Auburn Comeback Impressive, But Oregon Win More Telling
Friday, November 26, 2010 at 11:45PM 
By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
Fans at Auburn and Oregon have one thing to be thankful for this holiday weekend:
The second half.
Both teams were impressive after halftime on Friday, claiming critical victories to keep alive their dreams of playing for the national championship. Auburn did it more dramatically in the second half, while Oregon did it more thoroughly, which, in my opinion, made the Ducks' win slightly more convincing than the Tigers'.
Auburn spotted defending national champion and hated rival Alabama a 24-point lead just 22 minutes in. Bryant-Denney Stadium was louder than SEC analyst Gary Danielson had ever heard it, he said on the CBS telecast.
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But just when the Twitterverse started to re-consider Cam Newton's status as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner, the Auburn quarterback delivered the type of performance that gets the engraving team to work. If there was any doubt before Friday, Newton removed all of it by passing for 216 yards and three touchdowns (and no interceptions) and rushing for another score. And winning.
Newton connected with Emory Blake on a 36-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and then on a 70-yard score with Terrell Zachery 56 seconds into the third quarter. With 29 minutes left in the game, Auburn had silenced the Alabama crowd by climbing to within 24-14.
Newton added a short touchdown run later in the quarter, and found Philip Lutzenkirchen on a 7-yard scoring strike for the go-ahead points with 11:55 left to play.
The dual-threat star, normally used to gashing opposing defenses with his nimble feet, had very little success carrying the ball. His most important gain was on 4th-and-1 at his own 36-yard line. Clinging to the one-point lead with about four minutes remaining, Newton tumbled over the pile and gained three yards, extending the possession with Auburn's second successful fourth-down conversion of the final quarter.
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Remarkably, the visitors could have found themselves in a hole much deeper than 24-0 had they not forced a pair of red-zone turnovers in the first half. The Tigers kept on chopping wood, the eloquent Danielson observed, and Newton finally found a groove midway through the second quarter. The comeback victory was more than exciting; it was convincing of at least two things: 1) That Cam Newton might be a better dual-threat quarterback than Tim Tebow was, and 2) That Auburn is a great football team.
Yet Oregon's defeat of Arizona was more of a statement. Here's why.
For the second straight game, Chip Kelly felt the need to remind a halftime reporter that "it's a 60-minute game." And while it may have been more of a 60-minute struggle in Oregon's last time out against Cal, the Ducks escaped with that victory, albeit a narrow one, and kept their perfect season intact.
This time around? Slightly different.
Oregon trailed at halftime, 19-14. But like Auburn, the Ducks scored quickly to open the second half. Josh Huff ran 85 yards for a touchdown 90 seconds in. Oregon would score two more touchdowns later in the quarter, and LaMichael James — a Heisman candidate himself before Newton took control of the race — would add on two more scores in the first 2:45 of the fourth quarter to give the home team a 48-22 lead. Arizona tacked on a touchdown to make the final score 48-29, but Oregon showed a national audience that it's the best team in the country.
Matt Hinton, aka Dr. Saturday, noted on Twitter Friday night that "Through 11 games, Oregon has now scored at least three unanswered touchdowns in the second half of nine of them."
Quarterback Darron Thomas, just like Newton did, passed for three touchdowns to three different receivers, and ran for another score. But unlike Newton, Thomas watched as some of his offensive mates got in on the action. James rushed for those two touchdowns and Huff had the one.
Oregon's offense is a well-balanced one, and the Ducks did their damage against an Arizona defense that, while overall is a step behind Alabama's, is a respectable unit nonetheless. The Wildcats are 14th nationally against the run and 12th in scoring defense, and they've earned these rankings against a nine-game conference schedule playing the high-flying offenses of the PAC 10.
Oregon has been a second-half team all season, and Auburn has had its share of post-halftime explosions as well. ESPN columnist Arash Markazi put it best on Twitter Friday night when he said about a potential Oregon-Auburn title tilt: "Judging by the way both teams play, I'm really looking forward to the second half of the BCS national title game between Oregon and Auburn."
Aren't we all?
Auburn, Cam Newton, Oregon
Reader Comments (1)
Halftime of Oregon game was 19-14. Great article, though. Go ducks!