College Football Weekend Finale Spectacular: National Championship Edition

What an anti-climatic finish to a wild college football season. For all of those prognosticators who predicted a high-flying and high scoring game, sorry but you were wrong. The Auburn Tigers fulfilled there destiny last night by taking down the Oregon Ducks for their second national championship in school history. Cam Newton received all the accolades and hype coming into the game, but it was the running of Michael Dyer and the play of defensive standout Nick Fairley that pushed the Tigers to the win. It’s fitting that the game ended in such a bizarre way for Auburn, as their entire season has been filled with controversy. The Ducks could never get their high-powered up-tempo offense in gear, as Fairley and the defensive line of Auburn dominated up front and controlled the line of scrimmage. The game turned into a defensive battle, one that clearly favored the rugged Tigers coming out of the SEC.

The first quarter was a blur to say the least as both teams saw their share of turnovers. QB Darron Thomas threw two interceptions and Cam Newton threw one himself as both teams looked to find their offense. The most intersting thing to me in the first quarter were the socks of Oregon. I couldn't figure out if they were highlighters or socks. Both teams wouldn't get rolling offensively until the second quarter.

Oregon came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 49.3 points per game but could only manage 19 against a big physical Auburn defense. The Ducks also boasted a bullying running attack that averaged over 300 yards but only managed 81 yards on the ground. In my opinion that one lone stat sealed the Ducks fate as their offense has to gain yards on the ground to be productive. Auburn stuffed the Ducks repeatedly and when Tigers tackle Mike Blanc dropped RB Lamichael James in the end-zone for a safety, it would give Auburn a lead they would never get back. James, the nation’s leading rusher was held to just 49 yards on 13 carries.

After the safety, Cam Newton was able to the Tigers down the field for a touchdown that put them up 16-11. Auburn would tack on a field goal before the Ducks threatened again. Oregon drove the ball down to the three and would have that many shots at the end-zone. The Auburn defense again would show what they were made of as they yet again suffocated Oregon. On 4th and 1 Tigers linebacker Josh Byrnes stifled Ducks RB Kenjon Burner for no gain and no score leaving the game 19-11.

From that point the game developed into a lull stage as both offenses moved the ball but did not score until the last minutes of the fourth. Oregon’s sputtering offense finally got some life as they got a converted a 4th and 5 from QB Darron Thomas to WR D.J. Davis on a crossing pattern. The referee was CLEARLY in the way of the Auburn defender and Davis managed to gain 29 yards and took it to the Auburn 11. Oregon would go on to punch in the touchdown three plays later and after the beautiful set-up on the 2pt conversion as Thomas found WR Jeff Maehl, and they tied the game 19-19.

The stage was set for the Heisman trophy winner to put on his cape as he walked onto the field. He was clearly in pain as the grimace on face told us that but he wouldn’t have to do much to seal the victory for the Tigers. He found Emory Blake for 15 yards on the first play and on the second play is where the controversy begins. Michael Dyer (22 carries 143 yards) took the hand-off from Newton, and he ran for a decent gain before being taken down by Oregon’s Eddie Pleasant. Notice as I said he was “taken down” and not tackled by the Oregon defender. Multiple coaches and teammates yelled at Dyer to continue running and he did just that going for 37 yards down to the Oregon 23, and putting Auburn into to field goal range. Sorry Oregon fans but the officiating crew got that one right. From every angle that you could see, Dyer’s knee didn’t touch the ground and although his hand was on the ground it was palm.

The non-tackle as it will be forever known in college football history set up Auburn on the 10 yard line and after a few antics and botched Cam Newton QB sneak, the Tigers kicked the game-winning field goal and gave War Eagle what it had been craving for the last 54 years, a national championship.

Other News and Notes:

SEC Domination: No denying that this win will start another round SEC chants for its fans and another round of discouraging comments from everyone else around the country. This makes for the 5th consecutive year that the conference has produced the national champion and it shows no signs of letting up. The SEC’s fierce in-conference battles are what make them so tough to beat in the post season. Just look at Auburn’s schedule and compare it to anyone else in the nation. Another impressive fact is that the last two national champs reside in Alabama. Bama may hate the Tigers in every semblance of the word but they have to take a bit of pride in that stat. The SEC will inevitably load again next year and send another representative to the championship game and continue to dominate the college scene.

