NOFL Week 4 has begun! Deadline is 4/22/09 at 10PM

[Eaglesfan27]

This week's featured game makes me wish that broadcast mode was in for online games. Should be an epic game between Stanford and Kentucky.

The rest of us either have a bye or CPU game.

[kingnebwsu]

I just PM'ed Stanford with my availability. The game will be sometime between Sunday and Wednesday. We'll keep everyone posted. Hopefully it's an epic game and not an epic blowout (by Stanford).

[Karlifornia]

Good luck to both players. May the better man win!

[Raiders Army]

Good luck to both of you. Ice the kicker!

(I joke)

[kingnebwsu]

I have my timeouts ready

[ColtCrazy]

My game was the blow out I expected (or at least hoped) it would be.

Texas A&M 63, Army 10.

The Aggies started hot, as Boyer broke 2 tackles after a Dorman pass and went 75 yards for a TD. Army answered with a field goal in their best drive of the game before the subs came in.
After that, it was pretty much all Aggies. RB Bradley Stephens, after missing part of the 1st quarter with an injury, lit up the Army D with 197 yards on 26 carries. His 4 touchdowns give him 8 in 2 games. Backup Cyrus Gray added 3 more TDs as A&Ms rushing totals were 43 carries, 247 yards, and 7 touchdowns. Dorman used the running game to set up a very efficient passing attack (20-for-26 281 yds and 2 TDs). By the time the subs got in early in the 4th, A&M led 56-3. Army moved the ball better against the subs, playing them even 7-7.

In recruiting, A&M got a commitment from OLB Kurt Coleman. He was the nations 16th best OLB and gives the Aggies a nice start in signing.

[Raiders Army]

#21 Oklahoma State beat #5 West Virgina 94-30.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm in tahoe til Monday night, so my big game agianst kingsneb will have to wait til Tuesday or Wednesday.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

#21 Oklahoma State beat #5 West Virgina 94-30.

[Karlifornia]

I don't understand how people score in the 80's and 90's. I guess it's just a different style of play.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Yeah, unfortunately two of their touchdowns came off Kick Returns.

For what it's worth, I did put in my 2nd string.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Yeah, unfortunately two of their touchdowns came off Kick Returns.

For what it's worth, I did put in my 2nd string.

haha. Yeah, after I was shocked at your score, I was kind of wondering how they managed to get 30 on you.

[kingnebwsu]

FYI, Stanford and Kentucky will be playing Wednesday night. It will be right around the deadline and maybe even a little after. I will post on here & message the commissioner after our epic battle for the universe of NCAA 09 (which hopefully will live up to the hype).

[Eaglesfan27]

Like I just said in the PM, if it is after the deadline, there is little chance I'll be up to advance since Thursday is my long day at work. However, I'll advance when I get home from work Thursday evening.

[kingnebwsu]

Cool. Thanks, as always, EF27

[Ironhead]

Boston College bounces back from our heartbreaking loss last week against FSU to defeat Clemson this week by a final of 31-24. The win belongs to the defense as they really kept us into the game while our offense sputtered along.

[kingnebwsu]

I'm online whenever you're ready, ST.

[Sun Tzu]

PMed ya about 10-15 mins ago

[kingnebwsu]

Stanford beats Kentucky 34-31 in a game that truly lived up to the hype. Another epic game for Kentucky, but this time we can't pull it out. My Heisman-winning QB got knocked out in the 4th quarter and he's out for 3 weeks. That sucks a lot. I don't think it affected this game, but I think he may be out for my next human game plus 2 games against SEC computer opponents.

I tied the game with 2 minutes left and then Stanford returned the kickoff to my 40 yard line. He was able to milk the clock and kick the winning FG with around :30 left. There was a killer facemask penalty where I forced a fumble on 3rd down when he was just out of FG range. I recovered the fumble but they called the facemask. They also missed a facemask on Stanford earlier in the game. The refs weren't on my side this time

I got to my 40 yardline, but was out of timeouts and threw some hail mary passes that weren't answered.

It's awful, because both teams left points on the field. He threw a killer pick in the red zone. I didn't score on consecutive possessions when I had an 8-point lead in the first half. He also threw a pick-six early which gave me the 8-point lead. I had to kick a FG after an amazing 15-play drive to start the 2nd half which ended at his 2-yard line. Leaving the points on the field is definitely going to be my biggest regret of this game.

His deep threat couldn't be contained by my guys. He went over the top successfully at least 4 times, 2 of them went for TD's. He'd run it up the middle and then throw it over the top.

My running game was surprisingly effective. Unfortunately I had many drives stall out which cost me in the end.

Oh well. I really wish there was a broadcast mode, because that game would have been worth watching. It was back-to-back epic games against human opponents for my team and we went 1-1. Both games decided in the last minute.

Great game Sun Tzu. Your team deserved to win. It was nice to have my first home game of the season and I think it definitely helped me get going after you scored a quick TD on the second play of the game.

