It’s hard to draw too many strong conclusions from a game as lopsided as Auburn’s season opening win. Let me try.

The Tigers hammered Akron 60-10 on Saturday to begin Bryan Harsin’s tenure as head coach on The Plains. It was hard to find much fault in any aspect of Auburn’s performance as the Tigers led the entire game in dominating fashion. If it were a high school game, there would have been a running clock to quicken the end of the contest and the Zips’ suffering. The buses could have started warming up before halftime.

Realistic Auburn fans should take the win in stride and realize that much tougher teams are on the schedule. Akron wasn’t even an appetizer. The Zips, 1-23 in their past 24 games, were more like a mint at the hostess stand. However, these coaching debuts don’t always go great. So roll whatever tree you’re allowed to,  Auburn fans. The Tigers have these 5 reasons to celebrate:

Everyone bought in

When your favorite team goes through a coaching change, you hear mostly the same talk. Players and coaches will say that there has been a real “culture change”, that the “attitude is just different”, that “everyone is giving their all” and it was time for a “fresh start.” Well, that’s not always true and if there are doubts about a new staff, it’s usually evident early.

What are players and coaches supposed to say when a new coach takes over? You can’t just reply to media members by saying, “Well, honestly, we’re still pretty bad.”

Yet Harsin deserves a lot of credit for what seems like a true culture change at Auburn. The team has direction like it never had under former coach Gus Malzahn. Harsin has also had to deal with a preseason COVID-19 outbreak. He even had to isolate himself at home after testing positive midway through preseason camp. Still, he and his coaches managed the situation and made sure that Auburn was ready to play.

Harsin has given the offense a complete makeover

This falls right in line with the players buying in to Harsin’s system. Had they not been willing to adapt to a more complicated and challenging offense, Auburn would have never looked so good so quickly. The Tigers showed multiple looks against Akron, which will help them down the line. What do upcoming opponents prepare for? And can Auburn find another facet of the offense to lead the charge?

That wasn’t the case with Malzahn. He had his system and that’s all he was going to run — even if he occasionally blamed someone else for its shortcomings.

Bo Nix can still play

It’s really easy to forget about a player’s talent level when he’s poorly coached. Surely, some Auburn fans had begun to doubt Nix with all the adjustments Auburn’s offense seemed to be constantly undergoing. Fans really got heated when Nix completed less than 60% of his passes and threw 7 interceptions with just 12 touchdowns in 2020.

Nix was marvelous on Saturday. He completed 20 of 22 passes for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns. In a season when quarterback play is expected to decline in the SEC, could Nix be one of the top quarterbacks — or players — in the conference by season’s end?

Auburn could be undefeated going into the Georgia game

I might be getting ahead of myself but I think it’s realistic that the Tigers could be undefeated when they host Georgia on Oct. 9. I’m not guaranteeing anything but it’s certainly possible. The Tigers have surefire wins coming up this month against Alabama State on Sept. 11 and Georgia State on Sept. 25. Those games sandwich a trip to Penn State on Sept. 18.

The Nittany Lions didn’t exactly look like world beaters as they defeated Wisconsin 16-10 on Saturday. A mere 16 points seems unlikely to beat a team with Auburn’s offensive potential. Auburn travels to LSU on Oct. 2. LSU lost to UCLA 38-27 on Saturday. After traveling to Baton Rouge, could Auburn be undefeated when they host the Bulldogs? I’m not ruling it out.

There’s certainly no guaranteeing that Auburn will win 5 straight games this season. However, after what I saw on Saturday from the Tigers, it seems quite possible.