Stopping Nick Marshall will be key to a Wisconsin victory. (John Reed-USA TODAY Sports)
The 2015 Outback Bowl features two outstanding football programs — Auburn and Wisconsin. Both the Tigers (9-3) and the Badgers (10-3) were good football teams in 2014 but both are limping into this bowl game.
Auburn lost three of its final four games with the only win during that stretch coming over Samford, an FCS team. Wisconsin won its final seven regular season games but then got blasted 59-0 by Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game.
The Outback Bowl offers a measure of redemption for both teams and it is the first of four bowl matchups during this bowl season in the ongoing Big Ten vs. SEC rivalry.
Statistics give Auburn a slight edge offensively but Wisconsin gets a significant edge defensively. Auburn averages scoring 35.8 points per game while Wisconsin averages 34.6. Auburn gives up 26.1 points per game while Wisconsin gives up just 20.0. But in bowl games, statistics often mean little. The bowl season is a whole new season and that’s how the Tigers and Badgers are approaching the game.
“It’s our objective we want to be the most improved team since that last loss,” Auburn defensive lineman Gabe Wright said. “That’s what Coach Malzahn preaches, and, as players, that what we’ve been putting out on the practice field. We went seven straight days of practice. We’ve really been getting after it.”
“I think it’s something we’ll never forget,” Wisconsin Heisman Trophy finalist running back Melvin Gordon said. “In a big-time game like that, people will be talking about that for years to come, and I just don’t think we’ll ever forget that game. It’ll always be on my mind. It’d be a lot different (if we played Ohio State again). A lot different, I promise you that.”
The game will feature two outstanding running backs in Gordon and Auburn’s Cameron Artis-Payne, who have combined for 3,818 yards and 40 touchdowns. Gordon led the nation with 2,336 yards rushing and 29 TDs (26 rushing, three receiving).
Containing Gordon is Auburn’s defensive goal while Wisconsin will be concentrating on stopping Artis-Payne and quarterback Nick Marshall. Marshall rushed for 780 yards and scored 11 touchdowns on the ground and he threw for 2,315 yards and 18 scores.
One of the keys to Auburn success running the ball is that the Tigers have the Rimington Award winner in the middle of the offensive line in center Reese Dismukes.
“He’s a warrior,” said offensive line coach J.B. Grimes. “He’s one of those guys who is durable. He’s played against some of the best competition in the country week end and week out. He’s led our offense. He’s gets us lined up. He gets us going in the right direction. He’s probably one of the most consistent guys I’ve ever coached.”
Auburn is returning to the Outback Bowl for the first time since beating Northwestern in the 2009 Outback Bowl.
“We had a great experience in 2009 with the whole bowl week and everything that goes with it. Our coaches and players are really looking forward to playing a very good Wisconsin team,” said Auburn’s Gus Malzahn.
“They do a great job balancing everything. You come here to win a football game and you’ve got your practice and your meetings, but they have enough fun stuff for the players to keep it entertaining. In 2009, our guys had nothing but great things to say about everything that leads up to the. bowl, and then the bowl game itself.”
Auburn is undergoing a change in defensive leadership for the bowl game as Charlie Harbison is coordinating the defense after Ellis Johnson was dismissed.
“The bottom line is we’re doing what we’ve been doing, and we’re just getting guys in position to make plays, and getting fast, and making tackles, making plays, doing our assignments, sound assignments,” said Harbison, who will give up his coordinator’s duty as soon as the game is over and Will Muschamp joins the program as the newly-hired defensive coordinator.
“I’ve been in this business for a while, it’s just part of it,” Harbison said. “I let my work speak for itself and continue to go forward, continue to get these guys ready to play. I look at it like this: Your work will make room for you. I’m just getting our kids ready to play, ready to play fast, get off the field and get the ball back to the offense.”
Wisconsin is in the middle of a coaching change replacing Gary Anderson, who left for Oregon State four days after the Big Ten Championship Game. The Badgers hired Paul Chryst on December 17th but he will not coach the bowl game. That will be athletic director Barry Alvarez who was 118-74-4 as a head coach in 16 years at Wisconsin before giving up coaching and becoming a full-time AD after sharing those duties in 2004-05.
If Auburn can stop Gordon, the Tigers will win. If Wisconsin contains Artis-Payne and Marshall, the Badgers will win.
The SEC Crystal Ball says Auburn will win.
