Auburn Tigers News: Paul Finebaum gives bleak analysis, Payton Thorne on pick-six
In today's edition of Auburn Tigers News, Paul Finebaum gives a bleak analysis of Auburn football and Payton Thorne breaks down his pick-six against Oklahoma
It's been a rough five weeks for Auburn football and everyone knows it. The hope was that the Tigers would roll into Athens with five wins under their belt in preparation for a tough game against the Dawgs. Now, fans are just hoping Auburn doesn't get embarrassed (again).
Unfortunately, analyst Paul Finebaum says that Tiger fans should not get their hopes up. With most of the easier games in the rearview mirror for Auburn football, they're going to have to pull off a big upset to add more wins to the record.
“I hate to say that I came away on one level impressed, but I did like what I saw in many ways. But you can’t scrape away adjectives and platitudes for just one of the worst months of Auburn football I can remember. There’s no there’s no sugar coating it, there’s no getting around it, and all stems to a decision that Hugh Freeze made in the offseason that we all know about. But it has boomeranged on him and I don’t see a path for Auburn the rest of the way,” Finebaum said, per On3.
“The schedule is simply too insurmountable. I really thought in July they would be undefeated heading into the Georgia game. They have three losses now and they’re going to have to pull some stunning upsets to even have a mediocre season. I don’t think that’s possible.
Payton Thorne breaks down his pick-six against Oklahoma
Auburn football quarterback Payton Thorne may have laid it all on the line for the Tigers this weekend, but it wasn't enough to get the win, especially after throwing a pick-six in the fourth quarter. Head coach Hugh Freeze took the majority of the blame for the situation and reminded fans that rebuilding from the decimated program of the Bryan Harsin era is no small task.
When asked about the interception, Thorne didn't make excuses and explained what happened.
"Quite honestly, if I had that play over 10 times, I probably would've done the same thing 10 times out of 10," Thorne said Tuesday on The Next Round, per Auburn Undercover. "It is frustrating for me. You look back on it, it sucks, however, I've got to give credit to them. They had the perfect call on for what we were doing.
"They bluffed pressure enough for me to see and think they were coming and when I went to find my receiver, I wasn't able to see him drop out," Thorne said. "Like I said, it's a tough one to swallow. I look back on it, the play clock was running down, so I couldn't switch my three receivers to the field (side) to get a quicker route or something like that. It was an unfortunate play."
Payton Thorne and the Tigers will get a second chance this weekend when they take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens at 2:30 p.m. central.