Oregon-Auburn thoughts

A few observations while feeling sorry for the newspaper folks who were covering last night's game on deadline:

-- My pick going in was Auburn 42-34 in a low-scoring game. Spent weeks on the fence, but everything crystallized late yesterday afternoon: Auburn is bigger and better up front on both sides of the ball, and it's almost always a no-brainer to side with that kind of advantage when in doubt.

-- Was that the most disappointing high-stakes game ever that came down to a buzzer-beating field goal?

Maybe it's just me, but last night didn't come close to living up to the hype. A lot of it, in my opinion, had to do with the five-week layoff between games for these two teams.

Thirty-seven days? What an absolute joke.

-- The layoff is not the most compelling indictment of a tremendously flawed system. Can anyone say with a straight face that Oregon was the No. 2 team in the country?

I have watched TCU and Boise State numerous times over the past two seasons. Both of those teams are more talented and fundamentally sound than Oregon. And frankly, the TCU team I saw in the Rose Bowl could've beaten Auburn last night.

You could also make a case that Stanford and Ohio State would've held up better.

All of this is to say: We need an eight-team playoff now more than ever.

-- I feel kinda bad for Chip Kelly and Oregon, because the hyperbolic nature of judgment in sports is going to paint these guys as frauds in a lot of circles.

I don't think it's totally fair to make lasting judgments off of one game, and maybe things are different if one or two close plays go Oregon's way.

But it's hard to present a spirited defense of Oregon after last night. They were outrushed 254-75. Their offensive line, which paved the way for more than 300 rushing yards a game during the regular season, was completely thrashed. Their defensive line was gashed in the second half. And their quarterback looked good at times but peed down his leg on multiple occasions under the bright lights.

A lot of people made a big deal about TCU's and Boise State's weak schedules during the regular season. But was Oregon's much stronger?

-- The Ducks didn't look all that talented last night, so their regular-season pyrotechnics are in part a tribute to Kelly's system. Other than LaMichael James and the stud DB, there's not a ton of talent out there. Maybe that's just me.

There's a ton of speed, sure. But Oregon is so small that when they match up against a team with Auburn's size, it could be trouble.

In the interest of avoiding hyperbolic judgment from one game, it should be noted that Oregon held up pretty well against Stanford's size and physicality. The Ducks put up 626 yards and rushed for 388 in a 52-31 spanking in Eugene on Oct. 2.

-- I don't think enough was made of how little Auburn's defense was on the field in the second quarter.

When Oregon marched 62 yards in 10 plays for a field goal, you could see Auburn's front getting gassed.

But Oregon's second-quarter drives went like this: four plays, 93 yards, TD; one play, -1 yard, safety; five plays, 36 yards, punt.

Auburn, by comparison, ran 36 second-quarter plays for more than 250 yards. And the Tigers' defense was able to come out fresh after halftime.

Having more than a month to prepare for Oregon's up-tempo stuff was huge for Auburn's defense. And so was spending most of the second quarter on the sideline.

-- It's hard to do much of anything when your offensive line is getting owned, but I was surprised Kelly didn't do more to exploit weaknesses in Auburn's back seven.

Neiko Thorpe has reeked of burnt toast for years, and Oregon did get him once. But you'd think they'd have gone after him more. Also, safety Darren Bates is woefully slow.

Credit to Auburn DC Ted Roof for making adjustments against Oregon's screen game. That was a weakness we saw as far back as Clemson's game at Auburn, and the Ducks had early success with it. But Auburn's D seemed prepared for the screens after the first quarter.

-- Last night had to leave Gene Chizik feeling vindicated. All season long, he's heard that his team would be nothing without Super Cam. Newton was not at his best in this one, so it was the rest of the team that helped the Tigers push through and win.

All season long, Auburn's defense was viewed as being not much better than garbage. That view was a bit unfair, because anytime your front four can control things the way Auburn's front four controls things, you can be pretty good.

-- Terrible clock management by Oregon just before its late touchdown. By my count, the Ducks wasted 41 seconds before having to burn a precious timeout.

Judging from the reaction by Kelly, it appeared James messed something up. You just can't afford to waste that much time, and then squander a timeout on top of it.

Major face-palm moment for Oregon.

-- How big did Oregon's successful two-point conversion in the second quarter end up becoming? If Kelly chooses to kick an extra point there, the Ducks are down 19-10 late instead of 19-11.

The play of the game has to be the safety late in the second quarter. Huge because it completely turned momentum back in Auburn's favor after Oregon produced the goal-line stop, and huge because it gave Auburn two points in a low-scoring game.

-- Couldn't help but think back to Sept. 18 last night, and guessing I wasn't the only one.

On a steamy night in Auburn, Clemson's offense smashed and gashed Auburn's defense with the running game.

Clemson finished with 187 rushing yards in that narrow defeat. Clemson totaled 111 yards rushing in its last two games against South Carolina and South Florida.

-- If you're tired of the constant praise of the SEC, the constant mentions of ESSSSSS .... EEEEEEEE .... SEEEEEEEEEEE speed, the constant recognition of the SEC as peerless, then you might want to move to another planet.

Five straight BCS titles. Hard to argue with that.



LW