3 takeaways from Auburn's shocking loss to New Mexico State
Auburn came into Saturday with momentum and an offensive identity, something Hugh Freeze admitted only arrived recently.
New Mexico State already clinched a spot in the Conference USA championship game against Liberty and looked to extend a 6-game winning streak. Meanwhile, with the Iron Bowl looming, Auburn looked to improve on its bowl eligibility after 3 straight SEC wins. But that didn’t happen as New Mexico State won 31-10 in a game that was 10-7 at halftime.
New Mexico State QB Diego Pavia and New Mexico State must love playing Hugh Freeze teams. Last season, Pavia had 6 touchdowns in a 49-14 win over Freeze-coached Liberty. This time, Auburn was a 25-point favorite coming into Saturday and New Mexico State came in 0-for-24 against the SEC and 0-3 against Auburn.
Here are the 3 takeaways from the game:
Auburn deals with halftime deficit
Auburn didn’t score until 6:26 left in the first half when Rivaldo Fairweather caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Payton Thorne. The other first-half drives ended with a pair of punts as they combined for 9 plays. Auburn gave up 257 yards in the first half, as NMSU took a lead with 26 second remaining on a 40-yard field goal.
That was the 6th receiving touchdown by Fairweather, which is one away from the single-season TE record (7) set by Philip Lutzenkirchen in 2011.
Auburn lost in the trenches, fell behind in time of possession, was out of sync and dealt with ongoing penalties. Freeze at halftime said Auburn’s “care meter” has to go up, but it never clicked into gear.
Chippiness throughout
Both teams dealt with a slew of penalties, including 11 total penalties totaling 110 yards through a quarter. The biggest one came from the New Mexico State QB Diego Pavia, who suplexed an Auburn defender and was flagged in an incident that sparked a fight.
That was a highlight, but the game lacked rhythm because after nearly 24 minutes, there were 15 accepted penalties.
Methodical approach
The Aggies are known to be well-coached under Jerry Kill, who got a Gatorade splash at the end, and it proved to be the case as held an average time of possession per drive of 5:29 compared with Auburn at 2:35. But by the end of the 3rd quarter, the Aggies were only 3-for-8 on 3rd down, as they leaned on milking the clock, playing efficient, and even offensive penalties (6) giving them more time to run plays and clock.
One sequence played out like this: Auburn had the ball with a 1st down on the NMSU 38-yard line, and squandered the drive with penalties. The Aggies then converted a huge 3rd-and-7 play on their next drive and scored. Freeze likes to call this kind of development “critical plays” and most of them went the way of NMSU.
A 50 point swing from the opening line….. wow. Congrats to NMSU on a remarkable turnaround.
Nothing to see here, auburns is experience at buying out coaches contracts.
Talk about a trap game. Hugh Freeze has some NMST demons.
If you put money on New Mexico State whoa boy!
Maybe Auburn was overlooking New Mexico Ronnie?
Coaches sure were.
You reckon.
They planed for Alabama all week, freeze knows he has to beat big brother for that cult
War Aggie!
KY is such an SEC powerhouse in football.
Nice, Ron!
Praying for you and your War Tigers, my brother?
Why? It’s just football.
Because you always seem like you’ve been sucking on a lemon since you exited the womb, Ronald. I’ve never seen someone quicker to call everyone idiots and morons on every article than you. After noticing your sourness every season, I am convinced that logic, reasoning, and intuitive discussions don’t reach you, so the only thing left is the intervention of the Almighty to pull you from the depths of mud-slinging and bring you to the light. Shalom.
” I’ve never seen someone quicker to call everyone idiots and morons on every article than you.”
I didn’t call you an idiot or a moron.
UKCATS20
No offense but this is a comment section full of no named trolls. I don’t know you, you don’t know me. It’s all fun and games. Calm down.
Not me, Ronald. Your other brothers and sisters on this site. Your hatred and vitriol doesn’t go unnoticed. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Look into your heart, Mr. Mexico. Find the love for your fellow man that Auburn has buried deep inside you.
“Your other brothers and sisters on this site.”
I don’t have any brothers and sisters on this site.
