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Auburn Football: Outback Bowl vs Wisconsin Game Day Preview

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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The Auburn Tigers and Wisconsin Badgers will kick off the New Year’s Day slate of bowl games in Tampa, Florida at the Outback Bowl. Auburn, a 6.5-point favorite, carries an 8-4 record and No. 19 ranking into the post-season matchup against the 10-3, 18th ranked Badgers.

The two teams have struggled recently. The Tigers have lost three of their last four games, with the only win coming against Samford. Looking back, the last win Auburn had against an FBS opponent came November 1 against Ole Miss.

Wisconsin has won seven of their last eight as champions of the Big Ten’s Western Division, but most recently were embarrassed 59-0 by Ohio State in the conference title game. Since, they’ve lost their head coach and will have athletic director (and Hall of Famer) Barry Alvarez back on the sidelines to oversee the transition from Gary Andersen to Paul Chryst.

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Alvarez, who retired after beating Auburn 24-10 in the 2006 Capital One Bowl, will make his second appearance as a pinch-hitting head coach. He also led the Badgers during the 2013 Rose Bowl after the departure of Bret Bielema, a game Wisconsin lost 20-14 to Stanford.

“We all want to win it for him,” Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon said. “… I feel like we owe him, especially the class that was with him for the Rose Bowl. I feel like we owe him one. We kinda let him down there and he’s been working us pretty hard. He wants us to be ready and I feel like we are.”

Speaking of Gordon, he’s the nation’s leader with 2,336 rushing yards, 179.7 rushing yards per game, and 26 touchdowns on only 309 carries. The junior has averaged 7.6 yards per carry and was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

He and the rest of the Badgers’ offense could have a big day against an Auburn defense that is dealing with its own transition. Overall, Wisconsin averages 314 rushing yards per game, which ranks in the nation’s top five, due to Gordon, Corey Clement, and one of the nation’s best offensive lines.

Plus, the Tigers have struggled to stop opponents in the second half of the season, and allowed 196.7 rushing yards on average over the last six games against FBS opponents – four of which were losses. During that same stretch of games, Auburn also allowed 285.8 passing yards per game. As a result, defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson was fired and Will Muschamp was hired.

Nov 1, 2014; Oxford, MS, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Nick Marshall (140 drops back to pass during the third quarter against the Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, Muschamp won’t coach in the bowl game, so Charlie Harbison will call the defense. The 4-2-5 defensive scheme Auburn ran for two seasons under Johnson won’t change much, so it would be unwise to expect a major turnaround.

However, all indications are that the Tigers have practiced well and there is a sense of urgency to impress the new defensive coordinator.

Expect Harbison to be aggressive in his first and only game as Auburn’s DC, and to load the box in an effort to corral Gordon and Clement. By doing so, he’ll likely call for All-SEC second team cornerbacks Jonathan Jones and Jonathon Mincy to play a lot of man-to-man coverage on the outside.

If the Tigers can avoid getting beat on deep passing plays, they’ve got a shot to limit Wisconsin’s rushing attack. After all, Ohio State showed a pretty solid game-plan.

On offense, Auburn boasts a solid collection of players making their final appearances in blue and orange.

Senior quarterback Nick Marshall threw for a school-record 456 yards in the Tigers’ 55-44 loss to Alabama in the team’s last game, and as a true dual threat, needs only 37 yards to become Auburn’s all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks. Marshall and fellow senior Cameron Artis-Payne – the SEC’s leading rusher with 1,482 yards – are a dynamic one-two combo and helped the Tigers lead the league in rushing this season.

Marshall will be without his top receiving target, however, which will hurt. Junior wide receiver D’haquille Williams has been suspended for the Outback Bowl due to an undisclosed team rules violation. The suspension has reduced Williams production to scout team duty this week.

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    • That’s the bad news. The good news?

    “I’m 100 percent coming back,” Williams said this week when discussing his decision whether or not to go pro. “I feel like we have some unfinished business.”

    Even without Williams and his 45 catches, 730 receiving yards and five touchdowns, Marshall will have junior Sammie Coates, who is making his last appearance before entering the NFL Draft. Well, if he’s able to play, that is.

    Coates set a personal best with over 200 receiving yards against the Crimson Tide. He and other options, such as tight end C.J. Uzomah, and wideouts Ricardo Louis, Marcus Davis and Melvin Ray, will step up to replace Duuuuuuuuke.

    Still, the Tigers will have their hands full with a Wisconsin defense that had allowed only 16.8 points per game entering the Big Ten Championship Game. Up to that point, the Badgers had the league’s top total defense, and ranked second in the nation, with only 260.3 yards allowed per contest. Wisconsin also led the Big Ten in passing defense (156.6 yards per game) and were among the country’s top ten in rush defense (103.8 yards per game).

    However, Ohio State showed just how vulnerable the Badgers can be when they racked up 558 total yards behind a third-string quarterback. The Buckeyes threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns and rolled up 301 rushing yards as well.

    The Auburn football team has an offense that is just as explosive as Ohio State’s, if not more so. However, the Tigers will still have to find a way to keep the Badgers off the scoreboard.

    They’ll do just well enough.

    Auburn 34, Wisconsin 31

    Next: Outback Bowl: Auburn vs Wisconsin Complete Preview & Prediction

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