NCAA Football 2005: A Head Coach's Memoirs

[Eaglesfan27]

May 2009 - I'm starting this personal computerized journal for use on the day that I retire as a coach. Then, I will be able to write my life story and make a great deal of money. Maybe, I will title it "The Corey Taylor Story: Football as a Life Lesson" or perhaps it will be called "Pitch and Catch made easy."

In any case, I have many years to decide on the title. I still can't believe that I'm the head coach of the USC Trojans. It was a shock to everyone when Coach Carroll retired last month. Sure, he had the 6-6 season two years ago, but he had bounced back with 2 respectable years. Last year we were 10-3 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl against a highly favored Ohio State team. I guess coach wanted to go out on top. It was an even bigger shock that I was hired as head coach. Yes, the board knows that I've been a big part of our recruiting success. We've had a top ten class every year since I came here in 2004. We had the #1 class two years ago. I came to USC from San Diego State University and I made a lot of friends within the high school coaching community. That has helped my recruiting ability significantly. Almost all of our recruits have come from California. Coach Burns always used to tell me, "you have to win the battles in your own backyard, before you can own the neighborhood." I took that advice to heart.

Now, I can't just worry about developing quarterbacks. I came here and was promoted to quarterbacks coach after 1 year coaching wide receivers. The promotion came after Coach Chow left to be the head coach at BYU. Well, I'm now the head coach of this team and I have to look at the whole roster. Of course, I will always have my predilection for recruiting great quarterbacks. I believe you need a great quarterback to win in college, preferably one who is a dual threat. Coach Burns alwasys said, "If the Quarterback is going to have the ball in his hands at least 50% of the time, don't you want him to be able to do more than just throw it?"

Coach Burns was very wise, and I've adopted many of his teaching methods into my own work. Well, let me look over this roster and make some notes. Besides keeping this file as strictly material for my book, I will use it to help me manage the team.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 14, 2009 -

I've examined the roster carefully in spring practice. I also have my notes from when I recruited most of these young men. Well, I was at least instrumental in recruiting them. I need to organize my notes. I might as well do it here. Heck, I might reread this and see some of my thinking patterns emerge that will be useful material for the book.

First, I will look at Quarterbacks.

#11 Ernest Kemp (Hometown: West Covina, CA) - He is big (6'4 208) and fast (4.41). Everything starts with him. This is appropriate, he was one of my first really big recruits. He was an elite 11 quarterback in high school with a great arm and great mobility. I still remember the day when I saw him run a 4.41 and was shocked. The kid has such a good arm too. He redshirted when he first arrived and he is now a junior. I really hope I can keep him past this year, but this kid is one of the top kids in the country. He would likely go high in the draft next year. He will be hard to keep. Fortunately, he is my clear choice to be the starter. He has looked great in spring practice with lots of accuracy and power on his throws. He can throw it short or deep. He can do it all really. My only knock on him would be he could work on his awareness. However, he has good composure and has earned his teammate's respect. He will be our offensive captain.

#17 Chris McKenzie (Hometown Newport Beach, CA) - He is also big (6'3 208) and fast (4.44). He is the type of QB I love. Quick and mobile with a big arm. He actually appears to be more accurate in practice then Ernest. He throws a better deep ball. He makes stronger throws. However, he doesn't have the field awareness yet. This is to be expected as he is a redshirt sophomore and hasn't seen that much game action. I hope he develops with practice as he is likely my #2 guy and may play as Ernest has had minor injuries in the past. His composure is coming along, but he needs more time before he will likely be able to win a big one on the road.

#12 Brennan Kirk (Monterey, CA) - This kid doesn't fit my usual mold. He isn't as big or as fast as most of the guys I helped recruit. However, he is 6'1 207 with 4.6 speed. He isn't a slouch. He was an elite 11 quarterback when I recruited him as well. He hasn't developed as much as I would like. McKenzie was behind him on the depth chart this year, but McKenzie has clearly developed better. He is also a redshirt sophomore like McKenzie. I hear rumors that Kirk might transfer. It would be a loss, but not an unexpected one if that happens. Hopefully, he doesn't go the hated Bruins if he goes at all. Kirk has the strongest arm on the team I think and if his awareness took a big leap, he might win the starting job next year (of course I'm assuming Ernest is going pro.)

