5 key plays in Auburn’s win over Samford
Five key plays from the return to Jordan-Hare Stadium against Samford. These five plays were the most important in Auburn’s victory against Samford, and moving forward.
The slot fade is dangerous
This was the play that finally got things going down field. Before this one, everything had been kept at bay in the passing game by Samford. Auburn was trying out the RPO game and throwing the quick outs and hitches.
Then, Philip Montgomery went to his play sheet labeled, “things that have worked” (not really), and pulled out the slot fade again. Payton Thorne has hit this play at least once in all three games. At least twice, it went to Jay Fair.
This play is very simple. Fair has a safety playing over him with soft man coverage. Fair has to press him first, meaning running right at him to hold him in place. Then he subtly fades toward the sideline while the outside receiver hitches up, holding the corner down. Thorne then throws a perfectly placed ball over the outside shoulder.
Pump-fake Payton
Auburn catches Samford in a 2-high safety look on this play. The corner does not drop at the snap, meaning this is some kind of cover 2 coverage. Therefore, the safety is the going to cover the corner of the end zone where Shane Hooks is running a go route.
Firstly, the play action holds the defense for at least a split second. Then, Thorne pump fakes to the out route from the slot. This makes the safety step down. At that point, the damage is done, and a well-placed ball is needed for 6. Thorne, once again, places the ball perfectly.
This play was important as it was the first score of the game, but it was yet another rhythm throw for Thorne who relies on rhythm throws. Pass protection is excellent here as well. After this, the flood gates began to open.
Welcome to the party, pal
Auburn’s defense is consistently creating turnovers. The Tigers, though, have shown to be thin in certain areas on the defense. Especially at corner. Freshman Kayin Lee has played nearly every snap alongside veteran DJ James in the absence of Nehemiah Pritchett.
Lee has been good, but in order to feel more comfortable going into SEC play, the Tigers needed at least one more corner to step up and prove to be reliable. Welcome to the party, JD Rhym.
Rhym lines up as the slot corner here. He is playing off coverage over the slot. Samford runs a switch route, then a double move. It was all designed to get behind Rhym. It did not work. Rhym avoids the rub with the switch route, then is not shaken by the double move. The result is yet another pick for the defense.
Welome to the turnover party and to the rotation, JD Rhym.
Thorne is running
If you go back and watch Payton Thorne while at Michigan State, you will see that he had the ability to scramble. There were never any designed runs for him, but he used his legs when needed.
This play was not a designed run, but rather, a mesh concept. Auburn scored on the mesh concept in the Cal game with Jay Fair. Auburn gave Thorne a chance to find a receiver in a spot with the mesh. Camden Brown flashes open for a quick second, but Thorne is not comfortable going to it. That is fine, but only if you can make something else happen. He did.
I knew he was a capable runner, I did not know he could make someone miss like this. Missing an open receiver in a tight window is not a bad play if you can correct it. I think this is a situation where either of the two options would have been the right call. Good play and a big momentum stealer in the game.
Thorne is still running
Earlier in the game, Thorne was given an RPO with a GT Counter play. He didn’t like his route after pulling the ball, so he just turned into the running back and followed the counter blocking.
So, Montgomery felt as though he’d handle a designed counter play well. Good call. More than anything here, Thorne proved he can out run defenders as well as even Ashford could. There is a package within a package for Thorne it seems.
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