AUBURN, AL (EETV)- Following Saturday’s devastating 27-21 loss to Oklahoma, in which Auburn led 21-10 in the fourth quarter, players spoke to the media about Thorne, the locker room, and their plans looking onward to the Georgia game.
The most anticipated insight for many fans was what QB Payton Thorne’s comments would be after such a gut-wrenching turn of events– understandably, he didn’t say much, but he believes that “this one’s over tonight, just like if we would’ve won [against Oklahoma] and it’s on to Georgia next week.”
Star RB Jarquez Hunter stated that he felt “like we were beating them the whole game… just little mistakes we made that we have to clean up.” Hunter also shed insight on the gameplan the Tigers had coming into the matchup, stating “the gameplan was always to run the ball,” something not entirely evident in Auburn’s playcalling, as they ended up running the ball under 58% of the time.
Additionally, Hunter shared his thoughts on Thorne, saying “Mistakes happen and you have to let it go and move forward.”
Eugene Asante took responsibility for “[his] job as a leader on the team… it falls on me... I’m not doing a good enough job… I need to inspire our guys in big moments and get us to play better on Saturday [against Georgia].”
Buck Jalen McLeod’s statements reflected what almost appeared as desperation, as most of his recorded comments after the game were some variation of “we have to find a way to win… we have to win… we have to win now.”
A main concern of many fans is how the team will be able to gain momentum following such a tough loss, especially heading into Athens to face such a juggernaut as Georgia. DE Keldric Faulk addressed this concern in his interview, expressing he believes “[Georgia] put us as their homecoming game, so that’s enough motivation as is… we’re going to create our own momentum throughout the week, and come Saturday, they’re going to get everything we have.”
Auburn looks to manufacture some forward momentum and shock the world on Saturday at 2:30 P.M. CT as they enter their first road game in Athens.
