09/28 at 11:44 PM

Gene Chizik didn’t answer the question with an unnecessarily verbose response, a sugarcoated explanation of the circumstances that have prevented him from meeting Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin or a respectful acknowledgement of what the 34-year-old has accomplished in his career.

He just answered it the Gene Chizik way — everything, apparently, that does not embody the Lane Kiffin way.

“I don’t know him,” Chizik said. “I’ve seen him, but I don’t even know him.”

But just like the nip-and-tuck history between Auburn and its SEC East rival, Chizik and Kiffin share a nail-biting moment in the past that took place three years ago and two time zones away.

Chizik, as the defensive coordinator at Texas, went head-to-head against Kiffin’s pro-style offense while he was the offensive coordinator at USC in one of the most exciting national championship games in college football history.

The Longhorns, thanks to a defensive stop and a last-second scoring drive spearheaded by Vince Young, beat USC, 41-38, in the Rose Bowl to win the 2005 National Championship.

“It seems like it was centuries ago,” Chizik said of the game that was played on Jan. 4, 2006.

Maybe it’s because of all that’s happened to both of them since that night in Pasadena.

Each spent one more year at their respective schools before launching into their head coaching careers — Chizik at Iowa State and Kiffin with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders.

The pair combined to win 10 games — five each — over the next two years, left their respective places of work with a bitter fanbase behind them and landed new jobs that many across the country deemed undeserved.

It’s news to Chizik if his and Kiffin’s career paths have somewhat mimicked each other’s since they went head to head.

“I got my hands full with Auburn,” Chizik said. “I literally don’t pay any attention to all that. I’ve got my hands full with all that.”

Chizik rode a personal 27-game winning streak heading into the 2005 National Championship game. USC was on an even bigger one, 34, and had the 2004 BCS Championship and the distinction of being the 2003 National Champions, according to the Associated Press, going for it.

Many analysts speculated that USC’s 2005 team, specifically in regard to its offensive production, was one of the greatest of all time.

It was Chizik’s job to devise a gameplan to stop an offense that averaged more than 579 yards per game — 60 more than second-place Arizona State.

“They were one of the best offenses in the history of college football. That’s how talented they were,” Chizik said. “I don’t know that there was a number you could really try to pin on that offense.”

The final number wasn’t exactly pretty for Texas’ defense in the end.

The Trojans hit their average right on the head with 574 yards of total offense (365 passing, 209 rushing). The Longhorns came into the game allowing just a little more than 14 points per game, but nearly let the Trojans triple that.

Only Chizik was able to call a play late in the goings-on that prevented it from happening.

Leading 38-33 with 4:03 to play, USC took over possession at its own 34-yard line and was bent on running out the clock. The Trojans picked up one first down before they found themselves in a fourth-and-2 at their own 45 with the clock stopped at 2:13.

The Trojans punt team didn’t budge.

“They were going to do what they do best and that’s run the ball downhill,” Chizik said. “They had LenDale White in there so that was another indicator that that play was probably coming.

“We were prepared for it, to the best of my memory.”

White was stuffed 1 yard short of the first down. Young cashed in the prime field position 10 plays later with the game-winning, 8-yard touchdown run.

Asked how he’d prepare for a Kiffin-led offense more than three years later, Chizik cracked a joke before straightening up with his usual, non-Kiffin-like demeanor.

“I’m going to get Karlos Dansby and I’m going to get Carlos Rogers,” Chizik said. “I think they do some similar things. I won’t say it’s 100 percent exactly that, but there’s a lot of carry-over.”

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