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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Auburn redshirt freshman quarterback Hank Brown will start for the Tigers against New Mexico on Saturday, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Friday.
Brown replaces incumbent starter Payton Thorne after the senior passer struggled in the program’s Week 2 loss to Cal.
Brown, a former three-star passer in the 2023 class, will make his first career start in the wake of Auburn’s 21-14 home defeat to Cal last week. Thorne, who started each of the Tigers’ past 15 games, completed 14 of his 27 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and a career-high four interceptions in the loss.
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze initially hinted at a possible quarterback change during his Monday news conference. He remained vague on the situation later in the week but hinted at his willingness to take action after the Tigers were held under 10 points by an unranked opponent for the first time since 2018.
“There’s a very, very short leash on us playing as poorly as we did in certain moments in that game at that position,” Freeze said Wednesday during the SEC coaches teleconference.
Thorne transferred to Auburn from Michigan State in 2023 and completed 61.1% of his passes for 1,755 yards and 16 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in his debut season with the Tigers last fall. He threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns during Auburn’s 73-3 rout of Alabama A&M in Week 1, then sputtered against Cal with four interceptions that matched the most thrown by a Tigers quarterback in a single game since Brandon Cox in the 2007 season.
Brown originally committed to Liberty in the 2023 cycle before he followed Freeze to Auburn. He went 3-for-5 for 96 yards and two touchdowns in limited work during the Tigers’ season opener. Brown completed seven of his nine passes for 132 yards against Maryland in last season’s Music City Bowl.
Auburn hosts New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 on Saturday before the Tigers dive into conference play with a visit from Arkansas in Week 4.
On3.com was first to report the news Friday.