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247sports.com Georgia anticipating one hell of an environment at Auburn for 1st road game Jordan D. Hill 4–5 minutes There’s been no place like home for the Georgia Bulldogs this season, as each of their first four games were played in the friendly confines of Sanford Stadium. The challenge that the Bulldogs face kicks up a notch on Saturday, when the Bulldogs head west to play in what promises to be a raucous road environment. Georgia’s first road game of 2023 will be Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. ET meeting with Auburn in a rivalry matchup that will likely put the Bulldogs to the test. The Bulldogs understand that the Auburn crowd will not be very welcoming to the nation’s No. 1 team, which could cause problems for a squad that has yet to play an away game this fall. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart pointed out that he’s probably coached in Jordan-Hare Stadium more than any other stadium besides the ones in Athens and Tuscaloosa. Smart noted having the first road game of the season this late in the schedule is not ideal — remember, Georgia was supposed to play at Oklahoma in Week 2 — but there can’t be any excuses when it comes to the task at hand. “I really believe in playing at a neutral site or getting a road game [early in the year], but there's not a lot of control I have over that either. It will be one hell of an environment. They do an incredible job with their fan base,” Smart said. “It's just an incredible environment. Their fan base is second to none. They're believing, and they've got a new coach and a new energy and they're doing a really good job. It will be tough. We have to prepare that way, and hope our players acknowledge that.” Saturday’s showdown will be the first road start for a number of Bulldogs, including quarterback Carson Beck. Beck took care of business in his first four games by completing just under 73% of his attempts for 1,184 yards with 6 touchdowns and 1 interceptions, but that success came in front of stadiums full of Georgia fans. Beck will make his first SEC road start in what is considered one of the loudest stadiums in the country, which will certainly test the junior as well as the other 10 Bulldogs as they try to operate the offense. Beck acknowledged a road game means some changes logistically in the lead-up to Saturday, but he sounded nothing but confident about the challenge the Bulldogs are facing. “It's always a little bit different as far as going on the road 'cause it's a different schedule. We have to travel, get on the plane,” Beck said. “I think we'll handle it well. We'll get in there on Sunday and start preparing.” The good news for Beck is he has plenty of players around him who have taken the field at Auburn before. Georgia right tackle Xavier Truss pointed out that Saturday’s game will be his third time playing at Auburn, and he described Jordan-Hare as “one of the great bucket-list stadiums to visit.” That said, Truss understands the Auburn fans will be trying their best to make life difficult on the Bulldogs — especially the big men up front. Truss said his goal this week is to make Georgia’s younger players understand what playing an SEC away game really means. Truss knows as well as anyone that the level of difficulty is kicking up a notch on Saturday, and his aim is to make sure none of his teammates are caught off guard by that. “Some of these guys have never played at Auburn. It's an electric atmosphere. You know how it is there when the crowd gets rocking,” Truss said. “Just getting them in the right mindset to show them how important getting the right preparation for this week is for an away SEC game.”

saturdaydownsouth.com Hugh Freeze evaluates Auburn’s QBs, suggests starter for Georgia Cory Nightingale | 10 hours ago 3–4 minutes Questions at the all-important quarterback position are not exactly the questions you want to be answering on the Monday before playing 2-time defending national champion Georgia. But that’s where Auburn is at right now, and that’s what Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze was doing 5 days before the 4-0 Bulldogs invade Jordan-Hare Stadium to face a 3-1 Auburn team that’s reeling a bit after last Saturday’s 27-10 loss at Texas A&M. When asked if junior Payton Thorne is still his starting quarterback going into the Georgia showdown, Freeze leaned toward the Michigan State transfer but wasn’t able to firmly commit to him. “We’re still wading through that,” said Freeze. “But that’s probably where we’ll land this week.” Thorne threw for just 44 yards and finished with 11 carries for minus-34 yards against the Aggies in a forgettable conference opener that dropped the Tigers from the ranks of the unbeaten. It was an eye-opening performance for all the wrong reasons for Thorne, who threw for 282 yards and ran for 123 more the week before in a blowout victory over Samford. Freeze also used sophomore Robby Ashford, who was 1-for-4 passing for 4 yards, and freshman Holden Geriner, who was 2-for-7 for 8 yards, in the loss to the Aggies. Texas A&M made life miserable for all of Auburn’s quarterbacks on Saturday, piling up 7 sacks and 15 tackles for loss. Freeze came out in support of his quarterbacks on Monday. “I feel like we have let them down because of all the other components that go in the passing game,” said Freeze, who will eventually have to make a decision on a starter against Georgia. “We’re still a work in progress with the roster that we have,” he admitted.

Coach Freeze discusses the offensive play-calling going forward Andrew Stefaniak 2–3 minutes Coach Freeze discussed if he would be more involved in play calling. Auburn's offense was nonexistent on Saturday against the Texas A&M Aggies, and the question is whether this has more to do with play-calling or execution. There were some receivers running open, and Payton Thorne wasn't able to hit them, so there is blame to go all around. Coach Freeze was asked about getting more involved in the play-calling, and this was his response, "This is something I'm struggling with. That's all I should probably say. This is new for me. I'm afraid when I get too involved that, it could cause confusion with terminology. Obviously, they're going through the gameplay with me. I thought the gameplay was solid last week. It's a struggle for me; let's see how the year unfolds, but I'm confident that I'm going to be more involved. It's difficult when it's not your terminology; it's hard to make adjustments on the fly on the sideline. We worked together a lot last night and a lot this morning." We are not deep enough into the season to fully bash to current play calling, but in the two games against power five opponents, the offense has struggled to score. Still, to this point, the best play call of the season was the fade to Rivaldo Fairweather against Cal, and Coach Freeze admitted he made that call. Regardless of who is calling plays, the Auburn offense needs to start moving the football and scoring points.

