Auburn is going to enjoy this. Big Time
Glendale, Ariz.—There was joy. There was relief. There were smiles of happiness. There were tears. There was incredible exhilaration. There was utter exhaustion.
You could see it all on the floor of University of Phoenix Stadium in the aftermath of Auburn’s 22-19 victory Oregon which gave the Tigers their first national championship since 1957.
Ted Roof, who took more than his fair share of criticism as Auburn’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons, had his arms around his two sons as confetti rained down around him. The former Georgia Tech captain could not be happier. For it was his defense that held the mighty Oregon offense to only 19 points, 30 points below its average.
Oregon’s offense had 12 possessions in the game and Auburn’s defense got nine stops: five punts, two interceptions, and what will become two very big plays in Auburn football history: In the second quarter Mike Blanc stuffed Oregon’s LaMichael James in the end zone for a safety. In the third quarter Auburn stopped Oregon on fourth and goal at the Tigers’ one-yard line.
Oregon came into this game averaging almost 245 rushing yards per game. Auburn held the Ducks to only 75.
“I am so proud of our guys. They stepped up and played the best when we needed it the most,” said Roof. “We didn’t do anything fancy. It was all about effort. All I know is that we’re the national champions. Nothing else matters.”
A lot of people wondered if Cameron Newton had one more great game left in him. He did. Yes, he had a late turnover that allowed Oregon to tie the score make a game-winning drive necessary. Still, it has been an extraordinary season for the Heisman Trophy winner in every sense of the word. He became the flash point of a great debate in college football and it was not pretty. There was a significant portion of the populace that believed that Newton should not be on the field but there were also those who believed in the presumption of innocence. The debate will never be resolved unless more facts in the case emerge down the road. That is another discussion for another day.
Regardless of where you came down on the Newton issue, there was no denying that he was one of the greatest college football players we have seen at the quarterback position. I say WAS because Newton will soon close the door on this controversial chapter of his life and declare for the NFL Draft. We may disagree about Newton’s legacy, but we will certainly never forget him.
“I have never seen a football player go what he went through and continue to perform so well on the field,” said former coach Pat Dye, who beamed during the post-game awards ceremony. “People said a lot of bad things about that kid but it never affected the way he played. He is something special.”
Then there was Gene Chizik, whose hiring in 2009 brought rounds of criticism from those who thought he was not dynamic enough or tough enough to stand up to what Nick Saban was building at Alabama. But when the sun rose this morning in the state of Alabama, the schools had the same number of national championships since Saban arrived in 2007. Chizik has proven to be a rock solid manager of the program who surrounds himself with very talented people.
“It was never about me and proving anybody wrong,” said Chizik, who was the defensive coordinator when Auburn went 13-0 in 2004 and did not get a chance to play for the national championship. “That’s not the way I live my life. From the day we arrived it was about doing what was best for Auburn. I am so proud to be a part of the Auburn family.”
It’s been a great season at Auburn but has also been a draining season for all concerned. The weekly scrutiny which came with the Newton case was not an easy burden to bear. The SEC has won its fifth straight national championship. But the conference had to routinely defend itself against the criticism that it did not exercise due diligence in the Newton case. Now that the SEC has won another championship, that criticism is not going to go away. Such is the nature of success. Off the field, it has been a tough season for college football as a whole.
And what about Auburn for 2011? As is our nature, we will quickly move on to next season. Auburn loses 24 seniors including Wes Byrum, who kicked the winning field goal at the buzzer. Newton will leave as will defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who is more than ready to play at the next level. If you had to guess you would say that Auburn will take a dip next season but such dips are easier to take when you have a crystal football in the trophy case.
Both those issues can wait at least a day or two. Auburn fans will celebrate and know that for the next year they are the national champions while Alabama is not. And if you don’t think that’s important, you do not know the state of Alabama. Auburn is going to enjoy this. Big time.
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811 comments Add your comment
THE University Of Auburn
January 12th, 2011
10:09 pm
For The Clueless Idiots
January 12th, 2011
7:18 pm
“The FBI investigates criminal activity.”
While I know many of your brethren makes you a plurality (idiots) … I will simply address you in the singular . After all .. since the argument is the same no matter which one speaks if you rebut one mouth breather’s argument you have pretty much rebutted them all .
The only CORRECT thing you wrote above was the statement I highlighted for you . You are correct . The FBI investigates criminal activity . Congratulations @!
Now … I will type realllllll slow so you can understand this . I will also boil it down to simple syrup for you so perhaps even you can digest it . The FBI was ALREADY investigating “criminal activity” surrounding THE University of Auburn and the player buying crooks that run the place .
