It didn’t come against an opponent that excites anyone, but Auburn football put together its best performance in weeks by beating Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

The Tigers won the game 48-14, taking control early and dominating the way a Southeastern Conference team is expected to do against a Sun Belt opponent.

While it wasn’t a win that would change many minds or have a significant impact on Auburn’s season, it was one result Auburn hadn’t seen since Sept. 14: a home win.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Cam Coleman’s best game

Coming into Saturday’s game, Coleman’s season high in catches was five. By halftime against ULM, he had seven catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

There seemed to be an early emphasis on getting Coleman the ball, something Auburn hasn’t always done this season. It wasn’t just terrain trails.

Crossing routes, quick outs and goal line fades were some of the ways Coleman was used early, and ULM didn’t seem to have an answer for any of them. In the third quarter, he showed off his athleticism, making a one-handed catch on a jump ball in the end zone.

His three touchdown catches were also a season high and were more than his total for the season entering the game.

Obviously, ULM isn’t the strongest opponent, but Saturday could have been a preview of how effective Coleman can be in Auburn’s offense when he gets the ball consistently.

Payton Thorne played well through injury

There was a lot of speculation throughout the week as to whether or not Thorne would start after injuring his throwing shoulder against Vanderbilt. He didn’t practice during the bye week, and Hugh Freeze suggested the staff is debating a quarterback change and thinking about the “big picture.”

Despite the injury and those considerations, Thorne took the start on Saturday morning and looked his normal self. He threw three touchdown passes in the first half with no signs of being limited early.

He began to show signs of the injury slowing him down later in the game, clutching his shoulder after a throw on Auburn’s first drive of the second half. He stayed in the game for the remainder of the third quarter, however, and finished the game with a career-high 286 yards and five touchdowns.

Thorne’s day ended after the third quarter, allowing true freshman quarterback Walker White to make his debut to start the fourth quarter.

Offensive execution has been improved

Although it came against weak opposition, Auburn’s overall execution on offense looked better than it has in recent weeks.

Auburn converted eight of its first 10 third downs, and despite still losing the field position battle at times, the offense found a way out. The biggest example of that came on a 16-play, 99-yard drive that took 7:44 off the clock.

The offense consistently moved the ball well and it wasn’t just chunk plays. Auburn had touchdown drives of 16, 10 and eight plays (twice), showing the ability to sustain drives and score points.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow X at @peter_rauterkus or email them at [email protected]m