Year 1 of the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn felt like a roller coaster.

From almost pulling two unthinkable upsets against Alabama and Georgia to getting blown out at home by New Mexico State, there was rarely a sense of consistency.

More than anything else, the cause of these issues was the offense.

Unlike teams he had coached in the past, Freeze wasn’t very involved in Auburn’s offense last season, leaving control with former offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery.

That experiment failed, resulting in Montgomery being fired and Freeze becoming more involved in the offense.

At the center of much of the offseason chatter about the offense, though, was quarterback Payton Thorne.

Thorne transferred to Auburn from Michigan State prior to last season, and his production dropped off with Auburn in 2023.

He didn’t catch all the blame for the offense’s poor performances last season, but as the starting quarterback, a lot of criticism was unavoidable.

He threw for 1,755 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, both dips in production from his previous two campaigns at Michigan State.

The talk about Thorne and the offense’s play in 2023 lasted all spring and summer, but Freeze made it clear on Thursday that he’s ready to move on.

“I don’t want to talk about last year anymore, truthfully,” Freeze said before Auburn’s first fall practice when asked about the pitfalls of running RPOs with Thorne last season.

He didn’t completely avoid the question, though.

Freeze took the blame for last year’s issues and said that Thorne made a commitment to fix the issues with the RPO game during spring camp.

One of the things Thorne talked about most at SEC Media Days was how much more comfortable he is now compared to going into last season.

Thorne didn’t arrive in Auburn until last summer, meaning he was thrusted into the starting position without having gone through spring, an issue he won’t face this season.

“Having a full year is a huge difference,” Thorne said at SEC Media Days. “Last year, getting here in the middle of summer, obviously that’s not ideal going into a new offense, a new team, a new atmosphere.

“Now we have a set plan, a full offseason, like you said, spring ball, summer. You’re just familiar with everything. So, yeah, there’s no doubt there’s going to be more confidence that comes with that. I think that good things are coming because of that.”

The other big difference is who Thorne was to throw to. Cam Coleman, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Robert Lewis, three newcomers, took first-team reps with Thorne at Thursday’s practice.

From Coleman, a five-star freshman, to Lambert-Smith and Lewis, two experienced transfers, it’s a sizeable jump in talent at the position.

The focal point of any offensive improvement will come from Thorne, though. Both Thorne and Freeze went on about his added confidence during the offseason, and that confidence comes with increased expectations.

“I expect to see him at this age of his career to know my mind and to know the adjustments to get us in the best possible scenario,” Freeze said.

“Ultimately the buck stops with me,” Freeze continued. “I have to own what his performance is. But if it’s third-and-one we have an RPO called, I have given him the tools to get the first down without having to throw the football. So, we have to understand the entirety of the offense and I feel really comfortable that he’s at a point that he’s in pretty good position for that.”