Simply put, New Mexico State dominated Auburn.

The Aggies out-gained the Tigers by 200 yards en route to a 31-10 win on Saturday.

"It was just execution," said Keionte Scott. "I haven’t seen the tape yet, but I know for sure we didn’t tackle well and just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities as a defense like we normally do."

Diego Pavia, who came into Saturday's game with an injured hamstring, racked up 236 yards and three touchdowns. Pavia's mobility was a major issue that the Tiger defense never figured out.

"A moving quarterback is always difficult to go against," Scott said. "Just have to do a better job of containing him and when he does scramble and throw those erratic balls you just have to take advantage of the opportunity."

The Aggies completely controlled the clock as they ran the ball 37 times and averaged 5.8 yards per carry and held the ball for just under 39 minutes.

Hugh Freeze has a healthy respect for the Aggies, who improved to 9-3, but knows that his team's effort wasn't up to par.

"I don’t want to sit up here and not give credit to New Mexico State some too," Freeze said. "They’re very confident. Jerry is a heckuva football coach. They had the right calls at the right time, milked the clock. I mean, I bet we didn’t have 40 offensive plays between the penalties that kept killing ourselves with that. And them controlling the clock, so give them credit for that. But the effort we had was not what Auburn deserves."

Any chance of a comeback felt completely gone after New Mexico State opened the fourth quarter with a fake punt on 4th-and-2 from its own 42 yard-line.

The Tigers never saw it coming.

"When you go against teams that are not like power-5," said Jaylin Simpson. "You know they'll try to do anything to sneak something in there to get big plays. Sneak something in there to get a first down. They just caught us completely off guard a couple times. We let our guard down and they struck."

Overall, it was a poor game from the Tigers on both sides of the ball after a dominant performance in Fayetteville the week prior.

It's a performance the Tigers plan to never repeat.

"Yes. I just think guys — and I'm including myself in this whole thing — got comfortable," said Eugene Asante. "Went to Arkansas, played a really good game, and maybe bought into the praise and the outside noise, and didn't go out there and continue to remain humble, myself included. I felt that within myself, too. So that? That ends today."