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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