Auburn going back to Payton Thorne at QB for Week 5 matchup vs. No. 21 Oklahoma

Auburn (2-2) is making another quarterback switch. After opting for redshirt freshman Hank Brown for the past two games, coach Hugh Freeze is going back to senior Payton Thorne, who began the season as the Tigers’ starter.

Thorne will get the start for Auburn’s Week 5 matchup with No. 21 Oklahoma (3–1). Freeze returning to Thorne seems curious since he said after last week’s 24–14 loss to Arkansas that the team needs “a guy that won’t throw it to the other team.”

In his previous two starts this season, Thorne threw four interceptions and Freeze criticized his decision making before making the switch to Brown. However, Brown threw three interceptions against Arkansas, completing 7-of-13 passes before being replaced by Thorne midway through the game. That more recent memory, along with Thorne playing better (13-of-22 for 213 yards, two TDs, one INT) may have influenced the coach’s decision.

Altogether, Auburn has committed 14 turnovers in its first four games, with eight interceptions and six lost fumbles.

Freeze is also apparently hoping Thorne’s experience against several kinds of defenses gives the Auburn offense a better chance to compete against Oklahoma, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

However, according to one of Freeze’s former signal callers, the coach has a tendency to blame the quarterback for his teams’ poor play.

“We’re approaching the point that he’s thrown so many QBs under the bus that maybe no one wants to play for him,” said Bo Wallace, who played for Freeze at Ole Miss from 2012-14.

Oklahoma will be dealing with quarterback issues of its own on Saturday, starting freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. over sophomore Jackson Arnold, who started the Sooners’ previous four games. Turnovers were also the major influence in coach Brett Venables’ decision, with Arnold throwing a pick and losing two fumbles in last week’s loss to No. 5 Tennessee.

Auburn and Oklahoma kick off at 3:30 pm. ET at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ABC.