Auburn Vs Oregon

Auburn Vs Oregon, (AP) – The latest weapon in the game of recruiting can be found in the closet. Critics may dismiss the wide range of uniforms and helmets Oregon burnt-orange Virginia Tech broke the Orange Bowl as gimmicky marketing – Do not let your collection is incomplete! Get the latest must-have “swimsuit! – Designed to extract money from loyal fans. But several jerseys and gloves, helmets and cleats that go with them, are powerful attractive to players.

“Being the University of Nike, in essence, we get a lot of cool stuff. A lot of new things all the time. It really is a recruitment tool, “Oregon receiver Jeff Maehl said.” When I climbed on a recruiting trip, I was shown all the different jerseys and said the 100 uniform combinations. ”

Resident fashionistas College football is about to add one more to the composition, debuting another new look for the game Monday night’s BCS title against top-ranked Auburn.

“It’s nice to know you’re in for a surprise every week,” Oregon receiver Josh Huff said.

For years, football uniforms were pretty standard. Baggy pants fabric yielded to spandex equipped, and some schools would add impetus to their shirts here and there. Notre Dame broke even – gasp! – Swimwear green on occasion. But a fashion revolution like what the Fab Five did for basketball? This does not happen.

Then came the Ducks.

“We used Oregon as a test pilot for a large number of innovations and a large number of mix-and-match (uniforms), said Todd Van Horne, Creative Director World Football Nike.

Just as it did with clothes in other sports, Nike has improved the functionality of their uniforms over the years by making them more lightweight and breathable, which reduces the amount of material used and padding by adding the structure itself. It has improved the technology on its way mitts.

“Hear the voice of the athlete” is our principle, “said Van Horne.” They want innovation. … They want lighter, they want more flexibility, they want more breathable, they want great fitting shirts, but are not binding. ”

But players want to look good, too, and have a primary color jersey for home games and white for the road is so 1990s – 1980s and 70s, too, for that matter.

“I feel like our tradition is the unexpected,” Oregon linebacker Spencer Paysinger said. “It’s our tradition to mix and shock the nation.”

Oh, the shock of the nation the Ducks did when they unveiled their “struggle against highlighter” uniforms in the opener of the 2003 season. Temporarily blinded some fans, too, with Day-Glo yellow jerseys and pants so bright that ‘they could be seen clearly SEC country.

And that was just the beginning. Since 2006, Nike deployed four different uniforms for Oregon, giving the Ducks nearly 400 possible combinations when considering the various jerseys, pants, helmets, socks and shoes. As if this were not bold enough, the numbers on the jerseys were futuristic funky – think “Rollerball” – and the reasons for diamonds on the shoulders and knees gave uniforms a moth-eaten look.

Wings on his shoulders have replaced the diamond, but the Ducks are still setting fashion trends. Over the past two years, they wore green jerseys, black sweaters, shirts yellow, white jerseys with silver numbers and trim, white jerseys with green trim, silver pants, black pants and green pants.

Got all that? Good, because for Monday’s game against the Auburn BCS, No. 2 Oregon has yet another twists, it’s all in white, called “Stormtrooper” look. Figures have neon yellow piping around them, and matching studded neon-shaded and socks that are designed to make players’ feet a blur as they downfield dart.

“I love them,” said Paysinger. “They will make us look quickly on the ground. As it gets darker in the day, the color starts glowing.”

As those who have been around teenagers knows – the children of any age, really – what a person has from the others want.

Asked about the uniforms of Oregon, defensive tackle Auburn All-American Nick Fairley eyes brightened. Not only is he a little jealous of the Ducks missed; there is a drop in particular he loves.

“I love everything they have in black with black helmets,” said Fairley.

Schools have seen several other flashy patterns of Oregon, the more they have claimed for their own unique looks. Maybe not the same degree the Ducks, but options.

Ohio State, Oregon State, Alabama, Boise State, Florida, Miami, Pitt, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and TCU all wore uniforms specially designed for a game this year. TCU updated his uniform for the Rose Bowl, his first appearance BCS, and Florida and Boise State got a new look for the bowl games, too.

“Kids today, they are impressionable. They love this stuff; they like to be on the cutting edge, “Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said. “This is something that is important to our children today, we also saw it as a recruiting opportunity to show we are innovative, we are creative and we can do things differently.”

For the second consecutive year, Ohio State was wearing a survival suit for its game against Michigan. Honor this year’s team in 1942, the first Ohio State win a national title, and as simple scarlet jerseys with gray trim around the sleeves and helmets scarlet.

