Auburn Football: 2017 Game-by-game predictions
The Bulldogs are an interesting team. As long as Dan Mullen is behind the headset they’ll have the potential to pull off a shocking upset or two each season. They aren’t the most talented team in the SEC, far from it actually, but they play smart football.
Any hope of an upset bid for the Bulldogs begins and ends with junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. He finished second in the SEC in rushing yards in 2016 and scored more rushing touchdowns than any other player in the conference. His 16 scores were just two fewer that the combined touchdown total of Karryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway.
Through the air was another story. Fitzgerald’s downfall was his tendency to try to force plays to happen. As the leader of a pedestrian offense, he found himself in that situation way more often that he would have hoped. As a result he tossed 10 touchdowns but threw 14 interceptions. His 2,423 passing yards were eight best in the SEC, but his yards per attempt (6.7) was 13th best and his completion percent (54.3) was tied for dead last 15 among qualified quarterbacks.
There is a lot of promise with Fitzgerald. Mullen has molded winning quarterbacks in the past. But the talent gap between these two teams is seismic. Auburn wins, and it’s not even close.