I am sure you probably did not know this … but apparently it is a Federal crime to cook the books at a bank and run it into bankruptcy , illegally funnel undeclared income to players and their “famblies” , rig slot machines or bribe legislators . Now admittedly .. the word is even the jaded FBI was shocked at the scope and brazen level of stupidity in the activities they are continuing to dig up .
The sweet fact for those of us who look for even a semblance of justice is their wiretaps were alive and active BEFORE every Aubies favorite little laptop thief left Blinn . The fact that $Cam KNewton and crew floated into the net is simply happen stance . On the other hand … once there … they make VERY handy people to look at … you know … what with the Non profit church funnel cashey type thing going on ( Is tax evasion a criminal or NCAA offense … I can’t remember … )
You are right on one other thing … the FBI could care less that Auburn managed to buy a season’s worth of tainted “victory”. They aren’t in the business of wrecking ongoing investigations to stop an overblown AG school fan base with short man syndrome from tasting “victory” LOL
Unfortunately for you as a deluded “Fambly” member … they ARE in the business of shoving an anal probe even deeper up any crew of clowns who flip them the proverbial finger as they drive by on their next crime spree . And it is in that fine frame of mind I will tell you … they WILL make sure before all this is over that the NCAA is publicly FORCED to stomp the grapes off the AUBarn futbawl program or lose even more of their own credibility
MikeP
January 13th, 2011
11:39 am
Your powers of reasoning are as weak as your factitious spelling errors.
The FBI does, indeed, investigate bank fraud and bribery of public officials. Now all you have to do is link those things to Auburn University, a thing nobody else has done and the FBI is not interested in trying to do.
Next you can change the law so the FBI may release the results of a federal investigation to a private entity. (NCAA). Lotsa’ luck there too. While you’re at it, get the FBI to re-open the investigations you are talking about, the last one was closed and the findings turned over to the prosecutors in October. You’re going to be a busy little boy!
Cheer up. Maybe some day your team will hire a coach as good as Gene Chizik and you, too, can celebrate after a championship game and look forward to a bright, shining future for your chosen team. War Eagle!
Lotsa’ luck!
Mike Pd (Part Deux )
January 13th, 2011
3:19 pm
Hot Da** ! We have finally found Baghdad Bob’s AU edumacated cousin … Barnyard Billy . Tanks rolling down the road towards Toomers … this knob takes refuge in Hare-Dye Stadium and declares … “What tanks ? ” . By the way skippy … the word you should have been looking up was FACETIOUS “spelling errors” … not factitious
“The FBI does, indeed, investigate bank fraud and bribery of public officials. Now all you have to do is link those things to Auburn University, a thing nobody else has done and the FBI is not interested in trying to do.”
Now I will give you credit for at least trying to acknowledge the undeniable . The FBI does indeed help investigate both of those things . The you run off the rail and say that NOBODY has linked any of those things to Auburn “and the FBI is not interested in trying to do so” . Without spending all year trying to fill up that hollow space you are using for a hat holder .. let me ask … when you say NOBODY … do you mean the national reporters you have already blown off to this point . Or were you just being deliberately obtuse and intentionally leaving off a PUBLICLY YET on the end of your sentence ? And when you say FBI … do you simply mean the faceless letters that represent some amorphous inscrutable entity … or were you trying to refer to the individuals who make it up ? There is a difference you know …
Next you start rambling about “changing the law” like I would expect a AU law student might do … if AU had a law school ( are you one of those AU “sociology” majors with a side I have heard so much about ? With a side “degree” in pre-law ? LOL )
Lemme tell you how all this works in the real world bud . There is the law that you most likely learned from watching reruns of Matlock and finishing off a Jehtro Bodine sized bowl of Sugar Pops . Then there is everything else …
If you think the indictments are over … that all the criminal investigations are closed … that nothing involving Auburn has came up or for that matter that the NCAA can’t be nudged in any direction needed without changing ANY law … you might want to look into hiring Cammy Cam as your paralegal . At the very least he can help you toss your computer out the window when you finally start hearing those knocks on the door .
The fact is “we” … being those of us interested in watching the tent on the circus freak sideshow come down on the heads of people like you … We don’t have to do anything going forward … Except watch … and be very … very …. very amused . Outside of the cult called “the Fambly” every reminder of this year in the future will become a blazing reminder written in stone of just who and what the people of the Barn really, truly are at their core
AUGUYinATL
January 13th, 2011
4:02 pm
WAR EAGLE to the AUBURN family. It was a great trip to Glendale that I will never forget. Finally, a BCS Championship in my lifetime. We took over Phoenix, and Sedona the next day, and I’ve never been prouder of the way we represented Auburn and the SEC. And props to my home state of Alabama..back to back Heismans and BCS Titles… that won’t happen again.
