Two Power 5 conferences show off to open the festivities on New Year’s Day. The SEC’s Auburn Tigers take on the Big Ten’s Wisconsin Badgers in a showdown between two of the nation’s top-ranked rushing offenses. Read on as we preview this intriguing matchup.
Looking to bolster your New Year’s Day celebrations with a couple of exciting college football games? Check out our previews for the College Football Playoff games Florida State Seminoles vs. Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Wisconsin Badgers vs. Auburn Tigers Outback Bowl Betting Preview
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay
When: Thursday, January 1, 12:00 PM ET
Line: Wisconsin Badgers (+6.5) at Auburn Tigers (-6.5); total 62.5 – view all NCAA Football lines
Betting on the Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers need to put their 59-0 nightmare loss to Ohio State behind them quickly. They gave up a staggering 301 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Badgers take on another of the nation’s prolific rushing teams in the Auburn Tigers on New Year’s Day.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]With former head coach Gary Andersen now with Oregon State, Barry Alvarez will come out of retirement to coach the Badgers in the Outback Bowl. A former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 1979-1989 for Iowa and Notre Dame, Alvarez may have a good game plan for Wisconsin to follow to stop Auburn’s rush.
The Badgers have a dominant front seven capable of preventing the Tigers from gaining significant yardage on the ground. Linebackers Vince Biegel, Derek Landisch, Marcus Trotter and Joe Schobert have combined for 52 tackles for a loss, and will lead Wisconsin’s run stopping unit.
While the Badgers need to stop the run on defense, they’ll need to get their own rushing offense going on the other side of the ball. Running back Melvin Gordon has rushed for 2,336 yards and 26 touchdowns this season and was a Heisman finalist. Gordon has been a handful for opponents averaging 7.6 yards per carry and has five 200-yard games this season.
Wisconsin’s lead back takes on an Auburn defense which has not particularly been excellent at stopping the run, giving up 149.5 yards rushing per game and a total of 19 rushing touchdowns in the season.
The Badgers have not won a bowl game since 2009.
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Betting on the Auburn Tigers
Don’t let their 8-4 record fool you. The Auburn Tigers are very much capable of beating down on the nation’s top teams with their relentless running attack.
Spearheading the Tigers rushing is running back Cameron Artis-Payne. Auburn’s lead back has finished with 1,482 yards and 11 touchdowns on 277 carries this season and has topped the century mark on eight occasions. Dual-threat quarterback Nick Marshall has also proven to be a competent runner himself. He has accounted for 780 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground this season.
As Barry Alvarez leads the Badgers to stop Auburn’s vaunted running attack, Marshall may find success with play-action fakes to draw defenders off him. Marshall has a couple of deep-threat receivers capable of punishing Wisconsin’s secondary. D’haquille Williams has 730 yards and five touchdowns this season averaging 16.2 yards per catch, while Sammie Coates isn’t too far off with 717 yards and four touchdowns averaging 23.9 yards per catch.
While the Badgers allowed 301 yards on the ground in their Big Ten Championship game-losing performance, they also allowed Ohio State’s third-string quarterback Cardale Jones to throw for 257 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 completions. So expect a big game from Marshall either through the air or on the ground.
On the other side of the ball, the Tigers need to slow down Melvin Gordon to force more passing plays from the Badgers. Placing their linebackers closer to the line of scrimmage should help. The Tigers’ junior linebackers Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost have 10 and nine tackles for loss respectively this season, and will be vital in keeping Gordon in check.
Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave will be more manageable to contain for Auburn. Stave has passed for 1,229 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in the season. The Tigers have given up almost as many touchdowns (21) as they’ve taken interceptions (19) this season.
The Tigers have won all four of their interconference games this season.
Writer’s Prediction
Auburn turns the game into a shootout. Take the Tigers to cover -6.5.
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