In terms of slowing down Oregon...

[Tiger Wench]

You know, I had not thought about this. 

The line movement here (Oregon -3 all the way to Auburn -3, back down to Auburn -2.5) strongly suggests that the sharps are all over the Ducks, and it's not so hard to believe that there are math equations to support them. It's also easy enough to believe that Auburn's late season push will be overbought relative to the Ducks having slowed down as the season wore on. But I can't get past the fact that with TV timeouts, a two-hour halftime, and everything else this game will last at least seven hours. If the Ducks' second-half dominance in 2010 is primarily a result of speed applied to an exhausted opponent, this really doesn't help them. Especially when Auburn's second-half dominance is a result of having gotten a better look at its opponents to figure out how to hit them with, among everything else, the third hand that nobody else has (um, Cam Newton). It's a new kind of math every quarter, and Auburn will have as long to make it up as they'll have had in any game all season. Again, maybe the last time to wager on a team that has Gus Malzahn in a coordinator position. And the sharps are only right 54% of the time, of course.

This guy is a wagering sort, but he makes a good point.  Not many Pac-10 games are televised nationally, so they are not used to CBS stretching games to 14 hours with the orange oven mitt guy on the field... this should be good for a few extra breathers.

[Townhallsavoy]

I'm not worried about our players getting tired.

I'm worried about Oregon's weird system of running the same play over and over until we stop it. 

An example:

Play #1:
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read left
Give to the running back for a 4 yard play.

Sprint to the line to hike the ball as soon as the ref blows his whistle.

Play #2
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read right
QB keeps for gain of 9

Sprint to the line to hike the ball as soon as the ref blows his whistle.

Play #3
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read left
Give to the running back for a 4 yard play.

Sprint to the line to hike the ball as soon as the ref blows his whistle.

Play #4
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read left
QB Pulls up and hits wide receiver for 8 yard out play.

Sprint to the line to hike the ball as soon as the ref blows his whistle.

Play #5
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read right
Pitch to receiver on reverse for a 15 yard play

Sprint to the line to hike the ball as soon as the ref blows his whistle.

Play #6
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read left
Give to the running back for a 15 yard gain

Sprint to the line to hike the ball as soon as the ref blows his whistle
Four wides/One back/Shotgun
Zone read right
QB Pulls up and hits receiver on post pattern for a 20 yard touchdown 

The drive lasts 4 minutes.

[AUTiger1]

God Forgive me, but I flipping through the stations this AM and happened upon Rick and Bubba.   They were interviewing Chiz and he said that they have seen something similar in practice and scrimmages all year and that for this game he has made the O snap the ball in the 9 to 11 second time frame to get the D used to being in position, they would go through sets of 5, 7, 9.   He also said that O does nothing different than other teams, it's the speed and they use it to get you out of position, that misalignments and missed assignments are where they are dangerous.  Anywho, I still don't think that their speed is going to give them the advantage the rest of the country thinks it is going to. 

[Snaggletiger]

Onterrio thinks they're all full of shit.

[djsimp]

Onterrio thinks they're all full of shit.

So does the little ball of fury Dyer.

[Snaggletiger]

Okay...in all seriousness...this could be a problem if you look at how Auburn's defense aligns itself during the game.  I think it's fair to say that outside of practicing against Gus' O when it's trying to run hurry up, this team hasn't faced this pace against anyone we've played.  Maybe it's just me but on just about every single defensive play, I wonder if our linemen are going to get in position before the ball is snapped.  They stand there milling around and looking at the sidelines for signals, then find their place just before the ball is snapped.

I know it's not like the coaches don't know this and are making the adjustments but I'll be eager to see how they do it differently against the Ducks.

[Token]

Auburn has one weakness, and one weakness only.  Busted defensive assignments.  Auburn's defense isn't out of shape, they practice against a fast paced offense every day.  Auburn's defense isn't soft, they have one of the nastiest lines in college football.  Auburn's defense isn't slow, they are an SEC defense so they have size and speed.  Auburn's defense only has problems with assignments. 

That, in my opinion, is the only way Oregon has a chance to win.  Regardless of timeouts and commercial breaks, if Oregon can be on the ball ready to snap at the whistle on every play, Auburn's defense will get confused and bust assignments.  They've done it in every game, and they've yet to face an offense that will put the amount of pressure on the defense as Oregon will.

With that said, I still say Auburn wins by 10.