Oregon capitalizes on Cardinal's bad Luck

Oregon beat Stanford 53-30 to take control of the Pac-12's North Division, while positioning themselves for a shot at a return trip to the national title game.

The Ducks, who had lost their season opener to LSU in Arlington, TX, stayed "under the radar" while Stanford and QB Andrew Luck - long anointed the #1 overall pick in the 2012 draft - climbed up the ladder.  Given their entertaining matchup last season, and with conference realignment, who ever won this matchup would be highly favored to take Pac-12 crown.

In 2009, Stanford stunned a high-flying Oregon team 51-42 on the strength of performances by Heisman Trophy finalist Toby Gerhart and Andrew Luck, a red-shirt freshman at the time.  The following year, the Cardinal jumped to a 21-3 first quarter lead, but scored only 10 points the rest of the way (none in the second half) as Oregon came out 52-31 winners, en route to the national championship game.

This time, it was Stanford who had more on the line, with a loss all but eliminating them from the national title discussion.  They had been tested on the road against USC a fortnight earlier, winning in triple overtime when the defense recovered a Curtis McNeal fumble that rolled into the endzone.

And just as they had been tested then, the Cardinals defense really had no answer for Oregon's "unconventional" offense.  Last year, LaMichael James burned them for 257 yards rushing and 3 TDs.  This time around, he ran for 146 yards and 3 TDs - bum elbow and all - while QB Darron Thomas looked like a Heisman candidate himself, throwing for 3 TDs on 11-17 passing.



Brandon Hanna's fumble recovery helped Oregon break
the game open in the 3rd quarter.

Oregon's defense doesn't seem to mind taking a back seat while the offense gets all the love.  Their fingerprints were all over this game, collecting 5 Cardinal turnovers, including an interception that Boseko Lokombo returned for a touchdown to seal the game; just in case Stanford was getting ideas of, y'know, a miracle comeback. 

Stanford runs a "conventional" offense, that relies multiple tight-end sets to complement a strong running game.  While the tight ends are reliable receivers, they can only present so much of a threat.  Stanford's legitimate receiving threat, Chris Owusu, had to sit out this game as a result of having suffered multiple concussions, the most recent against Oregon State.

Rub-a-Duck for Luck?

The Cardinal's "ball control" offense could not afford any margin for error if they were to succeed in keeping their counterparts on the sidelines.  And while they were able to stay within striking distance going into the interval, it was in the third quarter that things fell apart, as Oregon put their foot on the pedal and never looked back.

The next biggest casualty of Stanford's loss is QB Andrew Luck's race for the Heisman Trophy.  Luck, who has been unflappable for the most of the season, committed three turnovers - 2 INTs and lost fumble -, each of them resulting in touchdowns for the opposition.

Every player will have that occasional "off day", but given that nowadays, the preferred recipient for the Heisman Trophy is a quarterback or running back who's team is playing for the national championship, it becomes rather interesting to see just how far Luck will drop.

Since a national title is out of discussion (barring a miracle, and even THAT might not be enough), Stanford still remain on course for an "at-large" invite to a BCS bowl which, considering the payout and perks, isn't exactly a bad way to end the season.

For what it's worth, Luck will still probably have the last laugh come next April.

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.