FOFC-BBCF: The Utah Utes

Groundhog · 01-22-2007, 05:36 PM

Now that BBCF is in its finished state I decided to have my first proper go at running a school. Rather than doing it the sensible way and getting some experience offline, playing and recruiting against CPU opponents, I've decided to jump straight in to the multiplayer portion of the game, via the FOFC league run by Cartman, where I'll be taking over the Utah Utes of the Mount West conference.

Utah is coming off a 6-7 year and has some talent, so it will definately be interesting to see how many more losses I can add to that total this first season.

Groundhog · 01-22-2007, 06:04 PM

2008 Season

I joined the league too late to be able to set my coaching staff, recruiting service, and - perhaps worst of all - my off/def strategies.

My coaching staff is pretty woeful on both offense and defence, though my special teams coach is OK, so even if we don't score any TDs or stop anyone we can sleep easy knowing our punter will be in fine form.

Our recruiting service is the one I would have selected, being average at scouting the region I'm located in.

On offense we are, for better or worse, running the option. This is definately not what I would have selected, but it gives us the ability to run wingbacks on a number of formations which may not be such a bad thing for us as that is a strength.

On D we will be running a 3-4 which is exactly what I would have selected for this roster. We have some talented linebackers and DEs, but nothing much in the way of DTs.

Expectations

We are the preseason favourites in the Mount West, and looking at our roster I think that's probably fair. Any other coach in the nation could probably take out the conference with this squad. Unfortunately for Utah University, its athletics department, and its supporters, they are stuck with me.

Groundhog · 01-22-2007, 06:21 PM

Offense:

Note: all ratings are from the 'league scout', as opposed to the ratings from our team scouts.

QB:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR AS PA PT RN HD IN
*Raymond Aldridge	2.5/3.0 SR 10 13 12 10  4 10
#Eddie Mays		1.0/2.5 FR  7  7  9 14  9 12
Albert Saunders		1.5/2.5 FR  8  9  9 12  8  9
Freddie James		1.0/2.0	SO  9 10 11  5  3  7
Herman Maddox		1.0/1.0	JR  7  7  9  8  3  7

Key: AS = arm strength, PA = pass accuracy, PT = pass touch, RN = running, HD = hands, IN = instincts. * = starter last season. # = redshirting this season.

Aldridge has no real competition here, and easily maintains his starting spot. He's coming off a decent junior year (55.7%, 16-12 tds/int) and should be well suited to the mid-range passing game we are looking to run this year. If Aldridge goes down we are in a bit of trouble. James is our best passing option, but his lack of instincts, slow feet, and poor hands trouble me. Saunders can scramble a little, has average accuracy, better instincts, and will be QB #2 for me over James. Mays, a potentially great scrambler, will redshirt, and god help us if Maddox has to line up behind center.

RB:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR RN HD RR AC AG SP ST
Jeffrey Reynolds	3.5/5.0 SO 16 13 13 14 10 10 10
*Paul Green		3.5/4.5 SR 13 14 11 11 15 12  7
Isaac Nolan		2.5/4.5 FR 13 13  8 12 10 14  6
Christopher Lehman	2.5/3.0 SR 12 13 10  9 11  7  6
Thomas Richardson	1.5/3.0 SO 11 12 10  9  9  9  6
Kevin Blanchard		1.5/2.5 FR 12 10  8  6 10  8  5

Key: RN = running, HD = hands, RR = route running, AC = acceleration, AG = agility, SP = speed, ST = strength, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Well, we are well stocked here. Green started last season and did well, but Reynolds looks like a stud and will start the year, though I plan on sharing the carries. Nolan is too good to waste as a 3rd RB, but we don't want to risk him transferring because of a redshirt request, so we'll need to find him time. We will be using wingbacks in a decent percentage of our formations, so this will help get Green, Nolan and Lehman some time on the field. Still, it's not a terrible problem to have, and Richardson and Blanchard aren't so bad either should we ever need them.

FB:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR RN HD RR RB
Randolph Medina		3.0/3.5 JR 11 10 10 13
*Russell Smith		2.0/3.0 JR 11 11  8 14
Jim Glenn		1.0/2.0 JR  8  8  8 10

Key: RN = running, HD = hands, RR = route running, RB = run blocking, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Medina, a JuCo recruit, wins out, but it's close. Smith is a better run blocker, but Medina is stronger running routes, and the better athlete. Jim Glenn is only rated 1 overall higher than myself at playing the FB position.

WR:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR HD RR AC SP
*Robert Byrd		3.5/4.5 JR 15 16 12 12
*Elvis Baker		2.5/3.5 SR 13 13  9 10
Dewey Wilburn		2.5/3.5 FR 10 11 12 15
#Richard Chaffin	2.0/3.5 FR 11 12 10 13
John Newby		1.0/2.5 SO  9  9  8  9
Christopher Cook	1.0/2.0 SR 10  9  6  9
Steven Williams		1.0/1.5	SR  7  9  5  6

Key: HD = hands, RR = route running, AC = acceleration, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Byrd and Baker give us two experienced options at WR. Neither is particularily quick, but both don't drop a lot of passes, and won't be asked to gun down the field too often (hopefully). Wilburn has some quicks however, and will line up as our 3rd WR.

TE:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR HD RR PB RB
#James Evans		2.5/4.0 SO 14 13 12 13
William Holcomb		2.0/3.5 JR 13  9 11 10
Marcel Wilhelm		1.0/1.5 JR  7  9  8  8
Frankie Barrera		1.0/2.5 FR  9  7  7 10

Key: HD = hands, RR = route running, PB = pass block, RB = run block, # = redshirting this season.

Holcomb is a decent blocker and an option for the odd pass or two. Wilhelm isn't much of anything, and Barrera isn't much now but has some potential. James Evans is a transfer and is sitting the year out.

OG:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PB RB AG ST
Randy Reiter		3.5/5.0 JR 16 18  7 13
Eugene Fitzpatrick	2.0/4.0 FR 12 13  7 10
Michael Phillips	1.5/3.5 FR 12 12  7 10
Leonard Heath		1.5/2.5 SO 11 11  4  9
Ian McElroy		1.0/2.5 JR 10 10  6  9
Scott Babb		1.0/1.5 SO  8 10  3  9

Key: PB = pass block, RB = run block, AG = agility, ST = strength, # = redshirting this season.

Reiter is a monster, and should be one of the best OGs in the conference. We'll be running our RBs his way as much as possible. Fitzpatrick aint too shabby either, and there is some depth here with true freshman Phillips. I'd love to redshirt him but don't want to risk him leaving.

OT:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PB RB AG ST
*Joseph Steele		3.0/4.0 JR 13 15  7 13
*Louis Akers		2.5/4.0	SO 13 14  6 12
Rodney Munson		2.0/4.0 FR 14 12  6  9
Stanley Rangel		1.5/3.0 SO 11 12  5 12
#Brad Carr		1.5/3.5 FR 12 10  6 11
Devin Greene		1.0/2.0 JR  7 10  7  8

Key: PB = pass block, RB = run block, AG = agility, ST = strength, # = redshirting this season.

We return two starters in Steele and Akers, and both guys will help our running game. We don't have any one great talent here like we do at OG, but we enough talent and depth to satsify me.

C:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PB RB AG ST
*William Smith		2.5/4.0 SO 13 14  6 14
Jerry O'Neal		2.5/4.0 SO 13 13  9 10
Patrick Davidson	1.0/1.5 JR  8  7  4  8

Key: PB = pass block, RB = run block, AG = agility, ST = strength, # = redshirting this season.

Will 'gettin jiggy' Smith rounds out a solid OLine, and is the strongest guy on our roster. O'Neal isn't too far behind him and has also seen some time as a starter.

Outlook
Though Aldridge can certainly throw the ball a little and Byrd is a good option at WR, the strength of this offense is definately the running game. We have the players at HB and on the OLine to hopefully do some damage in this department, and will be looking to take advantage of this by lining up wingbacks on a lot of snaps, giving us a dual threat out of the backfield. If Aldridge goes down with an injury we may be forced to cast aside all illusions of a passing game and deploy 4 RBs in the backfield.

DeToxRox · 01-22-2007, 06:23 PM

I'll be keeping an eye on this. I am the Arizona coach and I have contemplated a dynasty about the team, this may put me over the hump.

Groundhog · 01-22-2007, 09:58 PM

Defense:

Note: all ratings are from the 'league scout', as opposed to the ratings from our team scouts.

DE:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PR PA TK SP ST AG
John Gaddy		4.0/4.0	JR 18 13 10 11 10 12
*Bruce Gonzales		2.5/4.0 SO 14 12 13 10 10 10
Scott Berry		1.5/2.5 SO 12 11 10  8  8  6
#Dennis Terry		1.5/3.0 FR 10 12 11  6  9  9
Christopher Lewis	1.5/3.0 FR 12 10 11  6  9  9

Key: PR = pass rush, PA = point of attack, TK = tackle, SP = speed, ST = strength, AG = aggression, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Gaddy's job on my DLine is quite simple: kill the opposing quarterback in whatever painful and cruel ways his heart so desires. Thankfully, he appears to have the right skillset for the job. Gonzales will line up on the other side of the DLine and brings similar skills to the table, though his strength is stopping the run at this point. Berry and Lewis can fill in if needed, and Terry gets a redshirt to help develop his skills, as he should be a contributor in a few years time.

NT:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PR PA TK SP ST AG
*Ron Brown		2.0/3.0 SR 11 13 13  4  9 10
Donald Watson		1.0/1.5 FR 11 10  9  6  7  8
Lewis Collins 		1.0/1.5 SR  9  8 10  7  8  5
Clinton Hall		1.0/2.0 SO  9  9  9  5  7  8
Thomas Greer		1.0/1.0 FR  8  7  8  3  5  6

Key: PR = pass rush, PA = point of attack, TK = tackle, SP = speed, ST = strength, AG = aggression, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Easily the weakest spot on my roster. Thankfully we have the LB strength to run a 3-4 because, outside of mediocre Brown, I want as few of these guys on the field as possible. Brown is adequete against the run, and that's all we'll ask him to be. This will definately be a spot I need to recruit in for next season.

OLB:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PR PA HD TK CV SP ST
*Daniel Roman		2.5/4.0 SO 13 12  8 14 14  9  9
John Barrett		2.5/4.0 FR 12 11 11 12 13  9  9
Stanley Huynh		1.5/2.5 SO 11 10  8 11  9  8  8
Allen Hendrick		1.0/2.0 SR  9  9  6 10  9  7  6
David McDonald		1.0/2.0 SO  9  8  7  9  8  8  8
Anthony Carlisle	1.5/1.5 SR  8  9  8  8  9  8  7
William Geiger		1.0/1.5 JR  9  8  6  8  8  7  6

Key: PR = pass rush, PA = poitn of attack, HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, SP = speed, ST = strength, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

I love the young talent I've got at OLB. Roman was great as a freshman, and is joined this year by another solid true freshman in John Barrett. I'm hoping for big things from both. Huynh has some ability, though the rest of the guys are decidingly poor, but have enough skill to not suck too badly in the limited time on the field they will hopefully see.

ILB:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PR PA HD TK CV SP ST
#Larry Ybarra		3.0/5.0 FR 15 14 11 14 13  9 10
*Grover Sharpe		2.5/3.5 SO 12 12 10 12 14  9  7
*Jaime Jones		2.5/4.0 SO 12 13 12 12 13  9  8
Todd Whiting		1.5/2.0 JR  9 12  9 10 10  6  9
Frank Ware		1.0/2.0 FR  9  7  8  8  8  8  8

Key: PR = pass rush, PA = poitn of attack, HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, SP = speed, ST = strength, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

With the 3-4 we intend to run, the ILB position becomes one of the most crucial on the team. Thankfully we are stocked, even with Ybarra sitting out a year due to transferring schools. Sharpe and Jones give us an amazingly young OLB&ILB lineup, yet the sky is really the limit for these guys. It's going to be an exciting couple of seasons for me and I'm really looking forward to seeing these guys in action.

CB:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR HD TK CV AG SP
John Kim		3.0/4.5 JR 15 16 16 14 11
*Richard Rowe		3.0/3.5 SR 10 12 14 11 11
*Alvin Edwards		3.0/3.0 SR  8 13 15 11  8
Ryan Meyers		1.5/2.5 SR  8 11 10  7 11
Richard Carpenter	1.0/2.0 FR  8  9  8  9  7
Jessie Williams		1.0/1.5 SO  8  9 10 10  7

Key: HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, AG = agility, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Edwards loses his starting spot to Kim (who must have really boomed this past offseason), giving us a solid core of experienced coverage corners. None are terribly quick however, meaning that we risk getting burnt for big plays by speedy recievers.

FS:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR HD TK CV AG SP
#Brian Cox		1.5/3.0 FR  8 11 11 10  8
Tim Lewis		1.5/3.0 SO  7 10 12  8  9
Benjamin Talbot		1.5/2.5 JR  8 10 11  7  6
Eric Smith		1.0/2.0 FR  7  8  9  9  9

Key: HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, AG = agility, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Not quite so rich in the FS spot. Cox will redshirt while Lewis will start thanks to his higher coverage ability.

SS:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR HD TK CV AG SP
David Lutz		1.5/3.5 FR  7 12 11 14  9
Joseph Smith		2.0/3.5 JR  8 13 13  8 10

Key: HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, AG = agility, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

A little better at SS. Joseph Smith has good coverage skills and decent athleticism, while Lutz has the potential to turn in to a Smith clone.

Outlook
I'm pretty happy with this unit. We are well suited for the 3-4 thanks to a solid, if young, linebacker corps and two dependable DEs. I expect some growing pains from the linebackers, and hopefully the more experienced corners will help here. Lack of speed from our corners, and lack of general ability from our safeties, means that we will need to work hard at the LOS to pressure the passer in to making mistakes. I figure if Gaddy tears off the oppossing QBs head before driving his limp, lifeless body in to the turf it will help our passing defense dramatically.

Groundhog · 01-22-2007, 10:36 PM

Special Teams:

Note: all ratings are from the 'league scout', as opposed to the ratings from our team scouts.

K:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR KA KS KL
*Timothy Hernandez	3.0/3.5 JR 13 14 12
Charlie Bradley		1.0/1.5 FR  8  7 12

Key: KA = kick accuracy, KS = kick strength, KL = kickoff length, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Hernandez has been our starter since his freshman year, and performed quite well last year, nailing 27 of 36 FGs, including 4/6 from 50+.

P:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PA PL KL
Edward Custer		2.5/3.0 JR 13 11  4
Willie Darden		2.0/2.5 FR 12 10  7

Key: PA = punt accuracy, PL = punt length, KL = kickoff length, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season.

Custer will get the nod and has the tools to be a decent punter. Darden is young and figures to develop along Custer's lines. Looks like I'm set here for the next 4 seasons.

KR:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR KR AC AG SP
Ryan Meyers		1.5/2.5 SR 17 11  7 11
Richard Rowe		3.0/3.5 SR 17  7 11 11
Donald Hayley		1.0/1.5 SO 15  7  7 10

Key: KR = kick returning, AC = acceleration, AG = agility, SP = speed.

Both Meyers and Rowe returned some kicks last year, and both did well.

PR:

Code:

			Cur/Pot YR PR AC AG SP
John Newby		1.0/2.5 SO 18  8  8  9
Richard Rowe		3.0/3.5 SR 17  7 11 11
Christopher Cook	1.0/2.0 SR 12  6  8  9

Key: PR = punt returning, AC = acceleration, AG = agility, SP = speed.

Newby was great as a freshman punt returner, running in for a TD on one occassion.

Outlook
It's hard to get excited about special teams, but they usually wind up being very important. Key punt/kickoff returns, clutch FGs, and punts inside the 10 all can be game changers. Overall, I'm very happy with my return men, and my kickers will do the job more often than not.

