Tiger Paradise

Auburn and Oregon, while known for the high flying offenses, didn't disappoint in a defensive showdown.  I had the feeling that this is probably how the game would play itself out.  Auburn are national champions because they were more suited to this kind of game.

They had won 6 games this season by 8 points or less (this game would make it 7), three of those wins came against ranked teams.  Another point to note is that all those six teams played in bowl games, finishing with a combined 3-3 record.  This team mirrors the 2002 Ohio State team as well as the 2003 LSU team; both teams won the national championship because they knew how to grind it out in the close games.

What Heisman jinx?

Oregon can hold their head up high even in defeat, because there is no shame in losing to a team that is just as good as you are, if not better.  Auburn seemed to have a little more gas in the tank and were able to make the extra plays needed for the win.  Oregon should be able to make another title run with both LaMichael James and Darron Thomas returning to school for another season.

Cam Newton may not have had his best game, but he surely did enough to get the Tigers over hump for the program's first national title since 1957.  His passing was off at times, but he connected on a couple of long touchdowns and broke off a big run every now and then.  When Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews forced a fumble off Newton, it seemed that Heisman jinx was back at work.  Oregon ended up tying the score, but Newton will be thanking Michael Dyer, the game's Offensive MVP, for saving the day, when he broke off runs of 37 yards and 16 yards to set up Wes Byrum for the game winning field goal.

Wes Byrum putting his foot down on matters.

The play of the game came when Nick Fairley and the Tigers defensive line stuffed Kenjon Barner on a "4th & Goal" play from the 1 yard line.  It was enough to turn the tide in Auburn's favor.  Had Oregon scored the touchdown or a field goal, there is a chance that they might have won the game.  Decisions, decisions; why do they have to be so hard.  Auburn's defensive line worked excellently, constantly pressuring Darron Thomas into throwing the ball early and stuffing LaMichael James at just about every opportunity they could get.  Along with Michael Dyer, they get my vote for the game's MVP.

As far as that Heisman Jinx is concerned (I covered this in an earlier article), we'll have to worry about it next year.  I gotta hand it to Cam Newton; this guy is just a winner.  Forget about all the NCAA investigations and whatnot.  He has won at just about every place he has been.  He won a national championship at Florida (as a backup to Tim Tebow), he led Blinn College to the juco national championship and lifted Auburn to national title.

With the kind of season that he's had, I think he's about ready to cash in on his talents (you can take that in any context that you'd like).  He should most likely go #1 overall, since Andrew Luck opted to return to school for another year (I kind of didn't see that one coming).  Should he leave, it would be wise to say that not only will we be crowning a different champion next season, but it likely won't come from the SEC. 

So in parting, I would like to congratulate Auburn on their great season.  Enjoy and hopefully, it won't be another 53 years before your next title.

Rose Bowl revisited: The curious case of Andy Dalton

TCU's win over Wisconsin saw them become the first non AQ (automatic qualifier) school to win the Rose Bowl, joining Utah who won the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and the 2009 Sugar Bowl.  No redemption could have been greater, especially after Ohio State president Gordon Gee dissed them and compared their schedule to the "Little Sisters of the Poor".

Tank Carder made what proved to be the biggest play in the Horned Frogs season, when he batted down a pass on two point conversion attempt, that would have surely sent the game into overtime.  That was just one of the many plays that he made for TCU.  He was no doubt the man about town that day.

While Carder's efforts could have earned him the game MVP, and rightfully so, that honor deservedly went to Quarterback Andy Dalton.  A four year starter, Dalton seemed nothing like the player from last year's Fiesta Bowl.  In that 17-10 loss to Boise State, he was picked off 3 times in what was agreeably one of the worst games of his career.

Dalton scoring on a quarterback keeper in the first half

In this trip, following another stellar showing in the regular season, he saved his best game for last.  He passed for a touchdown, ran for another and helped TCU control the game long enough to pull off the historic win.

His 42-7 record makes the him the school's career leader for wins by a starting quarterback.  What makes this even more impressive, are the names on that list; Sammy Baugh and Davey O'Brien.  Should Andy Dalton be considered the best quarterback to have played for TCU?

Slingin' Sammy Baugh was a two time All-American in 1935 and 1936.  He went on to a 16 year career in the NFL, all with the Washington Redskins.  The Sammy Baugh trophy, awarded to the nation's top passer, is named in his honor.  He was enshrined in both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame. 



Baugh & O'Brien were legends at TCU and in college football too.

Davey O'Brien won the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Heisman Trophy; becoming the first player to win all three awards in the same season.  In that same season, 1938, he led TCU to an undefeated season and a national championship.  Some of the records he set still stand to this day.  The Davey O' Brien Award, which is awarded to the nation's best quarterback, is named in his honor.

There has been many a legend that has passed through Forth Worth; Larry Brown (a three time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys), LaDainian Tomlinson (Doak Walker Award winner who led the nation in rushing in both 1999 & 2000), Dutch Meyer (played for TCU and coached them to National Championships in both 1935 & 1938)...... this list could go on.

It would not be far fetched to say that Andy Dalton has more than secured his legend at TCU.  By the time the program has its next great quarterback, we might have a college football playoff in place.  Now that might be far fetched.

 



Fiesta indeed



When Oklahoma was matched up with Connecticut, we already knew two things would happen; the Sooners would end their 5 game losing streak in BCS games, and it would also be a blowout against an over-matched opponent.  They delivered on both accounts.



Fleming's return that effectively iced the game.



