AUBURN | Way back in March at his pre-spring press conference, Gus Malzahn declared that his hurry-up, no-huddle offense was returning to Auburn.

He’s stuck to his guns since and is now just one day away from implementing his plan against Oregon.

“We’ve been challenging them to go fast and just straining them to be second-nature. We’re trying to get all of them to do that,” Malzahn said. “Obviously, our older guys understand a little bit more what we’re doing, but like I said, our goal is to put 11 guys on the field and try to keep those guys, so we’re working hard on that.”

Fast and physical, that’s the standard Malzahn set for the offense and the players have been working to execute it during the offseason.

“That’s kind of our thing,” senior center Kaleb Kim said. “We have our standard of how fast we want to go. If we’re not going that fast, then it will definitely be noticed and we’ll be called out for it.”

The offense doesn’t get called out just for not being fast enough The plays they run have to be executed perfect or they go back and run them again.

“We're pacing every day after practice. We do perfect plays, so that's our main thing,” said senior running back Kam Martin.

One of the keys to Malzahn’s HUNH offense is keeping the same 11 players on the field for a drive, which eliminates substitutions and allows the offense to operate at a high tempo.

Over the past several seasons, Malzahn has often lacked the personnel to consistently run at pace, particularly at the tight end/H-back position where you need a player that’s versatile enough to block effectively and be a threat as a pass catcher.

It appears the Tigers now have that in graduate transfer Jay Jay Wilson along with some younger players including John Samuel Shenker that are continuing to develop.

“We want to be able to play fast,” first-year offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham said. “Just like coach used to do with Charles Clay, just like coach used to do with with guys here, is we want to be able to play fast and push the tempo.”

No. 16 Auburn opens the season Saturday night against No. 11 Oregon Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.