Hugh Freeze admitted on September 27 to reporters that he has regrets about the way he and his coaching have treated the marquee Auburn football transfer portal addition of the offseason, ex-Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne.
“We had a good meeting Sunday night,” Freeze said on an SEC teleconference call (h/t On3). “I feel like there are things our staff has let him down on. Some of it is him and he knows that and owns it. I promised him we would do a better job coaching him this week and preparing him. When you say coaching him, it means also the other positions need to be in the right spot at the right time for him.
“He understands the game from a mental perspective and when the ball is snapped, he knows ‘This dig should be the throw’ and if it’s not the right time from the receiver, it throws him off. Obviously, that leads to sacks. We’ve got to do a better job of helping him with that. At the same time, when you have a wheel route that is wide open, you got to hit it. Or a seam route. He seemed distracted in the pocket so we worked on pocket presence a good bit this week.”
Payton Thorne’s perception has taken a hit with Auburn football fans after Texas A&M debacle
Accounting for the negative rushing yards from seven sacks, Thorne ended up with just 10 yards of total offense against Texas A&M in a 27-10 blowout; one predominantly led by Aggies backup QB Max Johnson after Connor Weigman’s first-half injury. Low points like that are not soon forgotten and in the wake of the uncompetitive SEC-opening rout, public perception of Thorne has suffered greatly.
Calls for Robby Ashford and even Holden Geriner have grown louder, but Freeze appears to be holding off on yanking the 2019 3-star Naperville, Illinois product ahead of the 2023 season’s Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry game with Georgia on September 30. With Thorne struggling on the road thus far, there’s hope that being back home on the Plains could bring out the best in him — since, to be fair, both of his down-games came on the road in California and Texas.
If Thorne doesn’t have the kind of rebound fans are hoping for, it appears as though Freeze will have his back anyway.