Auburn Tigers News: Hugh Freeze on the quarterback performances against ULM
In today's edition of Auburn Tigers News, head coach Hugh Freeze discusses the performances of Payton Thorne and Walker White in Saturday's matchup
The Auburn football team added another win to their record on Saturday against the University of Louisiana Monroe. Coming off the second and final bye week of the season, there were questions surrounding the quarterback situation heading into the game after it was reported that Payton Thorne missed a significant amount of practice due to a shoulder injury.
Despite the injury, Thorne was the starter on Saturday, and played one of his best games of the season, throwing for five touchdowns. Freeze stood by his decision that Thorne was the most prepared QB to start the game.
"(Thorne) was locked in during the meetings," Freeze said, per Auburn Undercover. "And I think, again, the plan was one where he and the receivers were more in sync. We'll look at the film, and there's four pass plays (against ULM) that I know he's going to wish he would have done something different. He could have thrown for a higher percentage today. But he prepared well and was locked in the whole time. He felt like he would play Tuesday, just anything beyond 10 yards really bothered him, so we just didn't throw him a lot."
But by the fourth quarter, the Tigers were up, and it was clear that the game was a lock, so Thorne was replaced with true freshman Walker White. The young QB completed two of five passes for 18 yards and carried for an additional 18 yards in his debut. Freeze said that the decision to play White was not a reflection of Hank Brown.
"Yeah, that was a tough discussion — well, not tough," Freeze admitted, per Auburn Undercover. "You don't know exactly what's right. It truthfully has no reflection on Hank at all. I know people won't understand that, and they can make what they want. But I'm dead serious. It was really, if we do that, do you go Hank at the beginning of the third, or do you continue to build confidence with the receivers and Payton with a couple more possessions heading into the last few games, knowing that you might only get one of them in?
"And, if it is one, which one? And we all kind of agreed, and it was ultimately my call. I thought I wanted to see Walker in some live reps before the season was over. Truthfully, it had nothing to do with Hank not preparing well or not playing well. You just can't get them all in. Just really wanted to see Walker in some live reps."
It's almost certain that Thorne will start next weekend when the Tigers play Texas A&M in their final home game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.