The buzz coming out of Auburn on Thursday is that Hugh Freeze and the Tigers are ready to name junior Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne the team’s starting quarterback.

Auburn Live and Auburn Undercover were first to report the news, which was later confirmed by ESPN’s Chris Low.

Freeze is set to meet with the media Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. and will certainly be asked if Auburn’s quarterback battle has officially come to a close.

And while that’s surely the biggest takeaway set to come out of Thursday’s press conference, there’s still plenty of dust that needs to settle on The Plains as the Tigers continue to prepare for their season opener against UMass on Sept. 2.

Follow along with Freeze’s press conference ahead of Auburn’s 11th practice of fall camp:

— Hugh Freeze opens his press conference with offering condolences to Auburn’s men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl’s family. Pearl lost his father Wednesday.

— Freeze says Garner Langlo, who departed the program earlier this week, has decided to “hang up” football

— Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne officially gets the nod as Auburn’s starting quarterback. Freeze goes on to commend Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner for the quarterback competition, which featured little separation at times.

— Freeze says it was Thorne’s leadership and understanding of the offense that ultimately led to the transfer quarterback getting the starting job.

— After a rough showing during Saturday’s scrimmage, Freeze says Auburn’s wide receivers bounced back this week and that Camden Brown, who has dealt with a string of injuries, finally practiced with the team.

— Freeze said he was feeling good about Thorne heading into last Saturday’s scrimmage, despite saying he had to go back and look at film after the fact. Freeze said he felt Thorne pressed too much during the scrimmage and that Robby Ashford had a great showing Saturday.

— When asked if he thought any of the backup quarterbacks might transfer out following the news, Freeze said he sure hoped that wasn’t the case and that he hadn’t heard anything of those sorts.

— Freeze went on to double down on Holden Geriner as the best pure presser of the three, but added sometimes his decision making wasn’t the sharpest.

— “The quarterback situation is set,” Freeze said, reiterating that Thorne is Auburn’s starter heading into UMass barring any injuries.

— When asked about some of the outstanding position battles, Freeze says he doesn’t see them as battles, but rather insists that everyone needs to be ready should their name be called on any given Saturday.

— Freeze fields a question about Michael Oher and the Tuohy family, who Freeze was involved with during his time coaching at Briarcrest Christian. Freeze says he doesn’t claim to know the ins and outs of the situation, but knows that he saw a family who took in a kid and loved him as their own.

— With the prospect of Ashford having his own packages on Saturdays, Freeze alludes to what he did with Bo Wallace at Ole Miss.

— Freeze says it’s shocking to him that it’s been so long since Auburn has had a 1,000-yard receiver. Says he hopes the wide receivers he’s recruiting are listening when he says that the Tigers need to change that.