Barkley’s completion percentage is a few points lower than Stanford’s Andrew Luck, but Barkley has nearly 200 more yards with two more touchdown passes and one fewer interception. It’s an interesting argument from Kiffin in what’s become an increasingly interesting Heisman Trophy race.

Lane Kiffin joined The Dan Patrick Show to discuss why he wasn’t surprised the Trojans beat Oregon, battling the Ducks’ tempo, his halftime speech, Chip Kelly not using his timeouts late, where USC should be ranked, why he would vote for Matt Barkley for the Heisman Trophy, and comparing Barkley to Andrew Luck.

How surprised were you that your team started the game against Oregon like it did?:

“We weren’t surprised at all, really. We felt that we had a great week of preparation and our players were very confident. They’ve played especially well this season, especially the last four or five weeks, and we really felt if we executed well that we’d go up there and win. It was good to see it come together. The surprising thing was, going back over it, we actually didn’t play very well in the fourth quarter at all, or coach very well. Luckily we had built up a big enough lead to hold on.”

How did you guys disrupt Oregon’s tempo?:

“I don’t think we disrupted it, I just think we tackled really well through three quarters. We really played good assignment defense, and when the ball broke we tackled and limited big plays, especially in the run game. … It got to us in the end, but early on we were executing well and tackling.”

What kind of halftime speech did you go with?:

“At the beginning of halftime, before we went to make adjustments, just to calm them down and make sure they knew this is where we were supposed to be. We’re supposed to be ahead, we expect to win. … They came out and responded great in the third quarter. … Unfortunately we screwed up after that.”

Were you surprised Chip Kelly wasn’t using his timeouts?:

“If you saw the game, I actually used a timeout during that period. Our guys were gassed. We had so many injuries that we were at the point that we weren’t rotating guys. The two freshman linebackers were up to 78 and 79 plays, respectively, between the two of them. … I actually used a timeout to help us a little bit. I’m sure he noticed how tired we were and wanted to keep the tempo and they do a great job of that.”

Where should USC be ranked?:

“I don’t know. I don’t watch enough to know what all the other teams do. That’s the voters job. They do watch that and don’t have any bias based on other things.”

Are you a top-five team?:

“We could be. We were for three quarters. … I think even though they had the nation’s longest home winning streak, if you’re a top-five team, when you have a chance to knock ‘em out up 24, you do it.”

If you had a Heisman vote, who would you vote for?:

“Matt Barkley. No question, because I think what happens is he get less credit because of probation and sanctions. It should be the other way around. How many of these other guys don’t have a bowl game to play for? He’s potentially missing two games of stats … with a conference [championship] and then a bowl game. To me, really, what he’s gone through, with all the transfers leaving, we played 43 scholarship players at Eugene the other day. I think that actually should favor him even more, and for whatever reason I think it hurts him.”

Compare Barkley to Andrew Luck:

“I think that they’re both no-brainers. They’re both great players, both top-five picks. The one thing Andrew does, he runs a little bit better than Matt. But, if you look at what’s happened here late, it’s hard to argue with Matt’s numbers in these big games. You go into South Bend and the Stanford game. Matt didn’t fumble on the 3 in the Stanford game, or not stop Andrew on that last drive of regulation. If you take those games and then this Oregon game and compare the stats between the two, they’re both great players, but the stats favor Matthew.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin on The Dan Patrick Show here

Stanford’s resume would get a big boost this weekend when it hosts Oregon in a battle of top-10 teams. Win this one and the Cardinal have just Cal and Notre Dame standing in the way of an undefeated season.

David Shaw joined KNBR in San Francisco with Murph and Mac to discuss the emotions heading into the big game, Oregon’s athleticism, Andrew Luck’s play this season, those who have criticized Luck, if there was a shift in the locker room after beating USC, the balance between passing and running and concerns over Oregon’s speed.

What are the emotions like going into this game?:

“I think it’s great. We’ve been talking all year with the players about, if you play well early in the season, you earn big games late in the season. This is one of those games that both Stanford and Oregon have earned. We’ve earned the right to play in a big game in November and that’s awesome. I told them to relish it, enjoy it, but, the team that prepares the best is going to win. … If you win this one, the games only get bigger.”

