BY BRANDON HUGHES
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Auburn welcomed the University of New Mexico into Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night for the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and the Lobos. After a workman-like performance, the Tigers delivered a convincing 45-19 homecoming victory to the rain-soaked crowd of more than 80,000.
The story heading into the game was redshirt freshman Hank Brown getting his first start at quarterback after Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze decided a change was in order following Payton Thorne’s four-interception performance last week versus Cal.
The young QB acquitted himself well with his poise in the pocket as he went through his progressions and was decisive with the football. He had an efficient opening quarter, which saw him go 7-9 for 107 yards and a TD, including a beautiful 50-yard toss to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, giving the Auburn faithful a glimpse into the skillset he brings to the field. He would come out of halftime and complete his first nine pass attempts and finish 17-25 235 4 TDs.
On his performance and preparation, Brown leaned into his faith.
“I wasn’t that nervous pregame,” Brown said. “I’m a man of faith, so being able to sit and pray this morning. I have a large family and an awesome family that keeps me grounded in my faith, sends me scripture throughout my day that I’m able to rehearse, and just stay grounded through that. My identity is in Christ and not in this game.”
He went on further to say, “I think it was a good debut, but there’s a lot of things I need to clean up. Me and coach obviously talked throughout the game. There’s definitely a lot of things I need to clean up and not allow those mistakes to happen next week.”
Freeze spoke about Brown’s performance after the game.
“I thought he was solid. …Right before half, he had a couple of incompletions that were iffy,” he said. “But other than that, he missed a few throwing into blitzes that I’d like to see him get. That comes with experience, but I thought it was a very solid night. The decision-making was pretty good other than, I think, there were two throws that kind of stand out in my mind that I wish he would have thrown into blitzes. I thought he got us into the right checks early in the game. It was good to see him take the RPOs when he had them. I thought he had a solid, solid first game. Hank will be the starter next week. I think the next couple weeks I think will show us exactly where we are with that … Let’s see what he does as we step up another level of competition against SEC play. If [he doesn’t play well], maybe it wakes everybody else up and spurs them to be better prepared and make better decisions.”
New Mexico received the opening kickoff and seemed to have studied the tape of how Cal attacked the Auburn defense the previous week because its offensive game plan looked almost identical. Using short passes and quick-hitting runs, the Lobos drove as deep as the Auburn 15-yard line, facing only one third down on the drive. The Tiger defense held the visitors to a 33-yard field goal, giving the Lobos an early 3-0 lead.
The lead would be short-lived as Auburn’s Jeremiah Cobb would return the ensuing kickoff 66 yards — the longest by an Auburn player since a 72-yard return by Nehemiah Pritchett in 2021 vs. Georgia State — setting up the Auburn offense at the opposing 32-yard line. From there, it took nine plays for Brown to find wideout Camden Brown on a slant for a 10-yard touchdown pass, putting Auburn up 7-3.
The Lobos would answer with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a three-yard rushing touchdown. The Lobos would run a play out of the swing gate formation on its extra point try and scored a two-point conversion. However, the quarterback was flagged for getting an early start on the play, so they kicked the extra point instead and retook the lead 10-7. Auburn responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive of its own, aided by Brown’s 50-yard pass to Lambert-Smith. Running back Jarquez Hunter punched it in from two yards out putting the Tigers back on top 14-10.
The second quarter would see both teams get a bit sloppy as the skies opened up. While both teams managed a field goal apiece, New Mexico would also miss a 37-yard attempt, and Auburn’s Damari Alston would cough up the slick pigskin at the Lobos’ 18-yard line, spoiling a scoring opportunity.
Auburn Linebacker Dorian Mausi Jr. spoke about his experience in the torrent of rain before halftime.
“I’m sitting there second quarter going into halftime, and it starts raining,” he said. “I’m sitting in the little shed, and Austin Keys makes a comment. He said, ‘Man, they love this.’ I looked around; I hear the fans get louder when it starts raining hard. I said, ‘Wow, this is it.’ When I tell you it’s a family around here at Auburn — I’m so appreciative of the fans. Running out there everyday and to see all the people out there cheering us on, standing out there for the rain and getting louder in that environment? It’s special. It’s second to none.”
Opening the second half with the ball, Brown found tight end Micah Riley streaking across the back of the endzone for a three-yard score, capping Auburn’s second 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive of the game. Riley’s second-career touchdown gave the Tigers a 24-13 lead.
New Mexico’s first drive of the second half ended with an Antonio Kite interception — Auburn’s second of the game — on a 4th down and five deep in Auburn territory. The Tigers, who took over at the Lobo 49-yard line, would score two plays later on Hunter’s fourth career touchdown catch as he caught a short pass and raced to the endzone for a 14-yard score, extending the Tiger lead to 31-13.
New Mexico would answer with a touchdown of its own just over a minute into the fourth quarter on a four-yard pass and catch. The following two-point conversion would fail, leaving the score at 31-19. Four plays, 42 yards, and 1:32 later, the Tigers would put the game out of reach with a 26-yard Rivaldo Fairweather catch and run for the big tight end’s first touchdown reception of the season.
Leading 38-19, Tiger running back Damari Alston concluded the scoring when he ran untouched through the left side of the line 22 yards to paydirt.
By the Numbers:
- This was Jarquez Hunter’s first career game with at least 20 carries.
- This game marked the first-ever meeting between Auburn and the University of New Mexico, leaving 42 out of the 134 FBS programs Auburn has yet to face.
- The Tigers have scored 132 points in the first three games of the season, the ninth-most points scored in the first three games of a season, and the most since 2021 (142).
Up Next
Tigers play at home versus the Arkansas Razorbacks. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.
