AUBURN | After a rough start and facing the first ranked opponent of the season, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is doubling down on his offensive system.

The Tigers, which fell to 2-2 after a 24-14 loss to Arkansas, are last in the nation with 14 turnovers and will enter this week without a clear starter at quarterback.

“I told our staff this morning, I love being in the fire with them,” said Freeze. “And if you're not willing to be in the fire in this profession and this league, you probably need to go, I don't know, do something different. I love the way they come to work. I love the energy they bring. And we're not changing anything.

"Obviously, addressing the turnovers and the third downs that cost us this game. We'll address those, but we're not changing who we are and what our culture is and what we believe in. So, not really changing anything.”

In its two losses to California and Arkansas, Auburn has averaged 358.5 yards and 14.0 points. AU turned the ball over 10 times combined including eight interceptions.

Freeze said he plans to let Payton Thorne and Hank Brown compete for the position this week. Thorne started the first two games before Brown took over against New Mexico in Week 3. Thorne came off the bench in the second half of the Arkansas loss after Brown had three first-half interceptions.

“I think we're good other than 10 turnovers in two games,” said Freeze. “I think there's open receivers. I think we're running the ball effectively. I'm not sure why we would want to change any of that other than maybe we should call a few less shot plays or landmarks. They're not really sharp shot plays and maybe just stick to the RPO game and we gotta evaluate all of that. I mean, go watch the game and you see we're moving the football.”

Freeze insisted that everybody in charge of coming up with and implementing the game plan against the Razorbacks including himself, offensive coordinator Derrick Nix, quarterbacks coach Kent Austin and senior offensive analyst Jesse Stone did a quality job.

But that doesn’t mean the group doesn’t have plenty to work on this week, especially with how they handle first downs.

“We're dang good, truthfully, when we're in second-and-6. We're not so good when we're in second- and third-and-10,” said Freeze. “It feels like it's life or death with our margin of error right now, particularly if you're going to turn the ball over, in those plays. If you make the correct read there and hand the ball off, I think it's a 5-, 6-yard gain. Now you're in second-and-4. Instead we were in second-and-11.

“Those are the things we've got to meet and get cleaned up as coaches and make sure we're not continuously making those decisions. Defenses are going to win some plays. They’re well coached, and they've got some athletes over there in this league. But we can't do that for them with a poor decision. That comes with us coaching them properly and making sure they understand the game plan and the execution.”

Auburn wraps up a five-game homestand against No. 21 Oklahoma Saturday. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.