Another change could be in order for Auburn football at quarterback.

Despite starting Auburn‘s last five games, Hugh Freeze said during Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference that the coaching staff is “debating” during the bye week on making a change.

“Payton’s played pretty solid, but at the same time you start thinking big picture and well, that’s a tough that’s a tough quandary for you as a coach,” Freeze said. “When you start thinking big picture, as opposed to one of your players that really hasn’t done anything wrong, but we certainly aren’t winning. And so we’re debating all of that this week and we’ll continue into next week, debating that.”

Auburn currently sits 3-6 on the season and Thorne is 2-5 as a starter in 2024. He was benched after Auburn’s loss to Cal in Week 2, a game where Thorne threw four interceptions. Redshirt freshman Hank Brown started the next two games, but was replaced by Thorne at halftime against Arkansas after throwing three interceptions.

This season is Thorne‘s final year of eligibility and Auburn would have to win out to make a bowl game. That’s a task that would require wins over both No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 11 Alabama.

Brown still has three years remaining after this season and true freshman Walker White could still maintain his redshirt if he played in the final three games. Redshirt sophomore Holden Geriner is another option, now in his third season at Auburn with two years of eligibility remaining.

While White has been a scout team player and reserve for most of the season, he did travel with the team to Lexington on Oct. 26.

Freeze didn‘t give any indication on who could take Thorne’s place if a change were to occur.

In an interview with The Next Round on Tuesday, Thorne said he hadn‘t heard anything about “working some young guys in,” but wasn’t asked directly about the starting quarterback job.

Following its bye this week, Auburn’s next game comes against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 16, before ending the season with conference games against Texas A&M and Alabama.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m