AUBURN | Earlier this season, Hugh Freeze was worried about being too tough on Payton Thorne after Auburn’s quarterback made a mistake during a game.

Now, the Tigers’ first-year coach just cuts it loose on the sidelines.

“Quarterbacks, they better have that. He does have it, and he's able to handle me, lets me rant a little bit without it destroying him,” said Freeze. “I've got to be careful with that with some, but all the good ones I've had, I've told them, 'This is what's going to happen,' and he's mature enough to handle it. We can move on.

“I think it's obviously glaring when he's made a mistake at quarterback. But one of the reasons I think he handles it is because, the few mistakes he's made, he knows better. I guess that's why it upsets me sometimes. But man, he's a no-excuse guy, play the next play. It shows.”

Thorne has a couple of things going for him when it comes to handling a little tough love from his coach. He’s a veteran with 35 college starts at Michigan State and Auburn. He’s also the son of a high school and college football coach so he’s grown up within the game.

“When you throw a pick and you didn’t see the guy at any point, you can be pissed off about it. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ve got to move on to the next thing and learn from it,” said Thorne.

Moving on to the next play is important in any sport. In football, it’s especially important at quarterback and defensive back. When nickel Keionte Scott gives up a reception or misses a tackle, he’s got to be right back at it on the next play or the offense could take advantage.

Scott has seen that same mentality in Thorne after he makes a mistake.

"I don’t even have to mention it to him,” said Scott. “He is definitely a quarterback that I’ve seen that gets confidence throughout the year. So now the look is kinda different in his eyes. He already know where he went wrong at, so just seeing him be able to self assess and make the changes when he already knows where he took the wrong step and just be able to get back on the path is something.

“It’s good to see as a defensive player when the offense comes off after a turnover or a three-and-out or something like that. Just seeing him being able to sit down with the receivers and stuff like that. It’s just good to see a quarterback do.”

Auburn, 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the SEC, hosts New Mexico State this Saturday. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.