All eyes were on one man during Auburn’s 45-19 win over New Mexico Saturday night.
Redshirt freshman Hank Brown made his first career college start, replacing Payton Thorne, who threw four interceptions in Auburn’s Week 2 loss to Cal.
Brown was impressive in his debut, throwing for 235 yards and four touchdowns on 17-of-25 passing. Most importantly, he never turned the ball over.
His head coach was satisfied with his performance and Hugh Freeze made it clear after the game that Brown will continue to be the starter going forward.
“I thought he had a solid, solid first game,” Freeze said.
Freeze saw his decision to make a quarterback change pay off Saturday night and Brown’s teammates thought he performed well in his first start.
Wide receiver Camden Brown caught Hank Brown’s first touchdown pass of the night on a slant near the goal line. Like Hank Brown, Camden Brown was a second-team player for the first two games, but got the start in Cam Coleman’s absence.
The pair already had a connection due to their reps together with the second team in practice.
“It’s never a surprise to me, him stepping up and performing,” Camden Brown said after the game. “You can see that kinda tonight, where our connection was.”
Camden Brown wasn’t the only pass catcher to compliment Hank Brown’s performance either.
“He balled out man. The way that he carries himself is great,” tight end Micah Riley said after the game. “He always keeps his spirits up. I’m proud of him and can’t wait for him to ball out his next game.”
The offensive line play was another factor that helped Brown’s performance. Brown was never sacked during game, even as the line was missing starting right tackle Izavion Miller.
Dillon Wade slid over from left guard to right tackle in Miller’s absence. Wade had good things to say about Brown’s performance, even giving him a nickname.
“I call him Hank the Tank. He’s the guy,” Wade said.
Along with good pass blocking, few things help a quarterback more than a balanced offense. Auburn had that against New Mexico, rushing for 268 yards.
Jarquez Hunter was responsible for the majority of those yards, rushing for 151 on 20 carries. Hunter even caught a touchdown from Brown in the second half.
Hunter has experienced a revolving door at quarterback during his time at Auburn. From Bo Nix to TJ Finley to Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford, Hunter is used to playing with different quarterbacks.
Now starting alongside Brown for the first time, he had good things to say.
“I think Hank did well for his first start,” Hunter said after the game. “There’s always room for improvement. But I think he did really well.”
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m