auburnwire.usatoday.com Hugh Freeze press conference review: Georgia week Taylor Jones 16–20 minutes Hugh Freeze returned to the podium to address the media following his team’s 27-10 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday and spent time sharing his thoughts ahead of Saturday’s game with Georgia. One of the main points of emphasis in Monday’s presser was quarterbacks. Starter Payton Thorne passes for less than 100 yards for the second-straight game and has failed to consistently complete 75% or more of his passes. Backup Robby Ashford has gotten looks, but he has not won the battle over Thorne yet. Buy Tigers Tickets Third-stringer Holden Geriner played several snaps in the Texas A&M game, could he potentially start Saturday against Georgia? Freeze shut down that possibility Monday but described the diagram for Geriner to get more looks. “I think Holden, if he ends up at some point being the guy, he must have a lot of reps. I love the way he seemed poised. His throws were inaccurate. Two balls out of bounds. He threw one really good one. Really, he was about 1-for-5 in accuracy. We are talking about a guy that we haven’t given quality reps. I think he, with the quality reps, could be more accurate. He has the quickest release. He stands tall in the pocket, and I don’t remember him having an enormous amount of pressure around him at that time, so that remains to be seen. Something that we must look at during the off week. I have a lot of things; I have a whole list that I have formulated.” Freeze hit on a number of topics including his thoughts on the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Kirby Smart’s success, and his view on playcalling. Here’s a rundown of everything Hugh Freeze said during his Georgia week press conference on Monday. John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “Obviously, you never like to lose games, particularly when you don’t feel like you played your best, but there were a lot of things that I liked, especially from the defense. I thought they played extremely hard, and short-handed. Really, we easily could’ve probably held those guys to around 13 points. We were down to our third team weak safety, who obviously didn’t get enough reps, but when (Donovan) Kaufman went down, we had to take (Caleb) Wooden and move him down there. We just blew two coverages with a guy that just hadn’t played a lot of snaps. We’ve got to keep creating depth, but I thought they played a really solid game. I’m proud of that side and the staff.” “Offensively, I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but you watch the tape and there’s a lot of good things in the first half. We should’ve left the first half with a minimum of 12 points. The two holding calls that we had on 1st-and-10 inside of the 30 on both of them, that put us behind the chains. We’re not quite good enough yet to survive that. We were running the ball effectively, and then the pressure was a good bit on us, for sure, when we had to get in those throwing downs. I think they have one of the more talented defensive fronts, but we had people open. It was a mixture of, I think, us not standing in there and making the throw, and then also some times where I don’t think we had time to adequately step up and make the throw. We’ve got to continue to work and coach that better and get us more consistent and stay out of the negative play situations where we easily could’ve had some points in that first half and made that a game. So, that’s the frustrating part of it for sure. But I’m excited to be back home to play one of the gold standards in college football right now, with what Coach (Kirby) Smart has done there in his eighth season. He’s got it rolling, so it’ll be a great test for us. Thank God we’re in Jordan-Hare. I know it will be electric, and we’re going to get the kids that are healthy enough ready to play and compete in this game.” Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports “Well, there’s four of them that I didn’t like, and I’ve turned them in. I don’t see them. Then there’s three that – two were intentional to try to back us up to punt and give Oscar (Chapman) a little more room to try to pin them deep. The false start can’t happen. We had one of those. I’m trying to remember what the others were. There was a holding call on a pass play that was probably legit. So, I mean, it was a mixed bag. You can’t have 10 penalties though, for whatever reason. It put us behind the chains. And I thought we controlled the second quarter. I think we had it for 12 minutes and came away with three points. I think that defines the game. You control the ball 12 minutes in a quarter, you’ve got to get some points. We certainly felt like we were in field goal range at least – forget touchdowns – let’s just say we were in field goal range on four different occasions and got knocked out, either because of penalties or a sack, after that. That’s really where the game… and then the seven-minute span in the third quarter, where we did not get any first downs and they got explosive plays, for whatever reason. I think just flipped the game. So, can’t have the 10 penalties, and that’s not typically who we are, and we got to get that cleaned up. It’s good to see us not turn it over.” Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports “We’re still kind of wading through that, but that’s probably where we’ll land this week also.” Austin Perryman/Auburn Athletics “Practice was really good last week. He is really sharp in practice, last week particularly. We keep hoping to see that translate into the games. It is a combination, it’s not all Payton. But sometimes it is. He owns it. We had a good meeting last night. We have to try this week to get a plan in place and execute. It falls on Philip (Montgomery) and his staff and on me.” Logan Riely/Getty Images “Well certainly with more consistent play, but there are times I feel like where we’ve let both Payton (Thorne) and Robby (Ashford) or Holden (Geriner) down. Because of all the other components that go into the passing game, that is where I’m determined to help get fixed this week before you give some final grade on quarterback play. When Robby came in, I thought he made two really nice throws on two deeps balls and I thought the routes were not run correctly. I know the quarterbacks and coaches get the blame. The coaches, we deserve it and the quarterbacks don’t always deserve it. Again, I’ve said we are a work in progress with the roster that we have. I’ve always had that in my mind. I kind of divide up the season up. There is season one which is the season going up to the open week. We have a lot of evaluating to do that open week as to how you move forward from there.” Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers “It’s a combination. It’s a plethora of responsibility, but ultimately, it lands in my lap and the lap of the offensive coaches to make sure the routes are run at the correct depth, with the correct releases, against the correct coverage. Then obviously, protection has to be good. It’s very hard to do that in third-and-long situations against the talented defensive front that you see in this league. There were some times where the ball should’ve come out and it didn’t. I think the responsibility lies in a lot of different places. But we also had a great third down throw, that put us back in scoring position, that we didn’t catch. It’s a combination of things. But ultimately, like I said, it lies with us, the coaching staff, to get those things fixed.” The Montgomery Advertiser “Damari (Alston) will be out for a period of time for sure. They are doing more tests today with that, but he had a dislocated shoulder for sure and sometimes those things can heal on their own. Other times they require some more work, and we really don’t know. (Donovan) Kaufman tried, but just kept being gimpy with the ankle and we’ll have to see how he is day to day. (Zion) Puckett obviously left with a shoulder and that really hurt us. He was doing a good job keeping us on the same page with our coverages and that really cost us two touchdowns. We had to move (Caleb) Wooden to our nickel position because J.D. Rhym couldn’t play and we were already without Keionte (Scott) and Kaufman. That really took a toll and hurt us there but, all those guys will be day-to-day. I don’t think it’s anything that will keep them out a significant amount of time.” Logan Riely/Getty Images “I loved the game plan and thought we ran the ball really well in the first two quarters. Had some explosive runs. Again, controlled the entire second quarter with the run game and just didn’t convert any drives for the reasons I’ve already mentioned. The second half game plan could have been better, particularly in the third quarter. But I felt good about the first half. We made some mistakes that hurt us on a few calls that should’ve been executed. Obviously, we haven’t coached them well enough. I thought there would have been even more explosive plays. We have to transition and block better at the perimeter and that would’ve made those 10-yard runs and 20-yard runs. We still got a lot of coaching to do on that side of the ball, but I thought the game plan was really solid when you look at the film. People were running open. On the routes that were designed, we either didn’t have enough time or misread a wheel route that was probably a touchdown. We would overthrow it. We had a seam route. (Tyler) Fromm running wide open and missed that. We got to make those plays when we have them. A lot of those designs, we either got to coach it better or we got to execute it better. It’s a combination.” Todd Kirkland/Getty Images “Well, I don’t want to quote something that is inaccurate. It’s the oldest rivalry in the South for sure. I don’t know about nationally. Am I saying that correctly? I don’t sense that it has the hatred that is in some other rivalries I’ve been a part of. Nonetheless, I think its intense. I’ll find out. I’m not big on hate. I’m big on that this game means so much to so many people so we should compete in a way out of love for our people. Not necessarily for hate to other people. That’s kind of the way I operate. I hope we compete because we love Auburn and it means something to the Auburn people to compete against Georgia. That’ll be my approach. Love is a great motivator for me.” Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports “We love play action. The week before we were very productive in the RPO game. This week we threw zero RPO’s. That is not something I am happy about. I probably am where I am today because I brought the RPO game to this conference or one of the first people would say. That sounded bad. I don’t want to sound like I created the RPO world or anything. But I do think I was one of the first to bring it to this game with tempo. We have gotten away from that. I do not really understand that. We have got to figure out our identity. Who we really are and what can Payton do? What can Robby do? What can Holden do? I know people do not want to hear it. They want success now and to win every single game. I get all of that. This is not my first rodeo taking over a program that has struggled. Certainly not at all fazed. Hungrier than ever to move forward and get better, and we will. Some of that is going to help with recruiting. In the meantime, you’ve got to get the ones you have better. That is our job. For us to be all over the map, one week you throw effectively and the next week we don’t. Why? We have to figure that out.” Photo: Walker White, 247Sports “I do not know if we will have enough tickets for all of the recruits that want to come. I am glad I am not having to deal with that. Recruiting staff is working diligently. We have official visits; we have top kids here unofficially. It will be all hands on deck, Auburn putting their best foot forward, which I know we will. Our people are incredible. Our place is incredible to watch a game. Now we have to make sure they see what Auburn is really about.” Joshua L Jones/OnlineAthens “I played Kirby his first year (at Georgia) when I was still at Ole Miss. I know kind of what he inherited because I coached in that game. I know what the outcome was. It is a great testament to his vision, his work ethic, his staff, his administration being patient to have the year he needed to, to recruit. The dividends are paying off greatly. They are one of the gold standards in college football right now. They are recruiting a top-three class every single year. That is hard to compete with and they are well coached. You have to give them credit. I know it’s a rivalry game, but the truth is the truth. He has built a dang good football program there. It means a lot of things. It means he has the support from the administration and the fans.” John Reed-USA TODAY Sports “I don’t get to decide that. The good thing is I don’t worry about that anymore. I used to but I am older now. I am comfortable in the way that we are building this program and mentoring young people and teaching them the lessons that football teaches for life. The wins will come; I believe that firmly. Whatever people’s patience level is, I can’t control that so I can’t worry about it, and I really don’t worry about it. I worry about the people in this building and our administration. I worry about our fans too, but I can’t control their patience level. If I can be really candid, I think that it is kind of ridiculous that those are already discussions that in and around our kids. It’s not something we worry about, but they should expect us to improve. That’s a reasonable expectation and I think our kids have played hard. I’ll let the other people that really matter decide their patience level. I know that there’s a lot of programs that have taken three to four to five years to get where they are now. They’re probably happy that they did that. But everybody has to decide their own feelings on that, and I can’t worry about that.” Mickey Welsh / Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK “I don’t get to decide that. The good thing is I don’t worry about that anymore. I used to but I am older now. I am comfortable in the way that we are building this program and mentoring young people and teaching them the lessons that football teaches for life. The wins will come; I believe that firmly. Whatever people’s patience level is, I can’t control that so I can’t worry about it, and I really don’t worry about it. I worry about the people in this building and our administration. I worry about our fans too, but I can’t control their patience level. If I can be really candid, I think that it is kind of ridiculous that those are already discussions that in and around our kids. It’s not something we worry about, but they should expect us to improve. That’s a reasonable expectation and I think our kids have played hard. I’ll let the other people that really matter decide their patience level. I know that there’s a lot of programs that have taken three to four to five years to get where they are now. They’re probably happy that they did that. But everybody has to decide their own feelings on that, and I can’t worry about that.” The Montgomery Advertiser “We’re searching truthfully, that was one of the things. I think we have to get more swagger on the offensive side. The most positive guy by far at this point is Luke Deal. I think he’s the one that has a good grasp on how this league plays out, and how challenging they are for 60 minutes, and how you can have three bad possessions in a row. We’re not the only ones that have those. Yet, you have to maintain this positive attitude that the next one could be the one that matters. He’s definitely been that for the offensive side.” The Montgomery Advertiser “That’s a balancing act. I’m always truthful with our team. I tell them every Monday and our truth meeting this afternoon. This game, you’re the favorite, you should win it. This game is a toss-up. You’ll be the underdog, and here is how we’re going to win it. I’ve done that everywhere I’ve ever been. I think it creates transparency and authenticity. At the same time, I tell them to be very clear on the fact that I’ve never walked into a game thinking we can’t win it, and they shouldn’t either. I give them plenty of examples that you’re not supposed to take a Liberty team and beat Arkansas either. Or Virginia Tech. Or Ole Miss when we beat Alabama. But we’ve done that, and we can do it here too.” Logan Riely/Getty Images “I am trying to remember the other games, but we drove it right down the field the week before (vs. Samford). We did not get it in the end zone and threw it on the first and second down, then we had a penalty. I don’t know that we had another possession in the first quarter in that game that I can remember, because we went right down the field on every possession. Obviously, the game plan, other than the tight red zone, was fine. In this game we rattled off four first downs in the first drive and the second drive the same way. In this game we got in field goal range, and we shot ourselves in the foot with either a penalty or a sack. Maybe we have to evaluate when we need to go to more max protection, so we will have to look at that. We should have had points in the first quarter, but we didn’t. That has got to get fixed.”

