The game was expected to be an shootout both teams featuring up-tempo, high-scoring offenses.
While not as many points were scored as fans expected, the game was still one of the most memorable national championship games in college football history.
Oregon entered the game #1 with a 12-0 record under second-year head coach Chip Kelly, who installed a spread offense that relied on controlling the tempo of the game as rather than using up as much time off the clock, would try to snap the ball in as little time as possible to wear his opponents down as they try to catch up with Kelly's up tempo offense.
Kelly's innovative offense style was a major success as the two years before he became head coach at Oregon, he served as offensive coordinator and directed the offense to #1 in scoring and total yards in the Pac-10 conference in 2007 and 2008.
Kelly was promoted to head coach in 2009 following the retirement of longtime head coach Mike Belotti and would lead the Ducks to the Pac-10 championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes 26-17.
Going into 2010, there were some doubts if the Ducks could continue their success as returning starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was suspended and ultimately dismissed from the team due to off-the field incidents involving burglary and drugs.
Masoli was replaced by Darron Thomas, who along with running back LaMichael James, would lead the Ducks to their first ever #1 ranking and first ever undefeated regular season as they would win the Pac-10 for the second straight year and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
Auburn came into the BCS title game #2 with a 13-0 record under second-year head coach Gene Chizik.
But it was really the arrival of Junior College Transfer Cam Newton, who became the starting quarterback for the 2010 season, that helped Auburn reached the title game.
Running offensive coordinator Gus Mahlzahn's up tempo spread offense, Newton would score 49 touchdowns(28 passing, 20 rushing, 1 receiving) and lead the Tigers to several comeback victories, including an historic comeback in the "Iron Bowl" where Auburn come back from a 24-point deficit to beat Alabama 28-27, with Newton throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen in the 4th quarter as Newton would go to win the Heisman Trophy.
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| 2010 Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton would throw for 265 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-34 passing and run for 64 yards on 22 carries. |
But Auburn wasn't a one-man team as the Tigers also featured 1st team All-American defensive tackle Nick Fairley and freshman running back Michael Dyer, who ran for 1,093 yards, breaking the record for most rushing yards by a freshman, which had been previously held by Bo Jackson.
With Auburn and Oregon being the only two undefeated teams left in FBS in 2010, there was no controversy and what two teams would play in the BCS National Championship Game, which some thought would be a high-scoring affair as Oregon entered the game averaging 49.3 points and 537.5 yards per game while Auburn came in with an average of 42.7 points per game and 497.7 yards per game.
After both teams punted on their opening drives, the Ducks got the ball at their 19-yard-line only to turn the ball over when Thomas was intercepted by cornerback Demond Washington to give the Tigers the ball at the Oregon 47-yard-line.
However on 2nd & 8 at the 45-yard-line, Newton was picked off by Cliff Harris, whose 22-yard return give the Ducks the ball back at their 47-yard-line.
From there, Oregon would put together the first good drive of the game as they drove to the Auburn 20-yard-line until Thomas was intercepted again, this time by free safety Zac Etheridge at the Tigers' 14-yard-line.
The Ducks would force Auburn to punt the ball, getting the ball back at their 29-yard-line where they drove to the Tigers' three-yard-line with a 3rd & 2 as the first quarter come to a close.
When the second quarter began, Thomas was sacked by Fairley for a six-yard-loss, forcing the Ducks to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Rob Beard to give Oregon a 3-0 lead just 47 seconds into the second quarter.
The Tigers would take over at their 18-yard-line and proceed to drive 82 yards in eight plays as Newton completed five of six passes for 67 yards with the last completion being a 35-yard touchdown pass to Emory Blake to put Auburn out in front 7-3 with exactly 12 minutes to go in the second quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kenjon Barner made a mistake to take the ball out of the end zone and only returned the ball seven yards, giving Oregon the ball at their seven-yard-line.
But on the very first play from scrimmage, Thomas connected with tight end Jeff Maehl for a 81-yard completion, putting Oregon at the Auburn 12-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 6 from the eight-yard-line, Thomas found James for an eight-yard touchdown to give Oregon the lead the again.
