Hugh Freeze was cautious when answering questions about the starting quarterback job on Monday, but when asked point blank if a change was possible, he didn’t rule it out.
“Could it? Yes,” Freeze said when asked if the starter could change before Saturday.
He followed that up by saying he wanted to see how the week goes before making a final decision.
After Saturday’s loss to Cal, questions undoubtedly arose about the future at quarterback after starter Payton Thorne threw four interceptions.
When initially asked about a potential change, Freeze said that it’s “really hard for me to not play a young man that consistently is the best performer in practice.” Despite that, he mentioned that the good play has to translate to games.
“If that continues, we have to go another direction,” Freeze said of Thorne’s performance against Cal.
Saturday wasn’t Thorne’s first poor performance for Auburn either since joining the program and becoming the starter at the beginning of last season.
Thorne threw for under 2,000 yards in 2023, and in 10 games against Power 4 opponents, only threw for 100 or more yards in five of them. Freeze stuck with Thorne going into the 2024 season, electing not to sign a quarterback out of the transfer portal and deciding against giving a chance to Hank Brown, Holder Geriner or true freshman Walker White.
Freeze said that poor performances like Saturday start with the coaching staff, but also credited the play calling, despite the offense’s struggles.
“There were some really good calls made in that game. And we had people running wide open,” Freeze said. “Payton missed three of those that I think changed the game in the first half.”
Now, after another poor performance from Thorne and an unexpected Week 2 loss, the chance may be coming for Brown.
“Hank will definitely get his share of reps this week, for sure,” Freeze said Monday.
Brown, a redshirt freshman, hasn’t seen much game action since arriving on campus before last season.
His only gametime last season came in Auburn’s Music City Bowl loss to Maryland where he was 7-of-9 passing for 132 yards. He saw action late in Auburn’s 73-3 season-opening win against Alabama A&M, throwing two touchdown passes on 3-of-5 passing for 96 yards.
Brown has played well in each in-game opportunity he’s had. While he hasn’t been faced with any high-pressure situations yet, there’s reason to be optimistic about the redshirt freshman’s ability.
The rest of the week will tell whether or not a change is made immediately, but Freeze has made it clear that Thorne’s in-game performance has to matter, and performances like Saturday’s may force his hand.
“It’s now at a point where it can’t just be the execution in practice that matters,” Freeze said. “We’re going to have to have that carry over into the game, which I have seen evidence of. But you also had some of these that just make you scratch your head and say, ‘What are we doing?’”
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m
