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saturdaydownsouth.com Auburn’s soggy spring game was a brutal development for Hugh Freeze’s QB decision Connor O'Gara 6–8 minutes You could sense the disappointment in Hugh Freeze’s voice. After a week of nothing but beautiful weather, of course, Auburn’s spring game fell on the day that the skies opened up and the temperatures dropped into the 50s. If it were just a normal day of practice, Auburn moves indoors and doesn’t think twice about inclement weather. But on this day, wherein Freeze was hoping to get another piece of the evaluation process to determine his first QB1, he got soggy, awful conditions for airing it out. Freeze shared his pregame disappointment on SEC Network. Yep. Freeze was right. Amidst sloppy conditions, there was no real evaluation. Sure, there was the decision-making aspect of Auburn’s quarterback competition. But Saturday’s conditions made an already limited evaluation, well, still limited. A game that ended with a walk-off field goal for a tie fittingly also had no real result worth documenting in what appears to be an extremely fluid quarterback room. We saw: A) 0 passes completed in the first quarter 1 pass completed for positive yards in the first half C) Several dropped passes in the rain D) 5 combined complete passes by 3 QBs E) All the above It’s “E.” It’s always “E.” The only real impressive throw and catch on the day came from the favorite in the clubhouse, Robby Ashford. It was a 39-yard strike down the seam to Tar’Varish Dawson. With all due respect to Ashford, who looked comfortable running the offense in his limited reps, that 1 throw wasn’t going to make or break Freeze’s decision. To be fair, even an A-Day with perfect weather could’ve still left Freeze feeling like his evaluation was incomplete. After all, none of his quarterbacks were live. It was always going to be difficult to use Saturday to judge if Ashford, TJ Finley and Holden Geriner handle pressure and deliver on-target throws. At one point, Freeze was mic’d up on SEC Network and he shared his frustration with Finley throwing downfield into triple coverage instead of hitting the check down for an open first down. That’s not ideal from a guy entering Year 4 at the Power 5 level. Then again, so is Ashford. You could’ve made the case that Ashford had the most to lose as the incumbent starter who would ideally follow the Malik Willis path to success under Freeze. The issue with Ashford is that he’s a rather incomplete evaluation. He might’ve taken over the starting job in 2022, but after his first full offseason playing football (he played baseball in his first 2 springs at Oregon), he was still extremely raw as a passer. It helped Auburn’s offense have a pulse in the final month when the mobile Ashford used his legs even more, but it didn’t help Freeze’s future evaluation. Therein lies the challenge. Is Freeze going to dip into the transfer portal to find his next QB1? The post-spring window now goes from April 15-29 instead of May 1-15. One would think after there was reportedly mutual interest in Grayson McCall and Spencer Sanders that Freeze will again test the waters of the portal. Nothing from Saturday’s spring game screamed “build around this guy.” Again, though. That was never likely with the limitations. Seeing how Ashford moved as a runner in a non-contact jersey wasn’t in question. Freeze spoke more about the quarterback room as a whole instead of speaking specifically about getting into the weeds of a sloppy, run-heavy A-Day: Perhaps the more interesting development was Freeze sharing that it’ll be new offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery handling the role of primary play-caller. He did so throughout A-Day with Freeze taking more of the CEO approach. Freeze told the SEC Network crew that he’d still like to have the ability to step in for a series if he sees something, but that it’ll be Montgomery’s responsibility. Ideally, Montgomery will jump-start a passing game that hasn’t finished in the top 60 since 2009. Freeze’s offense isn’t 1-dimensional, nor should it be with 8 new offensive linemen on the roster. But it’s a tricky sell to a potential transfer portal quarterback knowing the task at hand. It’ll be limited reps in a new system, and in addition to an overhauled offensive line to work with, it’s a group of receivers that hasn’t exactly been getting rave reviews (expect Freeze to be active in the portal with more wideouts). Stepping into the nation’s toughest division with those potential surrounding factors might not appeal to everyone. Fortunately for Auburn, it does have the Freeze factor. The guy has 5 top-40 passing offenses at Ole Miss and Liberty. Even if more rough times await for this passing game in the immediate future, Freeze is the silver lining. The new Auburn coach clearly wanted to focus on offense on Saturday. He set the score at 24-0 in favor of the defense with mostly equal reps for Ashford, Finley and Geriner. All 3 signal-callers were from the Bryan Harsin era, yet they stuck around in hopes of running a Freeze offense. It remains to be seen if any of them will get that opportunity in 2023, or if Freeze has other plans. All we know is that nowhere in Freeze’s QB evaluation plan was a cold, sloppy A-Day.

