Last night’s BCS National Championship between Auburn and Oregon had a little bit of everything. There was some great defense, some poor quarterback decisions, some trickery and an outstanding finish.

The Offensive Player of the Game was Auburn running back Michael Dyer, not Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton. The freshman finished with 143 yards. He had two big runs in the fourth quarter that set up the game-winning 22-19 field goal. The first of which was unconventional. Dyer ran a simple draw and was spun around in a tackle. His knee didn’t touch the ground and there was no whistle. The sideline screamed for him to keep running and he was able to go for 37 yards before the confused defense took him down. Three plays later, he surprised the defense again with a 16-yard burst up the middle to the 1-yard line. It set up a 19-yard field goal as time expired.

Auburn went 14-0 and earned its first title since 1957. It was the SEC’s fifth straight national championship. The last five minutes of Dyer made up for the first 55 that was filled with quarterback errors and a battle at the line of scrimmage. It wasn’t the shootout that many predicted. Oregon didn’t even come close to its nation-leading 49-point scoring average.

There were a few mistakes. There were three interceptions in the first quarter, two of which came from Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas. Newton short-armed an easy pass in the end zone in the first half that should have been a touchdown. Even though they were losing the battle in the trenches all game, the Ducks called a running play on fourth and goal on the 1 and fell short.

But, Oregon got another chance when Casey Matthews knocked the ball out of Newton’s hands from behind when Auburn was trying to use up the clock with a 19-11 lead in the fourth quarter. The quick-striking Ducks did what they do best and went 45 yards in just over two minutes as LaMichael James took a shovel pass for a short touchdown. Thomas found Jeff Maehl across his body for the tying 2-point conversion with 2:33 left. Then, Dyer happened.

Outstaged by Dyer, Newton finished with 265 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 64 short, bruising yards. Heisman-finalist James finished with only 49 yards rushing for Oregon. The Ducks were held under 37 points only once all year and scored just two touchdowns last night. Thomas finished with 363 yards. His biggest pass went for 81 yards to Maehl and set up the first touchdown. Oregon finished 12-1 and just short of its first national title.