Auburn, Ala - A shocking result has happened tonight in Jordan Hare; New Mexico State who was previously 0-24 against SEC opponents, got their first win against an SEC opponent by defeating Auburn soundly 31-10.
"You're not going to execute if you're not giving great effort," Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said. This perfectly describes how Auburn looked tonight. It looked like Auburn was not trying very hard, and even coming into the second half down three points Auburn did not come out of the tunnel with the energy and effort to try to win the football game.
The lack of effort and execution in tonight's game should be worrying for both Auburn players and fans, considering the Iron Bowl is next Saturday and Alabama is much better than New Mexico State, and yet New Mexico State came out of the tunnel tonight with the drive to win the football game.
On New Mexico State's game plan and gameplay, Hugh Freeze said, "New Mexico State had the right calls at the right time, and they milked the clock," which is a completely accurate description of how the game went. New Mexico State controlled the ball and the tempo, which helped to propel them to victory in Jordan-Hare.
Throughout the game, New Mexico State outperformed Auburn in all aspects and the statistic that shows it the best is that New Mexico State had 213 total rushing yards, and Auburn had 213 total yards of offense. That statistic is shocking as it shows just how well-prepared New Mexico State was for tonight's game, and how Auburn did not show up to play tonight.
"They had a good plan...every critical moment it seemed like he had a play," Freeze said, which is extremely true, as New Mexico State was very aggressive with their playcalling, especially with the successful fake punt to start the fourth quarter, and they completely overwhelmed Auburn's defense.
Since the beginning of the season, Auburn's defense has been reliable and has played relatively well each game, however, tonight they did not look like the Auburn defense that had been playing all season which was most definitely part of the reason Auburn lost tonight.
"I feel like they wanted it more," Auburn saftey Jalyin Simpson said, while Keionte Scott added, "I feel like that's not our style of play, as a defense."
Both Simpson and Scott agree on the fact that New Mexico State wanted this game more than Auburn did, and it shows how Auburn needs to go back to the drawing board and really buckle, down and focus so that they have a better game against Alabama than they did against New Mexico State.
In the end, New Mexico State played much better than Auburn, and in reward for playing better than Auburn New Mexico State emerged with the win.
For Auburn, it hopes to put this game behind them, as they face Alabama next week in the Iron Bowl, in one of the greatest rivalries in all of college sports.
