Both Auburn and Wisconsin finished the season in disappointing fashion after looking poised to make the playoffs for most of the season. The Badgers finished 10-3 while hitting the Big Ten title game only to be blown out by Ohio State. The Tigers suffered a late-season collapse and finished by losing to Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Now both teams will meet up in the Outback Bowl as the run game takes center stage.
Wisconsin will enter the Outback bowl without Gary Andersen as their head coach. Andersen shocked the team by announcing he was leaving to take the Oregon State job. Athletic director Bobby Alvarez will coach the team in the bowl game while Paul Chryst takes over next season. Alvarez knows how to coach in bowl game, taking Wisconsin to a 24-10 win over Auburn in 2005 in the Capital One Bowl.
The Badgers will ride the shoulders of Melvin Gordon on Wednesday. The Heisman Trophy runner-up made first-team All-American while also getting the Doak Walker award for the best running back in the country. He finished the season with 2.336 yards while announcing he will enter the NFL Draft in the spring. He will be a big threat in this matchup while Wisconsin relies on two quarterbacks to keep the offense moving. Both Joal Stave and Tanner McEvoy have seen their struggles this season.
The Tigers are hoping they can get their offense back on track after only putting up 174.7 yards in their final three games, ending on a 1-3 stretch. Auburn has their own deadly rushing attack to work with. Cameron Artis-Payne put up 1,482 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season while quarterback Nick Marshall rushed for another 780 yards along with throwing for 2,315 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Auburn will need to hope their defense can withhold the rushing attack. They gave up an average of 149.5 yards per game while allowing 516 yards to end the season against Georgia and Alabama. Meanwhile Wisconsin ranks 17th in the country in run defense while only giving up 118.9 yards per game.
