AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) -- Tommy Tuberville had to sweat out his first game as Auburn coach.

Ben Leard hit Ronney Daniels with a 33-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds to play, making Tuberville a winner in his debut as Auburn escaped with a 22-15 victory over Division I-AA Appalachian State.

Tuberville coached at Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi last season. He was hired to coach Auburn after the Tigers stumbled to a 3-8 record last season.

Auburn trailed 15-7 with 10:05 left in the third quarter after Stuart Jones kicked a 27-yard field goal. But the Tigers mounted their comeback as Rusty Williams scored on a one-yard run and Leard hit Markeith Cooper for the conversion to knot the contest heading into the final period.

Leard, who completed 10-of-19 passes for 159 yards in relief of an ineffective Gabe Gross, hooked up with Daniels for the only points of the fourth quarter, giving the Tigers the victory.

Gross started and went just 5-of-14 for 25 yards and one touchdown.

The Tigers stumbled badly in the first half against Appalachian State, which is ranked fourth nationally in the Division I-AA poll.

After Gross connected with Daniels on a 15-yard TD pass in the opening quarter to give Auburn the lead, the Mountaineers got a two-yard toucdown run from Neil Cornatzer and a 13-yard TD pass from David Reaves to John Overman in the second to take a 12-7 advantage into intermission.

Reaves finished 22-of-36 for 196 yards with an interception.