Thorne's playing makes that goal more attainable. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, who has first-hand experience being upset by mid-major opponents late in the season, would like to see more from his team this week than just escaping with a win. Moving to ...

A big part of the team’s struggles has been quarterback play. QB Payton Thorne was benched and reinserted as the starter and has now been dealing with a shoulder injury. The QB suffered the injury against Vanderbilt, but recently told reporters that he probably could have played last week if necessary.

Consider Auburn football's Hugh Freeze tired of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.

"He thinks he’s going to be fine, but he was not ready to play yesterday, for sure," Hugh Freeze said of Thorne on Wednesday.