247sports.com A combination of things hindering Auburns quarterback play Jason Caldwell 4–5 minutes AUBURN, Alabama—Coming off a game where Auburn quarterbacks Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner combined to complete just 9-23 passes for 56 yards in a 27-10 loss at Texas A&M, coach Hugh Freeze said there will be plenty of discussion about the position this week and heading into next week’s bye week. Where does Auburn go next? That’s something that Freeze said will have to be determined this week and moving forward, but as of Monday he feels like it will probably be Thorne as the starter for the Tigers against Georgia. That doesn’t mean there aren’t questions to be answered, starting this week in practice. After going back and watching Saturday’s game again, Freeze said it was a combination of issues that kept them from being successful. “There’s times I feel like we’ve let both Payton and Robby and Holden or whoever the quarterback is, I feel like we have let them down because of all the other components that go into the passing game,” Freeze said. “That is where I’m determined to try and help get fixed this week before you give some final grade on a quarterback’s play. It’s just like when Robby came in, I thought he made two really nice throws on two deep balls. And I thought the routes were not run correctly. “So I know the quarterbacks and coaches get the blame. Coaches, we deserve it. Quarterbacks don’t always probably deserve it. Again, I’ve said we’re still a work in progress with the roster that we have. And I’ve always kind of had in my mind — I kind of divide the season up. So there’s a season one where, which is the season up until the open week. Then you’ve got a lot of evaluating to do that open week as to how you move forward from there.” In two games against Power5 opponents, Auburn’s quarterbacks are just 19-40 overall. That’s not acceptable when you consider what’s ahead for the Tigers, but Freeze reiterates that it’s not all on the play of the quarterbacks themselves. “It’s a plethora of responsibilities, but ultimately it lands in my lap and the lap of the offensive coaches to make sure the routes are run at the correct depth with the correct releases against the correct coverage,” Freeze said. “And then, obviously, the protection has to be good, which is very hard to do in 3rd-and-long situations against a talented defensive front that you see in this league. “And there were some times when the ball should have come out and it didn’t. So I think the responsibility lies in a lot of different places. But he also had a great third-down throw that puts us back in scoring position that we didn’t catch. So it’s a combination of things. But ultimately it lies with us, the coaching staff, to get those things fixed.” With Thorne expected to get the start again this weekend against Georgia, Freeze said the Michigan State transfer has to play much better than he has this season, but it’s also on the coaches to put him in a position to be successful. “His practice was really good last week,” Freeze said. “I mean, he's really sharp in practice, really sharp in practice. Last week particularly was really, really sharp in practice. And we keep hoping to see that translate into the games. And again, it's a combination. “It's not all Payton, but sometimes it is and he owns it. We had a good meeting last night and so we just gotta try this week to get a plan in place that all execute and all understand. And that falls on Phillip (Montgomery) and his staff and ultimately on me.” Kickoff for Saturday’s game against Georgia is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on CBS.

