2023 Fall Camp Thread

[bigbird 60,598]

3 hours ago, ellitor said:

@bigbird Huh? What happens tomorrow? Kam commits Saturday.

I guess we'll have to see if any important announcement comes out today 

[Mikey 16,779]

14 minutes ago, toddc said:

"I honestly think Robby has thrown the ball better this fall camp,” Montgomery said. “I've seen him progress in that manner. He's hit a good sum of deep balls. He's been a little more consistent on his underneath stuff. And that's an area where he wants to improve.

He'll have to get more than "a little more consistent on his underneath stuff" to be a winner. His 49% completion percentage will need to become a lot better.

[toddc 13,194]

6 minutes ago, Mikey said:

He'll have to get more than "a little more consistent on his underneath stuff" to be a winner. His 49% completion percentage will need to become a lot better.

I agree, but seeing improvements in this area is the thing some have said couldn’t happen at this point of his career.

Edited August 17, 2023 by toddc

[ellitor 33,124]

26 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I guess we'll have to see if any important announcement comes out today 

Is something expected?

[LPTiger 5,206]

27 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I guess we'll have to see if any important announcement comes out today 

What you talking 'bout Willis?😀

[toddc 13,194]

Recent riser out of the Auburn quarterback battle

by Andrew Hughes1 day ago

A recent riser in the Auburn football quarterback battle, Holden Geriner, has fallen out of the race according to The War Rapport’s Mike Gittens — who added that the two QBs in the competition, Robby Ashford and Payton Thorne, will be getting reps in Week 1 against UMass.

 

“No official announcement but appears Hugh Freeze has made the difficult decision of narrowing this QB race down to Robby Ashford or Payton Thorne,” Gittens prefaced before saying, “I expect to see both in game one vs UMass.”

Gittens added that it comes down to the leadership of the upperclassmen.

“Holden made this a tough decision but ultimately Freeze appears to be going with experience of Thorne and Ashford to potentially lead Auburn’s offense,” Gittens said.

Ashford and Thorne have traded places in the betting odds totem pole all summer, and the latter was even considered to be well behind the others as recently as August 12. Things move quickly in the SEC, as all three first or second-year QBs are learning.

‘Hard to tell’ who Hugh Freeze may choose for Auburn football starting QB

Auburn Daily’s Andrew Stefaniak is as puzzled as the rest of the Auburn family regarding the starting quarterback position. Stefaniak acknowledged that the QB1 should be trusted, but couldn’t muster a guess.

“At Tuesday’s fall camp practice, Payton Thorne went out first for drills against air, then Robby Ashford went out first for team drills,” Stefaniak prefaced before saying, “After hearing many positive reports about Holder Geriner, he didn’t go out first for drills at this practice. It really is starting to become a head-scratcher as to who will run out with the starters on September 2nd against UMass. Auburn fans should trust whoever Coach Freeze sends out there, but goodness, it is hard to tell who might be the guy.”

Freeze knows what he’s looking for, and he’s a proven entity in the coaching role. This writer sees no reason not to trust him too.

[toddc 13,194]

No idea if he knows or he’s talking about!

Edited August 17, 2023 by toddc

[bigbird 60,598]

1 minute ago, toddc said:

 

Carry that water, Mike!

[WFE12 9,191]

 

Happy for dude. Whatever he went through personally last year must’ve really affected his play but dude has an infectious personality for sure and looks to have earned a starting spot from what I’ve heard.

[LPTiger 5,206]

2 minutes ago, WFE12 said:

 

Happy for dude. Whatever he went through personally last year must’ve really affected his play but dude has an infectious personality for sure and looks to have earned a starting spot from what I’ve heard.

This is so cool on so many levels and for so many reasons.   That young man has "it."

[AuCivilEng1 11,048]

45 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I guess we'll have to see if any important announcement comes out today 

[W.E.D 11,070]

23 minutes ago, toddc said:

No idea if he knows or he’s talking about!

I can't take Mike G seriously on anything related to Ashford.  I don't think he's technically wrong, but it's probably wrong based on context.

Throne will 99.9% be the starter and will play predominately if not all the snaps for the first 2.5-3 quarters.  Ashford will get a few series in the second half and HG will get the last series.  Take that to the bank, IMO

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Now that the starting quarterback is named, let’s do this!

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Carry that water, Mike!

Is carrying water like herding cats?

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

1 hour ago, toddc said:

No idea if he knows or he’s talking about!

Last week he had Holden #1

[W.E.D 11,070]

Payton Thorne expected to be named Auburn football's starting quarterback

 

AUBURN — Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne is expected to be named Auburn football‘s starting quarterback for the season opener, multiple sources have confirmed to Auburn Live.

