Game Day Preview: The National Championship
Is this the moment Phil Collins was singing about? Being raised in the state of Florida, an Auburn fan among Gator and Seminole jerseys, with no one understanding the sheer passion it takes to root for a team like the Tigers now seems like a mere sacrifice. For a team of late-teenagers are early twenty-somethings, this night is a culmination of a season (two seasons, really) under the Gene Chizik regime in which every single player bought into the concept of “family” and produced on the football field unlike any other team in Auburn history.
The season has given us, the fans, an undefeated regular season, a come-from-behind win in the Iron Bowl, an SEC Championship, two players worthy of a Jordan-Hare mural, and the school’s third Heisman Trophy winner. We really shouldn’t be greedy in hopes of a National Championship, but this team deserves one.
During the 2005 season, ESPN treated Southern Cal as a team destined to win the National Championship. Led by two Heisman winners – quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush – ESPN college football analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Mark May declared the ’05 Trojans as the second-greatest team ever assembled before the National Championship game kicked off. When the Trojans lost by three in the championship game to the Texas Longhorns, Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel penned the following:
“ESPN spent the better part of [the] Christmas season comparing that Trojans squad to some of the most acclaimed of all time only to find out that they weren’t even the best team that season.”
Auburn isn’t Southern Cal. If anything, the college football media contingent, specifically ESPN, tried to break down this year’s Auburn team. When Herbstreit, Lee Corso, and Chris Fowler wondered aloud as to why their uber-popular College Gameday road show was in Auburn for this year’s Auburn-Clemson matchup, it was a sign of disrespect. When they attacked quarterback Cam Newton – the most dominant college football player since Barry Sanders – with a barrage of scandalous accusations, it was a scene from the Watergate-themed thriller All the King’s Men, only if Bob Woodward fabricated/exaggerated President Richard Nixon’s involvement instead of relying on the infamous “Deep Throat” as a rock solid informant. And Cecil Newton’s absence from the Heisman Trophy ceremony didn’t have to come to pass. ESPN forced that maneuver. Cam won the Heisman and father Cecil wasn’t there to see it. Tonight in Glendale, Cecil will be present, much to the chagrin of ESPN.
The 2010-11 Auburn Tigers are the anti-love fest. Good guys portrayed as bad. I’d compare them to The Dark Knight, but readers of this website know I’ve previously made a Batman-Cam Newton linkage. I’ll spare a new one.
Let’s just say this: it’s fitting that tonight’s BCS National Championship game is the first ever to be televised on ESPN.
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At this point, the Auburn Family and the rest of the free world are perfectly aware of what Cam Newton can do on the football field. But what has shaped the build-up to this championship game is the mystique of the much-maligned Auburn defense.
Sure, the Tigers’ D leaves a lot to be desired, but the rock of the unit – Lombardi Award-winning defensive tackle Nick Fairley – is anything but a question mark. That’s what makes the remarks of Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas, regarding Fairley, spectacularly peculiar:
“Oh yeah, we’ve seen he’s got a lot of dirty plays, throwing people around after the play and things like that. But that’s just football. I don’t worry about it because it’s a physical game.”
Well Darron, if you thought the game would be physical prior to your remarks, just watch what happens now. The only thing Nick Fairley will have to worry about it is the Big Ten officiating crew that will have him in their crosshairs this evening. But a tiny quarterback pissing off the big fella? Good luck with that one, Darron.
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Not only has Oregon disrespected Auburn in the media, but also face-to-face. According to Auburn wide receiver Terrell Zachery, both teams attended the pre-game banquet Saturday night. After a 10-minute highlight film of the Ducks played, a two-minute film of Auburn’s highlights from this season was on tap. The entire Ducks team got up and walked out prior to the playing of the Auburn tape. That’s a bit cocky for some little Ducks, huh?
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Down to the nitty-gritty: how does Auburn win this game? How does Auburn stop the powerful Oregon offense?
