Posts Tagged ‘auburn’

>Thursday Lunch: BCS Retro Diary

Posted: January 13, 2011 in college football, ncaafb
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By Dylan Davis

Even though the 41 combined points were what many thought the winning team would score in the championship game, it was still a highly entertaining chess match between the two most explosive offenses of the year. Let’s take a look back at what transpired and how Auburn was able to escape with a last-second field goal.

Pregame: Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi manage to waste their field passes with “insightful” questions. Learning that Oregon is confident in their game plan and Auburn is trying to play like they have all season is exactly what I needed to get pumped for this game.

 

15:00: Auburn kicks off to Kenjon Barner and Josh Huff to start the most anticipated championship game in years. Huff slips twice on the return which sets and important precedent for both teams. You would think the championship field would have a playable surface…guess that’s not very important.

 

14:53: My cousin Chris Davis is injured (slipping even though no one hit him) on the opening kickoff leading to the ESPN executives celebrating being able to jam in even more commercials into the game opening.

 

14:21: Darron Thomas has an easy first down on an option but decides to make the brilliant play of pitching to LaMichael James over the top of a defender. James ends up losing yards (and slipping in the process) and the Ducks are forced into 3rd and medium. Another theme in this game is Thomas making terrible decisions that knocked the Ducks off rhythm time and time again.

 

13:20: The Auburn defense holds and forces a terrible punt and Brent Musberger makes the point that this is what the Auburn defense wants to do against the up-tempo attack of Oregon. Wait, they want to stop the Oregon offense from getting yards and scoring? What a novel idea! Before Auburn starts their drive, Brent somehow manages to recount Cam Newton’s college career without mentioning his laptop, cheating, or money issues. Well Played Brent.

 

12:32: Auburn does a Statue of Liberty play that fails followed by a fake of the same exact play. The Oregon defense is marginally competent so they bust through the line on the second play and force a Newton fumble that an offensive lineman recovers. Usually you run a play action after a run works, not after you get stuffed. And I thought Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was a genius.

 

11:44: At the start of the drive, ESPN puts up a graphic about Newton being 19/19 on opening drives. Of course, his first pass of the game falls incomplete on 3rd and 19 to force a punt. Forget the SI cover curse or Madden jinx, the ESPN graphic hex is the hottest new trend in curses.

 

11:34: As ESPN goes to commercial, Brent says that there was supposed to be a ton of offense and asked what happened. Yeah, because 3 and a half minutes is a good enough length to judge how a game will go. Just ask the New York Giants, you don’t need to play the whole game, especially the last 8 and a half minutes.

 

10:52: James catches a middle screen and scampers for 20 yards and a first down. Every time Oregon ran any variation of this play, they gained good yardage because the Auburn d-line was so dominating. Of course, they only ran it about 5 times, go figure.

 

9:19: Thomas overthrows the 5’11” Barner and gets picked off by Auburn. This is the first of many passes that Thomas just missed a big play on. If his accuracy had been halfway decent, Oregon’s playmakers wouldn’t have looked awful for half the game.

 

8:40: Minutes after almost getting beaten deep, Oregon corner Cliff Harris picks off a Cam Newton overthrow and returns is to midfield. Both quarterbacks look rusty and I’m left wondering why 36 days off in between their last game and this one is a good idea. Looking rusty for half the game before picking up in the second half is exactly what the fans want, right?

 

6:30: Thomas completes a pass to James and Musberger calls him LaMichael. I didn’t realize they were on a first name basis. This bothers me with sports announcers. If their last name is shorter (and even if it’s not) why do announcers feel like they can use player’s first names only? Do they think it makes them seem cooler? In his honor, I will only be calling him Brent by this point forward.

 

5:25: Oregon throws an inside screen for another first down. Every time you can only use a great play 4 times in a game that matters, you have to do it.

 

5:01: Oregon comes out in a 5 wide receiver set which immediately alerts Auburn to the fact that it’s going to be a pass. Why would you take away the threat of a run? Unless you’re Tom Brady, it’s not worth the extra receiver to only have one dimension. Thomas throws another horrific pass behind his target and it’s picked off at the 15-yard line. Alex Smith could have completed that one.

 

4:45: Jeff Blake’s son catches a quick pass and Brent comments on Jeff’s “remarkable career as an NFL quarterback.” I didn’t realize 99 career interceptions and a 78.0 rating was worthy of being called remarkable.

 

3:57: Onterio McCaleb runs around the end for a first down. At this point the Auburn offense is getting their plays off much faster than Oregon, but since this is going against the announcers talking points, it’s not mentioned by Herbstreit or Brent.

 

0:48: Oregon runs the same exact dive play 3 times in a row and catches Auburn with too many men on the field. This is one of the only times in the entire game where Oregon was able to use their tempo to wear down the Auburn defensive line. After killing Auburn up the middle, Oregon decides to go outside where they lose 4 yards. Another instance of Chip Kelly getting too cute instead of going with what works.

 

0:00: One of my other cousins in this game (DJ Davis) catches a pass down to the Auburn 5 to end the quarter.

 

Second Quarter

 

15:00: As they come back from commercial, the ESPN cameras show Ahmad Rashad on the sideline as the honorary Oregon captain. For some reason this made me lose some hope for Oregon’s chances.

 

14:56: Thomas doesn’t give the ball to James who would have walked in for an easy touchdown, and subsequently gets destroyed by Nick Fairley. Oregon settles for a field goal for the first points of the night.

