Hugh Freeze Thought Auburn ‘Played Slow’ Defensively Against New Mexico

The Auburn Tigers held New Mexico to 19 points in Saturday’s win. But that number doesn’t tell the whole story. 

Auburn allowed 448 total yards, 291 through the air and 157 on the ground. The Tigers did force two turnovers and held New Mexico to 4-of-13 on third downs.

Head coach Hugh Freeze believes that the Tigers have some things to work on defensively before SEC play begins.

“It looked like we were tired,” Freeze said. “I thought we played slow and not very disciplined, too many penalties, and we’re not playing with poise when we’re in position to make a play as a DB. That’s what I felt like.”

The Tigers tightened up on defense in the second half. Freeze credited defensive coordinator DJ Durkin and his staff with making the halftime adjustments necessary.

“I definitely think DJ and his staff are one of the better staffs at adjusting at halftime, but they don’t lack in preparation effort either,” Freeze said. “They had a lot to prepare for, and we didn’t see a lot of this, all of the X-off motions and extra tackle in the game. It was just a lot coming at us pretty fast there in the first half. But no excuse for us. Several of those plays, we’re in post high safety, and the high safety, when the quarterback starts scrambling around, decides he needs to not be a post high safety anymore.”

New Mexico’s offense did throw a lot of different things at Auburn, largely due to dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier’s diverse skillset.

“Now, I will say (New Mexico) had an open week, and they threw the kitchen sink at us,” Freeze said. “Every formation, every motion, every unbalanced and a quarterback they could run around and make plays, but we didn’t tackle well, didn’t think our effort was great, and hopefully that’s a good learning lesson for us. And I know DJ (Durkin) feels that way, and will work hard this week to make sure that we don’t see a repeat of that.”

Auburn will be facing another mobile quarterback in Taylon Green when Arkansas makes its way into Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and ESPN will carry the broadcast.