College Football: (7) Auburn Tigers vs. Florida Gators Week 5 Preview, Prediction & Pick

Jason Radowitz is 4-0 in his College GameDay Game of the Week Best Bets. He’ll look to bring home another winner for this SEC Match-Up.

I feel like I keep clicking the “Easy” button from Staples. Okay. I’m not that cocky. But I’ve been winning. I’m now 4-0 in my College GameDay bets since making this a thing in Week 2. Ohio State -17 was more like -100. An easy win for Ohio State over Nebraska. This week’s GameDay Game of the Week should be much more exciting and close. 7 Auburn will travel on the road against 10 Florida for a 3:30 start time on CBS. 

Auburn

Auburn is 5-0 and they’ve been tested. Some might say their luck is going to run out. But some are saying that Auburn is the real deal. Auburn has already defeated 11 Oregon, 17 Texas A&M and destroyed Miss State last week scoring 56 points easily. 

Freshman quarterback Bo Nix played out of his mind and Auburn’s run game has been amazing averaging 251 yards per game on the ground. Auburn’s offensive line has been extremely effective as Auburn clinched plenty of first downs on the day.

The Florida Gators are giving up quite a few third down conversions this season. That could be the difference of the game right there. 

Auburn is allowing just three yards per carry and haven’t allowed a team to rush for more than 120 yards. Teams like A&M, Miss State, and Oregon are all fantastic running teams but they struggled against Auburn’s defense. 

Florida

So we just said that Auburn has a good run defense. If that’s the case, Florida’s Quarterback Kyle Trask, who took over for Feleipe Franks and saved the game against Kentucky, will be a huge X-Factor in this one.

Trask, since Kentucky, hasn’t been tested against a good defense like Auburn just yet. He’ll have to play a very good game without turning the ball over.

Florida’s defense has been just as good as Auburn’s allowing just under nine points per game. They have the top pass rush in college football and they’ll get back Jabari Zuniga and CJ Henderson on the defense for this game. Huge.

Florida needs to be disciplined to win this game. They have trouble controlling the clock and add a few too many penalties to the box score. If they want to get it done against Auburn, that can’t happen.

Pick

The difference between these two teams is that Auburn has been tested. Florida hasn’t. They’ve played a weak Miami team (almost lost…), UT Martin, Kentucky (almost lost…), Tennessee, Towson.

Auburn seems to be improving each week under their freshman quarterback, Bo Nix. He’s been impressive and he’s confident. His confidence is only rising with the wins Auburn is racking up. Auburn’s offensive line has done a solid job holding up against four quality opponents. Florida’s defense is the toughest task yet for Auburn’s offensive line, but if their able to get their running game going early, things should start to open up for the … dare I say it … high powered Auburn offense.

Of course, this game is expected to be a defensive battle with little scoring. Trask hasn’t proven anything yet. I like Auburn here, on the road -2.5.