Wednesday on "The Next Round Live," NBA Hall of Famer and former Auburn basketball star Charles Barkley pleaded for better quarterback play from his alma mater heading into hosting No. 1 Georgia this weekend.
Between Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner, the Tigers threw for a combined 56 yards last Saturday against Texas A&M.
Barkley referred to the recent "Unite Auburn" event that ended in hundreds of Auburn students getting baptized - including a football player at the hands of head coach Hugh Freeze - and said people needed to "pray for better quarterback play" on the Plains because what he saw against the Aggies was "brutal."
"I'm all in on coach Freeze. I wish we had hired Deion [Sanders]," Barkley outlined. "But [John Cohen] decided to go with coach Freeze, and I told ... both of them, 'Hey, I'm all in on coach Freeze.'"
He continued, "Now, I will say this: If y'all are going to be down there baptizing people, please pray for us better quarterback play. Let's get these three quarterbacks and baptize them, and maybe the Lord can make them play better because the one thing you can't do as a coach [is] you can't have your quarterback playing scared ... or looking over his shoulders. You can't play three quarterbacks; you can't play two quarterbacks because that's the most important position in sports."
Barkley, who went to bat for Ashford because of his running ability, said it was important for Freeze to "make a decision and live with it" rather than shuffling between multiple signal callers.
"[Y]ou can't be playing three quarterbacks," he added. "You can't be playing two quarterbacks."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email trent.baker@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
