Game Tape: What Auburn Can Learn from the Civil War

Bringing the House illustration

On Saturday night, the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers met for the 114th time in the rivalry's storied history. This meeting, however, was different. For the first time in the history of the Ducks' program, the team was on the verge of playing for a national championship. If Oregon could find a way to beat their instate rival, then they could book their tickets to Glendale, Arizona. Meanwhile, the Beavers looked not only to spoil the hopes of their hated counterpart, but also to notch an important sixth victory that would give them bowl eligibility.

Halfway through the annual affair, the destiny of each time was clear. Oregon, sticking to their trademark dizzying pace, dismantled the Beavers the same way that they have dismantled all of their other opponents this season. The Beavers, perhaps not surprisingly, couldn't get enough stops on defense and couldn't move the ball enough on offense.

Typically, I like to frame post-game perspective from a "What We Learned" perspective. But, from this showing, what did we learn that we didn't already know? Nothing. So, instead, let's approach the recap from Auburn's perspective; that is, what will Auburn see when they watch film of this game and see Oregon for possibly the first time. This is a synopsis of Oregon with examples of important points of emphasis drawn from the Oregon State victory. Let's jump right in…

1.  Full Speed Ahead

Anyone who has seen Oregon play this year knows that their offense looks like a blur to opposing defenses; the blur runs by you and before you know it the Ducks are celebrating in the end zone. Here are the scoring drives of the Ducks against the Beavers, with numbers of plays, yards, and time of possession:

• Touchdown #1:  9 plays, 60 yards, 2:43
• Field Goal #1:    4 plays, -7 yards, 0:52
• Touchdown #2:  7 plays, 74 yards, 1:48
• Touchdown #3:  7 plays, 79 yards, 1:43
• Touchdown #4:  6 plays, 71 yards, 2:34
• Touchdown #5:  5 plays, 43 yards, 2:43

As you can see above, the Ducks score fast and often. The problem for Auburn is that there is really no way to slow the Ducks down. The California Bears tried to fake injuries, and while one could argue that the strategy worked, it certainly didn't fit well with those who noticed. I can't imagine Auburn, or any championship-level team, resorting to a delay tactic like that. Realistically, Auburn needs to do three things:  1) Consistently score points on offense with long, grinding drives; 2) Force Oregon into committing turnovers; and 3) Work on the defense's conditioning to remain standing in the second half. There's no trickery involved. The players have to be in shape and prepared for the pace.

Side note:  On Oregon's final drive of the game, it was clear that Chip Kelly wanted to slow their own pace down and begin to burn some clock. Any football coach would have done the same in that situation. But wasn't it odd to see Oregon burn clock? It looked so unnatural. Quarterback Darron Thomas milled around the line of scrimmage for a bit, glanced at the clock, and waited until two seconds to line up under center and snap the ball. It looked like what you would see if you asked a mixed martial arts fighter to spar at only 50% intensity. It was just odd. And the funniest part? The fact that Oregon State still couldn't stop Oregon; LaMichael James ended the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run that began the celebration for the Ducks.

2.  Chippin' Away

Oregon coach Chip Kelly has officially arrived as a big-time head coach. Not only has he introduced and perfected an offensive scheme that maximizes his players' talents and creates dozens of mismatches throughout a game, but his in-game decision-making is very, very solid. In addition to making good decisions on fourth-down situations (Oregon was 2-for-3 against the Beavers on fourth-down), Kelly knows when to pull a trick out of his hat and really punch the other team in the face.

On Oregon's second drive in the second half, Oregon had a 4th and 3 on their own half of the field. Kelly sent out the punt team and had everyone in the stadium and everyone watching on television thinking punt. It was a given. Well, almost. Kelly called a direct snap to the up-back and the punter faked as if the ball had been snapped over his head. Oregon State's defense parted like the Red Sea and linebacker-turned-halfback Michael Clay burst down the field for 64 yards. Three plays later, Thomas completed a 19-yard pass to D.J. Davis for a touchdown and, just like that, Oregon was up 23-7. Kelly has tons of confidence in himself and his players, and that confidence is a powerful force that shows up whenever Oregon plays. He is not afraid to go for two, to onside kick, to fake punt or field goal…he is fearless.

