Following its loss to California last Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn football has returned to a familiar place, The Misery Index.
Dan Wolken of USA TODAY Sports included Auburn in his weekly piece following the Tigers’ poor offensive performance. Auburn gained just 286 yards of offense in the 21-14 loss. It also did not help that running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] failed to score or reach 100 rushing yards and that Auburn’s shiny new receivers did not have the opportunity to play a major role in the team’s output.
When describing Auburn’s place within the index, Wolken cites head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s past success in building high-octane offenses and gives his take on why Auburn’s offense has yet to take off in year two of the Freeze era.
It’s not like Auburn was shy about paying for good football, even when NCAA rules made it more complicated (take that however you like). And it’s not like Hugh Freeze, for all the controversy that has surrounded his career, has ever dealt with questions about his ability to put a good offense on the field. So what gives? How is it that as Freeze enters Year 2, he’s still wedded to a quarterback in Payton Thorne who just can’t get the ball down the field? After ranking 92nd nationally last year, Auburn’s offense is still stinky. That much is clear after a 21-14 loss at home to California in which Thorne threw for 165 yards and Auburn had just 286 total yards while committing five turnovers. If you’re not getting offensive production out of a Freeze-coached team, what are you really getting? His inability to get a quarterback upgrade out of the transfer portal this past offseason may land him on the hot seat pretty quickly.
Thorne completed 52% of his passes and received a low grade of 51.8 from Pro Football Focus. According to PFF data, Thorne threw two “turnover-worthy” passes and attempted just one “big-time throw” in the loss. He also missed several of his key receivers including Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith multiple times. Thorne and Freeze will get a chance to shake off the loss this Saturday by hosting New Mexico for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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