OREGON v. AUBURN...WHO YOU GOT?

OREGON v. AUBURN...WHO YOU GOT?

So here we go. The greatest regular season in sports has led us to this night in Glendale, Arizona. I don't know about you, but I personally am not surprised about anything that has happened this season, I for one knew that Oregon v. Auburn would be the game that we would see tonight (ok, I had Alabama v. Ohio State in this game, but let me dream about being right). I think we will see a very entertaining game.

Auburn comes in ranked #1 and representing a conference who has won the last4 BCS National Championships. The SEC has never lost a BCS Title game and is the standard by which all other conferences are measured. When you look at the resume that has gotten Auburn to Arizona, there is nobody in the country who has a resume comparable to the Tigers (or is it War Eagles, it would be nice if someone at Auburn would figure out what their mascot is). The Tigers boasts the 4th toughest schedule in the country, compared to the 76th ranked schedule for Oregon. The Tigers come in having been battled tested time and time again. They trailed by double digits in the second half of games 5 times this season. However the fact that many people do not realize is that Oregon trailed in the second half of games on 7 occasions this season. So, I do not expect to see either team panic if they are trailing and for those of us who will be watching, I think it is safe to say, do not turn this game off until the game clock reads 00:00 in the 4th quarter.

Auburn comes in with a high powered offense and they have been tested in every possible scenario. They have been involved in shootouts, been down at home, been down on the road, been picked to lose, been picked to win. The tigers are obviously led by their Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton. Newton accounted for almost 4000 yards this season and 49 touchdowns. Make no mistake about it, this Auburn offense is no 1 trick pony, Auburn has plenty of backs who look to see how they will do against the undersized Ducks defense. I expect to see the Ducks sell out to stop Newton and therefore Auburn will need Michael Dwyer to step up and have a good game. Auburn does not throw the ball that often, they had the fewest passing attempts in the SEC and only 4 teams in the country had less pass attempts that Auburn (they all run the triple option) on the season. However, Newton is very successful throwing the ball completing over 67% of his passes for 2,589 yards and 28 touchdowns. The Ducks secondary will need to be very careful looking into the backfield because Newton has a huge arm and if the Ducks secondary spends too much time looking into the backfield Newton will be more than happy to throw the ball down the field. The Auburn passing game against the Oregon pass defense will be a very interesting matchup, Oregon only allows opposing qb’s to complete 53.5% of their passes and the Oregon defense is very opportunistic creating 35 takeaways (20 interceptions).

Oregon is led by their own Heisman candidate in LaMichael James. He is going to lead a Ducks offense that will want to get the ball snapped every 10 – 12 seconds, this will be terrible for Auburn if they are successful, because Auburn is going to be able to sub the bigger defenders to avoid them wearing down in the 3rd and 4th quarter. If Oregon is able to move the ball and force those big defenders to chase the smaller ducks around the field, it could be a long day for Auburn fans. One of the major factors in determining the outcome of this game will be the play of Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas. His ability to read and control the Auburn defense will be very important for the Ducks to have a chance. Another player who will need to have a good game for the Ducks if Jeff Maehl. He has great hands, makes the tough catches and will need to make a couple of plays over the middle to help prevent the Auburn defensive backs from getting to close to the line of scrimmage. If Thomas, James, and co. is able to run their offense, Nick Fairley and co will be in for a long day. They have had a 36 day layoff and I know that the Ducks have had the same layoff, but there is one thing that anyone who knows anything will tell you is that you can’t coach speed and there is no way to prepare for the tempo that Auburn will see tonight in Glendale.

At the end of the day, I think Oregon is too fast and they will wear down the bigger Auburn defense (when is the last time we talked about an SEC school not being fast enough to keep up with their opponents?). I think this could be the most entertaining BCS Title game since 2006, and when the game clock does finally read 00:00 in the 4th quarter, I think Oregon is going to come out on top 45 – 41.

What do you think? Give me your thoughts.

Until Next Time…