‘It’s wide open’: How is Hugh Freeze looking at Auburn’s QB position after Music City Bowl loss?
Just more than two weeks ago, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze gave Payton Thorne his stamp of confidence as he shot down a query about bringing in a transfer quarterback in the offseason.
“Truthfully, I don’t know if you know this, but we have one of the top returning quarterbacks in Power 5 with wins in Payton Thorne,” Freeze stated in a news conference on Dec. 16.
And coming into Saturday’s appearance in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, the fact that Auburn had its starting quarterback in Thorne, while Maryland was missing its starting quarterback in Taulia Tagovailoa, felt like a major advantage for the Tigers.
However, it proved everything but on Saturday as Auburn was hammered by Maryland in a 31-13 loss that saw the Tigers’ offense struggle to find any kind of spark behind Thorne, who went 13-for-27 through the air. Thorne tallied just 84 yards, a touchdown and an interception before being taken from the game in the third quarter as Auburn trailed Maryland by three scores.
Initially replacing Thorne was redshirt freshman Holden Geriner, who attempted six passes and completed just one of them before flinging an interception.
Come Auburn’s next possession, it was true freshman quarterback Hank Brown who trotted out onto the field.
After one short completion, Brown connected with Caleb Burton for a 53-yard pass play, setting up a 1-yard rushing touchdown for fellow freshman Jeremiah Cobb. Cobb’s basket trimmed Maryland’s lead to 31-13 with just under seven minutes to play.
And from that drive forward, it was Hank Brown who was under center, giving Auburn’s scout team quarterback an opportunity to play in his birthplace of Nashville.
“Hank has incredible poise. Everyday when he’s running the scout team and he has very little protection, he stands in there and makes throw after throw after throw,” Freeze said. “I think he has incredible poise for a freshman, for sure.”
Brown completed the game having gone 7-for-9 via the air, good for 132 yards — 40 yards more than both Thorne and Geriner combined.
“I think Hank has something to him for sure,” Freeze remarked. “You got a guy who threw 42 touchdowns and one pick in his senior year in high school, or something to that.”
Now the question is whether Thorne’s problems and Brown’s success on Saturday means anything for Auburn’s quarterback situation as Freeze and the Tigers move ahead to 2024.
Freeze’s answer to that issue was frank and was given with a completely different tone than the one he used when talking about Thorne weeks before.
“It’s wide open,” Freeze added. “I’m constantly evaluating players, staff, everything. And if we realize that my appraisal has been erroneous and we have to change gears and reevaluate to make us better then that’s the measures we should do. The quarterback position will be an interesting one, undoubtedly, in spring practice.”
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