9:16AM
Newsday (N.Y.): Auburn's defense the key to winning title
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- On the morning after, they kept handing trophies to Auburn coach Gene Chizik, the one from The Associated Press, the one from the Football Writers Association named for Grantland Rice, the one from the National Football Foundation named for Douglas MacArthur.
On a Tuesday in the desert, all the awards did was verify what happened Monday evening some 20 miles to the west, at University of Phoenix Stadium, where in front of a BCS-record crowd of 78,683, Chizik's team proved it was better than Oregon -- if barely.
Auburn showed what the Jets showed a couple of days earlier in the NFL playoffs: With a stout enough defense, a few key offensive plays down the stretch and a reliable kicker, a team can get through.
For the Jets, it was Nick Folk hitting one from 32 yards for a 17-16 win as time expired. For the Auburn Tigers, it was Wes Byrum hitting one from 19 yards for a 22-19 win as time expired.
In a game that sent Auburn to a 14-0 record (Oregon ended 12-1) and its second national title (the other was in 1957), the Tigers shut down a team that had averaged 49 points a game and had been held under 37 only once.
Oregon, with its dozens of uniform combinations -- Monday night, players wore chartreuse shoes -- and dozens of formations and plays, with rare exceptions couldn't get through, around or over the Auburn defenders.
"Man, our defense,'' said Auburn tackle Nick Fairley, the Lombardi Award winner. "We showed America everything we've done each and every Saturday. We went unnoticed throughout the year.''
What didn't go unnoticed was a run by Auburn's Michael Dyer in the game's final series. He seemed to be tackled on his own 45 after a 5-yard gain, but as proved correct by replay, Dyer landed on Oregon's Eddie Pleasant, not the ground, got up and sped to the Ducks' 23 for a gain of 37 yards.
What also didn't go unnoticed was the work of Auburn's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, who ran for 64 net yards and passed for 265 and two touchdowns.
Whether Newton, who came to Auburn only last winter and became a controversial figure because of claims his father tried to get a payoff for directing Cam to another school, stays around is uncertain.
Asked how the outcome of the game would affect his decision to be an early entrant in the NFL draft, Newton said: "It is something I have to sit down with coach Chizik and my family and just get the vibe of so many different people. We will go from there.''
Where Auburn goes will be an issue. Fairley is a junior. Newton is a junior. If they return, the Tigers will be excellent in 2011.
Reminded Chizik, "I don't think you can have great teams without having some great players at some positions, coaches that know how to use them and a team chemistry that comes together.''
Auburn certainly had all three, and now has three more trophies.
- - - - - -
http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-football/auburn-s-defense-the-key-to-winning-title-1.2602449
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Special to Newsday
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- On the morning after, they kept handing trophies to Auburn coach Gene Chizik, the one from The Associated Press, the one from the Football Writers Association named for Grantland Rice, the one from the National Football Foundation named for Douglas MacArthur.
On a Tuesday in the desert, all the awards did was verify what happened Monday evening some 20 miles to the west, at University of Phoenix Stadium, where in front of a BCS-record crowd of 78,683, Chizik's team proved it was better than Oregon -- if barely.
Auburn showed what the Jets showed a couple of days earlier in the NFL playoffs: With a stout enough defense, a few key offensive plays down the stretch and a reliable kicker, a team can get through.
For the Jets, it was Nick Folk hitting one from 32 yards for a 17-16 win as time expired. For the Auburn Tigers, it was Wes Byrum hitting one from 19 yards for a 22-19 win as time expired.
In a game that sent Auburn to a 14-0 record (Oregon ended 12-1) and its second national title (the other was in 1957), the Tigers shut down a team that had averaged 49 points a game and had been held under 37 only once.
Oregon, with its dozens of uniform combinations -- Monday night, players wore chartreuse shoes -- and dozens of formations and plays, with rare exceptions couldn't get through, around or over the Auburn defenders.
"Man, our defense,'' said Auburn tackle Nick Fairley, the Lombardi Award winner. "We showed America everything we've done each and every Saturday. We went unnoticed throughout the year.''
What didn't go unnoticed was a run by Auburn's Michael Dyer in the game's final series. He seemed to be tackled on his own 45 after a 5-yard gain, but as proved correct by replay, Dyer landed on Oregon's Eddie Pleasant, not the ground, got up and sped to the Ducks' 23 for a gain of 37 yards.
What also didn't go unnoticed was the work of Auburn's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, who ran for 64 net yards and passed for 265 and two touchdowns.
Whether Newton, who came to Auburn only last winter and became a controversial figure because of claims his father tried to get a payoff for directing Cam to another school, stays around is uncertain.
Asked how the outcome of the game would affect his decision to be an early entrant in the NFL draft, Newton said: "It is something I have to sit down with coach Chizik and my family and just get the vibe of so many different people. We will go from there.''
Where Auburn goes will be an issue. Fairley is a junior. Newton is a junior. If they return, the Tigers will be excellent in 2011.
Reminded Chizik, "I don't think you can have great teams without having some great players at some positions, coaches that know how to use them and a team chemistry that comes together.''
Auburn certainly had all three, and now has three more trophies.
- - - - - -
http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-football/auburn-s-defense-the-key-to-winning-title-1.2602449
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Tags: 
Auburn, BCS, Cam Newton, Gene Chizik, Oregon
Auburn, BCS, Cam Newton, Gene Chizik, Oregon
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