Auburn has struggled with a lot of mistakes so far in 2024.
The Tigers turned the ball over five times in a miserable 24-14 home loss to Arkansas on Saturday. Starting QB Hank Brown threw three interceptions before being replaced by Payton Thorne in the second half. Thorne also threw an interception and Damari Alston fumbled in the end zone in the first half.
Brown was making his second start after Thorne started the first two games of the season. Tigers QBs have eight interceptions in four games and Auburn has also fumbled six times.
“I know we’ve got people open and I know we’re running the ball,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. “And we’ve got to find a player that’s not going to throw it to the other team. And we’ve got to find running backs that are going to hold it.”
Freeze was clearly referring to Alston’s fumble, which occurred in the first half with Arkansas leading 7-0. The Razorbacks failed to convert his fumble into points, but the giveaway was the first of three consecutive Auburn possessions that ended in a turnover. Brown threw interceptions on the Tigers’ next two chances.
That led to Freeze making a QB change at halftime, with Thorne taking over for the second half. He started the team’s season-opening win over Alabama A&M and Week 2 loss to Cal before Freeze made a change for Week 3 against New Mexico. After the loss to Cal, Freeze placed the blame on the players’ mistakes and not anything the coaching staff did on his postgame coaches show, saying that “there was one play in this game that I think was a bad call by our staff.”
Following Freeze’s comments on Saturday, one of his former Ole Miss QBs criticized his remarks. Bo Wallace played for Freeze when Freeze was at Oxford and said Freeze’s criticism of players was part of a pattern.
We’re getting to the point where he’s thrown so many QBs under the bus that maybe no one will play for him anymore?? His offense helped me get my numbers up a lot when I hurt my shoulder… But why is it always someone else’s fault when there’s a loss?? …but when there’s a… https://t.co/ADJoR1BzYJ
— Bo Wallace (@bowallace14) September 22, 2024
Auburn did not add a quarterback through the transfer portal after the 2023 season, as Thorne was the team’s starter in Freeze’s first year. With both Brown and Thorne struggling through the first four games, Freeze said he wasn’t sure who would start in Week 5 against an Oklahoma team that also wants to get on track offensively.
“I have no idea how to do it now, but I’m going to start working on it again tomorrow. I’m going to be as locked in as I’ve ever been to get it fixed.”
