Heisman Trophy 2010: Cam Newton Gets Heisman, but Oregon Will Win Title
Heisman Trophy 2010 has been given out and Cam Newton was the runaway winner of the award with Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck finishing in second.
Next up is a ton of media with the award and then the BCS National Championship game against the Oregon Ducks. It's going to be a great game but in the end I think the Ducks will walk away with the victory and the crystal football.
Inside are 10 reasons why and any thoughts or comments, make sure to leave them below.
No. 10: Lessons From Last Year
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Last year, the Oregon Ducks had a great season en route to an appearance in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State.
Once the Ducks took the field however, they found themselves getting worked over by the Buckeyes. This hasn't been lost on Oregon, and Chip Kelly has mentioned this a couple of times in interviews after being named to the national championship game.
There are lessons to be learned from that game and Kelly will be hammering that into his team leading up to the big day against Auburn.
No. 9: Darron Thomas > Jeremiah Masoli
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Darron Thomas has been a force for the Oregon Ducks but this time last year, he wasn't the starting quarterback for the Ducks.
It was Jeremiah Masoli under center for the Ducks, and Thomas has put up better numbers than Masoli did for Oregon last year. Thomas has thrown for 2,518 yards and thrown 28 touchdowns while running for five scores.
Masoli threw for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns while running for 13. Thomas is a better player and I think we'll see that when the Ducks take the field.
No. 8: Timely Defensive Play
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I don't want to try and fool you into thinking the Oregon Ducks have a great defense, because they don't.
However, they do have enough skill to make timely plays to help the Ducks to victory. The defensive line can create pressure and get to Cam Newton and make him get rid of the ball a lot quicker than he's ready to.
I think we'll be surprised by Oregon's defense in this game.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 7: Speed Across the Board
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One thing the Oregon Ducks have a ton of is speed, and speed kills.
The Ducks will just blow by you on the edge at almost every position on the field, and it's hard to keep up with everyone on the field. Oregon has more speed than almost any team in the nation, and that is going to be the biggest challenge for Auburn in this game.
Auburn is going to have its hands full trying to stop the Ducks.
No. 6: The Cam Newton Show
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It's easy to figure out what the key to Auburn's success is this year.
It's the Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. Not only is he the quarterback of the team, he is the leading rusher of the Tigers by almost 400 yards. That makes stopping Newton the key to stopping the Tigers. Now while that might be an obvious statement, it's also a lot easier said than done.
However, Auburn has to rely on Newton to get going and unless someone else steps up, the Tigers could be in trouble. How much longer can Newton carry Auburn.
No. 5: The Stanford Game
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The biggest test this year for Oregon was the Stanford Cardinal.
The Cardinal were a physical team that was going to test the Ducks and their speed. Stanford also had one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. Sound familiar? Auburn is pretty similar to Stanford except for the running threat of Newton, and it's going to be interesting to see if some of the elements that worked against Stanford will work against Auburn.
I think the Ducks can look at that game tape and find some offensive strategies.
No. 4: Solid Offensive Line Play
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One of the biggest tests for Oregon's offense is going to be how physical the offensive line can get in the trenches.
The Ducks need the line to stand strong and avoid being pushed around at the line of scrimmage and create holes for LaMichael James. If Oregon can do that against the Auburn defense and those tough lineman, it's going to be a long day for Auburn.
That might be the most interesting battle all game. Keep your eyes on that.
No. 3: Creative Coaching
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Chip Kelly is quite the creative coach, something you'd notice if you've seen any part of an Oregon game.
You'll see a ton of those big sign boards that the Ducks hold up during offensive series and that's just something unlike any other team in the country. You know that Kelly is going to have some special things drawn up for the Tigers.
I think that Oregon will have creative little wrinkles to get Auburn out of system on defense.
No. 2: LaMichael James
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LaMichael James is going to be the biggest weapon the Oregon Ducks have on offense.
He's a Heisman Trophy candidate and one of the best running backs in the entire country. He's fast and elusive, and he's given opposing defenses fits all year long. He's just a beast and he's one of the reasons the Ducks are as explosive as they are.
He's going to find the endzone in this game at least once, if not more.
No. 1: Auburn's Defense
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Auburn's defense hasn't exactly been the toughest unit to face in college football.
The Tigers' defense can be exploited and there will be plenty of trouble for Auburn against this high-powered Oregon attack. While I don't think Oregon will be scoring as quickly as it did all this year, it's going to be able to move the ball from start to finish and that's one of the biggest question marks for Auburn in this game.
Auburn doesn't want to get into a shootout with Oregon in this game. That's a battle it can't win.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
