Chris Todd threw for 248 yards in his first start and gave No. 9 Auburn's passing game a needed lift in a 27-13 win over Southern Miss on Saturday.

The junior college transfer might have ended the Tigers' quarterback question by completing an array of short and mid-range passes and effectively running the new spread offense.

He also led a late scoring drive for Auburn (2-0) after Southern Miss (1-1) surged back with a pair of touchdowns against a defense that had pitched a shutout for the first 102 minutes of the season. This time it was the running backs who struggled at times, with three of them losing fumbles a week after Todd and Kodi Burns had a hard time completing passes.