By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
Here are some random facts about Monday night's BCS National Championship Game that Auburn won, 22-19, on Wes Byrum's 19-yard field goal as time expired:
BCS Post-Game Wrap-Up
+ Gene Chizik is 8-0 in bowl games as either a head coach or an assistant. That's pretty impressive.
+ Chizik is also the fourth coach in the last 11 seasons to win a national championship in his second season as coach. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma, 2000), Jim Tressel (Ohio State, 2002) and Urban Meyer (Florida, 2006) also have turned the trick.
+ Auburn's 14-0 record is its third perfect mark in less than 20 years, but the Tigers only have one national championship to show for it. The Tigers were most recently 13-0 in 2004, a feat that pretty much started the superior-conference debate.
What Was The Biggest Play Of The Game?
+ The scoreless first quarter was only the sixth in 49 BCS title-game quarters.
+ In the BCS era, the team leading at halftime has always gone on to win.
+ Auburn quarterback Cam Newton threw his first opening-drive incompletion of the year Monday night. He had completed 19 straight passes on initial possessions.
+ After rushing for an average of 304 yards per game, Oregon gained only 75 on the ground.
+ Oregon possessed the ball for 10 minutes in the first quarter, and only 17 minutes the rest of the game.
+ Auburn amassed 268 yards and 16 first downs in the second quarter.