Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton celebrating with fans after a 24-17 win over LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. (AP File Photo/Dave Martin, File)One-man shows
Auburn has surfed the overpowering wave that is Cam Newton into the BCS title game.
Newton will be a runaway Heisman winner Saturday. He was named the SEC offensive player of the year by the AP earlier this week and in Wednesday’s TFP even Vince Dooley said Newton had more one-year impact than the great Herschel Walker.
Defensively the Tigers were paced by defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who was the AP’s SEC defensive player of the year after leading the league in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (21).
But how’s this for the statement about much those two meant to the top-ranked Tigers: Fairly and Newton and two Auburn offensive linemen – Lee Ziemba and Ryan Pugh – are the only Tigers that were first- or second-team All-SEC selections by the coaches. All four made first team, but Alabama had 12 players on the first or second team and LSU had nine.