 

12:23: Newton slips and manages to twist around a throw to a wide-open McCaleb for a first down causing Herbstreit and Brent to have an orgasm about Newton’s balance and skill. If he had played as well as Vince Young did in 2006 both of them may have ejaculated on live TV.

 

12:09: Newton overthrows an open receiver and manages to hang him out to dry and almost throw a pick without getting criticized by either of the announcers.

 

12:00: Oregon has their first defensive breakdown as Newton hits former quarterback Kodi (yeah, his name is spelled Kodi) Burns for a 35-yard touchdown pass. Outside linebacker Kenny Rowe gets beat for the first, and definitely not the last, time in the game. Auburn’s pace caused a ton of confusion on that drive within the Oregon defense.

 

11:55: Oregon tries an end-around on the kickoff and they end up on their own 10. Like Auburn’s failed play-action call earlier, why do you call a trick play off of a failed earlier play? It’s not like Oregon lit the world on fire with their first return.

 

11:43: Thomas hits Jeff Maehl on an 81-yard strike to the Auburn 13 yard-line. Ironically because of his last name (pronounced mail, as in mailing it in), this was a Randy Moss-esque play by the receiver.

 

10:59: Oregon runs the Bill Simmons’ approved play where the quarterback sprints to one side then throws back to a wide-open receiver on the other side. James waltzes into the end zone to put Oregon up 9-7.

 

10:59: Kelly calls a sweet sprint-out option play with the holder and kicker on the extra point. The holder waits until the last possible second to get crushed and pitches to the kicker who breaks the plain to put Oregon up 11-7.

 

7:16: Brent compares Cam Newton to Ben Roethlisberger. Is there a more apt comparison between two players both on and off the field?

 

3:44: A player named Smith slipped and dropped a wiiiiiiiiiiide open touchdown. Good thing this was a first. This was on 4th and goal from the one-yard line, so I applaud Gene Chizik for taking a calculated risk here.

 

3:26: Oregon runs a brilliant shovel pass out of their own end zone to the 10 yard-line but gets called for an illegal shift. On their next snap from the half yard-line they run their only play of the whole game from under center and James gets hit in the backfield for a safety. Why did Kelly not stick to his guns with a shotgun run? Yet another baffling decision from the offensive “genius.”

 

3:21: On the return Demond Washington slipped (what a surprise) and gets out to the Auburn 35 yard-line.

 

1:47: Emory Blake makes a more important play than his father’s entire career as he slips out of the backfield and catches a wide-open touchdown pass. Rowe is beaten once again as Newton shows that he can hit wide-open receivers to pad his stats.

 

1:41: Eric Smith is once again in the spotlight for the wrong reasons as he commits a vicious personal foul with a kick to Dion Jordan’s face.

 

1:01: Chip Kelly has the creativity to throw 4 straight wide receiver screens as Oregon has to punt from inside Auburn territory. This is a huge missed opportunity to put some points on the board before halftime.

 

Halftime Score: Auburn-16 Oregon-11

 

12:31: Newton hits his tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchengheyahsalfkvnxmz (ok so it’s Lutzenkirchen) on a 39-yard pass to the Oregon 20-yard line. So far this half the Tigers have run Newton to set up big chances in the passing game and it paid off big time on that play.

 

12:18: Cliff Harris knocks down a quick swing pass that he was half a step from taking to the house. This was one of a half dozen plays Oregon didn’t quite make would have ensured their victory. This is the difference between being a champion and being the Buffalo Bills.

 

11:30: After a horrible 3rd down incompletion by Newton, the Tigers are forced to settle for a field goal to keep it a one-possession game. 19 and 11 are both highly difficult scores to reach in football, yet both are in play now. Go figure.

 

11:30: They show offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn chewing out Cam Newton and it made me wonder how smart Malzahn really is. He was the high school coach of highly recruited Mitch Mustain, which is how he got the offensive coordinator job at Arkansas. While there, he coached Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, and Peyton Hillis in the same backfield. Now he has Heisman winner Cam Newton at his disposal, so is he really an offensive genius? More than likely, he has just gotten incredibly lucky with some amazing offensive talents, but I digress.

 

11:24: As Oregon’s offense sets up for its first second half possession, Herbstreit remarks that Darron Thomas’s arm was a big factor in the first half. I’d say it was a big factor for Auburn.

 

11:12: Nick Fairley lives up to his reputation as a dirty player as he slams LaMichael’s head to the turf after Oregon’s first down. Usually he gets away with his shenanigans, but right in front of the referee on national TV is probably not the best place to commit a heinous foul.

 

9:30: Fairley dominates what look like two junior high school offensive lineman on his way to forcing a Thomas fumble. Oregon is lucky to jump on the loose ball but Fairley is starting to show why he’s a surefire top-5 pick.

 

8:30: On third and 11 Maehl, catches an inside screen pass but slips (again) and Oregon has to punt from the Auburn 40.

 

6:26: Newton misses a wiiiiiiiiiiiiide open Darvin Adams on 3rd down pass that shows why Cam is still a major work in progress when it comes to being a pro prospect. Adams was behind the defense by 7 yards and even a mediocre throw would have gotten a huge gain.

 

5:07: Oregon lines up to punt from their own 40 and Auburn puts 10 guys on the line to sell out for a fake. The Oregon punter takes the snap and rolls out before hitting an open man for a first down. Brent tells us that Chip Kelly has an automatic fake punt on if the punt coverage team sells out for the block. That would have been nice to know before the play actually happened.

 

4:39: Lavasier Tuinei makes an outstanding bobbling catch and looks to be heading for the end zone before Brent jinxes it by yelling out touchdown right before the receiver is tackled at the 3-yard line. This will be important in a few minutes.

