Auburn Football: War Eagles Fly High, South Carolina Gamecocks Lay an Egg

It's all about timing sometimes in football, peaking at the right time, saving your A-game to the very end, and clearly that's what Auburn is doing at the moment.

On the other end of the spectrum, South Carolina showed it is on the downhill side of the equation in terms of late-season peaking. The Gamecocks looked like a pathetic also-ran team, not the SEC East champions who played Auburn so tough in their first meeting.

In a game that many thought could be close, Auburn simply embarrassed South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks, who simply laid egg after egg. Meanwhile Auburn showed the world that, with Cam Newton at the throttle, it truly is the nation's best team and one that is peaking at just the right time.

The 56-17 score doesn't really show just how badly South Carolina played and just how much Auburn truly dominated them. The game was only close at kickoff; after that, it was all Auburn, all day long.

Many times the camera showed Spurrier with a "You've got to be kidding me" look on his face, especially when Auburn, which unlike other SEC teams get a lead and take its foot off the gas, threw a Hail Mary pass at the first half that was deflected and fell into the waiting arms of an Auburn receiver for a touchdown.

The Hail Mary pass was a fitting and symbolic completion as Auburn has seemingly had so many narrow escapes and late-game comebacks this season. Why would another miracle not be granted?

But this game needed fewer miracles and more mercy as Auburn simply took a good team and dismantled them on both sides of the ball.

The stage is now set for one of the more exciting BCS championships in recent years.

This is one BCS game you won't want to leave the room for a second. This will be an offensive extravaganza whose 60 minutes may have 50 minutes of highlights.

Will Auburn's second "Battle of the Birds" be just as successful?

We can't wait to see.