So Many Posts!

AUBURN WINS THE NATIONAL TITLE
Posted on January 10, 2011 by ">Jay G. Tate

Todd Van Emst/Auburn U.
Hey everyone.

What a game, huh? Amazing theater. Cam Newton nearly blows it with a fumble and tailback Mike Dyer changes everything with a miraculous, 37-yard run that prefaces Wes Byrum’s game winner.

And the wait ends. No more wondering what the heck happened in 1957. You saw it happen tonight.

Here’s a collection of stuff:

Gene Chizik makes his defining statement: “You know, it’s not about my arrival. That’s not how I live my life. I live my life trying to do the right thing and guide 18- to 22-year-olds to do the right thing and to go from good to great. We try to give them everything they can have on the field, off the field, spiritually, in the classroom, as a student. And that’s how we live our life. We are going to do it the right way. We always have done it the right way. It is not about how I arrived or how I leave, it is not about Gene Chizik. It is about the Auburn family and it is about those, I don’t know, 30- or 40,000 fans that came into that stadium tonight and probably another 10,000 that were outside and probably another 10,000 that wanted to come back home but couldn’t get here. Don’t get any satisfaction in look at me or “told you so,” none of that. This is for these players and this Auburn family and the people that care about Auburn and carry the Auburn flag. It is as simple as that.”

Chizik on why Mike Dyer didn’t play early: “Don’t read anything into it. There is no rhyme or reason for that. One of the reasons that I think Michael was stronger as the game went on is because, you know, number one, that’s kind of his forte. That’s what he does. But he was fresher probably from the beginning of not playing quite as much in those first few series.”

Nick Fairley on his chat with Oregon tailback LaMichael James after the game: “I just walked up to him, told him he had a great season and don’t get his head down. His team played — like I told him, we played a good team. You know, it was out on the end. We had a good talk after the awards, so we became kind of, you know what I’m saying, distant friends. Out there on the field we were talking mad junk.”

Cam Newton on his injury: “I’m okay. It was worth it. I got the better deal out of the whole thing. It wasn’t just one hit that made my back go out. But I am a blessed individual. It wouldn’t have got done without these guys sitting on the left and right of me. I’m not up here to take up all the time. I don’t want nobody to feel sorry for me because throughout this year didn’t nobody feel sorry for Auburn. We got the last laugh.”

Chizik on his defense: “About five weeks ago we challenged our defense, and I think they had about all they wanted to hear about the speed and the tempo. And we made it so fast in practice that I think tonight — and maybe they can speak differently. But I thought tonight with the way we practiced it was much slower than we practiced. I think that helped.”

Auburn set a season high for plays with 85. Oregon, which allegedly has the fastest-paced offense ever, finished with 73 plays.

Never before has Auburn won 14 games in a season.

There is no doubt which team is best. Auburn has beaten seven teams currently ranked in the BCS standings.

Mike Dyer, the games Offensive MVP, finishes the season with 1,093 yards.

Cam Newton had 329 yards of offense, pushing his season total to 4,327 yards. That’s breaks the SEC record previously held by Tim Tebow.

Onterio McCalebb finished the season averaging 8.53 yards per carry, which set a new Auburn record. The previous leader was Tommy Lorino’s 8.44 ypg during the 1956 season.