Where does Auburn go at quarterback after the ugly loss to Arkansas?

For Auburn, everything seemed to be moving in the right direction again.

This made the change at quarterback possible, something many fans had been hoping for. And even better: The new starter, redshirt freshman Hank Brown, made a good impression in his first start, throwing four touchdowns against New Mexico.

The loss to Arkansas on Saturday wiped out any progress made in that game.

It felt like a repeat of the Cal game, as Brown threw three interceptions in the first half. Unlike the Cal game, a change came earlier, as Payton Thorne returned to his starting spot early in the second half.

“We’re not doing a very good job of coaching the quarterbacks right now,” Hugh Freeze said after the game.

Freeze's words aptly reflected the start of this season and, more broadly, his tenure at Auburn so far.

Auburn has yet to produce good quarterback play against Power 4 teams over the past two seasons. There have been changes at wide receiver, and nowhere was the improvement more evident than in the 156-yard, two-touchdown performance by KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who transferred from Penn State.

But those throws to Lambert-Smith and others don't mean much when Auburn's quarterbacks are constantly throwing the ball to the other team.

Brown and Thorne combined for four interceptions. While Thorne wasn't at fault and had the better day, neither quarterback seemed to be the solution Auburn fans had hoped for in the offseason.

“We have to find a guy who doesn’t throw the ball to the other team,” Freeze said.

When asked what the outlook for the position looks like next week, Freeze had no answer. That's not surprising, coming so soon after the game, but there's no clear answer either.

After five years of his college career, Thorne may have already reached his ceiling, a ceiling so low that Freeze benched him in the first place.

As a redshirt freshman, Brown has a much longer future ahead of him, but will a three-interception performance in his first conference game cause Freeze to lose faith in him?

It's impossible to say immediately after the game. Thorne has the experience to overcome a difficult start and he admitted that being a substitute was an adjustment for him.

“That was the first time I ran with the twos since 2020,” Thorne said after the game. “It was a new experience, a new way of looking at things. And now I believe that everything happens for a reason. And if you have the right attitude, you can always learn something.”

Things won't get any easier for Auburn either, as the team must navigate the Southeastern Conference without a clear quarterback position. Next up is Oklahoma, followed by a game against Georgia in Athens before the week off.

With a schedule like that, there isn't much time for a quarterback controversy. The sooner Auburn figures out how to make its quarterback more productive, the better chance it has of even being competitive in the SEC.

“There are signs that we can do some good things. But we can't play as inconsistently as we have,” Freeze said. “It's starting to get really frustrating and boring. I'm sure it is for a lot of people.”

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