247sports.com Jason Caldwells Monday morning quarterback column Jason Caldwell 9–12 minutes Thoughts on Auburn football, around the SEC and Auburn hoops. A little bit of everything Anytime you play like Auburn’s offense did on Saturday, it’s going to be a combination of things that cause the issues. Much like Cal, the biggest culprit to me is still mistakes. The Tigers actually ran the ball pretty darn well with the running backs, but mistakes and missed plays kept them from breaking through. Those aren’t the kinds of things this team can get away with and still expect to win, especially on the road. We’ve talked about two holding calls that killed drives and knocked Auburn out of at least field goal range, but there were also three throws that could have been made that could have made a big difference in the game. On the first possession, Var Johnson is crossing and could have picked up a first down, but Payton Thorne’s third down throw sailed over his head. There is no question that Jay Fair is at least picking up 30+ yards and could have scored on a perfectly timed call, but the throw was off the mark. On another, Thorne waited too late to hit Tyler Fromm down the seam and it was high as well. This isn’t all on Thorne, however. The offense did a terrible job of picking up blitzes from the Texas A&M defense. That’s on the quarterback to recognize, but also the offensive line to protect along with the backs, and the wide receivers to recognize and give the quarterback a route to throw in a smaller window. It still comes back to one thing however, this roster isn’t good enough to overcome those mistakes and win games against teams in the Southeastern Conference. We have seen it work on defense in the past, but cutting back the offense to allow for better execution may be the way to go with so many players still trying to figure out the ins and outs of the system. Around college football There is no question in my mind at the moment that the best college football in the country resides in the Pac-12. I’m not sure the national champion will come out of that league, but there’’s little doubt in my mind that it’s the deepest league in the country at the moment. Much of the reason for that is because of the play of the quarterbacks in the league, but guys like Dan Lanning at Oregon and Kalen DeBoer at Washington have added speed on defense to change their teams in a big way. If I’m making a Top 10 list of teams in the country at the moment, I would have Washington, USC, Oregon and Utah all in the group. That’s not something I would have ever said just a few years ago. In the Southeastern Conference, I still see issues with every team in the league at the moment. Georgia is the most talented and most capable of winning when they don’t have their best stuff, but the Bulldogs aren’t the physically dominant group they have been in the past few years. Is it still good enough to run through this league? I think so. LSU is starting to look like the offense that can compete for a championship, but I’m still not sold on them defensively after Arkansas shredded them on Saturday night. Alabama is going to be a tough out because of the talent on the roster, but they’ll struggle to score against better defenses throughout the year as well. The sleeper could be Kentucky. They’re quietly 4-0 and have Florida at home this weekend before a trip to Georgia. Going to be interesting to see if they can knock off the Gators at home. If so, the Wildcats could be headed for another 9-win season. Hoops there it is On Tuesday we get the opportunity to meet with Bruce Pearl and several players as the Auburn men’s basketball team opens practices for the 2023-24 season. I was thinking about it as we were riding home from the Atlanta airport on Sunday, but even with 20 transfers on the Auburn football roster, it’s still many of the same names we have gotten used to seeing over the years. In basketball, adding just three or four guys is a huge overhaul when you only have 13 (or 12) scholarship players on a roster. That’s what we’ll see again from this team with true freshman point guard Aden Holloway just one of the newcomers that will likely play a key role for the Tigers along with shooting guard Denver Jones from FIU, small forward Chad Baker-Mazara from juco (San Diego State), forward Chaney Johnson from UAH and junior college forward Addarin Scott. That’s almost half of the scholarship roster made up of new players. How quickly can they get will be one of the most important questions for this team with one of the toughest preseason schedules I can remember for an Auburn team. The Tigers play Baylor in South Dakota on November 7, Notre Dame in Brooklyn on November 16 with a potential matchup against Oklahoma State the next day. A home game against Virginia Tech on November 29 keeps it going before playing Indiana in Atlanta on December 9. UNC-Asheville comes to town on the 13th with USC on the 17th. Even games against Chattanooga and Penn to close out the pre-conference schedule on December 30 and January 2 will be a challenge. This team will definitely know where it stands heading into SEC play.