Oklahoma executed on both offense and defense, delivering a win that was long overdue.  When Landry Jones found Cameron Kenney in stride for 59 yard touchdown, followed by Jamell Fleming's interception that he returned 55 yards for a score on the next series, it pretty much put the game out of reach for Connecticut; who returned the subsequent kickoff for a touchdown.  I'll give the Huskies credit though, for hanging in and trying to make the scoreline respectable.

Connecticut hadn't scored an offensive touchdown in 7 quarters of football, and even though the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt, Oklahoma still had enough gas in the tank to stuff Jordan Todman on a 4th & goal from the 2 yard line.  The way the Sooners played, you'd have thought that game was in Norman.  They moved the ball really well on offense, seeming at will sometimes, and their defense played as good as they could have at anytime this season in their run to another Big 12 Championship.

Immediately after the game, UConn running back Jordan Todman declared for the NFL draft.  The next question becomes whether OU stars Ryan Broyles and Travis Lewis will follow suit.  Broyles has set just about every receiving record at Oklahoma.  I've said this time and time again; he is the second coming of Mark Clayton.  Lewis has been a standout at the linebacker position that has featured names such as Rufus Alexander, Curtis Lofton, Lance Mitchell, Teddy Lehman, Rocky Calmus & Torrance Marshall et al.  Whether they return or not, it is likely that Oklahoma will be a preseason top 5 team.  They have a lot of returning starters on both sides of the ball, who were key players this past season.



Offensive MVP, Landry Jones

Landry Jones, along with the MVP honors, became the 3rd quarterback in the Stoops era to win a BCS game, joining Josh Heupel (2001 Orange Bowl) and Nate Hybl (2003 Rose Bowl).  He also joins Nate Hybl (who started in 2002 Cotton Bowl) as the only QB's in the Stoops Era to win 2 bowl games.  While his play has been sometimes superb and sometimes shaky, he can only get better as Oklahoma prepares for a run at the national championship next season.

While Jones played exceptionally well, my personal MVP of the game was receiver Cameron Kenney.  A juco transfer, Kenney was the culprit behind a number of dropped passes last season and this season; that saw him move down the depth chart.  He redeemed himself, making crucial catches in the Bedlam and Big 12 championship games and he closed out his OU career with 154 yards and a touchdown on 7 catches; a career night indeed.  Way to go, Kenney!!

The good thing is that now, we don't have to hear about that losing streak in BCS games anymore.  The bad this is that we'll always hear about how Connecticut should have never been in this game to begin with.  I guess that just comes with the territory.


Cam Newton vs the Heisman Jinx; who wins?



Since the 2000 season, the winner of the Heisman trophy has played in the national championship game in all but 2 seasons (2002 & 2007).  Only two of those winners (Matt Leinart, 2004 & Mark Ingram, 2009) have added the crystal ball to their bronze statue.


For some reason, the Heisman trophy winner has followed up a great season with probably one of their worst performances ever.  Even though the trophy is awarded for the regular season performance, I'm starting to think that maybe it should be awarded after the bowl games.  If bowl game stats count toward a player's total stats for the season, then I see no reason why they just can't move the Heisman Ceremony to mid-January.  It's only a one hour special anyways.


If they did so, we might have had a different winner in each case and Vince Young and Tim Tebow would probably join Archie Griffin as 2 time winners.  It's already bad enough that the Heisman trophy now is almost exclusive to only Quarterbacks and Running backs whose team is playing for a national title.  I'll cover that in another discussion.

Will he fall victim to the jinx?

For all the off field headlines and what not, Cam Newton definitely proved himself a worthy winner of this year's award.  Every time his team needed him, he answered the bell.  Despite a flawless performance in the SEC Title game, his crowning moment was when he led his team, down 24-0, to a win against Alabama.  Did I forget to add that this game was in Tuscaloosa and that Alabama were the defending national champion?

At 6'6", 250 lbs, he's just as big as his offensive linemen, if not bigger, but is he too big for the jinx?  Last year, Mark Ingram proved himself against a Texas team that was among the best at stopping the run.  However for the most part, 'Bama had a good defense as well and created enough turnovers to hold of the Longhorns.


Matt Leinart led a very good USC team against an Oklahoma team that quite honestly, should not have been in that game.  I'm not just saying that because OU lost, but Auburn was just as deserving as any; they beat more ranked teams down the stretch including Tennessee (twice).


Let's take a quick look at past winners who failed in the big game.


Chris Weinke, 2000.  Led a high flying Florida State into the title game against Oklahoma.  The offense never really found its rhythm against a stifling Oklahoma defense.
Eric Crouch, 2001.  Despite an outstanding season, Eric Crouch and Nebraska were overmatched against Miami and have never been the same since.
Jason White, 2003.  Written off before the season even started due to his 2 reconstructed knees, he ended up posting what was one of the most prolific seasons for a QB in school history.  Against LSU, he played through hand and foot injuries.  What's crazy is that as bad as Oklahoma played, they still could have won the game.
Reggie Bush, 2005.  Say what you may, but he put together a season that hasn't quite been seen in recent times (well, at least until Cam Newton this year).  While Bush wasn't quite as explosive in the title game, Vince Young was.  Enough said.
Troy Smith, 2006.  Had quite an outstanding season and was the very reason Ohio State was playing in the title game.  In the game against Florida, Ted Ginn was injured only seconds into the game and Smith desperately missed his "go-to" guy.  He spent the entire evening running for his life.
Sam Bradford, 2008.  Despite being the trigger-man in Oklahoma's point-per-minute offense, Florida got the better of the Sooners in this game due to one simple aspect; coaching.

Newton's law states that an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.  Let the games begin.