 

2:25: Oregon runs the same exact play on 3rd and 4th and goal and don’t manage to get into the end zone. Somehow, I don’t think running a sweep with Kenjon Barner twice from inside the 5 is the greatest idea.

 

No one scores for a while and the action really picks up in the middle of the fourth quarter let’s go there.

 

Fourth Quarter

6:21: Oregon has the ball on their own 25 with what seems like their last opportunity. After catching a quick out for a first down Brent calls Jeff Maehl “sneaky fast.” That’s a euphemism for “surprisingly good white receiver” Oregon ends up having to punt the ball back to Auburn.

 

5:00: Newton runs for a short gain on first down but gets up wincing after leading with his shoulder, this will be important for the rest of the game.

 

4:56: Casey Matthews makes a brilliant defensive play by punching the ball away from Newton and Cliff Harris pounces on the loose ball. Newton looked to shy away from contact and Matthews was able to hit from behind.

 

4:40: Without any pressure, Thomas throws into double coverage but the Auburn defense can’t come up with the pick. Fairley and the rest of the Auburn defensive line has been getting such consistent pressure that Thomas is starting to get the Peyton Manning happy feet.

 

4:11: On 4th and 5, the umpire sets a perfect pick to spring DJ Davis for a 29-yard completion to the Auburn 11. If this was the NBA I would bet anything that the umpire had “heard something” from David Stern about how this game needed to be exciting. However, it’s college football where the leaders are too busy giving unfair punishments to fix anything, so it wasn’t fishy.

 

2:33: Oregon scores to bring the game to two on a shovel pass to James. The best Oregon plays (shovel passes, middle screens, rollouts, and perimeter passing) haven’t been called nearly enough by Kelly. It’s like the offensive “genius” didn’t see the obvious speed advantages and offensive line disadvantages his team have and call plays accordingly. On the two-point conversion try, Thomas rolls to the right and flings a prayer to Maehl in the back-left of the end zone. Maehl wins a great jump ball and the game is suddenly tied.

 

 

1:56: Dyer makes the play that will be remembered forever by fans on both sides. He looks to have been wrestled down by Eddie Pleasant at the 35-yard line, but after everyone stops he gets up and sprints to the Oregon 23. After a lengthy review, the referee tells the crowd that the only part of Dyer that was ever down was his hand. The balance and strength Dyer showed to break away from Pleasant is remarkable and he showed why he was the top running back recruit this past season.

 

0:02: As Auburn lines up for the game winning kick, Brent makes the most shameless sponsor plug in the history of sports as he proclaims, “this is for all the Tostitos.” Is now the time Brent?

 

0:00: Auburn chews the clock and kicks an extra point-sized field goal to win as time expires. Brent has the most underwhelming call in sports history as Auburn storms the field as 2011 national champions (for now).

 

While Auburn may (will) someday be stripped of that national title, for now they are the best team in college football and proved it on Monday night. Came back next week for a season wrap-up. Have a great weekend.

>Thursday Lunch: The Most Important College Football Month Ever?

Posted: January 6, 2011 in college football, ncaafb
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>By Dylan Davis
reggiebush-at-usc

20100207-214755-pic-105729466_t607Certain moments in sports can change the perception of an athlete, team, or sport forever. Sometimes the players and teams affected have no control over the situation, and sometimes they’re right in the middle of it. When the Indianapolis Colts lined up to receive the second half kickoff against the New Orleans Saints, they were leading 10-6 and had most of the momentum. Peyton Manning was the MVP of the league and was poised to grab the title of greatest quarterback ever. Then the Saints pulled off the gutsiest onside kick ever and it sparked them to a 31-17 victory over the stunned Colts. While it’s great to look at how much this did for New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, history may have been altered even more on the Colts side of things. Indianapolis was the king of the NFL regular season for a better part of a decade, yet they had only once raised the Lombardi trophy at season’s end. Year after year, they had fallen to New England, Pittsburgh, and San Diego along the way, but with a win over the Saints, they could have cemented their legacy as one of the greatest dynasties of all time. Instead, they managed to turn themselves into a 21st century version of the 1990’s Atlanta Braves or Buffalo Bills. Both of those teams had amazing regular season success in the 1990’s but were only to capture one title between them. Manning is now thought of as a great field general and his stats are tremendous, but when fans in 2030 look back, they’ll most likely remember Tom Brady (and possibly Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees) as the quarterbacks who could win when it mattered. If Hank Baskett had been able to hold onto one surprise onside kick that all might have changed.

On August 12th, 1994 Major League Baseball had a work stoppage that lasted all the way until April 2nd, 1995. This included canceling the entire 1994 postseason and a whopping 931 games were not played because of the strike. It may be hard for fans now to believe, but baseball was the second most popular sport in America up until that time, but the greedy owners and players not being able to come to an agreement despite making huge sums of money turned off fans. When baseball came back for the 1995 season, many fans had fled to the NFL or NBA and it’s been difficult sledding for baseball ever since. While steroids and four-hour games are a huge problem, pro football has steroids and college games can take up to four hours and those sports are doing just fine. Baseball took a huge risk when it stopped an entire season and they’ve spent the last 15 years trying to get back into the national conscience. Sports fans will forgive a lot (play-for-pay scandals, arrogant jerk stars, and uneven punishments to name a few), but what MLB did crossed the line for fans and they’re still paying the price.
 
College football is in the midst of one of the most entertaining seasons in recent memory, but they are at a crossroads in more ways than one. Let’s examine the potential sport-altering events that have been, and will be, happening within the past month.
 

