Oregon Daily Emerald

Newton was again able to spot the weakness in Oregon’s pass coverage, as he found Philip Lutzenkirchen for a 39-yard strike down the sideline. It was almost identical to his touchdown pass to Blake late in the second quarter, with Rowe stuck in man-coverage yet again. The Ducks were able to force an Auburn field goal after the Tigers milked three and 1/2 minutes off the clock.

Oregon’s following drive was stopped short around midfield and Rice’s punt bounced through the back of the end zone, giving Auburn the ball back at the 20. After Newton over threw Darvin Adams, who’d separated himself 15 yards behind the Oregon secondary, the Tigers were forced to punt. With Harris back deep for the first time, Auburn punter Ryan Shoemaker kicked the ball out of bounds at the Oregon 27 yard line.

It was a big stop for the defense, and it was clear Thomas and the Oregon offense needed to get something going offensively.  

It looked like Oregon was forced into another punting situation, then Rice hit Marvin Johnson out of the backfield on a fake punt to pick up the first down. Lavasier Tuinei made a highlight reel catch good for 43 yards on the ensuing play to put Oregon on the Auburn three yard line. Four straight rushing plays halted, and the Ducks turned the ball over on downs.

It was a huge missed opportunity for the Ducks, desperately in need of scoring points as they trailed 19-11 at the end of the third quarter.

Pretty even across the board in the opening half. Here’s a look at a few of the key matchups:

Passing
Darron Thomas — 15 of 19 for 194 yards, one TD and two INTs
Cam Newton — 16 of 22 for 186 yards, two TDs and one INT

Rushing
Kenjon Barner — seven carries for 31 yards
Onterio McCalebb — five carries for 49 yards

Receiving
Jeff Maehl — five catches for 104 yards
Terrell Zachery — six catches for 48 yards

Tackles
 John Boyett — seven (six solo)
Demond Washington — five tackles, one INT

The Ducks began the second quarter with a third-and-two at the goal line, but Thomas was sacked for a loss of six yards and Oregon had to settle for a 26-yard field goal. With that, the scoreless tie was finally broken and Oregon led 3-0.

Auburn then took the ball at the 18 and began to move steadily up the field. Cliff Harris nearly came up with another interception, but it was ruled an incomplete pass after he fell out of bounds. Newton then hit Kodi Burns for a 35-yard touchdown pass to give Auburn a 7-3 lead.

The Ducks took the ball at their own 7-yard line after a botched hand off play between Huff and Barner. Thomas made up for it with an 81-yard pass to Jeff Maehl, bringing Oregon to the Auburn 12-yard line. James finished it off with a six-yard touchdown grab, and the Ducks faked the extra point with a handoff to Rob Beard. The conversion was successful and Oregon took an 11-7 lead.

Auburn’s offense started at the 31-yard line, and embarked on another steady drive before being stopped on third and goal. The Tigers went for it, but Newton under threw his receiver and the Ducks came through with the huge stop.

Of course, that gave Oregon the ball at the one-yard line, which immediately spelled trouble. After a penalty on first down, LaMichael James took the ball and was stopped in the end zone for a safety.

With the Oregon lead cut to two, Auburn took the ball once again. With Newton at the helm, the Tigers picked apart the Oregon defense and Newton hit Emory Blake for a touchdown. All of a sudden, Auburn led 16-11.

Oregon attempted a response before halftime, but was forced to punt with 30 seconds left.

Though one may have assumed that Auburn would have simply run the clock down, it instead began to drive again before finally running the clock out on a missed Hail Mary pass.

At the half, it was Auburn 16, Oregon 11.

GLENDALE — No. 2 Oregon won the coin toss and elected to receive, with Josh Huff returning the opening kickoff to the 16-yard line as the Ducks set up their first offensive possession. Light bulbs flashed all around the stadium, as the 2011 BSC National Championship game got under way.

The two teams exchanged punts on their opening possessions, before a Darron Thomas pass bounced off Kenjon Barner’s hands on third-and-long, which landed in the grasp of senior cornerback Demond Washington. Auburn took over on Oregon’s 47-yard line, but on the opening play sophomore cornerback Cliff Harris intercepted Newton’s pass to give the Ducks the ball around midfield.

Oregon picked up a few good first downs from there, but with little time to throw, Thomas saw another pass land in a defenders hands, this time via safety Zac Etheridge in the Tiger red zone. Oregon’s Zac Clark had a big third down sack on Newton, and Auburn was forced to punt again.

The Ducks continued to march the ball on the ensuing drive, and a 12-men on the field penalty put the ball at the Auburn 11. Thomas connected with D.J. Davis a few plays later to put the ball on the Tiger three-yard line as the first quarter expired.

The time has finally come.

University of Phoenix Stadium before the BCS National Championship game on Jan. 10, 2010. (Ivar Vong/Oregon Daily Emerald)

The Oregon Daily Emerald sports desk arrived at the University of Phoenix Stadium around 1:45 p.m. local time, and after a quick pass through security we found our way up to the press box.

For me personally, this is my first visit to a pro football venue, and I must say I’m pretty impressed. We’ve checked out the field, pristine as expected. For the second year in a row we’ve been on the field with just a handful of other people, and basically had the place to ourselves.

I have the grass stains on the soles of my shoes to prove it.

Next, the feast.

Grilled chicken, beef brisket, corn, baked beans, salad, apple pie… the list continues.

A fed sports desk is a happy sports desk.

And, we even got to check out the ESPN 3D station set up in the press box. Another first for me, but well worth taking a look.

Well, we’ve got less than two hours remaining before kickoff, and as I’m sure all of you are, we’re more than ready to get things started. We’ll be providing quarterly blog posts to accompany our twitter feed, so be sure to follow us along as the 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship game unfolds.