Auburn should allow fewer sacks in 2023
Shortly after Hugh Freeze arrived on the plains, he hired Jake Thornton as the new offensive line coach. Thornton comes to Auburn from Ole Miss where he served as the offensive line coach for the last two years.
Thornton took the Ole Miss job in 2021 where he remained until Hugh Freeze hired him at Auburn. In the two years he spent at Ole Miss, Thornton had two all-SEC offensive linemen and had one of his linemen reach the NFL. During Thornton's first year at Ole Miss, his offensive line led the way while their offense led the SEC in total offense at 492.5 yards per game.
In Thornton's second season with the Rebels behind his offensive line Quinshon Judkins led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns recording 1,476 yards and scoring 16 touchdowns. The Ole Miss offense also ranked third in the country in rushing offense. In both years Thornton spent in Oxford the Rebels ranked in the top 10 in the country in total offense.
Stat of the day
During the 2022 season, Ole Miss allowed fifteen sacks giving up an average of 1.15 sacks a game. The only other team who allowed fewer sacks this past season was Georgia who allowed nine sacks through fifteen games. Auburn allowed thirty sacks through Twelve games, averaging 2.5 sacks per game.
What this means
With Jake Thornton now on the Plains, you can expect to see the Tigers' offensive line production improve. This should allow the quarterback more time in the pocket to allow the play to develop. Over the past few seasons, you have seen Auburn quarterbacks forced out of the pocket prematurely not really allowing them to move the ball efficiently.
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