Struggling Auburn football transfer Payton Thorne “does not look confident” at this point in the season following three straight losses to Texas A&M, Georgia, and Texas A&M said Auburn Daily’s Lance Dawe — who believes the former Michigan State quarterback should be benched in favor of Holden Geriner.
“Geriner doesn’t look like a quarterback that lacks for confidence,” Dawe prefaced before saying, “He slung the ball around at the end of the A&M game and throws a beautiful ball. It would be nice to see that confidence put on the field, especially considering how the current rotation at QB looks. Thorne does not look confident in what he’s doing. That may be because of a lack of trust in his receivers, his line… whatever the case may be, he looks shaken at times.”
Thorne is on pace for by far his lowest yardage output as a starter at the Power Five level and has all but lost the narrative with Tiger fans. If it weren’t for the Samford game boosting his stats against an FCS defense, there wouldn’t be an uglier QB1 stat line across the country.
Auburn football two-quarterback system ‘here to stay’
For those hoping that Thorne would be yanked in favor of Geriner or Robby Ashford for the Ole Miss game, the cruel reality is that the two-quarterback system Hugh Freeze and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery are trying to force-feed Tiger fans is “here to stay.”
“It sounds like Freeze and Auburn offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery are continuing to stick to their guns as they enter the second half of the season,” The Auburn Observer’s Justin Ferguson prefaced before saying, “There could be tweaks to personnel at spots, such as wide receiver Caleb Burton III getting his first real playing time of the season against LSU last Saturday. (Freeze said Burton, who had two receptions, should be in line for more playing time after his great work in recent practices.) But the two-quarterback system looks like it’s here to stay.”
So for those hoping there’d be a major change under center with the prospect of dipping below .500 for the first time in the Freeze era, it sounds like you have to pray that improvement comes from what would have to have been an all-time week in practice for the offense ahead of Week 8.