Thanks for that mini-analysis CNHTH; you seem to know quite a lot about the personnel, coaches and schemes of both teams. Living in a far-off land and relegated to watching YouTube highlight reels after games as I am, my knowledge is limited. However, I would give a ton of weight to the impact of the late start-time. On a time/location-neutral field (not knowing as much about the teams as you do), I might give a slight edge to Auburn based purely on recent years' performances, fan base/backer passion and the results of our respective first games. However, even setting aside home field advantage and Auburn's having to cross time zones, the scheduling of this game for night-time PST is HUGE for the Bears. I expect Auburn to tire rapidly in the 4th quarter when it is past their bedtimes and give us something like 2-1 odds (a 67% chance) to win. Internal clocks are a b****.
Separately, it's great to see the Auburn supporters here and friendly banter among both sets of fans.