Head coach Hugh Freeze will address the media on Thursday and on Saturday following the final scrimmage. It’s unclear if or when Freeze will address the decision.

The Tigers will scrimmage for the second time on Saturday inside Jordan-Hare Stadium as fall camp wraps up.

Thorne beat out sophomore Robby Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner for the job. Observers told Auburn Live both Ashford and Geriner improved this fall, but Thorne was never unseated as the projected starter.

 

At the start of fall camp, Freeze said of Thorne, “it’s impossible for you not to visit with Payton because he demands it. My phone every day, ‘hey coach, you have any free time today? Hey coach, you have any free time?’ I love that about him.

“I feel very comfortably with who he is, his leaderships, his desire and preparation, his football IQ, but you have to make plays. I haven’t seen that yet and truthfully, I’m excited about the competition between he, Robby and Holden. It’ll make them all better.”

Freeze’s goal during fall camp was to “create adverse situations” for his quarterbacks in order to determine the best man for the job.

“Are they evaluating the coverages correctly? Is the ball going to the right spot? Is the decision to stay with the run or get into the RPO off that, all those things will be evaluated,” Freeze said earlier in camp. “Who does the team rally around the most? We have a good plan of the rotation between those three guys (Thorne, Ashford and Geriner). They’re all going to rotate pretty evenly. We’ll evaluate all those reps and recalibrate. We’ll sit down and go from there after the first five.”

New offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery reiterated much of what Freeze said about Thorne, calling the transfer quarterback a “professional” in his overall approach to the game.

“He’s another guy that you’ve got to run out of the building. He’s always watching tape, he’s always studying at home. He will text me, ‘Hey, what do I read on this, or what am I doing on that? I saw this on tape, how are we progressing through this?’ He wants to be on top of every detail that is involved in our offense,” Montgomery said.

 

“He’s seeing things now at a really good rate. You have to remember, he wasn’t here in spring, so some of the things that he’s picked up on. We have to get everybody else around that to be on the same page with him. I think he does a great job with his leadership, he’s disciplined and he’s professional about what he does.”

Thorne threw for 6,493 yards, 49 touchdowns and 24 interceptions during his three seasons at Michigan State. He transferred to Auburn following spring camp, arriving during the summer.

Auburn starts the season against UMass on September 2.

[toddc 13,194]

Surprise surprise surprise 

Thorne expected to be named Auburn's starting quarterback

Transfer Payton Thorne is expected to get the nod for the Tigers and it could be announced as early as Thursday.

Jason Caldwell8 mins

AUBURN, Alabama—When Hugh Freezemet with the media at SEC Media Days, he talked about wanting to have the quarterback race narrowed down to two at around the 10 practice mark of the preseason. Tuesday was the 10th practice for the Tigers and we saw Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford splitting reps with the first offense. 

With Freeze meeting with the media on Thursday, we’re expected to get the news that Thorne has been named Auburn’s starter heading into the 2023 season with Ashford continuing to compete for the position prior to the September 2 opener against UMass at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

A transfer from Michigan State, Thorne arrived on campus in early June and hit the ground running with his teammates to build the bonds necessary to win the job. A three-year starter for the Spartans with a ton of football experience under his belt, Thorne quickly earned the trust of his teammates and that has been a big reason why he’s moved to the top in such a short time.

“I think coach Freeze said this one time, in our first – I met Payton a while back when I was in recruiting, I took a visit to Michigan State,” running back Damari Alston said. “I could see the leadership mentality that he has. When he came in, he had a binder of the staff, like their faces were on it. He was trying to get to know their faces, he was trying to get to know everybody around him. I think he takes pride in just getting to know everybody around the facility, for sure.”

That was just the first step with Thorne picking up the offense and showing the ability to make good decisions with the football. The decision-making process has been one that Freeze and Philip Montgomery have talked about at length being an important part of this process, and the experienced Thorne has done a good job of that in the preseason.

A playmaker that has continued to develop as a quarterback after getting experience last season as the starter for the Tigers, Ashford has shown growth and that has allowed him to stay in front of redshirt freshman Holden Geriner in the quarterback battle to this point. With his ability to make plays with his legs, Ashford is going to be a player that Auburn gets work for throughout camp and into the season, but it appears that Thorne is the guy for the Tigers heading into the opener.

We could get official word on that as early as Thursday afternoon.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

37 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Payton Thorne expected to be named Auburn football's starting quarterback

 

AUBURN — Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne is expected to be named Auburn football‘s starting quarterback for the season opener, multiple sources have confirmed to Auburn Live.

Head coach Hugh Freeze will address the media on Thursday and on Saturday following the final scrimmage. It’s unclear if or when Freeze will address the decision.

