On paper, Auburn should be favored to beat Minnesota given the edge in talent and experience in coaching the Tigers have over the Gophers but bowl games have a way of being very unpredictable at times.

Particularly in today’s age of college football, with players sitting out bowl games or failing to make the trip to the game for various reasons including academics and now the NCAA transfer portal. All those issues, combined with the long layoff from the end of the regular season until the bowl game can be a dangerous combination that results in unexpected results.

That’s something Auburn knows all too well, as two years ago, the Tigers found themselves playing for the 2017 SEC Championship but followed up that crushing loss to Georgia in Atlanta with an embarrassing loss to UCF in the Peach Bowl. Last season, Auburn limped into the Music City Bowl with a 7-5 record then turned around and beat Purdue 63-14 in a game that the Tigers could have easily scored 80 or more points.

How motivated of a team Auburn puts on the field come Jan. 1 remains to be seen but during his recent Outback Bowl press conference, Malzahn shared his thoughts on that topic as well as added an interesting thought on how playing in Florida helps his program’s recruiting efforts. With the Early Signing Period looming next week, recruiting is clearly on Malzahn’s mind.

Heading into Auburn’s latest trip to the Sunshine State, Malzahn shared his belief that playing in this game could help the Tigers in recruiting.

“This is a state we recruit really hard,” the Auburn coach said. “Any time you get a chance to play in a marquee game in one of your main states, I think it does nothing but help and the fact we play on January first, I think that’s a really big thing, too.”

Following his thoughts on recruiting, Malzahn shared his initial takeaways on the matchup against an improved Minnesota program.

“I’m very impressed with them. They are 10-2, they have an outstanding defense, they have an outstanding offense, their head coach is one of the more energetic guys,” Malzahn noted. “I’ve always been impressed with his teams, they take on his personality, this will be a very big game for them also, so it ought to be a good one.”

Going back to motivation, that could be a critical area of focus for Malzahn and his program heading into the Outback Bowl. While the level of motivation for Auburn remains somewhat of a mystery, Malzahn believes his opponent will be very motivated to show the nation they can handle SEC competition.

“There’s no doubt and our guys understand that,” Malzahn added. “The fact that they are 10-2 — I think we had an off week when they played Penn State and College GameDay was there, a lot of our players got a chance to watch it, I know I did. I went away very impressed. Of course, when you watch their film, they are very sound and physical on defense.

“Offensively, they have a 1,000-yard rusher, I think two 1,000-yard receivers, they have a really complete team and I know this will be a good game for them, as well it will be for us.”

Malzahn has to be careful heading into this game, too. After beating Alabama in the Iron Bowl, angry Tiger fans have put down their pitchforks but it always seems that Malzahn is always one loss away from the hot seat on The Plains. Should Auburn fail to show up and lose this game to Minnesota, Malzahn will likely be hearing from the fan base all offseason long.