How can Auburn’s front seven contain the Ducks’ Doak Walker Award-winning running back LaMichael James? That’s a question better suited for Auburn Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof and Defensive Line Coach Tracy Rocker, but from my point of view, how’s about whatever we did to slow Alabama’s Mark Ingram and South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore? One can’t argue that Auburn hasn’t had enough practice against talented running backs. And the Oregon offense as a whole doesn’t bring anything that Auburn hasn’t seen in a game or in practice.
Ditto for the Ducks’ defense. To think Offensive Coordinator (and newly-inked millionaire) Gus Malzahn would be stifled would be foolish. The Auburn offense has chugged right along against Alabama, LSU, Georgia, and even Clemson in regular season competition. Oregon’s schedule doesn’t have that frame of depth; the Ducks haven’t played a bigger version of themselves.
So here are the five keys to winning this football game for the Tigers:
- Scoreboard. We got here by scoring and we’ll be champions by scoring. This game has all the makings of being Cam Newton’s symphony. If Gene Chizik winks at Malzahn prior to the opening Auburn drive, it’s game on, sports fans.
- The Auburn defense doesn’t have to shut down Thomas, James, and the Ducks’ offense, just manage it. There’s no other defense in the country that is more equipped to handle Oregon than Auburn. The Ducks will score – let’s not be naïve – but forcing them into areas of discomfort (i.e. using clock and relying on short plays) could suffice.
- No penalties. This isn’t the game in which Fairley needs to flaunt his invisible Heavyweight Title belt, nor is it the time for Lee Ziemba to fall off the wagon. Oregon has NO problem acquiring yardage. Good Lord, don’t help them.
- T’Sharvan Bell. T’Sharvan Bell will likely start at cornerback, which would be the wise thing for Ted Roof to do. Bell shut down wide receiver Alshon Jeffery in the SEC Championship Game. Now Bell needs to duplicate the effort, because Auburn will spend a lot of time in a five-defensive back formation against the Oregon spread. And slow-as-molasses Neiko Thorpe and too-short-for-comfort Demond Washington are likely to get punished. Unfortunately for Bell, ALL of the pass coverage pressure rests on his shoulders.
- The Auburn receivers. Darvin Adams and Emory Blake are REALLY good and will likely be underestimated by the Ducks’ defense. I’m sure Newton will have no problem taking advantage of that fact. Once the Auburn run is established, Adams, Blake, and some combination of Philip Lutzenkirchen, Terrell Zachery, and Quindarius Carr will be happy recipients of long passes.
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Anticipated Starters on Offense: Quarterback - Cam Newton (#2); Tailback – Mike Dyer (#5); H-Back – Philip Lutzenkirchen (#43); Wide Receivers – Darvin Adams (#89), Terrell Zachery (#81), Kodi Burns (#18); Offensive Line – Lee Ziemba (#73), Mike Berry (#66), Ryan Pugh (#50), Byron Isom (#57), Brandon Mosley (#75). You’ll Also See: Emory Blake (#80), Onterio McCalebb (#23), Quindarius Carr (#9). Notable Absences: A.J. Greene (injured).
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Anticipated Starters on Defense: Defensive Line – Antoine Carter (#45), Nick Fairley (#90), Zach Clayton (#98), Nosa Eguae (#94); Linebackers – Craig Stevens (#46), Josh Bynes (#17), Daren Bates (#25); Cornerbacks - T’Sharvan Bell (#22), Demond Washington (#14); Safeties – Mike McNeil (#26), Zac Etheridge (#4); You’ll Also See: Mike Blanc (#93), Corey Lemonier (#55), Neiko Thorpe (#15). Notable Absences: Aairon Savage (injured).
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Post-Game Player Ratings will be posted tonight after the conclusion of the game. Log on to TheJungleCat.com to see how Auburn’s key players graded out.
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I’ll be Tweeting my thoughts during the game. As I always warn: my Tweets aren’t 100 percent optimistic. If you’re in to raw commentary, follow @AuburnJungleCat.
The Jungle Cat is an online magazine dedicated to Auburn Tigers Football, written by David Smith.
