NCAA Football – Auburn Tigers claim National Title over Oregon Ducks

Cameron Newton is perhaps one of the finest players to ever have played in the NCAA. He took the Heisman Trophy, he broke most every record you could brake on a single season; he is taller, stronger, heavier, faster and perhaps even more accurate then any quarterback we have seen so far. At the end, and despite his somewhat upsetting and slow start, Cam Newton had the best answers. The Tigers made up for the slow start when they were able to shut off the Oregon Ducks for 38 minutes straight.

All it took was a series of small mistakes from Oregon to guide the Tigers into their first National Championship since 1957. The Oregon Ducks were close, very close but at the end, as the time ran out, the starting kicker Wes Byrum’s completed a 19-yard field goal to close a perfect 14-0 season and give the Tigers a 22-19 win in the BCS National Championship Bowl.

If we could track it all down to one decisive moment, we could come up with a couple of errors made by Oregon. First came that safety when LaMichael James was tackled by Mike Blank inside the End Zone, which closed down the Tigers gap to 9-11. Right after that, the Auburn Tigers defensive line kept Darron Thomas and the Ducks under the radar.

Thomas completed 27 of his 40 passes and for 363 yards and 2 touchdowns but with 2 interceptions.  The Heisman Trophy winner, on the other hand, had a great and yet a bit under par game. Let’s be realistic: he had been so amazing during the regular season that we were expecting some sort of touchdown-fest by both players. Still, Cam Newton completed 20 of his 34 attempts for 265 yards with 2 touchdowns and one early game pick. He was also the Tigers second best rusher. With 22 carriages for 64 yards Newton was only surpassed by Michael Dyer who recorded 22 carriages for 143 yards.

Among one of this carriages was the single play that changed it all. For a moment, Micheal Dyer wasn’t running anymore. The Oregon defender who had tackled him was standing right next to him. But the referee had his hands down and there was no Whistling. It was time to run again, run pass the motionless defender. Dyer’s knee never hit the ground: the play was still going. That 37-yard run changed everything. It was enough to set up the final field goal that would give the Tigers their first title in over half a decade, and the SEC its fifth consecutive National Title.