Payton Thorne reacts to Hugh Freeze's critical postgame comments on Auburn's QB play
In Auburn‘s 24-14 loss to Arkansas on Saturday, Tigers quarterbacks Hank Brown and Payton Thorne threw a combined four interceptions. After the game, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze didn’t mince words about his QBs’ lackluster performances.
“I know that there’s people open and I know that we’re running the football,” Freeze said. “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.”
Brown made his second-straight start for Auburn on Saturday after leading the Tigers to a dominant 45-19 win over New Mexico in Week 3. However, Freeze benched Brown after he threw three interceptions in the first half alone against the Razorbacks.
Thorne, who also started the first two games of the season, started the second half and completed 13-of-22 passes in the loss for two touchdowns while throwing one pick. During an appearance on “The Next Round,” Thorne weighed in on Freeze’s harsh postgame comments.
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“I try my best not to pay too much attention to stuff that’s said to the media by anybody because being in it as long as I’ve been in it — it’s still kind of a short time compared to some people or a lot of people — but when you say stuff to the media, it’s not always true,” Thorne said.
Through three appearances this season, Thorne has tallied 700 passing yards and seven touchdowns while throwing five interceptions. He has completed 57.1% of his passes. Payton Thorne knows he’s been far from perfect but he also believes some of the team’s turnovers have been simple misunderstandings.
“Obviously, we’ve turned the ball over too many times, and we got to fix that and be clean with the ball,” Thorne said. “But for me, personally, when I’m analyzing my game and I take a look at the turnovers that I’ve had myself, I look at it, I’m not too terribly upset about the decision-making that I’ve had.
“When I look back and look at the context of those interceptions, I’m not banging the table going, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ I try to keep that in mind as best I can. And obviously, you want to keep getting better as the season goes on, but, in terms of that, that’s what I’ve been doing.”