Oregon vs Auburn National Championship Thread

[aubiematt]

Turnovers will play a big part in the game. Shocking I know. The stats favor Oregon heavily though. Here are the ranks nationally.

Turnover margin: Oregon is 7th, Auburn is 33rd
Interceptions: Oregon is 4th, Auburn 74th
# of Fumbles forced: Oregon is 20th, Auburn 63rd
# of Fumbles lost: Oregon is 112th, Auburn 53rd

Cliff Harris and John Boyett both are tied at 11th in Interceptions at 5, no Auburn player is in the top 100.

The one turnover-related edge Auburn has is that Newton has 6 ints to Thomas' 7, but Newton also has 75 fewer passing attempts on the year.

I am not saying our defense is better than yours, only saying that our D-line is better. Our secondary is kinda crapy actually, not denying that at all!

Here is why this is important:
The #1 important factor is the Quarterback (Who has the better quarterback?)
The #2 important factor is the Offensive line (Who's offensive line will matchup better with the opponents defensive line?)
The #3 important factor is the Defensive line (Who's defensive line will matchup better with the opponents offensive line?)

Generally, if you win 2 or 3 of these match-ups, you will win 90% of your games. Silly things like turnovers do have a huge part in games, not denying that either. But, Winning the turnover ratio is probably the number #4 important factor.

[Duck07]

Auburn has a better DL, I'll concede that. Will the size of your line help you in the 2nd half? I don't think so.
Oregon has better LBs (and more of them)
Oregon has WAY better DBs (and more of them).

We are DEEP on defense. Granted we have a terrible DC but seriously, if the SEC is a conf of D and the Pac 10 is a conf of O, who's defense would you prefer, the one who played more quality offenses or the one who played the lesser offenses?

This game is in Glendale, not Jordan-Hare and I think that will have a big effect for the Tigers. We're are going to option your DL into exhaustion by forcing them to cover the entire field and when the dbs cheat up, we're going over the top. I'm not worried about us scoring, I'm worried about Newton having the ball last. Just like Auburn fans should be real concerned if we have the lead with 7, 8 minutes left in the game because you might not get it back.

[DarronThomas5]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

[SuperDuck]

Just realized the game is on actual grass, that kinda stinks.

Yeah, that kind of sucks, but I don't think it'll be a big difference maker.

[Duck07]

Just realized the game is on actual grass, that kinda stinks.

Yeah, that kind of sucks, but I don't think it'll be a big difference maker.

I'm sure the game officials really want it to be long, so that these two high-power offenses to don't up too many points on the board and give them even more ad time.

[JohnnyAuburn]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

Stanford is a great team, but they suffer from the same problem that SEC fans have with Oregon, they've only played one quality opponent. The Stanford-Oregon game was the best matchup in the Pac-10 by a long shot, whereas in the SEC, we had games between LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, South Carolina and Auburn. Alabama being the only team that did not have a chance at a BCS bowl last saturday.

Interesting stat in that regard: Out of Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, and Miss State, there is only one loss that wasn't to one of the other teams, and that is Alabama's loss to South Carolina.

And if that trend continues, those teams will have beaten Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and (hopefully) Oregon by January 11th.

I'll be impressed if you can find 5 Pac-10 teams in a similar situation this year.

[AcctTiger]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

1. Stanford has a great team...I think LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all disagree with you.

2. We have play 5 road games this year...i dont think the BCS NC game being a "road" game will be a factor for either team.

3. I agree...any road game against an SEC opponent is tough...

[duckpoint]

and the neutral site game was a do over.

[JohnnyAuburn]

As for Tennessee, obviously they were not a good opponent but it's never easy facing 100,000 fans on the road, especially when time zones and climate come into play.

I dunno, one time we played them in Neyland when they were nationally ranked and walked out 34-10 winners. I'm not convinced its that difficult of a place to play. Plus the weather was on your side

[DarronThomas5]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

1. Stanford has a great team...I think LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all disagree with you.

2. We have play 5 road games this year...i dont think the BCS NC game being a "road" game will be a factor for either team.

3. I agree...any road game against an SEC opponent is tough...

well LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all be wrong. Stanford would finish second in the SEC without breaking a sweat.

