On a day when Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze thought he’d be able to make decisions about his depth chart — now three weeks out from the first game of the season — his press conference following the first scrimmage of fall camp was instead filled with questions and an understanding of a lot of work left to do.

Media members were not able to view Auburn’s scrimmage, and Freeze’s account of it was filled with believed inconsistencies on how the team played. In his press conference, Freeze mentioned a number of position groups he thought underperformed in the game.

The game itself was a literal tale of two halves. Freeze said the first half of the game was controlled by the offense. At that point, the group was using the high-tempo that has been talked about throughout fall camp. On Friday, Dillon Wade said that tempo is going to give Auburn a big advantage, and Freeze seemed to think it did during the scrimmage.

But Freeze said he wanted to change things by lowering the pace, and see how the offense responded. They didn’t respond well.

“I called that off and wanted to see if we could execute and then the defense pretty much dominated from that point forward,” Freeze said.

The quarterback play also appeared inconsistent from Freeze’s remarks. Freeze said his trio of quarterbacks — Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner — all were reliable in taking care of the ball. The accuracy may not have been consistent, but Freeze said all three looked good “at times” on Saturday.

Ashford and Geriner each had touchdown passes. Thorne did not, but Freeze said there were two passes Thorne threw where the receiver was ruled out of bounds.

The quarterback play led Freeze now being at a point where he wants to re-think his decision on a final two — having made up his mind yesterday but now wanting to watch more film.

The wide receivers struggled, Freeze added. That comes after the beginning of fall camp where Auburn had rotated so many wide receivers into the picture and seemed to have many options. Freeze said the receivers had been having a good camp, but that didn’t extend into Saturday.

“But way too many opportunities in the RPO game that the quarterback made the right decision to throw the ball and a receiver is — again I haven’t watched the film — but he’s either loafing, which we can’t have, or he chose to run the wrong route,” Freeze said.

And for a group that Freeze said underperformed, also facing injuries to Malcolm Johnson, Camden Brown, Koy Moore and Ja’Varrius Johnson doesn’t do any favors.

While Freeze said the wide receivers took a step forward throughout this week, Saturday was certainly a step backward in his eyes.

Freeze also mentioned struggles in the secondary, especially when it came to tackling. It’s not uncommon for a coach to note tackling struggles in the first time in full pads, which Saturday’s scrimmage was, but Freeze seemed especially frustrated.

“I think we’ve got to tackle better, we did not tackle well today when our backs got in the second level,” Freeze said. “Obviously, the corners, I think, are talented. Our safeties are also, but we need depth there and we’ve got to bring those young kids on. But we didn’t tackle well today in the secondary.”

Freeze did have positive reviews for the trenches on both sides of the ball and especially the running back room.

Sophomore running back Damari Alston was a standout with three big runs, including a touchdown.

Freeze also praised freshman Jeremiah Cobb as someone who, despite being a “baby” on this roster, is going to be a good player for Auburn down the road.

Auburn’s new-look offensive line played well at the beginning of the scrimmage before getting worn out by a long week of practice on a few sweltering August days in Alabama in a row. There is no practice Sunday, which Freeze said the team needs.

The tiring offensive line synced up with when the defense took over the game, and that started up front.

“I think at the end of practice today I thought they were dominant,” Freeze said of the defensive line. “They created negative plays on us that didn’t happen early in the game.”

Freeze specifically mentioned jack linebacker Stephen Sings V, who has been a big riser throughout fall camp. Jack linebackers Jalen McLeod and Elijah McAllister as well as defensive end Keldric Faulk have “gotten better,” Freeze said.

“Yeah it was a mixed bag,” Freeze said of his team. “I‘ve said this all time, it’s hard for me to leave a scrimmage or a practice feeling great because one side does well and well, we’re not getting it done on the other side and vice versa.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]