Auburn names Payton Thorne starting quarterback

A familiar face will lead Auburn‘s offense in the 2024 campaign. Head coach Hugh Freeze has officially named Payton Thorne the Tigers’ starting quarterback for its Week 1 matchup against Alabama A&M.

Thorne transferred from Michigan State to Auburn ahead of the 2023 season. He started in 12 of the Tigers’ 13 games last year, tallying 1,755 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, compared to 10 interceptions.

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Thorne also recorded 515 yards and three touchdowns in the ground game. Only one week into Auburn’s fall camp, Thorne began to separate himself from his competition in the quarterback room.

“One week in, I think Payton has gained an understanding of my mind and (Derrick) Nix’s mind on how we see this offense operating, and what we depend upon him to fix,” Freeze said. 

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“He had some really good moments where he did some things that made me go, ‘all right, that was smart’. It’s all about him understanding what the fixes are, particularly in our RPO game, and in our protection game.”

Is Payton Thorne primed for a breakout season?

Although Thorne was Auburn’s QB1 last season, he wasn’t entitled to the starting spot behind center. Thorne had to earn it, outshining returners Hank Brown and Holden Geriner in practice, along with 2024 four-star freshman Walker White.

After adding the No. 8 recruiting class in the 2024 cycle and the No. 12 transfer class in the country this offseason, Auburn will have even more talent for Thorne to throw to in the upcoming season. Freeze is pleased with Thorne’s offseason progress.

“I don’t really want to even talk about last year, and I don’t want to set him up for undue criticism or anything,” Freeze said. “I mean, obviously quarterbacks are going to get criticized if you don’t have success, and they’re going to get all the praise if you do have success. But I’m pleased with exactly where (Payton) is.

“The work we’ve done in the off season to understand each other has been beneficial. I can see it. I think he’s very confident and obviously having guys that he feels like can win at the top end of the route is helpful, too, to eliminate some of that hesitation that I think makes for a really, really bad decision.”

Auburn will kick off its season with a showdown against Alabama A&M at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 31. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.