Auburn

[gofightingducks]

is going to be tough to beat, they are the real deal and they are more than just Cam Newton, but he alone will be difficult for Oregon to stop.

[OreDucks01284]

yea, they are playing great today. I hope Ducks are aware of that and get serious abt playing in national championship!

[gofightingducks]

I don't like Chizik and Newton or Auburn as a whole, they are a bunch of arrogant guys and probably cheaters.

[greenyellow]

I don't like Chizik and Newton or Auburn as a whole, they are a bunch of arrogant guys and probably cheaters.

Used to like them but after all the allegations, I would say the title would be tarnished if they are found to be guilty later on.

[UOducksTK1]

Auburn is really really good, it'll take a very good game from the Ducks to win. I like that we have a month to prepare though. I think we need it more than they do.

[JTinKC]

Contain Newton and we have a shot.

[Duck07]

Defensively, I'll write up a 'how to defend cam newton" thread but basically, if i was NA, here is briefly what i would do:
-overload one side of the line every time but i would go around 2:1 left overload/right overload. 4 man lines
-run man coverage to the overload side (cliff), zone to the weak side.
-blitz off that overload side with 1 or 2 backers a lot

what this is going to do is force cam to 1 side of the field. this is what we want. we want to take away his options. start by forcing him to roll to the left so any throws are across body. I don't find him to be a terribly accurate passer. Effective? certainly. Accurate? no.

other than the positioning of the DL, this is a very similar concept to what we already do only now we're putting an emphasis on forcing the qb to a particular spot. This is where the zone drops by backers and ends can work to contain the underneath routes while we can mix coverages up on the field side.

with the passive way we use the zone blitz, newton will run all over us if we don't force him into alleys. tackling him is hard enough when he can use the whole field so from the get go try to negate his running ability and force him to complete passes.

sadly, i think our offense will make more changes over this next month than our D will

[Nightowl]

IMO, this game boils down to two things...

1) Cam Newton vs. Oregon's Defense

2) Nick Fairley vs. Oregon's Offense

My guess is we double team Fairley and also try and beat him with the zone read. Also, get the short, quick pass game working with slant routes, bubble screens, etc. Do that and get rolling and you can contain Cam by outscoring him.

If we can neutralize Fairley our O can get clicking Our Defense doesn't have to stop him every drive. They don't even have to stop him most drives. They just need to get stops here and there (maybe a turnover or two... I'm looking at you, Cliff) and this is an inherently winnable game.

[Howry]

"I like that we have a month to prepare though"

I think this is good and bad. One of our things has been running defenses into the dirt. Im sure our guys will be in game shape but what kind of shape will they be in coming off the long layoff?

[shear_j]

My biggest concern is that we are a slow starting team and I don't know if we could come back from 20 down against that team. Personally, I think our D is better and the offenses are comparably great, albeit for different reasons. We have a balanced offense with lots of playmakers and they just have a beast of a player who makes everyone around him better.

If we can go out and start strong and even get an early lead, I think we win no question.

[Cedar Tree]

Auburn actually starts slow quite often too. It's pretty amazing how similar they are to us in many ways.

[UOducksTK1]

"I like that we have a month to prepare though"

I think this is good and bad. One of our things has been running defenses into the dirt. Im sure our guys will be in game shape but what kind of shape will they be in coming off the long layoff?

Auburn is playing really well right now. Oregon on the other hand, has not looked as strong as they did these last 3 games as they have all season. I think a long break would help us more.

[duck55]

Auburn actually starts slow quite often too. It's pretty amazing how similar they are to us in many ways.

Both have an ax to grind with the BCS Oregon snubbed in the past for the title game and same with Auburn (2004).
They looked good vs. an SEC team , so did we (Tennessee).

[shear_j]

Auburn actually starts slow quite often too. It's pretty amazing how similar they are to us in many ways.

It is crazy how alike they are. I don't think we could've asked for a better champ matchup. I just worry about our tendancy of getting down, and I'm sure that AU fans feel the same

[SuperDuck]

"I like that we have a month to prepare though"

I think this is good and bad. One of our things has been running defenses into the dirt. Im sure our guys will be in game shape but what kind of shape will they be in coming off the long layoff?

Auburn is playing really well right now. Oregon on the other hand, has not looked as strong as they did these last 3 games as they have all season. I think a long break would help us more.

I think they'll be fine, but it may take a couple of series to get going. I half expect both teams to test the others secondary early. That is one major weakness of the Auburn defense and one I'm predicting that Chip will fully exploit early, especially with their strength on the defensive line.

One thing I wouldn't count on too much is wearing them down with our tempo. That's because they'll have 5 weeks to prepare for us and I would imagine that they'll be running plenty of sprints between now and then.

I've noticed that the offense has been sluggish and committing more "dumb" penalties than usual. They just look fatigued. That is, except for Kenyon Barner. He's been a big spark off the bench, mostly because I think his legs are fresher than LaMichael's are right now. That's because he sat out with that injury. I think they'll all be playing better after they get some well deserved time off.