Got to go with Northwestern in this situation against Auburn. Auburn has not faced anyone this year with a good passing game except Arkansas ranked #10 and what happened? It was a 23-44 loss and Arkansas does not have the defense that Northwestern has. Kafka was solid down the stretch throwing for over 300 yards against Illinois and Wisconsin. A win over Wisconsin look pretty impressive considering what Wisconsin did to Miami in their bowl game.
Northwestern has the #28 ranked passing game and they have faced a solid defense out of the PAC-10. Auburn does have a #29 pass defense, but note they have faced an average 81st passing offense. The SEC is loaded with run first teams and that is why their run defense at #80 is not impressive either. Auburn is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 as a favorite while Northwestern is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 as under dogs. Auburn will be able to run the ball, but Northwestern is extremely under rated in my opinion in terms of their defense. They have faced two teams that can run the ball in the category of an Auburn and that was against Wisconsin and Illinois in their last two games each featuring solid running games at #15 and #18 while Auburn comes in at #13. Northwestern won both of those games out right, and while Illinois defense is defintely worse than Auburn, Wisconsin's is definitely better than Auburns. I think this will be a very close game than many expect and in the end I think Northwestern will have an opportunity to win the game outright.
Player to watch is Northwestern DE Corey Wooton he's a first round prospect. He had a knee injury but still has a world of talent. Look for him to really disrupt Auburn and what they try to do here on Friday.
