In first-year head coach Hugh Freeze’s inaugural spring ball session at Auburn, the Tigers had a quarterback room that featured incumbent sophomore starter Robby Ashford, redshirt freshman Holden Geriner and TJ Finley, who later transferred to Texas State after an abysmal showing in Auburn’s spring game.

But when Freeze went to dip into the transfer portal after it opened in mid-April, it served as a decision that spelled out the-then current state of the quarterback room at Auburn: It wasn’t good enough.

When junior Payton Thorne announced his plans to transfer from Michigan State — where he was primed to be the Spartans’ starter for the third season in a row — and committed to Freeze and the Tigers, it felt like the starting quarterback job was always Thorne’s to lose.

And while it might’ve taken Freeze and Auburn offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery a bit longer than anticipated to reach a decision, when all was said and done, Thorne was named Auburn’s starter Thursday afternoon, never losing the job that always felt like his for the taking. Thorne battled and rose to QB1 status over Ashford and Geriner in the opening weeks of fall camp.

During Auburn’s first scrimmage of the fall on Aug. 12, all three got reps. And, ironically enough, Thorne was the only guy not to throw a touchdown pass, though Freeze said the junior transfer had two near-misses in which the receiver was ruled out of bounds.

Nonetheless, something from Saturday’s scrimmage convinced Freeze this was the direction to go in.

“Yesterday, I had my mind made up,” Freeze said following the scrimmage. “And after today, I need to watch the film before I say.”

It’s not clear whether Freeze knew who he thought Auburn’s starter would be prior to the scrimmage or if he simply had an idea who might be nixed from the continuing competition, which would’ve been in line with the 10-day timeline he said he hoped for during SEC Media Days.

Five days removed from Saturday’s action; however, Freeze didn’t leave any room for questioning what was meant by his comment.

Auburn’s quarterback question has finally been answered.

“I’ve decided to start Payton Thorne,” Freeze said during his press conference Thursday. “My gut is usually right… And I’m not saying that Payton is the guy for all 12 games, but my gut is saying it’s the time to do this and to get us best prepared for the opening of the season.”

Thorne always felt like the safest option Auburn.

With 26 career starts under his belt from his time in East Lansing, Thorne came into fall camp heads and shoulders above the other contenders in terms of experience. His competitors, Ashford and Geriner combined for just nine career starts with Ashford tallying all nine after winning the starting job midway through last season.

It goes without saying, but Thorne’s statistics are also well above those of Ashford and Geriner.

With 49 career passing touchdowns, Thorne has seven times as many passing touchdowns as any other quarterback on Auburn’s roster. Ashford is the only other Auburn quarterback to have thrown a passing touchdown, with seven last fall.

Then you look at passing efficiency — a number that once again favored Thorne.

During his three seasons at MSU, Thorne tallied 6,494 passing yards with a 60.9% completion rating. Last fall, Thorne had his most efficient season, completing 63% of his passes.

Meanwhile, it was Ashford’s accuracy that kept him constrained. An impressive athlete, Ashford’s ability to extend plays with his legs is attractive — especially given Freeze’s track record with dual threat quarterbacks and a RPO offense.

In a conference like the SEC, quarterbacks are rarely able to lean solely on athleticism. Such was the case for Ashford, who despite steps forward in terms of his accuracy still wasn’t able to reach the level of efficiency Thorne and Geriner.

Freeze said it himself during SEC Media Days: Ashford might have too much talent to hang on the clothesline during games.

Looking at pure passing ability is where Auburn’s young gun in Geriner shined.

“I think he’s a natural thrower. The ball just zips off his hands,” Montgomery said. “He spins it tight. He can hit small windows. He can push the ball down the field. I think he does a great job of that.”

Geriner added spice to Auburn’s quarterback battle, which many believed to be a two-man race coming into the fall. Ultimately, what the youngster had in talent, he lacked in experience. But having that third competitor who was able to be in the mix as long as Geriner obviously isn’t a bad problem to have moving forward.

When Auburn returns to Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time of the 2023 season on Sept. 2 against UMass, Thorne is the guy who will first trot out onto the field with the Tigers’ starting offense.

And the former Spartan has earned it.

Montgomery called Thorne a guy that you have to “run out of the building”.

“He’s always watching tape. He’s always studying,” Montgomery said. “He wants to be on top of every detail that is involved in our offense.”

But Thorne’s attention to detail doesn’t stop at the playbook.

When Thorne first arrived at The Plains, he asked for a photo of every person who worked with the football program, along with their name. That way he knew — by name — everyone who was involved.

And that’s exactly what Auburn fans should want in the guy that’s going to have the keys to the Tigers’ offense this fall.