The Tigers will scrimmage for the second time on Saturday inside Jordan-Hare Stadium as fall camp wraps up.

Thorne beat out sophomore Robby Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner for the job. Observers told Auburn Live both Ashford and Geriner improved this fall, but Thorne was never unseated as the projected starter.

 

At the start of fall camp, Freeze said of Thorne, “it’s impossible for you not to visit with Payton because he demands it. My phone every day, ‘hey coach, you have any free time today? Hey coach, you have any free time?’ I love that about him.

“I feel very comfortably with who he is, his leaderships, his desire and preparation, his football IQ, but you have to make plays. I haven’t seen that yet and truthfully, I’m excited about the competition between he, Robby and Holden. It’ll make them all better.”

Freeze’s goal during fall camp was to “create adverse situations” for his quarterbacks in order to determine the best man for the job.

“Are they evaluating the coverages correctly? Is the ball going to the right spot? Is the decision to stay with the run or get into the RPO off that, all those things will be evaluated,” Freeze said earlier in camp. “Who does the team rally around the most? We have a good plan of the rotation between those three guys (Thorne, Ashford and Geriner). They’re all going to rotate pretty evenly. We’ll evaluate all those reps and recalibrate. We’ll sit down and go from there after the first five.”

New offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery reiterated much of what Freeze said about Thorne, calling the transfer quarterback a “professional” in his overall approach to the game.

“He’s another guy that you’ve got to run out of the building. He’s always watching tape, he’s always studying at home. He will text me, ‘Hey, what do I read on this, or what am I doing on that? I saw this on tape, how are we progressing through this?’ He wants to be on top of every detail that is involved in our offense,” Montgomery said.

 

“He’s seeing things now at a really good rate. You have to remember, he wasn’t here in spring, so some of the things that he’s picked up on. We have to get everybody else around that to be on the same page with him. I think he does a great job with his leadership, he’s disciplined and he’s professional about what he does.”

Thorne threw for 6,493 yards, 49 touchdowns and 24 interceptions during his three seasons at Michigan State. He transferred to Auburn following spring camp, arriving during the summer.

Auburn starts the season against UMass on September 2.

Just got this alert from theScore. Let's GO!

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

Kid is going to be a monster for our d. Probably the steal of the class 

 

 

[WFE12 9,191]

Heard all this good stuff about Holden saying he’s been the best thrower since spring and having the best performance at the scrimmage. Everything I’ve seen about him has been positive yet he’s not even no.2?

[Win4AU 4,055]

Definitely surprised they didn’t wait till after the 2nd scrimmage.  Guess they want to give the top 2 the majority of the snaps.  Excited that Ashford is still in it.  

[toddc 13,194]

 

[toddc 13,194]

Asante ‘brings that juice every time’

AUBURN | Josh Aldridge didn’t know much about Eugene Asante when Aldridge was hired as Auburn’s linebacker coach last December.

Asante, a former North Carolina transfer, barely played for the Tigers in 2022, totaling just one tackle in four games.

But it didn’t take long for Aldridge to take notice of Asante during offseason workouts.

Asante has flourished under Auburn's new coaching staff. (Austin Perryman/Auburn athletics)

“From the time I got hired, I don’t know if anybody had better energy than he did, maybe on our whole team,” said Aldridge. “He worked so hard in the weight room and he’s changed his body. I think last year he was 205ish and he’s 220 now. He’s really what we like at a will linebacker that can cover and do multiple things.

“He’s not the longest guy, but he’s big enough. He just doesn’t have a bad day in terms of his attitude, ever. He plays the next play when he screws up. I think he’s made those guys around him better. Because Eugene brings it every single day, those guys have no choice but to bring it every single day too. It has been a really good domino effect with Eugene.”

That hard work has certainly paid off during fall camp. Asante is on the verge of going from a seldom-used backup to a starter at Will (weakside) linebacker.

“I think Eugene has made some huge strides,” said defensive coordinator Ron Roberts.”He’s a physical talent, runs well, plays hard, plays with excitement, emotions. He’s all that kind of stuff that you’re looking for. Early in the summer, I thought he did a good job of understanding the defense more, and that’s put him in a spot. Right now he’s in a spot to go compete for a job, a starting job.”

Asante’s enthusiasm has become infectious to his teammates. His constant refrain of, ‘Let’s work,’ can often be heard before during and even after practice.

“That's his saying right there,” said Jack linebacker Jalen McLeod. “He's fast; he's sideline-to-sideline, too. He's about my size, and he's explosive. He brings that juice every time.”

[Mike4AU 1,740]

4 hours ago, LPTiger said:

This is so cool on so many levels and for so many reasons.   That young man has "it."