With the play clock winding down during Friday's scrimmage, T.J. Finley didn't panic. Instead, in a moment of urgency, the quarterback got the offense lined up and completed a pass to convert on third and long.

It was a moment that Bryan Harsin says helps separate Finley from the rest of the quarterbacks as they compete for the starting position at this moment.

"Those are things to me that I think he does a really good job of," the coach said.

Finley's maturity has been apparent during fall camp, especially to the second-year coach trying to decide who to put behind center in two weeks when Auburn takes on Mercer. The junior picks up little things during drills as his mentality for the game has grown.

As Harsin said Saturday following the Tigers' open practice, you can tell when you walk into a room who the quarterback of the team is. The players can't fake it, not with three coaches who played quarterback (Harsin, Eric Kiesau and Mike Hartline) in the room simultaneously. It's the details that these three coaches take note of.

"When you walk into a room, I think that guy's sitting down; he's got his notebook out," Harsin said. "He's locked in. He's dialed in. He sits in the meeting room, and he pays attention."

Mentally, football comes easy for Finley, with his head coach stating "not everybody conceptually picks things very quickly," like the 6-foot-7 quarterback. Not panicking and not wasting a time out on that third down on Friday is a prominent example of that. Harsin has been pleased with how Finley has prepared for each day, coming to every meeting ready to learn. He studies the game and, because of that, makes his fellow quarterbacks raise their habits.

"That's an example of T.J. kind of elevating that room from a mental standpoint," Harsin said.

But there's also one big thing that the coaches haven't been able to see with the quarterbacks not going live: how they react when they need a pass, knowing they are about to get hit.

"You're gonna do one of two things: you're gonna stand there and deliver, or you're gonna get on your back foot and flinch," Harsin said. I mean, that remains to be seen."

No decision has been made on who will be the first to take snaps on Sept. 3rd, but Finley has done a lot to help his case for the starting job, serving as a leader on and off the field.

"T.J.'s got a coach's mentality," Harsin said.