“Your hatred and vitriol doesn’t go unnoticed. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Look into your heart, Mr. Mexico. Find the love for your fellow man that Auburn has buried deep inside you.”
See above. Trolls, trolls.
All in jest, my friend! Just trying to be weird! I’m sure Freeze will turn it around. Kentucky has had plenty of embarrassment to go around over the years. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
“All in jest, my friend!”
I’m not your friend, amigo.
“I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!”
Same to you, comrade.
Of course you’re my friend! I don’t have to know you for that. I’d give you the shirt off my back if you needed it. The world is too cold of a place to not be friends with as many as possible! We’re all just trying to make it one day at a time, with a smile!
We need more UKCATS and VFL88 on here and less of Donk and Douggie. Good man.
auburn paid NM State $1.8 million to kick their @ss. Now that is funny!!
I thought the SEC was the deepest,strongest conference? The reality is this year, UGA and Alabama have basically not had to play tough games in conference. New Mexico State looked solid but not sure they are necessarily above .500 in any power 5 conference.
“The reality is this year, UGA and Alabama have basically not had to play tough games in conference.”
When UGA wins another national championship will you still be yapping?
It might mean UGA is the best team. It won’t mean anything about the conference. But that won’t prevent Auburn, South Carolina and Miss State fans from claiming the SEC is the best. If Ohio State wins, will it mean the Big 10 is the best also? Can’t have it both ways.
“But that won’t prevent Auburn, South Carolina and Miss State fans from claiming the SEC is the best.”
I don’t know a single AU fan/alum that yells “SEC is the best.”
” If Ohio State wins, will it mean the Big 10 is the best also?”
Ask B10 fans.
“Can’t have it both ways.”
Never said it was, ma’am.
Those two LA teams are hot garbage. Washington, Oregon, Oregon St are great this year with transfer super senior QB’s.
Scumbag Lincoln Riley left OU overnight with Caleb Williams in tow and jetted for USC to avoid the SEC. At OU he was 0-3 in CFP vs SEC after dominating the Big 12. LR doesn’t even know what defense means. He won’t sniff the CFP anytime soon. He’s too busy dominating the transfer portal. LR is the “portal king”.
Truth is, it’s rarely a deep conference. Year in and year out you have a great team or two, then a couple good ones. Several mediocre to bad teams and a couple just dreadful teams. Not unlike any other major conference, the only difference is the one or two ‘great’ one’s are usually really great.
” Year in and year out you have a great team or two, then a couple good ones. ”
That can be said of every conference, moron.
B10 Ohio State is the only team to win a national championship in the last 20+ years.
SEC – Bama, LSU, AU, UF and UGA have all won a national championship or more in the last 20 years.
Pac12 – Zero since USC had their last title stripped.
Big 12 – Okie and Texas
ACC – FSU and Clemson.
Let’s talk about this year. What’s the SEC record against other conferences this year? Has anyone really given UGA a tough game in conference play? Would NMSU win on the road against any decent team from another power 5 conference? Maybe but doubt they would steamroll them. Auburn was steamrolled bad.
“What’s the SEC record against other conferences this year?”
I don’t know, ma’am. Look it up yourself.
” Has anyone really given UGA a tough game in conference play?”
Yes, AU did.
“Would NMSU win on the road against any decent team from another power 5 conference?”
Would you be a man if you sowed a fake penis on?
“Auburn was steamrolled bad.”
As was your vagina.
*sewed
You do realize that you are admitting defeat once you stop arguing facts and reverting to 7th grade name calling?
Yeah, that was the “Not unlike any other major conference” part, moron. Lmao holy sht
“You do realize that you are admitting defeat once you stop arguing facts and reverting to 7th grade name calling?”
No, not really. I laid out facts.
What does any of your argument mean about the overall strength and depth of the entire conference? People acknowledge that the top SEC team is often excellent. But much of the rest of the SEC fanbase uses this to glom on and claim the entire conference is somehow better.
“What does any of your argument mean about the overall strength and depth of the entire conference? ”
The SEC has produced a lot of national championships in the last 20 years by multiple universities. No other conference has done that.
