AUBURN | With the game decided and a full quarter left to play, Hugh Freeze had a decision to make at quarterback.

He had three options to replace Payton Thorne, who had already throw for a career-best five touchdowns, and went with the least experienced, but perhaps the highest upside.

True freshman Walker White saw his first college action against ULM Saturday playing the entire fourth quarter of a 48-14 win.

Freeze’s other options were redshirt freshman Hank Brown, who has served as Thorne’s backup for most of the season and started two games, and sophomore Holden Geriner, who has played in eight career games.

“It truthfully has no reflection on Hank at all,” said Freeze. “I know people won't understand that, and they can make what they want. But I'm dead serious. It was really, if we do that, do you go Hank at the beginning of the third, or do you continue to build confidence with the receivers and Payton with a couple more possessions heading into the last few games, knowing that you might only get one of them in? And, if it is one, which one?

“And we all kind of agreed, and it was ultimately my call. I thought I wanted to see Walker in some live reps before the season was over. Truthfully, it had nothing to do with Hank not preparing well or not playing well. You just can't get them all in.”

In three possessions, White completed 2 of 5 passes for 18 yards and had four carries for 18 yards. He had a fumble on his second carry.

“I wanted to throw it around with him, because he's got a great arm. His arm strength is really off-the-charts good,” said Freeze. “You saw it in the first hitch. I think he was just amped up, but he ripped that thing. But that was really high and hard for Camden (Brown) to bring down.

“But, you know, we really didn't throw that a whole lot with him. I would've liked to have seen a little more of that. I kind of know what we have with Hank and Holden. I just wanted to kind of see how he reacted in real-game situations. Other than the turnover, I thought he was OK.”

For White, who signed with Auburn in the 2024 class and enrolled last January, it was an important step to experience his first live action in a college game.

“I feel like this whole season, I've been trying to prepare like the starting quarterback, so throughout the whole first three quarters, I was just going through reads in my head, and the game plan was great, and it was simple, and I knew it,” said White. “And I knew my protections, and I felt comfortable. I hope it looked like I felt comfortable, I feel like I felt comfortable, but it was fun.

“I know that's just really important for me to get some live-action reps if my career is going to be extensive, just continue to get more and more experienced and just continue to add tools to my belt.”

White admitted it had been difficult to fully understand each week’s game plan while working as the scout team quarterback. But he got increased reps during the bye week with Thorne nursing a shoulder injury including a scrimmage.

He’s confident the experience he’s gained over the past two weeks, especially getting a full quarter against the Warhawks, will pay dividends this spring when AU’s starting quarterback job will be up for grabs.

“It's huge. The coaches have emphasized to me how big this upcoming spring will be for me,” said White. “I feel like this game will be really huge for the spring just because I've gotten to get in-game, feel the comfortable.

“And just this spring, dive deeper into minor details of the offense, get to know it more and more, meet with Freeze, get some 1-on-1 time with him, watch film with him and continue to learn what his brain thinks because me and him want to be on the same page. We've been talking about that pretty recently, so it's gonna be big. It's gonna be good.”

Auburn, 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the SEC, hosts No. 15 Texas A&M Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.