11.19.23 Football Articles

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saturdaydownsouth.com

3 takeaways from Auburn’s shocking loss to New Mexico State

Keith Farner | 13 hours ago

4–5 minutes

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.

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

 

Instant analysis: New Mexico State stuns Auburn behind impressive ball-control

Taylor Jones

4–5 minutes

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Everyone has their day. However, Saturday was not Auburn’s.

Auburn entered Saturday’s game against New Mexico State riding a three-game winning streak and was looking to add one more in order to push its streak to a season-high four games. The Aggies, had other plans, as they stunned Auburn, 31-10 on Saturday afternoon at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.

New Mexico State pulled off the win by dominating the time of possession battle and making the most of it. The Aggies held on to the football for a total of 38:28, while Auburn struggled to have it for more than 21 minutes. New Mexico State also outgained Auburn, 414-213. Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne passed for 148 yards and a score, but no one else offensively sniffed the century marks. His counterpart, Diego Pavia, completed 19 passes to 11 different receivers for 201 yards.

There were plenty of fireworks in the first quarter. Sadly, most belonged to New Mexico State. On their first possession, the Aggies served notice to Auburn that they were ready to play. Aggies quarterback Diego Pavia, who was questionable to play in the game after sustaining a hamstring injury last week, led them on a scoring drive that lasted over five minutes. Pavia connected with wide receiver Kordell David for a nine-yard pass to push New Mexico State ahead, 7-0 with 9:34 to go in the 1st quarter.

After being forced to punt on their first possession, Auburn earned its first highlight of the game on an interception that never was. Nehemiah Pritchett picked off Pavia on New Mexico State’s second drive, however, it was called back due to a pre-snap offsides call on linebacker Jalen McLeod. The key moment of the sequence, however, was on the return. Pavia bodyslammed Pritchett, which resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct call on the Aggies quarterback.

New Mexico State posted 126 yards in the first quarter, picking up eight first downs. The Tigers ran five total plays in the first quarter, gaining just eight yards.

After a few aggravating possessions, Auburn finally got on the board in the 2nd quarter. Payton Thorne capped an 11-play, 81-yard drive by tossing a 32-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rivaldo Fairweather with 6:28 remaining in the first half. The Aggies regained the lead, 10-7, with 0:26 on an Ethan Anderson 40-yard field goal.

The Aggies began the second half in a similar fashion to its opening drive. Auburn could not score on its opening drive of the 3rd quarter despite having seven plays to get it going. New Mexico State made them pay by putting together a 10-play drive that ended with Pavia tossing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Star Thomas to extend the lead to 17-0 with 5:03 to go in the 3rd quarter. New Mexico State ended the 3rd stanza with a whopping 304 yards compared to Auburn’s 148. The Aggies also had the football for 12 minutes longer than the Tigers.

The dagger was delivered with 8:42 remaining. Pavia threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Eli Stowers to complete a 16-play, 83-yard drive that pushed the Aggies ahead, 24-7. Auburn trimmed the lead to 24-10 with a 48-yard field goal with 5:29 remaining before New Mexico State scored once more with a two-yard rush by Makhilyan Young with 1:59 to go.

Auburn will look to bounce back against rival Alabama next Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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247sports.com

 

PMARSHONAU A sad and humbling day for Auburn football

Phillip Marshall

4–5 minutes

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What happened to Auburn on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium was no accident. New Mexico State came to town and got a victory to go with a big paycheck because it earned it.

The Aggies, playing at snail’s pace, kept the ball away from Auburn’s offense. They made plays when they had to have them. And they pulled off a gigantic upset 31-10. Three-touchdown underdogs, they looked like the better team from the start.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said in a brief conference after the game that he was not happy with the effort or much anything else.

"It's like a bad dream," Freeze said. Lots of Auburn people would agree with that.

Were the Tigers flat? Did they spend the week glancing ahead at next Saturday’s Iron Bowl? I have no answer. But on a stunning Saturday on their homefield, they looked more like the team many expected them to be than the one that crushed Arkansas on the road last Saturday. The fire that was evident in three straight wins was noticeably absent.

The offense couldn’t run the ball. The defense, so acclaimed after three strong weeks, was just bad. Auburn didn’t turn the ball over. The flag-happy officials threw more on New Mexico State than they did on Auburn. It was a really poor display of football. Auburn had just seven possessions as the Aggies, as is their way, ran the play clock down to single digits on every snap.

One thing is certain: Auburn coach Hugh Freeze won’t be in favor of scheduling New Mexico State and head coach Jerry Kill again. The Aggies blew out Freeze’s Liberty team last season.

As the game progressed, I waited for Auburn to turn it on. I thought maybe it had happened when Payton Thorne hit Rivaldo Fairweather for a touchdown to tie it  7-7. I thought maybe it had happened when the Tigers mounted a drive to start the second half, but a penalty put a stop to that.

And it was downhill from there.

Quarterback Diego Pavia was all he was advertised to be. Auburn defenders couldn’t tackle him. When they blitzed, he burned them. It was, frankly, shocking to watch.

Kill and his team deserve immense credit. They were prepared for everything Auburn did on both sides of the ball. They came to win.

What does it mean for Auburn?

It certainly casts a dark cloud over a season that seemed to be going in the right direction. A buy game that was supposed to be a warmup for the Iron Bowl turned into a disaster instead. Can players pick themselves up and get ready to put up a fight against Alabama? Probably, and every Saturday is different. But it’s difficult to see a team that lost to New Mexico State at home beating Alabama or even keeping it close.

As I write this, except for putting in the final score, the fourth quarter is just beginning and New Mexico State leads 17-7. I am wondering at this point if it might get even more embarrassing for Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn team.

New Mexico State just faked a punt and ran to the Auburn 34. Not even a holding penalty and a dropped pass inside the 10 could keep the Aggies out of the end zone. On fourth-and-goal at the 2 Pavia threw a touchdown pass. It’s 24-7. And it’s over. The clock has dwindled all the way to 8:32, and Auburn has not had the ball in the fourth quarter.

These are the stunning numbers to this point: New Mexico State 372 yards to Auburn’s 148. It has had the ball for 34:58 to Auburn’s 16:30. Kill and his staff had a plan to keep the ball away from Auburn and run the clock. Their players executed it to near perfection.

Auburn went to its two-minute offense. On fourth down, Alex McPherson made his 18th consecutive field goal to make it 24-10 and cut it to a two-score game with 5:29 left. Too little, too late.

Auburn tried an onsides kick. Didn’t have much choice. It was not successful.

New Mexico State is running the ball every play now and gashing Auburn’s defense. The fans are headed to the exits, and who can blame them?

There’s another touchdown. It’s 31-10. A three-touchdown underdog has won by three touchdowns. New Mexico State has beaten an SEC team for the first time in 25 tries. One of the sadder days in recent Auburn history is over.

[aubiefifty 18,259]

Tis a sad day at the fiddy homestead today. they whupped us bad. i  love my team and nothing will ever change that i still believe better days are coming............

[SaltyTiger 8,579]

War Eagle anyway Fiddy….best thing I saw yesterday