Auburn Tigers (8-1 SU, 7-2 ATS) vs. Tennessee Volunteers (4-5 SU, 5-4 ATS)
College Football Week 11
Date and Time: Saturday November 9, 2013 12pm EST
Where: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville TN
TV: ESPN
by Tim, Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: Aub. -7.5/Ten. +7.5
Over/Under Total: 55
The past few years, Auburn vs Tennessee has been a real chow-chow. Since Phil Fulmer was run outta town, Tennessee got Kiffen-ed in 09, put up with Nepotism with Derek Dooley, hired (for 2 games) former Vice President Dick Cheney (Jim Chaney), and finally found a bit of a resurrection in current coach Butch Jones. Auburn, meanwhile (since Pat Dye) has run through Terry Bowden, Bill Oliver, ran Tuberville to Lubbock, got lifted with fo-shizick Gene Chizik, until finally finding the right guy in current Head Coach Gus Malzahn! Malzahn—-in less than one year, has transformed Auburn into a certified winning machine while Tennessees Butch Jones has instilled passion and honor to the god-awful orange and white checkerboard endzone! This is going to be an old-fashioned SEC head-knocker/track meet suited for an 8pm kickoff! But, those smarter than me have slated the opening bell for Noon EST! Lets take a look inside the numbers!
Malzahn is a miracle worker, a beast, and a genius football coach. No one predicted Auburn to be 8-1 after the 2012 car-wreck season! Malzahn has transformed the Auburn program from a pessimistic, out-of-control, player led program to a finely tuned, disciplined, hurry-up team capable of beating anybody any day of the week. Butch Jones has also done a fantastic job at Tennessee taking non-descript players and competing with a deep desire each and every week of this 2013 College Football season. Tennessee had Georgia beat in Knoxville but lost in OT. Also lost is Junior QB Jason Worley with a thumb injury forcing Tennessee to go with Freshman Joshua Dobbs. QB Dobbs, in his first start ever in college, was picked twice against Missouri last week leading to the Vols 31-3 loss in Columbia. Malzahn and Auburn burned Arkansas and Bielema in Fayetteville last Saturday night 35-17 dominating the Hogs from start to finish. Lets look at the numbers and pick a winner in this matchup!
Auburn is 17th in the country in total offense and Tennessee is 96th. Auburn is 99th in passing while Tennessee finds the 109th place as the garden spot in passing. Expect Tennessees passing numbers to go down dramatically with the loss of QB Worley and Freshman Dobbs left holding the bag. Auburn is 6th in rushing and Tennessee stands tied for 52nd in the same category. With all the rushing attempts by both teams, Red Zone Offense is critical to each schools success or failure. Auburn is 20th in Red Zone offense and Tennessee is tied for 65th. Can either defense stop the run? Auburn can stop the run sporting 47th position in the country against the run. Tennessee cannotthe Vols are 100th stopping the rushing attacks of their opponents. We can quickly see why Auburn is 8-1 and Tennessee needs to win 2 more games to be Bowl eligible!
A touchdown and a hook is an awful big attention-getter for 2 teams known to run the ball. Auburn is the superior team but playing away in the SEC is not an easy proposition for any Southeastern Conference football program! The MASSIVE advantage Auburn carries into this game with the Vols is the loss of QB Worley indefinitely and replacing Worley with a Freshman. The Vols will know if they get behind Auburn, there is very little chance Tennessee can mix up passing with running effectively to keep Auburn off balance chewing up yardage in chunks! Auburn is tough against the runand Auburn doesnt have to be tough against the pass with QB Dobbs taking over the duties for the Vols. This game will end up being a very unfair example of how far Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones has reignited the pride in Volunteer football. Look for Smokey to roll over and play dead around midway through the 2nd quarter. Auburn BIG hereTennessee might not score 10 points.
Tims Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Auburn Tigers -7.5
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