  • SEC Dominance: Anyone watching bowl games on New Years day knows what this is all about. The first slate of games for the day were three Big 10 vs. SEC showdowns that all went in favor of the SEC schools. Both Alabama and Mississippi State ran roughshod over Michigan State and Michigan respectively. While Penn State kept their game against Florida close, the final score showed a 13-point victory for the Gators and another loss for the schools from up north. While Ohio State was able to save face with a win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, the Razorbacks had a chance to win at the end of the game and many SEC supporters (or Big 10 detractors) will point to that game as the exception that proves the SEC’s rule. Still to play for the SEC are LSU, Kentucky, and Auburn who are either favored or playing a Big East team. What this all means is that, although college football conference domination is cyclical, the SEC remains top dog by a wide margin and looks to do so for the next decade. If the Big 10 had been able to assert their supremacy with some wins on January 1, they would have taken the first step to getting back on top. Now the rest of the nation has to hope for the Ducks to upset the Cam Newton’s unless they want another off-season of SEC hype. This game could give the Pac 10 a recruiting leg up for all schools even though only one of its members is involved.

  • Scandals galore: You all know about the Cam Newton incident and have no doubt heard the talking heads debating the recent Ohio State scandal, but what does it mean for the long term? For casual fans, they may have tuned into the Sugar Bowl to learn more and to see these evil-doing players in action. The publicity Cam Newton has gotten will probably make more people tune into the national title game because of the good vs. evil aspect. So, in the short term, all of this is good for college football, but in the long term it can only hurt the sport. Many fans are becoming jaded that professional sports are all about money and personal glory and saw college sports was the last bastion of glimmering hope for true passion and desire for victory. Now that the Auburn and Ohio State scandals occurred right on the heels of Reggie Bush’s misdeeds, fans all over the country will be taking a long, hard look at why they watch the games. This may be the final tipping point for some in their decision not to attend sporting events. This may point some people to high school athletics where paying players is not a national issue (yet). History will not look kindly on this year in college football, but it is still to be seen if this is just a blip on the radar, or a growing trend.

  • BCS issues: Because I write about college football on the Internet, I am forced by law to write about the BCS at least twice a year. (What? There’s no law that states that? Then why is that all I read about?). This year was no different when it came to screwing over the little guy (in this case TCU), but this specific year may have been another tipping point for the sport. Every single time (except for that overmatched Hawaii team in 2007) a non-BCS team has played in a BCS game against a BCS conference team; they have come out the victor. This year was no different as TCU rode its suffocating defense to a narrow 21-19 victory over Wisconsin. The cries for the death of the BCS have gotten louder and louder every off-season, and this may be the year that they are too deafening to ignore. If the NCAA continues to crown its football champions in such a convoluted and unfair manner, they may lose legions of future fans and participants. They need to act now.

As you can see, the integrity of the sport, along with its hierarchy of teams, has been, and will continue to be, at stake this month. No one knows exactly how history will judge college football, only that it will forever be altered by the events that have just transpired.
 
That’s all the time for this week, but check back in next week for a special recap of the most anticipated National Title since 2006. Have a great weekend and enjoy the game.

>Saturday Lunch Special: BCS Preview

Posted: January 1, 2011 in college football, ncaafb
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By TSL Staff

 

Brett Anderson

There is only a handful of people whose opinion about the national title game is more skewed that my own. To name a few, probably Cam Newton, Gene Chizik and maybe even Cadillac Williams. I hate Oregon. With a passion that stretches from Oregon’s awful campus in Eugene, Ore., all the way to Auburn’s pleasant campus in Alabama. And back to Eugene again. And back to Auburn. 1,504,938 more times back and forth.

 

As an avid (understatement) Oregon State fan, nothing in this world displeases me than everything green and yellow that has to do with the Oregon Ducks. I’m still slightly perplexed that LaMichael James’ eight days in jail and misdemeanor assault only earned him a one game suspension. In a world that revolves around me, he would never be allowed on Oregon’s campus again. Alas, he played 11 games for the Ducks and helped them earn a spot in the National Championship versus Auburn.

 

Without further ado, my thoughts on this year’s National Title game. Auburn will win 37-34 because they have a young man named Cam Newton who won the Heisman Trophy after his outstanding junior season, among many other awards. Because they have aren’t named the Oregon Ducks, this immediately gives them an unbeatable edge in this game. Points will be scored, but not too many. I would take the “under” on the over/under. The 143 commercials in each half will slightly slow down the game, and allow each team to catch its breath a little more often than usual. 

 

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin over TCU

A great battle of traditional football on both sidelines: a great rushing attack and strong defense. John Clay and the Badgers claim a win on New Year’s Day. 

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma over Connecticut

An unfortunately unappealing matchup for this BCS bowl. However, I think Connecticut will make this game much closer than most expect. Hey, who knows, maybe Connecticut can win 90 games in a row… 

Orange Bowl: Stanford over Virginia Tech

Andrew Luck and the boys prepare better than any team in the country in regards to executing fundamentals and taking away opposing foes’ strengths. How filthy will Stanford be if Andrew Luck and head coach Jim Harbaugh both return next season? 

Sugar Bowl: Ohio State over Arkansas

The Buckeyes did a good job last year getting a bowl win and slowing down a superior offense (Oregon). This year, I think they’ll prepare well to slow down Ryan Mallet and the Razorbacks, en route to a second straight BCS win. As long as it isn’t the national championship, Ohio State can win BCS games.

