AUBURN, Ala. – Bo Nix burst onto the SEC scene in 2019, earning freshman of the year honors in the Southeastern Conference.
For an encore, Auburn's sophomore quarterback is taking a team-first approach.
"First, I really have to make sure I put my stuff aside and make sure our team and our offense is moving in the right direction," Nix said. "We're all on the same page, we have good team chemistry, we're communicating right, we've got timing with the receivers, good footwork with the running backs.
"As long as we're moving in the same direction, I feel completely confident that my goals will take care of themselves."
After setting Auburn freshman records for passing yards, completions and touchdown passes, Nix and first-year offensive coordinator Chad Morris are making up for time lost when the pandemic canceled spring practice.
"Not having spring didn't allow us to dive deep into the playbook," Nix said. "Coach Morris and the quarterbacks and all the rest of the coaches, we're in a good spot and hopefully looking to get better.
"Being here for the entire summer, our camaraderie as a team is really strong. We've had some good player meetings. We've started doing some more team building things that have really allowed us to open up with each other, and that's been really good for our team.
"I think that's the craziest part is we've only practiced twice since January. I think eventually, with the experience we have at other positions and on defense, I think we'll begin to correct the weaknesses and hopefully build on the strengths."
One of those strengths figures to be Auburn's receiving corps, which returns Nix's three top targets from 2019. Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove combined for 137 receptions last season.
"It's extremely important for timing and things like that, but it also helps with confidence," Nix said. "Flash and Shedrick [Jackson] and Seth – those guys are going into their third year, so they're experienced now and they know exactly how college football works and they know how we do it here at Auburn. With Eli Stove coming back, that's important because having experience anywhere is extremely important.
"We'll have a lot of new guys up front and a few guys in the backfield that will be new, but other than that, I think the experience is key. Because of that, we have great confidence in each other."
With the SEC's release Monday of each team's 10-game, conference-only schedule, Nix now knows which teams Auburn will face, and when, beginning with Kentucky at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 26.
"It's great because we can look forward to something and we can prepare for teams," he said. "I think it's a great opportunity to play 10 SEC games. We get to play South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, different teams from the East that we don't normally get to play.
"It's going to be a little unique, and we're going to have to go at it one week at a time and really focus in on our opponent. I think the biggest adjustment we're going to have to make is each week is going to be extremely important and more important than the last week."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer