After a scoreless first quarter and two interceptions by Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas and one by Auburn's Cam Newton the offenses started to find their groove. At the end of the first quarter, Oregon finally got on the board with a field goal after being stopped inside the Auburn five-yard line.
With the score 3-0, Auburn had an eight-play, 82-yard drive for a touchdown and that is when the scoring started for both schools. Cam Newton took over by slicing up the Oregon secondary on that drive by completing five of six passes for the first touchdown of the game.
On the ensuing kickoff Oregon's Josh Huff returned the kick 70 yards to set up Oregon's first touchdown, which was an eight-yard pass to LaMichael James, scoring his second receiving touchdown of the year. Then Oregon decided to fake the extra point by having the holder run the option and pitching to the kicker, who took the ball in for the surprise two points.
Auburn then drove all the way down the field on a time-consuming drive that stalled inside Oregon territory. On the fourth-down play Cam Newton lined up in his usual shotgun formation and looked like his usual running play but he started to go toward the line of scrimmage, stopped and then passed to a wide open Eric Smith, who could not reach the ball. That did not matter all that much since the Auburn defense forced an Oregon safety to make the score 11-9.
Auburn then moved onto the running game with Michael Dyer who ran the ball four times to move the ball, and then Cam Newton took to the air and beat the Oregon secondary with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Emory Blake to extend Auburn's lead, 16-11.
Auburn's defense has been able to slow down the ultra-fast and high powered Oregon offense and not allowing the big plays, while the Auburn offense has been efficient and making plays. The Oregon defense has been able to slow down Cam Newton in the rushing game, but Auburn has been able to adjust to utilize the passing game and the occasional running game with Michael Dyer.