Starting QB up for grabs
Auburn's quarterback situation entering this season seemed set. Payton Thorne was the bonafide starter, Hank Brown was the backup and then you had the rest.
Now, it's more up in the air than ever as the Tigers enter Week 5 and host Oklahoma for the first time ever in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Not even Hugh Freeze knows who will take the first snaps on Saturday against the Sooners, as it will play out on the practice field this week.
"It's going to be a battle this week -- try to figure out who can master the plan against all these fronts we're going to face at Oklahoma," the Auburn head coach said.
Brown took over for Thorne after the upset loss to Cal in the second game of the season, looked good in the blowout win over New Mexico, but in his first SEC game, threw three first-half interceptions to force Freeze to go back to Thorne in the loss to Arkansas.
"You watch the first drive, and you believe, man, Hank is making the right decisions until we get to the 25-yard line or whatever it is," Freeze said. "We've got a checkdown wide open, and he makes that decision. He made two other poor ones. But he was really, really sharp at times."
Thorne was steady after halftime, completing 13-of-22 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, a pass that should have been caught by Cam Coleman on a slant route, according to Freeze.
"I know quarterbacks get the blame all the time, but I thought it was a well-thrown ball and the right decision," Freeze said.
Whoever goes out on the field will face an Oklahoma defense that allows a mere 188.8 passing yards per game. And while the Tigers are averaging 284 yards through the air per game, that number dwindles to 225 yards, three touchdowns and eight interceptions against Power 5 teams.
Mostly, the competition will come down to who puts the offense in the best situation and can, more importantly, take care of the ball. The Tigers have been successful when not getting behind the chains, and Freeze is aware of how critical that is for this offense.
"We're dang good, truthfully, when we're in second-and-6," he said. "We're not so good when we're in second- and third-and-10. The margin of effort for us right now is so small. That one decision -- and I'm not trying to beat him (Thorne) up on that one decision -- but that's how critical it feels."