Takeaways: Auburn offense struggles in loss vs Texas A&M

There were a lot of issues for the Auburn Tigers on Saturday.

Auburn's offense had a lot of problems on Saturday as the Hugh Freeze and the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season 27-10 at the hands of Texas A&M.

Auburn's defense kept the Tigers in this game. At the half, Auburn was only trailing by three with a 6-3 score. In the second half, Texas A&M finally got the ball rolling with backup quarterback Max Johnson taking over the game with his arm.

Here are some thoughts and takeaways from the Auburn loss.

Payton Thorne did not look like he did last week

Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Thorne's confidence was a big discussion point over the past two weeks. Against Cal, Thorne was shaky but rebounded with a strong performance against Samford. That was believed to give Thorne confidence as he was entering the first taste of SEC action. 

It just wasn't there.

In the first half, Thorne's passes were all over the place. He overthrew a probable scoring play to Jay Fair on the side line, and he was indecisive in the pocket which led to him being brought down by Texas A&M pass rushers often in the first half. 

He would eventually be pulled for Robby Ashford in the third quarter. 

Auburn's offense is behind

Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

There are a million factors that impact the success and failures of an offense but Auburn is missing a lot of them. 

I think the running game is fine but wasn't used enough before Auburn found themselves down multiple scores. The playcalling got wide receivers open but the quarterbacks were unable to connect with them or find them in time. Plays seems to take a while to get called as Auburn found themselves up against the play clock multiple time. 

Auburn needed to find out who they were on offense in College Station. They're still looking for it.

Auburn's offensive line will be a popular topic this week

Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

What I'm about to say may seem crazy when looking at the box score. Allowing six sacks is bad but I don't think the offensive line is as bad off as many believe. 

There's room for improvement but there were several times on Saturday where they gave the quarterbacks enough time to get rid of the football before the pressure arrived. I reserve the right to change my mind on this after a rewatch but as we drop an instant reaction, I think the sacks fall more on the quarterbacks. 

It's only going to get tougher

Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Entering the season, it was easy to see that the stretch of @ Texas A&M, hosting Georgia, @ LSU, and hosting Ole Miss would be a tough stretch for Auburn.

The Tigers have their work cut out for them as they brave this brutal stretch. If they can survive this stretch of four games with a win or two, they can finish the season strong with more winnable games like Arkansas and Vanderbilt on the road and Mississippi State at home. The Iron Bowl at home is always possible as well.

There was a long way to go entering the season for Auburn to catch up with other teams in the SEC and after four games, it's tough to make a case that they've closed the gap at all as SEC play is here.

Auburn takes on Georgia at home at 2:30 CT next Saturday.

Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!

Join the Locked on Auburn Discord

Follow Auburn Daily on Twitter

Like Auburn Daily on Facebook

Subscribe to Locked On Auburn on YouTube