Auburn QB Payton Thorne returns for Year 2 surrounded by a more talented supporting cast

AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn Tigers are banking on a better season from quarterback Payton Thorne, and they’ve certainly surrounded him with more talented playmakers.

Thorne’s pedestrian passing numbers, lack of consistent targets and sometimes poor pass protection helped send the Tigers to their third straight losing record last season. The Michigan State transfer now has a full year under his belt after arriving last summer.

He also has an array of receivers that should make it easier to improve on a passing offense that was among the nation’s least productive last season. The Tigers open Aug. 31 against Alabama A&M.

The supporting cast matters for any quarterback. Thorne likes the group Auburn has assembled around him for this season.

“People say it’s the ultimate team game, and it really is,” he said. “It’s tough. You’ve seen great quarterbacks in the NFL, if stuff starts to break down around them, they’re still good. But they’re not the same as they are when they have all their pieces.

“It’s definitely a tough situation sometimes, and you just have to deal with what you’ve got at times.”

That’s not to say Thorne’s own play doesn’t need significant improvement. He passed for 1,755 yards and 16 touchdowns against 10 interceptions last season and was thoroughly shut down in the bowl game.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze declared that Thorne held the “pole position” for the starting job after spring practice, but he stopped short of declaring the job his over Hank Brown and Holden Geriner. Brown appears to be Thorne's backup going into the season.

Freeze brought in an impressive collection of receivers to replace a group that didn’t have a wideout reach 350 yards last season. Tight end Rivaldo Fairweather, the only key target to return, led the team with 38 catches for 394 yards.

Auburn added three transfers and four freshman receivers. Transfers KeAndre Lambert-Smith (Penn State) and Robert Lewis (Georgia State) and five-star freshman Cam Coleman appear to be likely starters right away.

“I feel really good with where we’re at right now,” Thorne said. “We still have young guys. We still have four freshmen who are going to potentially play for us. That’s not exactly one, common. And two, at the end of the day they’re still young. You can’t go out there and expect them to be these veteran receivers who know everything.

“There’s still going to be some times where you’re like, what the heck? But you remind yourself this kid was playing high school ball last year.”

Coleman, he said, has had few such incidents.

With all those new targets, the Tigers are hoping Thorne can at least come closer to his numbers at Michigan State. He passed for 6,494 yards in 29 games, going 16-10 as a starter for the Spartans.

He is no longer taking a crash course in Freeze's offense.

“We’re totally different than last year,” Freeze said. “From the spring until now, his understanding of what the expectations are from him have grown leaps and bounds. He does some things out there right now that I’m really, really proud of.”

But Thorne finished last season with two of his worst performances. He was a combined 18-of-43 passing for 175 yards and was intercepted three times in season-ending losses to Alabama and in the Music City Bowl to Maryland.

But now, Thorne said, “just about everything” is different this season, including new offensive coordinator Derrick Nix and most of the players he'll be passing to.

“Obviously there’s more talent out there as well,” Thorne said. “So it’s been really fun working these past few months. And obviously right now is the team that we have. And so this is who we’re going with.”

And the Tigers are riding with Thorne.