 

Will Robinson

While I have not followed college football as devoutly as Dylan has, I have seen a couple games of the number one and two teams in the country: Auburn and Oregon. Each team has compiled a list of impressive wins (AUB vs. Arkansas and South Carolina; ORE vs. Stanford and Arizona) as well as narrow victories (Clemson, LSU, Alabama; Cal). One team boasts a Heisman winner and the other has a candidate. Both offenses are very high powered, and both have very high-powered running attacks. However, Oregon’s defense has allowed the 14th least amount of points in the country, while Auburn has allowed 24.5 – not bad, but 54th in the country.

 

While I don’t want to count out the powerful (and soon to have his wins vacated) Cam Newton, I like the team Chip Kelly has built in Eugene. One knock on the Ducks is that people say the SEC is far superior to the Pac-10, which has not been true this year. They may have better teams, but there is far more parity out west.

 

With all that being said, I like the Ducks to pull out a dramatic win against the Auburn Tigers, with a final tally being 38-36. This could be a classic game, not like Texas vs. USC in 2005, but very dramatic. Go Ducks!

 

Rose Bowl: TCU-28 Wisconsin-25

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma-41 UConn-13

Orange Bowl: Stanford- 34 Virginia Tech-24

Sugar Bowl: Ohio State-24 Arkansas-23

 

Nick Gallaudet

This year’s BCS national championship game pits two dynamic offenses against each other, setting the stage for a shootout, right? In the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.” Both Auburn and Oregon have proved they can be slowed down, and both have proved they have underrated defenses. I expect that having over a month off will affect the game play early, but that both teams will find their groove. I expect Oregon to struggle in the first half, so look for Cam Newton to lead Auburn to an early lead, and while Oregon will put up a good fight, I don’t see them overcoming Man-Child Newton as he leads Auburn to a 24-20 win and a BCS title.

 

Rose Bowl: TCU-28 Wisconsin-21

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma-34 UConn-17

Orange Bowl: Stanford-24 Virginia Tech-10

Sugar Bowl: Arkansas-28 Ohio State-27

 

Robb Davis

Auburn Wins National Title over Oregon*

 

This: * is an asterisk (see title). It is with an * that I begin my prediction about this BCS season and most notably the title game. My “bold” prediction:

 

In two, three or five years, if you turn to the section on BCS Championship games in the College Football Encyclopedia you will find an * next to the score with a note at the bottom saying that Auburn, while having won the game, was subsequently stripped of the title due to evidence of player misconduct in a “pay to play” scheme. Turn over a few pages to the Heisman Trophy winners’ section in the same encyclopedia and you will find another * next to the 2010 winner, Cam Newton. Another footnote will inform you that he was forced to relinquish the trophy due to misconduct in said pay to play scheme. This will be the second such relinquishment in six years (Reggie Bush being the first in 2005).

 

There you have it: Auburn wins. And in the next year or so the “truth” comes out. Football fans will sigh. The NCAA will wring its collective hands. Cam Newton—having signed a gazillion dollar contract after the 2010 season—will express regret (but flash his well-known smile as he leaves the press conference ten minutes later). His dad will claim he was a victim of the rapacious advances of sports agent even as he puts the finishing touches on his new multi-million dollar church building.  And… the players on the current Auburn team will wonder why they are being punished for things they honestly knew nothing about.

 

Things could have been different. The NCAA had its chance. It chose “brand” integrity over, well… integrity, when it declared: “Based on the information available to the reinstatement staff at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn was aware of this activity, which led to his reinstatement.” More on the “brand integrity” in a moment. But let’s get this straight. Do they really believe that Cam Newton was not “aware” of what his dad was doing? I guess I just must agree. I also believe firmly that Floyd always rode clean, that Ben was framed in those (multiple) forced sex cases, that Gaylord did not even know what Vaseline was (look it up all you youngsters), that Diego’s goal really WAS scored by God Almighty himself… Please, we are talking about adults here. Cam was not some child asked to leave the kitchen while daddy talked to the big, bad agent. 

 

(Oh and note to “Reverend” Newton: Did you miss the memo? You know, the one from the Big Guy (delivered via his son) about camels, eyes of needles, riches and heaven and all that stuff? I suggest you look it up (Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 19). Ah, but I am being uncharitable to my Brother Newton.  Okay Rev, I forgive you… Unconditionally. Seriously. Now, would you please go on national TV as soon as possible and confess your sin in this thing? Good for the soul and you will save everyone a lot of pain later.)

 

You and I know what the NCAA is doing here: just doing business. ESPN is carrying the game and they, and the NCAA, simply cannot resist the potential draw of an amazingly gifted, handsome athlete for their “championship” game. Now it’s true that Ad Week says that ESPN garners relatively little of its overall revenue from TV advertisements of the BCS Championship game (most are generated by fees it charges to carriers of its feed). But, getting the right kind of match-ups (and the viewership they provide) is important in future negotiations (see the whole revenue story here. Arguably, it is more important for the NCAA itself to guarantee a “marquee” match-up. After all, it is the NCAA brand being sold to ESPN and the networks and the NCAA’s refusal to go with a championship format in the FBS means it needs to “manage” outcomes to get the highest profile teams and players into the “big game.”

 

So in two (or three or five) years from now when they sadly acknowledge that new evidence suggests that Auburn must be placed on probation and/or stripped of its title they have little (really) to worry about. The revenue from 2010 will already be in the bank. Their “product” will survive and will flourish—no doubt at all. After all, by then the next great phenom will have been created, pimped, and sent forth to conquer our hearts. And, have no doubt, our hearts will be conquered.

