Hugh Freeze shares Auburn's plan for Robby Ashford as backup quarterback

Payton Thorne will be Auburn‘s starting quarterback to begin the 2023 season, but will it stay that way?

Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze is still high on backup QB Robby Ashford, who was the team’s starter in 2022. As fall camp reaches its final stages, Ashford has performed well enough down the stretch and could he see himself on the field a lot more than originally anticipated this season.

“The game dictates a lot of that. Obviously, when we start watching film on the opponent, we’ll do what we think is our best chance to win,” Freeze said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “I’ve said it from the get-go that if Robby handles things the right way, he has to get on the field. He’s different.

“He’s probably had his best three practices over the last three practices. I’m really proud of him and he’s going to push Payton if he keeps continuing to play like this. Payton’s going to have to play really well.”

Freeze revealed that Ashford completed 8-of-15 (53%) passes for two touchdowns during the second scrimmage of Auburn’s fall camp. Compare that to Thorne’s 12-for-17 for 2 touchdowns. Thorne also threw the scrimmage’s only interception where the defense made a good play, according to Freeze.

In 2022, Ashford was held to a 49.2 completion percentage and went 7-for-7 regarding his touchdown-to-interception ratio. Auburn finished the 2022 season 5-7 overall and missed out on the postseason for the first time since 2008 with Ashford at the helm.

Something that Freeze is appreciative of — especially after the way the season went last year — is the fact that Ashford could have easily entered the transfer portal this offseason and potentially landed himself a starting role at a fair majority of schools. Instead, he opted to return to Auburn and face the QB battle head-on. He might not have won it outright, but he’s certainly not giving up.

“I love the competition. I think it’s the only way to get better at this level,” Freeze said. “They fool themselves into thinking there’s no competition elsewhere at other schools. This is the way it should be at this level of program. We ought to have three of four quarterbacks that can push each other.”

Thorne will be taking the first snaps for Auburn when they open their 2023 season against UMass on Sept. 2, but since the Tigers are 38.5-point betting favorites, fans should expect to see Ashford early and often during Week 1.