Report: Auburn to bench veteran QB Payton Thorne vs. New Mexico

Auburn is making a change at quarterback, starting redshirt freshman quarterback Hank Brown on Saturday against visiting New Mexico, Auburn Live reported Friday.

He replaces fifth-year quarterback Payton Thorne, the returning starter who started the first two games of the season for the Tigers.

Thorne turned in a disappointing performance last weekend in a 21-14 upset loss to Cal. He completed 14 of 27 pass attempts for 165 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions.

Per Auburn Live, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze told his quarterbacks about the switch on Friday.

Freeze tipped his hand about his thoughts on Wednesday.

"After watching the film, there is a very, very short leash on us playing as poorly as we did at that position," he said, according to Auburn Live. "It's not always the quarterback. One interception he gets hit with poor protection, the other deflected off the receiver's hand. I know the quarterback always gets a ton of criticism and it's not always exactly them, but there are plays that we had that he's expected to make that we didn't make in critical moments. He has to produce for sure. Hank has been playing well this week. We just had one practice, I'm curious to see how they perform with the reps that are given."

Last season, after transferring from Michigan State, Thorne started 12 of his 13 games and threw for 1,755 yards and 16 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. In the season opener against Alabama A&M two weeks ago -- a 73-3 win -- Thorne completed 61.9 percent of his pass attempts for 322 yards and four touchdowns.

In relief of Thorne, Brown was 3-of-5 passing for 96 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama A&M.

--Field Level Media