My 31-game winning streak is snapped. I knew it would happen sometime. Regardless of what anyone says, that is an impressive winning streak and definitely exceeded my expectations when I entered the league. I did go 6-0 against 4 different users in the stretch. Hopefully I'll be able to start another streak next week

EF27, we're good to advance. Good luck to everyone next week.

[Sun Tzu]

Well...Kentucky kicked my ass all over the field and on their turf too. It was 21-10.






at the end of the first quarter.



But then Andrew Luck woke the fuck up. Completing several passes to a myriad of different receivers, Luck picked apart the opposing DB's like a kid picks legs off of a bug. After spotting a talent disparity in our #2 Wideout and their #2 CB, our young split end reeled in several passes after torching his counterpart down the field over the next 3 quarters. Combine that with timely running by backup HB James Stewart (our starter was hurt) and our offense was clicking. On defense, Kentucky wasn't able to get much going in the passing game pretty much all game, but we all know that isn't where they thrive. Read this carefully...

Kentucky is an OPTION FIRST, and then if that fails they become an OPTION SECOND team, and if that fails they will then run it up the gut. Because Locke is so goddamned fast, this is very hard to stop...but if you can hit him hard enough times, he'll start trying to cut it inside and that's where you'll get in your licks.

This was a very close game down to the end. Stanford went up by a Touchdown via a Luck to Ealy score very early in the 4th, but Kentucky marched right back down the field on the ensuing drive and punched it in from 16 yards out, tying the game back up with only 3 minutes left. On the ensuing kickoff we ran it back 55 yards to their 40, which gave us about 2:45 to burn and only 5-7 yards to get into field goal position. Our kicker had already nailed two 50 yard field goals earlier in the game, and I was feeling mighty confident. Thankfully, we didn't have to try one that long, as the Cardinal was able to pick up first down after first down on the ground, eatting up the clock as well as yardage. In fact we drove it all the way down to the 5 yard line with only 0:33 left, and split the uprights with a chip shot.

Kentucky launched a few hail mary's after completing one pass to about their own 40, but all of them were knocked down by Cardinal defenders, and Stanford had come away with a Victory in what was a very hard faught game.

My hats off to Kingsneb for accepting my challenge, and I'm very proud and thankful to have come away with a victory...on their turn no less. Good game kingsneb, and best of luck the rest of the way.

[kingnebwsu]

You too man. I forgot to mention your kicker. In my many years of playing console football games, I have never seen a kicker have as much of an impact on the game as yours did tonight. He had 4 FG's, which included the game-winning chip shot FG and I think three kicks over 50 yards. Not to mention negating my great kickoff returners by kicking the ball five yards deep into the end zone. Just crazy.

It was crazy how you shut down my passing game. You shut down my play-action passing first (with great pressure from the outside), then shut down my regular passing game second. I had to run the ball pretty much the entire second half just to hang with you. I think that the 15-play drive was 14 running plays and a field goal. You also had a ridiculous amount of sacks (five maybe). You definitely kept up the pressure for the entire game.

I definitely have to put you down as the favorite to make it to the title game. I think we only have 4 remaining undefeated human teams. A&M, Virginia, Mississippi State, and Stanford. One in each conference.

Neither of us played our best game tonight, but the game itself was definitely one of the most epic I've ever played.

Good luck the rest of the way to Stanford. Any chance we could play next year's game at my place, too?

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

Any chance we could play next year's game at my place, too?

Considering the fact that my controller was rattling so hard against my wedding band that the Wife had to ask if it was on the fritz, and for damn near the entire game, I'm gunna have to respectfully say noooooooo.

[Karlifornia]

Sounds like a great game. I (sadly) was keeping an eye on the score on XBL, and when neb jumped out 21-10, I thought...that's it...nobody will ever beat him. It seems like Sun didn't panic and stuck to his game.

[Raiders Army]

Good job Sun.

[BigDPW]

I ended up losing a heartbreaker to my main rival UNC last night... Mike Glennon threw a few too many picks for TDs in his first road action this year. The first quarter was all me and then the TO's started.

Congrats to SunTzu... I wanted to be the guy that beat Kingneb first but coughed up our game on the last play...

[Eaglesfan27]

Sounds like an epic game. Regardless of who wins what titles, I have little doubt that Sun and Kingneb are the top players in this league and I suspect any of the leagues. I was sound asleep when the game ended, but will advance tonight when I get home from work (around 6:30 central maybe a bit later.)

[Kodos]

A Sun/KingNeb/BigNej round-robin with equal teams would be interesting to watch.

[Sun Tzu]

Thanks guys

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Sounds like an epic game. Regardless of who wins what titles, I have little doubt that Sun and Kingneb are the top players in this league and I suspect any of the leagues.

