AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Payton Thorne is adapting well to life in the South and to the Auburn offense.
The graduate transfer from Michigan State has quickly settled in as Hugh Freeze’s starting quarterback in a region his family formerly passed through only on the way to the Florida beaches.
“I love it down here,” Thorne said. “This is my kind of place, my kind of people down here. Everyone’s been very welcoming and just good people. People are just nicer down here.”
Maybe it’s Southern hospitality. It might also have something to do with Thorne providing renewed hope for an offense that was often pedestrian and inconsistent in recent seasons ,especially in the passing game.
Thorne gets his crack at turning around the program’s recent struggles at quarterback and helping to hasten Freeze’s rebuilding timeline starting Saturday in the opener against UMass (1-0). Freeze has also imported new transfer receivers and offensive linemen to surround Thorne with a better supporting cast.