Tag: auburn citrus bowl

2021 Citrus Bowl first half analysis: Northwestern 14, Auburn 6

It has been mostly a rough first half for Auburn in the 2021 Citrus Bowl against Northwestern.

Well, that happened.

The end.

No, I really wanted that to be the entire analysis but Auburn has made it interesting after falling behind by 14 points early with the Tigers trailing 14-6 at halftime.

Let’s get to my thoughts:

  • 4th and 8 and you rush three men, dropping eight and a guy gets WIDE OPEN for a big gain. How is that even remotely possible?
  • Bo Nix got a little chippy at the end of that half with some trash talking to a Northwestern defensive player.  I sort of liked that.
  • ANNNNNDDDDD then he went and tried this and, no Bo. Just no.

  • I must say this once more before the season ends: this offensive line is atrocious. It is comically bad. How bad would they have been with actual crowd noise this season?
  • It’s amazing how different I look at Kevin Steele after all the news broke of how he was basically throwing a coup. He went from lovable granddad who can coach to evil Bond villain in a matter of weeks.
  • Speaking of, Cole Cubelic reported the obvious but it needed to be said that Steele will not be on Bryan Harsin’s staff. With all the back-stabbing, Steele should consider politics.
  • What is Harsin thinking watching this unfold before his eyes? He has to be a little bit concerned about the talent he has been handed. The transfer portal will be huge.
  • I mentioned how before the 2006 Citrus Bowl (it was the Capital One Bowl back then) that while tailgating beside the big lake outside the stadium, cops and ambulances pulled up and drug a dead body out of the water. I found my friend’s pic of that very moment.

  • Interestingly enough, Auburn would come out and play dead for that entire game in an upset loss.
  • I wonder if Bo Nix wears an Apple Watch during games because I would like to see how many steps he gets in just from escaping pressure on every pass play.
  • Auburn’s defense played much better after the two touchdowns so credit is due there.
  • Pat Fitzgerald’s legs have not seen the sun since August, it seems.

  • Ummmm ….. I think that is all I have. Did you have a great New Year’s Eve? I did.

What national media are saying about Auburn vs. Northwestern

Auburn takes on Northwestern for only the second time in history when the Tigers and Wildcats meet in the 2021 Citrus Bowl.

It should be a defensive battle when Auburn takes on Northwestern on Friday in the Citrus Bowl to ring in 2021.

The Wildcats are fifth in the FBS in scoring defense, allowing just 15.5 points per game but 97th in scoring offense, averaging 23.4 points per game. Auburn’s offense has had its troubles against top defenses in Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M so it will be an interesting matchup.

Here is what the media that cover Northwestern and others are saying about the matchup:

InsideNU.com’s Three matchups to watch:

Tank Bigsby vs. Northwestern’s front seven

After successfully containing the run against talented Big Ten running backs all season, Northwestern’s front seven was decimated on the ground by Ohio State’s Trey Sermon in the Big Ten Championship. Sermon was able to hit big hole after big hole on his way to a program-record 331 yards and two touchdowns.

Northwestern’s defense faces another difficult task ahead in Tank Bigsby, Auburn’s freshman running back who won SEC Freshman of the Year and averages a whopping six yards per carry. To make matters more difficult for the ‘Cats, they will be without starting defensive end Eku Leota who elected to enter the transfer portal following the loss to Ohio State. Stopping the run will not be easy against the talented Tigers, and after a poor last showing against the Buckeyes, it will be interesting to see how the rest of Northwestern’s front seven responds to the challenge that Auburn and Bigsby presents.

WGN.com:

Both teams have their conference’s freshman of the year.

Auburn running back Tank Bigsby was selected the Southeastern Conference’s top freshman after rushing for 834 yards on 138 carries in 10 games. He added 300 kick-return yards and 84 receiving yards for 1,218 all-purpose yards.

Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph won the Freshman of the Year award for the Big Ten, the first strictly defensive player to win the award since Deion Barnes in 2012. Joseph leads the nation with six interceptions.

The game will also be the last in the career of Northwestern’s defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, who would reach 400 career wins if the Wildcats win the Citrus Bowl.

Saturday Down South:

How badly does Auburn want to be here? The Tigers ended the regular season in high enough spirits, busting a move in celebration of a win at Mississippi State and a 6-4 record, only for Gus Malzahn to get the boot a few hours later. The subsequent search for his replacement was characterized (as these things tend to be) by public rumors, competing agendas and behind-the-scenes intrigue.

In the end, the hiring of Boise State’s Bryan Harsin seemed to satisfy everyone except the small-but-loud group of boosters backing defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who (awkwardly) will remain in the interim role through the end of the week before (presumably) moving on in the new year. The incentives to play this game begin and end with “because it’s there.”

One thing that should get the Tigers’ juices on offense is the prospect of lining up against a run defense that was just steamrolled for 399 yards on 9.1 per carry by Ohio State. Northwestern (6-2) has excelled against the pass, finishing No. 1 nationally in pass efficiency D and limiting Justin Fields to the worst game of his OSU career. All-Big Ten DB Brandon Joseph is an interception machine with 6 in just 8 games, tied for the national lead. But once OSU finally made up its mind to load up and run right at the Wildcats in the second half there was nothing they could do about it. Auburn’s o-line isn’t Ohio State’s, by a long shot, but if the Tigers can ride Tank Bigsby to even half of the Buckeyes’ success on the ground it will have the luxury of treating the passing game as an afterthought.

YardBarker.com:

Auburn’s offense has been lacking all season, but in Auburn’s final regular-season game Tank Bigsby broke out. The freshman running back (who I was high on before the season) ran for 192 yards on Mississippi State and found the rhythm he lost during November. Bigsby will go up against what was thought of as a great run defense in Northwestern … until they allowed Ohio State’s Trey Sermon to blast them for 331 rushing yards. Auburn will need Bigby carrying the offensive load and become the star heading into the new era of Tigers football in 2021.