On SI writer claims Auburn football would be 7-1 if maligned transfer wasn't featured in offense

On SI's Kyron Samuels, a former offensive lineman at Jacksonville State, proclaimed that Auburn football's record would be 7-1 if anyone other than Payton Thorne was starting under center fo the Tigers.

"Auburn would be 7-1 if they had just average level quarterback play," Samuels said during AU's 17-7 loss to Vanderbilt in Week 10, "Most frustrating watch in college football."

Fans in the replies defended Thorne, blaming the play-calling on the losses. And they're right.

Thorne has thrown one interception in his last four outings and has eclipsed 200 yards passing in four of his last six appearances; one coming off the bench for Hank Brown during Auburn's 24-14 loss to Arkansas.

Thorne's arm doesn't maximize the talent his receivers have. He doesn't hit deep balls for receivers who burn their defender and get out in front. He can't throw on the run like his QB counterpart from Vanderbilt, Diego Pavia, could.

But he can keep his team in close games. He just can't win them when tasked with coming up with a fourth-quarter miracle drive. Which is what he's asked to do nearly every game.

Auburn football's success goes beyond finding a QB replacement for Payton Thorne

Thorne cannot be blamed for two second-half carries for Jarquez Hunter. That's flat-out bad play-calling. And to cover his tracks, Hugh Freeze threw Hunter under the bus and said he looked gassed out on the field.

With coaching like that, the cultural divide in the locker room runs deep. Coaches who don't inspire trust from players will never get the most out of them. Freeze has undermined Thorne, Hunter, Brown, and anyone in the Tigers' offense with significant touches.

If that could be stopped with new personnel, perhaps there's hope. But Freeze needs to move mountains to make this a program worth believing in again.