Hugh Freeze says Payton Thorne is 'probably' starter vs. Georgia, leaves door open

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze didn’t commit to Payton Thorne remaining the Tigers starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Georgia. However, it does sound as if things are trending in that direction.

Freeze told reporters on Monday that the coaching staff is “still wading through that,” as far as the starting quarterback, according to On3’s Justin Hokanson. But Freeze added: “That’s probably where we’ll land this week,” in regards to Thorne starting, according to Justin Ferguson.

Auburn suffered its first loss of the season this past weekend, falling 27-10 to Texas A&M. In the loss, Payton Thorne was 6-for-12 passing for 44 yards.

The Tigers also gave Holden Geriner and Robby Ashford some reps at quarterback in the loss. The two combined to go 3-for-11 passing for 12 yards. Ashford did rush for 25 yards, and the Tigers plan to continue to use him at quarterback in certain situations.

Freeze said following Saturday’s loss that he doesn’t want to play three quarterbacks moving forward and added that Auburn needs to be better and more consistent at that position.

“Well, I don’t want to play a lot (of quarterbacks),” he said. “I certainly don’t want to sit here and make a lot of assumptions without watching film. We had people open and we either missed ’em or the pressure distracted us it seemed. I’ve got to watch the film and see what exactly was going on to cause that, but we certainly missed a few opportunities in the passing game.”

Bo Nix becomes first player responsible for 55 touchdowns for two schools

While current Auburn quarterbacks are struggling, former Tigers QB Bo Nix is thriving.

On Saturday, Nix and the Oregon Ducks beat the Colorado Buffaloes in a blowout. Nix was dominant in the win and, in the process, made a little bit of history.

Bo Nix was responsible for three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the game. That brought his Oregon career total in passing touchdowns to 40 and rushing touchdowns to 15 for a total of 55. With that, he became the first player to be responsible for 55 touchdowns at two different schools, per SportsCenter.

Of course, Nix started his career at Auburn before transferring to Oregon ahead of the 2022 season. During that time with the Tigers, he scored a total of 57 touchdowns. So, by the time Nix is done, the record will likely be 57 touchdowns at two different schools.