al.com Hugh Freeze feels 'better' about Auburn's QBs, but portal still in play Updated: Apr. 08, 2023, 4:21 p.m.|Published: Apr. 08, 2023, 4:18 p.m. 7–9 minutes Two months ago, before he ever coached a practice at Auburn, Hugh Freeze was anxious to get on the field and evaluate the Tigers’ trio of returning quarterbacks — Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley and Holden Geriner — firsthand. After accepting the job on the Plains, Freeze only had the opportunity to review cutups of each quarterbacks’ film, the good and the bad. It was hard to gauge just what he had to work with at the most important position on the field. Fast forward to A-Day, the last of 15 official spring practices, and Freeze is feeling a bit more at ease about Auburn’s quarterback situation heading into Year 1, though the position is far from settled. Read more Auburn football: Hugh Freeze wants to address these five positions in the spring transfer portal window Hugh Freeze makes the case for replacing spring games with charity exhibitions against other schools Auburn trying to strike right balance with new up-tempo offense this spring “I feel better than I did 15 practices ago,” Freeze said Saturday after his first spring game with the Tigers. “I really think that from this point now until the end of fall camp, there’s so much that needs to happen for somebody to solidify being the guy. And I think all have improved. I think all are still inconsistent with some things.” It was another blunt assessment from Freeze, who has not minced his words when it comes to critiquing and praising the progress of Auburn’s quarterbacks this spring. He reiterated Saturday that the competition will wage into fall camp, that the offseason months will be a critical piece of the puzzle for determining QB1 and that Auburn won’t shy away from adding another quarterback option in the post-spring transfer portal that when it opens in a week. For as much attention as Auburn’s quarterbacks have received over the last six weeks, though, little could actually be gleaned from Saturday’s rain-soaked spring game. Auburn attempted a total of 12 passes — with two more designed pass plays that resulted in “sacks” (albeit noncontact for the quarterbacks — across the duration of the A-Day scrimmage, which ended in a 24-24 tie after the defense was spotted a 24-0 advantage at the onset of the day. Ashford, as has been the case for much of spring, was the first quarterback to get his crack with the offense. He led a touchdown drive on his first possession, capping a 10-play, 65-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. His lone pass attempt on the drive was incomplete, but he ran the ball four times for 23 yards as Auburn’s run game showed signs of promise. Ashford completed just one of his three pass attempts on the day, with the lone completion a 39-yard seam down the field to Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. down to the 9-yard line. That led to a field goal as time expired in the second quarter. “I think you saw today that he’s got the capability of making some plays,” Freeze said of Ashford, who earned offensive MVP honors for the second consecutive A-Day. Finley was the second quarterback in the rotation again on A-Day. The offense went three-and-out on his first possession on the field, but he led a pair of field goal drives in the second half, including the one that resulted in Alex McPherson’s 33-yard game-tying kick as time expired in the weather-shortened scrimmage, which was called after three quarters. Finley finished the day 1-of-4 passing for 4 yards, and while it wasn’t much, he has received credit this spring for his improved accuracy this spring and his understanding of how to play within Freeze’s offense. “I believe I can compete with anybody in the country, and that’s why I transferred here from LSU,” Finley said. “I felt like I can compete with Bo Nix (in 2021). Competition doesn’t scare me. I know who I am. I know what I can do, and with the right coaches, I know who I can grow into and hopefully this is the place. Competition brings the best out of everybody, and if you can’t handle competition, you don’t need to be in this industry. That’s how I look at it. I serve a great God, and God has put me here for a reason, and I’m going to fulfill my destiny here.” Geriner was third in the rotation at quarterback, though his second possession included some work with the first-team offensive line. The redshirt freshman, who took a step forward in his development midway through the spring, had the best passing numbers of the trio Saturday, though that wasn’t saying much considering how little Auburn did in the passing game under the conditions at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Geriner completed 3-of-5 passes for 17 yards and led a touchdown drive late in the third quarter. He also converted a 2-point attempt at the end of that drive to get the offense within a field goal late. After appearing in just one game with limited snaps last season, Geriner said he feels confident and calm this spring despite the coaching change. “I feel like I’ve grown tremendously from a physical aspect as well as mental,” Geriner said. “I feel like I’m in a lot better place mentally and just confidence-wise. Then along with the physical aspect of that, it helps me going out there every day and having the confidence in there to make all the throws I know I can. I definitely feel good and ready to play.” Freeze may feel better about Auburn’s quarterback room than he did upon taking the head coaching gig late last year, but he wants to see more from each of them in the coming months. Consistency will be key, as will leadership. Summer months, with individual workouts and player-only practices, will factor into the decision come fall, and it remains to be seen whether any of the three quarterbacks who took the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday will be the guy for the Tigers when they open the season against UMass. The spring transfer portal opens in a week and runs from April 15-30. Freeze has been upfront with the trio that he plans to explore the options in the portal, and if he can find the right fit, he’ll pursue adding a quarterback to the room — just as he will for any position on the roster. “I know people make a big deal out of that, but the bottom line is you’re constantly — I think competition is helpful for those that handle it right,” Freeze said. “And for those that don’t, they’re probably not going to be winners for you anyway. And so, we’re open. Do I think we can win some games with what we have? Yes. I do. But, you know, I don’t want to ever be put in a box where I say something, and I do the opposite. I don’t know the answer. I don’t know if we are. I know that I would be open to it.” Ashford, Finley and Geriner have appreciated Freeze’s honesty throughout the spring — from his “brutally honest” evaluations of them both publicly and privately, to not hiding his desire to explore the portal for any potential additions to the room. “That’s the best way to be,” Finley said. “There’s no sugarcoating it when you want to get better, and as a competitor you want that out of a coach. You want to be criticized, you want to be coached hard, I think we’re all — like I said — responding to it well.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