Merchandise sales benefited from Memorial University, of course, but Smith said the revenue generated by the add-ons was not huge. ” The real point was to strengthen the link between the Buckeyes and their fans.

“To be able to demonstrate, not only for our football team but to our Ohio community and our community Columbus a reminder of what they did – because they were playing football and went to war – to get them back on the stand, to promote and remind people what these people sacrificed … It was very moving, “said Smith.” It was very exciting for our fans. It was very emotional for our players. It was very emotional for these guys themselves. ”

And he made Ohio a player in the game of fashion this year.

AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo and AP Sports Writers Anne M. Peterson and Rusty Miller contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Outback Bowl

Outback Bowl:Despite hiring a young coach with an underwhelming resume, Auburn has spent the majority of this season in the shadow of Tennessee and its rookie coach, Lane Kiffin. This has been a luxury at times — especially when you lose five of your last six against F.B.S. competition — and unfortunate at others, such as during a 5-0 start. Northwestern, which actually lost to Syracuse, can commiserate with Auburn’s up-and-down play. However, unlike Auburn, Northwestern played its best football in the final month, ending the year with wins over Iowa and Wisconsin.

Outback Bowl

Friday, 11 a.m., ESPN

Northwestern
Pat Fitzgerald may be a better coach than a linebacker, which should tell you much about where he has taken the Northwestern program in his short four years in charge. Fitzgerald inherited a difficult situation, replacing his boss, Randy Walker, after Walker died of a heart attack during the summer of 2006. After a 4-8 record in 2006, Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to 23 wins over the past three seasons, with the chance to match last year’s nine-win output with a win over Auburn. Only one problem: Northwestern cannot win a bowl game. Not playing in very many — none, in fact, from 1950-95 — has hurt, but the Wildcats are mired in a six-game bowl losing streak. The only bowl win in team history came in the 1949 Rose Bowl, when Northwestern beat California. This will be the program’s first January bowl game since the 1997 Citrus Bowl, when Tennessee won by 20. These Wildcats are not superb in any area, but they will feature an above-average rush defense (35th in the nation). Auburn, on the other hand, has the 13th-best ground game in the country.

Auburn
A tale of two seasons for the Tigers: 5-0 through Oct. 3, 2-5 through the rest of the year. In fact, only a 49-24 win over Mississippi State, who finished with a similar 3-5 mark in conference action, prevented Auburn from finishing last in the SEC West. The highlight of the year was that hot stretch to open the year, which seemingly validated the decision to replace Tommy Tuberville with Gene Chizik. The offense, under the direction of Gus Malzahn, was explosive as any in the nation through September — until SEC play began. Once opposing defensive coordinators got a look at both the offense and who was running it, adjustments were made; Auburn only once scored more than 24 points against its final six F.B.S. opponents. Included in this late-season swoon was another loss to Alabama (that makes two straight) and ugly defeats to Arkansas, Kentucky and L.S.U. in consecutive weeks. In Auburn’s favor is the lack of players on the roster capable of properly fitting into this offense, as most of the offense on the roster was recruited to play the smash-mouth running game implement to solid success by Tuberville. The Tigers will be better in 2010.

Know Your Sponsor

Outback Steakhouse
No American restaurant chain sums up the Australian experience quite like Outback Steakhouse, which offers Down Under favorites like steak, potatoes, chicken, vegetables and blooming onions. According to the Outback Steakhouse Web site, the goal of the chain is to offer “generous portions at moderate prices and a casual atmosphere suggestive of the Australian Outback.” I’ve never been on walk-about, so I can’t verify this claim. I do like Outback’s slogan: “No rules, just right.”

Pick ‘Em

Pete: Auburn. This won’t even be close.
Thayer: Auburn. Even Jack Bauer can’t help Northwestern break its bowl drought.
Paul: Northwestern. The Wildcats are due.
Fred: Auburn. Hard to pick Northwestern against Auburn. A win by the Wildcats would be huge for the Big Ten, but I think it’s going to be too much Ben Tate for Northwestern to handle.
Connor: Northwestern. Pat Fitzgerald has his Wildcats playing well to end the season.

Records Through Dec. 31

Connor: 44-26 (regular season); 10-10 (bowls)
Thayer: 44-26; 11-9
Paul: 43-27; 10-10
Pete: 43-27; 10-10
Fred: 43-27; 11-9