It is time to continue our college football odds series with a New Mexico-Auburn prediction and pick. Find out how to watch New Mexico-Auburn.
This season at Auburn took a dramatic turn for the worse in Week 2. Auburn was a 13.5-point favorite at home over Cal. One year ago Auburn's offense played a brutally bad game on Cal's turf in Berkeley. Payton Thorne was the quarterback for that ugly slog on the West Coast. Nothing Auburn did on offense worked well in that game, which was a close and sloppy rockfight the whole way. In Year 2 of the Payton Thorne-Hugh Freeze quarterback-coach combination at Auburn, there was a firm and clear expectation that the Tigers' offense would be better. The Tigers did upgrade at the receiver position, bringing in Keandre Lambert-Smith from Penn State as an elite target for Thorne to throw to. Everything was supposed to work a lot better. Thorne was supposed to have receivers who would get open and help him make throws more quickly and decisively.
The plan did not materialize at all in a 21-14 loss to Cal.
Auburn got soundly outplayed on its home field by a program with a much smaller football budget and a smaller overall athletic budget. Auburn should have no business losing to Cal, but it did. Payton Thorne did not make the grade. Hugh Freeze doubled down on Thorne by bringing him back this season instead of getting an available upgrade at quarterback in the transfer portal. That decision to stick with Thorne looks really bad and very confusing right now, but if there is any chance for Freeze and Thorne to salvage this situation, they have to immediately show that they can make course corrections and adjustments and get real results. Auburn faces a New Mexico team which lost to Montana State earlier this season and should have a vulnerable defense Auburn can exploit. If Auburn can post a very big number in this game, maybe there is still a chance the Auburn offense can evolve into something special this season … but the clock is definitely ticking and the heat is on the Tigers entering Week 3.
Here are the New Mexico-Auburn College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: New Mexico-Auburn Odds
New Mexico: +28.5 (-120)
Moneyline: +1600
Auburn: -28.5 (-102)
Moneyline: -4500
Over: 60.5 (-115)
Under: 60.5 (-105)
How to Watch New Mexico vs Auburn
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN2
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Could New Mexico Cover The Spread/Win
The spread is very large for an Auburn offense which simply does not deserve the benefit of the doubt right now. New Mexico scored over 30 points on the road at Arizona a few weeks ago. If New Mexico can merely score 20 points in this game, Auburn will need to score at least 50 points to cover the spread. Given what we have seen from Auburn's offense, that doesn't seem very likely.
Why Auburn Could Cover The Spread/Win
Payton Thorne is not a good quarterback overall, but the New Mexico defense was shredded by Arizona two weeks ago, giving up more than 65 points to the Wildcats. Auburn won't beat a lot of SEC teams with its passing game, but it can indeed score 50 or 60 points against UNM here and cover the spread.
Final New Mexico-Auburn Prediction & Pick
Auburn lost a lost of trust from bettors with the Cal stinker. You should probably stay away from this game and consider a live play, not a pregame bet.
Final New Mexico-Auburn Prediction & Pick: New Mexico +28.5