It wasn’t pretty the whole time, but Auburn’s offense had its most balanced game of the season against New Mexico.
Auburn put up 45 points and 503 yards of total offense. For the first time this season, the Tigers gained more rushing yards than passing yards.
“I take that every Saturday,” Hugh Freeze said about the offense’s balance. “That balance there would win a lot of football games if you take care of the ball.”
While Auburn rushed for more yards than it threw for, there was only a 33-yard difference in rushing and passing yards. The balance took the pressure off redshirt freshman quarterback Hank Brown in first career start.
Brown threw for 235 yards and four touchdowns on 17-of-25 passing and looked comfortable for most of the game. He made a few dangerous throws in the first half, but never turned the ball over.
Freeze said Auburn would utilize a smaller offensive package than it did against Cal, which was evident during the game. The gameplan was RPO heavy, where Brown consistently made the right reads.
The RPOs were also what allowed Auburn to run the ball as well as it did. Jarquez Hunter had a career high 20 carries and was arguably Auburn’s best player on Saturday.
Hunter ran for 152 yards and a touchdown, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.
“When you get the opportunity to run the ball, you’ve gotta make every one of them to your best,” Hunter said after the game. “We got the opportunity tonight, and I think we did a decent job with it.”
Auburn’s rushing offense and balance were criticized in the loss to Cal. While the Tigers had success at times running the ball, consistently getting behind schedule in the down and distance kept them from committing to the run.
They didn’t have that problem Saturday, allowing the running backs to show what many believed they were always capable of.
“We ran the ball a lot in practice,” Hunter said. “We ran the plays, we executed the plays, and it just translated to the game.”
Not only was Auburn balanced between run and pass but the passing game itself had a nice balance.
Ten different players caught a pass against New Mexico and Brown’s four touchdown passes went to four different players.
“Anybody can get it. That’s what we go by,” said wide receiver Camden Brown. “We got so many talented young dudes, talented older guys, but we go by ‘anybody can get it.’”
Camden Brown caught Hank Brown’s first touchdown pass of the game and led Auburn in receptions with four.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith led Auburn in yards with 72, catching Brown’s longest pass of the night for a 50-yard gain down the sideline. It was Brown’s first big throw of the game, and it was a perfectly placed ball that set up a touchdown later in the drive.
Auburn was without star freshman receiver Cam Coleman against New Mexico, but the game showcased how deep the room is. For a young starting quarterback like Brown, it never hurts to have options.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m
