Things haven’t gone well for the Auburn Tigers this season.
Auburn enters October at 2-3 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. With matchups against the Georgia Bulldogs, Missouri Tigers, and Alabama Crimson Tide still looming, the Tigers face a difficult road toward bowl eligibility.
Quarterback play has been an issue for Auburn, as head coach Hugh Freeze went out of his way to point out after the team’s 24-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in their SEC opener. It was an issue again in Auburn’s loss to the Oklahoma Sooners, as quarterback Payton Thorne threw a pick-six in the fourth quarter of the team’s 27-21 loss.
OKLAHOMA TAKES THE LEAD WITH THE PICK-SIX 👀 pic.twitter.com/mhRKjcvg4T
— ESPN (@espn) September 28, 2024
Speaking to the media earlier this week, Thorne explained what went wrong on the play.
“Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense. Like why the hell would you do that? I agree with that.” Thorne said via On3, before breaking down what was supposed to happen.
“But with the play that was called and what we talked about doing against that defense, like I said, they were in a Cover-0 look, we had empty, no running back in the game. So, we had five offense linemen for the fans who know how to do math…Then we got the double mug look, so both backers were lined up in the A-gap. So, you had to do something with the protection there. The plan going into it was I’ve got my quick, intermediate route. I would like to see the free hitter, which was the boundary end.
So, I slid it to the field, all five of our guys, because as a quarterback, unless you’re on the move, you don’t like not being able to see who’re the guys that can hit you. it was well executed by those guys and I look back on the play, and I did what my plan was and what we had talked about in the week. And, like I said, it’s just a tough situation, and it stinks. I did have the thought of checking our three receivers but the play clock was really running low. So, I just decided to leave the call on that we had,” Thorne added.
The senior quarterback leads the SEC in interceptions with six this season.