UGA is the premier powerhouse in the SEC. Period.
The “SEC has a losing record against P5 out of conference” arguments is as dumb as conference records in bowl season. If the #8 team in the SEC (or B1G, or any other conference) plays the #3 team in another conference and loses, what does that prove? Yes, it indicates that the SEC is not so much better than the other conference that the #8 SEC team is better than the #3 team in another conference, but that’s it. If there are multiple results where teams lower in conference standings from one conference beat higher end teams from another, that does prove something but that isn’t what has happened with the SEC this year. LSU is upper-middle class and lost to the best team in the ACC. Bama is probably the second best team in the SEC and lost to the best team in the Big 12. UF loses to Utah, but UF is in the bottom third of the SEC and Utah is the top third of the Pac12.
The point being, if you just look at the win/loss numbers, you’re missing the context.
Also, despite getting out of the basement of the SEC, AU is still in the bottom half of the SEC by most people’s view, even before the result Saturday.
Booches never misses a chance to whine about the SEC even though knowledgeable football fans know it is the top conference in the nation. I think it’s because he’s miserable with his team’s lack of success in the conference overall. Pull up a chair in the basement with us UK fans. At least we can sit by the furnace and stay warm.
Most championships in at least the last 15-20 years, best bowl record, most rabid fans, best college towns in which to enjoy games, you name it, the SEC has it.
Your mistake is conflating Auburn’s performance this game with the overall strength of the SEC. Bama and UGA have absolutely played tough conference games. Things like this happen during the first season of a new HC, this doesn’t define Auburn’s season.
What was the toughest conference game UGA has had this year? Alabama’s toughest game this year was probably South Florida. Yet there are people out there that think there is a scenario where UGA and Alabama both make the playoffs. There are people who think Alabama deserves to go in over Texas if they both finish with one loss. Presumably it is based on the strength of the SEC.
“What was the toughest conference game UGA has had this year?”
Doesn’t matter.
The toughest conference game happens every day of the week at the Georgia practice. That’s why they’re ready for everyone else come December & January.
You really don’t observe very much, very closely!
I don’t know of anyone that pays much if any attention to west coast football, much less anything west of the Mississippi, although now we will presume to include UT & OU…
They are only relevant around once in a decade…!
They don’t play ‘D’ and they most often get embarrassed when they venture into the CFP…!
This is with the exception of the west coast, and fox talking heads. Cowherd, and others…! Huard, McAfee, and Howard are some of the dumbest x-jocks I’ve ever heard in my 80 yrs. on this earth!
Of course when the cows-herd was on the east coast he was still singing the praise’s of USC, haven’t heard much from his mooing section lately, so I presume his beloved USC isn’t doing so good!
MOOOOOOO!!!
LAfootball said: New Mexico State looked solid but not sure they are necessarily above .500 in any power 5 conference…
You mean, like Auburn, yes?
What conference is better than the SEC? The SEC is not as strong as it typically is but it is still the best conference.
The SEC isn’t as dominant as it has been in a long time, but this is exactly what fans have wanted, right? They were tired of seeing the same 3-4 teams in the CFP. They wanted more interesting games.
Transfer portal and NIL have done just that. It’s allowed programs to attract talent that they couldn’t before. It’s given players with lagging careers in one school be able to put it together somewhere else and make something of themselves.
We’re finally seeing ALL of CFB become a factor, not just one conference.
Winning on the road in the SEC is tough, unless you’re not in the SEC, evidently…
The auburn football program never cease to amaze me, no matter who thew coach is…LOL!!!!
“no matter who thew coach is”
Learn English.
Kind of like “sewed”
Which I corrected, ma’am.
Takeaway One: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Takeaway Two: The Barn paid out $44M combined in various buyouts to lose to New Mexico State under Huge Sleaze.
Takeaway Three: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Takeaway Four: You have herpes.
You gotta admit, Ron. It’s hilarious. I mean, Yella Fella can handle it, but it’s hilarious.
Yella Fella is a billionaire.
“You gotta admit, Ron. It’s hilarious. ”
I can’t disagree with that. It really is funny.
Wow, that’s some sophisticated comeback.
