Football fans at New Mexico State are celebrating their first win over a team from the Southeastern Conference. The Aggie’s thirty one to ten defeat of Auburn comes as both the Tigers and the Crimson Tide are gearing up for Saturday’s Iron Bowl game. New Mexico State outscored the Tigers 21-3 in the second half after coming in as twenty-three point underdogs.
The Crimson Tide is also preparing for the annual Iron Bowl against Auburn. The game pitting the cross-state rivals comes as Alabama remains at number eight in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Tide didn’t move up despite last weekend’s sixty-six to ten defeat of Chattanooga. Head Coach Nick Saban says last Saturday’s game did give the players a chance to tune up their game before the Iron Bowl.
“And I'd say about 98% of the time we had, you know, the right intensity, there's one drive there on defense, where they scored a touchdown, where we made a couple of mistakes and made a couple other mistakes that, you know, led to big plays on their part,” Saban said. “But for the most part, you know, I was really pleased, I thought Jalen played really, really well.”
Saban was referring to Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe. After the Iron Bowl, Alabama will play number one ranked Georgia in Atlanta for the southeastern conference championship. For its part, Auburn was coming off a 48-10 win over Arkansas in its most complete performance under first-year coach Hugh Freeze. That was before the loss to New Mexico State.
"It was the exact opposite today," Auburn Coach Freeze said. "It's very disappointing. Our university deserves a better effort than that."
Asked if his team had prepared for fake punts, Freeze only nodded and said, "Yep."
The Aggies quieted the Jordan-Hare Stadium with an opening drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass in a drive helped out by a pair of pass interference penalties. Auburn fans didn't have a whole lot to cheer about the rest of the way.
With the Iron Bowl looming just after Thanksgiving, Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban says he liked what he saw during last Saturday’s game against Chattanooga, which is the team’s last chance to compete before facing Auburn.
“And I'd say about 98% of the time we had, you know, the right intensity, there's one drive there on defense, where they scored a touchdown, where we made a couple of mistakes and made a couple other mistakes that, you know, led to big plays on their part. But for the most part, you know, I was really pleased, I thought Jalen played really, really well,” said Saban.