 

But in these pre-* times Auburn will win by three touchdowns (49-28). Cam will account for five of these directly: two on the ground three through the air. Oregon will commit three turnovers and mostly get pushed around. Don’t get me wrong here—I want Oregon to win. I love their style and I love the fact that lots of small guys can fly around the field so fast that the bigger guys can’t catch them. I like their coach (for now). Their uniforms do baffle me. I mean, what’s with the off-white names on white jerseys? Give me something I can read or just go “cold-Paterno” please.  Anyway, I digress. Oregon is too small.Auburn defense is too athletic (they suck at technique but they are big and fast). 

 

BTW, you may be wondering, given my cynicism about this situation, whether I am actually going to watch the game. After all, doesn’t that make me complicit in this whole thing and kind of a hypocrite? Maybe. But for me, there are well over 100 other players involved in this game the vast majority (all?) of whom play by the rules. I played team sport at the college level (small college, long time ago) but I can tell you that team sports really do have lessons that play out in broader life issues. These guys love each other and, whether some people want to acknowledge it or not, they have given up some things because of their commitment to the team. They deserve our support and, dare I say it, our admiration. 

 

Other BCS predictions (no *es here)

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin-42 TCU-10

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma-24 UConn-3

Orange Bowl: Stanford-28 Virginia Tech-24

Sugar Bowl: Ohio State-24 Arkansas-21

 

Dylan Davis

Ohio State in 2003. LSU in 2004. Texas in 2006. Florida in 2007. Since the BCS began in January of the 1999 season all of those teams have entered the BCS title game as decided underdogs and all have been crowned the title after 60 minutes (or in Ohio States case, 60 plus two overtimes). I bring this up because Auburn is currently a three-point favorite over the Ducks of Oregon and everyone believes Cameron Newton will do his Heisman thing against an overmatched northwest defense. Nick Fairley and the Auburn run defense has been decent and shut down Marcus Lattimore in the SEC championship game and the consensus is that they will be able to slow down the Oregon read option.

 

Oregon fans, I’m here to talk you off the ledge. College sports are such a momentum and emotion driven game that it’s difficult to say that one thing or another will continue to happen time and time again. Just because Auburn has been able to handle teams all year doesn’t mean the same will happen on January 10. When teams have to hear about how badly they are going to lose for a month straight, it tends to make them play their asses off to show everyone that they belong on the field too. Chip Kelly is a good enough coach that he will have his squad motivated through newspaper clippings and quotes about their shortcomings.

 

Not only will Oregon be motivated to prove the critics wrong, history is not on Cam Newton’s side. In 2000 (Chris Weinke), 2001 (Eric Crouch), 2003 (Jason White), 2005 (Reggie Bush), 2006 (Troy Smith), and 2008 (Sam Bradford) all won the Heisman trophy while leading their teams to the BCS title game. All of them also ended up losing in the title game, and most of the fault fell on them. To be fair, when you win the Heisman trophy there are a ton of obligations and you’re being pulled in every direction. It’s hardly the ideal conditions to prepare for the biggest game of your life.

 

With all that being said, I think we could witness the best BCS game since the 2006 Rose Bowl. Both of these teams are explosive, second half teams, so expect a ton of points in the second half and a down to the wire finish.

Pick: Oregon-31 Auburn-27

 

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin-27 TCU-16

Fiesta Bowl: UConn-27 Oklahoma-24

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech-28 Stanford-24

Sugar Bowl: Arkansas-31 Ohio State-23

>Wednesday Lunch: Good vs. Evil: The 2011 BCS Championship Game

Posted: December 8, 2010 in college football, ncaafb
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By Dylan Davis

 

I’m biased. Before I begin with my analysis of this years match up, I want you to know that I’m not totally objective about this year’s game. Now, I can’t say that I’m a die-hard fan of either Auburn or Oregon, and in a vacuum I can’t say I would care either way who won, but that’s the thing about sports, it’s not played in a vacuum. I root for certain teams no matter what (Steelers, Kings, St. Louis Cardinals, West Virginia football) and want other teams (Yankees, Duke basketball, Ravens, Cowboys, Lakers) to get annihilated every time they take their respective field or court. I have lesser feelings about every other team and those are somewhat nebulous. When the Patriots were the plucky upstarts playing the mighty Rams (that looks slightly ridiculous now), I rooted for them to pull the upset and capture their first championship. However, as they kept winning and systematically destroyed the league on their way to four Super Bowl appearances and three titles in seven years, beating the Steelers twice in the AFC title game in that span, my feelings went from being happy for them to absolutely despising their boring efficiency and creative cinematography. Notre Dame has taken the exact opposite trajectory in terms of my sports hatred. I was born and raised to abjectly hate the Fighting Irish with their own network (NBC), smugness, and this guy. Throughout the course of my college football watching life the Irish have descended farther and farther into soul-crushing mediocrity and I’ve found it increasingly difficult to care about, much less hate, a school that goes 7-5 or 6-6 year after year while routinely losing to Navy and Rich Rodriguez-coached Michigan teams. Barely making the Sheraton Hawaii bowl is no way to keep my sports hatred focused on a specific team.

While performance on the field, or court, is one way to move in and out of my (and countless fans across the country’s) favor, personalities and off-field shenanigans also shape rooting interests. While games are won and lost with talent and cohesion on the field, fans pay almost as much attention to actions off it. As shown with Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, and Ben Roethlisberger, getting frisky in the wrong way with ladies can land you in some major troubles away from the sport, while turning fans off from players and entire organizations. I think you can probably see where I’m headed with this in terms of the BCS title game. As I said, neither Auburn nor Oregon are on my list of “must hate”, nor are they teams that I have supported forever. While both teams are in BCS conferences with decent sized fan bases, neither are brand names with the same public image as USC, Ohio State, or Florida. This leads to a general apathy from non-partisan fans and no specific rooting interests. At this point, you have to turn to lesser variables.

