Championship teams have two qualities on the surface. They are good and they are lucky.
Both are necessary to win at the highest levels. Auburn saw Alabama fumble away potential scoring opportunities in the Iron Bowl. Oregon saw Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio make a field goal, commit a penalty and miss his second attempt.
In the Tostitos BCS National Championship game Monday, the Oregon Ducks got lucky.
Wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei made the play of the first three quarters with a 43-yard reception that he caught one-handed in traffic.
“It was just (hand-) eye coordination,” Tuinei said. “I didn’t really see the ball because the light was in my eyes. I just got lucky, you know?”
However, Tuinei was caught from behind at the Auburn three-yard line. In four plays, the Ducks would not score.
Oregon made its luck often. Twice the Ducks successfully went for two-point conversions: once on punter Jackson Rice’s option pitch to kicker Rob Beard in kick formation, and once on Jeff Maehl’s catch after LaMichael James’ fourth-quarter touchdown to tie the score at 19.
Oregon also caught breaks. Three times, Auburn receivers dropped passes with open field in front of them. Running back Eric Smith dropped a sure touchdown on fourth-and-one in the second quarter, culminating a 16-play drive.
Smith followed that up with a personal foul penalty on special teams. Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley helped extend an Oregon drive with a personal foul of his own.
Cam Newton, the Tigers’ star quarterback, held the ball just loosely enough for Ducks linebacker Casey Matthews to knock it from his hands. Cornerback Cliff Harris recovered the fumble, and Oregon scored eight plays and 2:23 later.
“Offensively, we were struggling,” Maehl said. “And we were able to score and get the two-point (conversion). It looked like overtime was in the future.”
On the final drive of the game, however, the Tigers had all the luck.
Following James’ game-tying touchdown, Auburn received the ball at its 25-yard line with 2:27 remaining in the game. Newton completed a pass for 15 yards. Two minutes, eight seconds left.
On the following play, Tigers running back Michael Dyer received a handoff and found running room. Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant wrapped Dyer up at the 45-yard line and wrestled him down.
Except he wasn’t.
Dyer landed on his feet, maintained his balance and never appeared to touch his knees to the ground. He continued on to the Oregon 23-yard line after Terrell Turner caught up with him.
The following statement was issued postgame by head referee Bill LeMonnier of the Big Ten Conference:
“The head linesman (Mike Dolce) ruled that when he (Dyer) went down, the only thing that he saw touch the ground was obviously his feet, and he never had anything other than the feet. In order for us to rule the man down, something other than the hand or the foot has to touch the ground while he is in possession of the football.
“The ruling on the field was there was nothing other than the foot that touch the ground. Replay looked at the review and could not find any other body part touching the ground. So by rule he is not down. He was on a body.”
The confirmation from the replay booth struck all parties involved the same way Wes Byrum’s 19-yard, game-winning field goal would: with finality.
Seven plays, 73 yards, 2:27 from the start of Auburn’s possession, the game ended with a national champion.
“They didn’t have to work for it like we had to,” defensive tackle Zac Clark said. “If it would have been a 10-play drive, I would have been happy with it.”
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