Luck’s Decision: What is the deal with these Pac-10 quarterbacks? A year after we seen Jake Locker of Washington stock plummet and USC’s Matt Leinart do the same a few years earlier, Luck has made his choice to stay as well. Andrew Luck’s decision to stay at Stanford is admirable to say the least. The number 1 rated prospect was slated to make least between 30-50 million dollars. In most people opinion, if you tell them they are due for a payday of that nature, they wouldn’t think twice about returning to school. Luck’s admirable act sets the Cardinal up nicely next year, even with the departure of Jim Harbaugh. Luck has to be a bit wary of after stock like tumble of Locker. He does go into the season as the Heisman front-runner and his team should be ranked in the top 5 so that isn’t the worse thing to come back to while finishing your degree.

Miles to Michigan? : If this indeed does come true, I for one will be a sad man. Miles is one of the most animated and enjoyable coaches on the sidelines during the game. He will chomp on grass and chest bump with his players just to name couple of his antics. His game rants are the stuff of legends. It doesn’t get much better than "We would have plenty of yards we would have needed and that game would not have been a game that was so closely decided or it certainly would have put more pressure on our opponents." I mean, how could you not love a guy who can state the obvious in a not so obvious way.



Every game that his team’s play in, you can expect some type of mad hatter moment. Rather if it’s a fourth and goal flip to the holder play against South Carolina or the infamous play-clock meltdown against Tennessee, this guy always has a flair for the dramatics. Michigan is a place of the highest expectations. Miles already has high expectations at LSU but not the caliber of Michigan.



He is a Michigan man as he played and coached there so that’s a fit. Miles would be much more exciting as well than the exiting Rich Rodriguez who always seemed to be walking a thin line in the first place. Miles makes perfect sense the more I think about it but I just hate to see him leave us here SEC country if he does. As much as it pains me to say this, Michigan you need get your man. He in all signs is the anti-Rodriguez and is a great recruiter and just a winner. No you guys won’t get Jim Harbaugh but Les Miles would do just fine.


I enjoyed a great year covering the college football scene and look forward to next year. Until then my good folks enjoy the off-season. Congrats Auburn on you title, you deserved it.

College Football Weekend Finale

This is the time of the season when you can't lose. The BCS frowns upon late season losses and a few teams are now out of contention. Utah got exposed by TCU and the same goes for Arizona against Stanford. Alabama saw their defense of the national title go up in flames at the hands of the "Mad Hatter" and LSU.

Now for the breakdown of those games and some other notables I saw this weekend:

LSU 24 Alabama 21  - This was an old fashioned SEC slugfest but the hatter was in full effect in Baton Rouge. Les Miles was chomping on grass and making gutsy calls in the Tigers victory of the Crimson Tide. "I have a little tradition that humbles me as a man, that lets me know that I'm a part of the field and part of the game," said Miles. LSU got an unusual good performance out of QB Jordan Jefferson who was 10/13 for 141 yards and 1 touchdown. If Jefferson had played this way the whole year, its possible LSU could have been undefeated. Jared Lee also came in and made some clutch throws down the stretch, including the de facto game ender, a 47-yard bomb to Rueben Randall on the final possession. Say what you want to about Miles, but nobody has the galls to make some of the calls he makes. The reverse pitch on fourth and 1 was the hatter at his best. Deangelo Peterson would take it 23-yards to set up Steven Ridley's 1 yard touchdown run. It just seems Miles has a special flair for the dramatics. Most people say he is crazy but I see a Coach who teams love to play for him. Alabama meanwhile squandered its opportunity it had to control their own destiny."I don't think there's an excuse. They beat us. They really did," said Greg McElroy QB of the Crimson Tide. "They did a great job. Credit their players and their coaches. We just didn't come out and play the way we should have played. LSU now has an outside shot at the SEC west title but would need Auburn to lose their next two games.