Are the Ducks more athletically gifted than USC?:

“I think it’s just different. I think Robert Woods played against us at about 80 percent and was still phenomenal. He’s a special, special receiver. I think LaMichael James is just a different guy. He’s got another gear. And he also runs tough. And then De’Anthony just gives them that other guy. Oh yeah, there’s another guy.”

How do you feel Andrew Luck has played this season?:

“I think he’s having a great year. We don’t play the stat game, as I always say, but his statistics are great for a team that strives for balance. That’s what we do, we strive for balance. We’re not going out trying to break all kinds of passing records like other teams are trying to do and trying to throw the ball three out of every four plays. That’s not how we win football games. At the same time, you watch the guy play … and five times a game, you say, ‘Wow, did he just do that?’”

What’s your reaction when folks say Andrew Luck may be overhyped or not the best athlete?:

“Here’s the problem, and I’m not taking a personal shot at anybody. But two things, number one, when you’ve got former quarterbacks, former quarterbacks hate giving other quarterbacks a lot of credit. That’s the bottom line. It’s been true since they starting playing football. … The second thing, both of those guys [Phil Simms and Shaun King] honestly do a great job on TV … but there are guys who are paid to evaluate players and talent. Those are the guys that you should be seeking. … Andrew Luck, last week in practice, throwing off his back foot, threw a ball to the post 53 yards in the air. That’s just stuff that you can’t make up and you can’t fake it.”

Did you notice any change in the guys or in the locker room after coming away with a victory against USC?:

“I think the big thing is, when it was tight, when it was close, when we were down by 10, the guys never blinked. They know that we’re always in the game, we always have a chance.”

Do you have a breakdown of how much you run versus how much you pass?:

“I don’t know the percentage, honestly. I do know that we’re averaging a little over 200 yards a game rushing and 280 passing, or whatever it is. The fact that we can do both, that we can operate in any kind of a game — whether it becomes a passing shootout or a defensive struggle game — that we can survive.”

Is there any concern that your defense won’t be able to keep up speed-wise?:

“Their speed is a major concern. It’s the tempo of their offense and the speed of the guys running the offense. … We’d love to control the clock, but at the same time, you’ve got to control the clock and score touchdowns. It’s not just keeping the ball away from them, because they can score in a minute and a half.”

Listen to David Shaw on KNBR in San Francisco here

All of that said, Oregon coach Chip Kelly isn’t really worried about the last game in the stadium. Kelly says he won’t use winning the last game at Husky Stadium as a motivational factor because he doesn’t like to talk about any outside influences.

Chip Kelly joined KJR in Seattle with Dave “Softy” Mahler to discuss playing night games, the health of LaMichael James, his trio of running backs, critical play in the red zone, freshman cornerbacks, the last game at Husky Stadium and the Pac-12 coaches being like a boy band.

Do you like these night games?:

“I hate ‘em. I’d rather get up and play. You sit around all day. Obviously we have no say in the matter … but they don’t take into consideration the fans that are actually at the game. When you’re done, obviously in Seattle, if you live two or three hours away, you’re going to get in your car and drive home at 11 o’clock at night.”

Where is LaMichael James health-wise?:

“Raring and ready to go.”

How do you determine which running back goes in at what times since you have so many talented guys there?:

“Our running backs coach handles the running back rotation. As the play-caller during the game, I’m not trying to think about [it]. … That’s the great thing. With Kenyon and with LaMichael and with DeAnthony, I don’t have to go, ‘Oh, he’s in the game. I can only call this.’ They allow us to call our offense so that we don’t miss a beat with whoever’s in the game.”

How critical do you think your red zone defense will be against Washington’s offense?:

“I think that is going to be a key matchup. … That’s huge. Can we make them settle for threes or stop them from scoring sevens because they’re such a diverse group on the offensive side of the ball. They’re really going to tax [our defense] and challenge them in terms of what they can do down there.”

Does playing freshman cornerbacks keep you up at night?:

“I don’t think we should be concerned. Sometimes I hear about those guys, but it’s not like this is the first game they played in. Those guys played against LSU and we’re eight games in. No one’s a freshman anymore. The only guys that are freshmen are kids that have sat for seven games, and then all of the sudden the eighth game, because of an injury or something, you’re like, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta go with this kid,’ and he’s never taken a snap.”

