NCAA Football
2018-12-28 - Purdue Boilermakers at Auburn Tigers
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NCAAF Bowl Games
Friday 28th December 2018 - Kick Off 1:30pm
British Time: 6:30pm
Preview
If you want to validate the performances of your school in College Football a good way to do that might be seeing your Head Coach turn down the chance to coach his alma mater. Jeff Brohm did that this off-season when turning down the opportunity to move to the Louisville Cardinals but it says a lot about how he feels the prospects for the Purdue Boilermakers in future years.
Producing back to back winning seasons for the Boilermakers would be a huge achievement for Brohm who had three winning seasons with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers before producing one with Purdue twelve months ago. A fifth winning season would mean the Boilermakers have upset the odds in this Bowl Game but this is a team who have thrived when the odds have been stacked against them.
On Friday they take on the Auburn Tigers (7-5) who have fallen well short of the 10 wins they earned in the 2017 season. Last year they finished as the SEC West Division Champions before losing the Championship Game to the Georgia Bulldogs and they were the only team to beat National Champions Alabama, but 2018 has proved to be a difficult season all around.
There are some positive pieces with the Tigers who can look to build on those in the 2019 season, but Jarrett Stidham will not be around having declared himself available for the NFL Draft. The Quarter Back has had some decent numbers in his two years with the Tigers, but they were beaten in the Bowl Game in 2018 and Auburn have lost two Bowls in a row.
Stidham should have a chance to showcase some of his talent to the watching NFL scouts on Friday against a Purdue Secondary which has had some difficult moments in 2018. That should especially be the case if Auburn are able to establish the run as expected and it may not need a lot of work from the Quarter Back to really get the chains moving and scoring points.
Instead look out for JaTarvious Williams who will be a key part of the Tigers Offensive unit in 2019. The Running Back should be able to get close to cracking 900 rushing yards for the season in this game and Williams could find some huge gaps to exploit if the Boilermakers Defensive Line has not fixed the problems that have afflicted them for much of the 2018 season.
David Blough is going to be the key for the Boilermakers if they are going to upset Auburn here as the running game has been erratic at best. There were signs the Tigers Defensive Line has been struggling to end the season, but Purdue may still drop back and try and protect their Quarter Back and let him make the big plays in this one.
The Tigers can get pressure up front though and they will feel they will win this game if they can force Purdue into third and long situations. I would still expect Blough to make some plays down the field in those spots, but Auburn will feel they can stall some drives and that may give them the edge here.
However you have to wonder about the motivation of the Auburn players as they would have wanted to be involved in a much bigger Bowl Game than the one they are playing with. Purdue have really picked up their play when they have played the better teams in the nation and Auburn are not a team that has been able to pick themselves up to battle those teams outside of the SEC.
Instead of picking a side, I have a feeling this could be something of a shoot out with the two Offensive units on the field. I would not be surprised if the game finishes by a Field Goal margin either way which made Purdue appealing, but I can see both teams being able to find a way to move the ball with success and I will look for this total to be surpassed.
Prediction
Look for the total points line to be surpassed as both teams have the potential of hitting thirty points.
The Pick :
Auburn Tigers 37-34 Purdue Boilermakers
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Over 58.5 Total Points @ -110 Bookmaker.EU.eu
