Since the transfer portal commitment of Payton Thorne, the Auburn football program under Hugh Freeze has seen a wave of optimism from analysts due to the near erasure of the unsuccessful elements of the previous regime. Gone is TJ Finley, a relic of a failed era, and into the mix is a quarterback who nearly propelled Michigan State to the College Football Playoff in 2021.
The Freeze appreciation has led the way to a renewed focus on the failures Bryan Harsin faced as the head man on the Plains for 21 games — a run that saw the Tigers go 9-12 in 2021 and through October 2022. OutKick’s Grayson Weir called Harsin a “disaster,” and while Paul Finebaum was far less condemning in his assessment of the Boise native’s time on the Plains, he still referred to his Tigers tenure as a “malaise” on the May 8 edition of “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning.”
“It’s a great time for Auburn,” Finebaum prefaced before saying, “Finally, the malaise of the (Bryan) Harsin era has ended.”
Auburn football fans should be ‘jumping for joy’ after Payton Thorne commitment
For the first time since the beginning of the Bo Nix era, there is excitement about who Auburn football has under center for the Tigers. After Nix’s tenure turned sour in 2020 and an injury cut short his comeback season in 2021, the quarterback position was a complete question mark in 2022. Robby Ashford did his best given the circumstances — with those circumstances primarily surrounding his inexperience and Harsin’s (and Gus Malzahn’s) under-recruiting of the offensive trenches — but even he wasn’t the tabbed starter at the beginning of the season.
Now, Thorne is someone who inspires confidence given his track record. Finebaum believes fans shouldn’t just be confident, but also “jumping for joy.”
“I think Auburn fans should be jumping for joy today,” Finebaum said of Thorne’s commitment. “The quarterback pickup, what was the downside? You can quibble about Michigan State’s production, quibble about anything, but at the worst, he’s an alternative, and at the best, he’s your starter and has a lot of experience.”
Auburn’s new coaching staff has improved the QB position, improved the offensive line, added talent in the receiving corps, and replaced the Tigers’ departed NFL talent in the defensive trenches. That’s why fans have been jumping for joy since Freeze showed he’s on the Plains to do the work and resurrect a sleeping giant in college football.