Then the Ducks surprised on the extra point attempt as holder Jackson Rice proceeded to take the snap and run to the left side.
As he was about to be tackled, he pitched the ball to Beard, who caught it and ran it for a two-point conversion to give Oregon a 11-7 lead with 11:03 left in the first half.
The Tigers would respond with a 16-play, 68-yard drive which took up over seven minutes as Newton would account for 48 yards of total offense, only to be stopped at the one-yard-line when Eric Smith dropped what would have been the go-ahead touchdown on 4th & goal, giving Oregon the ball at their one-yard-line with 3:44 left before halftime.
The Ducks seemed to get out of danger of a safety when Thomas connected with Barner for nine yards on 1st down, only to have an illegal motion penalty get called, nullifying and pushing Oregon back to their half-yard-line.
On the very next play, James would be tackled in the end zone by defensive tackle Mike Blanc for a safety, cutting the Oregon lead to 11-9 and giving Auburn the ball back as the Ducks would kick the back to the Tigers on a kickoff from their 20-yard-line.
The Tigers would take over at their own 34-yard-line and drive 66 yards in six plays, culminating with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Blake to give Auburn a 16-11 lead with 1:41 left in the first half.
Both teams would get one more drive before the end of the first half but came away with no points as the first half come to an end with the Tigers leading 16-11.
Auburn would get the ball to start the second half and would drive 60 yards in nine plays coming on a 39-yard pass from Newton to Lutzenkirchen to put the Tigers at the 16-yard-line.
However, the Ducks would force the Tigers to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Wes Bynum to increase the Auburn lead to 19-11, three minutes and 24 seconds into the second half.
Following an exchange of punts, the Ducks would take over at their own 27-yard-line where James would run for 14 yards on the first play of the drive to give Oregon a 1st down.
But the Ducks would pick up two more yards on the next three plays to seemingly force a punt, only to have Kelly once again fake out the Tigers as the punter, Rice, threw a short pass to Marvin Johnson who run for 11 yards to pick up the 1st down at the Auburn 46-yard-line.
On the very next play, Thomas would connect with Lavasier Tuinei on a 43-yard pass to give the Ducks a 1st-and-goal at the Tigers' three-yard-line.
After the Ducks picked up only two yards on the next three plays, Kelly gambled and decided to go for the touchdown on 4th & goal at the one-yard-line.
That is when the Tigers defense come up with another big play as middle linebacker Josh Bynes stopped Barner for no gain, giving Auburn the ball back at their one-yard-line, still in the lead with 2:26 left in the third quarter.
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| Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas would completed 27 of 40 passes for 363 yards and threw two touchdowns. |
While Auburn would get no points on their next drive, the possession would be a productive one as they changed field position as they picked up three 1st downs before punting the ball from their 47-yard-line, 96 seconds into the 4th quarter.
The Ducks took over at their 16-yard-line, but were pushed back to the eight-yard-line when tight end David Paulson was called for a holding penalty leading to a 3rd & 18 from the eight-yard-line.
That is when Thomas hit Paulson for 33 yards to give Oregon a 1st down at their 41-yard-line, which was followed by a 11-yard pass to D.J. Davis to put the Ducks in Auburn territory with a 1st down at the Tigers' 48-yard-line.
However, the Auburn defense would allow only two more yards on the next three plays, forcing the Ducks to punt the ball back to the Tigers who took over at their 21-yard-line with exactly 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Tigers would take over at their 29-yard-line just 5:05 away from the national championship.
But on 2nd & 9, Newton would be stripped of the ball by Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Harris at the Auburn 40-yard-line.
The Ducks would be pushed back 15 yards after a dead ball personal foul penalty was called, forcing them to start the drive from their own 45-yard-line.
Thomas would hit Maehl for a 10-yard pass to start the drive, but two incomplete passes and a five-yard run would lead to a 4th & 5 at the Auburn 40-yard-line with 4:18 to go in regulation.
That is when Kelly decided to go for the 1st down and got it when Thomas hit Davis for 29 yards to give the Ducks a 1st down at the Auburn 11-yard-line.
