Oregon football teams practices before playing Auburn in the NCAA college football BCS Championship game on Saturday, Jan. 8. 2011, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The BCS Championship game will be played on Monday, Jan. 10th. (AP Photo/Matt York)SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Steve Spurrier, the ball coach who knows a little about offense, said the game could wind up 60-55. Kirk Herbstreit, the TV analyst who knows a little about these teams, said defenses must bristle when they keep hearing about scores in the 55-53 range. The bookmakers in Las Vegas, who don’t throw out their numbers just for fun, envision something more like 38-35.
There’s a reason Auburn and Oregon are playing in the BCS national title game tonight, a reason the matchup has turned into a red-hot ticket.
These are two newcomers to the championship scene, both with offenses that, almost literally, never take a break. Auburn has Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy winner who led the Southeastern Conference in rushing, passer efficiency and scoring. Oregon has LaMichael James, the key to an offense that likes to snap the ball 9 to 11 seconds after the end of the previous play, and one that scores a nation-high 49.1 points a game.
“We’re anticipating it being very quick, obviously, from the things that we’ve heard,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “But we’re prepared for that.”
Chizik and Oregon’s Chip Kelly are, quite possibly, the most obscure coaching duo to pace the sideline in a championship game since the BCS began in 1999.