AUBURN, Ala. (AP) _ Ben Leard completed 16 of 19 passes for 165 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns and Rusty Williams rushed for two scores to lead Auburn to a 30-23 win over Idaho on Saturday night.

The Tigers (2-0), playing in their 1,000th game, narrowly escaped with the win against a heavy underdog for the second straight week. The Vandals (1-1) got three fourth-quarter touchdown passes from backup quarterback Ed Dean after many of the Auburn fans had left.

Idaho had opportunities to make it even closer. But the Vandals failed to cash in after recovering an onside kick, then had another fourth-quarter drive stalled by Rob Pate's second interception of the night deep in Auburn territory.

Dean's 7-yard scoring pass to Chris Lacy with 41 seconds left capped the rally try.

The Tigers, who have won 24 of their last 25 non-conference games, squandered a 23-0 lead in the final quarter. Last week, Auburn needed Leard's 33-yard touchdown pass to Ronney Daniels with 38 seconds left to beat Division I-AA Appalachian State.

Leard staked the Tigers to the big lead late in the third quarter before backups Gabe Gross and Jeff Klein took over. Leard, who opened the season as a backup, set an Auburn game record for highest completion percentage (84.4 percent). He completed all 11 first-half passes.

But the Tigers failed to convert a first down on Gross's three series, losing a fumble to set up Idaho's first touchdown. That came on a 7-yard toss to Rossi Martin. Dean added a 20-yarder to Ryan Prestimonico with 7:40 left.

For the second straight week, the Vandals had to turn to Dean in the second quarter after starter John Welsh was injured. Welsh broke his right ankle in the second quarter, a week after getting a hip pointer in the Vandals' 48-21 win over Eastern Washington.

Dean threw for three scores in both games. He finished 18-for-32 for 169 yards against the Tigers.

Williams' 11-yard scoring jaunt with 8:26 left in the game proved the difference. Klein, a redshirt freshman, sparked that drive with a 29-yard pass to Ronney Daniels on his first career play.