AUBURN, Ala. – Rivaldo Fairweather scored his sixth touchdown of the season and Alex McPherson kicked his 18th consecutive field goal but New Mexico State earned its seventh straight win by beating Auburn 31-10 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"As good as last week felt, as complete as we played in all three phases, it was the exact opposite today," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. "It's very disappointing. Our university deserves a better effort than that and it's my job to make sure they get that."
Leading 17-7 after three quarters, New Mexico State gained 23 yards on a fake punt from its own 42-yard-line on the first play of fourth quarter, then took a 17-point lead on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Diego Pavia to Eli Stowers on fourth-and-goal.
Auburn pulled within two scores on McPherson's 48-yard field goal with 5:29 to play but New Mexico State recovered an onside kick, drove 43 yards and scored on Makhilyn Young's 2-yard touchdown run.
New Mexico State (9-3, 6-1) possessed the football for 38 minutes and 50 seconds to Auburn's 21:10, outgaining the Tigers 414-213.
"They're very confident," Freeze said. "Jerry (Kill) is a heck of a football coach. They had the right calls at the right time. With them controlling the clock, give them credit for that. The effort we had was not what Auburn deserves."
Leading 10-7 at halftime, the Aggies scored on their first drive of the second half, marching 80 yards and taking a 17-7 lead on a touchdown pass from Pavia to Star Thomas on third-and-goal from the 17.
"Every critical moment, it seemed like he made a play," Freeze said of Pavia's three-touchdown outing. "Jerry's done a great job with that program."
The visitors scored on the game's opening possession, moving 75 yards on an 11-play drive that featured 10 passes and two defensive pass interference penalties, taking a 7-0 lead on Pavia's 9-yard completion to Kordell David.
Auburn answered midway through the second quarter with an 11-play, 81-yard drive. For the sixth time this season, Payton Thorne found Rivaldo Fairweather for a 33-yard touchdown the evened the score at 7-7.
"We just had to wake up and come with a different mindset," Fairweather said. "We're going to take it to practice, watch film and learn from our mistakes. You always learn from your mistakes. We're going to come back 10 times harder."
"They played hard, that's a credit to them," said Thorne, who completed 15 of 19 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown. "That's their ninth win. They played well. We couldn't get it going enough to get the ball in the end zone."
New Mexico State took a 10-7 lead on Ethan Albertson's 40-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the half.
"We didn't play our best game today," said Keionte Scott, who led Auburn with seven tackles and a pass breakup. "As a defense, we've got to do better."
Auburn (6-5, 3-4) concludes the regular season next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT vs. Alabama in the Iron Bowl on CBS and the Auburn Sports Network.
"You have to earn your right to win a football game every single time you're out," Freeze said. We've gotten better as the years has gone on and today we didn't show it. That's the most disappointing thing."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Postgame Notes>> Captains: Luke Deal, Kam Stutts, Zion Puckett, Marcus Harris
>> Coin Toss: Auburn wins the toss and defers; New Mexico State will receive
>> Eagle Flight: Aurea from flagpole
>> Attendance: 88,043
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: none
>> Auburn has scored in 140 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> Jarquez Hunter is now 20th among Auburn career rushers with 2,035 yards; next is Lionel James (2,068 from 1980-83), James Bostic (2,084 from 1991-93), Kenny Irons (2,186 from 2005-06).
>> Rivaldo Fairweather now has six scores this season; that's the most receiving TD in a season by an Auburn tight end since Philip Lutzenkirchen had a school-record seven in 2011.
>> Fairweather now has 33 catches this season, tying the Auburn single-season record for receptions by a tight end, set by John Samuel Shenker (33) in 2021.
>> Ja'Varrius Johnson now has 1,016 career receiving yards.
>> Payton Thorne is now 10th in single-season rushing yardage among all-time Auburn quarterbacks with 463 yards; next is Phil Gargis (534 yards in 1976).
>> Caleb Burton had a career-best four catches.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Keionte Scott led the Tigers in tackles for the first time in his career.
>> Elijah McAllister records his second sack of the season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Lou Groza Award semifinalist Alex McPherson is 36-36 on PAT kicks this season and 45-45 for his career.
>> McPherson has made 18 consecutive field goals, extending his school record.
>> Oscar Chapman now has 39 punts of 50+ yards during his career.