Groundhog · 01-23-2007, 05:00 PM

2008 Schedule

Wk 1: Idaho
Wk 2: Washington
wk 3: -----------
Wk 4: Wyoming
Wk 5: @ Colorado State
Wk 6: @ Brigham Young
Wk 7: Air Force
Wk 8: -----------
Wk 9: @ Texas Christian
Wk 10: San Diego State
Wk 11: New Mexico
Wk 12: -----------
Wk 13: @ UNLV
Wk 14: -----------
Wk 15: Utah State

st.cronin · 01-23-2007, 05:38 PM

Only 3 road games, geez.

Looking forward to Week 9.

Groundhog · 01-23-2007, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Only 3 road games, geez.

Looking forward to Week 9.

Whoops, should be a massive 4!

Looking forward to week 9 as well - it's just a shame that it's one of those 4...

Groundhog · 01-23-2007, 10:26 PM

Week 1 Preview: Utah Utes (0-0) vs Idaho Vandals (0-0)

We kick the season off with what should be a fairly easy home game against the Vandals (knock on wood). The Vandals are starting a true freshman, Matt Bonilla, at QB, and we'll be doing our best to humiliate the kid. He has a decent target at receiver in Hulsey, but his OLine should struggle against my DLine, who will be looked at to pressure Bonilla in to mistakes. I'm confident I have the coverage skills at both CB and LB positions to then take advantage. Idaho's starter at HB is Joseph Ballard who is, to put it somewhat kindly, rather unspectacular. If he manages over 4 yards per carry, I'll be dissapointed.

I'm not expecting a lot of trouble moving the ball on the ground, as our OLine is just plain bigger and stronger than theirs. They do have some talent at linebacker, ILB Michael Quintana in particular likes to get in to the backfield and pressure the QB, but a lack of ability at CB and the safety positions means that we don't have a lot to fear when we go to the air.

Prediction: Utah 34, Idaho 13. We are +17 point favourites.

Game of the Week:

#1 Oklahoma (0-0) @ #21 Ohio State (0-0) - Big matchup this one, with Oklahoma's QB Medina and RB John Billings both stepping in for their first career start against a talented Ohio State defense. Ohio State are being led by a RS freshman QB, and need to show they can put points on the board to win this one. Oklahoma are +5 favourites.

Groundhog · 01-28-2007, 03:39 PM

Week 1 Result: Utah Utes 32, Idaho Vandals 3

Player of the Game: RB J Reynolds

BOX SCORE - I can't figure out a way to paste the html box in to here and keep it looking clean.

A very sloppy 1st half saw us fumble twice, losing it once inside Idaho's 10, and also missing a 20 yard field goal, to see us up 10-0 at half time. We were dominating the game on the ground, thanks in no small part to our OLine (Reiter in particular), but the scoreboard really wasn't showing it. Thankfully in the second half we started to put it together.

Reynolds had a great start to his career with 164 yards (6.07 ypc) on the ground and 2 TDs, and Green and Nolan also did some damage. Hell, even FB Medina broke away for a 29 yard pickup on the ground. Aldridge had a good game as well, throwing 17/25 with 1 TD, a 54 yarder, to go with 0 INTs.

Our D was also pretty solid, giving up just 8 yards rushing, and pressuring Idaho's QB in to some mistakes. DT Gaddy in particular showed what we hope to see more of, picking up a sack and hurrying the QB in to throwing an INT.

Injuries:

A few minor injuries, but also one biggie: On just his second play on the field we lost ILB Grover Sharpe for at least a month. This is a big, big blow. RB P Green had a minor injury, and will be relegated to 3rd RB for next week's game.

Game of the Week Result: Ohio State 35, Oklahoma 28

An upset! Neither team passed the ball well, but Ohio State got things done on the ground, with 2nd HB T Wagner picking up 133 yards off just 15 attempts. Then with the scores tied with just over 3 minutes to go, backup Ohio State quartback E Ralston connected with WR D Johnson for the game winning TD.

Groundhog · 01-28-2007, 03:52 PM

Week 2 Preview: Utah Utes (1-0) vs Washington Huskies (1-0)

Well, stomping Idaho last week sure was fun, but now for the hard part. This Huskies team is very talented, and dismantled Alabama 31-3 last week. Most of that damage was done through the air via talented Huskies QB William Goff, and our secondary will have its hands full today trying to keep him under control.

The Huskies D was also able to shutdown a pretty solid Alabama running game, which is a real worry for us. We will look to mix it up a bit with our mid-range passing game, but I fear we just don't have the talent on either end of the field to keep up with this team, even at home.

Somehow the odds are listed as Even for this game, but I'll be happy if we just keep it close.

Prediction: Washington 38, Utah 20.

Game of the Week:

#4 Miami (1-0) @ #12 Oregon State (1-0)

Miami stomped Cincinnatti thanks to their passing game, while Oregon State racked up 62 points on the hapless Ohio squad. Could be a high scoring game, but Oregon State needs to show that it's D, who gave up 32 points to Ohio, can slow Miami. Miami are 6 point favourites.

st.cronin · 01-28-2007, 06:51 PM

In other conference news, TCU got a victory at West Point, 24-6. This week they are playing at #5 Oklahoma.

Groundhog · 01-29-2007, 05:46 PM

Week 2 Result: Utah Utes 35, Washington Huskes 10

Player of the Game: RB I Nolan (UTAH), 24 att, 114 yds, (4.71ypc), 2 TDs (1 rushing, 1 receiving)

BOX SCORE

Wow. That pretty much sums this game up in a word. A phenomonal effort by every unit. I thought we were in some trouble in the first quarter, as we kept getting the ball deep in our own territory, then Aldridge threw an INT and I was starting to worry. Thankfully we held our own, with our D in particular proving relentless at stopping the run.

Our first breakthrough comes in the 2nd Q when we get the ball in a decent position, and march it down field, scoring off a 15 yd Aldridge TD pass. Both teams then trade possessions before Washington kicks a 35 yard FG. Then we manage to march down field again, this time scoring off a 5 yard dump off to RB J Reynolds to enter the half up 14-3. The 3rd quarter sees both teams shutting down the other, with neither able to put any points on the board. We enter the fourth with a lead, though we are feeling anything but secure.

Then comes the 4th. First Aldridge throws a 61 yd TD pass to WR R. Byrd with 13:33 remaining to make it 21-3. Washington get it back and in 4 snaps put up a TD of their own off a 34 yard pass, 21-10. Uh-oh I think, I really don't want this to turn in to a shootout. Then our return man Ryan Meyers fields the kickoff in our endzone, and runs 98 yards upfield to the Washington 4! A few plays later and Aldridge has TD pass #4, this time a 3 yarder to RB I Nolan. We know that Washington are going to come out throwing, and this is where our D just dominates the game.

First DE J. Gaddy rushes the QB, causing him to throw an interception. We go 3 and out, Washington get it back, yet the pressure continues, this time OLB Roman picks up a roughing the QB penalty after an imcompletion, auto-1st down. The next 3 snaps however see us sack the QB 3 times in a row! The Washington OLine has well and truly crumbled. We get it back and Aldridge guides us down field before Nolan busts out a 36 yd TD run to make it 35-10 with 3:30 left. Even with the game well and truly out of reach we don't quit, with 3 more QB hurries and 1 more sack in the final 3 minutes. Amazing.

Nolan gets Player of the Game, but I probably would have given it to Aldridge, or our combined defensive unit for an amazing 4th Q. Aldridge finished 18/28 for 246 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT. RB Reynolds, our star of last week, had just 34 yards on 12 carries as we looked to Nolan this week. We limited Washington to 31 yards on the ground - a fact that had no small role in our victory.

Injuries:

No new injuries.

Game of the Week Result: Oregon State 62, Miami 13

Another upset, as Oregon State completely destroys Miami, scoring 62 points for the 2nd game in a row. It looks like this Oregon State team is for real. Oregon State QB Deleon threw 5 TDs to 0 INTs to earn player of the game, and Oregon State earnt 616 total yards to Miami's 364. Ouch.

Groundhog · 01-29-2007, 11:29 PM

Week 3 Preview: No game

We have the week off, which gives some of our injured players time to heal. ILB Grover Sharpe is still some weeks off returning to the field, but RB Paul Green should be ready for full time action in week 4, while OT Rodney Munson & FB Russell Smith should be nearly 100%. ILB Frank Ware is questionable with torn cartillage in his elbow, and likely won't be 100% for most of the season, though he will definately play as we lack depth here with Sharpe out.

In some more good news, we actually received some votes this week for the top 25 - 15 votes, in fact. Aldridge also ranks #10 in overall QB rating for the season, while OG R. Reiter is ranked #4 in Key Run Blocks.

Around the Mount West:

San Diego State (2-0) vs Boise State (1-1) - Boise State are +1 favourites.
New Mexico (1-0) @ San Jose State (0-2) - San Jose State are +4 favourites.
Wyoming (1-1) @ New Mexico State (0-1) - Wyoming are +3 favourites.
Brigham Young (1-1) @ Western Michigan (2-0) - BYU are +6 favourites.
Air Force (0-0) vs #19 Ohio State (1-1) - Ohio State are +10 favourites.
Colorado State (0-1) @ Toledo (1-1) - Colorado State are +4 favourites.
UNLV (0-1) vs Indiana (1-1) - UNLV are +7 favourites.

Game of the Week:

#10 Michigan (2-0) @ #8 UCLA (2-0)

Michigan have started the season off well, including a comfortable victory over Notre Dame in Week 1. Wolverines QB John Bridges will probably never be the most accurate passer around, but having a capable RB in Robert Hinson and a solid OLine helps make up for this, though he'll need to play better against UCLA than he did against Akron last week (15/38 att, 2 TDs, 1 INT). It's been the Wolverines D that has probably attributed most to their good start however.

The Bruins are yet to be tested, and have been trialing QBs, with Haynes having the better game of the two against East Carolina. It appears a pretty even matchup on paper, though Michigan are 5 point favourites on the road.

Groundhog · 01-30-2007, 10:35 PM

Week 3 Result: No Game

The off-week allowed some of our players to heal, as was hoped. RB Paul Green is now listed as probable and will return as #2 RB next week, even though Nolan performed well in his absence. OT Munson & FB Smith are also looking OK to play despite not being 100%. Most important however is the status of ILB Grover Sharpe, and he is now listed as doubtful, and we will definately sit him out against Wyoming in week 4, and then re-evaluate his status.

Around the Mount West:

San Diego State defeat Boise State 30-10 - San Diego St. QB A Cummings with a huge game (23/28 att, 3 TD, 0 INT) to power the Aztecs to victory.
New Mexico defeat San Jose State 28-10 - Dominating overall effort to keep New Mexico undefeated after 2 games.
Wyoming lose to New Mexico St 10-19 - A late interception returned 93 yards from within the redzone all the way for a TD destroys Wyoming's chance at the win.
Brigham Young lose to Western Michigan 10-22 - A pretty solid defensive effort from BYU, but they just couldn't put the points on the board to get the win.
Air Force lose to #19 Ohio St 7-17 - Very solid effort from Air Force on the defensive end against a ranked team, but just like BYU, they couldn't put up the points.
Colorado St lose to Toledo 9-30 - Colorado St couldn't get anything going on offence, their QB threw 3 picks, and Toledo had the ball nearly twice as long as they did. Not a great night.
UNLV defeat Indiana 19-10 - Indiana's QB helped them out by having himself a pretty woeful game, but credit must go to the UNLV for pressuring him.

Game of the Week Result: UCLA 28, Michigan 20

Neither QB nor, in Michigan's case, his backups, were able to establish much of a passing game, yet UCLA were able to also limit the run, and that proved the clincher. Michigan's OLine was plain outmatched, allowing far too much pressure on their QBs.

Groundhog · 02-01-2007, 12:01 AM

Week 4 Preview: Utah Utes (2-0) vs Wyoming Cowboys (1-2)

This week sees conference play kickoff, and we welcome Wyoming at home. And by "welcome", I mean "plan to destroy". Wyoming beat Eastern Michigan at home, but has lost twice on the road, once to #21 Wisconsin, and last week to New Mexico State thanks to a costly interception. Their running game has been attrocious thus far at just 1.9ypc, and their QB, junior Robert Spruill, has completed a decent % of passes (55.7%), but has thrown 4 INTs for just 2 TDs, and doesn't have much of an OLine to work with either. We will be looking to really hurt them here, and hopefully our great pass rush from the Washington game shows up again this week.

Offensively we will look to do much the same as we have the first 2 games of the season; work the ball on the ground via our 3-headed RB attack, and air it out with the thus-far great QB play we've been getting out of Aldridge. Wyoming has not yet shown they are particularily good at defending the ground or sky, so we feel confident. Of course, that's what all coaches say right before the big upset loss.

Prediction: Utah 27, Wyoming 13. We are +12 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

UNLV (1-1) @ San Diego State (3-0) - San Diego State are +11 favourites.
Colorado St (0-2) @ TCU (1-1) - TCU are +6 favourites
Air Force (0-1) @ New Mexico (2-0) - New Mexico are +7 favourites.

Game of the Week:

#5 Oregon State (3-0) @ Arizona (1-1)

Why this game? Oregon State QB Lawrence Deleon has been absolutely amazing over the first 3 games of the year, throwing 14 TDs to just 1 INT, already clocking up 1165 yards. Can he keep it up against Arizona in conference play? Arizona's pass D has been pretty decent, and they played well against #2 LSU in week 2, but can they contain an Oregon State team that is putting up 62.0 points per game? Oregon State are +10 point favourites.

Groundhog · 02-01-2007, 11:01 PM

Week 4 Result: Utah Utes 40, Wyoming Cowboys 10

Player of the Game: QB R Aldridge (UTAH), 23/29 CP/AT, 249yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 17yds rushing

BOX SCORE

The very first play of the game sees kick return specialist Ryan Meyers take us to the Wyoming 2, allowing Reynolds to run in one play later to take the early lead. Soon enough we put another TD on the board with an Aldridge pass to make it 14-0, before Wyoming steal a play from our playbook and return our kick to our own 2 yard line and score shortly after. That's as close as it gets though, as Aldridge has a near perfect game to give us the 30 point win.

Still, there was lots NOT to be happy about with this one. We fumbled the ball 4 times, thankfully losing it just once, but this is still troubling. Penalties were a real problem, especially on offense where they saw us called back after two big plays. Worst of all though, I really wasn't happy with our pass D. Just 1 sack and 3 hurries today, and the loss of stud DE Gaddy early in the game played a big part in that.

At the end of the day though, with our QB playing as well as Aldridge did today, and my RBs also contributing as well (Reynolds had 115 yards at 5.23ypc, and Green had 88yds on 6.77ypc), it was always going to be hard to throw this game away. I'll be hoping for a less messy game next week when we hit the road for the first time.

Around the Mount West:

Air Force defeat New Mexico 38-20 - Not at all surprising considering how Air Force performed against Ohio St last week. Not sure why New Mexico was favoured. Air Force could be a handful this season.
San Diego St defeat UNLV 30-20 - San Diego have been getting it done, and are now 4-0. Another team to watch.
TCU defeat Colorado St 16-3 - TCU went with a pounding, run-based attack to defeat hapless Colorado St, but might be a little concerned that their offense didn't manage to score a TD.

Game of the Week Result: Oregon State 41, Arizona 10

Oregon State QB Deleon almost looked mortal against Arizona, mostly thanks to his selfish RBs hogging all the TDs. Arizona are the first team in 4 weeks to be able to claim that they held the Beavers to less than 62 points however, but their offense never got rolling, making it in to the redzone just twice.

Blade6119 · 02-01-2007, 11:14 PM

Im enjoying this so far, best of luck with the rest of the season!

DeToxRox · 02-02-2007, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Game of the Week Result: Oregon State 41, Arizona 10

Oregon State QB Deleon almost looked mortal against Arizona, mostly thanks to his selfish RBs hogging all the TDs. Arizona are the first team in 4 weeks to be able to claim that they held the Beavers to less than 62 points however, but their offense never got rolling, making it in to the redzone just twice.

Damn right. 41 baby! We're world beaters.

st.cronin · 02-03-2007, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhog

TCU defeat Colorado St 16-3 - TCU went with a pounding, run-based attack to defeat hapless Colorado St, but might be a little concerned that their offense didn't manage to score a TD.