Auburn’s offense has a QB problem. But does this roster have an answer? Published: Sep. 25, 2023, 6:00 a.m. 7–8 minutes Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne stood by himself. His arms were crossed, standing on the sideline behind Avery Jones. He stood there watching Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner warm up to go into the game after a first half and some change where Thorne had been sacked five times, overthrown multiple wide-open receivers and, as head coach Hugh Freeze suggested, consistently made poor decisions. Thorne completed six of 12 passes for 44 yards. His longest completion was 13 yards. He was totally ineffective. “We had people open,” Freeze said after Auburn’s 27-10 loss Saturday to Texas A&M at Kyle Field. “And we either missed them, or the pressure distracted us, it seemed. I’ve gotta watch the film and see exactly what was going on to cause that. But we certainly missed a few opportunities in the passing game.” So Thorne stood by himself as he watched as Ashford and Geriner went into the game. This wasn’t the quarterback rotation Auburn has used throughout the season so far with Ashford coming in for specific packages or situations. Thorne had been benched. Benching the starting quarterback in a job he never secured further opens the chance for a renewed quarterback battle that never seemed to end in the first place, based on Freeze’s comments in press conferences. And Auburn doesn’t have a lot of better options. “Offensively, we’re searching,” Freeze said. “And we’ve gotta find some answers.” These words from Freeze stood out. They’re the words of a coach who appears to be questioning where to go from here. The answer isn’t obvious. Quarterback play wasn’t the only reason why Auburn lost to Texas A&M. No matter what quarterback was playing, they didn’t get a lot of help. Auburn’s completely reshaped offensive line played its worst game of the season. All five of Auburn’s offensive line starters were penalized during the game. They allowed seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss. The wide receivers hardly found much separation to create passing windows as Auburn threw for a total of 56 yards in the game, completing nine of 26 passes. Ashford had 25 rushing yards on eight carries. He completed one of four passes for four yards. Geriner completed two of seven passes for eight yards. In the second half, Auburn had four consecutive three-and-outs. Those four drives totaled -11 yards. It didn’t matter who was playing quarterback. And it would be much easier to throw out the tape as bad, if not for the patterns of consistent issues throughout this season that Auburn was finally punished for in its first loss of the season. Two weeks ago in the late hours of the night after a 14-10 win over Cal, Freeze sat down outside the team’s locker room and said something quite similar about Thorne. “I didn’t think Payton was throwing it well, truthfully,” Freeze said that night. “You know? Now, the last drive, he did. He threw a great wheel route and a great fade ball. We’ve just got to get more consistent with that.” Two days later back in Auburn Freeze again echoed the same point. He said Thorne had to play better. In both the Cal and Texas A&M games, Thorne completed fewer than 10 passes. He bounced back against Samford, albeit that will likely the worst defense Auburn will face all season. After the Texas A&M loss, Auburn has the worst passing offense in the SEC and the second-worst total offense in the conference, per NCAA stats. Thus far, Auburn’s passing offense has produced 693 passing yards combined from the quarterback trio. Nearly 300 of those yards came from Thorne in one game against Samford. Thorne was successful in 2021 at Michigan State when he had an NFL running back to hand off to with Kenneth Walker III and a reliable offensive line. He had help. He hasn’t had that at Auburn. He came to Auburn in the summer and only had fall camp to work his way into the team. It never came as much of a surprise he would be named the starter, but it was clear his quick adjustment might be a challenge. “You’ve gotta remember, he wasn’t here in the spring,” offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery said on Aug. 7. “Some of the things that he’s picked up on, we’ve gotta get everybody else around that to be on the same page with him.” And from the moment he was named the starter, it was clear that wasn’t permanent. When announcing Thorne’s job, Freeze said the separation wasn’t Thorne’s play as much as it was his leadership. “We can win games with any of the three,” Freeze said on Aug. 17. “And trust me, once someone gets that job they have to hold onto it. Hopefully the others work every day to press to make me feel like I need to second-guess that. That’s the hope.” The next problem lies in exactly what to do going forward. The message sent to Thorne on Saturday was not one of much confidence in the quarterback. For the inconsistencies and limitations Thorne has shown, he is still — by far — Auburn’s most experienced quarterback even though that experience hasn’t been in the SEC. As Freeze said, Thorne had to continue to earn the job. He hasn’t done that. But Auburn’s next game is No. 1 ranked Georgia, and this creates Auburn conundrum. Start Thorne again and give him another chance? Go to Ashford, and use a run-heavy offense because he has never proven to be a reliable thrower nor has he had a consistent role in this offense? Be drastic and go to Geriner and give him his first career start against arguably the best defense in college football? None of those options feel like a sure thing. Or for Freeze’s long-term view of the program which centers on recruiting to fix the talent gap he knows Auburn has, does that answer still sit a year away with four-star quarterback commit Walker White? On the surface, Auburn appears stuck. It would take one of the quarterbacks to take a big leap forward or a possible restructure of the offense to figure things out. With Auburn’s next three games coming against Georiga, LSU and Ole Miss, this isn’t the time or the opponents to figure things out. The performance Auburn had against Texas A&M will likely mean losses in all three of those games. As Freeze said, it’s time to keep searching. Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

PMARSHONAU Five thoughts on Auburn football Phillip Marshall 5–6 minutes THORNE DESERVES RESPECT Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne deserves better. He has been called “scared.” On social media, he has been called “nervous” and other uncomplimentary things as if someone can see inside his head. The strange need to take to social media for phony outrage directed at college football players is bad for the player, bad for the team, bad for everyone. That goes far beyond expressing an opinion about how someone played. It’s not the only reason, but it is one of the reasons Bo Nix is lighting it up at Oregon now. His family, particularly his mother, was deeply hurt by that. I don’t know if Thorne is Auburn’s answer. I don’t even know if he will start Saturday against Georgia. I know he works hard. I know he studies the game. I know he was respected enough by his teammates that they elected him a team captain though he had only been in town a few months. Mostly, I know he wants to succeed far more than anyone taking to social media to beat up on him wants him to succeed. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had to deal with the same things the past two weeks. It is, for the lack of a better word, ridiculous. But it’s not just social media and not just in recent years. Brandon Cox once was booed in his own stadium, and he remembers it not-so-fondly to this day. Jason Campbell’s mother stopped attending games because of the vile things she heard said about her son. It is extremely counterproductive. No coach is going to change quarterbacks or make any other decisions because social media posters or anyone else believe he should. Yes, I know I am old-fashioned. I know that’s the way it is in this day of social media. But it shouldn’t be that way. WHAT COULD BE DIFFERENT SATURDAY What will be different for Auburn on Saturday against Georgia? I don’t know, of course, but I have some thoughts. Running backs are clearly Auburn’s most potent weapons on offense. The offensive line – like most – is better at run blocking than at pass blocking. I expect those running backs to get more opportunities than they did last Saturday at Texas A&M, when they averaged almost 8 yards per carry. According to Auburn insiders, the video of Saturday’s game showed wide receivers running open throughout the game. Head coach Hugh Freeze said as much after the game. They just didn’t get the ball. I expect that to be a real focus this week in practice. I won’t be surprised if there is a change at quarterback or if there is not. ROBERTS GETTING IT DONE Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts has made a believer out of me. Despite having what could have been a crippling run of injuries, his defense has showed up to play and has played well in every game. There might come a day when those injuries can’t be overcome and Auburn has a bad day on offense. But it hasn’t happened yet. CEILING HASN’T CHANGED I said before the season that I thought this Auburn team’s ceiling was 8-4, but that 7-5 would be a success for first-year head coach Hugh Freeze. I still believe that. I believe Auburn will beat Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and New Mexico State. That will be six wins. I believe Auburn will certainly have an even or better chance to beat Ole Miss at home. Winning at Arkansas is certainly possible. If Auburn loses one of those games, getting to eight will mean beating Georgia, LSU or Alabama. Is that likely to happen? Probably not. But it is certainly not impossible. WILL THE LIGHT COME ON? You never know when the light will come on for players and even for coaches. In 2013, Auburn won its first three games but looked nothing like a champion. It beat Washington State and Arkansas State and scored in the final 10 seconds to beat Mississippi State at home. Then it went to LSU, trailed 21-0 at halftime and lost 35-21. But the Auburn locker room was surprising. Players were upset, and they were angry. They were convinced they should have won. Auburn had dominated the second half, mostly behind zone reads run by quarterback Nick Marshall and running back Tre Mason. During the off-week that followed head coach Gus Malzahn and his staff looked hard at what they were doing on offense. They decided featuring the zone read with Marshall and Mason, both dynamic runners, was the way to go. And the Tigers took off. They didn’t lose again until the BCS Championship Game. Ironically, Auburn has an open date after Saturday’s game against Georgia. I don’t expect a repeat of 2013, but it is certainly plausible to believe that, by the end of the season, you will see a team that looks completely different than the one that lost to Texas A&M last Saturday.

