The Daily Blog

Nick Fairley, Potential No.1 Draft Pick, Leaves Auburn for NFL.

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Lombardi Award winner Nick Fairley is skipping his senior season at Auburn to enter the NFL draft.

The potential No. 1 overall pick announced his decision Friday at his old high school, saying he didn’t make up his mind until that morning.

“I was thinking, ‘What more could I accomplish my senior year?’” Fairley said.

He and quarterback Cam Newton — who is also turning pro — led the Tigers to a 14-0 season and their first national title since 1957.

Fairley was the defensive MVP in the BCS title game against Oregon when he had a sack, three tackles for losses and forced a fumble. He also led the Southeastern Conference with 24 tackles for a loss and had a school-record 11.5 sacks.

Fairley said he had a long visit with Auburn coach Gene Chizik and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker in Auburn, then came home and talked it over with his parents.

After that, “I went on a long ride by myself. I think I came out with the best decision to benefit me, my family and all the folks around me.”

Fairley played two seasons at Auburn after transferring from junior college. He flashed his potential at times in 2009, but didn’t consistently dominate until this season.

“It’s crazy for me to be in this position,” Fairley said. “Coming into this year, I didn’t think things were going to be this big. I didn’t know I was going to have a big year like that.”

If he is taken first in the draft, he would join former Williamson High quarterback JaMarcus Russell as a No. 1 pick from the school.

College Football Bowl Matchups 2010.

Undoubtedly Oregon and Auburn will headline the postseason bowl schedule when they meet in the BCS title game Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

The other BCS bowls:

Fiesta - Oklahoma vs. UConn
Rose - Wisconsin vs. TCU
Orange - Virginia Tech vs. Stanford
Sugar - Ohio State vs. Arkansas

Besides the five BCS bowls, there are several other intriguing matchups among the 35 bowl games that begin on Dec. 18 in Albuquerque, N.M., with Brigham Young and UTEP meeting in the New Mexico Bowl.

New Year’s Eve will feature two of the better non-BCS bowls in El Paso, Texas, and Atlanta. The Hyundai Sun Bowl will pit Miami and Notre Dame in a game that should pull down huge TV ratings. Also, the Chick-fil-A Bowl features Florida State against old nemesis Steve Spurrier, now at South Carolina.

In all there was 72 bowl eligible teams for 70 bowl berths. Temple, which went 8-4 and defeated Big East champion UConn, did not receive a bowl berth. Western Michigan (6-6) was the other bowl eligible team that didn’t earn a bowl berth.

The SEC received 10 of the 70 bowl berths, followed by ACC (nine), Big Ten (eight), Big 12 (eight), Big East (six), Conference USA (six), Mountain West (five), MAC (four), WAC (four), Pac-10 (four), Sun Belt (three) and all three independents (Army, Navy and Notre Dame).

Cam Newton Wins Heisman Trophy.

Cam Newton, the quarterback for Auburn University, has won the 2010 Heisman Trophy.

Newton beat out worthy adversaries — LaMichael James of Oregon, Andrew Luck of Stanford and Kellen Moore of Boise State — in landslide fashion. He ended with 2,263 points. Luck was the runner-up with 1,079 points and James finished third with 916. Moore amassed 635.

Broken down regionally, Newton won each and every one, including the Far West.

There were 105 ballots that completely omitted Newton’s name, but he was the first place vote on 93 percent of the ballots.

Newton has led Auburn to a 13-0 record and a berth in the BCS Championship game, which will be played Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

The 6-foot-6 junior from College Park, Ga., led the nation in passer efficiency rating (188.2) and was second in rushing touchdowns (20). He completed 165 of his 246 passes for 2,589 yards and 28 touchdowns against just six interceptions. He ran the ball 242 times for 1,409 yards and the aforementioned 20 scores. He amassed six 100-yard rushing games and two 300-yard passing games.

Newton becomes the third player in Auburn history to win the coveted award, joining Bo Jackson (1985) and Pat Sullivan (1971). Jackson was on-hand for his Silver Anniversary to see Newton crowned. With three, Auburn now only trails Notre Dame (seven), Ohio State (seven), USC (six) and Oklahoma (five) in Heisman Trophy winners.

The last two winners — and three of the last four — have now come from the SEC.

This also marks the second consecutive season the award has gone to a player from a school in the state of Alabama. Mark Ingram of Alabama won the 2009 Trophy.