The heavily favored Auburn Tigers travel to Nashville this week to take on Vanderbilt this week. Will this game be closer than expected?
The 4-4 Auburn Tigers will put on their dancing shoes on Saturday when they travel to Broadway to take on the 2-7 Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville.
Quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] and the Auburn offensive line look to keep the good times rolling in Music City after coming off arguably their best game of the season.
Vanderbilt on the other hand could really use somebody to step up, as the Commodores have lost 7 straight games after starting 2-0.
The different directions of these two teams explain why Auburn is favored by a 12.5-points on the road in this one, according to BetMGM.
ESPN FPI also believes in the Tigers’ chances to take a wrecking ball to the Commodores. The Index is giving Auburn an 84.1% chance to win.
That is by far the highest Auburn has been favored in FPI since their game against Samford all the way back in September.
Will the tale of the tape show us Auburn will set the world on fire and take care of business, or does a closer look show us this game might be closer than expected?
As always, we’ll start with the quarterbacks.
Starting quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne [/autotag] played his best as an Auburn Tiger last week in the win over Mississippi State.
The transfer has struggled most of the season, but threw for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week’s victory, putting his season totals at 1,075 yards and 8 touchdowns in 8 games.
Auburn’s “QB1” has also been a threat with the legs, rushing for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns this season.
Vanderbilt’s quarterback situation on the other hand has been more disgusting than the floors at Tootsie’s.
The Commodores started the season with sophomore [autotag]AJ Swann[/autotag]. Swann went on to start Vanderbilt’s first 5 games of the season, throwing for 1,290 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions before going down with a shoulder injury.
Senior [autotag]Ken Seals [/autotag] took over as the de-facto starter and threw for 740 yards and 5 touchdowns in his first 3 starts before getting benched in favor of redshirt freshman [autotag]Walter Taylor[/autotag] last week against Ole Miss.
I’m giving the edge to Thorne and Auburn in this category due to the simple fact Vanderbilt’s quarterback situation is a mess.
The skill position battle is a little bit murkier. Vanderbilt has the best receiver in this game, [autotag]Will Sheppard[/autotag], but it’s hard to judge how much of his output is attributed to the Commodores always playing from behind.
I will say Auburn running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] is the most talented player for either team on the offensive side of the ball. That fact alone gives the Tigers the edge in the skill position battle, although it’s close.
Auburn also gets the edge up front. [autotag]Gunner Britton[/autotag] is not only the best lineman in this game, but he has also become one of the premier blockers in the SEC.
The Tigers has the edge across the offensive side of the ball.
On the defensive side of things, it’s not even close. Auburn boasts one of the best defenses in the SEC (22.5 opponents PPG), while Vanderbilt has arguably the worst (36 opponents PPG).
The talent gap on the defensive side of the ball is bigger than Dolly Parton’s Brentwood mansion.
After taking a closer look at this game, it’s clear why Auburn is favored by 12.5 points. The Tigers have an incredible chance to come out of Nashville one win away from being bowl-eligible.
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