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Those are footnotes now. Dyer forever will have “The Run.”
“I came here to Auburn to play football and make something happen,” Dyer said. “I didn’t expect it this quick. But shoes fit.”
While Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton was the primary offensive force for Auburn's run to the title, it was Dyer, a true freshman, who ran off — in unusual fashion — with the Offensive Player of the Game honors in Monday night's BCS Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium.
When Dyer managed to keep his balance and roll off a tackle by Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant, he turned a 6-yard gain into a 37-yarder to put Auburn in field goal range at the Ducks’ 23-yard line with 1:56 remaining. A similar run three plays later put the ball within 18 inches from the goal line to set up Wes Byrum’s point-blank field goal for a 23-20 victory, as the top-ranked Tigers became the fifth straight Southeastern Conference team to win the BCS title.
“He’s a stud, you know,” Auburn H-back Philip Lutzenkirchen said. “I told Bo he better watch out for some of his records. Michael is going to have a great career here. He is going to be the next big thing.”
Auburn did not appear to need anything special from Dyer with five minutes remaining, holding a 19-11 lead, but Newton was stripped by Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews and fumbled the ball to the Ducks, who drove 55 yards for the tying touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Darron Thomas to LaMichael James and a two-point conversion pass to Jeff Maehl.
There was no panic for the Tigers, who engineered eight come-from-behind victories in their 14-0 season.
"We've done it numerous times," Coach Gene Chizik said. "And that was the idea, so we didn't have to say anything. I think our team's been through this so many times that they understood what we had to do."
Dyer broke his run on the second play following the ensuing kickoff, after Newton completed a 15-yard pass to Emory Blake on first down. Dyer had 143 of the Tigers’ 273 rushing yards as Auburn outgained the Ducks 519 yards to 449.
“There are a lot of things that happened this year that I never expected,” Dyer said. “My coaches trusted me. My offensive line — they just said, ‘Keep running the ball and do your thing.’ I just know I’m glad to be on this team and I’m glad to be a part of this. I’m just one of those happy guys who tries to do what he is asked to do.”
Even Dyer was not sure he still was alive on his highlight reel play, pausing briefly after getting back to his feet before taking off again. It was upheld by an official review, and replays indicated that neither of Dyer’s knees hit the ground.
“He came kind of slow, and I just kind of rolled on top of him,” Dyer said, referring to Ducks safety Eddie Pleasant. “I had no idea. I didn’t know if I was down or the whistle had blown. I didn’t hear a whistle … I was kind of looking around, but then I just kept going because my coaches were screaming at me. I was just trying to make a play.
“I was hearing a lot of voices. Even the crowd was saying, ‘Go!’”
Pleasant appeared inconsolable after the game, helped off the field by teammates.
“In order for us to rule the man down, something other than the hand or the foot has to touch the ground while he is in possession of the football,” said referee Bill LeMonnier, a member of the Big Ten officiating crew. “He was on a body.”
Dyer had a touchdown overturned with 10 seconds remaining, when he was again tackled by Pleasant, this time at the Oregon 1-yard line, and carried into the end zone over Pleasant’s body. That call was reversed when officials ruled Dyer’s knee hit the ground.
Dyer said it was exactly that kind of play, rolling over a tackler, on which he scored his first touchdown as an eighth-grader.
He developed into the nation’s No. 1-rated running back by his senior year at Little Rock Christian, although he acknowledged there were bumps along the way. He was not a troublemaker by any stretch, but he came from a rough background in North Little Rock.
With his mother’s blessing, Dyer transferred to Christian his freshman year and blossomed, helped by two hours of daily tutoring his first year to catch up academically. He later moved in with Christian athletic director Dewey Pennell.
“Sometimes I don’t think I should be here, because my past was sometimes not well-spent,” Dyer said. “But I was blessed to have a new home and have some new friends. Changes happen in life. I’m just proud to be here right now.
“In middle school I wasn’t on the right path, but I learned a lot from my past mistakes. I found a new life and tried to make a new start for my family. I had a chance to be a better person, and do things right. It makes you want to keep doing the right thing and be a better person."
