ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Department of Transportation will host a meeting Tuesday on the rebuild of I-25 in a stretch of the South Valley.

They’re inviting the public to learn about design plans and the environmental impact of the reconstruction of I-25 between Avenida Cesar Chavez and the Sunport. NMDOT is also looking for public input on these plans.

The meeting is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Herman Sanchez Community Center near Broadway and Anderson. The NMDOT project team will conduct a presentation and Q&A at 6:30 p.m. with an open house format before and after.

The Auburn Tigers are back in the win column and is making changes to try and keep things on the right track as they prepare for SEC play next week.

On a rainy night inside of Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Tigers took down the New Mexico Lobos on Homecoming 45-19 with a new starting quarterback in freshman Hank Brown.

Brown replaced Payton Thorne after a rough start to the season, making his second game appearance after playing in last year’s Music City Bowl.

With all the buzz of his performance out of the way, here is what we learned from Saturday’s game about this Auburn squad.

The obvious thing to say is that there is easily a lot of potential that Brown has with his play. He went 17 for 25 with 235 yards and four touchdowns, showing flashes of what he can do in his young career.

Brown’s throws were proven to be sharp, even when partially inaccurate. His velocity gets the ball out quick and away from any danger where it may lie.

The downside at moments was the ability to get plays off in an efficient manner. While he was thrown into action on a week’s notice, the Tigers run the offense at an efficient pace and need him to move quicker on a consistent basis.

The running game proved itself again as Jarquez Hunter racked up 20 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown, staying elusive and using his strength to his advantage. While Auburn can not be one dimensional, it needs to be able to run as it has in the past.

The defensive play is still highly questionable for this team, which is a problem heading into a tough conference slate.

Most notably, one-on-one coverage in the secondary has not been great and was especially evident last night. The Tigers found themselves on the wrong end of too many passes that could have gone either way and must improve on turning that around.

On the positive side of it, interceptions by Jerrin Thompson and Antonio Kite recorded the team’s first two forced turnovers of the season, finally getting on the board after two weeks of no chaos. They look to continue that next week.

Auburn takes the field for its fourth home game in a row against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 2:30. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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The Auburn Tigers got the job done against New Mexico, earning a 45-19 win to improve to 2-1 on the season.

Despite allowing just 19 points, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was not pleased with the team’s defensive showing. Auburn allowed 448 yards, 291 through the air and 157 on the ground.

The Tigers forced two interceptions, their first turnovers of the season, but did not manage to record a sack and had just one tackle for loss.

“I thought we were not very good on defense and I think DJ (Durkin) would agree,” Freeze said. “We’re not playing the ball, we had too many penalties, didn’t contain them very well. People got behind us and they converted too many long plays, long distances. But again, we found a way to win the game and we certainly will take that.”

New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier allowed Auburn to gain experience playing against dual-threat quarterbacks like the ones they will see in SEC play. Dampier went 22-of-44 for 291 yards and two touchdowns. Freeze believed that experience will be beneifiicial for the Tigers.

“There’s no question that their quarterback is very, very mobile,” Freeze said of Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green who Auburn will face next week. “I know he still moves the pocket some, he’s a dual-threat guy. We’ll have to have a better plan and play better for sure next week.”

Auburn is banged up in the defensive secondary, playing without Kayin Lee and with a limited Keionte Scott. Freeze thinks the younger players who stepped up have a ways to go as the Tigers allowed four separate receivers to finish the game with more than 40 yards.

“We’ve got to play with composure and poise and play the ball better than what we’re doing,” Freeze said. 

Auburn’s defense will have a chance to put together a more solid performance against Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. CT next week. ESPN will carry the broadcast.