 

Both the Ducks and the Tigers have suffered through fairly spotty histories with long stretches of mediocrity interspersed with brief visits to the top 25 polls. Both have resided in power conferences for a number of years, but conference championships and national prestige have usually been taken by their more well-known conference neighbors. Oregon (USC) and Auburn (Alabama and Florida) have struggled in the past to break free from those rivals, but this year they were finally able to take advantage of the Trojans, Tide, and Gators struggles to reach the promised land on their own. While both have had legitimate shots at the BCS title in years past, this is the first time for both they left no doubt that they belonged in Glendale. You may be asking yourself, why the hell am I still reading this nonsense? Then, if you’re still reading, you may be wondering why either of these teams should be hated at all. Let me break it down.

 

SEC Bias: Every year, there is a debate about which conference has the best collection of teams, and almost every year the SEC tops that list. It’s understandable considering the past three BCS title games have all been won by teams that play their games in the South Eastern Conference; however, when it comes down to the end of the year and there are multiple teams in the BCS hunt, the SEC almost always gets the benefit of the doubt. The pervasive thought is that the SEC is the toughest conference top-to-bottom; therefore, winning that conference automatically makes you the best team in the country. SEC teams routinely schedule cupcake non-conference opponents because they say that they already play too tough of a conference schedule. While teams like USC, Oregon, and Ohio State are challenging the cream of the crop early in the year to test their mettle, SEC powers Florida and Alabama are dominating Duke, Troy, and Georgia State. If a Pac 10 team were to play that schedule, they would have no chance at making a run for the title. The belief that the SEC is “tougher” than every other conference is untrue, but nearly impossible to completely disprove.

 

When LSU won a tight battle against a middle-of the-pack Ole Miss squad at home, the announcers used that as an example as to why the SEC is difficult. They, and multitudes of media members, spout that since that game was close that shows the SEC is a difficult conference because every team is competitive. Any reasonably competent, non-biased Joe Schmoe could probably tell you that the reason that game was close is because those teams are evenly matched. Maybe the conference isn’t so tough, but maybe it’s just really tightly bunched in terms of talent. If LSU and Ole Miss play a close game, it shows that those teams are equal in talent; it says nothing about how good either of those teams is. The fact that Ole Miss finished with a mediocre record only indicates that LSU may not have been a very good team. If Oregon barely beats Arizona or Cal, they are immediately picked apart for not blowing out their inferior opponent. The fact that the Pac 10 has an overall winning record versus the SEC in the past five years only makes this argument even more ridiculous.

 

The only way for people drinking the SEC KoolAid to realize that there are other quality teams is for the SEC to lose on the biggest stage. If Oregon can beat Auburn, especially if it’s by a convincing margin, the media may start to realize that there are other teams playing football outside of the south. Of course, one game could be considered a fluke, but it would be a start towards greater respect for the Pac 10 and all non-SEC conferences.

 

Off field: Before the season began, pre-season Heisman candidate Jeremiah Masoli was charged with theft and kicked off the Oregon football team. Masoli was the Ducks starting QB and one of the leaders of the team. Without the dynamic quarterback, Oregon wasn’t expected to do much in the Pac 10. Chip Kelly knew that, and that he would take heat if his team didn’t perform up to expectations, yet he still did the right thing by releasing Masoli. I’m not saying that Kelly is perfect, no college coach is, but in this instance he made the tough choice for the betterment of the programs future and overall appeal.

 

Auburn had a similar situation following the much-publicized Cam Newton drama. Auburn looked at their situation, they were in the national title hunt and almost guaranteed themselves a loss or two without Newton, and decided “Nope, we’re good playing a player who may have broken well-known collegiate bylaws. We just want to win.” From the moment they made that decision, the Auburn Tigers sided with everything that is wrong with college sports today. They went with winning and the possibility of lots of money over doing what is right for their team, what’s right for the sport, and what’s right for Cam Newton’s future and growth as a person.

 

While on the field both of these teams have exciting, fan-friendly offenses that have put up almost half-a-hundred per game and Heisman candidates leading the charge, it’s obvious that I’m choosing Oregon as the “right” choice. While I am from the west coast and right in the middle of Pac 10 country, my feelings towards this game are much more than that. With every passing year that an SEC school comes out on top, and every year another player with a tarnished reputation wins the ultimate prize, those two ways of thinking will become more firmly entrenched into the spirit of college football, which makes it worse for everyone. At the beginning of the season, it was great to see Cam Newton smiling after every big play, now it seems as if it’s turned into an impish grin that’s telling everyone “I did something bad and got away with it”. That’s terrible for sports and a step can be taken in the right direction with a Ducks victory on January 10th in Glendale.

 

That’s all the time for this week, but join me next week for predictions of every single bowl, along with my All-America team and a recap of the Heisman trophy acceptance speech by Cam Newton.