How much of a motivational factor is the opportunity to come up and close Washington’s stadium with an Oregon victory?:

“None, because we’re motivated to play in every game we play, whether we play in a parking lot or whether we play in one of the best college stadiums in the country. It’s us against Washington. If either of us get caught up in the closing of the stadium … that has nothing to do with the game being played. We try to always eliminate what we talk about as outside influences.”

Are you pretty good friends with Steve Sarkisian?:

“Yeah, and I don’t know if the Washington and Oregon fans can handle that. I’ll say this publicly, too, I really like Mike Reilly, which is crazy, because he’s at Oregon State. … And I think Paul Wulff’s a really good guy, too.”

Anybody in this conference that you don’t like?:

“No, and I think one of the things our conference has done is they’ve forced you, you have to spend some time with each other because we had to do those media tours in the summertime. I’ve said it before, but we’re kind of like a boy band. We have to travel together and we all get along.”

Listen to Chip Kelly on KJR in Seattle here

SEASON SUMMARY

Alabama wins its second championship in the last three seasons – and the SEC’s sixth straight BCS title – by topping Oklahoma in the BCS Championship 56.5% of the time and by a score of 27.6 – 23.1. Despite losing ultra-efficient quarterback Greg McElroy and receiving threat Julio Jones, Alabama is stacked. The Crimson Tide appears to have the best offensive line, running back and defense in the nation. Generally, the most likely team in the country to go undefeated is a non-BCS-AQ school (like TCU, Boise State, Houston, etc.). This year, that distinction goes to the SEC’s best.

In other BCS Bowls, the inaugural Big Ten Championship game winner, Wisconsin falls to new Pac-12 champion Oregon in a Rose Bowl shootout 41-31. Boise State, led by Kellen Moore, carries the flag of the BCS non-AQ schools into the Sugar Bowl where the Broncos take out SEC runner-up South Carolina 27-25. ACC winner Florida State shuts down Big East champion West Virginia 23-14 in the Orange Bowl. And Big 12 runner-up Texas A&M spoils Brian Kelly and Notre Dame’s return to a BCS game with a 31-26 victory. Perennial BCS Bowl contender LSU and offensive power house Oklahoma State may not make BCS Bowls despite being top ten teams (two teams from the SEC and Big 12 are already in), but the Tigers and Cowboys turn the Cotton Bowl into the next best match-up, one that LSU wins 37-30. Stumbling from last year’s ranks, defending champion Auburn faces Houston in the Liberty Bowl, while TCU makes the Las Vegas Bowl against Cal. And finally, in an interesting rematch from last season’s Sugar Bowl, Ohio State and Arkansas lose their starting quarterbacks, yet improve over the season to ultimately meet up in the Outback Bowl.

Team recaps, Power Rankings and Preseason Over/Under Win Total Picks are also available at PredictionMachine.com. Here are projected conference championship and bowl results for every game:

BOWL SUMMARY

Conference Championship Results

Lyles, you’ll remember, has been at the center of an investigation for the suite of recruiting services he provided to Oregon for $25,000. Now Seastrunk, who turned to the Bible and his family in the offseason to become more humble, says he’s ready to accept whatever role the Ducks have for him in 2011.

Lache Seastrunk joined KFXX in Portland with Isaac and Big Suke to discuss his role in the offense, if he was disappointed with his playing time as a freshman in ’10, what it’s like going from the star in high school to the bench in college, why he chose Oregon, how he believes God played a role in it and his new mindset.

What role do you envision for yourself in this offense?:

“I truly don’t know. I don’t know what Coach Kelly has in mind. I don’t really know what the staff wants to do with me this year. I’m just really just trying to stay ready and keep my mind focused and whenever they call my number I should be ready.”

Were you disappointed with your playing time last year?:

“Last year, to be truly honest with you, I was not ready. I didn’t understand the playbook and I just wasn’t mature enough to take on that role my freshman year. This year I’m coming into my own man and I’m understanding it more. I truly don’t see if I’m going to see the field this year because I have a Heisman candidate in front of me. … I’m taking everything in from what they’re telling me and just trying to mold it into my understanding and put it into my game.”

What’s it like being the star of your high school team to being a guy that doesn’t crack the field in college?:

“It was hard. I thought about it every night. I was like, man, did I make the wrong decision? I know my Dad told me this is where I’m supposed to be at, but I’m thinking in my mind, ‘Did I make the wrong decision? Did I do this wrong or that wrong?’ I had to just always get into my Bible and just pray and understand that God does things for a reason. … I’m just basically being patient and waiting on him to see what happens.”

