ESPN analysts must want to see Auburn football lose, support unpopular Hugh Freeze decision

It's one thing for Roman Harper to want Payton Thorne to continue being Hugh Freeze's choice for Auburn football QB1. After all, Harper was a member of the Dennis Franchione/Mike Shula-coached Alabama Crimson Tide.

But Cole Cubelic not thinking there's a possibility that any other option could potentially be deserving of a serious look? That's tough to comprehend.

The SEC Network hosts shared with Paul Finebaum on the September 9 edition of The Paul Finebaum Show their shared belief that Thorne is still the best option under center.

“You bring back Payton Thorne, you expect him to be better,” Harper prefaced before saying, “You don’t expect him to go out and still have four interceptions. Whenever four interceptions show up, people are going to blame there first. It wasn’t all the way his fault. Actually, I thought Cal’s quarterback (Fernando Mendoza) just out-dueled him, at the end of the day.”

“I struggle to understand why people think coaches in this league, with this much money on the line and their reputation at this level on the line, go to practice every day and see another player that’s better and get to games and say ‘You know what? Nah. Put my guy back in there. Let’s throw more picks,'” Cubelic said.

Hugh Freeze is being shielded from just criticism for Auburn football coaching mistakes

Freeze has yet to get Auburn to the NIL-era high of Bryan Harsin's 2021 team that was ranked in the top 15 at one point. And yet Freeze will get the benefit of the doubt in a way Harsin could've never dreamed.

Of course, actually doing his job helped Freeze earn that goodwill, but the on-field product not turning around should lead to criticism from everywhere. It's clear that there's traditionalists still clinging to the idea that programs can't be rebuilt overnight. Sonny Dykes proved that wrong in 2022 at TCU.

Freeze deserves criticism independent of the name "Harsin." No qualifiers, no excuses, just criticism. And if Thorne turns it around after Freeze sticks with him, then everyone can go back to giving him his flowers.

Starting Thorne again at any point will be an unpopular decision with the fanbase until that happens, though.