TCU 47 Utah 7 - This one got out of control in a hurry. TCU was able to dominate the Utes on both sides of the ball and just blew them out of the water. Andy Dalton threw for a career high 355 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Horned Frogs jumped out to a 20-0 lead as Dalton threw two touchdown passes early and Jeremy Kerley, the former high school QB, throwing one himself. Utah's inexperience showed as they had the deer in the headlights look. I thought that TCU would win but defintely not in this fashion. Jordan Wynn was ineffective and had horrible numbers finishing 16/35 for 148 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. He started 5 of 12 for 42 yards, with a sack and a fumble and just couldn't find his way from there against the nation's number 1 ranked defense. Any shot of Utah busting the BCS party is over after this demolition they took (I did like the camouflage and black uniforms the Utes had on though.) "This ranks up there with any game I've played," said Dalton, a senior who recently got engaged. "I have grown up. My team relies more on me now to make plays and not just manage the game." TCU looks to be in good position should one of the top two teams falter in the upcoming weeks.

Stanford 42 Arizona 17  - I had a feeling that Stanford was due for a let down game and lets just say I've been wrong before. The Cardinal laid a beat down on the Wildcats. Andrew Luck continues to show why he is the best college QB and the projected number one pick in next years draft. Luck was throwing lasers and ate the Wildcats secondary up for lunch. He finished 23/32 for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns. Stanford would go up 21-3 by halftime and never let the Wildcats in the game. I was impressed with the way they kept their foot to the throat of Arizona. Nick Fowles returned for the Wildcats but as expected was a little rusty in returning from injury and the number 1 ranked defense in the PAC-10 was just overwhelmed by Luck's precision passes. From the looks of this game, Luck could play in the NFL right now. He makes accurate throws and has a rocket launcher arm. Stanford is enjoying its best season in 40 years and remain in contention for the Rose Bowl, sitting in second place in the conference. They would need a Oregon loss but from the sounds of it, Luck will let the cards fall as they may. "I know there's many different situations about bowl games and what not," Luck said. "That all doesn't really matter unless we win. So we're taking it like that."

Other notables games and players:

Oklahoma State - How bout them Cowboys? OK State had it rolling on offense and Justin Blackmon may just be the best receiver in college football. He made some spectacular plays including a 69-yard reverse that had me jumping out of my seat. Blackmon was returning from a suspension after being charged with a DUI last weekend and made the most of his return. The Baylor Bears just had no answer for the Cowboys on offense. Brandon Weeden threw for school record 435 yards and Oklahoma State set another school record rolling up 725 yards of total offense. For me though, it was Blackmon who stole the show. He showed his versatility with the reverse but also made catch after catch as Weeden kept feeding him the ball. He finished with 13 catches for 173 yards and 1 touchdown catch.I was really impressed by the Cowboys offense.

Oklahoma - This team never looked championship caliber to me and now are proving it. Texas A&M was able to shut down the Sooners offense and really just beat them up on defense. The Aggies built a 19-0 lead and never trailed. This team doesn't have the championship mental fortitude. When they get down as they did with Missouri, they lack the spirit from within to comeback. They have to many offensive breakdowns in the most critical situations of the game. I will give them credit for rallying in the third quarter but I am disappointed in Oklahoma and Bob Stoops this year.

Michigan vs. Illinois - 67-65 are you kidding me? I was watching another game as the score rolled by on the bottom of the screen and I had to remember that it was a football game and not a basketball one. The stats are incredible from this game. The teams would combine to roll up 1237 yards of offense and 58 first downs. Roy Roundtree would set the Michigan all-time one game receiving yard total with 246 yards. Denard Robinson threw for 305 yards and 3 touchdowns before giving way to Tate Forcier who came in and threw for another 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. This wasn't your father Big 10 game as the defense's was defense-less against the offensive onslaught. I'm sure Rich Rodriguez could care less how he gets the win as long as he gets it these days. It was such an entertaining game and Michigan is now bowl eligible for the first time under Rich Rod.

Penn State and Joe Paterno - You have to give it up for Joe Pa. He got his 400th career victory as head coach, as his Nittany Lions came from behind to beat Northwestern 41-35. Even if you don't like Paterno, you have to respect his 400 wins. The longevity of his career is remarkable and he doesn't seem to be slowing down.