Hugh Freeze explains decision to name Payton Thorne as Auburn starting quarterback
Auburn’s quarterback competition is over with Payton Thorne taking the starting job with the Tigers. Even so, Hugh Freeze wants everyone to know just how much went into this decision down on The Plains.
Freeze explained his choice in Thorne during a press conference on Thursday. He said as far as timing that his trust in all three contenders is still present but that, at this point, his gut told him that it was time to make a call.
“I believe in all three of those guys. There are days where there has been very little separation,” said Freeze. “I just believe, man, my gut is usually right and usually when I follow my gut? And I’m not saying my gut is right that Payton is the guy for all 12 games. But my gut is saying it’s the time to do this, to get us best prepared for the opening of the season.”
However, to get to Thorne individually, Freeze believes he’s the furthest along with the offense and from a leadership standpoint. He also has the pro of having more significant experience after transferring in from Michigan State than either Robby Ashford or Holden Geriner.
“To this point, I think the separation? The reason Payton is getting the nod is just the leadership ability and the understanding of the offense,” said Freeze. “He’s been in some really good battles. It just seems like he was more efficient in the decision-making to this point. Not that the others were terrible by any means. It was not just a slam dunk.”
Over the past two seasons as the Spartan’s starter, Thorne has completed 61.5% of his passes for over 5,900 yards and 46 touchdowns. His 25 games as the starting quarterback in those pair of campaigns are more than Ashford or Grenier have appeared in combined as college football players.
Freeze felt as though the time had come to have a starter named in order to best prep for kickoff against UMass in just over two weeks. That played in Thorne’s favor as the leader in the battle has officially won the nod, at least for now, down at Auburn.
Freeze updates injury status of multiple Auburn players
When it comes to football, injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. For the Auburn Tigers, the injuries have racked up for them at fall camp. Recently, head coach Hugh Freeze went down the list of players dinged up for the Tigers currently and revealed which ones he believes could linger longer than anticipated.
“I did want to go through the injuries, and Steiner’s been limited all of camp with a hamstring. Koy Moore has had an ankle; hadn’t been able to go,” said Freeze. “Cam? He had just a string of bad luck and really hadn’t practiced since I’ve been here, truthfully, in spring or in camp. And we sure do need him to get healthy.
“Var (Ja’Varrius Johnson) just had an incident in practice where he had to have some stitches in his mouth. And it’s just very uncomfortable right now to wear a chin strap down in his gum. He’ll be fine. Malcolm Johnson is dealing with a shoulder, and Austin Keys‘s dealing with a shoulder. I don’t think either one of them are significant. But those are the guys that have been either limited or hadn’t been able to go.”