Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was essentially, in a roundabout way, asked what the hell happened Saturday after the Tigers suffered what some are calling the worst loss in Auburn football history.
The New Mexico State Aggies were supposed to come to Auburn, collect nothing but their $1.8 million check for playing the game, and get out of town.
Instead, Jerry Kill and the Aggies made out like thieves in the night as they not only made out financially, but also snatched a 31-10 win out from under the Tigers. Saturday’s result was the first win over a SEC opponent in New Mexico State football history.
So to echo the third question Freeze fielded in his post-game press conference Saturday night: What the hell happened? Was it a lack of execution? A lack of effort?
“You’re not going to execute if you’re not giving great effort. So it probably goes hand-in-hand,” Freeze said. “There’s nothing positive that I can say about tonight.”
Having a game against a Group-of-5 opponent like New Mexico State sandwiched between a dominating SEC win like last week’s against Arkansas and next week’s Iron Bowl matchup with Alabama reeks of a trap game.
And Freeze knew that coming into it.
“We won’t talk about the other team that you mentioned we’ll talk about the one we have right in front of us that could sting us,” Freeze said Monday when asked about Alabama coming to town next weekend.
Freeze learned firsthand that Kill and the Aggies were capable of administering black eyes.
When Freeze was at the helm of Liberty football program last fall, New Mexico State paid them a visit and walked out with 49-14 win as the quarterback Diego Pavia piloted the Aggies’ offense to a 428-yard night, outgaining the Flames by 113 yards.
Freeze learned firsthand that Kill and the Aggies were capable of administering black eyes.
When Freeze was at the helm of Liberty football program last fall, New Mexico State paid them a visit and walked out with 49-14 win as the quarterback Diego Pavia piloted the Aggies’ offense to a 428-yard night, outgaining the Flames by 113 yards.
