What most Auburn fans remember most is Payton Thorne's pick-six in the fourth quarter of the Tigers' 27-21 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday.

Despite the final result of the game, Thorne defended his throwing decision on Tuesday.

“Honestly, if I had that play more than 10 times, I probably would have done the same thing 10 out of 10 times,” Thorne told The Next Round on Tuesday.

His comments sparked plenty of backlash on social media, but Thorne doubled down when he spoke to reporters before practice on Tuesday afternoon.

However, he acknowledged that his words might sound strange to viewers.

“That doesn’t make any sense, does it? Why the hell would you do that? I agree with that,” Thorne said. “When I look back on the play, I did what my plan was and what we had discussed.” About a week. And like I said, it’s just a tough situation and it stinks.”

When Thorne broke down the game, he attributed the interception to Oklahoma's Kip Lewis making an impressive play after receiving pressure.

Lewis stood in the A gap before the snap and attacked the offensive line before retreating and passing the ball.

“I look at the backer, I see him coming, going to find our preferred route, he wins inside, I throw it to him,” Thorne said. “They had a good call. “He did a good job of getting up there. He tackled our offensive lineman, showed me he was coming, and then got out.”

When Hugh Freeze reflected on the play after the game, he wasn't particularly critical of Thorne, but he did say he wished he had called a different play to avoid this situation entirely.

“I shouldn’t have put him in that position and given him that option,” Freeze said after the game.

Auburn had the ball on third and fourth with Oklahoma leading by five points. Had the Tigers come up short and stumbled, Oklahoma likely would have had to drive the length of the field to take the lead.

“You want to just throw that away or protect the sack and we hit it, but in hindsight again, let me just control it and let's run the ball and then hit it and see if we can play defense,” Freeze said on Monday.

Peter Rauterkus reports on Auburn Sports AL.com. You can follow him on X below @peter_rauterkus or send him an email at [email protected]M