MikeP
January 13th, 2011
7:14 pm
Dude, why don’t you pick a user name and stick to it?
Anyway: “Factitious | Define Factitious at Dictionary.com
not spontaneous or natural; artificial; contrived:”
Just like your hero Thayer Evans contrived stories about the University of Texas, which got him fired from the N.Y. Times, and his current contrivances about Auburn should get him fired from FoxSports.com sooner or later.
Quote: “If you think the indictments are over … that all the criminal investigations are closed … that nothing involving Auburn has came up or for that matter that the NCAA can’t be nudged in any direction needed without changing ANY law …”
That’s exactly what I think, and every objective person thinks the same.
Come on over to Toomer’s Corner next year and help us roll the place after another big Auburn win. It’s lots of fun., and if you haven’t heard “War Eagle” enough yet, you’ll hear it a lot more there and in fact, all over the place in future months.
For The Bammer On Here Trashing Auburn....
January 13th, 2011
7:19 pm
Alabama still gets my vote as college football’s most consistently dirty program.
If I were king of the NCAA, I would not only saturate Alabama with investigators, I would set up a branch office in Tuscaloosa.
In Alabama, cheating is as much a part of the football lore as the houndstooth hat worn by Bear Bryant and that purty dress worn by Mike DuBose’s secretary.
Alabama has seen it all over the last 20 years. Shady loans. Athletes illicitly accepting cash payments from agents and boosters. Multiple probations. Postseason bans. Scholarship reductions. Lack of institutional control. You name it, the Crimson Tide has done it.
Welcome to Alabama, where the NCAA probations are nearly as prevalent as national championships. Actually, in the last decade, Alabama has recorded more NCAA probations (three) than it has national titles (one).
It should also be noted that the iconic Bear Bryant may not have ever been caught cheating himself, but he tutored some of college football’s biggest outlaws.. Charley Pell, Pat Dye, Danny Ford and Jackie Sherrill all were Bear disciples who went on to provide some of the most unique interpretations of the NCAA rulebook in the history of college football.
Roll Tide?
Alabama’s rallying cry should be, “We Lied!”
And maybe, too, Alabama should get rid of its elephant mascot and replace it with a pig.
What better animal to symbolize the dirtiest, stinkiest program in recent NCAA history.
For The Bammer On Here Trashing Auburn....
January 13th, 2011
7:20 pm
In Alabama, cheating is as much a part of the football lore as the houndstooth hat worn by Bear Bryant and that purty dress worn by Mike DuBose’s secretary.
Alabama has seen it all over the last 20 years. Shady loans. Athletes illicitly accepting cash payments from agents and boosters. Multiple probations. Postseason bans. Scholarship reductions. Lack of institutional control. You name it, the Crimson Tide has done it.
Welcome to Alabama, where the NCAA probations are nearly as prevalent as national championships. Actually, in the last decade, Alabama has recorded more NCAA probations (three) than it has national titles (one).
For The Bammer On Here Trashing Auburn....
January 13th, 2011
7:20 pm
Roll Tide?
Alabama’s rallying cry should be, “We Lied!”
And maybe, too, Alabama should get rid of its elephant mascot and replace it with a pig.
What better animal to symbolize the dirtiest, stinkiest program in recent NCAA history
THE University Of Auburn
January 13th, 2011
9:29 pm
AU fans remind me of the 500 pound fat chick who throws down her block sized slab of wedding cake …. crushes the toes on half the reception party in a mad bull rush to catch the bouquet …. then spends the next few hours declaring how sexy it makes her look
MikeP
January 13th, 2011
11:52 pm
THE University Of Auburn
January 13th, 20119:29 pm
“AU fans remind me of the 500 pound fat chick who throws down her block sized slab of wedding cake …. crushes the toes on half the reception party in a mad bull rush to catch the bouquet …. then spends the next few hours declaring how sexy it makes her look
”
That’s factitious. Did I help your education progress a little today? Learn a new word every day and soon you, too, can make sensible internet postings, which will be a vast improvement for you.
Here’s another tip to help you along: Know what you are talking about before you type, it will minimize the painful foot-from-mouth extractions which you now frequently endure.
BAMA
January 15th, 2011
12:57 am
amen