The Tigers Defeat the Ducks

 

webegone.com

The stage was set as the #1 and #2 teams headed to The University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to do battle. With two of the best offenses in the nation it was bound to be a shootout, or so most people thought. Most people thought the game would come down to who could put up the most points, but the defenses had lots of time to prepare for this game and they stepped it up.

 

It did prove to be a great game though, considering it took Auburn a game winning field goal to clinch the game. Auburn walked away with a 22-19 win. Auburn put up 519 yards of total offense to Oregon's 449, so it's not like the offenses were completely nonexistent. Auburn DT Nick Fairley was an absolute beast, every down terrorizing the Oregon offense. He picked up five tackles, three for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble on his way to earning Defensive MVP. The Offensive MVP was taken home by Auburn freshman RB Michael Dyer who carried the ball 22 times for 143 yards.







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ESPN  National Championship Recap

Coach Urban Meyer Goes Out With a W

onlineusanews.com

Coach Urban Meyer decided to "retire" at the end of last season only to return to coach the Florida Gators but this time it appears that Coach Meyer will not be coaching collegiate football for awhile at least. I don't personally see Urban Meyer staying away from the coaching game forever but he left the Gators to spend time with his family which is certainly a good cause. I love football but I think that we put too much emphasis on sports, so for me to see a man step up and say that he is leaving coaching to be with his family, well that is an awesome thing to do. And it was only fitting for Coach Meyer to go out with a win against maybe the best coach ever in college football (Joe Pa). Coach Meyer's Gators defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 37-24. The Nittany Lions had a chance to make a drive to come back and pull out a win but the door was slammed shut as Ahmad Black picked a pass and returned it 80 yards to the house with 55 seconds left. Coach Meyer leaves with a fantastic 104-23 record. Coach Meyer will be replaced by Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. And Kansas City's offensive coordinator and ex-Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis will take over the reins of the Florida offense

January Bowl Schedule

January 1
TicketCity Bowl
Northwestern (7-5) vs Texas Tech (7-5)

Outback Bowl
Florida (7-5) vs Penn State (7-5)

Capital One Bowl
Michigan State (11-1) vs Alabama (9-3)

Gator Bowl
Mississippi State (8-4) vs Michigan (7-5)

Rose Bowl (BCS)
Wisconsin (11-1) vs TCU (12-0)

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (BCS)
UConn (8-4) vs Oklahoma (11-2)

January 3
Orange Bowl (BCS)
Stanford (11-1) vs Virginia Tech (11-2)

January 4
Sugar Bowl (BCS)
Ohio State (11-1) vs Arkansas (10-2)

January 6
GoDaddy.com Bowl
Middle Tennesse (6-6) vs Miami OH (9-4)

January 7
Cotton Bowl
LSU (10-2) vs Texas A&M (9-3)

January 8
BBVA Compass Bowl
Pittsburgh (7-5) vs Kentucky (6-6)

January 9
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Nevada (12-1) vs Boston College (7-5)

January 10
BCS National Championship
Oregon (12-0) vs Auburn (13-0)

NCAA Rankings Week 15

December Bowl Games

December 18th
New Mexico Bowl
BYU (6-6) vs UTEP (6-6)

uDrove Humanitarian Bowl
Northern Illinois (10-4) vs Fresno State (8-4)

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Ohio (8-4) vs Troy (7-5)

December 21
Beef"O"Brady's Bowl St Petersburg Bowl
Southern Miss (8-4) vs Louisville (6-6)

December 22
MAACO Bowl Las Vegas
Utah (10-2) vs Boise State (11-1)

December 23
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Navy (8-3) vs San Diego State University (8-4)

December 24
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Hawaii (10-3) vs Tulsa (9-3)

December 26
Little Caesars Bowl
Florida International (6-6) vs Toledo (8-4)

December 27
AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
Air Force (8-4) vs Georgia Tech (6-6)

December 28
Champs Sports Bowl
West Virgina (9-3) vs NC State (8-4)

Insight Bowl
Missouri (10-2) vs Iowa (7-5)

December 29
Military Bowl
East Carolina (6-6) vs Maryland (8-4)

Texas Bowl
Illinois (6-6) vs Baylor (7-5)

Valero Alamo Bowl
Oklahoma State (10-2) vs Arizona (7-5)

December 30
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Army (6-5) vs SMU (7-6)

New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Kansas State (7-5) vs Syracuse (7-5)

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
UNC (7-5) vs Tennesse (6-6)

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
Nebraska (10-3) vs Washington (6-6)

December 31
Meineke Car Care Bowl
South Florida (7-5) vs Clemson (6-6)

Meineke Car Care Bowl
South Florida (7-5) vs Clemson (6-6)

Hyundai Sun Bowl
Notre Dame (7-5) vs Miami (7-5)

Autozone Liberty Bowl
Georgia (6-6) vs UCF (10-3)

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Florida State (9-4) vs South Carolina (9-4)

Weekend Games



Kyle Field home to the Texas A&M Aggies and the "12th man"
wbgv.blogspot.com



Ole Miss would just not go away. LSU may have been expected to walk away with an easy win against Ole Miss, who has the worst record in the SEC West at 4-7. This game just helped to prove how good the SEC is, because if you put Ole Miss in any other conference they would probably win over half their games and be bowl eligible, but not in the SEC. Ole Miss fought to preserve their chance of a bowl game, but LSU was fighting for a chance at the BCS Championship game, and in the end LSU came out on top. It did however take a rally late in the 4th quarter to come away with a win. LSU scored the game winning TD with :44 seconds left on the clock, not enough time for Ole Miss to answer back. LSU won 43-36 and with a slim margin in total yards 470-420. You have to give alot of credit to LSU QB Jordan Jefferson, who had a career day recording a career high 254 yards and a TD through the air while also picking up 45 yards and a TD on the ground.

