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Auburn football fans did not have a good Saturday. Auburn got smacked around by Georgia, losing 31-13 in front of the incredibly loud Bulldogs fans. To add insult to injury, a miscommunication on one play caused a ton of controversy for head coach Hugh Freeze and QB Payton Thorne.
Auburn attempted a fourth-and-1 from their own 44-yard line while trailing 21-10 to start the fourth quarter. Tigers QB Payton Thorne was sacked in the backfield on what looked like an obviously botched play.
Shortly afterwards, those watching the ABC broadcast could see Hugh Freeze screaming at Payton, who sat on the bench.
Auburn football's Payton Thorne ran the wrong play on crucial fourth-and-1 play against Georgia
After the game, Freeze explained that Payton got the call wrong. The play call was intended to be a run to Jarquez Hunter, who was averaging 8.3 yards per carry at that point in the game.
“Yeah, he absolutely didn't go with what we called,” Freeze said. “Payton's a thinker. He knows football. He decided to try to run some type of zone read there. I think everybody was a little confused. But we definitely weren't on the same page there.”
This is not the first crucial mistake that Thorne has made this season.
Thorne does not disagree that the original playcall was a running play to Hunter. However, he insinuated after the game that he is afforded the ability to make his own read on the play.
“We're running a run play — I had an option to throw it, too,” Thorne said. “And the look that I got, we had a guy that I needed to handle. Moved the back out of his original position and ran the play. And I think it was No. 11, came off the edge hard, and that's the guy I was reading. And I don't want to get into too much detail on that, I guess. I could tell you the whole thing, but I don't think so. Probably shouldn't.”
The loss drops Auburn to a 2-4 record with an 0-3 conference record.