Why did you choose Oregon?:

“I chose Oregon because I felt like it was the right decision for me. I felt like they were going to use me properly and not just put me out there. … I added everything in from every school and this one came out on top. This is what God told me. He confirmed it to me three times.”

How?:

“My real father’s incarcerated and he’s been in jail for a while and when I’m at home with my nana, he calls the house. He calls and talks to me and checks on me and told me he had a vision. … Then, when I was in the Army game, I was leaning toward USC because I love Coach Carroll. He’s a helluva coach. And all of the sudden he just left and I was like, OK, who else is left? I wasn’t talking to Auburn at the time, so the only school that stood out was Oregon, and they had the all-white uniforms, so I kind of like added two and two together.”

You just seem completely different from last year, perhaps more at peace?:

“I had 101 million things on my mind and I didn’t know how to handle it. … I just feel more comfortable now, more humble, I feel more appreciate, I feel more understanding. I’m so honored to be here at the University of Oregon. They could’ve picked anyone else.”

Listen to Lache Seastrunk on KFXX in Portland here

Chip Kelly has continually stated that anything regarding Willie Lyles will be discussed after the NCAA investigation is over. Oregon University hired a law firm to handle the case and cooperate with the NCAA.  Every media outlet has been trying to get Kelly to shed even the slightest glimpse of light about the matter, but he has remained mum and adamant about not commenting until the investigation is over.

In Chip Kelly’s mind he believes that the Ducks have done nothing wrong. Kelly doesn’t feel it was a mistake because 80 other schools worked with Lyles as well. Unfortunately, that excuse has never worked for anybody, and it perhaps suggests that Kelly doesn’t understand the trouble he and the Ducks program could be in.  This recruiting scandal by Lyles may be the beginning of the end of Kelly as the Ducks head coach.

Chip Kelly joined 950 KJR with Dave ‘Softy’ Mahler to discuss how he has and will continue to approach the onslaught of media questions concerning the NCAA’s investigation of the Oregon football team’s relationship with Willie Lyles, being concerned about nothing but preparing his team for the new season at the moment, waiting until the investigation has run its complete course before commenting, whether it’s been tough for him or his football team to focus because of the ongoing investigation, the opportunity to play LSU at Cowboys Stadium to start the 2011 season, and if he’d agree that the Ducks have a big bulls-eye on their back because of all the success they’ve had in recent years.

How is Oregon approaching all the questions that you are getting today regarding the NCAA investigation of Willie Lyles? What do you want people to know?

“As I said in the press conference that the NCAA has a process that we have great respect for that they are going through examining and reviewing the situation. And we have also hired an outside law firm to conduct their own review of what we have done and when that report comes out then we’ll talk about it. But until that point in time we can’t talk about it.”

Are you concerned with where Oregon football is going to be once this NCAA investigation is over? Is that a concern for you at all right now?

“No. Our concern is that the process is going on and we are going to let it take its course. That’s what I’ve said — when the end result comes out we will be more than happy to talk about the whole thing.”

Has this been tough having the NCAA investigation be the focus of the football team for the last couple of months?

“It’s not the focus for our football team. Our kids are back in Eugene, Oregon right now working their tales off right now getting ready to play LSU.

Tell me about the opportunity to play LSU in the season opener at Cowboys Stadium?

“I think we always want to challenge ourselves. Since I’ve been at Oregon we have played at Michigan, played at Tennessee, played Utah, played Purdue. I love playing in big games and our players relish that. It’s one of the reasons they come to our place. I don’t have a lot to do with scheduling because a lot of it is scheduled way out, but this opportunity did come up and somebody bowed out. I can’t remember who and when this opportunity came up to look for a game I said ‘Let’s test and see what type of football program we are.’ “

Do you feel that Oregon football has the big bulls-eye on their back where every team you face will make you guys out to be the biggest game of the season? Do you feel the pressure?

