With the National Championship game only being two days away, there’s several storylines that we can be keeping an eye on, but we’ve decided to just discuss the three biggest ones leading up to the big game on Monday night.
1) For the BIG TEN
This will be the sixth National Championship game in CFSL history, and the Big Ten has yet to win one. Before you say hey wait Notre Dame has one, yes they do, but the Irish were not in the Big Ten when they won the first every Natty. So the pressure is on not only for USC as a team but also as a representative of their conference. Ohio State has come the closest since losing their epic National Championship game, but have failed to even get out of the second round ever since. USC has shown tho that they are more than up to the task. after making things look easy against Texas in the Semi Finals. Now they have turned their focus to an Auburn team that embarrassed the Buckeyes in the first ever playoff shut out in league history. Quarterback Kingston Fox is ranked fourth in the league among quarterbacks, and has been one of the hottest at the right time of the year. With the added explosiveness of tailback Cain Robinson and receiver Mason Winters, the Trojans can hit your fast and at any moment. Don’t forget this is also a defense that made Offensive Player of the Year candidate quarterback Walker Mills look human. Could this be the year that the Championship is won by a Big Ten school? The Trojans of USC have just as good of a chance as any, and if you ask them they plan to win it BIG.
2) Three’s a Charm
Auburn is playing in their third National Championship game, and Athletic Director Pack plans on it being the charm for his first ever. The Tigers have lost their last two title games to both Notre Dame and Texas. The aforementioned game may even go down as the best Championship game ever played. In fact the Auburn Tigers are 5-2 in playoff games with only the National Championship games being their loses. That being said, and as successful as they have been in the playoffs we only remember the Championships. Those are the ones that cement you as one of the greats and still hurt when you lose them years later. This years Tigers have been steam rolling, blasting Oregon and shutting down Ohio State completely. The Wizard known only as Playoff Pack has hit his stride and so has his team. It’s the sentiment of not only his team, but a lot of teams and players in this league that they hope Auburn finally gets over the hump. Only Thing in their way is one more win and it is the biggest one of the year.
3) New meets Old
This is season six, and it is National Championship time. We have a match up of two teams from not only different conferences, but from different tradition in our league. The Auburn Tigers have been here since the beginning in season one, while The University of Southern California is in their first season. Auburn is playing in their third title game and USC is playing in their first, advantage Tigers. At quarterback you have the veteran Griffin Jelkic, who is playing in his second National Championship game versus Kingston Fox, with the second year Quarterback playing in his first. Both have very similar passing numbers on the season and the same amount of passing touchdowns at eighteen, push. At running back things get a little tighter with Auburn’s Robert Davis against The Trojans’ Cain Robinson, again almost matching number, but the one that jumps off the page, broken tackles. Advantage Robert Davis. At the receiving corps of these two teams the names are too many to list but a few that come to mind is wide receivers Bubba Davis, Cross Ferry III, and tight end Michael McKenzie of Auburn matching shots with wide receivers Mason Winters, Jace Rosser, and tight end Monte Jones of USC. I’m giving this one to the boys from Cali, simply because Mason Winters has been on fire as of late and everyone else are almost even. Now it’s true on paper anyone can look good and that is why we play the games. But with that being said on the offensive side of the ball these two teams, although different styles and pedigrees are fairly split down the middle. The big difference in this game though and the New meets Old is the defenses. While both are talent rich, the Tigers have the household names and the experience on their side of the ball. Safeties Ollie P. Peters and Digger Graves, and linebackers Mark Calloway, Micah Myers, and corner LaRoi Sanders, are all seasoned and well disciplined, not to mention some of the best out there. USC has talent on their side of the defense, but none have seen as much action as the group from the SEC. This is where old normally trumps the youth and in this game where defense means everything the advantage is Auburn. Just don’t tell the Trojans that.
