AUBURN, Alabama -- There's no grey area on Auburn's offensive line.

In an offense that stresses precision at the skill positions, falling behind the desired pace will not only tire the big men on the offensive line but also hurt the offense -- especially this one of the hurry-up, no-huddle variety.

As daunting as this rebuilding project is for Gus Malzahn, who is trying to rehabilitate a program from a 60-year low on the field, getting linemen in shape and capable of blocking, pulling and running up the field without a breather is the backbone of the Tigers' resurgence.

"Last year it was kind of, you had your job, and it was more of however you felt like you could do it the best, that's the way you did it," center Reese Dismukes said. "This year, there's no grey area. You know how he wants you to do the job, and how he wants you to get the job done. That's mainly the big difference."

Four of five starters from the offensive line return in 2013, including Dismukes.

"Reese Dismukes probably had the best spring of any of the linemen up front," Malzahn said. "(He) showed a lot of leadership ability and really led the way."

The only position of question is left guard, where junior college transfer Devonte Danzey is competing against Alex Kozan. Many expected Danzey, a junior college transfer, to take the job but that didn't necessarily happen after 15 practices in the spring.

"Those are two guys that played a little bit of center, played a little bit of right guard and started settling down into that left guard position," Malzahn said. "Both those guys have a lot of ability."

Redshirt freshman Jordan Diamond moved from position to position settled at right guard, but sits behind junior Chad Slade on the depth chart.

The guards will get plenty of work in Malzahn's offense, which will count on quick the interior blockers to pull and out-leverage tiring defenses on running plays.

"We stick together," Diamond said. "This is a whole other year. This year we're bonding more, we're into it more and we're willing to learn. We put all of that together and you get a good offensive line."

In the A-Day game, the unit gave up three sacks but paved the way for several long runs by tailbacks Cameron Artis-Payne and Tre Mason, who combined for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.

"That's one of the positions where they've really got to have a lot of reps together before they start gelling," Malzahn said. "I believe that's one area where the future is very bright with the young talent we've got. I'm excited to watch their progress."

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