving yards in a single game.

Alexander Wright set the record in 1989 against the University of Pacific-Asuzu, pulling down five balls for 263 yards and four touchdowns.

Junior tailback Fred Beasley rushed for a career high 112 yards on 18 carries, scoring two touchdowns.

His previous career best was 64 yards against the University of Kentucky in 1995.

"That was a great, hard-fought victory. When you talk about an SEC matchup, teams play harder. That was a tough, tough ball game," Auburn Head Coach Terry Bowden said.

The Auburn women's soccer team hung tough Sunday against 20th-ranked Southern Methodist University.

Auburn found itself leading 1-0 with six minutes left in the game, only to fall 2-1 to the Lady Mustangs.

The loss drops the Lady Tigers to 2-4-2 overall; however, they still hold a winning record, 1-0-1, in the SEC having beaten the University of Mississippi earlier this season.

Senior Tiffany Smith scored the only goal for Auburn. She was assisted by senior defender Carrie Hinds.

The goal marked Smith's third goal in the last two games.

"We played really well today until the last few minutes. It all happened really quick," Smith said.

"SMU scored two quick goals and before we knew it, we went from being up one goal to down one," she said.

Auburn goalies Meredith McPherson and Karina Micomonaco saved a combined total of nine shots by the Lady Mustangs.

McPherson saved four and Micomonaco stopped five. SMU outshot Auburn 11 to five.

"You never like to lose a game with just a few minutes remaining. It's hard to know you could have beaten a team, especially a ranked team, and fall short in doing so," Head Coach Bill Wilkins said. "Our girls played hard today, and we will just have to move on and learn from this experience."

Next up for the Tigers are two tough road games against SEC rivals Ñ Vanderbilt University on Friday and the University of Kentucky on Sunday.

Wilkins said he plans to start preparing for the road games today. "We're going to take a day off and then come back and have a tough week of practice and go from there," he said.

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On Sept. 20, the Tigers tied with the University of Texas 3-3. Smith scored two goals, and sophomore Jill Palmer added another for the Lady Tigers. Junior forward Trudi James assisted on Smith's first goal.

McPherson said she felt the Tigers should have come away with the win.

"We played as well today as we have during any game this season. I felt we should have won. we played really great soccer today," she said.

McPherson said she feels that, despite the slow start, the team is coming together.

"we've had a lot of injuries, but we have managed to pull through them and remain focused on one thing, taking one game at a time and not looking ahead," she said.

Although competition in the SEC is tough, McPherson said she thinks first place is within their ability.

"I feel we can win our division if we stay focused and get some injured players back," she said. "every team seems to have a chance. The team that wants it the most will have to step up and take it. I feel we can be that team."

Wilkins said he was optimistic about the turnout of the Texas game.

"We have to be very happy about the way we played because they are a very competitive team. They play a different style than what we are use to, but we handled it well," he said. "We had a lot of players step up today and perform well."

Like his goalkeeper, Wilkins said he believes the Tigers have a legitimate shot at winning the SEC West.

"Everyone in the West division has a loss except for us. It is a very competitive division, and every team has a chance to win it. I don't think we've played our best 90 minutes yet, so I feel we have good things to look forward to," Wilkins said.

Auburn sports have already taken to the fields and courts for fall games, but the other sports scene at Auburn known as intramurals is just about to begin.

Auburn offers lots of different intramural sports from flag football to swimming so all athletes can get their share of competition.

"We usually have about 170 flag football teams in the fall and 80 soccer teams, so we have a lot of people playing," Director of Intramurals Ted Trupp said. "We stress sportsmanship because, with so many teams, we want to make sure bad accidents won't happen," Trupp said.

If there are ties in regular season play, sportsmanship points decide who goes on to the playoffs.

Trupp wants to make sure all individuals get a chance to compete, so intramurals have several one or two-day tournaments. In the fall there is a track meet and swim meet where individuals can sign up to participate in various events.

Intramurals at Auburn have come a long way since Trupp played them as a student here about 16 years ago.

Intramural games were played on the drill field until 1978 when the present intramural field was added. Lights added a new dimension for intramurals, allowing night games to take place for the first time in 1990.

There have been some complaints about officiating in past years.

"If they want to have good officials, they should send us people who know what they're doing," Trupp said.

Each team is required to send an official to the clinic just to participate in the championship league. "If these teams and players want to be serious about playing, they also have to be serious about giving us officials," Trupp said.

Adding sports is always a possibility, but interested parties must come to the intramural office to try to get a tournament.

"We've had a lot of interest in starting an Ultimate Frisbee league, but every time we have a tournament, the turnout doesn't justify adding it as a sport," Trupp said.

Trupp also warns against the practice of bringing in ringers to help your team in a tough game. "If we find out a team has an illegal player, then we will tell them the player can't play," Trupp said.

If teams feel they were beaten by another team using illegal players, they have the opportunity to file a protest with the intramural officials.

"If we get a protest within the 24-hour limit, then we can make the team breaking the rules forfeit the game, but they protest has to come in within the time limit," Trupp said.