“No. I think our kids last year really understood in what we try to talk to our players about all the time that we don’t deal with outside influences like praise or blame. They are all the same to us that if you continue to…not only in football, but in life kind of run your life or run your football program based upon what other people think of you or what other people talk about you then you’re just going to be a yo-yo and be up-and-down. We know that our formula for success is that we win because of our preparation and we feel if we can put in a good week of preparation we have a shot every Saturday that we go out there. We control that, but we don’t control all the other stuff. Are we going to get everybody’s ‘A’ game? Yeah. But I believe we got everyone’s ‘A’ game last year and twelve times we came out on top and one game we didn’t.”

Is the NCAA investigation a distraction for the players? Is it affecting the focus of the program?

“I don’t think so. You can ask our players and I don’t believe it’s a distraction. I don’t think to be honest with you that the media did because they voted us #1.”

Listen to Chip Kelly on 950 KJR here

We’ll let the NCAA sort all of that out, but at this point, Lyles has emerged with a handful of interviews, including the following one where he says he’s coming out to tell the whole truth so that he can look at himself in the mirror, not because he feels burned by Oregon now that his service, Complete Scouting Services, is basically dead.

Lyles says he manipulated his comments to the NCAA to make things sound better than they were, but then also says he didn’t really know he was doing anything wrong. He says he accepted $25,000 for his services, but never persuaded recruits to attend a certain school. And he also admits that college recruiting has become a dirty, dirty practice.

Will Lyles joined 1080 The Fan in Portland with Isaac and Big Suke to discuss why his version of the story has changed a bit, if he was trying to protect Oregon, if he’s no longer trying to protect them because he feels hurt by the Ducks, why he didn’t know he was breaking NCAA rules, what exactly Oregon paid him $25,000 for, who else was paying him, why this isn’t the case of a guy with an axe to grind against Oregon and to explain that he didn’t tell recruits where to attend school.

Did you tell the NCAA one thing the first time and now switch to a different story?:

“My thing is I told the NCAA, I answered the questions that they asked me. A lot of the questions the Yahoo! guys asked me, [the NCAA] didn’t ask. I felt like I answered the questions honestly.”

Were you protecting the University of Oregon and now are you less willing to do that?:

“To an extent, yes. I feel like there was a sense of loyalty to them. I wasn’t dishonest about the questions though. When you talk to people, you can word things how you want to word them and they can seem different than what they normally are. You can just change it up and make it sound like it wasn’t as bad as it really was.”

Are you being more forthcoming with the information because you’re hurt by the University of Oregon?:

“I wouldn’t say it’s just because I feel like I’m hurt by the University of Oregon. I feel like it’s more I have to protect my name. I felt like my body of work was really good and the way it was portrayed … I was made to look really foolish. I didn’t like the way that felt because that’s not the body of work that I had.”

Did you get in over your head?:

“Yeah, in a sense, as far as the business side of things go and understanding how to operate that business. … It was like operating in gray areas. I’m wearing a mentor hat; I’m trying to be a business person … and being paid by a University. Those two things didn’t really jive well. … It’s just the way to handle business and have an understanding and grasp of the rules so you can do things the right way.”

But didn’t you know that everything you were doing was against NCAA rules?:

“No, I wouldn’t say that, no. Like I said, there were gray areas. It’s not a black or white thing. … Looking back at it and seeing some of the different bylaws that I had never seen before, then I said, ‘OK, well yeah, if that was the case, then I did break some rules.’”

Why did Oregon pay you $25,000?:

“I felt that Oregon was paying for the service. When I say the service, I mean providing them with information. I spoke with them so much. … We spent an extensive amount of time speaking with each other. I felt that a lot of things were done verbally, they just weren’t done on the written form. … At that point, I felt like everything was status quo and everything was good.”

How many other clients did you have and what were they paying you?:

“I had three clients that paid me — Cal, LSU and Oregon. And I was working on getting a lot of other clients. I worked with a lot of different schools in providing them information and showing them what I could do as far as a service.”

Is your service now essentially dead?:

“Yes, I feel that it is at this point. With everything and how it’s gone and the term street agent being used in conjunction with my name and the business name, I feel it’s extremely hard to recover from that.”

How do you respond to people who say you are coming out now because you’ve been ruined by this?:

“I don’t feel like I have an axe to grind because I just wanted to come out and say the truth. I wanted to be able to look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘OK, just do the right thing.’ … I don’t dislike [Oregon]. They’re good people. … I just think we all got caught in a situation where they felt like they had to cover themselves. But by covering themselves they had to just kind of throw me by the wayside. It just wasn’t right the way it was handled.”