On 1st down, Thomas would find Paulson for seven yards, which was followed by an offsides penalty on Fairley, giving the Ducks a 2nd & 1 at the two-yard-line.
After James was stopped for no gain on 2nd down, the Ducks would call timeout with 2:36 left as they prepared for 3rd & 1.
That is when Thomas threw a shovel pass to James, who ran it in for the two-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 19-17 as both teams prepared for the inevitable two-point conversion.
On the two-point conversion, Thomas rolled to his right, then threw a pass toward the back of the end zone that was caught by Maehl, which tied the game at 19 with 2:33 to go in regulation.
After Demond Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Auburn 25-yard-line, Newton and the Tigers come onto the field with a chance to drive down the field and win the national championship.
The drive began with a 15-yard pass from Newton to Blake for an Auburn 1st down at their own 40-yard-line.
That is when the most talked about play of this game would occur as Newton handed to ball off to Dyer, who appeared to be tackled by Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant after running for five yards.
Dyer got up and started to run before stopping until the Auburn coaches on the sideline told him to keep running because the referees had not blew the whistle.
Dyer would run to the Oregon 23-yard-line for an apparent 37-yard-run that was obviously going to be sorted out by instant replay.
The replay of the run showed that Dyer landed on top of Pleasant with his knee not touching the ground by perhaps a few centimeters meaning he was not down and the play could stand.
However, Oregon fans argue that Dyer's wrist was down when was he was on top of Pleasant, which would equal a knee being down as thus the the run should be brought back to when Dyer landed on top of Pleasant.
But the officials ruled in favor of Auburn, giving them a 1st down at the Ducks' 23-yard-line with 1:56 to go in regulation.
Here is an replay of Dyer's run and you make the call on whether he was down or not:
After the next two plays picked up six yards on the next two plays, Dyer got the ball on 3rd & 4 and busted through the middle for the 17-yard touchdown run with 10 seconds left in the game
Once again, instant replay would look at the play and ruled that Dyers knee was down at the one-yard-line, giving the Tigers a 1st & goal.
Newton tried to punch it in for the touchdown but was stopped as Auburn would call timeout with two seconds left as Wes Bynum came onto the field to attempt the game-winning field goal that would give the Tigers the national championship.
Oregon called timeout in hopes of icing Bynum but it did not work as Bynum easily made the 19-yard field goal as time expired to give Auburn the 22-19 win and their first national championship since 1957.
Then after a 12-1 season which ended with a win in the Fiesta Bowl over Kansas State, Kelly left Oregon to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.
Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich would became the new head coach and with the help of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, the Ducks would make it back to the National Championship Game after the 2014 season, only to lose to Ohio State 42-20 in the first year of the College Football Playoff.
As for Auburn, Newton would leave the team and go to the NFL where he would be selected with the #1 pick by the Carolina Panthers in that year's draft and go on to lead the Panthers to the Super Bowl during his 2015 MVP season.
Newton's departure would cause a dramatic drop in Auburn's fortunes as they went 8-5 in 2011 then went 4-8 and going winless in the SEC.
This lead to the firing of Gene Chizik as head coach, who was replaced by Malzahn, who in his first year lead the Tigers to an eyelash of another national title as Auburn made it all the way to BCS National Championship Game, thanks to miracle wins against Georgia and Alabama, where they lost 34-31.
As for Dyer, he would run for 1,242 yards and score 10 touchdowns during the regular season before he was suspended for the team's bowl game, the Peach Bowl, after he tested positive for synthetic marijuana.
In the offseason, Dyer requested and was granted his release from his scholarship, allowing him to transfer to Arkansas State, where Malzahn would coach for the 2012 season.
But another marijuana arrest would led to Dyer leaving Arkansas State without taking a snap and entered Arkansas Baptist College, where he would spend the 2012 season, before going to Louisville where he played two more seasons, running for only over 700 yards in his two years in Louisville.
While Dyer would never became a NFL star, he is an legend in Auburn for his run that helped the Tigers to a national title.
Though if you go to the Pacific Northwest, Dyer was down.
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| Auburn head coach Gene Chizik touches the National Championship Trophy after the Tigers' dramatic 22-19 win. |
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