There’s no positive way to spin it.

Auburn’s got a quarterback problem with no simple solution in sight.

The struggles were right there for everybody to see Saturday at Kyle Field as three Tiger quarterbacks combined to complete just 9 of 23 passes for 56 yards in a 27-10 loss at Texas A&M.

"We had people open. And we either missed them, or the pressure distracted us,” said AU coach Hugh Freeze. “I've gotta watch the film and see exactly what was going on to cause that. But we certainly missed a few opportunities in the passing game.”

Auburn missed more than a few.

Staring quarterback Payton Thorne was 6 of 12 for 44 yards and was sacked five times. He appeared to hold the ball too long on at least a couple of those sacks.

Thorne also missed a likely touchdown pass to Jay Fair when he overthrew him by a good 10 yards in the first half.

"We just weren't efficient at all in throwing the ball to open receivers when we had them, for whatever reason,” said Freeze. “It could've been pressure. We'll have to look at all of it to see. We certainly were struggling with that aspect of the game that resulted in a lot of negative plays."

Backup Robby Ashford, who came in the second series of the third quarter, was 1 of 4 for 4 yards and sacked once. He added 25 yards rushing on eight carries.

Third-stringer Holden Geriner came in for the final series and was 2 of 7 for 8 yards and sacked once.

The Tigers came into the game 12th in the SEC averaging 212.3 passing yards per game, which fell to 173.3 yards per game after totaling just 56 against the Aggies.

It won’t get any easier next week against No. 1 Georgia which leads the SEC allowing just 8.0 points per game going into Saturday.

“Offensively, we're searching. And we've gotta find some answers,” said Freeze.

Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.