Why did Oregon pay you so much more than the other schools you list as clients?:

“Oregon was actually the first client. The other two schools paid for different information. Cal just wanted information on kids from the state of Texas. LSU wanted junior college information from California and from Kansas. Oregon, in turn, got a national package. … I felt that they were getting a good service from me because I did spend a lot of time talking to me. That’s why I felt they wanted to purchase a larger package and that’s how the price scale was broken down.”

What role did you play in getting LaMichael James and Lache Seastrunk to go to Oregon?:

“I didn’t get them to go to the University of Oregon. They chose to go to the University of Oregon on their own. They had other opportunities to go to other schools, that’s just the school they chose to go to. I don’t tell kids where to go to school. I don’t. … I provide opportunity. … I don’t want it to come back on me, ‘You told me to go to this school and it didn’t work out, so it’s your fault.’”

How dirty do you think recruiting is in general?:

“I feel that, in a lot of instances, it’s very dirty. I really believe that. … I’ve been in this business for eight years now. I’ve heard a lot and seen a lot and it’s a very dirty game.”

Listen to Will Lyles on 1080 The Fan in Portland here

Kelly joined 95.5 The Game in Portland with John Canzano for his first interview since the season ended to talk about the Ducks’ outstanding season, the narrow defeat in the BCS title game, how there’s always aspects of games that he and his staff look at and wish had gone differently, how he felt his staff and team had prepared to the best of its ability prior to the game, how proud he was of the way his team conducted itself throughout the week, how tough it is to have to say goodbye to senior leaders that have meant so much to the program, and how he’s already excited about the challenge of building another title contending program next year.

On the Ducks’ successful season despite falling short in the title game:

“We did. I’m really proud of how our players fought and persevered. To lose a game to a really good Auburn team, and to be tied with two minutes to go, I kind of felt all along that it was going to be a close game and come down to who had the ball last. And they had the ball last and executed on their last drive. Give them all the credit in the world.”

On if he’s gone back to look at the tape and think about what Oregon could have done differently:

“Yeah you always go back every game whether you win or lose and say what’s our situation and where do we do it better. So that’s a constant process in our sport.”

On if there’s one specific play he’d like to have back:

“No, not really. I don’t look at it as an individual play type thing. It’s always why did what we did at times work and why didn’t it work, and then how can we improve it the next time. But I don’t go back and kind of go we should have done this, we should have done that. What we could have done better is more of how we look at it; how do we make it better is how we look at it.”

Whether he felt confident that he and his staff had done all the necessary work when game day finally arrived:

“Yeah I think our players and coaches did everything they could in terms of the preparation for that game. But the game always comes down to the players. But I know and you know and they know that the key to the football game was being able to contain No. 90, and we didn’t do a very good job of it. He’s a heck of a football player, and no one did a real good job of it all year long. There’s nothing you can do. There’s not a scheme or a way I don’t think when you have someone of that nature that you can stop them for an entire game. It’s not an Xs or Os question. Their Xs were a lot better than some of our Os.”

Whether there was a moment in the season where he felt emotionally or physically drained:

“No, I love doing what I’m doing and I love coaching these guys because they do everything that you ask them to. So there was never a time where I felt I wish there was a break from this. I wish we could still be playing.”

On if he’s been able to get the attention of any new prized recruits:

“No, not really. The guys we’re recruiting right now are the guys we’ve been recruiting all along so there’s no one….there may be one or two kids in this next push here, but everybody else we’ve been recruiting for a long time. We’re pretty thorough, and I ask our assistants to be pretty thorough in their evaluations of our players, and not just as players. What are they like in school, what are they like in the community, all those other things. So it would be really hard for us to try to jump in on a kid right now. Recruiting has accelerated so much. When are guys go on the road now, they’re finishing up with the seniors that they have, but we’ve already started our junior recruiting trying to formulate our list for the following year.”

Whether his approach will change next year as a coach or will he simply try to replicate the structure of this season:

“That’s a great question and I’ve thought about it the past two days. What’s our approach here? But that’s the great thing about this. I don’t think you know until you get going how this team is going to shape itself and form itself, and each team in every year is different from the last. The basic structure of what we do here and what we want to accomplish, that will never change. But you always have to tweak it, starting right away with trying to find some great leaders to try to replace the Brandon Bairs, the Nate Costas and the Jordan Holmes and those guys that just left our program. So that’s the fun part and the challenging part as the coach is that you kind of feel crappy for a day or two, but there’s a whole other season so let’s get ready for it and let’s prepare for it.”

