AUBURN — After losing his starting job earlier in the season, quarterback Payton Thorne has received all the starts since the Arkansas game, and while his production doesn't jump off the page, he's done enough to keep the Tigers in winning situations.
On Saturday, it was much of the same. Thorne struggled out of the gates and led Auburn to a three-and-out on its first drive and followed it up by throwing an interception on the ensuing drive.
"The first interception, I know people will (blame him) but truthfully, we had a young man run the wrong route," head coach Hugh Freeze said. "It should have gone to him like - I mean Peyton's wanting to deliver it to Malcolm right now, on the snap, and he ran the wrong route."
However, after starting five-for-10 passing, Thorne picked things up and completed nine straight throws before his next incompletion. Thorne finished his night 20-of-26 through the air with one touchdown.
But for a fifth-year senior in the SEC, there still seemed to be a lack of situational awareness at times from Thorne, and while it didn't matter in the end result on Saturday, it's been those instances that have kept the Tigers from winning close games down the stretch.
The one glaring mistake from Thorne on Saturday was the debacle right before halftime. Thorne, with 18 seconds left in the half - after Auburn had just used its final timeout - took a sack, leading the Tigers to rush their field goal unit on the field for a field goal attempt in which they did not get off. Ultimately, leaving points on the board.
"He can't do that, Freeze said. "And we just talked through it on the headset. We have no timeouts. It has to go out of the end zone, and we have to - we have to handle those situations better. And he knows that. But we can't operate like that."
"I created a special place on my call sheet for whatever he wants, to make sure he throws it out of bounds or (for a) touchdown. We're going to call it something. For that 15 second play where - and they played off coverage, so there was nobody going to be open. So, just let it fly. He'll learn from it. I don't expect that to happen again, but that was a frustrating end to the second quarter for sure," he added.
Sacks and turnovers are the main caveats in what typically halts the Tigers' offensive momentum, but there was another instance on Saturday where Auburn ran a reverse, handed the ball off to Thorne, and he threw it out of bounds, leading to an intentional grounding because he did not receive the initial snap.
The Tigers overcame the mistakes on Saturday against Kentucky, but with a challenging schedule ahead they'll need to see those mistakes cleaned up at a chance for a bowl appearance come December.
And it starts with their senior leader at quarterback.
Auburn is back at home on Saturday as they play host to a much-improved Vanderbilt squad from a season ago. Kickoff is set for 11:45 CT and will be aired on SECN.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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