BCS National Championship: Top 5 Keys To Victory for Oregon and Auburn
With the start of the bowl games this past weekend, and a season coming to an end for most teams, the Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers still have a lot of things on their mind.
To be specific, both have to come up with the defensive scheme of a lifetime to stop the other team's offense, which has been proven all year to be near impossible.
The big game is 21 days away, which means conditioning, and the basic strategies will be implemented into practice around the holiday season. For some, the national title slips their mind when they are fully into the holiday spirit, but for others, such as Gene Chizik and Chip Kelly, it will be tough to think about anything other than taking home the crown.
This game is big. Not only for the Auburn Tigers and the Oregon Ducks, but college football as a whole.
Can the SEC still keep its crown as champions of college football 5 years in a row? Or can the Pac-10's leader come out of the west to turn the tables and shift some opinions?
What can Auburn do to win? What can Oregon do to secure a victory?
All questions will be answered come January 10th, but as of right now, here are 5 keys to a victory for both Auburn and Oregon.
Auburn: Slow Down Run Game
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It is simple--the Oregon offense thrives off of their run game.
If they cannot get the run game rollin', then their offense struggles comparatively to the statistics this season. LaMichael James (Doak Walker Award Winner) is the best running back in the country, and is part of the best rushing one-two punch with Kenjon Barner. Both are sophomores, and both have a load of speed that will be tough for the Tigers to contain.
But, with the 11th best rushing defense in the country, you would think the Tigers have the Ducks run and gun style game on lock down, but no one has been able to figure out just how to stop this rushing attack.
If the Tigers hold Oregon under 200 yards rushing, they win the game.
Auburn: Get Pressure On Darron Thomas
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What most people forget is that Darron Thomas is in his first year, as a sophomore, with little experience before this season at the reigns of the offense.
He has a relatively slow wind up, which earlier in the season caused some wacky turnovers, and I think Auburn can really key on making young DT feel uneasy in the pocket.
Although, during the mid part of the season Darron played extremely well and was part of the talk of the top 10 best QB's in the country today and showed a tremendous amount of maturity in his role for the Ducks. He has learned a lot, and one thing that has been big factor in his success is his confidence. He thinks that he is already the All-NFL type sitting on the top of the world, which is a great asset to have.
But, when faced with adversity on the biggest stage in college football, young Thomas may find that "talking" is a little easier than "performing".
When Darron drops back in the pocket, I would send at least two linebackers right at him, which would make him feel uneasy whether it was a completion or not.
Auburn: Feed Of The Hype
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The Tigers are sitting on top of the world, with arguably one of the best college football players to play the game as their quarterback and leader. Undefeated in the toughest conference in the country, and looking to add the fifth national title in a row to the SEC conference.
The best thing that Auburn can do in this situation is feed off the media. Take it all in, sign the autographs, strut their swag around Glendale, and really instill confidence and power into the team morale. It is amazing what a team can do when they think they are better than they actually are. Not to say that the Tigers are not a phenomenal team, but they should be heads high, walking around behind Heisman trophy winner Cam Newton, because intimidation will play as a factor when the young Ducks step onto the field on January 10th.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Auburn: Utilize The North-South Run Game
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All year the Oregon Ducks have shown a weakness of teams that run the ball north-south.
This is the opposite of the Tiger's normal spread that they are known for, but change it up. If it fails, you still have an amazing quarterback sitting behind the front five to lead your team to victory.
Michael Dyer is a strong and physical back, and I see him posing a big problem for Oregon to deal with.
The Ducks are small, fast, but weak on stand-up tackling, which Dyer can use to his strength by pounding three or four more yards out of every single down. Therefore, if the Tigers run side to side all day long, they are going to find themselves in a big hole realizing that this Oregon defense is no cake walk when it comes to speed. They are fast and motivated, but they're small, and it is a big weakness that Auburn can expose.
Auburn: Screen Passes
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One thing that I hope, and think that Oregon will do is send the house on blitz plays to start the game.