Thank you.
You just gotta know Ron.
Last year I woulda taken offense, but if Ron ain’t calling you some truly inappropriate names, then you’re not part of the regular crew here.
“Last year I woulda taken offense, but if Ron ain’t calling you some truly inappropriate names, then you’re not part of the regular crew here.”
100%. I throw out random insults just to get a response. Nothing more, nothing less.
Wow. And NMSU just a couple years ago was kicked out of the Sun Belt and picked up by CUSA only because they needed the numbers to keep the conference going after being raided by the AAC.
I’m surprised like everyone else but with how college football is today, people really need to not ignore good teams from smaller and supposedly inferior conferences.
What’s stopping a C-USA team from having a wealthy donor lead a strong NIL into the transfer portal and pull in SEC/ACC/B10 level talent?
If this had been NMST winning in a close one, you could say that Auburn was looking ahead to next week. But to be just dominated the entire game? It’s clear that the Aggies really wanted this win despite it not meaning anything outside the payday and the Tigers just were woefully unprepared for it. Freeze looked to be turning things around, but all that has evaporated and if anything Auburn has not looked worse this season than it did today. Though this just means it should surprise no one if the Iron Bowl next week is like it was two years ago down on the Plains.
Auburn lost to UGA by 7 and NMSU by 21 at home. NMSU > UGA?
Great googlie mooglie…thats all I got to say about that!
That’s a trademark of Hugh Freeze, i.e. good recruiting and some really big wins… with some crushing head-scratching upset defeats mixed into it as well.
Meh, it’s year one. Expectations were not high to begin with. If this happens in 3 years….bye bye Freeze.
Remember me?
Auburn has 3 S.E.C. wins, tying them for 7th, smack dab in the *middle* of the ‘by far most talented conference!!!’ conference rankings.
This is why conference superiority/inferiority arguments are stupid when it comes to comparing individual *teams*. All other fans, besides us, somehow know this.
Jerry Kill is still an awesome coach. I’ve always pulled for him.
He killed AU.
Jordan is pronounced ‘Jordan.’
It’s retarded people who mispronounce proper nouns, even their own.
Is it the Jirdin River in the Middle East?
Was it Michael Jirdin with the Chicago Bulls?
I refuse to indulge people in their fantasies, and those who willingly mispronounce words because illiterate fans insist upon it join them in stupidity.
Stop indulging dummies.
Jordan is pronounced the way it is spelled, and no amount of ignorance can change that.
Jordan is pronounced Jurdan. The coach’s name was Shug Jordan, but he pronounced it Jurdan. It is his name and his family’s name and they can pronounce it however they please. The stadium is properly pronounced as “Jurdan Hare stadium”
“Jordan is pronounced the way it is spelled, and no amount of ignorance can change that.”
Bass is a fish. Bass is a musical instrument. Base is a sound.
Is this hard for you?
Houston, Texas is pronounced “HEW-ston.”
Houston Street in New York City is pronounced “HOW-ston.”
The spectacle where people ride bulls and rope calves is pronounced “ROW-dee-o.”
The exclusive drive in Beverly Hills, CA is pronounced “row-DAY-o.”
So which is the “correct” way of saying each?
Losing to NMSU then winning the Iron Bowl would be pretty Auburn.
And killing innocent people in a drunk driving accident would be pretty UGA.
Party on, Wayne.
Jerry Kill wins everywhere he goes. I remember him fondly from NIU and then Minnesota. He left the Big 10 due to health concerns, which are hopefully resolved. Maybe the Aggies or another Power 5 program could use this guy.
This is classic Hugh Freeze. As an ole miss fan, you could always count on him to lose one game a year, he had no business losing. He’d beat Alabama and lose to Memphis in the same season. I was expecting it to be last week vs Arkansas
“you could always count on him to lose one game a year, he had no business losing. He’d beat Alabama and lose to Memphis in the same season.”
Tubberville 2.0 then.
There is no excuse for this. There is only one reason this happened–our coaches failed.
This is the 11th game of the season, so you can’t blame Harsin. you can’t blame recruiting, unless you want to tell me New Mexico State has a better roster (lol).