More than a little.

Groundhog · 02-03-2007, 10:26 PM

Week 5 Preview: Utah Utes (4-0) @ Colorado State Rams (0-3)

Colorado State has had a rough start to the season, dropping 3 straight and are yet to even score a touchdown. Their QB play hasn't been great, and they have not been able to get anything going on the ground. Defensively they haven't been great either, but no one has put up a big score on them yet. We hope to change that.

Our defense takes a bit of a hit this week as I bring our monster DE Gaddy off the bench due to his injury last week, and ILB Sharpe is still a week or two away from returning, but I'm confident that we have enough depth to not struggle too much. The key will be putting pressure on the QBs, something we struggled to do last week without Gaddy lining up for us. Still, we are currently #1 in the nation at defending against the run (18.3 yards per game), and I'll be dissapointed if we don't shut down their running game.

Offensively I don't anticipate too many problems, and we aren't changing our strategies at all. Aldridge has been on fire all season, which has only helped our running game.

Prediction: Utah 34, Colorado State 12. We are +15 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

UNLV (1-2) @ BYU (1-2) - BYU are +4 favourites.
San Diego St (4-0) @ New Mexico (2-1) - San Diego St are +1 favourites.
Army (1-2) @ Air Force (1-1) - Air Force are +13 favourites.
Arizona (1-2) @ TCU (2-1) - Arizona are +5 favourites.
West Virginia (4-0) @ Wyoming (1-3) - West Virginia are +12 favourites.

Game of the Week:

#2 Texas (4-0) @ #4 Oklahoma (2-1)

A massive matchup this one. Texas have been playing some great football on both ends of the field, and have hardly been challenged in their first 4 games, while Oklahoma dropped a close one to Ohio State to start the year, and have since stomped TCU and Iowa State. Texas are only +1 favourites, but Oklahoma will have to play some great football to stop one of the nation's hottest teams.

Groundhog · 02-05-2007, 06:35 PM

Week 5 Result: Utah Utes 33, Colorado State Rams 14

Player of the Game: SS M Partridge (ColST), 8 tackles, 4 stuffs

BOX SCORE

Our first road game turns out to be a real mixed bag. QB Aldridge scrambled 13 yards early in the 1st Q, only to fumble the ball, and have the Rams return it 45 yards for the TD, their first TD of the season. Not used to being behind, we work it back upfield, getting it to first and goal at the 7 thanks to a defensive pass interference call, yet have to settle for the FG to make it 7-3 at the end of the 1st.

We start to put a bit of a drive together early in the 2nd before RB I Nolan fumbles at the 50. The Rams recover the ball, and their QB A White puts a great drive together through the air, connecting with TE P Gunter for a 30 yard TD pass to put us down 14-3. Uh oh.

We then go 3-and-out, but a great punt puts the Rams at the 10 yard line. Then on 2 straight snaps my linebackers stuff the runner, pinning the Rams at the 4 yard line, before my linebackers get in to the backfield again, this time sacking the QB, who then fumbles in the endzone! The Rams recover, but we tackle them for the safety. 14-5 Rams.

Aldridge, with some help from our RBs, works it down the field pretty casually on the next possession, connecting with WR Byrd for a 3 yard TD pass. 14-12 Rams as the half expires.

We kick to the Rams to start the 2nd half, and they fumble on their first possession to give us the ball on the 6 yard line! 2 plays later and Aldridge connects with Byrd again, and RB P Green runs in for the 2pt conversion, to give us the first lead of the game, 20-12. The rest of the game is all Utah, with a couple of field goals and a nice 25 yard rushing TD from RB Reynolds.

Sloppy fumbles hurt as again and made this game far closer than it should have been. Thankfully we were able to turn it on offensively in the 2nd half to pull away, though Colorado State limited our running game better than anyone else this year has. Player of the Game SS Partridge played a big part in this, stuffing my runners 4 times for losses. Defensively it's obvious to me how much we miss Gaddy on the DLine, and thankfully he'll be back in action as the starter next week. Even though, that one scoring drive aside, Rams QB A White didn't have a great game, we didn't put enough pressure on him considering the talent of his OLine and my DLine.

We need to hold on to the ball and get more from our DLine, especially with a tough matchup coming next week.

Around the Mount West:

BYU defeat UNLV 44-12 - BYU really grinded it out for most of those 44 points.
San Diego St defeat New Mexico 35-19 - San Diego St continue to look real dangerous, off to a 5-0 start.
Air Force defeat Army 24-6 - Closer than I expected, but Air Force still looking good.
TCU lose to Arizona 40-7 - TCU drop a very tough non-conference game.
Wyoming lose to West Virginia 29-27 - Very nearly pulled off the upset thanks to a strong 4th Q, but just ran out of time.

Game of the Week Result: Oklahoma 31, Texas 30

I didn't give Oklahoma much of a chance, but they proved me wrong in a real nail-bitter. Texas had two chances to win the game late in the 4th, but both times QB J Morris threw two bad picks to dash all hopes of a victory.

Groundhog · 02-06-2007, 05:17 PM

Week 6 Preview: Utah Utes (4-0) @ Brigham Young Cougars (2-2)

Another week, another road game. BYU may be 2-2 for the season, but those two losses have been to good teams (#5 Texas and 4-1 Western Michigan), and they figure to be a tough team at home. QB Robert Roman has been filling in for the injured Brent Dunn and has looked more of a threat with the run than the pass, while HB Warren (3.72 ypc, 3 TDs) has been their biggest scoring threat thus far. Despite me saying otherwise in the last post, our DE Gaddy will sit this week out as well, so we will be looking to our linebackers again to keep up the pressure.

Their biggest weapon by far is their defense, which has been great against the run and should provide the biggest test for us. The talent drops off considerably in their secondary, so it's really a matter of our OLine giving my HBs something to work with. We also need to protect Aldridge against a solid pass rushing lineup, because he should definately perform well against this secondary if we can get him some time to make good decisions.

To win this game we will need to score close to 30, because despite an intimidating defense I'm not convinced that these Cougars can put up enough points to beat that, even coming off a 44 point game last week.

Prediction: Utah 27, BYU 20. We are +7 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

TCU (2-2) @ New Mexico (2-2) - New Mexico are +3 favourites. I'd consider TCU the favourite, considering the teams they've lost to.
Colorado St (0-4) @ Air Force (2-1) - Air Force are +9 favourites. I'd say they should be +18.
San Diego St (5-0) @ Wyoming (1-4) - San Diego St are +3 favourites. Only +3? I'd times that by 4.

Game of the Week:

#7 Florida (4-0) @ #2 LSU (5-0)

Only one team will walk away with their perfect start to the season intact, and the odds are with LSU as +9 point favourites at home. The Tigers have been dominating teams offensively, putting up 41.8 points per night, thanks largely to HB Charles Caldwell (141.2 ypg, 6.19ypc, 9 TDs). Florida have been no slouches either, but it's been their defense that has got them to 4-0. They need to slow the LSU running game and prevent it from being a shootout, because that's a game that these Gators likely will not win.

Groundhog · 02-06-2007, 06:49 PM

Week 6 League Review

A third of the way through the season, I figure it might be a good time to take a look around the league.

Top 25 Polls
Media Poll / Coaches Poll

Code:

#   Team	Conf Record	#   Team	Conf Record
1.  USC 	Pac10 	3-0  	1.  UCLA	Pac10	4-0
2.  LSU 	SEC 	5-0     2.  Oklahoma	  B12	3-1
3.  Oklahoma 	B12 	3-1     3.  USC		Pac10	3-0
4.  UCLA 	Pac10 	4-0     4.  LSU		  SEC	5-0
5.  Texas 	B12 	4-1     5.  Texas	  B12	4-1
6.  Oregon St	Pac10 	5-0     6.  Florida	  SEC	4-0
7.  Florida 	SEC 	4-0     7.  Texas A&M	  B12	5-0
8.  Miami 	ACC 	4-1     8.  Miami	  ACC	4-1
9.  Texas A&M 	B12 	5-0     9.  Nebraska	  B12	3-1
10. Nebraska 	B12 	3-1    10.  Oregon St	Pac10	5-0
11. Notre Dame 	Indep 	4-1    11.  Georgia	  SEC	3-1
12. Clemson 	ACC 	3-2    12.  Notre Dame	Indep	4-1
13. Auburn 	SEC 	1-3    13.  Clemson	  ACC	3-2
14. Georgia 	SEC 	3-1    14.  Auburn	  SEC	1-3
15. Michigan 	B10 	4-1    15.  Michigan	  B10	4-1
16. Wash State 	Pac10 	4-1    16.  Wisconsin	  B10	4-1
17. Tennessee 	SEC 	3-1    17.  Wash State	Pac10	4-1
18. California 	Pac10 	2-2    18.  Purdue	  B10	3-1
19. Ohio State 	B10 	3-1    19.  Ohio St	  B10	3-1
20. Purdue 	B10 	3-1    20.  Boston Col	  ACC	3-0
21. Boston Col	ACC 	3-0    21.  Tennessee	  SEC	3-1
22. Wisconsin 	B10 	4-1    22.  California	Pac10	2-2
23. Florida St	ACC 	3-1    23.  Florida St	  ACC	3-1
24. Colorado 	B12 	4-0    24.  Ole Miss	  SEC	3-1
25. Oregon 	Pac10 	3-1    25.  Missouri	  B12	4-1

We got 37 votes for the Media Poll, and 20 for the Coaches Poll. The big conferences dominate both polls as expected, and though it's still too early in conference play to start seperating the true contenders from the pretenders, it would look like Oregon State might be a little under-rated.

Mount West Standings:

Code:

		{   Conf. }  {			Overall			 }
#   Team	W-L  PF  PA  W-L  PF  PA  Streak  Home  Road  Media  Coach  
1.  Air Force	1-0  38  20  2-1  69  43      W2   1-1   1-0    0-1    0-1
2.  TCU		1-0  16   3  2-2  50  84      L1   1-1   1-1    0-1    0-1
3.  BYU		1-0  44  12  2-2  83  98      W1   2-0   0-2    0-1    0-1
4.  SD State    2-0  65	 39  5-0 163  75      W5   2-0   3-0    0-0    0-0
5.  Utah	2-0  73  24  4-0 140  37      W4   3-0   1-0    0-0    0-0
6.  UNLV	0-2  32  74  1-3  57 129      L2   1-0   0-3    0-0    0-0
7.  New Mexico	0-2  39  73  2-2 101  96      L2   1-2   1-0    0-0    0-0
8.  Colorado St 0-2  17  49  0-4  29 103      L4   0-1   0-3    0-0    0-0
9.  Wyoming     0-1  10  40  1-4  79 133      L3   1-1   0-3    0-1    0-1

A conference of two halves. 5 teams that could all compete for the conference championship, but also 4 teams that are all looking pretty awful at this stage. At this point you might say that we and San Diego St are the favourites, but Air Force, TCU, and BYU have all played much tougher schedules.

Award Watch:

A quick look at a couple of the top positionals in the country.

QBs:

One QB truly towers above the rest this year; senior Oregon State QB Lawrence Deleon. His stats so far (120/159 75.5%, 21 TDs, 1 INT, 210.9 rating) have been incredible, and his sole "bad" performance over the first 5 games was a win over Arizona where he "only" threw 2 TDs with 0 ints on 79.2% accuracy. Scary. There is a big drop-off after Deleon, and unless he suddenly turns in to Rex Grossman overnight it's hard to see anyone surpassing him.

RBs:

Unlike the QB position, there have been a number of solid RBs this season. Florida State's Charles Daniels (187.0ypg, 6.39ypc, 5 Rush TDs) has been gaining nearly 200 yards a game on the ground for the Seminoles, but was held to 109 yards against Miami in week 4. Oregon State RB Bobby Cunningham (142.6ypg, 6.73ypc, 8 rushing TDs) is being overshadowed by his QBs stellar play, but you can only wonder the kind of numbers he'd put up if he was the primary option for his team.

WRs:

Miami WR Robert Roberts is blessed with more than just unimaginative parents, he also has a solid pair of hands and rarely drops a pass thrown his way, even if he's yet to make many trips in to the endzone. Texas WR Joshua King certainly hasn't had that problem, and has been the best option for the high-powered Texas offense, bringing in 6 TD catches so far.

Groundhog · 02-06-2007, 10:30 PM

Week 6 Result: Utah Utes 33, Brigham Young Cougars 52

Player of the Game: RB Gerald Warren (BYU) 22 at, 116 yds, 2 TDs

BOX SCORE

Well I'll be damned. This has to be one of the strangest games I've ever seen. We started the game well, with FS Talbot intercepting a pass leading to a great 42 yd TD run by RB Reynolds, but things soon got ugly. A few drives later we punt to the Cougars and return man Miguel Pennington runs it back 70 yards for a TD, 7-7. BYU kicks a FG, and a few drives later we work our own magic with our own return man John Newby taking it 73 yards for his own punt return TD to make it 14-10 heading in to the 2nd.

We kick a FG early in the 2nd Q to make it 17-10, and BYU work it in to the redzone for the first offensive TD of the game, we kick another FG, and BYU work it down field once again to score off a 6 yd TD pass to make it 24-20 BYU heading in to the half.

Again we can't capitalise on decent field position in the 3rd and settle for a field goal, before BYU bust out a 64 yd TD run to make it 32-23, and then intercept one of Aldridges passes and return it 52 yards for another TD to make it 38-23 BYU entering the final quarter.

The game is looking out of reach in the 4th, especially as we have to settle for another FG, when RB Paul Green busts out another crazy run to score on a 66 yd TD run, 38-33 BYU. Just when momentum looks to be on our side, the Cougars throw a 75 yard TD pass, and then shortly after return one of our punts 74 yards - the 3rd special teams TD of the game - to put the game well and truly out of reach.

Overall, this was just a horrible performance by my entire roster. Aldridge was terrible (17/37 200 yds, 1 int), throwing several bad passes, but boy did everyone else lend a hand in the sucking department. Our RBs ended up with OK numbers thanks to some long TD runs, but if I had a dollar for every failed blocking assignment from our OLine men I'd be a rich man. I'm not sure why RB Lehman was even in the game, allowing 4 sacks and dropping a pass, as he is well down on the depth chart, but boy did he kill me at crucial times.

Defensively, those 2 interceptions aside, we allowed BYU QB Hardy to complete 14/18 passes for 2 TDs and 2 INTs, let BYU RB Warren pick up 116 yards (thanks again to a big TD run), and just in general gave up too many big plays. It was really frustrating, because we were rock solid for much of the game, but those couple of big plays we allowed just killed us.

It was special teams that hurt the most though. We allowed 2 punts to be returned for TDs, and that tore the heart out of any hope we had at getting a win tonight.

Around the Mount West:

A pretty crazy week in the Mount West.

New Mexico defeat TCU 18-15 - Heart-breaking loss for TCU, with UNM kicking the game winner with 0:17 left.
Colorado St defeat Air Force 21-20 - Colorado St pull off the surprising win thanks to some solid D. I am really shocked by this result.
San Diego St defeat Wyoming 47-10 - The only result that came out like I thought it would. This week makes San Diego St the undisputed "team to beat" in the Mount West.

Game of the Week Result: LSU 40, Florida 10

21 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter for LSU took the wind out of Florida sails, and it was always going to be a tough ask for Florida to play catch-up on the road against this team. LSU RB Caldwell had a great night with 3 TDs and 215 yards.

Groundhog · 02-08-2007, 06:06 PM

Week 7 Preview: Utah Utes (4-1, 1-1) vs Air Force Falcons (2-2, 1-1)

We return to our home turf this week, looking to put last week's horrible loss behind us and get a win over Air Force, who suffered a dissapointment of their own last week, going down to Colorado State at home. The Falcons have played some good football this season, none better than holding Ohio State to 17 points in their first game of the season.

Defense has been the Falcons strong point thus far. They have a pretty solid DLine, some good corners, and talent at both safety spots. They don't give up a lot of yards through the sky or on the ground. Our OLine needs to play about 200% better this week than we did last week if we are going to get any kind of running game going, and Aldridge needs to bounce back too because these Falcons are much better coverage defenders than he went up against last week.