Nick Aliotti is known for his blitzing tactics, and I see this game as no difference. Oregon is in the position to take down a team from the most well-known football conference, and they have nothing to lose, and Aliotti knows that the best thing the defense can do for the team is to create turnovers.
Auburn has to watch out, and use the screen pass as much as possible to start the game. Oregon is gonna be fired up, and sending the house, and slip screens are going to be wide open. With the speed of McCalebb, the Tigers cannot go wrong once he gets into the open field.
Oregon: Creating Turnovers
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This game will be ruled by the offenses, and the team with the most takeaways will most likely win the game.
The Ducks need to key on this, making it a necessity to take the ball away from the Tiger offense as much as possible. Send two or even three linebackers on a blitz just to rattle the timing of the offense a few times. Who knows, maybe a pick six or fumble recovery will come of it, and if Auburn or Oregon can get either of those, it will be a huge advantage.
The Oregon secondary is small, but fast, and rated very low on the totem poll. They can make a statement in this game that can change the view of the Duck secondary across the country.
Oregon: Play Like There Is Nothing To Lose
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In all honesty, there is not much that is riding on the back of this Oregon team going into the national title game.
The Tigers are part of a conference that is expecting a win, and despite the Ducks being favored in the first point spread, if Oregon loses this game, not much will change.
Across the country analysts and followers of the football community have either questioned or did not believe in the Ducks power. Still, to this day, most everyone outside the Pac-10 wonders if the Ducks are for real, so what is there to lose?
If Oregon can use this to advantage and realize that they can change a whole lot if they win this game, and it can start by having no fear stepping onto that football field.
Oregon: Make Cam Newton Feel Pressured To Throw The Ball
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Now, this is not an easy task.
All year long Cam Newton has sat in that pocket behind the big boys of Auburn up front, always with the back up option that he could run the ball.
Oregon has to change that. Make Newton throw the ball over 25 times, make him feel a pressure to only throw the ball down the field or out of bounds. He has felt on top of the world knowing that he can most of the time scramble for a first down if needed with his ability.
Blitz the house. Take away all angles of the scramble and make Newton throw the ball. Although there will be possibly more turnovers, Newton has the option for more big plays down the field.
It is a risk, but again, what does Oregon have to lose? They are not going to stop the offense completely, so the Ducks need to play to win.
Oregon: Stop Michael Dyer
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This kid is a great running back, and poses a huge threat to Oregon's defense.
He stands under six feet, but weighs 215 pounds, packing a punch that the Duck defense is foreign to as of this year.
Some people underestimate the effect that Dyer can have on this game, and hopefully Aliotti can see my concern as well. He is a physical, low to the ground back that can penetrate north and south, which has always been a weakness of Oregon.
If you put Dyer in the backfield at Stanford, the Cardinal could quite possibly be undefeated and headed to the national title game.
When Dyer is in the backfield, Oregon has to key on the run. The one thing that will make this tough is when Auburn sets up with a two back set in a shotgun, which leaves the option for pass, screen pass, running back handoff's, or a simple quarterback draw up the middle that almost always gets five yards in the Tiger offense.
If Oregon can shut down Dyer and limit his yards, it will be a great start to penetrating the Auburn offense.
Oregon: Quick Hits To Start The Game
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To start off the game, I hope Oregon uses quick passes, slant routes, and screen passes to the backs to set the tone on offense.
If they start with trying to establish the run game, against an 11th ranked rush defense that is fully energized and pumped up more than ever, it will be a problem, and could possibly ruin the game from the get go.
Quick hits to the outside tires out the defensive line of Auburn, which will be key come the 3rd and 4th quarter of the game when stamina will matter most. Let Maelh, DJ Davis, and Huff make one on one plays on the first drive to just put points on the board.
This keeps the ball out of the middle of the field, releases pressure off of Darron Thomas, and wears out the linebackers and linemen of Auburn who are expecting the Ducks to establish the run. It may be a slow start, but even if the quick hits do not work, they will still wear down the defense faster than LaMichael and Kenjon could.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
