GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Auburn and Oregon picked up the pace and the scoring in the second quarter of the BCS championship.
Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes after a scoreless first quarter and the top-ranked Tigers took a 16-11 lead into halftime against the No. 2 Ducks on Monday night at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Oregon started the scoring with a 26-yard field goal by Rob Beard on the second play of the second quarter, then Newton and the Tigers put together their first sustained drive to take the lead.
The Heisman Trophy winner gave a slight pump-fake to freeze a defender and hit Kodi Burns in the middle of the field. Burns, the former quarterback bumped to receiver when Newton arrived before this season, leaped into the end zone for a 35-yard score and a 7-3 lead with 12:00 left in the second quarter.
The Ducks struck right back. Backed up to his own 7, Darron Thomas sailed a deep ball down the middle for Jeff Mahel, who went 81 yards to the Auburn 12. It was the longest play from scrimmage in the 13-year history of the BCS championship game and the Ducks’ ninth play this season of more than 60 yards.
Three plays later, Thomas hooked up with LaMichael James, the nation’s leading rusher, on a screen pass that worked to perfection for an 8-yard touchdown. Instead of kicking the extra point, Oregon faked it with holder Jackson Rice pitching to kicker Beard, who dived in for the 2-point conversion to make it 11-7.
The four-play, 93-yard drive took all of 57 seconds, typical for the fast-paced Ducks.
Auburn marched right back down, going 68 yards in 15 plays before facing fourth-and-goal at the 1.
Coach Gene Chizik went for it, stacking the backfield with potential blockers for his 250-pound quarterback. But Newton faked the run and floated a pass to running back Eric Smith, who was open in the end zone. The pass was a bit short and Smith let it slip through his arms to the turf as he slipped down.
What seemed like a momentum-changer for Oregon turned out just fine for Auburn.
After an illegal motion penalty on the Ducks moved the ball back inside the 1, defensive tackle Mike Blanc cut through the Oregon line and undercut James in the end zone for a safety to make it 11-9 with 3:25 left in the half.
The Tigers’ offense likes to move fast, too, and it quickly drove 66 yards in six plays, with Newton hooking up with Emory Blake for a 30-yard scoring pass. That drive took 1:34 off the clock and made it 16-11.
Newton 16 for 22 for 186 yards passing in the first half. Auburn had 258 total yards in the second quarter after getting 21 in the first.
Thomas 15 for 19 for 194 yards passing.
The first quarter featured three turnovers, several big hits and three punts. Not exactly what was expected from two teams that combined to average 93 points and more than 1,000 yards per game.
Newton was intercepted by Oregon’s Cliff Harris and sacked twice. Auburn’s Demond Washington and Zac Etheridge each intercepted passes by Thomas.
Auburn was making its first appearance in the BCS title game and trying to become the fifth straight SEC team to win it in Chizik’s second season as coach.
Oregon, the first Pac-10 team other than Southern California to play in the BCS title game, was looking for its first national championship. Auburn’s won only one, in 1957.
Ducks coach Chip Kelly’s quick-strike, fast-paced spread offense averaged 537 yards in the regular season and helped Oregon become the highest-scoring team in the country at 49 points per game.
Behind Newton, the first SEC player to run for 1,000 yards and pass for 2,000, Auburn averaged 42 points and 497 yards per game.
The game turned out to be one of the most sought after tickets in recent sports history, with some going for as much as $7,000 on some of the online resale websites.
A snow storm across the Deep South, however, left at least a few Auburn fans who had planned to fly in the day of the game, unable to get out of Alabama.
Before the game, a moment of silence was held for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of the mass shooting in Tucson, about 125 miles south of Glendale.
Add A Comment