SEC Talk

Tuberville leads the Tigers to Atlanta

Clemson Tigers 9-3 (5-3), 2nd Atlantic Coast - Atlantic
VS
Auburn Tigers 8-4 (5-3), 2nd Southeastern - West

The Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 31, New Years Eve, should be a great game. Clemson heads into the game as the fifteenth ranked team in the nation while Auburn is 22nd in the nation. It’s the battle of both Tigers. There has been a lot of recent battles between these two storied college football programs over the past ten years. For Auburn though, they’ve been on the winning side claiming 12 straight over the Tigers of Clemson.

Clemson is building off the momentum of two very strong seasons. And they hope to carry that through to next year as coach Terry Bowden will carry 18 starters from this years team. After a couple of disappointing losses to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, the Tigers stormed back winning 5 of 6 to get into the Chick-fil-A bowl. The Tigers relied on a stingy defense to limit their opponents to just 22 touchdowns over the entire season. That defense could be tested New Year’s Eve though, as 2 starters were ruled academically ineligible due to poor academics.

Auburn comes into the game brimming with confidence with their 8-4 record in the tough SEC. Add the fact that Tommy Tuberville is safely a Tiger for the foreseeable future, nothing would be sweeter than a win on New Year’s Eve. After 2 early losses to a decent South Florida team and a surprising Mississippi St. team, the Tigers made good the rest of the way losing only to LSU and Georgia. There was also the close win over Florida in October. Like Clemson, Auburn relied on their defense to win games and will do so again on New Years Eve. In fact, Auburn’s defensive team stats are nearly identical to Clemson with 22 touchdowns allowed and 119 rushing yards allowed.

The game will no doubt be a low scoring defensive battle. Turnovers, special teams will all play a major factor in the game. Clemson is a 2.5 point favorite according to the Vegas line. I actually like Auburn to win, they have that 12 straight winning streak over Clemson and have traditionally played well at the Georgia dome. My pick is Auburn 10-7.

Auburn, Chick-fil-A Bowl