The season opener between Auburn and UMass will feature a battle of two transfer quarterbacks with Power Five experience.
Auburn head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] revealed last Thursday that Michigan State transfer [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] will be the starting quarterback for the Tigers’ meeting with UMass on Sept. 2. The Minutemen, who will kick off the 2023 season this Saturday at New Mexico, have also named their starting quarterback.
In a tight competition between three candidates, UMass head coach Don Brown has elected to go with former Clemson and Georgia Tech quarterback Taisun Phommachanh to lead the offense.
“We’re going with (Phommachanh),” Brown said Monday. “It’s not a scenario where one guy didn’t win the job and the other guy did, it was really his play was exemplary. I’m very happy and comfortable with the other guys as well. (Phommachanh) can run, he can throw it, and we just made the decision that he’s gonna get us off on the right foot.”
Phommachanh has four seasons of college football experience but has yet to truly take over a starting quarterback job. In three seasons at Clemson, he passed for 204 yards and a touchdown. The 2021 season was his best. He threw for 131 yards and a touchdown while completing 57.9% of his passes.
Last season at Georgia Tech, Phommachanh completed 2-of-6 passes for 13 yards and an interception. His final Pro Football Focus grade was 60.7.
Thorne and Phommachanh will battle on the gridiron on Saturday, Sept. 2 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT, and will be broadcasted live on ESPN.
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