Mired in a difficult second season in eastern Alabama, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze received more bad news ahead of Saturday’s non-conference finale against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.

Payton Thorne, Freeze’s starting senior quarterback, missed practice during the bye week and might not be available Saturday for Auburn (3-6, 1-5 SEC).

Thorne injured his shoulder two weeks ago in the Tigers’ matchup with Vanderbilt, when the Commodores left Alabama with a 17-7 victory. Freeze’s outlook against ULM (5-4, 3-3 Sun Belt) for the Auburn home date had an ominous tone.

“We’ll see how this week goes with that and with the others getting reps — and go from there,” said Freeze. “When I say that, it’s certainly not an indication that I don’t think he’s played pretty solid here as of late. You start thinking big picture. That’s not always the easiest thing to do, because you love your players. You want what’s best for all of them that gives us the best chance to win the remaining three games. We’ll start seeing how the health is foremost.”

If Thorne cannot go, Freeze indicated redshirt freshman Hank Brown, Holden Geriner or Walker White would be the options.

A 24-point favorite over ULM, Auburn would like to produce a strong performance in preparation for its final two games of 2024, both against ranked foes — home against No. 15 Texas A&M and the annual Iron Bowl against No. 10 Alabama, this year in Tuscaloosa.

The Warhawks have experienced the ups and downs of Sun Belt play, winning their first three outings before dropping three straight.

“Always in the state of Louisiana, there’s a bunch of athletes, and they’ve got their share for sure,” Freeze said.

One of those athletes Freeze called out by number after film review is running back Ahmad Hardy. ULM’s No. 22 averages 101.67 rushing yards per game with eight touchdowns.

Coach Bryant Vincent’s run-oriented squad is averaging 172.1 yards on the ground and 300.8 yards per game overall. However, the opposition has churned out nearly 200 yards rushing and 370.3 total.

Hosting Texas State last weekend, ULM fell behind 28-0 in the first half and couldn’t recover in a 38-17 loss.

The Warhawks fumbled six times but lost just one. Vincent said the sloppy play has become a recurring theme.

“These are tough times, and tough times are tough times,” he said. “And how you handle the tough times, as tough as they get, determines, really, the real team that you are and the character you are. We’re not done. We’re going to keep fighting and not going to change.”