Thorne and McLeod star, Auburn clinches bowl eligibility in win over Arkansas

Everything went right for Auburn against Arkansas Saturday afternoon as the Tigers used big days from quarterback Payton Thorne and jack linebacker Jalen McLeod to defeat Arkansas 48-10. The win gave Auburn its sixth of the season to clinch bowl eligibility.

Thorne totaled 251 yards and four touchdowns while McLeod had the best game of his Auburn career statistically with nine tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks and one forced fumble. McLeod’s mark of three sacks was the first time a Tiger has recorded three or more sacks since Derick Hall did so against Alabama in 2021.

Thorne and Auburn took no time getting things started against the Razorbacks as a 45-yard pass from Thorne to wide receiver Caleb Burton III on the first drive previewed how the rest of the game would play out.

A few plays later, Thorne took the ball for himself and ran it into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown – trucking an Arkansas defender on his way in.

As Auburn’s defense took the field for the first time, it began an equally impressive start – forcing Arkansas into a three-and-out. The defense continued to shut down KJ Jefferson and the Arkansas offense as the Tigers surrendered just four first downs in the first half.

After the initial three-and-out, the Razorbacks punted, and Keionte Scott returned the punt 74 yards for a touchdown to record Auburn’s first punt return for a touchdown since Quan Bray against Louisiana Tech in 2014.

One three-and-out later from Arkansas, Thorne went to work again through the air by hitting Ja’Varrius Johnson on a 27-yard completion, and then connecting with tight end Rivaldo Fairweather, who made a one-handed grab, for an 11-yard touchdown.

By the end of the first quarter, Auburn had 169 total yards and eight first downs compared to Arkansas’ 24 yards and zero first downs to take a 21-3 lead.

Auburn’s offense cooled down in the second quarter as it didn’t score a touchdown, but the defense made up for it – holding Arkansas scoreless and forcing a turnover. The forced turnover came right before the first half ended as McLeod sacked Jefferson – jarring the ball loose which resulted in a fumble recovery from Marcus Harris and the 19th consecutive game in which Auburn has forced a turnover.

The fumble recovery set Auburn up in the red zone where Alex McPherson tacked on a field goal as the half expired for his second made field goal of the night. The redshirt freshman has already written his name in the Auburn history books as the make marked 17 consecutive made field goals – the most in Auburn history. 

Already holding a 24-point lead at halftime, Freeze and the Tigers kept their foot on the gas in the second half to put the game away for good and record their seventh win over the last eight meetings against Arkansas.

Thorne and Jarquez Hunter used their legs to move Auburn down the field on the first Auburn drive of the third quarter, and Thorne connected with Johnson again to cap the drive with a touchdown. Hunter eclipsed over 100 yards rushing for the third straight game with 109 yards on 6.9 yards per carry to bring his season total to 745 yards.

Auburn continued to pile on points when safety Caleb Wooden recovered a fumble forced by fellow safety Zion Puckett and returned it to the 11 where Thorne found Fairweather again for another touchdown. Running back Brian Battie also put a touchdown on the stat sheet with a 7-yard rushing touchdown at the end of the third quarter – his first in an Auburn uniform.

As Auburn now sits at six wins, it’ll play in a bowl game for the first time since 2021 and looks for its first postseason win since a 2018 victory in the Music City Bowl.

Next, Auburn brings its three-game winning streak back to Jordan-Hare Stadium for a matchup against 8-3 New Mexico State. The Aggies are riding a six-game winning streak of their own and defeated Western Kentucky on Saturday to clinch a spot in the Conference USA Championship.The game will kick off at 3 p.m. CST and be televised on SEC Network.