Our 2011 BCS Championship Game thread is starting to overflow so I think it's time for a new thread now that the game is complete and the Auburn Tigers are your 2011 BCS National Champions. Cam Newton and the Tigers won 22-19 courtesy of a game-winning field goal by Wes Byrum as time expired. It's safe it say Byrum has his choice of Southern Belles tonight.
The game itself was fairly ugly up until the wild fourth quarter. In a game that was billed as an offensive showdown, we saw the two defenses step up and the two quarterbacks struggle for extended stretches. Although the two quarterbacks finished with solid yardage totals, neither was all that impressive in the bigger picture. Cam Newton will probably still convince someone to take him fairly high in the draft, although I remain in opposition to that. I just don't see him as a west coast offense quarterback.
Speaking of all that, Drew K will have some thoughts on Cam Newton hopefully later tomorrow, and then he'll follow that up with a look at the available college QBs and who would be a solid fit in the west coast offense. Knowing that this will apparently not be a three yards and a cloud of dust offense makes it a little easier to swallow some of the draft options out there.
In spite of all the ugliness, we still got to watch a dramatic finish filled with some truly memorable plays. The Michael Dyer rush late in the game is something that will be remembered for a long time, and not just by cringing Oregon Ducks fans. It won't go down as the best BCS title game given the horrendous start, but an exciting finish can often make up for that. It remains to be seen how this game will be viewed a decade from now, or even two or three years from now, but I was sufficiently entertained at the end.