The Tigers got a bounce-back win on Saturday night as Auburn defeats New Mexico 45-19 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn needed a rebound win after their disappointing 21-14 loss to Cal the week prior. After that loss, head coach Hugh Freeze was met with a lot of criticism for how the offense performed. Quarterback Payton Throne and play-calling were at the top of the list. The win now puts Auburn at 2-1 as they get ready for SEC play next week against Arkansas.
Auburn Defeats New Mexico
Hank Brown Gets First Start
It was a surprise to many of the Auburn faithful when Freeze did not land a quarterback from the transfer portal during the off-season. Instead, he put all his confidence in Thorne. In the opener against an outmanned Alabama A&M team, he looked great throwing 322 and four touchdowns. Last week in the loss to Cal he struggled and threw four interceptions.
On Friday, the news broke that redshirt freshman Hank Brown would get the start against the Lobos. Going into Friday night, the most on-field action for Brown was in the Music City Bowl when he entered the fourth quarter with Auburn down big. In that game, he threw for 132 yards off seven of nine passing. The potential he showed last December returned on Saturday night.
Passing Game Shines
Brown was 17 of 25 for 235 yards and four touchdowns against the Lobos. After Auburn was down 3-0 to New Mexico to start the game, Brown guided the Tigers into the endzone for his first touchdown pass. He connected with Camden Brown for ten yards to give Auburn a 7-3 lead. The first half was a back-and-forth game. On their next series he found KeAndre Lambert-Smith for 50 yards down the sideline to setup at two-yard touchdown by Jarquez Hunter. That score gave Auburn a 14-10 lead with 1:12 left in the first quarter. The score at halftime would be 17-13 in favor of the Tigers.
The second half was different, and Brown threw for three touchdowns as Auburn pulled away. Brown completed nine of eleven passes for 120 yards. He was perfect on the first three drives of the half as Auburn created some distance. Those three touchdowns came on those drives. He first connected with tight end Micah Riley for three yards to put Auburn up 24-13 with 9:58 in the third. After an interception by Antonio Kite, Auburn capitalized and added more points on the board. With 3:55 in the third, Brown found Hunter for 14 yards to make the score 31-13. Brown’s final touchdown pass came in response to another Lobos score. With the game 31-19 with 12:08 in the game, Brown found tight end Rivaldo Fairweather for 26 yards. That play gave the Tigers a 38-19 lead.
Running Game Gets Going
In the loss against Cal last week the Tigers did not consistently try to get the run game going. The win over New Mexico was different. As a team, Auburn rushed for 268 yards on 40 attempts. It was important to get the run game going with an inexperienced quarterback behind center. Hunter led the way with 152 yards and Damari Alston added 80. Both running backs reached the endzone as well. Hunter had his best run of the evening on the first play of the second half when he rushed for 31 yards to get the Tigers to the Lobos side of the field. Alston added the final score of the game with a 22-yard run to give the Tigers a 45-19 lead.
Defensive Struggles
Once again looking back at the Cal loss last, the Tigers struggled on defense in the first half of that game. That was the same on Saturday night against New Mexico. Auburn allowed 293 yards of offense to the Lobos in the first half. That included 203 yards of passing due to several examples of broken coverage by the secondary. New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier played well at times going 22 of 44 for 291 yards and one touchdown. New Mexico also had success on the ground rushing for 157 yards on the night. Eli Sanders led the way with 72 yards on seven carries. The Tigers will need to clean up the defense as the SEC opener is next week against Arkansas.
It was not all negative for the Tigers defense as they did limit the Lobos to one score in the second half and did create two turnovers. Kite had the big interception in the second half that led to a score, and in the first half, Texas transfer Jerrin Thompson had one as well. The Thompson interception led to a Towns Mcgough 24-yard field goal to go up 17-10. The Tigers were led in tackles by Thompson and Champ Anthony with six a piece.