Falcons QB Feldman was injured early in the game last week, and is listed as questionable. He's played OK aside from his poor showing against Ohio St. RB Flores is a talent and has a pretty solid, if still developing, OLine to work with.

We're going to have our hands full this week. IMO this is a better team than the one we lost to last week, but hopefully being at home will give us the edge. The return of ILB Sharpe will definitely help us on D, but we just need to prevent the big plays that killed us last week. We haven't gone up against the 4-2-5 D that the Falcons run, so that should also be interesting.

Prediction: Utah 34, Air Force 27. We are +6 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

UNLV (1-3) @ TCU (2-3) - TCU are +10 favourites. They should pull this one out, but their offense needs to show up.
New Mexico (3-2) @ Wyoming (1-5) - Even. New Mexico should take this one, even on the road.

Week 7 Game of the Week:

#3 UCLA (5-0) @ #15 Washington St (4-1)

Washington State suffered a dissapointing loss to Houston in week 3, but have done pretty well otherwise with wins against Nebraska and Oregon. Undefeated UCLA is by far their toughest assignment yet. The Bruins haven't been blowing teams out, but they just have kept 4 opponents from scoring more than 10 points, and no one has scored more than 20 on them as yet. Putting points on the board will be the key for Washington State, a task that is much easier said than done against this stingy Bruins D. UCLA are +7 point favourites.

Groundhog · 02-11-2007, 05:15 PM

Week 7 Result: Utah Utes 40, Air Force 14

Player of the Game: RB Paul Green (UTAH) 21 att, 159 yards (7.57ypc), 1 TD

BOX SCORE

Exactly the game we needed after the horrible loss to BYU. Aldridge connected with Elvis Baker for a 31 yard TD pass at the 9:29, then return man John Newby ran a punt return 64 yards for the TD a few mins later, and we never looked back. Air Force ran in two TDs in the 2nd half, but it was never close.

This was an impressive win for us against a team that are a lot better than they looked today in my opinion. As impressive as we were offensively to score 40 points, it was definately our D that won us this game. Our coverage play was excellent, forcing Falcons QB Ira Shepherd in to a particularily bad game (9-28, 237 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs), and limiting dangerman RB Flores to 3.32ypc. ILB Jaime Jones kept up his impressive start, with 2 stuffs to go along with 5-1 tackles.

Offensively we were back to our usual selves, with Paul Green this time doing most of the damage, while Aldridge found his form again.

Around the Mount West:

Wyoming defeat New Mexico 20-6 - Poor showing by New Mexico in just about every area.
UNLV defeat TCU 23-9 - TCU are really struggling to get their offense going.

Week 7 Game of the Week Result: Washington State 21, UCLA 10

Washington State become the first team to score more than 20 points against UCLA thanks to a great 4th quarter that saw them score 14 unanswered points. Neither team's offense was really clicking tonight, but Washington State got it done when they needed it most to hand UCLA their first loss of the season.

Groundhog · 02-11-2007, 05:27 PM

Week 8 Preview: No game

We get the week off, which will come in handy as we have a couple of starters on the OLine nursing some injuries, and DE Gaddy still isn't 100%. Couldn't ask for a better time to have the break, especially with the next 2 weeks seeing us go head to head with human coached teams.

Around the Mount West:

Air Force (2-3) @ UNLV (2-3) - Air Force are +5 favourites. I'm surprised Air Force are just 2-3, and I'd be shocked if they drop this one even on the road.
BYU (3-2) @ Colorado St (1-4) - BYU are +5 favourites. I hope they lose by 40.

TCU (2-4) @ San Diego St (6-0) - San Diego St are +12 favourites. The Aztecs have a new human coach, and unless he rocks the boat too much, they should pull this one out comfortably.

Game of the Week:

#10 Washington St @ #3 Oregon State

Washington State did well against UCLA last week, but can they do it again against perhaps the hottest team in the nation? Oregon State have cooled off slightly the past couple of weeks, and super-QB Deleon was forced to leave the game early last week after getting a little shaken up. Oregon State are +7 favourites at home, and it will take something pretty special for Washington State to pull this one out.

Blade6119 · 02-11-2007, 09:26 PM

Thanks...this dynasty led me to buy the game and join the league. If you ever want to play a game against wisconsin, let me know

Groundhog · 02-11-2007, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blade6119

Thanks...this dynasty led me to buy the game and join the league. If you ever want to play a game against wisconsin, let me know

No probs, I'll have to check if Arlie can give me a commission cut of your purchase.

Definately, remind me again in the scheduling phase, and good luck with your season!

st.cronin · 02-11-2007, 09:44 PM

lookin' forward to the next update

Groundhog · 02-11-2007, 10:01 PM

Week 8 Result: No game

The week off helped heal a few wounds, with both our OLine guys probably able to play next week, and Gaddy is also one week stronger, which is important considering what he gives us on the DLine. ILB Ware, who has battled through his elbow injury all season, is looking much better as well. FS Tim Lewis, who has sat out 2 games, is also looking good to go.

Around the Mid West:

Air Force defeat UNLV 21-17 - UNLV put up a fight, but Air Force collect the hard-fought W.
BYU defeat Colorado St 25-7 - A big 4th Q bailed out BYU in a rather poor showing.
TCU defeat San Diego St 21-17 -Wow! Big upset here! TCU finally get some points on the board thanks to some inspired play from freshman QB Rogers in his first start. San Diego St's first loss of the season, and TCU's first win in 4 weeks.

Game of the Week Result: Washington State 40, Oregon State 23

Washington State do it again! Great back-to-back wins for Washington State against two quality opponents. Oregon State QB Deleon was finally made to look human (11/23at, 224yds, 0 TD, 1 INT), and the Beavers will begin to wonder if teams have finally worked out how to shut him down, or if the Washington State D just took him out of the game.

SnDvls · 02-11-2007, 10:20 PM

just found this thread here Groundhog...great read

I just picked up my first win in the FOFC-BBCF league over Cal

looking forward to reading more.

Groundhog · 02-11-2007, 11:35 PM

Week 9 Preview: Utah Utes (5-1, 2-1) @ TCU Horned Frogs (3-4, 2-2)

Week 9 sees us travelling to the TCU campus for our first ever game against a human-controlled team. TCU have been pretty solid defensively, but have really struggled putting points on the board. Any chance we may have had of under-estimating them was thrown out the window however, as they handed San Diego State their first loss of the season last week thanks largely to the play of Freshman QB Jerry Rogers. Rogers had 3 TD passes in his first ever start, and it looks like he's secured his spot as the starting QB for the Horned Frogs.

TCU are a team that has looked to run more than pass however, so we will need to pressure their OLine and not allow Thomas Hyde (4.06ypc, 62.6ypg) or Mario Soto (3.9ypc, 68.0ypg) to do too much damage on the ground. The plan will be to limit the running game and force TCU's young QB to throw the ball more than the Horned Frogs would like. Easier said than done, of course, especially with how we last performed on the road.

As I mentioned above, the Horned Frogs have been quite good defensively. The have some talent on the DLine, and a very decent secondary. Aldridge struggled on the road against a far worse defense than this. I'm confident that our three-headed running attack will get their yards, but we need to limit turnovers, give Aldridge time to make good decisions, and did I mention limit turnovers?

We are +11 favourites, but I'm expecting this to be an ugly, grindfest of a game. May the team that makes the fewest mistakes win!

Prediction: Utah 24, TCU 20. We are +11 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

Colorado St (1-5) @ San Diego St (6-1) - San Diego St are +11 favourites. Should be an easy recovery game for San Diego St after last week's upset.
New Mexico (3-3) @ UNLV (2-4) - UNLV are +4 favourites. Anyone's game really, though New Mexico have definately shown they possess the ability to dissapoint.
BYU (4-2) @ Wyoming (2-5) - BYU are +9 favourites. The Cougars should cruise through this one, but who knows what might happen on the road.
Air Force (3-3) @ Navy (3-4) - Navy are +1 favourites. While I contend that Air Force are better than their record indicates, Navy has played well against some solid teams (including a 1 point loss to #10 Notre Dame), and might just be too tough.

Game of the Week:

#10 Notre Dame @ #7 USC

A number of good games this week (like #1 LSU @ #13 Auburn, #4 Oklahoma @ #11 Texas A&M), but I like this matchup the most, and don't want to feature Oklahoma yet again! Notre Dame dropped the first game of the season, but have been on a tear ever since. RB Michael Lee (6.46ypc, 109.9ypg) and his OLine have been great, though QB James Peterson has been inconsistent. USC is coming off their first loss of the season against Arizona, and will be hoping that their solid D and strong running attack will prove enough to snare victory. If they have to air it out, they may be in trouble. The odds are listed as even, and this is one that could definately go either way.

Swaggs · 02-12-2007, 12:19 AM

Fun dynasty.

I keep talking myself out of getting BBCF, so I probably shouldn't, but I'll be following.

Groundhog · 02-12-2007, 04:23 PM

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Groundhog · 02-12-2007, 04:43 PM

Week 9 Academic Suspensions:

Although we have suffered some academic suspensions already this year, none have been starters or important subs. That changes this week, with CB John Kim & FS Tim Lewis both letting their grades slip.

Losing John Kim hurts the most. He's my best CB, is 4th on the team in tackles (21), easily leads the team in interceptions (5, next highest is 1), and is yet to allow any big plays. We have some depth here with last year's starter Alvin Edwards thankfully, but our talent level really drops off if we need to field a 3rd corner.

FS Tim Lewis (2 tackles, 1 missed tackle, 2 big plays allowed) started the first 4 games of the season before coming down with an injury, and week 9 was supposed to be his return. We aren't so deep at safety, but Benjamin Talbot has done a good job filling in (8 tackles, 1 interception), and his production in only 3 games and 1 start has already eclipsed Lewis's production, so Talbot may hang on to his starting role even when Lewis returns. Both players are prone to mind-lapses that lead to big plays for the other team however, and safety will be a spot that we look to shore up on in the recruiting phase.

DeToxRox · 02-12-2007, 05:20 PM

I am sick of the Pac 10 being your Games of the Week.

I am sick of the Pac 10 being so good.

Signed,
Disgruntled Arizona Coach

st.cronin · 02-13-2007, 12:17 PM

This week is huge. I consider this the biggest game of the year for us. I am doing everything I can to get my team fired up.

-hc of tcu

Sublime 2 · 02-13-2007, 01:40 PM

LSU will be starting their backup true freshman QB this week against #13 Auburn. Hopefully our RB's help him out!

PS. Should be game of the week! SEC rocks!

Groundhog · 02-13-2007, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by st.cronin

This week is huge. I consider this the biggest game of the year for us. I am doing everything I can to get my team fired up.

-hc of tcu

Ditto. I'm hoping for a close one regardless of the end result.

Groundhog · 02-13-2007, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sublime 2

LSU will be starting their backup true freshman QB this week against #13 Auburn. Hopefully our RB's help him out!

PS. Should be game of the week! SEC rocks!

Wasn't aware of the backup QB situation, but yeah I'll be checking this game out too. I also promise to share the Game of the Week love around a little.

Johnny93g · 02-13-2007, 05:55 PM

I'm coaching Notre Dame, and i just found this dynasty today. Great read, looking forward to the rest of the season. Our game against USC today is our biggest in league history so far. Unfortunatly, our freshman running back Michael Lee won't play. Academic suspension.

Good Luck against TCU!!!

Groundhog · 02-13-2007, 10:57 PM

Week 9 Result: Utah Utes 23, TCU Horned Frogs 27

Player of the Game: WR E Baker (UTAH) 6 Rec, 101 Yards, 2 TDs

BOX SCORE

This was exactly the kind of game I was hoping for. Aside from the final result, that is.

The game started out very poorly, with TCU returning our opening kickoff 98 yards, and running in for the TD shortly after. Neither team gets much going, before TCU put together a drive, thanks mainly to the great scrambling ability of QB J Rogers. We manage to force the FG however to make it 10-0 with 4:14 left in the quarter. Aldridge is looking awful and I'm getting flashbacks to the BYU game again, which is helped all the more when Utah RB Green fumbles the ball at our own 45, and the Horned Frogs return it all the way for a TD. Down 17 nothing.

We come out in the 2nd Q knowing we need to put points on the board. Finally Aldridge finds his rhythm and we work it down field, but can't connect on a 30 yard FG. Thankfully we get the ball back shortly after, work it back up field, and Aldridge spots WR Baker for a 23 yard TD pass. 17-7 TCU, with 8:15 left.

Both our defenses are holding for the most part, but we lose DE Gaddy again and he doesn't return. Hopefully it's nothing serious. Neither team is able to put up any more points in the half, but I really don't like how much pressure TCU is getting on Aldridge - it seems every 2nd snap he is needing to scramble. We enter the half still down 17-7.

We get the ball to start the half, and Aldridge and Reynolds put together some great work in the air and ground to get us near the Red Zone, before RB Green burns TCU SS Edquivel for a TD off a 23 yard pass from Alridge. 17-14.

Both teams trade possessions, we finally get some pressure on the QB, but neither D is giving up very much, before Aldridge hits WR Wilburn for a 28 yarder. We move the ball on the ground, then Aldridge connects with Baker for a 21 yard TD pass to begin the 4th Q, and we have our first lead of the game, 21-17 with 14:34 remaining.

An awful kickoff puts TCU in good field position, and they work it upfield (assisted by a Utah penalty), before Rogers throws a 47 yard TD pass to steal the lead again. The Utah CB that give up the big play? A Edwards, the guy filling in for the suspended Kim.

21-24, TCU.

Return man Rowe gives us great field position off the kick, then Reynolds busts out a 16 yard run, but TCU sack Aldridge to steal momentum away, and we are forced to punt, and we pin the Horned Frogs at the 4 yard line.

We give up some ground, but sack the TCU QB twice to get the ball back, and Newby has another great return to put us near field goal range, at the 33! Alridge then hits RB Nolan for a great pass at the 7 yard line, but he fumbles it and TCU recover! TCU RB Soto just kills us here, moving it on the ground and the Horned Frogs kick a FG to get it to 27-21 TCU with 2:03 remaining, meaning we need a TD, and FAST.

A poor kickoff from TCU which goes out of bounds gets us the ball at the 40. For some reason backup QB Saunders takes a few snaps, but Aldridge hits freshman WR Wilburn for a 28 yard pass that gets us to the 17 yard line with 0:56 left. First snap, incomplete pass. Second snap, Aldridge is sacked. Third snap, incomplete pass. 4th down, with the game on the line, Alridge lobs a pass to Wilburn who DROPS IT. TCU take a knee, and that's the game.

Needless to say, it's a very dissapointing loss for us. A fumble and poor special teams coverage put us in a 17-0 hole to start the game, and it was always going to be tough to come back from that. TCU's defense against the run was definately as tough as advertised. Reynolds had some nice runs, but we just didn't dominate the ground like we usually do. Aldridge had a rough 1st Q but really improved as the game went along, and I really wish we'd used him a little more instead of some of those unimaginative 3rd and long running plays we called today.

At the end of the day though, TCU made us play their style of game, and that's why they won. TCU QB J Rogers only threw the ball 15 times (5 completions & 1 TD), and when they needed the yards for the first down at crucial times, TCU RB Soto got it done. Their D was rock solid, and OLB M Smith was a monster and should have been player of the game IMO, with 10 tackles, 1 sack, 2 stuffs, a hurry, and a forced fumble.

Congrats to TCU, it was a fantastic start to this rivalry and I look forward to the next time we meet!

Around the Mount West:

TCU are right back in the conference picture with 2 straight wins after a shakky start, while Utah and BYU take a hit.

San Diego St defeat Colorado St 24-13 - San Diego St bounce back against Colorado State, but it was probably a tougher game than they would have liked.
UNLV defeat New Mexico 20-13 - Nothing much to write home about. Mediocre performance by both team's offenses.
Wyoming defeat BYU 34-0 - Um, wow. As happy as I am to see BYU go down, I never expected such a margin. BYU's QBs all had woeful games.
Navy defeat Air Force 13-6 - Navy were too tough in this ugly game.