si.com LOOK: Computer model favors Auburn, Hugh Freeze over Georgia Bulldogs Lance Dawe 3–4 minutes Betting lines currently favor Georgia over Auburn this weekend by about 14 points. Considering the Tigers' disappointing offensive performance against Texas A&M this weekend, the line makes sense. The Bulldogs' talent in the trenches alone should aid them in a road victory on The Plains. However, there's a computer model out there that currently disagrees. College Football Nerds, an excellent YouTube channel that does a phenomenal job analyzing and breaking down not only just college football as a whole, but individual matchups through numbers, has a computer model that they rely on to help predict games as the season goes on. The channel puts an emphasis on waiting until later in the schedule to truly listen to what the model has to say about big games, as the larger sample size allows the model to provide more accurate results. We are just a few weeks into the season and the model has a shocking projection for week five. It believes Auburn will beat Georgia this weekend. According to the model, the Tigers are favored to win 30.7 to 30.6. The fact that it's even close to a 50/50 matchup is surprising. Why is this the case? CFB Nerds explained in a tweet: - Georgia is yet to allow 3.5 yards/carry in FBS play, but - Every opponent set their FBS season high in rushing vs Georgia So therefore, Georgia's opponents are *so* bad, that dominating them appears below-average defensively. Auburn has had pretty solid success running the football this season, whether it be with their stable of running backs, or with QB Payton Thorne romping for over 120 yards against Samford. Even though the model is drunk on Georgia's opponents having "success" in the running game (even though not only have they not averaged more than 3.5 yards per carry against the Bulldogs, none of them have eclipsed 29 rushing attempts, which wouldn't even be top 100 in FBS) could we see the Tigers' running game keep them close with Georgia this weekend? It seems unlikely. Auburn has yet to figure out their passing attack and the A&M game was proof. If Thorne, Robby Ashford, or even Holden Geriner can't throw the football underneath Philip Montgomery's play calling, should there be an expectation for the Tigers to have any success on the ground against a strong Georgia front? We will see. Auburn faces off against Georgia in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry this Saturday at 2:30 pm on CBS.

forget the freeze i want coach to bring the dang heat at practice. all the experts claim freeze runs a qb friendly "O" but does montgomery do the same thing? and it was said there were not enough quick throws to slow down the pass rush but i have no idea if it was not called our we missed it.i can take a loss but when it looks ugly with mechanics it upsets me. but maybe they have had time to jell. i think this moving linemen in and out has hurt us. having players moving around and playing different positions bothers me. it might not matter. i am a fan and no expert. plus i woke up kinda sad again so i took a gummy and i need to stop or i will talk all dang day.............

nice card. i bought one of the cheaper ones but i prefer the guys wearing the blue jerseys so i always try to go for that...........

some one was saying he was not set correctly with his feet when he was throwing the ball. i cannot remember if it was rg3 saying it or an article i posted saturday or sunday. but perusing the rant ALhunter said this: Thorne tends to rotate his shoulders when moving up in the pocket. It makes it impossible for him to deliver the ball. Pocket has to be absolutely perfect or he starts shuffling and turning his shoulders / patting the ball. . he says he is completely healthy from last year. i would think as a coaches son his mechanics would be right but this is from a fan who is not an expert. so is he regressing or was he never that good? the year before he got hurt he played well winning some huge games. i just do not get it. and rather than folks just taking shots at him i would like to know the reasons this is happening. i bet they prep holden up a lot this week even tho it is ga and could get rough. robby was not good either. how do you have a a wide open receiver and over throw him fifteen yards? that looked like a sure touchdown.

i read his book and he mentioned a couple of times he was trash talking made laugh out loud for realz. i have his auto!

