Saturday's scrimmage was a frustrating one for Payton Thorne.

At least, that's how Auburn's senior quarterback felt right after it, but after some film review and reflection, things didn't feel as bleak for Thorne.

"It was one of our not as good days of camp I would say," Thorne said to reporters on Monday. "But then you go back and watch film and like they say it's never as good, it's never as bad as you think. So just some detailed stuff on Saturday that was getting us."

Despite the offensive struggles, there were still guys, such as Malcolm Simmons, who showed out during the scrimmage.

"Some guys showed some good flashes obviously," Thorne said. "And I thought the defense did a lot of good things too."

And during the scrimmage, Thorne was able to change plays at the line and have pre-snap autonomy, something he didn't do much of during the previous season.

He believes that, combined with his newfound understanding of his offensive coaches, can be a weapon this upcoming season.

"I have a really good understanding of what Coach (Hugh) Freeze is trying to do, Coach (Derrick) Nix is trying to do and what Coach (Kent) Austin sees," Thorne said. "And so if we're on the same page and we're seeing things the same, coaches can have confidence in me to be able to change things up if I need to.

"So it's been great. It's been really fun. And it's a part of my game that I didn't get to use last year."

Another difference from the previous season is the receiver room.

Auburn returned just two scholarship receivers from the previous season, so there will be plenty of new contributors, including four freshmen.

So while there will be growing pains with a bunch of newcomers/freshmen, Thorne knows the talent will be worth it.

"I feel really good with where we're at right now," Thorne said. "We still have young guys. We still have four freshmen who are going to potentially play for us. That's not exactly one, common. And two, at the end of the day they're still young. You can't go out there and expect them to be these veteran receivers who know everything.

"At the end of the day, when you have guys around you that can make plays and sometimes turn a 5-yard gain into 20, that helps a lot."

So what's the difference between year one and year two for Thorne? Well, 'just about everything.'

"You got some familiar faces around some coaches, some players, but for the most part there's a lot of new guys and that's a good thing," Thorne said.