Tonight the Oregon Ducks will battle the Auburn Tigers in Glendale, Arizona for the BCS National Championship. Both teams come in to this game on the power of their high power offenses who rank amongst the best in college football history. The up tempo pace that both teams run should make this a fast shoot out with a ton of plays being run.
While it appears both teams run a hurry up spread on the surface, these two offenses aren't as similar as they appear. Oregon has more of a "traditional" spread with your zone reads, options, stretch plays, inside zones and quick screens. Chip Kelly has done a fantastic job adding wrinkles to these plays, like reading the defensive tackle on zone reads rather than the end. Every one on this offense is fast and can hurt you. LaMichael James gets most of the attention nationally, but Darron Thomas, Kentwan Barner, Jeff Maehl, D.J. Davis and others are dangerous and can hurt you from any where on the field.
Auburn runs a bit of a throw back offense, running a lot of single wing stuff. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn says he like using two backs and play action and says it's not a a traditional spread (although they do run some traditional spread stuff). Cam Newton does it all, carrying the offense. He can run you over run past you, and beat you with his arm. He had the highest passer efficiency rating in the history of college football, and of course won the Heisman.
I'm expecting a high scoring game with the Ducks ultimately coming out on top. I think Darron Thomas and Jeff Maehl will be too much for the Tigers secondary, which has been a chink in their armor. I think Cam Newton will have a big game as well, but the Ducks defense will come up with a big stop late, and hold on to a 47-43 victory.
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