Second that. Having played both in the NOFL recently, I was blown away by both. Against kingneb, I did more scouting and preparation than I have ever done for game in my life, and my expectations for what he was going to do were dead on target. I still couldn't keep the game within three scores.

I really didn't have a good feel for Sun's game, and coming early in the season it's hard to gather much from the scouting available. I will say that I was actually surprised by Sun's game plan, it was not something I expected but it was brutally effective.

For all the points they score, these two teams are based on defense. If you can't play elite defense, you can't play with these guys. My game against Sun convinced me I have to completely revamp my defensive scheme because they are going to force turnovers and punts. If you can't do that on your side of the ball, you can't win.

I wish I had been more precise in my prediction in last week's thread because while I took Stanford to win, I really thought it would be a one-score and if I had picked a score, I would have gone with something very close to the final.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

A Sun/KingNeb/BigNej round-robin with equal teams would be interesting to watch.

Very interesting. Having played BigNej once, he is right there with them in stick skills.

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

I will say that I was actually surprised by Sun's game plan, it was not something I expected but it was brutally effective.

What surprised you? I'd love to hear someone else break down how I play the game...just to get an outsiders perspective.

[ColtCrazy]

Sounds like a fantastic game. Since I'm the new one, I have no idea how anyone plays, but based on the hype I've read about, it sounds like the game lived up to every bit of it. Great game for both of you. Perhaps I should be thankful that neither of you are initiating me into the league during my first year!


I'm anxious for my first human game, though I have a feeling it may remind me of how much I need to learn.

[kingnebwsu]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. It's good to have something to comfort me in this difficult time

Sun Tzu, I don't want to fully break down your entire gameplan to give your future opponents an advantage. But you definitely played the best defense of any human I've played in the league thus far. This won't be a spoiler at all, but your pressure from the DE's was just amazing. I think I ran 3 play-action passes all game long...and all 3 times I was sacked. Also, anytime I tried to rollout of the pocket, you were right there waiting for it. Part of it was surely the playcalling, but a lot of it was you putting your guys in the right position and reacting accordingly. It's funny, too...because I think you're the human who is the furthest away from me in distance (me in Ohio and you in CA) but that was definitely the best connection I've had for a human matchup. Definitely can't blame the loss on that

Your offense is pretty solid, though I think that ratings-wise there are other teams in the league with better skill players than you (or I) have. We both do pretty well with what we have, though. 34-31 may sound like a high-scoring game in real-life football, but considering all of the plays we called (we played the game pretty fast until late in the game) it definitely was the most defensive battle I've had on NCAA 09. Hopefully next year's game will have the potential for some 17-13 style of games.

You didn't spread the field as much as I thought you would. I thought I'd see 4 & 5 WR spread formations from you for the entire game, but I only saw those a handful of times. I'm really thankful that your QB Luck isn't fast. If you combined his arm strength & accuracy with a guy even half as fast as my QB...I think you'd be unstoppable on offense. There were a few plays where if you had a QB with even a speed of 80, you would have gained 20+ yards on QB runs.

I almost ran away the game in the first half and you almost ran away with the game in the second half. I think if a few plays went the other way that either one of us could have won by 3 scores. I guess that's the nature of the game when you look back on it.

I am curious about one thing...when I called timeout at the end of the game before your winning FG, was the "ice the kicker" thing in effect? I've never seen it before, so I don't know if I can tell when it's happening to an opponent. I assume it was on, but I called the timeout mostly to save 30 seconds off the clock.

It's a bummer because I think that (at the current time at least) this was a #1 vs #2 matchup (as far as human teams in 2010), and Sun Tzu's win will probably only move him from #18 to #15 or so. I wish that they could somehow incorporate human voting into the game or at least make it so beating a human team ranked #19 is worth more than beating a computer team ranked #19...but I sense that doing that would be more trouble than it's worth (and some people in some leagues could totally exploit it).

Thanks for pestering me into a game, Sun Tzu Games like this are great for the league, regardless of the outcome. I may not be saying that if I'm fortunate enough to make it to 11-1 and ranked #5 at the end of the season...but looking at the big picture, this is definitely good for the long-term health of the league.

Congrats again on the win, ST. You earned it.

Now it's time to focus on getting my team healthy and trying to win the SEC

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

What surprised you? I'd love to hear someone else break down how I play the game...just to get an outsiders perspective.

Figure it will be a while before I play you again, so I guess I can tell you what suprised me so you can mix it up next time.

I didn't expect you to run the ball anywhere close to as much as you did. I truly expected to see a lot of Luck throwing downfield and running himself from time to time. I didn't expect you to have two guys run for a 100 yards, but maybe you saw something about my stats that says I can't stop the run.

Some of that was dictated by the game situation because you put the game away pretty early. But didn't think you'd get 100 yards rushing total much less more than 200.

You surprised me with the variety of your playcalling and I couldn't stop it. I had more research on kingneb and I generally knew exactly what he was going to do ... and still couldn't stop it.