Thorne on Auburn’s team: Hugh Freeze’s reluctance to be aggressive at QB is holding back Tigers’ progress

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said he can’t bring himself to spend big money on a transfer portal quarterback this offseason.

After watching Payton Thorne throw four interceptions in a 21-14 loss to Cal at Jordan-Hare Stadium, maybe they should have!

Rather than upgrade the position that held Auburn back during Freeze’s 6-7 first season on the Plains, Freeze preferred to surround Thorne with a better supporting cast, reportedly citing the $1 million cost of adding a transfer QB in the (misguided) belief that it would improve his game. That meant moving entirely at the receiver position, bringing in 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.

Everything looked great in the 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 were plenty of positives in Week 2.

Even Nick Saban, who long tormented the Tigers while guiding them past in-state rival Alabama, heaped praise on them on “College GameDay” before Saturday’s game. Saban predicted that Auburn, a 13.5-point favorite, would dominate Cal at home on Saturday afternoon. His colleague, Kirk Herbstreit, was similarly bullish on Auburn, predicting they would have a great year with the improved Thorne.

“I think (Auburn coach) Hugh Freeze will do a great job,” Saban said. “I think they’re going to be one of the best teams in the SEC.”

Saban made a mistake in predicting the game — look, Nick, the media prediction game isn’t as easy as it looks — but he astutely pointed out that “the biggest thing at Auburn is Payton Thorne, who probably didn’t have much confidence in his receivers last year.”

This year, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the situation reverses. Saturday made it clear that Throne is holding Auburn’s offense back this season. A porous Auburn offensive line that led with three sacks didn’t help the situation, but Throne’s decision-making and accuracy remain the major hindrances. Aside from how awful the interceptions were, Thorne had plenty of moments like missing a wide open throw by Lambert-Smith that could have been a touchdown throw or screwing up a snap that led to a 10-second runoff and a 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 adept at beating better FCS opponents. But in his 15 Auburn games against FBS teams, he has averaged 126 passing yards per game and thrown a total of 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Before the season, Freeze recalled Thorne’s time at Michigan State to explain his confidence. Freeze believed that with him taking back play-calling duties and improved receiving talent, Thorne at Auburn would more closely resemble the player who led Michigan State to an 11-2 record in 2021.

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

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

When he looks back on the 2024 season, he’ll wish he had adjusted faster.

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

Can you imagine Miami quarterback Cam Ward throwing the ball down the field to Lambert-Smith and Coleman? Or letting Will Howard execute the Freeze offense? Or even taking a chance on someone like Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord, who has looked fresh at Syracuse, or Baylor transfer Blake Shappen, who looks like a good fit in Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State offense. All of these guys were available in the transfer portal, along with other big names like Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and Duke’s Malik Murphy.

There’s no guarantee Auburn would be noticeably better with some of those options, but at least it would seem like Freeze is taking the issue seriously. Bringing Thorne back for upcoming games against No. 15 Oklahoma (Sept. 28), No. 1 Georgia (Oct. 5) and No. 9 Missouri (Oct. 19) seems like the definition of insanity.

Freeze has certainly upgraded the level of offensive talent, but it is now clear that Thorne is not the man to make the best use of it. Perhaps young quarterbacks Holden Geriner, Hank Brown or Walker White will get a chance this season and show their ability to elevate the offensive talent.

However, Freeze can’t afford to repeat the same mistake he made last offseason ahead of an extremely important Year 3. The talent is there and having a viable, high-level starter at the quarterback position is a must.

Saturday’s home loss to California showed just how dire the consequences could be if he doesn’t do so.