Auburn’s Hugh Freeze defends QB Payton Thorne but promises a ‘different direction’ without improvement

Payton Thorne’s four interceptions against Cal in a Week 2 loss have ignited a quarterback discourse on the Plains, but for now, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze will ride with the veteran second-year starter by way of Michigan State because of what happens during the week — despite a brutal showing on Saturday. 

But it also doesn’t appear Freeze will ride with Thorne forever if things don’t change. 

Speaking Monday, Freeze said “It’s really hard to not play a young man, whether it’s Payton or whoever else it is. It’s really hard for me to not play a young man who’s consistently the best performer in practice over and over and over again.

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

The issue is of Freeze’s own making. Rather than upgrade a position that clearly held Auburn back during Freeze’s 6-7 first season on the Plains, Freeze, citing an alleged $1 million cost to adding a transfer QB, preferred to surround Thorne with a better supporting cast in the (misguided) belief it’d elevate his play. That meant going all-in at the receiver position, landing Penn State transfer Keandre Lambert-Smith, five-star Cam Coleman and top-40 receiver recruit Perry Thompson to give Thorne plenty of weapons to work with this season.

It all looked great in an easy 73-3 Week 1 win over Alabama A&M. Thorne threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns, the new receivers all looked great and there was lots of positivity rolling into Week 2. 

Even Nick Saban, long a tormentor of the Tigers while guiding in-state rival Alabama, had plenty of praise Saturday on “College GameDay” ahead of the game. Saban predicted Auburn, a 13.5-point favorite, would dominate Cal at home Saturday afternoon. His colleague, Kirk Herbstreit, was similarly bullish on Auburn, predicting they’d have a great year with an improved Thorne. 

“I think (Auburn coach) Hugh Freeze is going to do an outstanding job,” Saban said. “I think they are going to be one of the most improved teams in the SEC.”

Saban botched the game prediction — see, Nick, the media prediction game isn’t as easy as it looks — but smartly pointed out that “the big thing here at Auburn is Payton Thorne, who last year probably didn’t have a lot of confidence in his receivers.”

This year, it feels only a matter of time before that situation is reversed. It was obvious Saturday that Throne is holding Auburn’s offense back this season. A porous Auburn offensive line that led to three sacks didn’t help the situation, but Throne’s decision-making and accuracy continue to be major hindrances. Even beyond how awful the interceptions were, Thorne had far too many moments like missing a wide-open Lambert-Smith on what could have been a touchdown throw, or botching a snap that led to a 10-second runoff and loss of downs late in the first half when the Tigers were trying to add a quick score. 

Thorne, who deserves credit for being a tough, hard-nosed quarterback, is great at beating up on overmatched FCS opponents. But in his 15 Auburn games against FBS teams, he averages a pitiful 126 yards passing per game and has thrown a total of 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. 

Before the season, Freeze fell back on Thorne’s time at Michigan State to explain his confidence in him. Freeze believed with him taking back over play-calling duties plus better receiving talent, the Thorne in Auburn would more closely resemble the one who guided Michigan State to an 11-2 record in 2021. 

“I’ve seen it on film” Freeze said at SEC Media Days. “I think he was really, really solid in another Power Five conference. He’s proven he can use his feet to move the chains when we need him to.”

2021 is a lifetime ago, though, in college football with how much the game has changed. Freeze claimed he’s “probably not the greatest portal recruiter that there is” and that he was still trying to adjust to grabbing a ready-made starter out of the portal versus developing his own guys. 

When he looks back on this 2024 season, he’s going to wish he adjusted faster.

Freeze should have been more aggressive in pursuing a quarterback out of the transfer portal, even if the price tag was lofty. Multiple NIL industry sources have claimed Auburn’s On To Victory collective has plenty of resources to work with — among the highest in the SEC — so it wasn’t as if the money wasn’t available to take a big swing.

Can you imagine Miami quarterback Cam Ward throwing to Lambert-Smith and Coleman downfield? Or having Will Howard execute the Freeze offense? Or even taking a chance on someone like Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord, who looks rejuvenated in Syracuse, or Baylor transfer Blake Shapen, who appears to be a good fit in Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State offense. All of them were available in the transfer portal plus other big names like Oregon‘s Dillon Gabriel, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and Duke‘s Maalik Murphy. 

There’s no guarantee that Auburn would be markedly better with some of those options, but it’d at least feel like Freeze was taking the problem seriously. Rolling Thorne back out there in upcoming games against No. 15 Oklahoma (Sept. 28), No. 1 Georgia (Oct. 5) and No. 9 Missouri (Oct. 19) feels like the definition of insanity. 

Ahead of an ultra-important Year 3, though, Freeze can’t make the same mistake he made this last offseason. The talent is there and it’s imperative to have a viable, high-level starter at the quarterback position.

Freeze has absolutely upgraded the level of offensive talent, but it’s obvious now that Thorne isn’t the person to best harness it. Perhaps young quarterback Holden Geriner, Hank Brown or Walker White will get a shot this season and show promise in elevating the offense. 

Saturday’s home loss to Cal showed the disastrous ramifications if he doesn’t.