It was a good weekend for Auburn football quarterback Payton Thorne. It could have been great if there were fewer dropped balls, but at the end of the day, it means that the Tigers’ offense is making progress and the team picked up their second SEC win of the year.
For the first time all season, Thorne played the entire game, and put on his best away performance of the season, completing 17 of 27 pass attempts for 193 yards and two touchdowns. While these stats may seem like nothing to write home about, it’s worth noting the Tigers were given five drops at the end of the game.
Thorne’s showing was a major improvement from his previous away games, but it wasn’t perfect. One of the most soul-crushing moments of the game was when Thorne threw a pick-six from his own 4-yard line. The Auburn football QB explained his poor decision as an honest mistake, per Auburn Undercover:
"“Then I saw Rivaldo out there and I thought he was wide-open,” Thorne said. “I didn’t rifle it in there because I thought he was wide-open. So I looked out there and thought he’s going to catch it and get a first down. And until the ball got to him, I was great, and then the dude came out of nowhere and it caught me off guard. I think it was a D-end that dropped (into coverage), but I don’t know for 100 percent. That’s what I was told on the sideline. That was a tough one.”"
However, adjustments were made after the first half and Thorne went 7-of-10 for 122 yards, and the three incompletions were all drops. Head coach Hugh Freeze went on to say that if the Tigers hadn’t had so many drops and penalties he believed the game would have been “out of hand.”
With Thorne getting more playtime and seemingly taking over the offense, it seems that the Tigers are getting into a rhythm and improving the confidence of their quarterback.