Auburn better bring its A game

[aubiefifty 18,398]

After Georgia whipping, Auburn better bring its A game for unbeaten UCF

By Charles Hollis

budcoin@msn.com

The handicappers have made Auburn a 9 1/2-point favorite going into its New Year's Day game in the Peach Bowl with 12-0 Central Florida.

That's a lot of points for the 10-3 Tigers to cover against college football's last remaining unbeaten if you know anything about the Knights and the season they've had. Two years ago, they were 0-12.

Much of the betting money is on Auburn covering the point spread because Auburn is a Power 5 brand that navigated a Power 5 schedule all the way to the SEC Championship Game. Central Florida is the best of the best of the non-Power 5 schools. But holding off South Florida 49-42 in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game isn't the same as Georgia 28, Auburn 7 in the SEC title game. Maybe more exciting, but the UCF-SF winner wasn't going to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

The Tigers can't just show up for Monday's game, thinking the Knights are out of their league. Surely they remember when they were the talk of the country after beating two CFP ranked No. 1 teams. Or maybe that's going to be their undoing, knowing they beat two No. 1s but they'll have to watch the playoffs on TV.

The Knights are the highest-scoring team in the nation at 49 points per game. They have hit the 40-point mark nine times. They're playing their last game under coach Scott Frost, who's leaving to take over at his alma mater Nebraska.
Picking the Dec. 29-Jan. 1 bowls, minus the College Football Playoff semifinals:

Monday, Jan. 1

Peach Bowl
Auburn vs. Central Florida

When is the last time a head coach and his staff stayed on to coach in a major bowl game? How does that loyalty figure into the Knights' motivation against a team that was whipped soundly in the SEC Championship Game with so much on the line?

The team that overwhelmed Georgia and Alabama at Jordan-Hare Stadium didn't show up for the rematch in Atlanta, or it just can't handle the stage away from home. In its two biggest road tests, against  Clemson and LSU, the Tigers failed.

Maybe those losses, along with the rematch that was also away from home, played a role in Central Florida running back Adrian Killins Jr. taking a shot at the SEC and Auburn, telling an Orlando Sentinel reporter "SEC football, they don't have a lot of speed, honestly. Auburn hasn't seen any speed  like we have here. I would say they're in for a rude awakening."

Auburn's defense has speed and is one of the country's best, but can it hold up against Central Florida's no-huddle, quick-tempo scoring machine? UCF's defense is a liability that Auburn should exploit, especially with a healthy Kerryon Johnson and, yep, more speed than UCF has seen. The Tigers are going to need a lot of offense to deliver the Knights their first loss.
Auburn 35, Central Florida 31

[WarEagle1983 2,194]

Don't think getting up for this game will be a problem...thanks to UCF and their words.  Thanks UCF b/c after the SECCG i myself wasn't too excited about this game at first BUT that has changed. Send a message!