National Championship Game: 10 Reasons Oregon Will Beat Auburn
The BCS National Championship Game is now under two weeks away. Two undefeated teams, Oregon and Auburn, will square off in what's expected to be a shootout and very exciting game to watch. Both teams have their playmakers in LaMichael James and Cam Newton, and both teams are hungry to win their team's first BCS championship, first championship period for Oregon.
Both teams have the potential to win, but only one team can emerge as the national champion. Does Oregon, ranked second in the BCS currently, have the ingredients necessary to topple number one ranked Auburn?
I say yes, and here are 10 reasons that this will happen.
For those that prefer a counterpoint to my stance, you may click here for why Auburn will win.
LaMichael James
1 of 10
The obvious one comes first: LaMichael James is the best running back in college football right now. He has 1,689 rushing yards on the year, which leads the NCAA, as well as 21 touchdowns. His worst yardage on the year was a 91-yard game against California, and he set these marks without playing the first game against New Mexico, a game where he could have easily passed 200 yards.
Expect a huge game from James against Auburn, needless to say.
Scoring
2 of 10
How do you beat an opposing team? By putting up more points, of course. No one does that better than Oregon, who leads the nation in points scored, averaging nearly 50 a game. It would be over 50 points a game if the grounded game against California was taken out.
How do you stop a team that scores 50 a game? You either have to slow down their offense, or try and score 60 yourself. It's not impossible for Auburn to do that, but it would be difficult.
Darron Thomas
3 of 10
Everyone knows how good Cam Newton is, and how well he can both run and throw. No one would doubt that. Because of this though, Oregon's quarterback, Darron Thomas, may be flying under the radar. He's not as much of a scrambler as Newton but still managed nearly 500 yards on the ground.
His passing has continually improved over the year as well, and he finished the season completing 60 percent of his passes for over 2,500 yards and 28 touchdowns. Will he outplay Cam Newton? No, but he doesn't have to. He just has to play the same way he has all season.
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Success Against the SEC
4 of 10
I'll be the first to admit that this one is a stretch, but it works well enough. Auburn hasn't faced anyone in the Pac-10 this season, so there's nothing to compare there, but Oregon has played an SEC opponent in Tennessee. Most of Auburn's SEC wins, no matter who the team, were within three touchdowns.
Oregon's win, however, was a resounding 48-13 defeat of an SEC team. It shows that they should have no problem hanging with other SEC teams, Auburn included.
Chip Kelly
5 of 10
Is Gene Chizik an amazing coach, or does he look amazing since he has Cam Newton running all over the field? It's too early to tell on that one. Is Chip Kelly a great coach? From what we've seen in the past four years, yes.
When he joined Oregon as offensive coordinator in 2007, he took an offense and made it into a powerhouse. Whether it's been Dennis Dixon, Jeremiah Masoli, Darron Thomas or whoever leading the Ducks, they have been an elite offense. They're a great team now, and even if LaMichael James goes into the draft, they'll be great again next year under Kelly.
The Secondary
6 of 10
If you had to compare the two secondaries, there's no question which is better. Oregon's defense has allowed 2,568 passing yards and has 20 interceptions. The first number is about the middle of the road and the second is quite good.
Auburn's stats? 3,256 and 10, respectively, both fairly low numbers. Oregon can score fairly easily against a team like that.
Close Games
7 of 10
How many times was Oregon nearly defeated by another team this season? That only happened once, at California in a 15-13 win. How many times has Auburn narrowly won? Mississippi State, Clemson, South Carolina (first time), Alabama and even Kentucky almost pulled off the upset.
Are all the close calls by Auburn proof that they can mount great come from behind victories, or have they just gotten lucky? Oregon's not a team you can fall behind on, so Auburn would prefer neither be the right answer.
Overconfidence
8 of 10
Auburn is naturally going to be confident heading into this game, and as the top team in the country, they're entitled to that. Fans of Auburn and the SEC are very confident as well. After all, they beat Arkansas, Alabama, LSU and South Carolina twice.
Should that turn into overconfidence, figuring that Oregon played in a relatively weak Pac-10 conference this year and therefore can't possibly be as good, then that's when trouble will find them.
Run Defenses
9 of 10
For as much emphasis as Auburn puts on their lines, yes they have a top defensive lineman in Nick Fairley, but when the stats are looked at as a whole, the two teams are similar. Both have allowed under 1,500 yards of rushing offense and are playing teams that thrive on rushing power.
Which team will break past the run? Oregon certainly could just as well as Auburn could.
Cliff Harris
10 of 10
Cliff Harris is Oregon's punt returner, one of the top in the nation. Punting won't be much of a factor in this game, but should Auburn need to punt, Harris is a difficult guy to keep in check. After all, that's how Oregon beat California.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
