This may be the only time that St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field hosts the college football Semi-Finals. The small stadium capacity, the "funky" configuration of an indoor baseball stadium for football, and its proximity to BCS Bowl quarterfinal site Miami are all strikes against it. But for this day, with temps outside the dome in the upper sixties, football fans will try to squeeze out as much enjoyment as they can visiting Tropicana Field. Next year another Saint, the less warm Louis of Missouri, hosts the Semi-Finals. But for 2011, the doubleheader begins in Florida, with an SEC champ taking on a Pac Ten at-large team.
GAME 1: #1 Auburn 39, #4 Stanford 17
Many analysts liked Stanford as a team to watch in this tournament. With an impressive 37-20 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin, the Cardinal seemed like a team playing with house money, and with the possibility of losing their beloved coach and quarterback a real motivator to take advantage of this opportunity. Last season, the "stepping down" of Urban Meyer seemed to propel the fifth seeded Florida Gators to a title, why not a Stanford/Harbaugh version in 2010-2011?
The game seemed to indicate this direction in the early going. Auburn took the kickoff, and then drove 49 yards in seven plays, but the Cardinal faithful erupted as the Tigers turned the ball over on downs on the Stanford 31. Stanford took the ball on a 6:33, 13 play, 69 drive, capped by an Andrew Luck 11 yard touchdown pass, and the Cardinal grabbed the 7-0 lead. Palo Alto physicists probably wish they could have frozen that moment in time, because the rest of the day belonged to the Tigers.
Auburn took their next possession on a 5 play, 68 yard, barely over two minute drive, capped by a 7-yard Cam Newton TD run. A missed PAT kept the Cardinal with the lead, but their next drive was a dismal 3 play, -13 yard possession, and the ball was punted right back to to Auburn, who proceeded to drive 69 yards on 5 plays in just under a minute and a half. Newton's 28 yard touchdown run capped the drive and gave Auburn their first lead 13-7 less than a minute into the second quarter. The two teams traded 45 yard field goals in the second quarter, before Auburn put together another TD drive, this time Newton passed it in from 22 yards. The half ended with a missed Cardinal field goal attempt, so the Tigers entered the locker room up 22-10 at the half.
The Tigers continued to drive unabated in the second half compiling a 39-10 lead before a late Stanford touchdown pass ended the scoring at 39-17.
Newton finished 17 of 26 for 300 yards passing and another 72 yards rushing, of the total 203 Auburn rushing yards. Auburn was beyond good, they dominated. The Tigers never punted and scored on seven straight possessions after falling behind 7-0. The only times they were stopped were a pair of failed fourth-down attempts and the end of the game. In addition, Auburn sacked Stanford quarterback Luck six times. Auburn earned their birth in the title game, and Stanford will eventually enjoy their taste of final four life, and hope to be back, maybe, in twelve months.
GAME 2: #2 Oregon 35, #6 Ohio State 10
Ohio State gained the most total yards (370 to 312), had the most first downs (32 to 25), and less penalty yards (66 to 65). What is the essential ingredient left that could lead to the Buckeyes losing by 25? Turnovers, OSU four, Oregon zero.
In this matchup of Pac-10 champ versus Big Ten co-champ (aka, "Rose Bowl II" or the "Florida Rose Bowl"), Duck QB Darron Thomas was 25 of 41 for 240 yards, whereas the Bucks passer Terrelle Pryor completed 32 of 50 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown, but he threw three interceptions, including one returned for a 62-yard score.
The Buckeyes had their chances early. But six possessions inside the Oregon territory in the first half resulted in just one touchdown. After Ohio State could not convert a fourth down at the Duck 29-yard line on its opening possession, Thomas found Jeff Maehl practically uncovered down the sideline on a 71 yard TD pass.
Maehl scored for a second time on a 3-yard pass in the third quarter, breaking the game open after Devin Barclay's 42-yard field goal put Ohio State back within two scores. Maehl's TD gave the Ducks a 29-10 lead in the third, and two more Oregon field goals ended the scoring. Ohio State's only other score came in the first quarter on a 5-yard Pryor touchdown pass.
So unlike last season in Syracuse, when #5 Florida upended #1 Alabama and #6 Boise State nipped #2 Texas, this season we have played eight games just to see #1 and #2 play for it all in Arizona in two weeks.
UPDATED TOURNAMENT RESULTS:
FIRST ROUND:
In Arlington, TX:
7 Oklahoma 48
10 Connecticut 20
In Charlotte:
8 Arkansas 22
9 Virginia Tech 12
BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):
Sugar:
1 Auburn 22
7 Oklahoma 16
Rose:
4 Stanford 37
5 Wisconsin 20
Fiesta:
2 Oregon 19
8 Arkansas 12
Orange:
3 Texas Christian 30
6 Ohio State 31
Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL:
1 Auburn 39
4 Stanford 17
2 Oregon 35
6 Ohio State 10
BCS Championship in Glendale AZ: (results posted here, exclusively(!), on January 29th)
1 Auburn
2 Oregon
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