Nashville, TN – Auburn scored eight TDs on its first eight possessions and never looked back to defeat Purdue (6-7) in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl as it raced out to a 56-7 halftime lead. Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham threw for five TDs and 373 yards to embarrass the Boilermakers early and often. The Tigers (8-5) needed only 11 minutes of ball control to build their first half lead for a bowl record of points in one half. Collegefootallfan.com decided to leave after the half and enjoy downtown Nashville with friends for our one-day stop in Nashville. The second half consisted of conservative play and substitute players in the second half as indicated by the final score.
Early and often
The Auburn scoring machine with Head Coach Gus Malzahn calling plays started off with a 63-yard TD on a short pass to wide-open JaTarvious Whitlow out of the backfield for a 66-yard score. He took it over for the next two scores after subsequent possessions on short runs from the wildcat formation. Purdue’s only response came on a 7-yard TD run by Rondale Moore to trail 21-7 in the first period. Thereafter, the Tigers poured it on. WR Darious Slayton caught three TD passes of 74, 52, and 34 yards each for a total of 160 yards. It was evident early on that the Boilermaker secondary could not match up with the speedy Auburn receiving corps.
Following Slayton’s first two scores, Auburn’s Big Kat Bryant scored on a 20-yard INT return and on Anthony Schwartz’s six-yard run. The Tiger’s final score of the half came on Slayton’s third TD reception. Two insignificant second half scores came on Stidham’s fifth TD pass to Ryan Davis on a five-yard route and on Purdue QB David Blough’s 22-yard run which we witnessed on television at the Benchmark right across the river from Nissan Stadium at 117 Second Ave. Guest Game analysts and our long-time Auburn connections Charlie and Lynda Murren and I spent the rest of the afternoon with Will the bartender. He usually tends bar on the second floor at the Benchmark on weekends. Auburn won, 63-14.
Coming up short
Auburn came up short on two bowl records set by Army only two weeks ago with their 70-14 win over Houston in the Armed Forces Services Bowl in Fort Worth. Army set the record for most points (tying West Virginia’s mark when we attended the 2012 Orange Bowl) and the widest margin of victory at 56. Auburn fans did not anticipate the final result as the Tigers played inconsistently during the course of the 2018 season. They started the season with a 21-16 win over Washington who finished at No. 9. A one-point victory over No. 19 Texas A&M late in the season was the only other victory of note. Losses to five other conference foes finished them at 3-5 in the SEC.
Among 59,024 in attendance at Nissan Stadium, Purdue fans came out in good numbers despite their team losing three of its last four contests including this one. Upsets over Boston College, Iowa, and their 49-20 win over No. 6 Ohio State propelled them to into their second bowl in two years under Head Coach Jeff Brohm. In the aftermath, Brohm has made improvements in West Lafayette during his short stint there, but today’s game proved there’s a lot of work heading into next season. They will open the 2019 season at Nevada. Auburn will face the Oregon Ducks in their opener at Arlington, Texas.
Extra Points:
In the future, we will try to avoid any further bowl contests between the SEC and the Big Ten West. Of course, we will always be tempted to come back to the Music City where we always have a good time. This game is the fifth such conference match-up we’ve attended in the past few years. Basically the SEC dominated each time despite some of the inflated late scores by the conquered. Other teams against the SEC (except for Alabama; see game 585 review shortly) have competed equally in most other bowls attended in recent years – Notre Dame over LSU, Georgia Tech over Mississippi State, Penn State over Tennessee, and Wake Forest over Texas A&M.
Our non-entertaining SEC vs. Big Ten West history:
Tennessee 45 Iowa 28
Missouri 33 Minnesota 17
Tennessee 45 Northwestern 6
Tennessee 38 Nebraska 24
Auburn 63 Purdue 14
