Lobos installed as 28-point underdogs against Auburn

There are 1.9 million reasons for the University of New Mexico to shock the college football world and roll out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with a win Saturday.

Thats how many dollars Auburn is paying UNM for a chance to visit one of the countrys most intimidating places.

Then again, there are 1.9 mil- lion reasons why Auburn has the entirety of War Eagle nation expecting to make a statement in every way imaginable.

Still reeling from a shocking 21-14 home loss to Cal last weekend, Auburn (1-1) is feeling the heat from its unrelenting fan base.

As Tigers coach Hugh Freeze met with local media Monday, a YouTube chat had fans venting about the coach, the teams effort against the Golden Bears and, especially, fifth-year senior quarterback Payton Thorne.

Thorne threw four interceptions, was sacked four times and was off the mark on nearly half his 27 pass attempts.

It was part of a five-turnover night with Freeze vowing to scale back the playbook for the Lobos.

I assure you the package will not be big moving forward for this week so that we can get an accurate picture of, you know, is this going to be a re-occurring theme where we have to make decisions? Freeze said.

We probably carried a bit too much but we just missed some very simple, simple things that keep us ahead of the chains and not in those third-and-longs, which we just cant live in.

Freeze was noncommittal about making a switch to redshirt freshman Hank Brown for the Lobos, but he did say the Tigers arent good enough to beat anyone when playing the way they did against Cal.

With the Lobos, the issue is defense.

They were picked apart in the running game in a season-opening loss to Montana State, then nuked in the passing game in a visit to then-No.

21 Arizona two weeks ago.

UNM heads to Auburn coming off a bye, which is what the team needed after losing a number of players to injury the first two weeks.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday the time off helped the team shift some players around in an attempt to plug holes and deal with a lack of depth, particularly in the defensive secondary.

He said the other adjustment has been with simple execution.

The inconsistency in the big plays that were giving up defensively didnt expect that many, and that frequent, he said.

Its manifested in two different ways in two different games from different personnel, so [were] chasing that down as fast as possible.

One of two winless teams still standing in the Mountain West, UNM has been installed as a 28-point underdog to a team that made national headlines for all the wrong reasons last season when it lost at home to New Mexico State.

That shocking loss likely left an impression on Auburn fans and any non-NMSU fans around the state.

On paper, I dont think there will be anyone that would say a matchup is favorable for us, Mendenhall.

They probably would have said the same versus Arizona, and thats to be expected, right? When our program is functioning and playing the kind of football that I know we can and will, our collective will be the formidable part, not the individual matchups.

Mendenhall lauded the play of Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier in the loss to Arizona.

Same, too, for receiver Luke Wysong.

The pair connected on eight passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in the 61-39 loss.

Now, Mendenhall said, its on the rest of the team to match that level of production to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in school history.

Freeze is well aware of whats at stake.

The former coach at Ole Miss and Liberty is one of the highest-paid college coaches in the country with a salary of $6.5 million.

Hes already under enormous pressure to turn things around, having lost eight of the 15 games hes coached since taking over for the fired Bryan Harsin.

The Tigers are just 24-27 since the start of the 2020 season and they havent been ranked in the Top 25 since the 2021 season.

First of all, we are not talented enough yet to play bad and win, Freeze said.

I know everybody doesnt want to hear that but the way were choosing to build this is to try to develop young men and, obviously if you follow recruiting, were starting to get our roster to be better.

Fan board: The aforementioned chat tied to Freezes press conference showed the short fuse of Auburn fans.

Most railed against the decision to keep Thorne on the field against Cal, but a couple mentioned New Mexico.

Stressing going into NM was not on the bingo card smh, one wrote.

Another wrote, We gone be at games with brown paper bags on.

Contract: The schools agreed to this game back on June 12, 2019, which says Auburn will pay UNM $1.9 million, which is to be paid on or before March 1, 2025.

UNM got 500 complimentary tickets and had the option to purchase 2,000 additional seats.

The Lobos have similar body bag games in the coming years against Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma and Texas A&M..

This article has been shared from the original article on santafenewmexican, here is the link to the original article.