When Oregon’s Jeff Maehl caught a pass from Darron Thomas on a two-point conversion to tie the game at 19, Gene Chizik did not panic. He barely even blinked.
“Nothing went through my mind,” Chizik said. “We’ve been here so many times.”
Indeed, many of Auburn’s signature wins this season came as a result of roaring last-minute comebacks.
The BCS National Championship Game was no different. Auburn received the ball with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Just enough time for one more magical finish.
Quarterback Cam Newton and running back Michael Dyer drove the Tigers steadily up the field, all the way to the two-yard line. With two seconds remaining, kicker Wes Byrum drilled the game-winning field goal, and Auburn had won the national championship.
“It’s really hard for me to describe the feeling that I have for the Auburn family,” Chizik said. “I look down here to my left and I see three guys, along with a locker room of a hundred more, that have just defied all the odds.”
Indeed, the Auburn defense certainly defied expectations as it held the celebrated Oregon offense to just 19 points and a season-low 75 rushing yards.
For that, Chizik gave defensive coordinator Ted Roof all of the credit.
“Coach Roof had a phenomenal game plan,” Chizik said. “We went into the game with very few things that we wanted to do. We wanted to execute … these guys played their rear end off.”
Star defensive tackle Nick Fairley played a significant role in the defense’s performance. Three of his five tackles were for a loss, and he also added a sack. His presence was constantly felt in the Oregon backfield, and his impact upon the game’s rhythm was apparent.
“It was a high-power offense,” Fairley said. “As a defense, we just executed our game plan and we were able to hold them to fewer points than our offense.”
For senior linebacker Josh Bynes, it was a matter of team pride.
“Just like I told the defense before we got on the bus to come here,” Bynes said. “Throughout the whole week of preparation and everything before this game, they hadn’t showed not one defensive highlight throughout the whole week.
“So basically, we got to play at another level and show them what kind of defense we are today.”
They certainly did that, limiting Heisman Trophy finalist LaMichael James to just 49 rushing yards. Having met in Florida for college football award ceremonies, Fairley and James appeared tied at the hip once again on Monday.
According to Fairley, talks between the two were contentious throughout the game.
“Out there on the field,” Fairley said. “We were talking mad junk.”
About four minutes into the post-game press conference, Newton came hobbling up to the podium. Taking a seat next to Fairley, he was clearly in considerable pain from an apparent back injury.
In his limited time before being shuffled off for treatment, Newton made sure to praise the defense. In what was certainly not his finest performance, he knew that Fairley and company had been instrumental in picking up the most important victory of them all.
“This week everyone knew the odds was on the Auburn defense to see how they would respond to Oregon’s offense,” Newton said. “Not taking anything away from Oregon, because we played an excellent team. But our defense did their homework and, you know, they did their job.”
Contrary to what many pundits predicted, the Auburn defense never tired as it battled the up-tempo Ducks. For Fairley, it was a simple matter of conditioning.
“Coach Roof did a great job with the D-line getting ready for the tempo,” Fairley said. “We probably did like 2,000 jump ropes the whole time we was off.”
As the press conference came to an end, Chizik and the players signed off with the traditional cry of “War Eagle!”
“Definitely War Eagle,” Fairley added.
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