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Auburn football: Predicting Gus Malzahn’s UCF and Bo Nix’s Oregon Week 8

By Andrew Hughes

While Auburn football is on the bye week, Fly War Eagle predicts the fate of Gus Malzahn's UCF Knights and Bo Nix's Oregon Ducks during Week 8 Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
While Auburn football is on the bye week, Fly War Eagle predicts the fate of Gus Malzahn's UCF Knights and Bo Nix's Oregon Ducks during Week 8 Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports /
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Fly War Eagle keeps tabs on Gus Malzahn and Bo Nix, as does the rest of the Auburn football-loving world — so during the Tigers’ Week 8 bye, in addition to SEC action, eyes will be on UCF and Oregon as they travel to East Carolina and host UCLA, respectively.

UCF is a -4.5 point favorite on the road (per Fanduel) against the Pirates in Greenville while the Ducks are a -6 favorite at Autzen Stadium (per Action Network) in Eugene. Both programs sit at 5-1 with losses to Louisville for the Knights and defending national champion Georgia for the Ducks during the Chik-Fil-A kickoff Week 1.

*Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

For Oregon, a win over the No. 9 team in the country could result in a jump into College Football Playoff contention towards the top. Several teams ahead of them (Ole Miss-Alabama, Michigan-Ohio State, Tennessee-Georgia) are all slated to face each other, so losses this week for any of them would give Nix and co. a chance to do what he didn’t get to while with Auburn football.

UCF had the third-highest number of votes for teams outside of the AP Poll, and while they’re unlikely to make a similar jump into national relevance, the Knights look like a potential New Year’s Six bowl contender in their final season as part of the Group of Five. UCF will be a Big 12 member in 2023.

Predictions for Auburn football’s former head coach and quarterback in Week 8

Let’s start with a former Auburn football head coach many would take back in a heartbeat, Gus Malzahn. His offense has been a sterling success as a top 15 in the nation in scoring, total offense, rushing yards while his defense also profiles as a top 15 scoring defense, red zone D, and in stop rate.

East Carolina has been a tough out this season and has lost to two currently-ranked opponents (NC State, Tulane) and Navy. While the Knights could be due for a dud, they still score enough to take advantage of a defense that ranks one spot ahead of Auburn football. UCF should become bowl eligible Week 8.

Bo Nix doesn’t have it as easy. A UCLA offense led by Dorian Thompson-Robinson should offer similar issues to Cameron Ward’s Wazzu attack to the Ducks defense, and Nix will face a stout Bruins defense as well.

Oregon may be due for its second loss to put to rest any College Football Playoff talk. Nix has proven us wrong before, though, so don’t lock it in the same manner you could a UCF victory on October 22.

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