Iron Bowl is the last chance for the odd couple Payton Thorne and Hugh Freeze

In any obviously failed relationship, the cracks become fractures unless you somehow fill them up.

So, in short, you have the less-than-harmonious partnership between quarterback Payton Thorne and head coach Hugh Freeze on the 2024 Auburn Tigers.

Thorne was yelled at, heavily criticized, undermined and briefly benched in his final year of eligibility, but somehow he still starts under center in the Iron Bowl later on.

Obviously, in the brutal landscape of college football, pure perseverance matters. Even Freeze is a little thawed when talking about his quarterback.

“Most of our conversations – obviously there’s going to be a lot of talking in the meetings and stuff – but most of it was just about the mental hardship that he and I had to endure together to get through a lot of these things.” That’s what Freeze said this week upon media availability.

“He could have gone in many different directions and it is a credit to him, his nature, his determination and mental strength that he didn’t let other people define him and kept going to work, getting better and improving and others around him helped around.” So most of our conversations were just about that.”

The home loss to Cal was, so to speak, the highlight between Thorne and his head coach. Thorne’s sputtering, turnover-filled performance left everyone scratching their heads as to why Freeze wasn’t aggressively pursuing another quarterback in the transfer portal.

However, in the last two games, the former Michigan State player has rushed for nearly 500 yards and seven touchdowns against just one pick, and of course there was the gutsy overtime win against Texas A&M.

“I mean, he’s played really well in a lot of games since the Cal game, and he just wasn’t getting the results for one reason or another,” Freeze pointed out. “But his play was pretty consistent.”

As Cam Coleman continued his rapid development as a freshman wide receiver, we’ve seen Thorne’s performances improve as well, and of course KeAndre Lambert-Smith has consistently played at an All-SEC level since arriving from Penn State.

Despite everything Thorne has been through, he may just be laying the tangible foundation for future success, and he’s definitely determined to break through.

“Our last regular season game here, give us a chance to make a bowl,” Thorne said this week. “That would be a great way to end the year. And so it would mean a lot to me, something that you can look back on years later and say you won that rivalry game.”

Winning the Iron Bowl would certainly mean a very different ending for Thorne and Freeze, but we would be remiss if we simply forgave and forgotten how the odd couple routine simply failed.