Hank Brown, Payton Thorne QB competition: Hugh Freeze names starter vs. Arkansas

Many Auburn fans are curious who will be the starting quarterback next week against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Shortly after the game on Saturday night, they got their answer. Tigers’ head coach Hugh Freeze named redshirt freshman signal-caller Hank Brown as the starting man under center for their next game.

“Hank [Brown] will be the starter next week. Let’s see what he does when we step up in competition,” Freeze said simply.

In his first start on Saturday against New Mexico, Brown completed 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards, while tossing in four touchdowns and no interceptions. Auburn was only up 17-13 in the first half, but ended up pulling way in the second half after outscoring the Lobos 28-6. One of Brown’s favorite targets against UNM was junior receiver Camden Brown, who hauled in four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Auburn wideout KeAndre Lambert-Smith hauled in two catches for 72 yards.

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In 2023, Brown saw his only action in the Music City Bowl against Maryland, when he completed seven of nine passes for 132 yards, with his longest completion coming to Caleb Burton III (53 yards).

Hank Brown shattered records in high school

In high school, Hank Brown was a record-setting quarterback for the Lipscomb Academy Mustangs (Nashville, Tennessee). He guided them to a perfect 13-0 record and the 2022 Tennessee D2-AA State Championship under head coach Trent Dilfer. Brown threw for 3,264 yards, while tossing in 47 touchdowns (fifth in Tennessee state history) and a 73.3% completion percentage his senior year.

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According to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2023 cycle, he was rated as a three-star prospect and the No. 1,107 overall player in America. The Tennessee native was also named as the No. 55 quarterback prospect in the country, according to those same rankings.

The Tigers named Payton Thorne the starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2024 campaign. In their season-opener against Alabama A&M, he completed 13 of his 21 passes for 322 yards, while tossing in four touchdowns with no interceptions.

But then he struggled mightily against the Cal Golden Bears in their second game, completing 14 of his 27 passes for 165 yards, while tossing in one touchdown with four interceptions. He was also sacked four times in the Cal game. Auburn lost that one, 21-14.

Last year for Auburn, Thorne completed 61.1% of his passes for 1,755 yards, while tossing in 16 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. Before transferring to Auburn, he was pretty successful with Michigan State. In 2022, Thorne completed 62.5% of his passes for 2,679 yards, while tossing in 19 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. And in 2021 in East Lansing, he completed 60.4% of his passes for 3,240 yards, while tossing in 27 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions. It was the best season of his college football career thus far.