if he was number 14 it was. hell it hurt me watching it.

right now i think we are freaking loaded at running back. and let us not forget our boy coming this fall i think. i believe we are runningback U again.

i feel bad for tank now watching the new oline versus what he had. i bet he would have gained a third more or more yardage than we he did. just a personal opinion. he dang sure would not have to break as many tackles before he gets started good. they just seemed way better tp me.

with every thing vanilla like dye used to say it is hard to see much other than effort. but sometimes we see a surprise or two. i think robby has improved but he still needs work. but he has the best set of wheels going forward so right now i think the position might be his to lose. to me a lot of improvement was made in three weeks and yet we have seen nothing. well the receivers are dropping too many balls. they need to catch in the rain as well so no excuses there they just need to get it done. does anyont thik we are not any better?

WHO WAS JU Jones? i have not heard his name that i can remember. scout team maybe? and who was 14 on d that laid the wood on one of our rb;s? man that was a nice hit.

SHORT VERSION..............

The next window to add transfers opens from April 15-30.

Live Updates: Hugh Freeze post A-Day press conference Updated: Apr. 08, 2023, 2:45 p.m.| Published: Apr. 08, 2023, 2:34 p.m. NEW! By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com We’re live in the media room under Jordan-Hare Stadium for Hugh Freeze’s press conference to recap the 2023 A-Day scrimmage. Alex McPherson hit a 33-yard field goal at the buzzer on a windy and rainy Saturday to finish the game with a 24-24 tie. Auburn’s defense started with 24 points and the offense had to catch up. Robby Ashford scored the first touchdown on a designed quarterback run. Running back Justin Jones had a touchdown. Evan McGuire hit a 19-yard field goal. McPherson also had a 39-yarder. The game was abbreviated because of continuous rain showers on a day that felt more like a late October or early November game rather than a spring game. Freeze will address the team’s progress. We’ll have updates here on AL.com/Auburnfootball. -- Freeze opened the press conference by thanking the fans and the Tiger band for showing up. Auburn announced an attendance of over 16,000 fans, despite the cold and rainy day. -- Freeze says he feels about the quarterback position now than he did 15 days ago before spring camp. He also said there’s a lot more that needs to happen before fall camp when it comes to picking a quarterback. -- “I don’t know if anyone’s really challenged him like I did this Spring,” Freeze on Robby Ashford’s progress. “I thought he threw a really good seam ball in those conditions.” -- “Overall, we’re running the ball fairly well, and getting the dirty yards from our backs,” Freez on the running game improving. -- “Damari Alston, I didn’t give enough credit to him coming into this job. But he’s had one heck of a spring for us,” Freeze on Alston, who had 43 yards on five touches. -- Hugh Freeze says he’s open to taking players from the portal, including the quarterback position. “We are open to any position who might fit within our team and the culture, and that includes the quarterback position...I think competition is helpful”- Freeze on the transfer portal. -- “Im cautiously optimistic that we’re gonna have a decent offensive line, in this league, you can have a decent one and still look bad at times.” - Freeze on the offensive line. , i will post the video when it hits youtube.

long version.............

i was just hoping for more but i get it.thanx i wonder if they can grill a good steak for the players?

robby threw a nice long pass but other than that we should be catching more balls right? rain or not?

we do look bad wed.

two passes two drops. mardiner was one.

this is live with discussion..................half a screen............

the game is on sec plus. i ge4t every single espn channel but that one. man this hacks my lily! why change it from the sec network normal channel?

so when can they not exist together? why not get to the point?