How the BCS championship in Arizona will be won. First of all, let's get one prevailing canard out of the way: For all the buzz over the last week about Auburn's supposed size advantage, there's nothing unique about the Tigers' size compared to the rest of Oregon's schedule. The Ducks faced three teams with heavier offensive lines (on average) than Auburn's O-line, and beat them all by at least three touchdowns; they faced seven teams in the Pac-10 with front sevens on defense that tipped the scales at the same weight or heavier than Auburn's front seven, and again, beat them all. If the Tigers have an advantage over the defenses that struggled so mightily against Oregon in the regular season, it's not because they're bigger, because they're not.
At the same time, Oregon hasn't forged a new, unprecedented plane of foot speed that separates it from South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU and Alabama, either. Nike is running ads Monday morning in Arizona and Oregon touting the Ducks' speed ("Yesterday's fast is today's slow"), and the championship uniforms were designed specifically with the idea of simulating a day-glo blur in mind. But the Ducks don't have an unblockable pass-rushing terror off the edge or a game-breaking deep threat in the passing game, and even their most renowned speedster, LaMichael James, was a bona fide workhorse, routinely eclipsing 25 carries per game.
In reality, the size/speed debate is much less about actual heights, weights and 40 times than it is about the schemes, the attitudes and, above all, the conditioning. You don't see many Tales of the Tape concerned with "endurance," a highly tuned cardiovascular system being something of a given in sports, but after a solid month of awards banquets (see the suddenly rotund Troy Smith in Ohio State's 2007 debacle against Florida), the matter of fighting shape looms large here. With Oregon, especially, the chart-topping attack begins and ends with the breakneck pace that regularly leaves opponents bewildered, out of position or simply doubled over in the second half. The Ducks were fourth nationally at 79.3 plays per game, more on average than Auburn's defense faced in all but two games all season, and got them off in far less time than any other elite offense in recent memory. Questions about Auburn's ability to deal with Oregon's speed are really about its ability to keep lining up in the right place, with the right assignment, for four quarters, without running out of gas.
Not that Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is out to play the role of George Foreman in this fight – he, not Chip Kelly, is the celebrated offensive guru in this game who literally wrote the book on the "Hurry-Up, No-Huddle" spread that seeks to sprint to the line of scrimmage and wear the defense out with maximum play and possessions – but he's significantly adjusted his own version of the hurry-up this season to take advantage of his devastating haymaker, Cam Newton. Newton's unmatched presence as a powerful, short-yardage runner this season is the one area where the "Auburn size" meme plausibly applies: Oregon's front four has been outweighed by opposing offensive lines by up to 50 pounds per man this season, but it hasn't faced a runner capable of bringing anywhere near the thunder of the 250-pound Newton or 5-9, 215-pound bowling ball Michael Dyer, two first-rate thumpers who combined for 36 carries per game against SEC defenses. Questions about the Ducks' ability to hold their ground against the Tigers' size are really about their ability to penetrate the Tiger backfield for stops on drive-sustaining third and fourth-and-short situations, or better yet, to prevent being shoved into those situations in the first place.
In all, both teams combined to outscore opponents by 325 points (13 points per game) in the second half and 182 points in the fourth quarter, in which Oregon was never outscored and Auburn was outscored only once, courtesy of a meaningless garbage time touchdown by Ole Miss. Twelve times, they outscored opponents by at least two touchdowns after halftimes. Something tells me the team that walks away with the crystal ball Monday will be the one that's able to keep that streak alive.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Victor Arbekov Les Archer Nicolas Aubin Rene Baeten David Bailey
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