Oregon vs. Auburn
I’m not really sure what I can say about these hasn’t already been said, but to me this game basically boils down to this: Can the Auburn defense slow down the Oregon offense enough for Auburn to win the game? Oregon likes to run their offense at warp-speed, getting up to the line and snapping the ball as fast as possible, by doing this, they limit the number of substitutions their opponents can make. This allows young quarterback Darron Thomas to make simple reads and decisions about whether or not he keeps the ball in the zone read option. Thomas is a dangerous runner, but the big play threat that got Oregon here has been LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner. Both of whom have excellent speed and are difficult to tackle in the open field. The Auburn defensive backs and linebacker must be able to wrap up James and Barner when given the opportunity. Also, as odd as it sounds, the linebackers and defensive backs cannot simply maintain their gap assignments and wait for the ball to come to them, because of the speed of the Oregon runners. Instead they must attack the running lanes before the runners have a chance to get the edge. However this means that the defensive backs must also be strong in coverage, as Oregon likes to use misdirection and play-action to help open up the passing game. Man coverage will help limit communications breakdowns in the secondary, but the misdirection plays will be difficult for the Auburn corners not to bite on. Auburn does have one major advantage in the play of Nick Fairley, who is almost unblockable one-on-one. He should be able to slow down the rushing offense by penetrating along the interior and forcing runs to bounce further outside than they should. This will give the linebackers and defensive backs more time to determine who has the ball and pursue that ball carrier.
