NEW ORLEANS – Auburn made an improbable bid to share the national title by hanging on in the Sugar Bowl. Now, all the no. 3 Tigers can do is wait to see if it somehow works out.

Jason Campbell threw a touchdown pass, John Vaughn kicked three short field goals, and Auburn completed a perfect season with a 16-13 victory over ninth-ranked Virginia Tech last night.

The Tigers (13-0) had a couple of second-half turnovers that prevented them from blowing the game open. And they gave up an 80-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left, hurting their chances of swaying the voters to split no. 1 again.

Virginia Tech (10-3) could have made things easier on the Bowl Championship Series by upsetting Auburn, but the Hokies made a couple of major blunders, dropping a pass in the end zone and missing a chip-shot field goal.

When Bryan Randall threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Josh Morgan with 6:58 left in the game, ruining the shutout, one could almost sense that no. 1 USC, no. 2 Oklahoma, and – especially – the BCS were breathing easier.

Randall dealt another blow to the Tigers when he threw the long touchdown pass to Morgan, perhaps costing a few more votes.

Auburn recovered the onside kick and kneeled down to run out the clock, deciding to preserve the victory rather than try to win more impressively.

Campbell was named MVP after completing 11-of-16 for 189 yards with one interception. Randall threw for 299 yards but was picked off twice.

Carnell Williams, half of Auburn’s heralded running back duo, was held to 61 yards rushing. He also fumbled in the fourth quarter when the Tigers, leading 16-0, were driving for the touchdown that could have made the victory a lot more convincing.

Auburn had a chance to blow it open in the first half, too, but went 0-for-3 from inside the Virginia Tech 10. The Tigers had to settle for three short field goals by Vaughn, who connected from 23, 19, and 24 yards for a 9-0 lead at halftime.

After taking the second-half kickoff, Auburn finally drove all the way to the end zone. The biggest play was a thirdand-16, when Campbell scrambled near the Virginia Tech sideline and spotted Anthony Mix breaking open, connecting with him on a 53-yard pass.

Then, on third-and-2 from the Virginia Tech 5, Campbell froze the linebackers with play-action and hit Devin Aromashodu on a quick slant over the middle for Auburn’s first TD. It would be their only one.

Not that it was surprising to have these two teams lock up in a defensive struggle. Auburn gave up fewer points per game than any team in the country, Virginia Tech was just two spots behind in the national rankings.