Cal is a test Payton Thorne has to pass with competition in Auburn football QB room

Payton Thorne was part of the most explosive Auburn football offensive performance of the Hugh Freeze era, tossing four touchdowns and punching it in from four yards out, as QB1 against Alabama A&M.

Alabama A&M got paid $525,000 for the honor of being the 3 in a 73-3 brutal beat for those betting against the Tigers.

DJ Durkin had his defensive front unrelenting for the full 60 minutes, and during the half that most resembled a Division I football game and not a Bishop Sycamore matchup, there were 10 tackles for a loss, two of them sacks.

Freeze and Derrick Nix had Thorne calling his own number for a 13.2-yard average, Jarquez Hunter naturally dominating with 53 yards on four carries and a touchdown. and three receivers making their debut, Malcolm Simmons, Perry Thompson, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, going for 80+ yards and a touchdown; Simmons' coming from a blocked punt ricocheting up in the air with enough hang time to reach the top of a several-story building. It felt like a receiving touchdown given the awareness it took to catch it.

Again, though, this was a middle-of-the-road SWAC squad. The competition ratchets up in Week 2 with a clash against Cal in the second year of a home-and-home series.

Those receivers are making those catches and outrunning most of the competition. But Thorne was far from perfect and heard from Hugh Freeze about it.

"The thing is, he knows better," Freeze said postgame (h/t Opelika-Auburn New's Adam Cole). "I've got to get him to where those don't happen."

Payton Thorne needs to pass Cal test with Hank Brown behind him in Auburn football QB room

Behind Thorne in the QB room is another guy who was easily tossing touchdowns against the Bulldogs: redshirt freshman Hank Brown.

Twice now, Brown has stepped into blowouts and effortlessly put on a show. It was 7/9 passing in a spectacular debut in his home city to make the day of any Tiger fan who stuck around Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the disappointing Music City Bowl blowout (31-13) at Maryland's hand. Against Alabama A&M, it was two touchdown passes in five attempts.

Of course, Thorne is facing fresher legs and first-teamers most of the time. But if Thorne is not getting the job done against the Golden Bears -- with Thorne's current and high school teammate Sam Jackson V being familiar with first-year offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch playing for Cal in 2023 to boot -- Brown is right there for fans to clamor for.