AUBURN, Alabama — Seth Williams caught a couple of quick touchdown passes, earned an MVP award and sat on the bench for most of the second half of Auburn’s A-Day game.

The sophomore receiver, a breakout star as a freshman in 2018, had plenty of time to reflect and decide which of his four catches for 103 yards was his favorite. He was posed the question by the media after the scrimmage.

Seated across the room was Matthew Hill, who had suddenly garnered a crowd of reporters outside the locker room.

“I like Matt’s more than mine, though,” Williams said. “… He did a whole Batman, caught the ball. That was my play of the day. Seeing that, I was, ‘Oh, D-Hill. He came out there and caught it.’”

Hill was lost on the bench as a freshman last season, but not Saturday. He caught five passes for a game-high 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Rave reviews about his catch radius and big plays in preseason scrimmages didn’t lead to more playing time on the field last fall. On Saturday, he showed Auburn fans what might be in store during his first full season on the field: big plays down the field, and explosive runs after the coach on screens.

“Hill is a guy that we had high expectations for when we recruited him,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “That was really good to see him make some plays in front of the crowd.”

Many believed it would be Hill, not Williams, to emerge as the top freshman threat in the middle of the field last season. He instead was buried on the depth chart as the program’s single-season leader in catches (Ryan Davis) finished his career, and fellow freshman Anthony Schwartz scorched defenses with his track-style speed.

“I’m not going to sit here and lie to you,” Hill said. “I thought I was going to at least play more than I did last year. But, you know, (recruiting) ratings — I feel like it's just something that gets athletes out there to try to get them to a better school, a better program. But really, it's the 3-stars and the 2-stars who are out there making more plays and better plays, sometimes better than 5-stars out there. I don't think it really matters.”

By the way, Hill was no pushover. He was rated the nation’s 17th-best receiver as a 4-star commitment in the 2018 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Davis exhausted his eligibility last season and Schwartz did not participate in spring practices as he focused on his track career. Schwartz will return to the fold in preseason camp, but Hill appears to have carved out a spot in the slot as Davis’ replacement.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Hill didn’t waste much time making a big impact at the A-Day game Saturday. He caught the game’s first touchdown pass over his shoulder with two defenders in coverage near the goal line. The throw from Malik Willis was practically perfect, providing Hill and the second-team offense a highlight against the first-team defense with a 41-yard touchdown.

Hill later caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Bo Nix as he worked with the first-team offense. He ran a post route and was wide open in the middle of the field to cap a 2-minute drill with a touchdown with 37 seconds remaining in the first half.

The redshirt freshman has thought a lot about his upcoming role on the team, and has patterned his style after Davis, the ultimate screen-pass threat on Auburn’s roster the previous two seasons. It’s an interesting take, especially considering all the long balls Hill caught Saturday.

“I think more like an R-Dave, the kind of role that he had — just kind of get the ball in space, make somebody miss,” Hill said. “Not just do whatever with the ball, but do what you can and don't try to do too much. Just make a play.”

Most of the announced crowd of 41,489 had departed Jordan-Hare Stadium before Hill had, perhaps, his best play of the game. He turned a simple tunnel screen pass from walk-on quarterback Wil Appleton into a 35-yard gain on the second-to-last play of the scrimmage. “You see he has a little bit of acceleration,” Malzahn said.

He nearly turned it into a touchdown.

“Looser. He’s explosive,” Williams said. “… When it’s time to need a big play, he’s going to make that play. He can bust out and make a long run, too. Y’all seen that toward the end.”