Hugh Freeze: Payton Thorne's 'initiative,' Auburn's tempo to be valuable in final stretch

Auburn decided to go with a little more tempo in the first half against Mississippi State on Saturday.

The results were solid: 24 first half points, over 300 yards of offense, and three passing touchdowns for Payton Thorne, who has struggled to get things going through the air this season.

Despite only 27 overall points, it was one of Auburn's best offensive showings against an SEC opponent during a win in quite some time.

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was asked if there were any conversations heading into the MSU week about whether or not they would tailor the play calling and gameplan to make Thorne more comfortable.

Freeze said there wasn't exactly a conversation, but more of him telling the staff what was going to happen.

"There wasn't really a conversation, it was just 'this is what we're doing,'" Freeze said. "That's it [...] we'll figure out which one of 'em can either do it or not, and if none of them can, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I think Payton loved it. I thought Robby showed some good things in practice too, but Payton was obviously - took the initiative and was playing well enough [...] and that discussion wasn't ugly, but you get to a point where the only thing that I know is what I gotta be comfortable with. this is what i think we need to do, and I'm not up for - and its not like they're fighting me on it, usually it was 'should we have this package, or should we have this package with this,' and it was 'no, this is the only thing we're going to do."

A reporter in the crowd pointed out that Auburn doesn't have to face a top 75 offense nationally outside of New Mexico State. Does that help the Tigers run tempo on offense, knowing that their defense may have a little easier of a time?

"Certainly. We look at everything, we look at the schedule, how it shakes out, what gives us the best chance to compete, to have the chance to win the games, and we're not always right. Sometimes we are. I still say we're a few plays from being right there at the Georgia game and the Ole Miss game for sure doing the plan we had. All of that gets looked at."

Freeze continued, explaining his thoughts on whether or not the Tigers can run tempo as much as some are suggesting them to.

There are two primary things that factor into whether or not Auburn can run tempo like Freeze wants them to; practice and opportunity.

"Can we be effective in a tempo offense? You've got to win first down. You guys literally take my words and you like... let me clarify, I absolutely want to play with tempo. But can you always? No [...] but when we have the opportunities to, we should be ready to. And that's what we've gotten away from. If you don't practice it, it's not going to happen with tempo. I don't care what you call it, you can call it 'hurricane,' but if you haven't practiced it in 'hurricane' pace, it's not going to be what you want. That's what we have to get back to."

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