Changing Quarterback Slippery Slope for Hugh Freeze, Auburn Tigers

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze has left the possibility open for a quarterback change after another poor outing from Payton Thorne.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne threw four interceptions in a 21-14 loss to Cal. / Photo by Zach Bland, Auburn Tigers

It's not that putting up 73 points should ever be totally dismissed, but you always knew that if Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne were to subsequently struggle, the vultures would quickly descend.

Thorne struggled in his first season at Auburn, but head coach Hugh Freeze backed the fifth-year senior in the offseason and reshaped the wide receiver room. After a four-interception performance against Cal, where Thorne looked tentative in the pocket and carefree with the ball, questions about his viability of as a starter resurfaced.

Pressure comes very much with the territory when you start under center for the Auburn Tigers, and now head coach Hugh Freeze has pretty much admitted Thorne's spot is legitimately under threat.

"It's really hard not to play a young man, whether it's Payton or whoever else it is," Freeze said earlier this week to reporters. "It's really hard for me to not play a young man who's consistently the best performer in practice over and over again.

"Having said that, you have to carry that over into the games. You have to. ... If that continues , we have to go in a different direction."

Freeze has laid the lumber as such. Thorne has to pick things up in real conditions, or else the mighty short leash he's running will be unceremoniously reeled back in.

All of which would lead to Freeze handing the keys to an offense he spent so much time trying to make work with Thorne to his backup, Hank Brown.

Winless New Mexico rolls into the Plains this Saturday, and the prevailing thinking suddenly might be that it offers a golden opportunity to get Brown up to speed. When you pause for a breath, even the most battle-scarred Tigers fan must be considering if it's time to jump off this crazy rollercoaster ride.

"Could it? Yes," Freeze dropped a quarterback controversy atom bomb on reporters yesterday. "Do I think I want to see how the week goes before I really decide that? Yes. I want to see how the week goes and see how everybody responds to what is on the tape.

"We talk about it all the time, the integrity of your life, and tape is not always fun. I've experienced that. Everybody's experienced that. We have to experience it in a public eye, and you have to own what that is. You have to make the necessary changes. Sometimes there's consequences that come with it, and we certainly experienced those Saturday."

In all honesty, it's not particularly hard to make Thorne the fall guy for the massively deflating defeat against the underdog Cal Bears - four picks wrote that check for himself.

Patience has seemingly worn thin already with the Auburn starter after a lackluster 2023 that saw him throw for just 135-yards-per-game, 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, but switching starters mid-stream is notoriously hard on head coaches, and Freeze fundamentally knows that deep down.

In truth, the other very viable option is to ride out the tornado of criticism and hope Thorne finds his feet once again within the offensive gameplan.

After all, the offense might be working things out minus exciting receiving threat Cam Coleman, so does the experience Thorne still brings to the table suddenly count for more in just such a scenario?

All actions have consequences. Indeed, it's starting to look like a tangled web Freeze is currently weaving, so he best be careful he doesn't get caught up in its carnivorous trap.