Game of the Week Result: USC 22, Notre Dame 21

16 unanswered points in the 4th Q tears the heart out of Notre Dame, with the final clincher being a 33 yard FG with :48 left to take the game. The real killer though was a 70 yard fumble return for a USC TD with 6:15 left. Notre Dame had pretty thoroughly outplayed USC for 3 quarters, but just couldn't get it done when it came down to the crunch.

st.cronin · 02-13-2007, 11:13 PM

Good luck the rest of the way, Sir. I hope we both win out.

Groundhog · 02-15-2007, 05:55 PM

Week 10 Preview: Utah Utes (5-2, 3-2) vs San Diego St Aztecs (7-1, 4-1)

We return to the safety of our own home this week to take on the current #1 team in the Mount West. This is really a must win game for us to keep our conference champs hopes alive after last week's loss, as we are now tied 3rd with TCU.

The Aztecs started out 6-0 before being stunned by TCU 2 weeks ago, but bounced back with a win over Colorado State last week. Their offense is one of the better in the nation, and defensively they have been very good as well. A quick glance at their schedule reveals that they haven't had as strong a schedule as the other teams battling it out for first place in the Mount West, so we'll be hoping we can follow TCU's example and take it to these guys.

Aztecs QB Adam Cummings has had a good year with the exception of one game, and we'll be looking to try and make that two games after tonight. He's a different QB to the ones we've faced this year, blessed with a strong arm and good instincts but lacking great touch or accuracy. Even so, the Aztecs tend to run a lot of short passes, which I think plays to our strengths thanks to our talented group of linebackers.

The Aztecs have little in the way of a running game. Freshman Joseph Schmid leads the attack on the ground and has had some good games thanks largely to his foot speed, but he's coming off two ordinary games, and I'm pretty confident we can keep him under control.

Defensively the Aztecs are lead by OLB Larry Charles, who is a solid tackler and loves getting in to the backfield and pressuring the QB. Outside of Charles they are a little thin on standout talent, but as a team play pretty solid D. We will definately be looking to gain yardage on the ground today, as it should come easier than it did last week against TCU.

As I said before, this is a must win game. We want nothing less than the conference championship this year, and to make that happen we can't drop any more games, especially not to contenders.

Prediction: Utah 27, San Diego St 20. We are +5 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

TCU (4-4) @ Wyoming (3-5) - Wyoming are +1 favourites. The bookies obviously haven't watched TCU's last 2 games.
Air Force (3-4) @ BYU (4-3) - BYU are +1 favourites. BYU were humiliated last week, and might be again this week by Air Force.
UNLV (3-4) @ Colorado St (1-6) - Colorado St are +2 favourites. My money would be on UNLV.

Game of the Week:

#13 Florida St (5-2) @ #22 NC State (6-2)

The Atlantic division of the ACC is wide open at this point, and a win here would be big for either teams, and would move the winner in to top spot. Florida St had been having a very nice season but need to bounce back after a home loss to Clemson last week. RB Charles Daniels has been playing solid all year, but this NC State D loves shutting down the run, and that might be the key today. NC State QB Bobby Wallace is hobbled, and if he doesn't play that could be a problem for NC State. Florida State are +2 favourites on the road.

Groundhog · 02-15-2007, 11:00 PM

Week 10 Result: Utah Utes 17, San Diego St 30

Player of the Game: RB J Reynolds (UTAH) 24 AT, 232 Yds, 9.67ypc, 1 TD

BOX SCORE

A very, very bad loss, and one that makes it very difficult - though not impossible - to clinch the conference. Things started well enough for us, with us working it down field on the first possession of the game before Aldridge threw a TD pass... only to have it called back on a holding penalty. No problem however, as he connects with WR Baker on the next play for the TD to give us the lead to open.

This is pretty much the end of our luck, as San Diego State get the ball in good positions thanks to an awful kickoff, then connect on a 52 yard TD pass to level the scores. Then lost fumbles, dropped passes, sacked QBs, and interceptions become the order of the day, but none of our offensive bloopers are as frustrating or damaging as our inability to stop the big play.

It seemed nearly every time we'd get the Aztecs in a 3rd and long positions, they'd either throw a 20+ yard pass, or bust out for a 30 yard run. This was the same problem that plagued us last week against TCU, and it's a real worry. The loss of Kim at CB is really having a big effect on our team. We are getting the stops most of the time, but it's all being negated by these big plays.

Reynolds had a good night for us, but Aldridge threw 3 picks for just 1 TD. Two of this picks were after he was forced to get rid of it under pressure however, so the OLine shares the blame on those.

Congrats to the Aztecs though. They got the big plays when they needed them, and hang on to the #1 spot in the conference.

Around the Mount West:

TCU defeat Wyoming 20-10 - TCU on a roll now with 3 in a row, and are a real chance if they can keep it up.
BYU defeat Air Force 44-3 - BYU QB Hardy with a great game, and the Falcons just couldn't do anything to stop him.
UNLV defeat Colorado St 13-6 - UNLV suck the least, and pull out the win.

Game of the Week Result: NC State 16, Florida St 3

Not even a monster night from Florida State DE Daniel Pena (5 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 stuffs, 2 hurries) could motivate the Seminoles tonight, as they fall to NC State in a low scoring, and largely unspectacular, matchup.

st.cronin · 02-15-2007, 11:04 PM

woot!

Groundhog · 02-18-2007, 05:26 PM

Week 11 Preview: Utah Utes (5-3, 3-3) vs New Mexico Lobos (3-4, 1-4)

The past 2 weeks have been dreadful for our conference title hopes, and we really need to bounce back this week. This may just be the game to do it in as well, with the woeful Lobos paying us a visit at home. The Lobos struggle to put points on the board, and fielding a QB that throws for for 41.8% accuracy probably plays a large part in that, but the biggest issue is probably their lack of experience. These Lobos will be a force in a season or two, but right now they are a little too green on both sides of the field to string together consistent performances.

Having said that though, they have more talent than they have shown, and with the ability we've shown to give up big plays and turn the ball over at key points of the game, I have no doubt that we'll do everything in our power to make this a closer game than it should be.

Prediction: Utah 34, New Mexico 27. We are +12 Favourites.

Around the Mount West:
A huge week in the Mount West. TCU need to keep winning to stay in the run for the title, but the biggest game of the week is BYU @ San Diego State. Whoever walks away with the win from that game will be hard to overtake.

TCU (5-4, 4-2) @ Air Force (3-5, 2-3) - Air Force are +2 favourites.
Wyoming (3-6, 2-3) @ UNLV (4-4, 3-3) - UNLV are +3 favourites.
BYU (5-3, 4-1) @ San Diego State (8-1, 5-1) - BYU are +3 favourites.

Game of the Week:

BYU (5-3) @ San Diego State (8-1)

I'm going to be selfish this week and award the game to a Mount West showdown that may very well decide the conference winner. BYU have looked great in conference play, though suffered a pretty major humilation when they were drubbed 34-0 by Wyoming. San Diego State also suffered a big setback with a loss to the surging Horned Frogs a few weeks ago, though they should have too much on both sides of the field for BYU today, especially at home. BYU are +3 favourites surprisingly, but my money is on San Diego State.

01-22-2007, 10:36 PM	#6
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Special Teams: Note: all ratings are from the 'league scout', as opposed to the ratings from our team scouts. K: Code: Cur/Pot YR KA KS KL Timothy Hernandez 3.0/3.5 JR 13 14 12 Charlie Bradley 1.0/1.5 FR 8 7 12 Key: KA = kick accuracy, KS = kick strength, KL = kickoff length, = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Hernandez has been our starter since his freshman year, and performed quite well last year, nailing 27 of 36 FGs, including 4/6 from 50+. P: Code: Cur/Pot YR PA PL KL Edward Custer 2.5/3.0 JR 13 11 4 Willie Darden 2.0/2.5 FR 12 10 7 Key: PA = punt accuracy, PL = punt length, KL = kickoff length, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Custer will get the nod and has the tools to be a decent punter. Darden is young and figures to develop along Custer's lines. Looks like I'm set here for the next 4 seasons. KR: Code: Cur/Pot YR KR AC AG SP Ryan Meyers 1.5/2.5 SR 17 11 7 11 Richard Rowe 3.0/3.5 SR 17 7 11 11 Donald Hayley 1.0/1.5 SO 15 7 7 10 Key: KR = kick returning, AC = acceleration, AG = agility, SP = speed. Both Meyers and Rowe returned some kicks last year, and both did well. PR: Code: Cur/Pot YR PR AC AG SP John Newby 1.0/2.5 SO 18 8 8 9 Richard Rowe 3.0/3.5 SR 17 7 11 11 Christopher Cook 1.0/2.0 SR 12 6 8 9 Key: PR = punt returning, AC = acceleration, AG = agility, SP = speed. Newby was great as a freshman punt returner, running in for a TD on one occassion. Outlook It's hard to get excited about special teams, but they usually wind up being very important. Key punt/kickoff returns, clutch FGs, and punts inside the 10 all can be game changers. Overall, I'm very happy with my return men, and my kickers will do the job more often than not. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

01-29-2007, 05:46 PM	#14
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 2 Result: Utah Utes 35, Washington Huskes 10 Player of the Game: RB I Nolan (UTAH), 24 att, 114 yds, (4.71ypc), 2 TDs (1 rushing, 1 receiving) BOX SCORE Wow. That pretty much sums this game up in a word. A phenomonal effort by every unit. I thought we were in some trouble in the first quarter, as we kept getting the ball deep in our own territory, then Aldridge threw an INT and I was starting to worry. Thankfully we held our own, with our D in particular proving relentless at stopping the run. Our first breakthrough comes in the 2nd Q when we get the ball in a decent position, and march it down field, scoring off a 15 yd Aldridge TD pass. Both teams then trade possessions before Washington kicks a 35 yard FG. Then we manage to march down field again, this time scoring off a 5 yard dump off to RB J Reynolds to enter the half up 14-3. The 3rd quarter sees both teams shutting down the other, with neither able to put any points on the board. We enter the fourth with a lead, though we are feeling anything but secure. Then comes the 4th. First Aldridge throws a 61 yd TD pass to WR R. Byrd with 13:33 remaining to make it 21-3. Washington get it back and in 4 snaps put up a TD of their own off a 34 yard pass, 21-10. Uh-oh I think, I really don't want this to turn in to a shootout. Then our return man Ryan Meyers fields the kickoff in our endzone, and runs 98 yards upfield to the Washington 4! A few plays later and Aldridge has TD pass #4, this time a 3 yarder to RB I Nolan. We know that Washington are going to come out throwing, and this is where our D just dominates the game. First DE J. Gaddy rushes the QB, causing him to throw an interception. We go 3 and out, Washington get it back, yet the pressure continues, this time OLB Roman picks up a roughing the QB penalty after an imcompletion, auto-1st down. The next 3 snaps however see us sack the QB 3 times in a row! The Washington OLine has well and truly crumbled. We get it back and Aldridge guides us down field before Nolan busts out a 36 yd TD run to make it 35-10 with 3:30 left. Even with the game well and truly out of reach we don't quit, with 3 more QB hurries and 1 more sack in the final 3 minutes. Amazing. Nolan gets Player of the Game, but I probably would have given it to Aldridge, or our combined defensive unit for an amazing 4th Q. Aldridge finished 18/28 for 246 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT. RB Reynolds, our star of last week, had just 34 yards on 12 carries as we looked to Nolan this week. We limited Washington to 31 yards on the ground - a fact that had no small role in our victory. Injuries: No new injuries. Game of the Week Result: Oregon State 62, Miami 13 Another upset, as Oregon State completely destroys Miami, scoring 62 points for the 2nd game in a row. It looks like this Oregon State team is for real. Oregon State QB Deleon threw 5 TDs to 0 INTs to earn player of the game, and Oregon State earnt 616 total yards to Miami's 364. Ouch. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 01-29-2007 at 05:47 PM.

01-30-2007, 10:35 PM	#16
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 3 Result: No Game The off-week allowed some of our players to heal, as was hoped. RB Paul Green is now listed as probable and will return as #2 RB next week, even though Nolan performed well in his absence. OT Munson & FB Smith are also looking OK to play despite not being 100%. Most important however is the status of ILB Grover Sharpe, and he is now listed as doubtful, and we will definately sit him out against Wyoming in week 4, and then re-evaluate his status. Around the Mount West: San Diego State defeat Boise State 30-10 - San Diego St. QB A Cummings with a huge game (23/28 att, 3 TD, 0 INT) to power the Aztecs to victory. New Mexico defeat San Jose State 28-10 - Dominating overall effort to keep New Mexico undefeated after 2 games. Wyoming lose to New Mexico St 10-19 - A late interception returned 93 yards from within the redzone all the way for a TD destroys Wyoming's chance at the win. Brigham Young lose to Western Michigan 10-22 - A pretty solid defensive effort from BYU, but they just couldn't put the points on the board to get the win. Air Force lose to #19 Ohio St 7-17 - Very solid effort from Air Force on the defensive end against a ranked team, but just like BYU, they couldn't put up the points. Colorado St lose to Toledo 9-30 - Colorado St couldn't get anything going on offence, their QB threw 3 picks, and Toledo had the ball nearly twice as long as they did. Not a great night. UNLV defeat Indiana 19-10 - Indiana's QB helped them out by having himself a pretty woeful game, but credit must go to the UNLV for pressuring him. Game of the Week Result: UCLA 28, Michigan 20 Neither QB nor, in Michigan's case, his backups, were able to establish much of a passing game, yet UCLA were able to also limit the run, and that proved the clincher. Michigan's OLine was plain outmatched, allowing far too much pressure on their QBs. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 01-30-2007 at 10:36 PM.

02-01-2007, 12:01 AM	#17
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 4 Preview: Utah Utes (2-0) vs Wyoming Cowboys (1-2) This week sees conference play kickoff, and we welcome Wyoming at home. And by "welcome", I mean "plan to destroy". Wyoming beat Eastern Michigan at home, but has lost twice on the road, once to #21 Wisconsin, and last week to New Mexico State thanks to a costly interception. Their running game has been attrocious thus far at just 1.9ypc, and their QB, junior Robert Spruill, has completed a decent % of passes (55.7%), but has thrown 4 INTs for just 2 TDs, and doesn't have much of an OLine to work with either. We will be looking to really hurt them here, and hopefully our great pass rush from the Washington game shows up again this week. Offensively we will look to do much the same as we have the first 2 games of the season; work the ball on the ground via our 3-headed RB attack, and air it out with the thus-far great QB play we've been getting out of Aldridge. Wyoming has not yet shown they are particularily good at defending the ground or sky, so we feel confident. Of course, that's what all coaches say right before the big upset loss. Prediction: Utah 27, Wyoming 13. We are +12 favourites. Around the Mount West: UNLV (1-1) @ San Diego State (3-0) - San Diego State are +11 favourites. Colorado St (0-2) @ TCU (1-1) - TCU are +6 favourites Air Force (0-1) @ New Mexico (2-0) - New Mexico are +7 favourites. Game of the Week: #5 Oregon State (3-0) @ Arizona (1-1) Why this game? Oregon State QB Lawrence Deleon has been absolutely amazing over the first 3 games of the year, throwing 14 TDs to just 1 INT, already clocking up 1165 yards. Can he keep it up against Arizona in conference play? Arizona's pass D has been pretty decent, and they played well against #2 LSU in week 2, but can they contain an Oregon State team that is putting up 62.0 points per game? Oregon State are +10 point favourites. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-01-2007, 11:01 PM	#18
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 4 Result: Utah Utes 40, Wyoming Cowboys 10 Player of the Game: QB R Aldridge (UTAH), 23/29 CP/AT, 249yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 17yds rushing BOX SCORE The very first play of the game sees kick return specialist Ryan Meyers take us to the Wyoming 2, allowing Reynolds to run in one play later to take the early lead. Soon enough we put another TD on the board with an Aldridge pass to make it 14-0, before Wyoming steal a play from our playbook and return our kick to our own 2 yard line and score shortly after. That's as close as it gets though, as Aldridge has a near perfect game to give us the 30 point win. Still, there was lots NOT to be happy about with this one. We fumbled the ball 4 times, thankfully losing it just once, but this is still troubling. Penalties were a real problem, especially on offense where they saw us called back after two big plays. Worst of all though, I really wasn't happy with our pass D. Just 1 sack and 3 hurries today, and the loss of stud DE Gaddy early in the game played a big part in that. At the end of the day though, with our QB playing as well as Aldridge did today, and my RBs also contributing as well (Reynolds had 115 yards at 5.23ypc, and Green had 88yds on 6.77ypc), it was always going to be hard to throw this game away. I'll be hoping for a less messy game next week when we hit the road for the first time. Around the Mount West: Air Force defeat New Mexico 38-20 - Not at all surprising considering how Air Force performed against Ohio St last week. Not sure why New Mexico was favoured. Air Force could be a handful this season. San Diego St defeat UNLV 30-20 - San Diego have been getting it done, and are now 4-0. Another team to watch. TCU defeat Colorado St 16-3 - TCU went with a pounding, run-based attack to defeat hapless Colorado St, but might be a little concerned that their offense didn't manage to score a TD. Game of the Week Result: Oregon State 41, Arizona 10 Oregon State QB Deleon almost looked mortal against Arizona, mostly thanks to his selfish RBs hogging all the TDs. Arizona are the first team in 4 weeks to be able to claim that they held the Beavers to less than 62 points however, but their offense never got rolling, making it in to the redzone just twice. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 02-01-2007 at 11:04 PM.

