Paul Finebaum on Hugh Freeze benching Payton Thorne: 'Somebody else is calling the shots' at Auburn
Payton Thorne started at quarterback in Auburn‘s first two games of the season. However, after throwing four interceptions in the Tigers’ Week 2 loss against California, Thorne was benched for redshirt freshman Hank Brown.
In his first start, Brown led the Tigers to a 45-19 win over New Mexico. In the victory, Brown completed 17-of-his-25 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. In turn, Brown started again in Week 4 against Arkansas.
Brown was unable to replicate his previous success and threw three picks against the Razorbacks in the first half alone. In turn, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze started Thorne in the second half. Thorne was far from perfect but he was an improvement from Brown.
Thorne completed 13-of-22 passes in the loss for two touchdowns while throwing one interception. During an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Paul Finebaum posited that Freeze never wanted to bench Thorne but was forced to by a third party.
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“Let me introduce you to Auburn football. If you have a mind of your own, you’re probably not going to be there very long,” Finebaum said. “What I think happened, and this is an opinion, somebody told him, ‘Let’s move on from Payton Thorne,’ because that did not seem like the guy who had said everything that he said about the portal and Payton Thorne and backing him after the law.
“Somebody else was calling the shots. And by the way, whoever that somebody else is, I would like them to get out of the program because they’re not doing a very good job. This program really is is turmoil right now.”
Freeze’s initial announcement to start Hank Brown caught many fans by surprise, considering his insistent defense of Thorne after the loss to California. On the Monday following the loss, Hugh Freeze claimed Thorne still looked like the best performer in practice but needed to carry it over into games.
Most people interpreted his words to mean that he had no plans to bench Thorne. Alas, only one day later, he announced Brown would start against New Mexico. Finebaum wants Freeze to explain the rationale behind his decision.
“I’d like for Hugh to address that. I’d like him to explain, in clear, concise English, why he made that decision, I think it was on a Tuesday,” Finebaum said. “But that seems like a rather strange time to be playing quarterback shuffling games.”