Oregon Was Outnumbered In The Title Game

In retrospect, it’s a wonder Oregon even bothered to show up for the BCS title game. I mean, the Ducks had no chance, did they? . . .

After the game, Auburn coach Gene Chizik declared, “First of all, I can’t be more blessed to be part of a whole team like this. Man, God was with us.” Which means that Oregon was more outmanned than we ever imagined. I mean, Chip Kelly must the greatest coach in history, seeing as how God needed a last-second field goal to beat him.

Personally, I have no problem with athletes or coaches invoking their faith after a game. I admire it if they find strength in their beliefs and want to publicly thank God for the opportunity to compete or the fact that they remained healthy throughout the game. We hear enough cliché quotes from athletes (“both teams played hard”) that it’s refreshing when somebody reveals part of their character. If they feel that their faith helped them perform their best, then that’s part of what makes them who they are.

But Chizik went beyond that. His quote seems to imply that God was choosing sides, which means that God is a bigger football fan than I ever realized.

Now, I typically would be willing to give Chizik the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the phrase simply came out wrong after an emotionally draining championship game. Except that one of his players said the same thing in the interview room after the contest, and Chizik apparently said, “That was a God thing” after his team beat Clemson in September. And it makes me wonder why God wasn’t on Chizik’s side while he was going 5-19 as Iowa State’s coach.

As Tim Keown of ESPN wrote: “If the game contained an element of predestination, and if God was the ultimate factor in the outcome, will Chizik cash the $600,000 bonus check his contract deems he will receive for winning the title? Or will he donate it to a deserving Christian charity in Auburn or the Sisters of the Holy Faith? After all, how much did he have to do with it?”

Or maybe he can donate it Cam Newton’s father’s church.