01-22-2007, 06:04 PM	#2
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	The 2008 Season 2008 Season I joined the league too late to be able to set my coaching staff, recruiting service, and - perhaps worst of all - my off/def strategies. My coaching staff is pretty woeful on both offense and defence, though my special teams coach is OK, so even if we don't score any TDs or stop anyone we can sleep easy knowing our punter will be in fine form. Our recruiting service is the one I would have selected, being average at scouting the region I'm located in. On offense we are, for better or worse, running the option. This is definately not what I would have selected, but it gives us the ability to run wingbacks on a number of formations which may not be such a bad thing for us as that is a strength. On D we will be running a 3-4 which is exactly what I would have selected for this roster. We have some talented linebackers and DEs, but nothing much in the way of DTs. Expectations We are the preseason favourites in the Mount West, and looking at our roster I think that's probably fair. Any other coach in the nation could probably take out the conference with this squad. Unfortunately for Utah University, its athletics department, and its supporters, they are stuck with me. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

01-22-2007, 06:21 PM	#3
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Offense: Note: all ratings are from the 'league scout', as opposed to the ratings from our team scouts. QB: Code: Cur/Pot YR AS PA PT RN HD IN Raymond Aldridge 2.5/3.0 SR 10 13 12 10 4 10 #Eddie Mays 1.0/2.5 FR 7 7 9 14 9 12 Albert Saunders 1.5/2.5 FR 8 9 9 12 8 9 Freddie James 1.0/2.0 SO 9 10 11 5 3 7 Herman Maddox 1.0/1.0 JR 7 7 9 8 3 7 Key: AS = arm strength, PA = pass accuracy, PT = pass touch, RN = running, HD = hands, IN = instincts. = starter last season. # = redshirting this season. Aldridge has no real competition here, and easily maintains his starting spot. He's coming off a decent junior year (55.7%, 16-12 tds/int) and should be well suited to the mid-range passing game we are looking to run this year. If Aldridge goes down we are in a bit of trouble. James is our best passing option, but his lack of instincts, slow feet, and poor hands trouble me. Saunders can scramble a little, has average accuracy, better instincts, and will be QB #2 for me over James. Mays, a potentially great scrambler, will redshirt, and god help us if Maddox has to line up behind center. RB: Code: Cur/Pot YR RN HD RR AC AG SP ST Jeffrey Reynolds 3.5/5.0 SO 16 13 13 14 10 10 10 Paul Green 3.5/4.5 SR 13 14 11 11 15 12 7 Isaac Nolan 2.5/4.5 FR 13 13 8 12 10 14 6 Christopher Lehman 2.5/3.0 SR 12 13 10 9 11 7 6 Thomas Richardson 1.5/3.0 SO 11 12 10 9 9 9 6 Kevin Blanchard 1.5/2.5 FR 12 10 8 6 10 8 5 Key: RN = running, HD = hands, RR = route running, AC = acceleration, AG = agility, SP = speed, ST = strength, = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Well, we are well stocked here. Green started last season and did well, but Reynolds looks like a stud and will start the year, though I plan on sharing the carries. Nolan is too good to waste as a 3rd RB, but we don't want to risk him transferring because of a redshirt request, so we'll need to find him time. We will be using wingbacks in a decent percentage of our formations, so this will help get Green, Nolan and Lehman some time on the field. Still, it's not a terrible problem to have, and Richardson and Blanchard aren't so bad either should we ever need them. FB: Code: Cur/Pot YR RN HD RR RB Randolph Medina 3.0/3.5 JR 11 10 10 13 Russell Smith 2.0/3.0 JR 11 11 8 14 Jim Glenn 1.0/2.0 JR 8 8 8 10 Key: RN = running, HD = hands, RR = route running, RB = run blocking, = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Medina, a JuCo recruit, wins out, but it's close. Smith is a better run blocker, but Medina is stronger running routes, and the better athlete. Jim Glenn is only rated 1 overall higher than myself at playing the FB position. WR: Code: Cur/Pot YR HD RR AC SP Robert Byrd 3.5/4.5 JR 15 16 12 12 Elvis Baker 2.5/3.5 SR 13 13 9 10 Dewey Wilburn 2.5/3.5 FR 10 11 12 15 #Richard Chaffin 2.0/3.5 FR 11 12 10 13 John Newby 1.0/2.5 SO 9 9 8 9 Christopher Cook 1.0/2.0 SR 10 9 6 9 Steven Williams 1.0/1.5 SR 7 9 5 6 Key: HD = hands, RR = route running, AC = acceleration, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Byrd and Baker give us two experienced options at WR. Neither is particularily quick, but both don't drop a lot of passes, and won't be asked to gun down the field too often (hopefully). Wilburn has some quicks however, and will line up as our 3rd WR. TE: Code: Cur/Pot YR HD RR PB RB #James Evans 2.5/4.0 SO 14 13 12 13 William Holcomb 2.0/3.5 JR 13 9 11 10 Marcel Wilhelm 1.0/1.5 JR 7 9 8 8 Frankie Barrera 1.0/2.5 FR 9 7 7 10 Key: HD = hands, RR = route running, PB = pass block, RB = run block, # = redshirting this season. Holcomb is a decent blocker and an option for the odd pass or two. Wilhelm isn't much of anything, and Barrera isn't much now but has some potential. James Evans is a transfer and is sitting the year out. OG: Code: Cur/Pot YR PB RB AG ST Randy Reiter 3.5/5.0 JR 16 18 7 13 Eugene Fitzpatrick 2.0/4.0 FR 12 13 7 10 Michael Phillips 1.5/3.5 FR 12 12 7 10 Leonard Heath 1.5/2.5 SO 11 11 4 9 Ian McElroy 1.0/2.5 JR 10 10 6 9 Scott Babb 1.0/1.5 SO 8 10 3 9 Key: PB = pass block, RB = run block, AG = agility, ST = strength, # = redshirting this season. Reiter is a monster, and should be one of the best OGs in the conference. We'll be running our RBs his way as much as possible. Fitzpatrick aint too shabby either, and there is some depth here with true freshman Phillips. I'd love to redshirt him but don't want to risk him leaving. OT: Code: Cur/Pot YR PB RB AG ST Joseph Steele 3.0/4.0 JR 13 15 7 13 Louis Akers 2.5/4.0 SO 13 14 6 12 Rodney Munson 2.0/4.0 FR 14 12 6 9 Stanley Rangel 1.5/3.0 SO 11 12 5 12 #Brad Carr 1.5/3.5 FR 12 10 6 11 Devin Greene 1.0/2.0 JR 7 10 7 8 Key: PB = pass block, RB = run block, AG = agility, ST = strength, # = redshirting this season. We return two starters in Steele and Akers, and both guys will help our running game. We don't have any one great talent here like we do at OG, but we enough talent and depth to satsify me. C: Code: Cur/Pot YR PB RB AG ST William Smith 2.5/4.0 SO 13 14 6 14 Jerry O'Neal 2.5/4.0 SO 13 13 9 10 Patrick Davidson 1.0/1.5 JR 8 7 4 8 Key: PB = pass block, RB = run block, AG = agility, ST = strength, # = redshirting this season. Will 'gettin jiggy' Smith rounds out a solid OLine, and is the strongest guy on our roster. O'Neal isn't too far behind him and has also seen some time as a starter. Outlook* Though Aldridge can certainly throw the ball a little and Byrd is a good option at WR, the strength of this offense is definately the running game. We have the players at HB and on the OLine to hopefully do some damage in this department, and will be looking to take advantage of this by lining up wingbacks on a lot of snaps, giving us a dual threat out of the backfield. If Aldridge goes down with an injury we may be forced to cast aside all illusions of a passing game and deploy 4 RBs in the backfield. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

01-22-2007, 06:23 PM	#4
DeToxRox Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Michigan	I'll be keeping an eye on this. I am the Arizona coach and I have contemplated a dynasty about the team, this may put me over the hump.

01-22-2007, 09:58 PM	#5
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Defense: Note: all ratings are from the 'league scout', as opposed to the ratings from our team scouts. DE: Code: Cur/Pot YR PR PA TK SP ST AG John Gaddy 4.0/4.0 JR 18 13 10 11 10 12 Bruce Gonzales 2.5/4.0 SO 14 12 13 10 10 10 Scott Berry 1.5/2.5 SO 12 11 10 8 8 6 #Dennis Terry 1.5/3.0 FR 10 12 11 6 9 9 Christopher Lewis 1.5/3.0 FR 12 10 11 6 9 9 Key: PR = pass rush, PA = point of attack, TK = tackle, SP = speed, ST = strength, AG = aggression, = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Gaddy's job on my DLine is quite simple: kill the opposing quarterback in whatever painful and cruel ways his heart so desires. Thankfully, he appears to have the right skillset for the job. Gonzales will line up on the other side of the DLine and brings similar skills to the table, though his strength is stopping the run at this point. Berry and Lewis can fill in if needed, and Terry gets a redshirt to help develop his skills, as he should be a contributor in a few years time. NT: Code: Cur/Pot YR PR PA TK SP ST AG Ron Brown 2.0/3.0 SR 11 13 13 4 9 10 Donald Watson 1.0/1.5 FR 11 10 9 6 7 8 Lewis Collins 1.0/1.5 SR 9 8 10 7 8 5 Clinton Hall 1.0/2.0 SO 9 9 9 5 7 8 Thomas Greer 1.0/1.0 FR 8 7 8 3 5 6 Key: PR = pass rush, PA = point of attack, TK = tackle, SP = speed, ST = strength, AG = aggression, = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Easily the weakest spot on my roster. Thankfully we have the LB strength to run a 3-4 because, outside of mediocre Brown, I want as few of these guys on the field as possible. Brown is adequete against the run, and that's all we'll ask him to be. This will definately be a spot I need to recruit in for next season. OLB: Code: Cur/Pot YR PR PA HD TK CV SP ST Daniel Roman 2.5/4.0 SO 13 12 8 14 14 9 9 John Barrett 2.5/4.0 FR 12 11 11 12 13 9 9 Stanley Huynh 1.5/2.5 SO 11 10 8 11 9 8 8 Allen Hendrick 1.0/2.0 SR 9 9 6 10 9 7 6 David McDonald 1.0/2.0 SO 9 8 7 9 8 8 8 Anthony Carlisle 1.5/1.5 SR 8 9 8 8 9 8 7 William Geiger 1.0/1.5 JR 9 8 6 8 8 7 6 Key: PR = pass rush, PA = poitn of attack, HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, SP = speed, ST = strength, = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. I love the young talent I've got at OLB. Roman was great as a freshman, and is joined this year by another solid true freshman in John Barrett. I'm hoping for big things from both. Huynh has some ability, though the rest of the guys are decidingly poor, but have enough skill to not suck too badly in the limited time on the field they will hopefully see. ILB: Code: Cur/Pot YR PR PA HD TK CV SP ST #Larry Ybarra 3.0/5.0 FR 15 14 11 14 13 9 10 Grover Sharpe 2.5/3.5 SO 12 12 10 12 14 9 7 Jaime Jones 2.5/4.0 SO 12 13 12 12 13 9 8 Todd Whiting 1.5/2.0 JR 9 12 9 10 10 6 9 Frank Ware 1.0/2.0 FR 9 7 8 8 8 8 8 Key: PR = pass rush, PA = poitn of attack, HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, SP = speed, ST = strength, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. With the 3-4 we intend to run, the ILB position becomes one of the most crucial on the team. Thankfully we are stocked, even with Ybarra sitting out a year due to transferring schools. Sharpe and Jones give us an amazingly young OLB&ILB lineup, yet the sky is really the limit for these guys. It's going to be an exciting couple of seasons for me and I'm really looking forward to seeing these guys in action. CB: Code: Cur/Pot YR HD TK CV AG SP John Kim 3.0/4.5 JR 15 16 16 14 11 Richard Rowe 3.0/3.5 SR 10 12 14 11 11 Alvin Edwards 3.0/3.0 SR 8 13 15 11 8 Ryan Meyers 1.5/2.5 SR 8 11 10 7 11 Richard Carpenter 1.0/2.0 FR 8 9 8 9 7 Jessie Williams 1.0/1.5 SO 8 9 10 10 7 Key: HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, AG = agility, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Edwards loses his starting spot to Kim (who must have really boomed this past offseason), giving us a solid core of experienced coverage corners. None are terribly quick however, meaning that we risk getting burnt for big plays by speedy recievers. FS: Code: Cur/Pot YR HD TK CV AG SP #Brian Cox 1.5/3.0 FR 8 11 11 10 8 Tim Lewis 1.5/3.0 SO 7 10 12 8 9 Benjamin Talbot 1.5/2.5 JR 8 10 11 7 6 Eric Smith 1.0/2.0 FR 7 8 9 9 9 Key: HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, AG = agility, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. Not quite so rich in the FS spot. Cox will redshirt while Lewis will start thanks to his higher coverage ability. SS: Code: Cur/Pot YR HD TK CV AG SP David Lutz 1.5/3.5 FR 7 12 11 14 9 Joseph Smith 2.0/3.5 JR 8 13 13 8 10 Key: HD = hands, TK = tackle, CV = cover, AG = agility, SP = speed, * = starter last season, # = redshirting this season. A little better at SS. Joseph Smith has good coverage skills and decent athleticism, while Lutz has the potential to turn in to a Smith clone. Outlook I'm pretty happy with this unit. We are well suited for the 3-4 thanks to a solid, if young, linebacker corps and two dependable DEs. I expect some growing pains from the linebackers, and hopefully the more experienced corners will help here. Lack of speed from our corners, and lack of general ability from our safeties, means that we will need to work hard at the LOS to pressure the passer in to making mistakes. I figure if Gaddy tears off the oppossing QBs head before driving his limp, lifeless body in to the turf it will help our passing defense dramatically. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 01-22-2007 at 10:01 PM.

01-23-2007, 05:00 PM	#7
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	2008 Schedule Wk 1: Idaho Wk 2: Washington wk 3: ----------- Wk 4: Wyoming Wk 5: @ Colorado State Wk 6: @ Brigham Young Wk 7: Air Force Wk 8: ----------- Wk 9: @ Texas Christian Wk 10: San Diego State Wk 11: New Mexico Wk 12: ----------- Wk 13: @ UNLV Wk 14: ----------- Wk 15: Utah State __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 01-23-2007 at 09:44 PM.

