Auburn is well aware of Georgia Southern's recent history of playing well against SEC teams.

Both coach Gus Malzahn and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele cited GSU's win over Florida in 2013 and overtime loss to Georgia in 2015 this week in referencing how the Tigers are beginning to prepare for the Eagles on Sept. 2 (6:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network). The Eagles also lost to Ole Miss by 10 last season.

"They present challenges with that triple option, there's no doubt," Malzahn said. "They played a lot of big teams good. You can see they're a talented team, so that definitely concerns you. We need to play well."

On Monday, Georgia Southern named redshirt-freshman Shai Werts its starting quarterback. Werts had more than 6,000 total yards and 73 touchdowns in his high school career, which will be Auburn's main frame of reference on him besides whatever footage it can find of GSU's spring game.

"You have to (look at high school tape)," Malzahn said. "You just do the best you can as far as homework and getting as much information as you can."

Steele and the defensive staff were pouring though Cal Poly film from 2009-12 to see what new GSU offensive coordinator Bryan Cook might run.

Reports out of the Statesboro indicate the Eagles will run a shotgun-based triple option but will have a package to go under center as well.

"These guys are very good players, they're very well coached," Steele said on the Tiger Talk radio program Thursday night. "There's a pride at Georgia Southern that was established by coach (Erk) Russell back when he started the program and that's deeply embedded in that program and you can see it on tape."

The Eagles gained 267 rushing yards on 59 carries with two touchdowns against Ole Miss, most by a non-SEC team against the Rebels last season.

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Steele's familiarity with triple option attacks from his experience facing Georgia Tech while at Clemson should help.

"The fact that's such a unique offense and I think the good thing is we have a long period to prepare," Malzahn said. "Some teams only have a week to prepare and it's a little bit challenging, but Kevin is a guy that has a good understanding of the triple option and has defending it before. Experience does nothing but help.

"Now, does that mean they're easy to stop? No. They're good at what they do."