Auburn and #14 Northwestern will square off on New Years day in the Citrus Bowl. Auburn ended the season with a 6-4 record, while Northwestern finished first in the Big Ten West with a 6-2 record. Northwestern opens as 3.5 point favorites.
How They Got Here: Auburn
The Tigers had a pretty disappointing season, to say the least. They opened the season as the #8 team in the country, but slowly began to see themselves fall out of the Top 25 as the weeks went on. After beating #23 Kentucky in the first game of the season by 16, it seemed as if Auburn was legit. But after losing losing to Georgia, only putting up six points, and then losing to South Carolina, they were bumped from the Top 25.
The team had high hopes for sophomore quarterback Bo Nix. Nix only amounted to 2,123 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions while completing 60% of his passes. He also rushed for 356 yards and seven touchdowns. The Nix-led offense only accounted to 385 yards per game, and scoring 25.7 points per game. Running back Tank Bigsby had himself a pretty solid freshman campaign, though. He carried the rock 138 times for 834 yards and five touchdowns in his freshman season. The Tigers only had four players catch more than 10 passes this season. The receiving core was led by junior receivers, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz.
The 60th ranked defense was led by Junior LB, Zakoby McClain. McClain totaled 102 tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble. The Tigers gave up 400 yards per game and 23.7 points per game.
How They Got Here: Northwestern
Northwestern had a surprisingly successful season in 2020. The Wildcats starting the season unranked, and proceeded to win five-straight in the Big Ten with wins over teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue, and Maryland. Their first lost came against Michigan State, but even with the upset they still found themselves playing in the Big Ten Championship, losing to Ohio State 22-10.
The offense was led by senior quarterback Peyton Ramsey. Ramsey finished with 1,442 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight picks. The defensive side of the ball is where Northwestern shined, though. The Wildcat defense only gave up 15.5 points per game, ranking them 5th in the nation in that category. The defense really showed their talents in the Big Ten Championship. Northwestern held OSU quarterback, Justin Fields, to just 114 yards and 2 interceptions.
Betting Card/Prediction
Northwestern currently sits at a 3.5 point favorite, with the O/U of 43.5. We saw what that Northwestern defense did to Justin Fields, and I think they do the same to Bo Nix. I do think Auburn’s defense is good enough to stop the weak Northwestern offense, though. It will be a close, low scoring game. So for that, my prediction, and card is the following:
Prediction: Northwestern – 20, Auburn – 17
Bets: Auburn +3.5, Under 43.5
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