Hugh Freeze reveals how Robby Ashford has handled Payton Thorne addition

Last week was a busy one in the Auburn quarterback room, as TJ Finley announced his intent to enter the transfer portal, and former Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne joined the team through the transfer portal.

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze addressed his quarterback situation at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am golf tournament at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Alabama. Freeze was specifically asked about how the transfer move impacts quarterback Robby Ashford, who transferred to Auburn last season from Oregon and started the last nine games of the year for the Tigers.

“Life’s not easy,” Freeze said. “It’s an unrealistic expectation if you think you’re not going to have four quarterbacks. And obviously TJ leaving, we had to get another one, and I’m not going into the season nor will I next year or the year after.”

Freeze made it clear that not just this season, but every season moving forward will feature competition and position battles.

“I mean we’re going to sign four quarterbacks and every single year it’s going to be a competition. So if we can’t handle that at any position at any team, I mean I don’t think we’re the only team that’s taking quarterbacks, or receivers, or o-line, you gotta grow up,” Freeze explained.

The ongoing quarterback competition did seem to tilt in the favor of Ashford once Finley decided to enter the transfer portal. But Ashford was not threatened by Thorne’s addition to the roster, tweeting out shortly after Thorne’s commitment, “Let’s work. Iron sharpens iron!! War Eagle”.

“I thought Robby handled it well, but I think sometimes the narrative that is created is that ‘Oh God they took somebody else’. Well yeah, we’re gonna do that every year, so is everybody else,” Freeze concluded.

Ashford led the Tigers to three wins last season, finishing the year with 1,613 passing yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also had 710 yards on the ground and seven rushing touchdowns, but will his dual-threat abilities be enough to beat out Thorne for the starting spot?

Thorne on the other hand brings a boatload of experience with him to Auburn, as he’s been Michigan State’s starting quarterback for the past two seasons, leading the Spartans to a 16-9 record as a starter. In his career, he’s thrown for 6,496 yards and 49 passing touchdowns, which ranks fourth all-time in school history.