Utah State at Auburn

Utah State may have had a flashy offense last fall and gave Oklahoma a scare, but they are getting too much respect from oddsmakers in this one. That Utah State team had a dynamic QB in Diondre Borel, who is gone. Sophomore QB Jeremy Higgins and junior QB Adam Kennedy step in, but they threw a combined seven passes in 2010. This is a long road trip and the Aggies had a small, terrible defense last season. They faced good offenses in San Diego State, Hawaii, Nevada and Boise and lost by scores of 41-7, 45-7, 56-24 and 50-14. Those scores will be similar to the final score in this one, taking on defending champion Auburn. The Aggies struggled against the run and that will be the biggest concern here against the Tigers and brilliant offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the architect of wide-open spread attacks. They won the national title with an offense that averaged 41.2 points per game. Many key players are off to the NFL, but there is talent with junior QB Barrett Trotter and junior WR Emory Blake. The ground game averaged 284.8 yards, No. 5 in the country, with the help of 5-9 sophomore RB Michael Dyer (1,093 yds., 6.0 yards per carry) and junior RB Onterio McCalebb (810, 8.5 ypc) who return. This one won’t be close, so play Auburn.