[Duck07]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

Stanford is a great team, but they suffer from the same problem that SEC fans have with Oregon, they've only played one quality opponent. The Stanford-Oregon game was the best matchup in the Pac-10 by a long shot, whereas in the SEC, we had games between LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, South Carolina and Auburn. Alabama being the only team that did not have a chance at a BCS bowl last saturday.

Interesting stat in that regard: Out of Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, and Miss State, there is only one loss that wasn't to one of the other teams, and that is Alabama's loss to South Carolina.

And if that trend continues, those teams will have beaten Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and (hopefully) Oregon by January 11th.

I'll be impressed if you can find 5 Pac-10 teams in a similar situation this year.

Who did the SEC play in their OOC schedules again this season? 3 patsies and 1 middle of the pack + kentucky and vandy = overhyped SEC. Over the last decade the Pac 10 > SEC head to head.

Oregon has the #14 ranked Scoring D with 18.4 pts a game in an offensive conference. Has any BCS champ won the title while giving up more than 24 a game throughout the season?

[AcctTiger]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

1. Stanford has a great team...I think LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all disagree with you.

2. We have play 5 road games this year...i dont think the BCS NC game being a "road" game will be a factor for either team.

3. I agree...any road game against an SEC opponent is tough...

well LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all be wrong. Stanford would finish second in the SEC without breaking a sweat.

We'll agree to disagree...Stanford will get beat by a 2 loss Va. Tech...watch.

[AcctTiger]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

1. Stanford has a great team...I think LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all disagree with you.

2. We have play 5 road games this year...i dont think the BCS NC game being a "road" game will be a factor for either team.

3. I agree...any road game against an SEC opponent is tough...

Let's not cut corners now. You've played 4 road games and a neutral game.

As for Tennessee, obviously they were not a good opponent but it's never easy facing 100,000 fans on the road, especially when time zones and climate come into play.

Ok...4 road games and 1 "neutral" game....if road games indicate a more prepared team. Ill take our 6 wins against 5 top 25 teams.

[Autzenoise]

A few things.

1. Stanford is better than anyone on Auburn's schedule. Auburn may have a deeper SOS but we've faced the best opponent.

2. Auburn has played only 4 road games this year, Oregon 6

3. Oregon's game at Tennessee was much tougher than any OOC game Auburn played and the Ducks won at Neyland by 35.

1. Stanford has a great team...I think LSU/Bama/Arkansas would all disagree with you.

2. We have play 5 road games this year...i dont think the BCS NC game being a "road" game will be a factor for either team.

3. I agree...any road game against an SEC opponent is tough...

Let's not cut corners now. You've played 4 road games and a neutral game.

As for Tennessee, obviously they were not a good opponent but it's never easy facing 100,000 fans on the road, especially when time zones and climate come into play.

Ok...4 road games and 1 "neutral" game....if road games indicate a more prepared team. Ill take our 6 wins against 5 top 25 teams.

Question for ya to compare. If you would have played Clemson, SC (first game), LSU or Georgia on the road, would you still have won. The Pac10 would have had to play AT LEAST one of those on the road, shich makes our schedule harder. You guys had 2 more games at home, and that is a big advantage. Had you played a split home and away schedule like we did, I believe you would have had at least one loss.

[JohnnyAuburn]

Question for ya to compare. If you would have played Clemson, SC (first game), LSU or Georgia on the road, would you still have won. The Pac10 would have had to play AT LEAST one of those on the road, shich makes our schedule harder. You guys had 2 more games at home, and that is a big advantage. Had you played a split home and away schedule like we did, I believe you would have had at least one loss.

Well this was the argument that a lot of the media members were making. They just weren't sure that we would be able to perform in a hostile environment. But for Auburn, it doesn't get more hostile than the Iron Bowl in Bryant Denny Stadium (known as Jordan Hare West to many Auburn fans because we've only lost 1 game there).

This was the reason that we weren't picked to even play in the nat'l championship game by most people predicting bowls until two weeks ago. Fortunately, we proved that week that not only can we perform in a hostile environment, but that we could actually recover from a huge deficit, something that many could only hope to do at home.

The argument regarding the home game, however, is moot. There is no home field advantage for either team in the upcoming game. Auburn doesn't have to be a team that plays well in someone else's stadium and last week we showed everyone that we play pretty damn well in a neutral dome.