AUBURN | You know the old saying that a football team takes on the personality of its head coach.

That couldn’t be more true with Auburn and Bryan Harsin Saturday.

The culture of hard work, discipline and accountability that Harsin implemented when he arrived last December was on full display for the first time in Jordan-Hare Stadium as the Tigers dismantled Akron 60-10 in the season opener.

But it’s not the score or the touchdowns or the six sacks that impressed me the most. It was the way Auburn’s players competed for all four quarters and played as clean a football game as I’ve seen for a coach in his first game at Auburn or really anywhere else.

It was impressive.

Auburn didn’t commit a turnover, had just three penalties, was a perfect 4 of 4 in the red zone and converted its first four third downs on the way to scoring on its first eight possessions. The offense had just two negative plays while the defense forced 11.

Bo Nix wasn’t sacked on his 22 pass attempts, 20 of which were caught.

There was one other moment that really stood out.

At the end, Harsin was doused by Zakoby McClain and Smoke Monday with a bucket of ice water. He quickly turned around with a huge smile on his face and embraced McClain.

That told you all you need to know about the players’ love for their new coach and his feelings in turn.

The Harsin era is off and running.

***

Speaking of Nix, it’s amazing what a talented quarterback can do when he’s not pressured. Actually, it’s not for anyone that’s watched more than a handful of football games.

At least it shouldn’t be.

We all saw what happened to Patrick Mahomes in February when he was pressured more than any other quarterback in Super Bowl history as the Kansas City Chiefs lost 31-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Certainly, Auburn has a parade of talented pass rushers its offensive line and Nix will have to deal with as the season unfolds, but Saturday’s record-breaking performance was a great example of what Nix is capable of when he has time and more than a couple of options in the route tree.

He had receivers running different routes all over the field and it was pretty clear he went to second and third options on several occasions.

It makes you wonder how much farther along Nix would be in his development if he played for Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo the previous two seasons.

Man, it really makes you wonder.

***

In today’s musical journey, we go back 35 years to the ascension of a cover song that brought international fame to an all-girl band. On Sept. 6, 1986, Bananarama's Venus climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 100 chart for the first time. The song also hit No. 1 in six other countries including Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand and Switzerland. The song was originally released by the Dutch band Shocking Blue in 1969 and it peaked at No. 1 in 10 countries including the U.S. It was written by Robbie van Leeuwen, who was the guitarist for Shocking Blue.

Bananarama was formed in 1980 by UK teenagers Sarah Dallin, Karen Woodward and Siobhan Fahey in London. Dallin and Fahey were studying journalism at the London College of Fashion while Woodward was working for the BBC. The bands name was derived from Roxy Music’s 1973 song Pyjamarama. The trio were big fans of punk rock and started out as backing vocalists for a number of bands including The Monochrome Set and Iggy Pop. They recorded a demo and were signed by Decca in 1981. Their debut album, 1983’s Deep Sea Skiving, had a few hits in the UK, but it was their second album, 1984’s Bananarama, which included the breakout hit Cruel Summer, a top 10 hit in the U.S. and UK. The third album, 1986’s True Confessions, included Venus, while the fourth album, 1988’s Wow! had their last major hit, I Heard a Rumour. Fahey left the band in 1988 to form the Shakespeare Sisters and was replaced by Jacquie O’Sullivan, who remained with the group until 1991. Fahey returned in 2017.

Bananarama had played Venus during their live shows for several years before convincing their label to include it on their third album. The producers, Steven Jolley and Tony Swain, didn’t think it would make a good dance tune. It hit the top 10 in 16 countries including topping the U.S. Dance charts for two weeks. The accompanying video received a lot of airplay on MTV. Bananarama is in the Guinness Book of Records as the all-female group with the most global chart entries. They’ve had 30 singles reach the top 50 on the UK charts from 1982-2009.