Hugh Freeze finished his first spring football session and A-Day as the Auburn football coach with a rain-shortened scrimmage Saturday at Jordan-Hare. Officials from the university announced an attendance of over 16,000; however, being inside the stadium as raindrops continued to fall felt like a smaller crowd.

All the rain limited the Tiger quarterbacks from passing very often. Robby Ashford had one completion for 39 yards to Tar’Varish Dawson. Ashford also rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown. He won the offensive MVP of the spring game.

Read More Auburn Football: Projecting Auburn football’s 2023 post-spring depth chart

Robby Ashford embracing challenge from Hugh Freeze

3 positions that may need a boost for Auburn’s defense after A-Day

T.J. Finley was 1-4 for 12 yards, and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner had 17 passing yards on three completions in five attempts. Auburn passed 12 times, and the quarterbacks combined to go 5-12. Ashford took first-team reps in the scrimmage and for most of the camp other than when he was recovering from a shoulder injury. Finley mostly had second-team reps, and Geriner had third-team. When Ashford was limited, Geriner saw first-team reps.

Freeze told reporters that he felt better about the quarterbacks on campus than he did, but that wouldn’t stop him from seeking another quarterback starting on April 15 from April 30 when the transfer portal opens for the spring.

“We’re not proven in the room that we have that any of those (QBs) have done that. I’m not saying they can’t, and I’m certainly not down on them,” Freeze said. “I think we can win games with these guys. But should a guy come available that is a dynamic guy that we think is already a proven commodity doing that, I think we would have to at least look at that.”

Besides the quarterback situation, we learned a lot from spring football under Freeze. Let’s get into some takeaways from Auburn’s spring football.

— Auburn is confident in its running game. Jarquez Hunter is a talented runner that Freeze said is the best running back he’s coached. Brian Battie is a speedy athlete with quick feet. Damari Alston showed promising signs as a freshman last season and has improved. Sean Jackson had 77 yards during A-Day. Jackson presents an interesting situation. He’s fourth on the depth chart, but the 5′9 230-pound is a battering ram with shiftiness. Could he work his way into more carries? Would he consider transferring to a school where he isn’t buried on the depth chart, especially with talented freshman Jeremiah Cobb coming to campus for fall camp?

— Auburn’s run game looked strong, with the offensive line opening up running lanes. Freeze inherited a room that had seven scholarship o-linemen. He used the transfer portal to find Gunnar Britton (Western Kentucky), Dillion Wade (Tulsa), Avery Jones (East Carolina), and junior college lineman Izavion Miller. Freshman Connor Lew had a strong camp, and Freeze said he’d get some action in games. Retooling the offensive line is challenging, but Freeze seems confident in the group.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re going to have a decent offensive line, Freeze said. “In this league, you can have a decent one and still look bad at times because the defensive lines are so talented. But there’s no question in my mind we’ve made improvements from last year to this year. I thought today was just another step forward in that.”

— As happy as Freeze was with the offense running the ball, he was equally disappointed with the defense’s inability to stop the run.

“I’d have to say I think we improved that O-Line some, and they looked pretty decent today,” I think after today, what’s on my mind is we’ve got to stop the run. You can’t win in this league if you can’t stop the run, and we didn’t stop it very well today on some drives. I would say that’s the two things that are on my mind, both good and bad, right now.”

— Alex McPherson hit the game-tying 33-yard field goal. He also hit a 39-yarder. Filling Ander Carlson’s shoes won’t be easy, however, handling two kicks in a torrential downpour is a positive sign.

“The snap’s … waterlogged snapped it looks like and the holder’s got to hang in there and get it on the ground quick and the kicker’s got to change his timing a little bit,” Freeze said about McPherson. “We handled all that really well. We missed one, but I thought the operation was good. And obviously there with the game on the line, to step in there and all three of them get it done, I think it’s really good for the experience that they could use.”

— There’s probably not a more certain position than Oscar Chapman as the punter for the Tigers. Chapman was a Ray Guy award semifinalist last season with a 43.9-yard average on 57 punts. Freeze was impressed with Chapman’s kicks before the scrimmage.

“I go back to, man, before the scrimmage started, our punter was dynamite,” Freeze said. “We need to bottle that and carry that over. Some of those punts he hit were incredible.”

— Another reality of the new age of college football is that some players who participated in the A-Day game could enter the transfer portal. Auburn will be active in the portal as they were during the open window before spring camp. Expect the roster to look different when fall camp opens than it did when spring football ended.

“I think the transfer portal opens soon, and we are open to any position that’ll help us improve our team, as long as they fit within the culture, Freeze said. ” I think competition is helpful. And those that handle it right. And for those that don’t, they’re probably not going to the winners for you anyway.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.