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.

NCAA Football- Oregon and Auburn will play for the National Championship

The BCS National Championship Bowl will be played on Monday January 10th, in the University of Phoenix in Glendale, Arizona. As of press time, the Auburn Tigers are a -2

NCAA Football – Auburn and Oregon take a go at the National Title

The BCS National Championship Game has been mostly reserved for college football blue bloods and football programs that have at least one National Championship on their pedigree. And yet, slowly but surely, both Auburn and Oregon have managed to finish a flawless season and at 13-0 and 12-0 respectively, are now going to play for the National Championship on January 10 at the Tositos BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona.

Get ready because this game is going to get as offensive as one can wish. Two of the finest offensive squads we have seen in the recent years are going to put all they’ve got on the line. The two top ranked teams in the country, are going to make it into the game and the stakes are high. Auburn has won every game of the season, including the Southeaster Conference Championship Game against South Carolina, 56-17. That is right after taking an intense 28-27 win over the defending Champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

On the other hand, Oregon has been outstanding in the PAC-10, making everybody know that after its second consecutive win in its conference, the Oregon Ducks are the new team to defeat in the Pacific 10 Conference. Forget USC, the Trojans were not even close, after the Ducks took them down 53-32 on October 30, and then kept on with their run to win each and every game of the season, including the Ducks 37-20 win over Oregon State, to secure their PAC-10 championship.

This is Oregon’s first chance to win the National Title. Auburn has one National Title on its pedigree, but it came back in 1957, way before the BCS was born in 1998. So it is quite a thrill to have a contender in the National Title Game who could be in its way to win the program’s first National Title ever. So, extra Kudos for Oregon for making it into the Tositos National Championship Bowl. As a matter of fact, only one other program, Virginia Tech back in 1999, has played in the BCS Championship Game without holding a National Title on their history.

This is also the second time ever, after Nebraska and Miami that two teams make it to the BCS Championship Game for the first time ever. This is also the first time that two teams that where not ranked inside the AP Poll’s top 10, at the beginning of the season manage to make it into the National Championship Game. At the beginning of the year, the Oregon Ducks were ranked 11th while the Auburn Tigers where second in their own state, behind coaching legend Nick Saban and the defending champions Alabama. The Tigers were ranked the 23rd team in the Nation at the beginning of the season.

Here is one extra little detail to bring into this equation. It seems very plausible that by the time the Tositos National Championship Bowl is played, Auburn will have the privilage to start Cam Newton, not only as one of the finest quarterbacks the sport has seen in recent years, but also as the Heisman Trophy winner. That could bring on a special little ingredient into the mix. Last season the trophy went to Mark Ingram from Alabama, and he was key in the Crimson Tide’s sweet performance in the Championship game. Perhaps this year, if the Heisman goes to Newton, there will be a good chance that he could guide the Tigers to their second National Championship.

NCAA Football – Oregon struggles but defeats California 15-13

It not only takes a great team to be ranked on the No. 1 spot in the NCAA Football betting season; sometimes you have to get a little luck to make it pass a powerful team and clinch on to the top spot of the BCS ranking for yet another week. This was certainly a good chance for the Oregon Ducks defense to step up and show that the Ducks are not working their way into the BCS National Championship game exclusively on the prowess of its offensive team. The Ducks defense can also walk the walk.

Oregon had to struggle in the road as the California Golden Bears, 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the PAC 10 division, found a way to stall and bring down the Oregon’s offensive end, which this year has been the best in the Nation. The Golden Bears brought Oregon’s offense to a season low 317 yards. And that’s not all, not only did they kept the team from scoring more then one touchdown, they also kept the Ducks scoreless during two quarters. Now, to really get things into perspective, you need to consider that the Oregon Ducks have been hold scoreless on three other quarters so far this season. But California’s defense did the trick and kept the usually pouring offense from shinning.

And then there was the luck factor. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, California had a great chance to complete a 24-yard field goal and get ahead in the score by one point. Even though the junior kicker Giorgio Tavecchio completed the field goal, the Ducks were able to get a huge break in an illegal motion by the Golden Bears’ kicker. Tavecchio took a stutter step forward before the snap and the play was cancelled. As if that was not enough, he then missed a 29-yard try on the following play.

The Bears could have won this game, and they could have really hurt the Oregon Ducks chances of getting into the National Championship Game. They played the game well. To get California’s performance into the right perspective you need to consider that the Golden Bears kept Oregon 40 points beneath their season average. That’s a lot. California had been quite dominant when it came down to defending their home team advantage. But it was just not the case.

Oregon took the win. But it was evident that this was the closest game of the season so far. The Ducks had not won a game by fewer then 11 points this season, and that 15-13 was a clear proof that the Ducks where struggling and just barely managed to win. Sure, they were far from covering the spread, but hey, the Ducks are still a very reliable wagering option. They are 6-4 ATS for the season.

Oregon will now play Arizona as the team tries to keep leading the BCS standings. They shouldn’t struggle that much, as they Ducks are a -19

NCAA Football – Oregon Ducks face the USC Trojans

The Oregon Ducks are smoking-hot this football-betting season. As of this week, the Ducks have been one of the most dominating teams in the nation. Not only does the AP Poll ranks them as the No. 1 team in the country, but the Oregon Ducks are the No. 2 ranked teams in the BCS ranking system. The Ducks are dominating the PAC ten with a 7-0 record and all though they have only played in-conference games, their ability to crush its opponents has been outstanding.

Now, here is an couple of interesting facts for those football betting players out there interested in wagering on college football: In terms of betting, the Ducks have been an outstanding pick. Considering their brilliant performance against the spread you will notice that the Ducks are 5-2 against the spread, coming short only to Washington and to Arizona State.

Now, with most games been won by a double digit margin, you could also expect that Ducks game’s to be fairly high when it comes to scoring and to wagering on football over and under. And even though the totals have been set a bit on the higher end of things, the Ducks have managed to go over the spread in 5 of their 7 matches. So, only one of their games had gone under, as their whopping 69-0 win over Portland State had not offer a betting line for this particular game total.

Now, if only the brilliant Darron Thomas can repeat the brilliant performance he had against UCLA in this Saturday’s game against USC, then boy oh boy, this game is going to get really good. Darron Thomas went for a career high 308 yards for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Yes, this was on the 60-13 crushing of UCLA, but if you look at his numbers for the season, you come to see that he has shot 109 of 179 for 1539 yards so far. He has a passer rating of 158.87. So Yes, he is bringing on his A-game this season.

Now, as if Thomas was not enough of a threat, the sometimes flamboyant Oregon Ducks now have LaMicheal James as a very fine and superbly athletic running back, who last week ran for 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries against UCLA. Seems like the Ducks have a good prospect in hands for the Heisman Trophy. To put things into the right perspective, you have to consider that James has already completed 971 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns and no fumbles. Mark Ingram is going to have to shine this season if he wants to repeat his feat and win the recognition again.

As of press time the Oregon Ducks are -6