AUBURN | To those who have clamored to see a new Auburn offense for the past few years, congratulations. Saturday is your big day.

It's a new offense for Bo Nix as well as he adjusts to what offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and head coach Bryan Harsin want to do on that side of the ball. The third-year quarterback noted some differences in what he can do on the field, stating he's learned where the ball should go in the system. A lot rides on what happens before he even has the ball in his hands.

"Just understanding and recognizing a lot of things before the snap, and I think pre-snap is where I'll have the biggest significant difference," Nix said. "Really, in my head, I'll know exactly the situations that they can present and the defenses that they can possibly be in just because I can eliminate the ones they're not going to be in."

The differences don't stop there. Per Nix, he now has more check-down options when the pocket is collapsing, along with the wide receivers running more routes gives him the chance to find them in new parts of the field.

The new scheme also allows more completions to running backs out of the backfield, something the Tigers will use to get Tank Bigsby the ball in multiple ways. That, according to Nix, will take some pressure off of the offensive line. It all sounds grand, but the quarterback admits it's a work in progress.

"There's going to be a lot of, still, growing pains in the first couple games because of a new system, new ways of operations, new calls, new communications, and all that stuff," Nix said.

Fortunately, those first two matchups are against overmatched opponents in Akron and Alabama State, respectively. While mistakes can be made and prove not costly against them, things change in a big way when the Tigers travel to take on Penn State on Sept. 18. Nix and Auburn's offense aims to figure out their strengths and find a rhythm; Becoming comfortable with each other as any new offense, especially one with a group of new and inexperienced receivers, needs.

"We've got to come out there and play sharp to give us good, positive energy moving forward and give us some confidence," Nix said. "So, having these first two games, before the big national stage game, these two are going to be very important for us."