Listen here to Kelly with The Bald Faced Truth on 95.5 The Game in Portland

Jeremiah Massoli joined 95.5 the Game in Portland to talk about what it was like to watch Oregon have the season they did without him, how closely he paid attention to what Oregon was doing this season, and whether Oregon treated him fairly.

What it was like to watch Oregon have the season they did without him:

“I am just happy for these guys.  From last season to where we didn’t get it done in the Rose Bowl like we wanted to.  I just think that was a lot of fuel for everybody going into the offseason just working hard until you take it to the next step…”

How closely he paid attention to what Oregon was doing this season:

“Yeah I was wrapped up in my own season like you said.  But I had the ESPN phone app thing and I had those guys as one of my favorite teams.  So whenever the final score came up I always checked the box stats or whenever I got a chance to catch them on TV.  You know I saw the Stanford game, the big Stanford game on TV so that was definitely nice.”

How difficult it was for the team to get off the disappointing start they did:

“It was rough.  It was rough man I think that loss to Jacksonville State definitely stayed with us and kind of haunted us for a little while there.  We did our best.  It was tough with that schedule.”

What it was like in Mississippi:

“It was fun.  It was great.  I mean that southern hospitality is real, its live, that whole culture down there is a whole other world, especially coming from this side of the country by going to the deep south.  It was definitely interesting.”

Whether SEC football fans seem that much more engaged with what is going on with their football programs:

“I believe so.  I think so.  I think a lot of that has to do with just the tradition and how strong the tradition is down there, the SEC, you know how strong their tradition is, almost every school.  So yeah I think that has a big deal to do with it.”

Whether Oregon treated him fairly:

“Definitely.  Definitely.  There was a lot that happened and you know, you can’t really blame anybody for anything really.”

Jeremiah Masoli on 95.5 the Game in Portland with John Canzano

Auburn’s defense stifled Oregon like no other team on the Ducks’ schedule could do throughout the year. Oregon managed a few big plays, but when it came time to punch the ball in the end zone, the Tigers stood tall nearly every time.

Still, the Ducks tied game 19-19 with less than two minutes remaining. That simply set the stage for Cam Newton and the Auburn offense to make one last dynamic drive — one that included a play where a runner looked like he was tackled but never hit the turf and another when it looked like a running back was in the end zone only to be ruled down after a review. A last-second field goal and the Tigers are your national champions.

Auburn wide receiver Kodi Burns joined Into the Night with Tony Bruno to discuss if the game played out like he expected, Auburn’s defense being the deciding factor, the month-long layoff between games, what he was thinking when Cam Newton joined Auburn and forced Burns to switch from quarterback to wide receiver and what the offense was thinking when the Ducks tied the game late.

Whether the low-scoring game was what he expected:

“Yeah, I mean, I knew it was going to be like that. I told everybody all week that it was going to be a defensive game. Everybody’s talking about the offenses. … We’ve got an SEC defense and we fly around to the the ball. Everybody’s talking about speed all week, but it’s really about physicality.”

On whether Auburn’s defensive stand at the goal line was the deciding factor in the game:

“Yeah, I mean, that was the turning point of the game. For our defense to stuff them on four down inside the 10-yard line is amazing. Oregon had a couple opportunities to score but our defense got it done.”

How the layoff affected the game:

“Yeah, both teams came out a little sluggish and you expect that in a game like this. The layoff for a month and a few days is always hard to get your momentum back.”

What he thought when Cam Newton came in and took over his job as quarterback:

“No, I didn’t have a problem with that. I knew what he could do all the time. We were two of the top quarterbacks coming out of high school in ’07. I played in the All-American game with him. When he got here, nothing changed. He was same old Cam.”

On what the offense was thinking when the Ducks tied the game with under two minutes remaining:

“I knew we could. We did it time and time again this year. We did it at Kentucky, we did it at Alabama and several other games. Whenever we have to get a score, Cam found a way to lead our offense all the way down and get one.”

Listen to Kodi Burns on Into the Night With Tony Bruno here (Interview begins at 24:25)