01-23-2007, 05:38 PM	#8
st.cronin General Manager Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New Mexico	Only 3 road games, geez. Looking forward to Week 9. __________________ co-commish: bb-bbcf.net knives out

01-23-2007, 10:26 PM	#10
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 1 Preview: Utah Utes (0-0) vs Idaho Vandals (0-0) We kick the season off with what should be a fairly easy home game against the Vandals (knock on wood). The Vandals are starting a true freshman, Matt Bonilla, at QB, and we'll be doing our best to humiliate the kid. He has a decent target at receiver in Hulsey, but his OLine should struggle against my DLine, who will be looked at to pressure Bonilla in to mistakes. I'm confident I have the coverage skills at both CB and LB positions to then take advantage. Idaho's starter at HB is Joseph Ballard who is, to put it somewhat kindly, rather unspectacular. If he manages over 4 yards per carry, I'll be dissapointed. I'm not expecting a lot of trouble moving the ball on the ground, as our OLine is just plain bigger and stronger than theirs. They do have some talent at linebacker, ILB Michael Quintana in particular likes to get in to the backfield and pressure the QB, but a lack of ability at CB and the safety positions means that we don't have a lot to fear when we go to the air. Prediction: Utah 34, Idaho 13. We are +17 point favourites. Game of the Week: #1 Oklahoma (0-0) @ #21 Ohio State (0-0) - Big matchup this one, with Oklahoma's QB Medina and RB John Billings both stepping in for their first career start against a talented Ohio State defense. Ohio State are being led by a RS freshman QB, and need to show they can put points on the board to win this one. Oklahoma are +5 favourites. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

01-28-2007, 03:39 PM	#11
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 1 Result: Utah Utes 32, Idaho Vandals 3 Player of the Game: RB J Reynolds BOX SCORE - I can't figure out a way to paste the html box in to here and keep it looking clean. A very sloppy 1st half saw us fumble twice, losing it once inside Idaho's 10, and also missing a 20 yard field goal, to see us up 10-0 at half time. We were dominating the game on the ground, thanks in no small part to our OLine (Reiter in particular), but the scoreboard really wasn't showing it. Thankfully in the second half we started to put it together. Reynolds had a great start to his career with 164 yards (6.07 ypc) on the ground and 2 TDs, and Green and Nolan also did some damage. Hell, even FB Medina broke away for a 29 yard pickup on the ground. Aldridge had a good game as well, throwing 17/25 with 1 TD, a 54 yarder, to go with 0 INTs. Our D was also pretty solid, giving up just 8 yards rushing, and pressuring Idaho's QB in to some mistakes. DT Gaddy in particular showed what we hope to see more of, picking up a sack and hurrying the QB in to throwing an INT. Injuries: A few minor injuries, but also one biggie: On just his second play on the field we lost ILB Grover Sharpe for at least a month. This is a big, big blow. RB P Green had a minor injury, and will be relegated to 3rd RB for next week's game. Game of the Week Result: Ohio State 35, Oklahoma 28 An upset! Neither team passed the ball well, but Ohio State got things done on the ground, with 2nd HB T Wagner picking up 133 yards off just 15 attempts. Then with the scores tied with just over 3 minutes to go, backup Ohio State quartback E Ralston connected with WR D Johnson for the game winning TD. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 01-28-2007 at 03:44 PM.

01-28-2007, 03:52 PM	#12
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 2 Preview: Utah Utes (1-0) vs Washington Huskies (1-0) Well, stomping Idaho last week sure was fun, but now for the hard part. This Huskies team is very talented, and dismantled Alabama 31-3 last week. Most of that damage was done through the air via talented Huskies QB William Goff, and our secondary will have its hands full today trying to keep him under control. The Huskies D was also able to shutdown a pretty solid Alabama running game, which is a real worry for us. We will look to mix it up a bit with our mid-range passing game, but I fear we just don't have the talent on either end of the field to keep up with this team, even at home. Somehow the odds are listed as Even for this game, but I'll be happy if we just keep it close. Prediction: Washington 38, Utah 20. Game of the Week: #4 Miami (1-0) @ #12 Oregon State (1-0) Miami stomped Cincinnatti thanks to their passing game, while Oregon State racked up 62 points on the hapless Ohio squad. Could be a high scoring game, but Oregon State needs to show that it's D, who gave up 32 points to Ohio, can slow Miami. Miami are 6 point favourites. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

01-28-2007, 06:51 PM	#13
st.cronin General Manager Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New Mexico	In other conference news, TCU got a victory at West Point, 24-6. This week they are playing at #5 Oklahoma. __________________ co-commish: bb-bbcf.net knives out

01-29-2007, 11:29 PM	#15
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 3 Preview: No game We have the week off, which gives some of our injured players time to heal. ILB Grover Sharpe is still some weeks off returning to the field, but RB Paul Green should be ready for full time action in week 4, while OT Rodney Munson & FB Russell Smith should be nearly 100%. ILB Frank Ware is questionable with torn cartillage in his elbow, and likely won't be 100% for most of the season, though he will definately play as we lack depth here with Sharpe out. In some more good news, we actually received some votes this week for the top 25 - 15 votes, in fact. Aldridge also ranks #10 in overall QB rating for the season, while OG R. Reiter is ranked #4 in Key Run Blocks. Around the Mount West: San Diego State (2-0) vs Boise State (1-1) - Boise State are +1 favourites. New Mexico (1-0) @ San Jose State (0-2) - San Jose State are +4 favourites. Wyoming (1-1) @ New Mexico State (0-1) - Wyoming are +3 favourites. Brigham Young (1-1) @ Western Michigan (2-0) - BYU are +6 favourites. Air Force (0-0) vs #19 Ohio State (1-1) - Ohio State are +10 favourites. Colorado State (0-1) @ Toledo (1-1) - Colorado State are +4 favourites. UNLV (0-1) vs Indiana (1-1) - UNLV are +7 favourites. Game of the Week: #10 Michigan (2-0) @ #8 UCLA (2-0) Michigan have started the season off well, including a comfortable victory over Notre Dame in Week 1. Wolverines QB John Bridges will probably never be the most accurate passer around, but having a capable RB in Robert Hinson and a solid OLine helps make up for this, though he'll need to play better against UCLA than he did against Akron last week (15/38 att, 2 TDs, 1 INT). It's been the Wolverines D that has probably attributed most to their good start however. The Bruins are yet to be tested, and have been trialing QBs, with Haynes having the better game of the two against East Carolina. It appears a pretty even matchup on paper, though Michigan are 5 point favourites on the road. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-01-2007, 11:14 PM	#19
Blade6119 Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona	Im enjoying this so far, best of luck with the rest of the season! __________________ *Underachievement* The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower. *Despair* It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black. *Demotivation* Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people. http://www.despair.com/viewall.html

