Heading into spring practice, the looming thought around the team was who will be Auburn’s starting quarterback. On Saturday, T.J. Finley, Robby Ashford, and Holden Geriner all took snaps under center during Auburn’s A-Day scrimmage.
Finley was the first QB to come out, started alongside the number one offense. Finley led an 80-yard touchdown drive to open the scrimmage. He finished his day completing 11 of 19 passes and throwing for 137 yards and a touchdown. Finley was done after the first half.
Finley is in a similar situation from last season, as he is once again in a QB battle but this time coming in as a veteran presence.
“T.J.'s really smart, now, and not just playing quarterback,” said head coach Bryan Harsin. “He knows there's a competition. He knows that position needs to play well for our offense to succeed... He's also helping those other guys at his position, too.”
Robby Ashford ran the second-team offense for the Tigers and completed 11 of 13 passes for 127 yards. Ashford was named offensive MVP for his efforts.
Ashford had a big day throwing the ball, but what really popped out was his athleticism when he used his legs to pick up yards. With it being spring ball, however, he has not fully gotten to show that skill without live plays.
“One of Robby's strengths is going live, which he's not getting a chance to do,” Harsin said. “Guy swings his arm out there, is that really gonna be a sack with Robby? Probably not. He's really, really athletic, and you saw that today."
Freshman Holden Geriner came out and led team Auburn to a touchdown on the final drive of the day. He completed nine of 11 passes and threw for 71 yards and capped it off by throwing a touchdown to Landen King.
For Geriner, this was his first real action out of high school, so a big thing for him is catching up to and learning the fast pace of the college game.
“He needs to know what the heck we are doing,” Harsin said. “He can play. It's just he's never done it before. When guys get to this level, they are good players. But they have never played at this level. It's a different speed. It's different competition. They are going up against fourth-year seniors... He doesn't lack confidence. He knows he can play.”
Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada has been sidelined with a shoulder injury this spring. He has been unable to take any live reps and thus did not play in the spring game. He has taken some non-live reps during practices and Harsin has liked what he has seen from Calzada in the very limited reps that he has gotten to take.
“Every single rep Zach has gotten to take, I think he’s done a good job,” Harsin said.
Harsin emphasized that there has not been a starter named yet and that there will be an open competition heading into the summer.
“We haven’t named a starter,” Harsin said. “Every guy at that position has a chance. That’s okay. Those guys know that.”
Harsin noted that they will have QB reps narrowed down to the leaders in the room before the first fall scrimmage.
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Henry is a sophomore from Dallas, Texas. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @Henry_Patton23