Fortunately, for Auburn, the SEC conference has a Chip Kelly equivalent, at least in terms of gutsiness; his name is Les Miles. Auburn head coach Gene Chizik will have to bring his "A" game to the BCS National Championship if he wants to help Cam Newton take down the Ducks.

3.  Run, Baby, Run

If you cannot keep containment on the edges, Oregon will run wild on you. Just ask the Beavers. Oregon State actually did a decent job defending the run up the middle, likely because they have talented defensive tackle Stephen Paea. But the defensive ends and linebackers were not able to prevent LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner from getting to the edges.

James and Barner combined for 43 carries for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns. They were always one step ahead of the defense. And even when it seemed like the Beavers had one of them stopped for a loss in the backfield, they found a way to get loose and turn it into a positive gain. But that's nothing new for James and Barner--they have done it all season long.

James, likely to be the Heisman Trophy runner-up behind Cam Newton, failed to reach 100 yards only twice this season (94 yards versus ASU and 91 yards versus California). He reached the 200-yard mark three times, with a season-high 257 yards against fourth-ranked Stanford. He also rushed for at least one touchdown in all but one game and rushed for two touchdowns or more in eight of eleven contests. James and company average 300 rush yards per game.

However, Auburn has quite a stellar rush defense--good for 10th in the nation. Led by Nick Fairley, the Tigers surrender only 108 rush yards per game, so clearly something has to give.

4.  Dependability

While Oregon's two-headed monster at running back (LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner) get all the attention, the team's quarterback and number-one wide receiver fly under the radar. But Auburn better not sleep on Darron Thomas and Jeff Maehl. While the two players aren't flashy, they will hurt you with their flawless execution.

Although Thomas is only a sophomore and a first-year start in Chip Kelly's system, he plays like a four-year veteran who has the discipline and composure to win a national championship. Never mind the fact that Thomas has only one 300-yard passing game this year; Kelly does not ask him to throw the lights out each week. Instead, Kelly asks him to use his judgment and make sound decisions in the read-option offense, something that many quarterbacks struggle to do. But Thomas seems to always make the right reads and right choices; he knows when to keep it himself, he knows when to give it up to James or Barner, and he knows when to pull the trigger and fire downfield. When he drops back in the pocket, he also shows lots of patience and goes through his progressions. Auburn--likely with Nick Fairley--will need to find a way to rattle Thomas and try to break him down.

Speaking of being rock solid, Oregon wide receiver Jeff Maehl is as dependable as they come. He doesn't have the star power of receivers like Julio Jones or A.J. Green, but Maehl has created a strong reputation for himself this season. Against the Beavers, Maehl finished the game with 7 catches and 86 yards. Surprisingly, Maehl didn't catch a touchdown pass. In fact, this was the first game since week two against Tennessee that Maehl did not catch a touchdown pass--he had caught a TD in nine consecutive games! Why doesn't he get more pub? He is physical, not afraid to go over the middle, has great hands, and is great after the catch. The Auburn secondary will have its hands full with Maehl.

5.  Don't Sleep on the Defense

Everyone knows Oregon can score, but did you know that Oregon can stop teams from scoring at a relatively solid rate? In fact, the Ducks are 14th in the nation in points against, surrendering only 18.4 points per game. To be fair, that number might be dragged down by shutouts against New Mexico and Portland State, but let me dive deeper.

According to cfbstats.com, Oregon ranks first in passes defended and passes broken up and ninth in opponent third-down conversion percentage. Additionally, they are five interceptions off the nation's leader, Alabama, and do not allow many big plays.

Against the Beavers, Oregon's defense set the tone from the very beginning when tenacious linebacker Casey Matthews leveled Beavers' quarterback Ryan Katz, leaving the freshman starter dazed and confused. Matthews and the rest of the Oregon front seven was able to get consistent pressure on Katz, which forced him into throwing four interceptions.

I think Auburn will have the power advantage, but Oregon will have the speed advantage--on both sides of the football. It will certainly be an interesting battle and test of styles. Will the speedy but undersized Oregon front seven be able to chase down and stop Cam Newton, who has been known to truck through defenders?

Conclusion

In summary, Auburn will have to digest a lot after they watch game tape of the Civil War. You can't find another team that is even remotely close to Oregon in style, and it will be tough to mimic in practice. But Auburn is in the big game for a reason and I expect their coaches to prepare them well. This will be a championship game to remember. I'll put up a full preview in the coming weeks.