Head coach Hugh Freeze talks about the fourth-and-one situation in the Georgia game
All week long, Auburn football fans have been dwelling on a single play from the Georgia loss last weekend. The Tigers found themselves at fourth-and-one on the 44-yard line, and rather than handing the ball off to running back Jarquez Hunter, quarterback Payton Thorne kept the ball and was sacked for a loss.
Though it wasn't a play that would have won the game for the Tigers, it showed poor discipline and bad decision-making. It has been a confusing story, and blame has been laid on Thorne and the coaching staff and described as a complicated issue.
“That’s a whole long story, for sure, but the execution of it wasn’t proper,” said Freeze, per Auburn Rivals. “Payton really thought he needed to handle an edge guy. And he kept that same run on. He’s correct. He did not change the play.
“But that play is not designed to hit from the backside at all. So he was thinking through things and I understand his thinking, but we can’t do that in that situation.”
It was a change in tune from what Freeze said immediately after the game, which was that Thorne didn't run the play that was called for him. Whether it was Thorne's fault or the coaching staff's, the bottom line is that communication needs to improve, and getting the first down on fourth-and-one has to be a given.
“And, again, we've got to coach better to where that's really not an option in that moment in time. We needed that. That was a big drive, man. We were moving the ball. We've got to talk through that and make sure that doesn't happen again.”
The Tigers will rest this weekend before heading to Missouri on October 19th for their next matchup.