Just more than two weeks ago, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze gave Payton Thorne his vote of confidence as he shot down a question about bringing in a transfer quarterback in the offseason.

“Truthfully, I don’t know if you know this, but we have one of the top returning quarterbacks in Power 5 with wins in Payton Thorne,” Freeze said in a press conference on Dec. 16.

And coming into Saturday’s appearance in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, the fact that Auburn had its starting quarterback in Thorne, while Maryland was without its starting quarterback in Taulia Tagovailoa, felt like a massive advantage for the Tigers.

However, it proved everything but on Saturday as Auburn was thumped by Maryland in a 31-13 loss that saw the Tigers’ offense struggle to find any kind of spark under Thorne, who went 13-for-27 through the air. Thorne tallied just 84 yards, a touchdown and an interception before being yanked from the game in the third quarter as Auburn trailed Maryland by three scores.

Initially replacing Thorne was redshirt freshman Holden Geriner, who attempted six passes and completed just one of them before tossing an interception.

Come Auburn’s next possession, it was true freshman quarterback Hank Brown who trotted out onto the field.

After one short completion, Brown connected with Caleb Burton for a 53-yard pass play, setting up a 1-yard rushing touchdown for fellow freshman Jeremiah Cobb. Cobb’s score cut Maryland’s lead to 31-13 with just under seven minutes to play.

And from that drive forward, it was Hank Brown who was under center, giving Auburn’s scout team quarterback an opportunity to play in his hometown of Nashville.

“Hank has incredible poise. Everyday when he’s running the scout team and he has very little protection, he stands in there and makes throw after throw after throw,” Freeze said. “I think he has incredible poise for a freshman, for sure.”

Brown finished the game having gone 7-for-9 through the air, good for 132 yards – 40 yards more than both Thorne and Geriner combined.

“I think Hank has something to him for sure,” Freeze said. “You got a guy who threw 42 touchdowns and one pick in his senior year in high school, or something to that.”

Now the question is whether Thorne’s struggles and Brown’s success on Saturday means anything for Auburn’s quarterback situation as Freeze and the Tigers look ahead to 2024.

Freeze’s answer to that question was blunt and was delivered with a wildly different tone than the one he used when talking about Thorne weeks ago.

“It’s wide open,” Freeze said. “I’m constantly evaluating players, staff, everything. And if we see that my evaluation has been wrong and we have to change gears and reevaluate to make us better then that’s the steps we should take. The quarterback position will be an interesting one, certainly, in spring practice.”