Payton Thorne is not the problem for the Auburn football offense according to Saturday Down South’s Glenn Sattell — instead, blaming the transfer’s prior issues from Week 4 to Week 8 on the Tigers offense’s “systemic problems.”
“Pointing the finger at Thorne for Auburn’s inability to move the football through the air may have been a bit misguided,” Sattell prefaced before saying, “It seems to be a more systemic problem than any individual.”
Thorne has seemingly flipped the switch as the competition severely lessened following a four-game stretch that included ranked SEC foes like Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, and Ole Miss. Instead of not reaching the 100-yard benchmark or doing so in garbage time for the first third of the conference slate, Thorne is now hovering around 200 yards.
Analyst blames Payton Thorne’s struggles on Auburn football OL and receivers
Sattell absolving Thorne meant the blame had to go somewhere; in this case, being the Tigers’ offensive line and receiving corps; both veteran-laden units that saw several additions through the transfer portal.
“The offensive line hasn’t been the greatest,” Sattell prefaced before saying, “After the first 8 games, Auburn had allowed 20 sacks. Among SEC teams, only 4 offensive lines had allowed more (Florida with 23, Arkansas with 31, South Carolina with 34 and Alabama with 35). But even more egregious are the drops by the wide receivers, not to mention their inability to separate from defenders.”
Hugh Freeze has admitted to feeling like he didn’t do right by Thorne, so the AU head coach would likely agree with Sattell’s take.
So would Tim Tebow, and it’s fair to say the former Heisman winner at Florida knows something about being a quarterback in the SEC.
Thorne is starting to win the plot after many wrote him off in the early going. If he has the locker room, and it appears as though he does given the wins against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, there could be a positive finish to Thorne’s season after it appeared the ending would be anything but.