Oct 18, 2006, 16:05 GMT
(Sports Network) - The eighth-ranked Auburn Tigers are coming off a highly emotional victory, and they are heavily favored against this weekend's non- conference opponent, the Tulane Green Wave. With losses in three of its last four games, Tulane has fallen to 2-4 overall, including 1-3 in Conference USA outings. The Green Wave was most recently in action last weekend when it suffered a 34-20 loss to UTEP, and the squad has now surrendered at least 24 points in all six games. Tulane must win four of its remaining six games to qualify for a postseason bowl, but a victory this weekend seems highly unlikely. Auburn is coming of a thrilling 27-17 victory over Florida, helping to ease the pain of an unexpected loss to Arkansas the previous week. The Tigers are now 6-1 overall, and they remain in strong contention for a spot in one of the BCS Bowl games. While there are no undefeated SEC teams, Arkansas does own a perfect record in league play. If the Razorbacks lose a game and Auburn wins the remainder of its outings as the schedule suggests it might, the Tigers could be the highest ranked team in the nation's best conference by year's end. Tulane owns a 17-13-6 lead in the all-time series with Auburn, but the two programs haven't met since 1955.
In last weekend's 14-point loss to UTEP, Tulane got a pair of touchdowns from Matt Forte, as he scored on a four-yard run and a six-yard reception. Unfortunately, both touchdowns came in the fourth quarter, long after the Miners had built a 34-6 lead. Tulane finished the contest with 481 yards, but five turnovers cost the team a shot at victory. Lester Ricard completed 27- of-49 passes for 248 yards with no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions, and backup Scott Elliott came on late to throw the scoring pass to Forte. The talented tailback finished with 141 yards on the ground, and Preston Brown led the receivers with 11 catches for 98 yards. Tulane can best be described as a mediocre offensive team, as it is averaging 22.0 ppg and 369.2 total ypg. Of the 17 touchdowns that the offense has managed, only four have been rushing scores. The ground attack accounts for less than 100 ypg and has been an obvious area of weakness all season. Ricard has completed 56.5 percent of his passes for 1,484 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions, making him one of the best signal callers in Conference USA. Without a go-to guy at receiver, Ricard has managed to spread the ball around effectively.
Of the four touchdowns scored by UTEP against Tulane last weekend, one did come on a long punt return. Still, the Green Wave surrendered three passing scores and didn't play particularly well on defense. Tulane finished the contest with one sack and no takeaways, and the lack of big plays figured prominently in the setback. David Skehan led the way in defeat with 11 total tackles. Opponents are scoring 35.7 ppg against Tulane, which ranked 115th nationally in scoring defense. Considering there are only 119 Division I-A teams, the weakness of the defense is evident. The Green Wave is also surrendering 411.3 total ypg to rank 110th in that category. Tulane has registered six takeaways to date, an embarrassingly low total. Joe Goosby paces the Green Wave with 40 total tackles, one more than Skehan has contributed.
Florida entered last weekend's game against Auburn with an unblemished record that was the result, in large part, of a swarming defense that ranked among the leaders nationally in many key categories. The Tigers didn't manage a single offensive touchdown in the clash and posted 315 total yards. On a positive note, they committed just one turnover and held the ball for over 36 minutes. Brad Lester and Kenny Irons ran the ball effectively, as the duo combined for 161 yards on 30 carries. As for Brandon Cox, who was sacked five times, he connected on 18-of-27 passes for 182 yards. Through seven outings, Auburn is averaging 25.7 ppg and 329.0 total ypg. Irons has rushed for 581 yards and three touchdowns, while Lester has contributed 282 yards and five scores. As for Cox, he has connected on 62.7 percent of his passes for 1,199 yards and five touchdowns with only two interceptions. Courtney Taylor has caught 30 passes for the Tigers, twice as many as his closest teammate.
Clearly, the Auburn defense and special teams deserves a great deal of credit for the victory over Florida. Trailing 17-11 at intermission, the Tigers managed to shut out the mighty Gators over the final 30 minutes. In the third quarter, the club blocked a punt and recovered for a touchdown. Then, on the final play of the game as Florida scrambled to score a victory, Patrick Lee recovered a fumble for the defense and raced 20 yards for a touchdown. With three takeaways and three sacks, Auburn made its fair share of big plays. Also worthy of mention is the fact that the Tigers limited the Gators to 1- of-7 success on third down conversion attempts. Opponents are only posting 12.1 ppg and 276.9 total ypg against Auburn, which possesses the nation's fifth-best scoring defense and 19th-ranked defense overall. The Tigers have recorded 20 sacks, and Quentin Groves leads the way with six. Will Herring is tops in tackles with 37 and has recorded a pair of interceptions as well.
Auburn proved that it is one of the nation's premier teams by beating Florida last weekend. The Tigers will improve to 7-1 this weekend by knocking off a Tulane squad that will be playing well over its head this weekend.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Auburn 41, Tulane 12
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