al.com Auburn NFL roundup: Former Tigers aid Green Bay’s rally Updated: Sep. 25, 2023, 12:01 a.m.|Published: Sep. 24, 2023, 11:50 p.m. 6–7 minutes Kicker Anders Carlson and safety Rudy Ford helped the Green Bay Packers stage a rare comeback on Sunday in an 18-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints. The Packers became the third NFL team in this century to win after they failed to score in the first three quarters and trailed by at least 17 points in the fourth quarter. Carlson made both his kicks in the game. The rookie connected on a 38-yard field goal with 11:00 to play, then knocked through the deciding extra point after Green Bay’s second touchdown of the period with 2:56 remaining. (The Packers successfully went for 2 after their first touchdown.) A former New Hope High School star, Ford tied for the team lead with seven tackles and broke up two passes. He had four of the tackles and one of the pass breakups in the fourth quarter. The other comebacks equal to the Packers’ Sunday rally are a 24-21 victory by the Tennessee Titans over the New York Giants on Nov. 26, 2005, when Auburn alumnus Rob Bironas made a 49-yard field goal with six seconds to play, and a 21-17 victory by the Carolina Panthers over the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 21, 2018, when Auburn alumnus Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes in the final 4:08. Carlson and Ford were among the 21 former Auburn players who got on the field on the third Sunday of the NFL’s 104th season. One other other former Auburn players was involved in the New Orleans-Green Bay game: · Packers defensive lineman Colby Wooden did not record any stats. In the other Sunday games: Indianapolis Colts 22, Baltimore Ravens 19 (OT) · Ravens guard Tashawn Manning is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Braden Smith started at right offensive tackle for the Colts. Cleveland Browns 27, Tennessee Titans 3 · Titans cornerback Roger McCreary (Williamson) made 10 tackles and recorded his first NFL sack. · Titans quarterback Malik Willis replaced starter Ryan Tannehill on Tennessee’s final possession with 66 seconds to play and handed off twice. Houston Texans 37, Jacksonville Jaguars 17 · Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby had 10 yards and one touchdown on two rushing attempts. Bigsby scored his second NFL touchdown on a 1-yard run as the Jaguars cut Houston’s lead to 17-7 with 11:17 left in the third quarter. · Jaguars defensive tackle Angelo Blackson did not record any stats. · Jaguars safety Daniel Thomas (Lee-Montgomery) made one tackle on special teams. · Jaguars wide receiver Seth Williams (Paul Bryant) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Texans offensive tackle Kilian Zierer is on injured reserve and not eligible to play. Miami Dolphins 70, Denver Broncos 20 · Dolphins defensive tackle Byron Cowart is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham dressed for the game but did not play. Los Angeles Chargers 28, Minnesota Vikings 24 · Chargers long snapper Josh Harris handled the snaps on four extra points, three punts and one field goal. New England Patriots 15, New York Jets 10 · Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones was designated as a game-day inactive. Jones missed last week’s game because of an ankle injury, too. · Jets defensive end Carl Lawson made one tackle. · Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood made two tackles. · Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah had a 9-yard reception. Seattle Seahawks 37, Carolina Panthers 27 · Derrick Brown started at defensive tackle for the Panthers. Brown made five tackles and registered two quarterback hits. · Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall made one tackle, registered one quarterback hit and broke up one pass. · Panthers outside linebacker Eku Leota is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. · Panthers linebacker Chandler Wooten made two tackles on special teams. Arizona Cardinals 28, Dallas Cowboys 16 · Cowboys cornerback Noah Igbinoghene (Hewitt-Trussville) did not record any stats. · Cardinals inside linebacker Owen Pappoe did not record any stats. Kansas City Chiefs 41, Chicago Bears 10 · Chiefs offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho played right tackle and left tackle. After playing two offensive snaps in Kansas City’s first two games this season, Wanogho replaced Jawaan Taylor at right tackle after the starter got two illegal-formation penalties in the first half. Wanogho shifted to left tackle when Donovan Smith got hurt. But Wanogho left with a quadriceps injury after getting hurt on an interception return. Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Las Vegas Raiders 18 · Montravius Adams started at nose tackle for the Steelers. Adams made two tackles. · Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson made a 26-yard field goal with 2:22 left to play and connected on his only extra point. · Raiders tight end John Samuel Shenker is on the practice squad and not eligible to play. Week 3 started on Thursday night, when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the New York Giants 30-12. Week 3 concludes on Monday, when the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off a 6:15 p.m. CDT at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals meet at 7:15 p.m. at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. ABC will televise the Eagles-Bucs game, and ESPN will televise the Rams-Bengals game.

al.com Auburn’s defense ‘fought and fought’ against TAMU, but that proved moot without a competent offense Updated: Sep. 24, 2023, 12:47 p.m.|Published: Sep. 24, 2023, 11:55 a.m. 5–7 minutes After Auburn’s lackadaisical win over Cal in the hills of Berkeley, Calif. on Sept. 9, folks learned Eugene Asante’s name. Auburn fans saw his heart and athletic ability. In that same game, they also saw the ineptitude of the Tigers’ offense. The entire showing – both Asante’s breakout game and the Auburn offense’s struggles – paved the way for some fans jokingly asking if Asante could play on offense, too. In a roundabout way, that happened Saturday afternoon in College Station as Auburn (3-1, 0-1 SEC) fell to Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0 SEC) 27-10. Auburn freshman Kayin Lee dislodged the football out of the hands of Texas A&M’s Rueben Owens, only for it to fall right in the hands of Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante. “I was on the backside of the play just trying to run in and be in on situations, trying to make a play for my team,” Asante said. “Coach kind of talks about… God rewards people that hustle to the football and it was just one of those situations.” Asante went on to return the popped-up fumble for a 67-yard touchdown — Auburn’s only of the game — to bring the Tigers within 10 points of the Aggies with just more than 12 minutes to play, but not before he sprinted past Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, who inadvertently found himself in the middle of the play. “I’m lucky I didn’t get ran over,” Fisher said after the game. The video of Fisher’s poor tackling form went viral on social media as “12th man” puns poured in. It was funny. People joked about it. But joking matters aside, Asante’s play in the fourth quarter was just another example of the Auburn defense doing everything it could to keep Auburn’s head above water on Saturday afternoon. It was the same thing we’d seen in Berkley, CA. as the Tigers’ defense shouldered the load in an ugly 14-10 win against the Cal Golden Bears, who — for the record — lost to No. 8 Washington 59-32 late Saturday night. While the Auburn offense cycled through three quarterbacks who totaled less than 60 combined passing yards against Texas A&M, the Tigers’ defense couldn’t catch a break. Despite Hugh Freeze saying all week leading into Saturday’s matchup against the Aggies that the Tigers’ offense would have to stay clear of many third-and-long situations, whether it was Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford or Holden Geriner under center, it didn’t matter – the third-and-long situations came. That was especially the case in the third quarter, when the Auburn offense saw three third-down opportunities. The Tigers committed a pre-snap penalty in two of those opportunities, backing them up well behind the sticks. The average distance to go on third down was more than 17 yards during the third quarter. “Penalties certainly did not help us,” Freeze said. “They came at difficult times.” The Auburn offense neglected to convert a single third down and only tallied 10 total offensive snaps in the third quarter. And what that meant for the Auburn defense was that it better not get comfortable on the sideline, because it wasn’t going to be off the field long. And that’s when the bend in the Tigers’ defense turned to break. The Auburn defense, which had allowed just 121 yards of offense in the first half, had reached its breaking point. “They fought and fought,” Freeze said of the Auburn defense. “Obviously they gave up a few explosive plays in the third quarter, but we didn’t help them. I don’t know the timing -- it’s not broken down by quarter -- it couldn’t have been good. I think that took the gas out of our defense.” With Auburn’s offense unable to sustain a drive of more than three plays in the third quarter, the Tigers had possession of the football for a total time of 5:03. And that meant the Tigers’ defense had to be the field for more than two thirds of the third quarter. While his defense was running on fumes doing everything it could to give the Tigers a fighting chance, Auburn starting quarterback Payton Thorne stood on the sideline dejected and with his arms crossed after being benched. He was pouting. Then you’ve got guys like Asante, whose heart and desire to win football games for Auburn is evident each time he steps on the field. “There’s no question of the effort he’s going to give,” Freeze said. “It hurts him when we don’t succeed, and you see that in his face.” One has to wonder if after his touchdown — which brought Auburn within 10 points with more than 12 minutes to play — Asante had a sliver of belief in his offense to complement his touchdown with one of their own. Auburn was able to do that at Cal as Thorne connected with Rivaldo Fairweather for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter after the Tigers’ defense came away with a big stop. But on Saturday against SEC competition – which is what the Tigers will see for the next six games – the offense couldn’t answer the call. So expect the sarcasm-charged “Can Eugene Asante play on offense too?” questions to continue. And hopefully, as Asante says, God keeps rewarding people that hustle to the football in the form of turnovers. Because until something major changes on offense, Auburn is gonna need it. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

