2015 Outback Bowl

2015 Outback Bowl
Auburn Tigers Wisconsin Badgers
(8–4) (10–3)
31 34
Head coach: 
Gus Malzahn		 Head coach: 
Barry Alvarez (interim)
APCoachesCFP
191919
APCoachesCFP
171718
1234OT Total
Auburn 773140 31
Wisconsin 7014103 34
Date January 1, 2015
Season 2014
Stadium Raymond James Stadium
Location Tampa, Florida
MVP Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon[1]
Favorite Auburn by 7[2]
Referee Mike Defee (Big XII)[3]
Attendance 44,023[3]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN2/Touchdown
Announcers Bob Wischusen, Matt Millen, &Quint Kessenich (ESPN2)
Frank Fangie, Gino Torretta, & K.C. Jones (Touchdown)
Nielsen ratings 3.3 (6.42M)

The 2015 Outback Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on 1 January 2015 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. It was the 29th edition of the Outback Bowl (previously called the Hall of Fame Bowl) and featured the #17 Wisconsin Badgers from the Big Ten and the #19 Auburn Tigers from the SEC.[4] It was one of the 2014-15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. It kicked off at Noon EST and was nationally televised by ESPN2. It was sponsored by the Outback Steakhouse restaurant franchise.

Teams

Both teams are dominant rushing teams with both being ranked in the top 12 rushing in the nation and both teams' starting running backs led their respective conferences in rushing statistics. At the end of the 2014 season, Auburn running back, Cameron Artis-Payne, had 1,608 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns while Wisconsin running back, Melvin Gordon, had 2,336 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns. Auburn comes into this game with an 8–4 record and Wisconsin has a 10–3 record.

The game has a promising aspect, being one of the only two bowl games with AP top 20 teams, besides the College Football Playoff Bowls on New Years Day. ESPN ranked the Outback Bowl the second best non CFP game to watch, only behind the Belk Bowl between the Georgia and Louisville taking place on December 30, 2014.

The last time Auburn and Wisconsin met on the field was in the 2006 Capital One Bowl. Barry Alvarez, in his last game serving as head coach, led Wisconsin to a 24-10 victory over Tommy Tuberville-led Auburn.

Auburn

After starting the season 5–0 and being ranked as high as #2 in the country, Auburn dropped 4 of their last 7 games and finished with an 8–4 record. They finished their regular season by losing the Iron Bowl by two scores, after leading at halftime by seven over the Alabama Crimson Tide, ranked #1 in the nation. The Tigers' best win came at then #4 Ole Miss who would make a College Football Playoff New Year's Six bowl by being selected for the Peach Bowl. The Tigers are led by quarterback Nick Marshall, who led the team to a National Championship Game at the end of the 2013-2014 college football season. Auburn players honored fallen teammate Jakell Mitchell by adorning their helmets with stickers displaying his jersey number 31.[5]

Wisconsin

The Badgers lost their 1st game to LSU 28–24. They then lost two more games including to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Badgers had key wins, however, over very good teams like Minnesota and Nebraska which propelled them to the Big Ten Championship. The Badgers are led by running back Heisman-finalist Melvin Gordon who set the NCAA all-time record for single game rushing yards against Nebraska only to have it broken the following week. Head coach Gary Andersen left the Badgers to accept the head coaching position at Oregon State prior to this game.[6] Wisconsin was coached in the 2015 Outback Bowl by University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez.[7]

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP AUB WIS
1 11:10 5 89 2:10 WISC Corey Clement 7-yard touchdown reception from Joel Stave, Rafael Gaglianone kick good 0 7
1 2:16 8 58 2:46 AUB Cameron Artis-Payne 2-yard touchdown run, Daniel Carlson kick good 7 7
2 8:01 2 67 0:40 AUB Ricardo Louis 66-yard touchdown reception from Nick Marshall, Daniel Carlson kick good 14 7
3 12:09 6 75 2:51 WISC Melvin Gordon 25-yard touchdown run, Rafael Gaglianone kick good 14 14
3 9:42 8 42 2:37 AUB 51-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson 17 14
3 0:20 6 73 3:16 WISC Melvin Gordon 53-yard touchdown run, Rafael Gaglianone kick good 17 21
4 11:21 9 81 3:59 AUB C. J. Uzomah 20-yard touchdown reception from Nick Marshall, Daniel Carlson kick good 24 21
4 7:58 7 70 3:23 WISC Melvin Gordon 6-yard touchdown run, Rafael Gaglianone kick good 24 28
4 2:25 10 71 5:03 AUB Cameron Artis-Payne 2-yard touchdown run, Daniel Carlson kick good 31 28
4 0:07 13 64 2:48 WISC 29-yard field goal by Rafael Gaglianone 31 31
OT 7 18 – WISC 25-yard field goal by Rafael Gaglianone 31 34
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 34

Source: [3]

Statistics

Statistics[3] AUB WIS
First downs 21 31
Plays–yards 66–435 81–521
Rushes–yards 43–219 54–400
Passing yards 216 121
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 16–23–0 14–27–3
Time of possession 26:56 33:04

References

  1. ↑ Shanker, Jared (January 1, 2015). "Barry Alvarez, Melvin Gordon help Badgers bounce back in Outback Bowl". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ "College Football Lines, NCAA College Football Lines At Bovada Online Sportsbook". Bovada. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Stats
  4. ↑ Robinson, Hunter (December 7, 2014). "No. 19 Auburn to Play No. 18 Wisconsin in Outback Bowl", WFSA News. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ Erickson, Joel (2015-01-01). "Auburn honors Jakell Mitchell at Outback Bowl". AL.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  6. ↑ http://www.channel3000.com/news/uw-football-head-coach-gary-andersen-to-leave-for-oregon-state-university/30165914
  7. ↑ http://www.channel3000.com/sports/badgers/report-alvarez-to-coach-at-outback-bowl/30176538
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