>Thursday Lunch: Son of a Preacher Man, Dissecting the Cam Newton Saga

Posted: December 2, 2010 in college football, ncaafb
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>By Dylan Jamaal Davis


Cam Newton smiles a lot. He has smiled after every one of his 43 touchdowns this season. He has grinned after all 12 of Auburns victories on the year. He flashes the pearly whites whenever he bowls over another defender or hits a receiver with another frozen rope downfield. Newton has broken into smiles so often this season it looks as if he’s auditioning for a Crest commercial. But really, can you blame him? He’s the starting quarterback for the top ranked team in the nation. With one more win this Saturday in the SEC championship game against South Carolina Newton will lead Auburn to its first ever BCS title game appearance. To top it all off, every respectable Heisman watch list starts and ends with the big QB and, barring disaster, Newton and his boyish grin will be raising the stiff-armed trophy on December 11 in New York City. With two more wins, Newton will be forever immortalized at Auburn as one of the greatest players to ever throw on the blue and orange of the Tigers.   






If you had showed that previous paragraph to any college football pundit or fan before the season started, most would have bet money that Newton would be the most popular player and person in the country, and for most of the season they all would have been correct. Up until November 4th Newton had endeared himself to everyone (except Alabama fans) with his fantastic play and ear-to-ear grins. His highlight reel jaunts through opposing defenses, as well as his execution as head of Auburns explosive offense, made him a Sportscenter staple and drew comparisons to a former SEC dual threat master, Tim Tebow.

On November 4th a preliminary story broke involving Mississippi State and the recruitment of Newton out of Blinn Junior College in 2009. Although there were some vague accusations of payment, details were few and far between. That didn’t stop analysts on national and local media outlets from trying to make sense of the few tidbits of information that had been leaked. A few adventurous prognosticators started throwing around the thought that Newton may be ruled ineligible for these misdoings. Others followed suit and soon the lead story on all the major sports networks involved the possibility of a Heisman frontrunner being disbarred in the midst of the season.


At first blush, it was all a little tough to swallow. Cam Newton? The freakish athlete who always looks thrilled to be playing football? He took money? As the story was chewed up and digested by the 24-hour sports news cycle, the name of Reggie Bush was brought up time and time again. Bush was the dynamic Heisman winner from USC who forfeited his trophy back to the Heisman Trust without ever implicitly stating any wrongdoings on his part. At the dawn of that story, many of the same thoughts occurred as have with the Newton saga. The masses were first in denial that a player of Bush’s caliber could ever be accused of such a heinous misdeed. 


As with Newton this year, it was dismissed by many (including yours truly) as just an attention-grabbing story that would be swept under the rug before the week was over. Just as with the Bush story, as more details were released about Newton and more informants spoke up, a harsh realization spread through the college football world that this story may have legs. Many analysts took this opportunity to rehash old Newton stories, like the time he supposedly stole a laptop while at Florida (he was never charged and the matter has since been cleared). A new story surfaced regarding a possibly covered-up cheating scandal that had gotten Newton expelled from Florida. The line became blurred between truth, speculation, and downright hearsay. In an age of everyone trying to break a story just to stay ahead of the competition it seemed as if Newton would become just another casualty. While headlines screamed of misdeed after misdeed, facts were few and far between. At that point the NCAA had come forth with no comment and it seemed like the story would fade into the background of a fabulous on the field unless any more information was brought forth. That’s when Cecil Newton was introduced.


Cam Newton’s father Cecil is a minister in Newnan, Georgia and has been a huge factor in his sons’ life since he was a boy. By all accounts, he is a devoted family man and many who know him describe him as an upstanding citizen, husband, and father. But while many were focused on the misdoings of his son, it soon came to light that the player might not have acted alone. In fact, the younger Newton may have had no idea what was happening. Cam may have just been an innocent young man being taken advantage of by a greedy family member. The same narrative is heard again and again with poor, young athletes in that they would have succeeded more except for the lecherous friends and family always bringing them down. Some, such as Allen Iverson, are able to handle these issues and still produce when it matters. Others, such as Antoine Walker, can’t handle the pressure and are soon bankrupt morally and in their pockets. Although it seemed as if the Newton family was beyond all that and those issues wouldn’t plague them, $100,000 or more in cash is very enticing. While Cecil was shaking down Mississippi State for money to have his son recruited, could Cam have been sitting idly in the background? Could he really be completely in the dark about this entire matter?


I find that all a little tough to believe. The fact that the younger Newton would have no knowledge of the entire matter until the story was broken by ESPN last month is completely ridiculous. I’m not saying that Cam was directly involved in the process, but just by knowing of the possibility that money could change hands, he would have implicated himself and been just as guilty as his father and everyone else involved. Although his father obviously put his own wants before the good of his son, the entire process should have been shut off by Cam. He knew what might happen and he decided that $100,000, or whatever amount of money was agreed upon, was worth risking his college career. He knew that if he or his father entered into talks with those Mississippi State boosters he would have violated a major NCAA rule and the infraction would affect all involved, including the school and his future teammates.



Yesterday, the NCAA made its ruling, and it has been made abundantly clear that they see the entire situation differently. They ruled that Cam had absolutely no knowledge of what was going on under the table and his father was fully to blame for the entire matter. This sets a dangerous precedent for future recruits, who can just state that they have plausible deniability and have no penalty brought upon them. How many times in the next few years will we hear about a player that has been implicated in a pay-for-play scandal only to say that he had no knowledge of the situation, that a family member facilitated the entire process? The NCAA may try to spin the ruling as looking like they care about their student athletes and they can protect them from evil family members and rogue boosters, but what are they really saying? If Newton was the backup guard or the kicker, would he have been afforded the same protection? The story certainly wouldn’t have been as big, but would the institution have been as eager to protect its young assets then? It’s impossible to say, and speculation won’t ever uncover the true story, but for now Cam Newton will just keep smiling.