AUBURN TIGERS FOOTBALL 2011 BCS CHAMPIONS HELMET SIGN

Auburn's first BCS Championship and the second college football national championship in school history came down to a simple twist of fate.

Michael Dyer's spinning, twisting recovery from an apparent tackle produced a game-changing 37-yard run late in the fourth quarter, and then he made an almost identical play to give the Tigers the ball inside the 1-yard line and set up Wes Bynum's 19-yard field goal as time expired, giving Auburn a thrilling 22-19 victory over Oregon in the BCS Championship Game on Monday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Dyer, named the games outstanding offensive player, ran for about eight yards when he appeared to be pulled down by Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant as Auburn tried to get in scoring position after Oregon had rallied to tie the game with 2:33 left to play.

Almost everyone on the field stopped after Dyer rolled over Pleasant, including Dyer, but the Auburn bench yelled for him to keep running because the whistle never blew. Dyer took off, racing all the way to the Oregon 23 before he was tackled by Oregon's John Boyett.

After a lengthly replay review, the call was upheld after replays seemed to show Dyer's knee never touched the ground.

"I just tried to keep my feet moving and make a play," said Dyer, who had 144 yards on 22 carries.

Three plays later, on a third down at the Oregon 17, Dyer broke into the secondary where he was again met by Pleasant, again rolled over him and this time rolled into the end zone with 10 seconds left in the game. Officials ruled it a touchdown, but this time the replay review showed Dyer's knee touched the ground inside the 1-yard line.

After quarterback Cam Newton took a knee and ran the clock down to two seconds, Auburn took a timeout and Bynum kicked the game winner that turned the Tigers' half of the stadium into pure bedlam.

Auburn claimed its first national championship since 1957.

"Fifty-three years, this is for you," Clearwater native and Auburn head coach Cam Newton said as he turned to face the delirious Auburn crowd. "War Eagle!"

The shootout many expected between two of the nation's highest-scoring teams never materialized. After a scoreless first quarter, Auburn took a 16-11 lead into halftime. It was 19-11 to start the fourth quarter after Bynum kicked a 28-yard field goal.

Auburn's defensive line contained Oregon's vaunted running game and Doak Walker Award winner LaMichael James. Oregon averaged 303 rushing yards a game during the regular season, and James led the country in rushing yards.

Against Auburn, the Ducks managed just 75 yards on the ground and James was limited to 49 yards on 13 carries.

"I couldn't be more proud of our defense," Chizik said. "Those guys played their butts off."

Outland Trophy winner Nick Fairley, the defensive player of the game, had three tackles for loss, a sack and a key fourth down stop at the goal line to prevent an Oregon score.

"As a defense this year, we bent a lot, but we never broke," Fairley said.

Oregon basically abandoned the run in the final 6 1/2 minutes as it tried to rally from the 19-11 deficit. After five straight passes on one possession, the Ducks ran James and he was stuffed for a four-yard loss.

"The matchup of their defensive line against our offensive was really the game-changing thing about this football game," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "Nick Fairley proved he's a great player."

Oregon's defense gve the Ducks one more chance when linebacker Casey Matthews forced Auburn quarterback Cam Newton to fumble and cornerback Cliff Harris recovered, giving Oregon the ball at its own 45-yard line with 4:54 remaining in the game.

Quarterback Darron Thomas hit D.J Davis for a 29-yard gain on fourth down to the Auburn 11 with 4:09 left.

Thomas, who was 27-of-40 passing for 363 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, hit James with the short shovel pass three plays later to make it 19-17, then hit Jeff Maehl for the two-point coversion that tied the score at 19-19 with 2:33 remaining.

"I'm really proud of my players," Kelly said. "I love them. We'll be back."

Thomas also threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to James in the second quarter that, along with a two-point conversion, gave Oregon an 11-7 lead.

Heisman Trophy winner Newton was 20-of-34 passing for 265 yards with two touchdowns and zan interception. He also ran 22 times for 64 yards and was sacked twice as Oregon's defense mostly limited his effectiveness on the ground.

The Tigers tackled James in the end zone for a safety in the second quarter to cut Oregon's lead to 11-9, and Newton found Emory Blake for a 30-yard touchdown pass that gave Auburn a 16-11 halftime lead.

Oregon's Rob Beard opened the scoring with a 26-yard field goal early in the record quarter.

It was the fifth straight BCS Championship for a team from the Southeastern Conference and the SEC is now 7-0 in BCS title games overall.
A stadium-record 78,603 watched the game and bowl officials said another 20,000 watched it on a huge television screen by the north parking lot.