The Northwestern Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers square off for the opportunity to win the Outback Bowl on Friday, Jan 1. Tennessee (8-4) and Northwestern (10-2) both enter this game having been victorious in five in a row. The game kicks off Friday, Jan 1 at 12:00 p.m. ET and will be shown on ESP2.
Tennessee easily got past Vanderbilt 53-28 in its last game. Joshua Dobbs had a solid outing throwing the ball in the victory, completing 13 of 21 passes for 140 yards and two TDs. He was also a threat running the ball, gaining 93 yards and a TD on 11 attempts. Northwestern also won its last game, beating Illinois 24-14. Justin Jackson had a big game running the ball for the Wildcats, carrying 37 times for 172 yards and one TD.
The Volunteers, an eight-point favorite, will be looking to defend their home field when Northwestern visits. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is 45 points.
The Volunteers enter the game with records of 8-4 Straight Up (SU) and 7-5 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. Over their last five games, the Volunteers have records of 5-0 SU and 3-2 ATS. The Tennessee running game is averaging 243.6 rushing yards during its last five matchups. The Tennessee pass defense has played at another level the past five games as well. It has given up 173.6 passing yards per game during that span.
As for their Outback Bowl opponent, the Wildcats have a record of 8-4 ATS and 10-2 SU. The Wildcats went 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS over the last five games. The Wildcats rely heavily on their run game, averaging 46.9 rushing attempts per game. Moving on to the Northwestern defense, there are certain areas where it measures up well against the Volunteers. Northwestern’s 25th-ranked pass defense has given its competition difficulty. Opponents have only thrown for 192.7 yards per game against this intimidating bunch.
Predictions: SU Winner – Tennessee, ATS Winner – Tennessee, O/U – Over
Notes
Tennessee is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tennessee’s last 6 games.
Northwestern is 9-0 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. Tennessee is 7-2 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter.
Tennessee is 3-1 SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, and 4-1 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The Tennessee passing attack is ranked only 93rd in the country, while the Northwestern pass defense is ranked 25th. The Wildcats passing game is ranked just 120th, compared to the 57th-ranked pass defense of the Volunteers.
