AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn Tigers gave up big chunks of yards to West Virginia's slippery offensive stars, missed tackles and allowed 30 points.

The Tigers also forced six turnovers which led to 24 points in their 41-30 win over the Mountaineers Saturday night. It was the kind of mix that could make an old defensive coordinator like Gene Chizik wring his hands one moment and celebrate the next.

"At the end of the day, one of the things I'm proud of our defense for is staying in there and playing hard and making good things happen," the Auburn coach said Sunday. "I think we had some guys that came up with some great plays last night at crucial times in the game. When you get six turnovers in a football game, you should have a chance to win that game. That gave us a chance."

In sum, the game left the defense with "a lot of things to fix but a lot of positives to go along as well." He said at times, defenders took bad angles on West Virginia's speedy athletes.

Auburn (3-0) used the opportunistic defense and Chris Todd's passing to nudge closer to a Top 25 ranking, leaving the Tigers third among "others receiving votes."

The mistakes left West Virginia (2-1) feeling like the team had given one away.

"We did not come up with a victory and it just hurts knowing that you were the better team," linebacker J.T. Thomas said. "I am not saying that Auburn is not a great team, but we kind of shot ourselves in the foot."

Quarterback Jarrett Brown was intercepted four times — including three in the fourth quarter — and lost a fumble in his first road start, ruining a day that included some impressive passes and runs. Brown passed for 221 yards and rushed 19 times for 66 in addition to the costly mistakes.

Linebacker Craig Stevens returned Brown's final pick 15 yards for a decisive touchdown with 3:41 left for the final points. Auburn defenders were still impressed by Pat White's former understudy.

"He is one of the best quarterbacks I have ever played against," Stevens said. "He is so elusive back there. We could not get him down."

"You would think he has something on his jersey, the way he keeps slipping away," Auburn cornerback Neiko Thorpe added.

So did tailback Noel Devine.

The Tigers settled down after giving up 219 yards in the first quarter.