Hugh Freeze criticizes Hank Brown, Payton Thorne following Arkansas loss: 'I know there's people open'
For the second time in three weeks, Auburn quarterbacks struggled. Neither Hank Brown nor Payton Thorne had a great day against Arkansas although the latter did provide a little more juice. Either way, Hugh Freeze is not satisfied with the results.
The Auburn head coach actually criticized Brown and Thorne during his postgame press conference after throwing for a combined 285 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions. Freeze says he knows receivers are open downfield but the Tigers need to find somebody to deliver the throws.
“I know that there’s people open and I know that we’re running the football,” Freeze said during his postgame press conference. “We’ve got to find a guy that won’t throw it to the other team and we’ve got to find running backs that hold on to it… The scheme is what most everybody in the country is running, some sort of. But you’ve got to have a good quarterback in whatever system you’re going to choose.”
Regarding the running backs, Freeze is referencing a fumble from Damari Alston in the first half when the game was still 7-0 in favor of Arkansas. Alston was on his way to potentially scoring a touchdown, getting inside the 10-yard line at the worst. But an Arkansas defender punched the ball out before recovering it in the end zone for a touchback.
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However, most of the attention from Freeze is on the quarterbacks. He thinks Brown and Thorne — no matter who is out there — should be playing and executing at a higher level.
This did spark the attention of former Ole Miss signal-caller Bo Wallace, calling his former head coach out for his comments. Wallace believes Freeze is blaming others when Auburn losses occur but if there was a victory, a lot of self-praise would occur.
“But why is it someone else’s fault every time there’s a loss ?? … but when there’s a win I watch the press conferences just to count how many times the word “I” is used… appreciate what he did for me , my son wouldn’t be playing for him tho,” Wallace said via X.
No matter who is to blame, Auburn will need to figure out the quarterback situation quite quickly. Another home game is next on the schedule with the Oklahoma Sooners heading to the Plains. The Tigers will then be on the road during the entire month of October, playing three games away from Jordan-Hare Stadium.