02-03-2007, 10:26 PM	#22
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 5 Preview: Utah Utes (4-0) @ Colorado State Rams (0-3) Colorado State has had a rough start to the season, dropping 3 straight and are yet to even score a touchdown. Their QB play hasn't been great, and they have not been able to get anything going on the ground. Defensively they haven't been great either, but no one has put up a big score on them yet. We hope to change that. Our defense takes a bit of a hit this week as I bring our monster DE Gaddy off the bench due to his injury last week, and ILB Sharpe is still a week or two away from returning, but I'm confident that we have enough depth to not struggle too much. The key will be putting pressure on the QBs, something we struggled to do last week without Gaddy lining up for us. Still, we are currently #1 in the nation at defending against the run (18.3 yards per game), and I'll be dissapointed if we don't shut down their running game. Offensively I don't anticipate too many problems, and we aren't changing our strategies at all. Aldridge has been on fire all season, which has only helped our running game. Prediction: Utah 34, Colorado State 12. We are +15 favourites. Around the Mount West: UNLV (1-2) @ BYU (1-2) - BYU are +4 favourites. San Diego St (4-0) @ New Mexico (2-1) - San Diego St are +1 favourites. Army (1-2) @ Air Force (1-1) - Air Force are +13 favourites. Arizona (1-2) @ TCU (2-1) - Arizona are +5 favourites. West Virginia (4-0) @ Wyoming (1-3) - West Virginia are +12 favourites. Game of the Week: #2 Texas (4-0) @ #4 Oklahoma (2-1) A massive matchup this one. Texas have been playing some great football on both ends of the field, and have hardly been challenged in their first 4 games, while Oklahoma dropped a close one to Ohio State to start the year, and have since stomped TCU and Iowa State. Texas are only +1 favourites, but Oklahoma will have to play some great football to stop one of the nation's hottest teams. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-05-2007, 06:35 PM	#23
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 5 Result: Utah Utes 33, Colorado State Rams 14 Player of the Game: SS M Partridge (ColST), 8 tackles, 4 stuffs BOX SCORE Our first road game turns out to be a real mixed bag. QB Aldridge scrambled 13 yards early in the 1st Q, only to fumble the ball, and have the Rams return it 45 yards for the TD, their first TD of the season. Not used to being behind, we work it back upfield, getting it to first and goal at the 7 thanks to a defensive pass interference call, yet have to settle for the FG to make it 7-3 at the end of the 1st. We start to put a bit of a drive together early in the 2nd before RB I Nolan fumbles at the 50. The Rams recover the ball, and their QB A White puts a great drive together through the air, connecting with TE P Gunter for a 30 yard TD pass to put us down 14-3. Uh oh. We then go 3-and-out, but a great punt puts the Rams at the 10 yard line. Then on 2 straight snaps my linebackers stuff the runner, pinning the Rams at the 4 yard line, before my linebackers get in to the backfield again, this time sacking the QB, who then fumbles in the endzone! The Rams recover, but we tackle them for the safety. 14-5 Rams. Aldridge, with some help from our RBs, works it down the field pretty casually on the next possession, connecting with WR Byrd for a 3 yard TD pass. 14-12 Rams as the half expires. We kick to the Rams to start the 2nd half, and they fumble on their first possession to give us the ball on the 6 yard line! 2 plays later and Aldridge connects with Byrd again, and RB P Green runs in for the 2pt conversion, to give us the first lead of the game, 20-12. The rest of the game is all Utah, with a couple of field goals and a nice 25 yard rushing TD from RB Reynolds. Sloppy fumbles hurt as again and made this game far closer than it should have been. Thankfully we were able to turn it on offensively in the 2nd half to pull away, though Colorado State limited our running game better than anyone else this year has. Player of the Game SS Partridge played a big part in this, stuffing my runners 4 times for losses. Defensively it's obvious to me how much we miss Gaddy on the DLine, and thankfully he'll be back in action as the starter next week. Even though, that one scoring drive aside, Rams QB A White didn't have a great game, we didn't put enough pressure on him considering the talent of his OLine and my DLine. We need to hold on to the ball and get more from our DLine, especially with a tough matchup coming next week. Around the Mount West: BYU defeat UNLV 44-12 - BYU really grinded it out for most of those 44 points. San Diego St defeat New Mexico 35-19 - San Diego St continue to look real dangerous, off to a 5-0 start. Air Force defeat Army 24-6 - Closer than I expected, but Air Force still looking good. TCU lose to Arizona 40-7 - TCU drop a very tough non-conference game. Wyoming lose to West Virginia 29-27 - Very nearly pulled off the upset thanks to a strong 4th Q, but just ran out of time. Game of the Week Result: Oklahoma 31, Texas 30 I didn't give Oklahoma much of a chance, but they proved me wrong in a real nail-bitter. Texas had two chances to win the game late in the 4th, but both times QB J Morris threw two bad picks to dash all hopes of a victory. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-06-2007, 05:17 PM	#24
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 6 Preview: Utah Utes (4-0) @ Brigham Young Cougars (2-2) Another week, another road game. BYU may be 2-2 for the season, but those two losses have been to good teams (#5 Texas and 4-1 Western Michigan), and they figure to be a tough team at home. QB Robert Roman has been filling in for the injured Brent Dunn and has looked more of a threat with the run than the pass, while HB Warren (3.72 ypc, 3 TDs) has been their biggest scoring threat thus far. Despite me saying otherwise in the last post, our DE Gaddy will sit this week out as well, so we will be looking to our linebackers again to keep up the pressure. Their biggest weapon by far is their defense, which has been great against the run and should provide the biggest test for us. The talent drops off considerably in their secondary, so it's really a matter of our OLine giving my HBs something to work with. We also need to protect Aldridge against a solid pass rushing lineup, because he should definately perform well against this secondary if we can get him some time to make good decisions. To win this game we will need to score close to 30, because despite an intimidating defense I'm not convinced that these Cougars can put up enough points to beat that, even coming off a 44 point game last week. Prediction: Utah 27, BYU 20. We are +7 favourites. Around the Mount West: TCU (2-2) @ New Mexico (2-2) - New Mexico are +3 favourites. I'd consider TCU the favourite, considering the teams they've lost to. Colorado St (0-4) @ Air Force (2-1) - Air Force are +9 favourites. I'd say they should be +18. San Diego St (5-0) @ Wyoming (1-4) - San Diego St are +3 favourites. Only +3? I'd times that by 4. Game of the Week: #7 Florida (4-0) @ #2 LSU (5-0) Only one team will walk away with their perfect start to the season intact, and the odds are with LSU as +9 point favourites at home. The Tigers have been dominating teams offensively, putting up 41.8 points per night, thanks largely to HB Charles Caldwell (141.2 ypg, 6.19ypc, 9 TDs). Florida have been no slouches either, but it's been their defense that has got them to 4-0. They need to slow the LSU running game and prevent it from being a shootout, because that's a game that these Gators likely will not win. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-06-2007, 06:49 PM	#25
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 6 League Review A third of the way through the season, I figure it might be a good time to take a look around the league. Top 25 Polls Media Poll / Coaches Poll Code: # Team Conf Record # Team Conf Record 1. USC Pac10 3-0 1. UCLA Pac10 4-0 2. LSU SEC 5-0 2. Oklahoma B12 3-1 3. Oklahoma B12 3-1 3. USC Pac10 3-0 4. UCLA Pac10 4-0 4. LSU SEC 5-0 5. Texas B12 4-1 5. Texas B12 4-1 6. Oregon St Pac10 5-0 6. Florida SEC 4-0 7. Florida SEC 4-0 7. Texas A&M B12 5-0 8. Miami ACC 4-1 8. Miami ACC 4-1 9. Texas A&M B12 5-0 9. Nebraska B12 3-1 10. Nebraska B12 3-1 10. Oregon St Pac10 5-0 11. Notre Dame Indep 4-1 11. Georgia SEC 3-1 12. Clemson ACC 3-2 12. Notre Dame Indep 4-1 13. Auburn SEC 1-3 13. Clemson ACC 3-2 14. Georgia SEC 3-1 14. Auburn SEC 1-3 15. Michigan B10 4-1 15. Michigan B10 4-1 16. Wash State Pac10 4-1 16. Wisconsin B10 4-1 17. Tennessee SEC 3-1 17. Wash State Pac10 4-1 18. California Pac10 2-2 18. Purdue B10 3-1 19. Ohio State B10 3-1 19. Ohio St B10 3-1 20. Purdue B10 3-1 20. Boston Col ACC 3-0 21. Boston Col ACC 3-0 21. Tennessee SEC 3-1 22. Wisconsin B10 4-1 22. California Pac10 2-2 23. Florida St ACC 3-1 23. Florida St ACC 3-1 24. Colorado B12 4-0 24. Ole Miss SEC 3-1 25. Oregon Pac10 3-1 25. Missouri B12 4-1 We got 37 votes for the Media Poll, and 20 for the Coaches Poll. The big conferences dominate both polls as expected, and though it's still too early in conference play to start seperating the true contenders from the pretenders, it would look like Oregon State might be a little under-rated. Mount West Standings: Code: { Conf. } { Overall } # Team W-L PF PA W-L PF PA Streak Home Road Media Coach 1. Air Force 1-0 38 20 2-1 69 43 W2 1-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 2. TCU 1-0 16 3 2-2 50 84 L1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1 3. BYU 1-0 44 12 2-2 83 98 W1 2-0 0-2 0-1 0-1 4. SD State 2-0 65 39 5-0 163 75 W5 2-0 3-0 0-0 0-0 5. Utah 2-0 73 24 4-0 140 37 W4 3-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 6. UNLV 0-2 32 74 1-3 57 129 L2 1-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 7. New Mexico 0-2 39 73 2-2 101 96 L2 1-2 1-0 0-0 0-0 8. Colorado St 0-2 17 49 0-4 29 103 L4 0-1 0-3 0-0 0-0 9. Wyoming 0-1 10 40 1-4 79 133 L3 1-1 0-3 0-1 0-1 A conference of two halves. 5 teams that could all compete for the conference championship, but also 4 teams that are all looking pretty awful at this stage. At this point you might say that we and San Diego St are the favourites, but Air Force, TCU, and BYU have all played much tougher schedules. Award Watch: A quick look at a couple of the top positionals in the country. QBs: One QB truly towers above the rest this year; senior Oregon State QB Lawrence Deleon. His stats so far (120/159 75.5%, 21 TDs, 1 INT, 210.9 rating) have been incredible, and his sole "bad" performance over the first 5 games was a win over Arizona where he "only" threw 2 TDs with 0 ints on 79.2% accuracy. Scary. There is a big drop-off after Deleon, and unless he suddenly turns in to Rex Grossman overnight it's hard to see anyone surpassing him. RBs: Unlike the QB position, there have been a number of solid RBs this season. Florida State's Charles Daniels (187.0ypg, 6.39ypc, 5 Rush TDs) has been gaining nearly 200 yards a game on the ground for the Seminoles, but was held to 109 yards against Miami in week 4. Oregon State RB Bobby Cunningham (142.6ypg, 6.73ypc, 8 rushing TDs) is being overshadowed by his QBs stellar play, but you can only wonder the kind of numbers he'd put up if he was the primary option for his team. WRs: Miami WR Robert Roberts is blessed with more than just unimaginative parents, he also has a solid pair of hands and rarely drops a pass thrown his way, even if he's yet to make many trips in to the endzone. Texas WR Joshua King certainly hasn't had that problem, and has been the best option for the high-powered Texas offense, bringing in 6 TD catches so far. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-06-2007, 10:30 PM	#26
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 6 Result: Utah Utes 33, Brigham Young Cougars 52 Player of the Game: RB Gerald Warren (BYU) 22 at, 116 yds, 2 TDs BOX SCORE Well I'll be damned. This has to be one of the strangest games I've ever seen. We started the game well, with FS Talbot intercepting a pass leading to a great 42 yd TD run by RB Reynolds, but things soon got ugly. A few drives later we punt to the Cougars and return man Miguel Pennington runs it back 70 yards for a TD, 7-7. BYU kicks a FG, and a few drives later we work our own magic with our own return man John Newby taking it 73 yards for his own punt return TD to make it 14-10 heading in to the 2nd. We kick a FG early in the 2nd Q to make it 17-10, and BYU work it in to the redzone for the first offensive TD of the game, we kick another FG, and BYU work it down field once again to score off a 6 yd TD pass to make it 24-20 BYU heading in to the half. Again we can't capitalise on decent field position in the 3rd and settle for a field goal, before BYU bust out a 64 yd TD run to make it 32-23, and then intercept one of Aldridges passes and return it 52 yards for another TD to make it 38-23 BYU entering the final quarter. The game is looking out of reach in the 4th, especially as we have to settle for another FG, when RB Paul Green busts out another crazy run to score on a 66 yd TD run, 38-33 BYU. Just when momentum looks to be on our side, the Cougars throw a 75 yard TD pass, and then shortly after return one of our punts 74 yards - the 3rd special teams TD of the game - to put the game well and truly out of reach. Overall, this was just a horrible performance by my entire roster. Aldridge was terrible (17/37 200 yds, 1 int), throwing several bad passes, but boy did everyone else lend a hand in the sucking department. Our RBs ended up with OK numbers thanks to some long TD runs, but if I had a dollar for every failed blocking assignment from our OLine men I'd be a rich man. I'm not sure why RB Lehman was even in the game, allowing 4 sacks and dropping a pass, as he is well down on the depth chart, but boy did he kill me at crucial times. Defensively, those 2 interceptions aside, we allowed BYU QB Hardy to complete 14/18 passes for 2 TDs and 2 INTs, let BYU RB Warren pick up 116 yards (thanks again to a big TD run), and just in general gave up too many big plays. It was really frustrating, because we were rock solid for much of the game, but those couple of big plays we allowed just killed us. It was special teams that hurt the most though. We allowed 2 punts to be returned for TDs, and that tore the heart out of any hope we had at getting a win tonight. Around the Mount West: A pretty crazy week in the Mount West. New Mexico defeat TCU 18-15 - Heart-breaking loss for TCU, with UNM kicking the game winner with 0:17 left. Colorado St defeat Air Force 21-20 - Colorado St pull off the surprising win thanks to some solid D. I am really shocked by this result. San Diego St defeat Wyoming 47-10 - The only result that came out like I thought it would. This week makes San Diego St the undisputed "team to beat" in the Mount West. Game of the Week Result: LSU 40, Florida 10 21 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter for LSU took the wind out of Florida sails, and it was always going to be a tough ask for Florida to play catch-up on the road against this team. LSU RB Caldwell had a great night with 3 TDs and 215 yards. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-08-2007, 06:06 PM	#27
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 7 Preview: Utah Utes (4-1, 1-1) vs Air Force Falcons (2-2, 1-1) We return to our home turf this week, looking to put last week's horrible loss behind us and get a win over Air Force, who suffered a dissapointment of their own last week, going down to Colorado State at home. The Falcons have played some good football this season, none better than holding Ohio State to 17 points in their first game of the season. Defense has been the Falcons strong point thus far. They have a pretty solid DLine, some good corners, and talent at both safety spots. They don't give up a lot of yards through the sky or on the ground. Our OLine needs to play about 200% better this week than we did last week if we are going to get any kind of running game going, and Aldridge needs to bounce back too because these Falcons are much better coverage defenders than he went up against last week. Falcons QB Feldman was injured early in the game last week, and is listed as questionable. He's played OK aside from his poor showing against Ohio St. RB Flores is a talent and has a pretty solid, if still developing, OLine to work with. We're going to have our hands full this week. IMO this is a better team than the one we lost to last week, but hopefully being at home will give us the edge. The return of ILB Sharpe will definitely help us on D, but we just need to prevent the big plays that killed us last week. We haven't gone up against the 4-2-5 D that the Falcons run, so that should also be interesting. Prediction: Utah 34, Air Force 27. We are +6 favourites. Around the Mount West: UNLV (1-3) @ TCU (2-3) - TCU are +10 favourites. They should pull this one out, but their offense needs to show up. New Mexico (3-2) @ Wyoming (1-5) - Even. New Mexico should take this one, even on the road. Week 7 Game of the Week: #3 UCLA (5-0) @ #15 Washington St (4-1) Washington State suffered a dissapointing loss to Houston in week 3, but have done pretty well otherwise with wins against Nebraska and Oregon. Undefeated UCLA is by far their toughest assignment yet. The Bruins haven't been blowing teams out, but they just have kept 4 opponents from scoring more than 10 points, and no one has scored more than 20 on them as yet. Putting points on the board will be the key for Washington State, a task that is much easier said than done against this stingy Bruins D. UCLA are +7 point favourites. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-11-2007, 05:15 PM	#28
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 7 Result: Utah Utes 40, Air Force 14 Player of the Game: RB Paul Green (UTAH) 21 att, 159 yards (7.57ypc), 1 TD BOX SCORE Exactly the game we needed after the horrible loss to BYU. Aldridge connected with Elvis Baker for a 31 yard TD pass at the 9:29, then return man John Newby ran a punt return 64 yards for the TD a few mins later, and we never looked back. Air Force ran in two TDs in the 2nd half, but it was never close. This was an impressive win for us against a team that are a lot better than they looked today in my opinion. As impressive as we were offensively to score 40 points, it was definately our D that won us this game. Our coverage play was excellent, forcing Falcons QB Ira Shepherd in to a particularily bad game (9-28, 237 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs), and limiting dangerman RB Flores to 3.32ypc. ILB Jaime Jones kept up his impressive start, with 2 stuffs to go along with 5-1 tackles. Offensively we were back to our usual selves, with Paul Green this time doing most of the damage, while Aldridge found his form again. Around the Mount West: Wyoming defeat New Mexico 20-6 - Poor showing by New Mexico in just about every area. UNLV defeat TCU 23-9 - TCU are really struggling to get their offense going. Week 7 Game of the Week Result: Washington State 21, UCLA 10 Washington State become the first team to score more than 20 points against UCLA thanks to a great 4th quarter that saw them score 14 unanswered points. Neither team's offense was really clicking tonight, but Washington State got it done when they needed it most to hand UCLA their first loss of the season. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-11-2007, 05:27 PM	#29
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 8 Preview: No game We get the week off, which will come in handy as we have a couple of starters on the OLine nursing some injuries, and DE Gaddy still isn't 100%. Couldn't ask for a better time to have the break, especially with the next 2 weeks seeing us go head to head with human coached teams. Around the Mount West: Air Force (2-3) @ UNLV (2-3) - Air Force are +5 favourites. I'm surprised Air Force are just 2-3, and I'd be shocked if they drop this one even on the road. BYU (3-2) @ Colorado St (1-4) - BYU are +5 favourites. I hope they lose by 40. TCU (2-4) @ San Diego St (6-0) - San Diego St are +12 favourites. The Aztecs have a new human coach, and unless he rocks the boat too much, they should pull this one out comfortably. Game of the Week: #10 Washington St @ #3 Oregon State Washington State did well against UCLA last week, but can they do it again against perhaps the hottest team in the nation? Oregon State have cooled off slightly the past couple of weeks, and super-QB Deleon was forced to leave the game early last week after getting a little shaken up. Oregon State are +7 favourites at home, and it will take something pretty special for Washington State to pull this one out. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-11-2007, 09:26 PM	#30
Blade6119 Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona	Thanks...this dynasty led me to buy the game and join the league. If you ever want to play a game against wisconsin, let me know __________________ *Underachievement* The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower. *Despair* It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black. *Demotivation* Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people. http://www.despair.com/viewall.html

02-11-2007, 09:44 PM	#32
st.cronin General Manager Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New Mexico	lookin' forward to the next update __________________ co-commish: bb-bbcf.net knives out

02-11-2007, 10:01 PM	#33
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 8 Result: No game The week off helped heal a few wounds, with both our OLine guys probably able to play next week, and Gaddy is also one week stronger, which is important considering what he gives us on the DLine. ILB Ware, who has battled through his elbow injury all season, is looking much better as well. FS Tim Lewis, who has sat out 2 games, is also looking good to go. Around the Mid West: Air Force defeat UNLV 21-17 - UNLV put up a fight, but Air Force collect the hard-fought W. BYU defeat Colorado St 25-7 - A big 4th Q bailed out BYU in a rather poor showing. TCU defeat San Diego St 21-17 -Wow! Big upset here! TCU finally get some points on the board thanks to some inspired play from freshman QB Rogers in his first start. San Diego St's first loss of the season, and TCU's first win in 4 weeks. Game of the Week Result: Washington State 40, Oregon State 23 Washington State do it again! Great back-to-back wins for Washington State against two quality opponents. Oregon State QB Deleon was finally made to look human (11/23at, 224yds, 0 TD, 1 INT), and the Beavers will begin to wonder if teams have finally worked out how to shut him down, or if the Washington State D just took him out of the game. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-11-2007, 10:20 PM	#34
SnDvls Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2001	just found this thread here Groundhog...great read I just picked up my first win in the FOFC-BBCF league over Cal looking forward to reading more.

02-11-2007, 11:35 PM	#35
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 9 Preview: Utah Utes (5-1, 2-1) @ TCU Horned Frogs (3-4, 2-2) Week 9 sees us travelling to the TCU campus for our first ever game against a human-controlled team. TCU have been pretty solid defensively, but have really struggled putting points on the board. Any chance we may have had of under-estimating them was thrown out the window however, as they handed San Diego State their first loss of the season last week thanks largely to the play of Freshman QB Jerry Rogers. Rogers had 3 TD passes in his first ever start, and it looks like he's secured his spot as the starting QB for the Horned Frogs. TCU are a team that has looked to run more than pass however, so we will need to pressure their OLine and not allow Thomas Hyde (4.06ypc, 62.6ypg) or Mario Soto (3.9ypc, 68.0ypg) to do too much damage on the ground. The plan will be to limit the running game and force TCU's young QB to throw the ball more than the Horned Frogs would like. Easier said than done, of course, especially with how we last performed on the road. As I mentioned above, the Horned Frogs have been quite good defensively. The have some talent on the DLine, and a very decent secondary. Aldridge struggled on the road against a far worse defense than this. I'm confident that our three-headed running attack will get their yards, but we need to limit turnovers, give Aldridge time to make good decisions, and did I mention limit turnovers? We are +11 favourites, but I'm expecting this to be an ugly, grindfest of a game. May the team that makes the fewest mistakes win! Prediction: Utah 24, TCU 20. We are +11 favourites. Around the Mount West: Colorado St (1-5) @ San Diego St (6-1) - San Diego St are +11 favourites. Should be an easy recovery game for San Diego St after last week's upset. New Mexico (3-3) @ UNLV (2-4) - UNLV are +4 favourites. Anyone's game really, though New Mexico have definately shown they possess the ability to dissapoint. BYU (4-2) @ Wyoming (2-5) - BYU are +9 favourites. The Cougars should cruise through this one, but who knows what might happen on the road. Air Force (3-3) @ Navy (3-4) - Navy are +1 favourites. While I contend that Air Force are better than their record indicates, Navy has played well against some solid teams (including a 1 point loss to #10 Notre Dame), and might just be too tough. Game of the Week: #10 Notre Dame @ #7 USC A number of good games this week (like #1 LSU @ #13 Auburn, #4 Oklahoma @ #11 Texas A&M), but I like this matchup the most, and don't want to feature Oklahoma yet again! Notre Dame dropped the first game of the season, but have been on a tear ever since. RB Michael Lee (6.46ypc, 109.9ypg) and his OLine have been great, though QB James Peterson has been inconsistent. USC is coming off their first loss of the season against Arizona, and will be hoping that their solid D and strong running attack will prove enough to snare victory. If they have to air it out, they may be in trouble. The odds are listed as even, and this is one that could definately go either way. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-12-2007, 12:19 AM	#36
Swaggs Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000	Fun dynasty. I keep talking myself out of getting BBCF, so I probably shouldn't, but I'll be following. __________________ DOWN WITH HATTRICK!!! The RWBL Are you reading In The Bleachers?

02-12-2007, 04:23 PM	#37
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Thanks for all the comments guys! __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-12-2007, 04:43 PM	#38
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 9 Academic Suspensions: Although we have suffered some academic suspensions already this year, none have been starters or important subs. That changes this week, with CB John Kim & FS Tim Lewis both letting their grades slip. Losing John Kim hurts the most. He's my best CB, is 4th on the team in tackles (21), easily leads the team in interceptions (5, next highest is 1), and is yet to allow any big plays. We have some depth here with last year's starter Alvin Edwards thankfully, but our talent level really drops off if we need to field a 3rd corner. FS Tim Lewis (2 tackles, 1 missed tackle, 2 big plays allowed) started the first 4 games of the season before coming down with an injury, and week 9 was supposed to be his return. We aren't so deep at safety, but Benjamin Talbot has done a good job filling in (8 tackles, 1 interception), and his production in only 3 games and 1 start has already eclipsed Lewis's production, so Talbot may hang on to his starting role even when Lewis returns. Both players are prone to mind-lapses that lead to big plays for the other team however, and safety will be a spot that we look to shore up on in the recruiting phase. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

02-12-2007, 05:20 PM	#39
DeToxRox Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Michigan	I am sick of the Pac 10 being your Games of the Week. I am sick of the Pac 10 being so good. Signed, Disgruntled Arizona Coach

02-13-2007, 12:17 PM	#40
st.cronin General Manager Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New Mexico	This week is huge. I consider this the biggest game of the year for us. I am doing everything I can to get my team fired up. -hc of tcu __________________ co-commish: bb-bbcf.net knives out