After showing some rust in the quarterfinal BCS bowls against teams that had a First Round victory under their belts, both top seed Auburn and second seed Oregon showed their stuff in the Semi-Finals, with easy wins.
In the championship game, perhaps some of the jitters returned as Auburn's first drive moved down the field until an interception, and Oregon reciprocated with a drive into Tiger territory before losing a fumble. Auburn was three and out though, and the Ducks put up the first points of the game, on a Rob Beard field goal to take the 3-0 lead, which is how the first quarter ended.
The second quarter began during an Auburn march down the field, but the Tigers settled with a 21 yard Wes Byrum field goal. Both teams traded two more field goals, and the game was tied at 6-6 in the final minutes of the first half. The game's tide seemed to turn to Auburn on a late first half blocked punt that the Tigers recovered on the Oregon 10 yard line. With 34 seconds left in the half, Cam Newton ran it in from the one, and Auburn grabbed their first lead as the half ended, 13-6.
Auburn continued to pile yardage in the third quarter but two missed field goals and once turning the ball over on downs kept them scoreless in the frame. However, Oregon made the most of their opportunities, evening the score at 13-13 on a Darron Thomas 2 yard touchdown run midway through the third. Nearing the end of the third, Oregon's Kenjon Barner ran it in from the 1 yard line to give the lead back to Oregon. A failed two-point attempt left Oregon with a 19-13 lead going into the last quarter.
The Tigers seemed ready for another fourth quarter scoring spectacular. Auburn stormed down the field, and Onterio McCalebb scored on a 1 yard run, giving them a 20-19 lead. Oregon seemed a bit shaken and gained -1 yards on a three and out drive. Auburn took the ball on a four minute drive, ending with a Byrum 20 yard field goal, and Tigers had a 23-19 led midway through the fourth quarter.
Oregon and Auburn traded punts, giving the Ducks the ball with three minutes to go. Oregon moved down the field, and were at the Auburn 25 with almost two minutes to go. In a play reminiscent of the Peyton Manning driving against the Saints in the last Super Bowl, Derron Thomas' next pass was picked off a returned 80 yards for a Auburn touchdown, and a solid 30-19 lead with 2:09 left. Oregon moved down the field again, hoping for their own theatrics, but an interception gave Auburn the ball back on their own 5 yard line with seconds left to play. A single kneel down gave the Auburn Tigers the national championship with a 30-19 victory.
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