Every week we present “The Auburn Corner,” where we’ll get into a different topic on the Auburn Tigers, break down the previous game, preview the upcoming game, and everything in between.
Entering 2024, Auburn is not only in the second year of the Hugh Freeze era but also the second year of the Payton Thorne era. Changes were necessary for the Tigers’ passing attack, as the offense’s performance in 2023 simply wasn’t good enough to contend for anything significant.
Naturally, Thorne took a lot of the blame for that — fair or unfair — because he is the quarterback. But it was apparent to anyone who watched the team that a lack of dynamic playmakers on offense put Thorne in a tough position from the start.
Freeze decided to give him another shot this season. While it was just one game against Alabama A&M, Thorne looked significantly more comfortable throwing to a virtually completely new group of pass-catchers.
Penn State transfer wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught two touchdowns in the first quarter and looked even better than advertised. To no one’s surprise, much of the attention went to the young freshmen making plays in their first game in Auburn uniforms.
RELATED: Auburn rides huge first half from Thorne to 70-point victory in opener
Of Thorne’s four first-half touchdown passes, two of them went to the team’s highly-touted freshmen, Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson. In the second half, after Thorne had already exited, two more newcomers caught touchdowns: Malcolm Simmons, another freshman, and Sam Jackson, a transfer from California.
It’s hard to take a ton away from a 70-point beatdown against an FCS opponent in Week One — but the talent level on paper among the wide receiver cohort is significantly higher this season than it was in 2023.
Seeing some of that talent take the reigns and start to show why they were brought in right away has to be an encouraging sign for Auburn fans as the Tigers try to get things going on offense this season.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
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