Ohio State was traveling on the road to visit a tough #20 ranked Iowa Hawkeye team. Ohio State knew not to underestimate this team because in last year's game featuring this teams it took a game winning field goal by Ohio State K Devin Barclay for the Buckeyes to pick up a win. This year year also proved to be a very tough challenge. It took a TD from Dan "Boom" Herron with 1:47 left in the 4th quarter for the Buckeyes to beat the Hawkeyes 20-17. The key play was when on fourth and 10 with 4:02 left in the 4th quarter where QB Terelle Pryor took off picking up a 14 yard run and a Buckeye first down. The Buckeyes beat the Hawkeyes in total yards 353-276 but the Pryor had two interceptions while the Hawkeyes had no turnovers. The Buckeyes also looked very undiscplined at times dropping 73 yards on 8 penalties. In the end though Iowa just had no answer for Pryor.

Nebraska had their fingers crossed Saturday night heading into enemey territory. Nebraska had to know they would have their hands full with Texas A&M, especially with freshman phenom QB Taylor Martinez dealing with an injury. The game proved to be close but Nebraska suffered a defeat at the hands of the "underdog" Texas A&M team. Nebraska did shoot itself in the foot with a school record 16 penalties for 145 yards! Nebraska also had two turnovers where as A&M had none. The biggest reason for the Nebraska loss however was that Taylor Martinez's ineffectiveness. Martinez was battling an ankle injury which he reinjusred, he therefore did not play the whole game and was held to 107 yards through the air and 17 yards on the ground. As a result Texas A&M outgained Nebraska in total yards 310-306, and with the penalties and turnovers Nebraska had nothing going for them. A&M however didn't dominate and only won 9-6.

Week 13 Rankings

Close Calls

Stanford QB Andrew Luck
sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Over the weekend none of the Top 10 teams lost but there were a couple close calls...

Oregon barely hung on to beat California. Cal had was down 13-15 and was attempting a 24 yard field goal to take the lead. Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio drained it but flags were thrown because he stutter stepped drawing an illegal motion penalty. On the his next attempt, a 29 yarder, he missed crushing Cal's hopes of an upset. Oregon beat Cal in total yards 317-193 but both defenses were stellar. Time after time the Cal defense stopped Oregon and held them to a season low 15 points, but in the end it just wasn't enough.

TCU also barely pulled out a win against the California team San Diego State. Early on in the game San Diego State jumped out to a 14 point lead and looked in control of the game but QB Andy Dalton and his TCU teammates quickly responded with a touchdown, the first of five straight. San Diego made a late game surge though and brought the game to a 35-40 conclusion. TCU had 466 yards of total offense and in the end they came up with a big win keeping their slim BCS title hopes alive.

The Stanford Cardinals were suprised by the Arizona State Sun Devils. Stanford was likely expecting to just breeze through this game and come out with an easy win but instead they were handed a challenge. It took a late game clinching drive led by Heisman hopeful QB Andrew Luck for Stanford to clinch the game 17-14. If you look at the stats Stanford looks like it would have dominated. Stanford had 420 yards to Arizona State's 268 and Stanford also had 15 more first downs. But it proved to be a battle to the end as Arizona State would not go away but Stanford was determined there was not going to be an upset.

Ohio State also had a tough battle at home against Penn State... for the first half at least. Penn State completely dominated Ohio State in the first half and as a result went into the locker room with a 14-3 lead. This game however, proved to be a story of two halfs. Ohio State's luck turned in the second half as they scored five straight TDs, two of which were interception returns for TD's. Ohio State walked away with a comfortable 38-14 win and a chance to still capture a Big Ten Title and head to the Rose Bowl.

Complete Week 12 Standings

Alabama Once Again Upset

Les Miles ("The Mad Hatter")
awfulannouncing.blogspot.com

Saturday marked the day former LSU Coach Nick Saban and his Albama Crimson Tide team would come to play in Death Valley against Coach Les Miles (aka the "Mad Hatter") and his LSU Tigers. This game would prove to be a battle from start to finish. The Crimson Tide walked into the locker rooms at halftime with a 7 point lead but LSU had a 14 point fourth quarter and came back to win 24-21 in part due to a great call on 4th and 1. It was 4th and 1 on the Alabama 26 with around 10 minutes left when the Mad Hatter decided to take a timeout to talk over his options. What he came up stunned everyone, me included, instead of trusting his lineman to clear a small hole or banking on 223 pd RB Steven Ridley to just pound it up the middle he chose to run a reverse with TE Deangelo Peterson who until then had never ran the ball in a college game. But Alabama got caught off guard with almost all of their men in the box ready to stuff the inside run. This crazy call worked for Les Miles though and LSU did not only get the one yard they needed for a first down but also an extra 22 yards. This positioned LSU on the Alabama three and three plays later LSU punched the ball into the endzone and converted on a 2 point conversion to take a 21-14 lead. LSU would never relenquish the lead and in the end picked up a well earned victory. They just outplayed Alabama outgaining them 433-325 in total yards and beating them in turnovers 2-0. LSU rose to #5 in the BCS Standings and Alabama fell to #12

Complete BCS Standings