Payton Thorne's status as Auburn's starting quarterback is not as solid as it was heading into the season.

After a successful season opener, Thorne's struggles returned in the 21-14 loss to Cal. He completed just 14-of-27 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown but threw four interceptions, including two in the fourth quarter that stopped Auburn's comeback attempt.

The likely candidate to compete with Thorne is Hank Brown, a redshirt freshman from Nashville, Tenn. Brown completed 3-of-5 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the opener against Alabama A&M. In last year's bowl game against Maryland, he finished 7-of-9 for 132 yards in mop-up duty.

"I'm meeting with both of them individually as soon as we get through here and going through that cut-up reel, and I'm gonna see how all of that goes, and then we'll go from there," Hugh Freeze said on Monday afternoon. "Hank will definitely get his share of reps this week for sure ... but I expect them both respond the right way and go out and have a great week of practice. But again, it's now at a point where it can't be just the execution and practice that matters."

Freeze noted that a lot of his frustration of not being further along, something he also said on Saturday night following the loss, was the execution of Thorne at quarterback. He's seen what Thorne can do in practice, outplaying the other quarterbacks daily, but he has to see it carry over to the playing field consistently.

Not that he's ready to make a move at quarterback just yet. He wants to see how this week plays out. But there is a chance that a change could come when the Tigers take the field against the Lobos.

"I mean, could it? Yes," Freeze said about a possible quarterback switch. "Do I think I want to see how the week goes before I really decide that? Yes. I want to see how it goes and see how everybody responds to what is on the tape."