Payton Thorne expected to be named Auburn football's starting quarterback
AUBURN — Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne is expected to be named Auburn football‘s starting quarterback for the season opener, multiple sources have confirmed to Auburn Live.
Head coach Hugh Freeze will address the media on Thursday and on Saturday following the final scrimmage. It’s unclear if or when Freeze will address the decision.
The Tigers will scrimmage for the second time on Saturday inside Jordan-Hare Stadium as fall camp wraps up.
Thorne beat out sophomore Robby Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner for the job. Observers told Auburn Live both Ashford and Geriner improved this fall, but Thorne was never unseated as the projected starter.
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Following last Saturday’s scrimmage, Freeze said he “had his mind made up” on the quarterback pecking order before the scrimmage, but the day’s action shook some things up. After another few days of fall camp, the decision is settled. All three quarterbacks have been notified of the decision, sources tell Auburn Live.
At the start of fall camp, Freeze said of Thorne, “it’s impossible for you not to visit with Payton because he demands it. My phone every day, ‘hey coach, you have any free time today? Hey coach, you have any free time?’ I love that about him.
“I feel very comfortable with who he is, his leadership, his desire and preparation, his football IQ, but you have to make plays. I haven’t seen that yet and truthfully, I’m excited about the competition between he, Robby and Holden. It’ll make them all better.”
Freeze’s goal during fall camp was to “create adverse situations” for his quarterbacks in order to determine the best man for the job.
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“Are they evaluating the coverages correctly? Is the ball going to the right spot? Is the decision to stay with the run or get into the RPO off that, all those things will be evaluated,” Freeze said earlier in camp. “Who does the team rally around the most? We have a good plan of the rotation between those three guys (Thorne, Ashford and Geriner). They’re all going to rotate pretty evenly. We’ll evaluate all those reps and recalibrate. We’ll sit down and go from there after the first five.”
New offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery reiterated much of what Freeze said about Thorne, calling the transfer quarterback a “professional” in his overall approach to the game.
“He’s another guy that you’ve got to run out of the building. He’s always watching tape, he’s always studying at home. He will text me, ‘hey, what do I read on this, or what am I doing on that? I saw this on tape, how are we progressing through this?’ He wants to be on top of every detail that is involved in our offense,” Montgomery said.
“He’s seeing things now at a really good rate. You have to remember, he wasn’t here in spring, so some of the things that he’s picked up on. We have to get everybody else around that to be on the same page with him. I think he does a great job with his leadership, he’s disciplined and he’s professional about what he does.”
Thorne threw for 6,493 yards, 49 touchdowns and 24 interceptions during his three seasons at Michigan State. He transferred to Auburn following spring camp, arriving during the summer.
Auburn starts the season against UMass on September 2.