al.com Auburn report card: Grading another ugly showing from the offense in Texas A&m loss Updated: Sep. 24, 2023, 6:28 p.m.|Published: Sep. 24, 2023, 6:05 a.m. 6–8 minutes Auburn lost 27-10 in its SEC opener on the road against Texas A&M on Saturday. No need to sugarcoat it, the offense was awful. So, it’s time for postgame grades to recap this ugly start to conference play. There are some bigger-picture takeaways. Those are on their way. But for now, these grades will focus on Saturday’s game alone. Offense: F I wrote our grades piece against Cal and gave Auburn’s offense just better than an F because it found a way to have a good drive to win the game. That was the only reason Auburn didn’t get an F that day. This was worse. Sure, it was against a better opponent, but it showed so many facets of an Auburn offense that don’t appear up to the task of SEC play through one game now. Auburn’s offensive line was beaten to the tune of allowing seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss. That’s bad, very bad. Auburn only had 56 passing yards and that’s including all three quarterbacks playing in this game. Auburn’s first four drives of the second half were as follows: - Three plays, -9 yards - Three plays, 0 yards - Three plays, 1 yard - Three plays, -17 yards That’s backbreaking, and it didn’t matter which quarterback was playing. Head coach Hugh Freeze detailed significant mistakes in quarterback decision-making to miss open receivers. There were also overthrows from multiple quarterbacks on plays that could have easily been touchdowns. And that is just the times the receivers were open, which were not frequent. It didn’t matter which quarterback was playing, and that was the same issue against Cal. There are some broad issues here that don’t stem from any one facet of this offense, coaching or players alike. Just about pick anything on offense and it was bad. The only points scored were a 53-yard Alex McPherson field goal on a drive where Auburn started on the Texas A&M side of the field. Auburn had 200 total yards of offense. It averaged 3.1 yards per play. This was a total, complete, all-systems failure. But in a way where it was easy to say throw the film away from the Cal game, this performance — showing many of the same problems the offense has shown against lesser opponents resurfacing against an SEC defense — may show systemic issues. More on that in future stories. Defense: B This defense can only carry Auburn for so long. It’s done so since the moment it took the field against Cal and held firm until the second half Saturday. Eugene Asante had a fumble return for a touchdown in what was maybe Auburn’s only bright spot for the whole game. Kayin Lee was a bright spot, too, forcing the fumble on that same play. But eventually, the bend-don’t-break defense finally broke. It’s spent game after game bailing out a stagnant offense, and frankly, that can’t last forever. After allowing just 121 yards in the first half, the defense gave up 281 yards and 21 points in the second half. Auburn held Texas A&M starter Connor Weigman off to a slow start before his first-half injury and the emergence of Max Johnson in a heroic backup performance sunk the Tigers. One 79-yard rush to Amari Daniels when the result of the game was largely in hand also inflated some Texas A&M offense numbers. Overall, not bad. But the second half falters didn’t help an Auburn offense that needed a lot of help. Special teams: A- If the punting was really good as a whole, that’s probably not a good sign about how a game went. Oscar Chapman averaged just over 40 yards per punt and made a quite athletic play in the first half to get a punt off despite a Reed Hughes snap that was high over his head and mishandled. McPherson made a 53-yard field goal but that was his only kick of the game. Not a ton of action from the special teams, but nothing bad from this group either. It was interesting seeing Koy Moore used as the primary kick returner after cornerback Keionte Scott’s long-term ankle injury. He had been the punt returner. Auburn had tried many options here to replace Scott including Jay Fair, Jaylin Simpson and Ja’Varrius Johnson but seemed to go with Moore. It did need a bit of a double take, though, as Moore and Scott wear the same No. 0. Coaching: B- I feel like I’ve written this point before. As a whole, defensive coordinator Ron Roberts had a good game plan. It’s hard to account for a quarterback injury in that game plan. And overall, Auburn’s defense played well before it wore down. But the penalties and decision-making on offense were once again confounding and confusing. Auburn was penalized 10 times for 64 yards, albeit at least three of them appeared as intentionally getting a delay of game flag to make more room for a punt into the Texas A&M half of the field. All five of Auburn’s starting offensive linemen were penalized. The quarterback rotation was again used to provide a spark on offense but didn’t seem to make a ton of sense at times as Thorne made some seemingly random appearances after it appeared command of the offense had been passed Robby Ashford for this game. Hugh Freeze has some serious questions again on this offense about who the quarterback will be and who will block for them. Thorne hasn’t been productive other than the second half against Samford. Ashford and Holden Geriner are unreliable, and it would be hard to argue starting them seeing as No. 1 Georgia is Auburn’s next opponent. This is a huge conundrum. Overall: C The offense is the story and it’s hard to really look at anything else. It was abysmal, plain and simple. There were some other solid parts of the performance to build on, but it’s hard to give any better grade than this after a performance like ~that~. The problem is it’s not as if Auburn has a chance to work on this. Georgia is next. Then a bye week followed by LSU on the road and Ole Miss in Auburn. For a group lacking solutions on offense, that’s about as brutal a stretch of games as a team can get. These are the types of games Auburn’s transfers said they came to the SEC to play: to play top teams in big venues and find ways to win. Auburn’s transfers got that chance Saturday and were severely outmatched. They’ll have more chances, but Saturday in Texas wasn’t promising. Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com