Auburn football's Week 3 opponent blew 17-point fourth quarter lead to lose to FCS team

Auburn football's Week 3 opponent, New Mexico, blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in a 35-31 Week 0 home loss to Montana State -- squandering the chance to pull off an upset as a multiple-score underdog against their FCS opponent.

Up 31-14 at the start of the final frame, Bronco Mendenhall's Lobos couldn't close the door. New Mexico missed a field goal and saw Caleb Medford drop what would've been a first-down pass on the Lobos' second-to-last possession.

Montana State got three touchdowns, two through the air, and 205 passing yards from Tommy Mellott . But they won the game on the ground. Adam Jones (167 yards, touchdown) and Scottre Humphrey (140 yards, touchdown) exposed the Lobos' weak defensive front.

Auburn football now has blueprint to exploit New Mexico in Week 3

New Mexico could've had momentum heading into what should be a difficult Week 1 matchup against Noah Fifita and Arizona, but they squandered it in Week 0. Now, they are almost certainly heading to Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 14 as a winless team.

The reason why? Their front line was pushed around and their tacklers were beaten on the outside time after time.

Hugh Freeze should be licking his chops with that game film.

Auburn is bringing on a generational 2024 receiving class with the vaunted Freeze Four (Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, Bryce Cain, Malcolm Simmons) and added high-value transfers like KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Robert Lewis, and Sam Jackson V. Still, it'll be the running back room that carries the load this year. Payton Thorne may well be more of a rushing threat than a passing threat too.

Jarquez Hunter could end up being the work horse of Freeze and Derrick Nix's offense, but don't write off big contributions from Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb from time to time. Everyone is a threat to break off a big run in Auburn's backfield.

Especially against New Mexico on September 14. That's a vulnerable defense that'll need more than a bye week to slow down the Tigers' rushing threats.