Purdue vs. Auburn

Date/Time/Place: Friday, Dec. 28, 2018. 15, 2018, 1:30 p.m. ET, 12:30 CT, Nissan Stadium (67.000)

Records: Auburn 7-5 overall, 3-5 SEC; Purdue 6-6, 5-4 Big Ten; Auburn started the season ranked as high as No. 7 after a 21-16 win over No. 6 Washington in Atlanta to open the season. The Tigers followed that up with a home win over Alabama State (63-9), a home loss to LSU (21-22), home victories over Arkansas (34-3), Southern Mississippi (24-13). Auburn then dropped a 23-9 decision at Mississippi State, followed by a 30-24 home loss to Tennessee. The Tigers rebounded with wins as Ole Miss (31-6) and Texas A&M at home (28-24 before closing the season with losses at Georgia (22-10) a home win over Liberty (53-0) and an Iron Bowl defeat at Alabama (52-21).

Series notes: Purdue and Auburn have never met in football. In fact, the Boilermakers have never faced a school from the state of Alabama in its 131 seasons of football. The Boilermakers are 2-5 against SEC opponents (1-3 in the regular season and 1-2 in bowl games), including this season's 40-37 home loss to Missouri.This will be the first SEC school the Boilermakers have faced in the postseason since 2004 and the third all-time. Purdue defeated Tennessee 27-22 in the 1979 Bluebonnet Bowl and suffered a pair of overtime losses to Georgia (2000 Outback Bowl, 28-25; 2004 Capital One Bowl 34-27). Purdue has played only once in the city of Nashville, suffering a 26-0 loss to Vanderbilt on Oct. 3, 1942. It last played in Tennessee when it defeated Missouri on Dec. 27, 1980 in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

Series: Purdue and Auburn have never met in football. Purdue has played once in Nashville previously, losing to Vanderbilt 26-0 at Dudley Field on Oct. 3, 1942. The last time Purdue played a game in the state of Tennessee, it defeated Missouri 28-25 on Dec. 27, 1980 in Memphis.

TV: ESPN (Anish Shroff, play-by-play; Ahmad Brooks, analyst; Roddy Jones, sidelines)

Radio (Purdue): Sirius 205/ XM 195/ Tunein.com (Tim Newton, play-by-play; Pete Quinn, analyst; Rob Blackman, studio host)

Pregame: Gold and Black Radio

Purdue roster | Purdue Schedule/Results | Purdue Game Notes/Bowl guide | Purdue Depth Chart

Auburn roster | Auburn schedule/Results | Auburn Game Notes/Bowl Guide | Auburn depth Chart

Tickets (Attendance estimate near 55,000)

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With Gus Malzahn finally (officially) taking over the play-calling operation at Auburn, the Tigers better win this category if they want to win this Music City Bowl. Traditionally, an Auburn offense under Malzahn's guidance has been a run, play-action philosophy with the first down plays being dominated by the inside dive play out of a shotgun zone-read.

Auburn is going to use a lot of "eye candy" of fake jet sweeps but with Jarrett Stidham not exactly the running threat of Cam Newton or Nick Marshall, Purdue's defense might be focused on Auburn's redshirt freshman tailback JaTarvious "Boobie" Whitlow. However, Auburn has struggled in its interior blocking all season and the result has been Auburn likely going without a 1,000-yard rusher for first time since 2008.

With Lorenzo Neal out after knee surgery, Purdue has been forced to patch together its defensive line and will need career-defining performances from young linemen such as Anthony Watts, Giovanni Reviere and Jeff Marks to get the Boilermakers defense to a third-down scenario where they can blitz and get off the field.

Jarrett Stidham was supposed to be a longshot Heisman Trophy candidate if Auburn could compete for the Western Division title of the Southeastern Conference. What happened was Malzahn and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey's inability to find a chemistry between them negatively affected a passing game where most of the weapons from the previous season returned. Stidham isn't very accurate when he's pressured so expect Nick Holt to dial up some blitzes. If Purdue's secondary can tackle well and limit yards after the catch with Ryan Davis, the Boilermakers should be able to bother Stidham.

In order to get a running game going, you need one of two things to happen: an offensive line push or misdirections to confuse the defensive front seven. Purdue is going to have trouble accomplishing either of those things. Auburn features one of the nation's most talented, athletic and largest defensive lines and it'll be hard for Purdue's offensive line to physically dominate any spot on Auburn's front four.

On the misdirections, Auburn's linebackers, which include Senior Bowl invitee Deshaun Davis, see Auburn's fakes and zone-read plays every practice and normally have excellent eye discipline. Purdue's best chance to move the ball on the ground might be in the fourth quarter (in a scenario) when Auburn is down and needs to gamble with blitzes.

Similarly to how Auburn has to win the running offense category, Purdue's chances at taking home a Music City Bowl trophy reside squarely on being able to throw the football vertically down the field. If Purdue's offensive line can give David Blough time to make deep throws, Purdue has the athletes and physical tools on the outside to move the ball and score points.

Like practically every Purdue opponent this year, Auburn doesn't have an option to handle Rondale Moore. Auburn has also struggled with its pass defense in losses to Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama giving up big plays through the air. This is the bread and butter of a Jeff Brohm offense and he'll try to exploit it early and often.

Special teams is where Auburn has an obvious speed and athleticism advantage. Auburn is one of 16 FBS teams to return both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown this season. Junior defensive lineman Marlon Davidson has blocked three field goal attempts this season, second-best nationally. Sophomore safety Jordyn Peters has blocked three punts, making Auburn the only team nationally with two players with multiple blocked kicks/punts.

Auburn is 1-4 in bowl games and Malzahn is on an extremely hot seat with his own fans. The Tigers need a momentum lift and normally this would be a situation where motivation for this middle-tier bowl game would come into play. However, with the Tigers being able to play the card that everybody is against them, it'll be interesting to see if a 7-5 Auburn team comes ready to play. If they don't, Purdue will likely be ready to pounce. Moore is likely looking to validate his All-America status and in his final game in a Purdue jersey, David Blough is looking to leave a mark in his first bowl game.

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