Simulating Auburn's 2020 season: North Carolina

Day 90 without sports.

I rummaged up a copy of NCAA Football 14 for the Xbox 360, downloaded 2020 rosters for every team, set up the schedule, and simulated Auburn's entire 2020 football season — because, at this point, why not?

Video-game depictions of sporting events have become common during the pandemic, and fans seem to eat it up. Look at Barstool Sports' NCAA 14 series, for example, which netted more than 125,000 viewers during a national championship earlier this month.

But our usage of the game will differ slightly. Here are the ground rules, for those who missed the first installment. In short, I don't touch the controller; I let the CPU simulate the game how it will.

Onto the games.

• Auburn gets as good a start as it could ask for. Quarterback Sam Howell and the Tar Heels offense manage just one first down on their first drive. Auburn nickelback Christian Tutt appears to come down with a pick, but he lands out of bounds.

• Bo Nix takes Auburn straight down the field, starting the game 3-of-4 for 42 yards. Shaun Shivers punches it in on third-and-goal. 7-0 Auburn.

• In a trend consistent with last season, the Tigers' secondary and linebackers tackle well in space, forcing another UNC punt.

• Nix makes a poor read looking for Eli Stove and throws a near-pick six. He tackles the UNC defensive back at Auburn's own 8-yard line.

• But Auburn's defense saves the offense, with Derick Hall sacking Howell on third-and-goal to force the field goal. 7-3 Auburn.

• Nix bounces back from the interception, scrambling for 46 yards to get Auburn inside the 10. D.J. Williams finishes off the drive with a short touchdown. 14-3 Auburn.

• North Carolina has its best drive of the game and elects to go for it on fourth-and-3 inside Auburn's 30. Tutt knocks away a pass over the middle, forcing a turnover on downs.

• Nix makes another errant decision, throwing his second interception in Auburn territory. But just two plays later, backup nickel Zion Puckett reads Howell looking to the sideline and gets Auburn the ball right back around midfield.

• Nix continues to struggle a few plays later with his third interception in the first half.

• Auburn's defense holds strong, however. Howell is efficiently completing passes, but Kevin Steele's group keeps getting off the field on third down.

• Four. Four first-half picks for Nix, as he puts UNC in Auburn territory yet again the next drive. The Tigers' defense continues its choke hold, however, forcing a three-and-out.

• Both teams exchange punts, and Tutt redeems his earlier out-of-bounds play by landing with an interception of Howell a few seconds before halftime.

HALFTIME: Auburn 14, North Carolina 3

• Auburn's offense struggles again out of the break, while North Carolina is able to turn around its fortunes. Howell leads a 56-yard drive, capped by a QB draw score. 14-10 Auburn.

• Rinse and repeat. Auburn manages a field goal, but Howell takes the 'Heels down the field. Hall yet again forces a field goal with another sack on third-and-goal. 17-13 Auburn.

• Auburn's defense continues to save the day as the offense goes nowhere. Jamien Sherwood comes down with the defense's third interception of Howell, getting tackled at UNC's 37 a minute before the third quarter ends.

• But Nix throws his fifth interception of the game, this one almost a pick-six, down to Auburn's 10-yard line. Nix probably could have had 10 or 12 picks on the day. For some reason he kept throwing into coverage.

• Just one of those games for Auburn's defense. They get the stop yet again on a goal-to-go situation and force a field goal. 17-16 Auburn.

• Now, with four minutes and change left in the game, Auburn begins its attempt at running down the clock. A few plays into the drive, Malik Miller fumbles and North Carolina recovers, the video review overturns the call, saying Miller was down. The Tigers trudge forward.

• Mark-Antony Richards breaks a tackle for a huge third-down conversion a few plays later. Auburn only needs two more minutes.

• But Gus Malzahn rolls the dice, and it pays off. With the defense sucked in, looking for another run, Nix goes play action, and finds Stove wide-open behind the defense for a 54-yard touchdown with just under two minutes remaining. 24-16 Auburn.

• But of course, Howell takes UNC right down the field, culminating with a TD pass to receiver Beau Corrales. 24-22 Auburn.

• On the 2-point try to tie the game, defensive tackle Coynis Miller busts through the line, throwing the center out of the way and blowing up the play in the backfield to stop the attempt. Kobe Hudson recovers the onside kick, and Auburn emerges victorious in yet another neutral-site thriller for the program.

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TOTAL YARDS

Auburn: 442

North Carolina: 355

PASSING YARDS

Auburn: 303

North Carolina: 310

RUSHING YARDS

Auburn: 144

North Carolina: 45

THIRD DOWNS

Auburn: 7-of-16

North Carolina: 3-of-14

TURNOVERS

Auburn: 5

North Carolina: 3

PASSING

B. Nix (AU): 29-for-45, 303 yards, TD, 5 INTs

S. Howell (UNC): 36-for-50, 310 yards, TD, 3 INTs

RUSHING

D. Williams (AU): 12 carries, 76 yards, TD

B. Nix (AU): 6 carries, 45 yards

M. Richards (AU): 5 carries, 14 yards

S. Shivers (AU): 2 carries, 6 yards, TD

M. Miller (AU): 1 carry, 5 yards

H. Joiner (AU): 1 carry, -1 yards

T. Bigsby (AU): 1 carry, -1 yards

S. Howell (UNC): 14 carries, 21 yards, TD

M. Carter (UNC): 7 carries, 16 yards

J. Williams (UNC): 3 carries, 8 yards

RECEIVING

E. Stove (AU): 8 receptions, 92 yards, TD

D. Williams (AU): 9 receptions, 60 yards

S. Williams (AU): 3 receptions, 55 yards

J. Shenker (AU): 4 receptions, 47 yards

A. Schwartz (AU): 2 receptions, 34 yards

T. Bigsby (AU): 2 receptions, 11 yards

H. Joiner (AU): 1 reception, 4 yards

D. Newsome (UNC): 8 receptions, 87 yards

B. Corrales (UNC): 8 receptions, 85 yards, TD

D. Brown (UNC): 3 receptions, 65 yards

R. Groves (UNC): 5 receptions, 39 yards

J. Williams (UNC): 3 receptions, 20 yards

M. Carter (UNC): 7 receptions, 17 yards

J. Henderson (UNC): 2 receptions, -3 yards

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

D. Hall (AU): 5 tackles, 4 TFLs, 3 sacks

C. Tutt (AU): 5 tackles, 2 PBU, INT

J. Sherwood (AU): 8 tackles, TFL, INT

N. Pritchett (AU): 7 tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 PBU

Z. Puckett (AU): 4 tackles, INT

T. Truesdell (AU): 3 tackles, 2 TFLs, sack

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EAST

1. Florida (2-0, 1-0 SEC)

2. Missouri (2-0, 1-0 SEC)

3. Georgia (2-0)

4. South Carolina (2-0)

5. Kentucky (1-1, 0-1 SEC)

6. Vanderbilt (1-1, 0-1 SEC)

7. Tennessee (1-1)

WEST

1. Alabama (2-0)

2. Auburn (2-0)

3. Texas A&M (2-0)

4. Mississippi State (2-0)

5. LSU (1-1)

6. Ole Miss (1-1)

7. Arkansas (1-1)