AP photo by John Bazemore Auburn running back Ben Tate (44) runs past Vanderbilt’s Myron Lewis (5) for a first down in the first quarter of the Tigers’ 35-7 win in Auburn on Saturday.

Lester adds muscle to stable of backs

AUBURN — Brad Lester stayed up all night, doing the normal stuff that football players do before a big game the following morning: listening to music, watching television.

“I was anxious all day and all last night,” said Lester, who made his season debut, running for 77 yards and scoring two touchdowns in Auburn’s 35-7 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday.

A 5-foot-11, 194-pounder, Lester returned from a six-game suspension that dated back to January’s Cotton Bowl. Lester was suspended for lingering academic issues that apparently have been resolved.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville announced Lester’s suspension a day before the season opener against Kansas State. Since then, Lester has been doing anything in practice from playing with the scout team, to running sprints in the morning to working in the regular rotation with his replacement Ben Tate and backup Mario Fannin.

“It’s been real rough,” Lester said. “The thing that helped me out was (running backs coach Eddie) Gran and Ben, Carl (Stewart), Mario and all them. I was around them almost all the time except for when I get home. Being around those guys actually made me feel like I was in the game each week.”

He was actually in this game Saturday and started with a bang. Lester wasn’t sure when he was going to get his first carry, but when he trotted out onto the field on Auburn’s fourth play from scrimmage, the 82,657 in attendance roared.

It got even louder when he took a counter pitch behind right tackle for a 8-yard gain.

“(Coach Gran) told me he wasn’t going to play me for a while,” Lester said, “but I kind of had an idea it would be a lot earlier than he said.”

The way Tuberville talked in the postgame news conference, Lester’s first carry was designed and planned.

“The first play we wanted to run with Brad was a counter play where we reversed out and flipped it out to the field, knowing they’d probably overpursue the other way,” Tuberville said.

You could tell that the offensive linemen love Lester and wanted him back. Following Lester’s first touchdown — a 17-yard, tackle-breaking rumble — he bumped the chest of tackle Lee Ziemba and got a bear hug from center Jason Bosley.

Welcome back, Brad.

“Brad adds a lot of excitement to the game,” Fannin said. “He did a great job and scored a lot of points for us.”

Fannin (11), Lester (13) and Tate (nine) split carries and will continue to do so. The trio rushed for more than 200 yards, helping a once-struggling offense regain its form.

“When you start running the ball, it just makes such a difference in everything,” said offensive coordinator Al Borges. “Your passing game opens up because of your play-actions. You stay out of long yardage situations. Having Brad helped us considerably.”

Lester is known on the team as the running back who hits the hole the quickest, Tuberville said not only did the offense benefit from Lester’s talents, but his mind and expertise of Borges’ offense.

“There are times, still, when our running backs — Ben and Mario — are struggling in areas, as complex as this offense is with protections and little things. Brad will give a lot of stability to that group,” Tuberville said.