BCS Championship Preview: Why Auburn's Defense Has No Hope vs Oregon Offense

Oregon and Auburn have navigated themselves late into the season and both find themselves undefeated. With two games remaining, Oregon faces Arizona at home and then heads on the road for the Civil War to take on Oregon State. Auburn will head on the road to take on Alabama in the Iron Bowl and then heads to Atlanta to take on South Carolina.

Assuming both teams can finish the year without a loss, they will be on a collision course for the National Championship. If these two teams could meet up on January 10, they better make sure the scoreboard is ready because both teams can score.

While Auburn has a prolific offense led by Cam Newton, there is a problem for Auburn, their defense. When going up against Oregon, Auburn would find themselves in a world of trouble facing all of the weapons Oregon has. Let's take a look at the various ways Oregon would light up the scoreboard and Auburn's defense.

First The Facts

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AUBURN, AL - NOVEMBER 13: Kris Durham #16 of the Georgia Bulldogs pulls in this reception against T'Sharvan Bell #22 of the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Before we talk about Oregon and their top-ranked offense, let's talk about the Auburn defense. Auburn currently has the No. 58th defense in terms of points against. So far this year, Auburn has given up a minimum of 24 points to the following offenses:

• Arkansas State, scored 26 (36th ranked offense)
• Clemson, scored 24 (82nd ranked offense)
• South Carolina, scored 27 (47th ranked offense)
• Kentucky, scored 34 (22nd ranked offense)
• Mississippi State, scored 31 (43rd ranked offense)
• Chattanooga, scored 24 (Not a Division I school)

Chip Kelly

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BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 13: Head coach Chip Kelly of the Oregon Ducks walks the sidelines during their game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Chip Kelly came to Oregon in 2007 and has taken this offense to new levels. This year has been no different as he is calling the shots for the No. 1 offense in the land.

With more then a month to prepare, there will be two big differences between how Kelly can game plan against Auburn versus what he had to do against Ohio State last year.

First, Darron Thomas is a more developed passer then Jeremiah Masoli has and opens up the playbook for Kelly. Second, Ohio State had a much more established defense than Auburn.

Cliff Harris

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BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 13: Cliff Harris #13 of the Oregon Ducks returns a punt for a touchdown against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Cliff Harris is quickly becoming the most dangerous Oregon Duck not playing offense. After this past weekend, Harris has returned four punts for touchdown and also has a pick six on the year. Teams are starting to kick away from him and change the way they play on special teams.

When two great teams play each other, the difference often is special teams. It will make things even tougher on the Auburn defense when they know that before they get the ball they have to kick the ball to this electric return man.

The Balance Of The Ducks Offense

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EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 6: Wide receiver Jeff Maehl #23 of the Oregon Ducks runs with the ball after making a reception in the first quarter of the game against the Washington Huskies at Autzen Stadium on November 6, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks won th

What you have seen this year is the balance that Oregon's offense has achieved. Teams have tried a variety of attacks on them. Key on LaMichael James, key on Darron Thomas, play them straight up, go with a zone, or play man-to-man.

No matter what they have attempted, Oregon has kept on rolling and despite an off week this past Saturday, Oregon still can attack you from every angle. This will make it extremely hard on an already-weak Auburn defense.

Darron Thomas

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BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 13: Darron Thomas #1 of the Oregon Ducks in action against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

When playing the Oregon Ducks last year, the goal was to try to stop the run and live or die by the arm of Jeremiah Masoli. While Masoli had some good passing games overall, he was not a great passer.

Enter Darron Thomas one year later. Thomas has grown up in front of us and has provided some dangerous balance to the Oregon offense. Thomas has forced teams to make a choice all year and has consistently made them pay.

Offensive Pace

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EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 21: D. J. Davis #10 of the Oregon Ducks runs the ball against the UCLA Bruins on October 21, 2010 at the Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

What has separated Oregon from other teams for much of the year has been their conditioning and ability to control the speed of the game. Oregon loves to play at a high tempo and speed and tries to get off as many plays as possible.

The result of Oregon's frenetic pace has been the ability to wear down teams by the third quarter and put the game out of reach. Against Auburn, Oregon again would be able to show them a type of offense and game speed they have not yet dealt with.

Offensive Depth

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EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 6: Running back Kenjon Barner #24 of the Oregon Ducks steps through a hole in the line in the fourth quarter of the game against the Washington Huskies at Autzen Stadium on November 6, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks won the game 5

What goes hand-in-hand with the fast paced offense that Oregon runs is the offensive depth that it has. At both the running back and wide receiver positions, Oregon has recruited a ton of depth and is able to run players in and out of the game to keep things rolling.

At running back, Oregon is able to put out LaMichael James and spell him with Kenjon Barner. While James is clearly the best back Oregon has, Barner is not far behind and provides little drop off for opposing defenses.

LaMichael James

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BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 13: LaMichael James #21 of the Oregon Ducks warms up before their game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

While Auburn certainly has an explosive player in Cam Newton, Oregon has their own go to player in LaMichael James. Oregon has had a commitment to the run all year and continue to give the ball to James throughout the game.

Carry after carry, James continues to explode into the line until he finally is able to wear down the line. James is able to combine strength with speed and is an instant threat to break a big run at any moment.

Jeff Maehl

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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 30: Jeff Maehl #23 of the Oregon Ducks celebrates his catch for a touchdown against the USC Trojans for a 7-3 lead during the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 30, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo

Jeff Maehl is as consistent as death and taxes. Maehl shows up, works hard, and puts up yards. He has caught touchdowns in eight straight games and has been the best Duck receiver this year.

Throughout the year, Maehl and Darron Thomas have found ways to connect with each other and seem to be on the same page every down. When the play breaks down, Thomas always finds a way to get the ball to Maehl and let him do the rest.

Oregon Defense

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EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 2: Quarterback Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal is sacked by defensive end Kenny Rowe #58 of the Oregon Ducks in the third quarter of the game at Autzen Stadium on October 2, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon won the game 52-31.

I know, we are talking about why the Auburn defense would struggle with the Oregon offense and I bring up the Oregon defense. The reason is that Oregon has a very opportunistic defense that can create turnovers and give the Oregon offense a short field.

The other reason the Oregon defense is so valuable is that the players trust the defense. With the amount of trust they have in each other, it allows the Oregon offense to take more chance. This was evident this past weekend as Oregon went for it six times on fourth down, three times on their own side of the field.