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Outback Bowl

OVERVIEW

Coming into this season, many people thought Gene Chizik was not the right man to coach Auburn . But then, Auburn started the season 5-0 with wins over West Virginia and Tennessee . After the win over the Vols, Auburn jumped to 17th in the AP poll, and people were looking at Auburn as a legit contender in the SEC. But then, they dropped three straight games to Arkansas , Kentucky , and LSU. They would win back to back games after that, but lost their final two to Georgia and Alabama to finish 7-5 in Chiziki???s first season, which is a two win improvement over last season. Auburn played their best game of the season in the Iron Bowl against Alabama . They had a 21-20 lead with under 2 minutes left before Alabama scored and won the game 26-21. Last season, Auburn had one of the worst offenses in the country, but with the hire of Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator, Auburn ???s offense became one of the best and most unpredictable, ranking 21st in total offense.



Northwestern is headed to a January bowl game for the first time since their 1997 Citrus Bowl loss to Tennessee . Northwestern had two early season games to Syracuse and Minnesota to fall to 2-2, but they went 6-2 down the stretch with impressive wins on the road against then 4th ranked Iowa to end their undefeated season, and home against Wisconsin to finish the regular season and secure their spot in the Outback Bowl. Northwestern has not won a bowl game in 60 years. Their last bowl win was the 1949 Rose Bowl where they beat California . Last season, Pat Fitzgerald got Northwestern to their first bowl game under him, where they were defeated in the Alamo Bowl by Missouri . Northwestern is led by a very dangerous passing attack averaging over 282 yards per game. They average under 120 yards on the ground though, ranking 93rd in the nation.


The rest of the Preview is at

http://www.informativesports.com/NCAA_F/09Bowls/Outback_B owl.htm

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