Auburn dropped its first game of the season on Saturday with a turnover-filled showing against Cal.

The Golden Bears made a cross-country trek to face the Tigers, looking to avenge last year’s 14-10 loss in Berkeley. They were a 14-point underdog inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. It didn’t matter. Cal had a 14-point lead early in the fourth and eventually won 21-14.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game.

Auburn offensive line has work to do

The brand of football in the SEC is too much for those schools on the West Coast. Especially one with the issues that Cal faces recruiting and retaining players. Auburn plays big-boy football. The 7-on-7 standouts from The Golden State shouldn’t be able to matchup.

Auburn’s offensive line missed the memo on that one. Cal’s defensive front decidedly won the battle with the Tigers’ front 5. Auburn had 3 explosive runs. The Tigers had only 2 plays all game that picked up 20 yards or more. Per gameonpaper.com, Auburn had a negative EPA per rushing attempt.

The opening possession of the game resulted in an Auburn touchdown. The Tigers marched 75 yards in 8 plays. For the rest of the first half, Auburn did nothing. The Tigers turned it over on downs, threw an interception, had back-to-back 3-and-outs, and then missed a field goal.

In the second half, quarterback Payton Thorne was picked off thrice more.

It starts up front for the Tigers, who never got consistent push, gave up 3 sacks, and had Thorne under duress all day.

Payton Thorne has a game to forget

Thorne had a brutal first season on The Plaines. He completed only 61% of his throws, averaged only 6.6 yards per pass, and was picked off 10 times.

The opener against Alabama A&M saw Thorne throw for 322 yards and 4 scores. Auburn looked much more explosive. The pass game had life. Air might be tougher to throw on than Alabama A&M. Thorne was seeing ghosts against Cal. His 3 second-half turnovers were both back-breaking.

Auburn’s defense had just forced a 3-and-out and Auburn had a chance to take some momentum into the fourth quarter. Thorne was pressured from the backside on the final play of the third and a duck was picked off by Cal.

With 2:40 to play in the game and Cal trailing by 7 points, Thorne had a chance to rewrite the day. Instead, he tried to force a contested ball to a clearly hampered Cam Coleman, underthrew the ball, and turned it over.

But Auburn’s defense rose up and forced another 3-and-out to give the ball back to the offense. Auburn took over at its 20 with 28 seconds remaining. It was not exactly an ideal situation, but there was still a chance. Thorne gave it right back on the first play of the drive with his worst throw of the day.

Thorne finished with 4 interceptions and a 52% completion rate. He threw for 165 yards and a touchdown. He also had a rushing score and 43 yards on the ground. Still, the week ahead will be an uncomfortable one for coach Hugh Freeze; questions about his quarterback will be relentless.

Auburn defense stands up

Cal completely dominated possession throughout the game. The average drive for the Bears began just 4 yards shy of midfield. They had 4 possessions that began in Auburn territory. And yet the Tiger defense only allowed 3 scores. They limited the explosive plays and stifled the ground game. Cal had only 99 rushing yards and was hit in the backfield for a loss 8 times.

Auburn actually outgained Cal on a per-play basis, 5 to 4.7. The defense held in. It just got no help whatsoever from the other side of the football.