Auburn football: Too much blame on Payton Thorne?
We’ve been putting the bulk of the blame on Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne for the Tigers’ inability to move the ball through the air. They went into Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt with the worst passing game in the SEC by far, averaging just 160.9 passing yards per game, 119th in the nation.
Yes, Auburn’s passing game for most of the season has been bad — really bad. Thorne, who has supplanted Robby Ashford as Auburn’s starting quarterback, has received most of the blame for it, or lack of it. Thorne entered Saturday averaging 134.4 passing yards per game, which ranked 13th in the SEC.
The junior transfer from Michigan State has been having a tough time getting on the same page with his receivers. But whose fault is that? Who’s not doing his job? Is it Thorne’s shortcomings?
It’s hard to imagine that a quarterback who threw for 3,232 yards and 27 TDs in 2021 for Michigan State, and another 2,679 with 19 TDs a year ago, would forget how to play the position. He had 5 300-yard games for the Spartans, and he threw for 4 TDs in 4 games.
But we’ve seen the numbers steadily rise for Thorne since he threw for only 44 yards in the SEC opener against Texas A&M. Since then, the number has gone to 82 against Georgia, 102 against LSU and 100 vs. Ole Miss.
We caught a glimpse of that guy from Michigan State the following week, when he completed 20 of 26 passes for 230 yards and a season-high 3 TD passes in Auburn’s 27-13 victory over Mississippi State. He recorded a season-high 189.3 QB rating as the Tigers snapped a 4-game skid.
He seemed much more relaxed knowing he had the reins of the offense and wasn’t going to share time with Ashford. He was able to relax and play his game. The game plan looked more geared toward his game. Rolling him out and moving in the pocket seemed to work more toward his abilities and comfort zone as well.
Thorne didn’t top that in a 31-15 triumph at Vanderbilt — mainly because of the dropped passes (much more on that in a moment) — but he did finish with 194 yards and 2 TDs on 17-of-27 passing (with 1 pick).
So pointing the finger at Thorne for Auburn’s inability to move the football through the air may have been a bit misguided. It seems to be a more systemic problem than any individual.
The offensive line hasn’t been the greatest. 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. That was certainly the culprit against a bad Vanderbilt pass defense. The Commodores entered the game ranked 13th in the SEC against the pass, allowing 262.3 yards per game.
Thorne put the ball on the hands of his receivers on several occasions, only to have it slip through their fingertips. In addition, he was visibly upset on other occasions when it appeared the receivers ran the wrong or a bad route.
You won’t find any Auburn receivers among the top 20 in the SEC. The Tigers’ top 2 receivers, Jay Fair and Rivaldo Fairweather, entered the game ranked tied for 24th in the conference in receptions (25 each), and neither was among the top 30 in the league in receiving yards.
Both dropped passes Saturday. Easy ones.
Against teams at the bottom rung of the SEC like Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, that’s not a big problem. But if Auburn is going to improve on its 5-4 record (2-4 in the SEC), finish strong against Arkansas and Alabama and build for the future, this certainly needs to be cleaned up.
Do so — and combine that with a running game that is picking up with the explosive play of Jarquez Hunter, who had a career day (183 yards and 2 TDs on 19 carries) — and the Tigers could very well close the 2023 season with quite an impressive win streak.