Auburn - Northwestern

Outback Bowl January 1, 11:00am Tampa, FL

Auburn (7-5) ______________ SEC ____________ 121.93 ____ ___________YPG = 412.5 (122%) → +15% ____________PPG = 30.2 (139%) → +49% _________dYPG = 361.5 (99%) → -3% _________dPPG = 26.5 (100%) → -7% ____ Wk Opponent oPts Score 1 Louisiana Tech -137.56 W, 37-13 2 Mississippi St 14.07 W, 49-24 3 West Virginia 240.94 W, 41-30 4 Ball St -385.62 W, 54-30 5 Tennessee 115.05 W, 26-22 6 Arkansas 121.91 L, 23-44 7 Kentucky 90.38 L, 14-21 8 LSU 248.45 L, 10-31 9 Mississippi 152.02 W, 33-20 10 Furman -533.47 W, 63-31 11 Georgia 159.43 L, 24-31 13 Alabama 589.24 L, 21-26

Northwestern (8-4) ______________ Big10 __________ 126.96 ____ YPG = 377 (107%) PPG = 23.2 (90%) dYPG = 356.9 (102%) dPPG = 24.2 (107%) ____ Wk Opponent oPts Score 1 Towson -508.22 W, 47-14 2 Eastern Michigan -520.92 W, 27-24 3 Syracuse -108.38 L, 34-37 4 Minnesota 7.50 L, 24-35 5 Purdue -27.94 W, 27-21 6 Miami (OH) -332.47 W, 16-6 7 Michigan St 11.18 L, 14-24 8 Indiana -166.84 W, 29-28 9 Penn St 256.10 L, 13-34 10 Iowa 322.42 W, 17-10 11 Illinois -190.53 W, 21-16 12 Wisconsin 189.12 W, 33-31

The Tigers have had a very up-and-down season, to say the least. New coach, starting out with five straight wins, losing three in a row, getting back on track, then losing to rivals Georgia & Alabama. Northwestern has been a bit more even keel, but not by much - a headslapper against Syracuse to go with wins over Iowa & Wisconsin. The stats all point to an edge for the Tigers, especially when it comes to points. But since the Wildcats have had time to study film and get ready for the Auburn attack, they might be able to neutralize it like others have. They're also coming in with more confidence, having won three straight including their big Big10 ones...

The Line: Northwestern +8

The Call: Auburn wins, but Northwestern covers the spread

The Result: Auburn 38-35 OT

As many breaks as Northwestern kept getting in the fourth quarter and overtime, they just couldn't convert for their first bowl win in over a half-century. That's gonna sting. Auburn nearly fell apart there and hang on by the skin of their teeth - yikes. Hell of an exciting, if ugly and turnover-infested, game though.