#15 Mark McDermond (Merced, CA) - I thought this kid would be such a star when I recruited him. He was a pure classic athlete. Yes, he was only 6'1 and 202 pounds but the kid ran a 4.32, 40 yard dash. He had a very good arm. He was going to be our next stud quarterback. Now three years later, he is a redshirt junior who is 4th on our depth chart. He just never developed like I expected. He was a slouch about coming to the practice field. He didn't work like he wanted it. I feel responsible for not being able to reach this kid. I even considered recommending coach Carroll switch him to another position last year. I love fast quarterbacks but this kid wasn't getting it done. It almost seems like his arm has regressed since I first recruited him. In truth, he has a good arm and can make most of the throws. His speed is amazing. However, I hope we never use him unless it is a major blowout. His awareness just isn't good enough. He doesn't make enough of the quick reads.

#13 - Jon Bates (LaMesa, CA) - This kid is our future. I will likely convince him to redshirt this year. He is a classic pocket passer with the size to be great. He has a frame to put on more weight and add power to his already very strong arm. Jon is 6'5 205. He is slower then I usually like my quarterbacks and runs about a 4.7 40 but he has a powerful arm with good accuracy. He was an elite 11 quarterback this past year. He already has better awareness then most of the quarterbacks on my roster. This kid could be really special. Of course, that is if I don't get a Michael Vick type QB in this year's round of recruiting. That kid has made so many great plays in taking Atlanta to the Superbowl the past two years.

Tomorrow - I will enter my notes on the halfbacks on my team.

[MrBug708]

Could have picked a better school though...

[Eaglesfan27]

May 15th, 2009 -

Coach Burns said "A quarterback can be very good on his own, but he needs playmakers around him to show his excellence." I believe there is some truth in that. I'm a fan of running the ball to set up the pass and I like play action football. Therefore, we need very good running backs. Fortunately, I have one that is very good and several that are above average. Let me enter my thoughts on them:

#27 Khalid Harris (Pleasant Hill, CA) - This kid isn't the fastest back ever. He only runs about a 4.43, 40 yard dash. He isn't particularly big at only 5'9 180. However, the kid has "it." He is agile, he runs in a way that he rarely absorbs the big hit. He manages to squirm through little holes. He also has the amazing ability to bounce off tackles. For such a little guy, he breaks a lot of tackles. He also has good hands which I value in my running backs. His acceleration is very good. I wish he picked up the blitz better, but that is my only real knock. The kid is even injury resistant. He is now a redshirt senior, and I had to work hard to prevent him from going pro this year. However, I think a big year could really vault him up in the draft. Coach Carroll never made him a starter before, and the old starter just retired so that might have helped influence him as well. We are lucky he didn't get fed up and transfer to another universisty. He does have over 1300 yards rushing for us in limited action. Hopefully, he will have that much in just this year.

#26 Todd Winston (Riverside, CA) - This kid is a true senior. He never redshirted. I wish he had. This kid is a big bruising running back. 6'2 225 with lots of power. He runs people over. He adminsters a beating to defenders. He doesn't have great speed, but not bad either. He runs around a 4.53 in the 40. He doesn't have as good of hands as I would like, but he is good at picking up the blitz. He also is good at occasionally making people miss. He has some agility for such a big guy. My biggest concern is his history of being injured. Despite his injury history, he has 900 yards in 3 years of action, hopefully he can also match that this year.

#31 Josh Gates (Oxnard, CA) - My recruit from a year ago. He developed nicely in his redshirt year. He is a nice blend of size and speed. He is 6'0 200 pounds with 4.46 speed. He has nice agility for a bigger back. He has good, but not great hands. He can really block well for a younger back. I hope we can keep Josh happy and prevent him from transferring. He could be a real good feature back for us in a year or so. His awareness and lack of experience are the main factors that he needs to overcome in order to win that starting job next year. He only has one real competitor for that job unless I recruit an amazing true freshman to start for us. However, that is unlikely.

#8 Simon Holman (Napa, CA) - This guy will hopefully age like a fine wine. Right now, he is the 4th best back and he would need to really develop to become a feature back next year. I don't expect to see him on the field much this year. He is a true sophomore and I might convince him to redshirt. He has good size at 6'0 204, and good speed at a 4.48 on the 40. But he doesn't do anything spectacular on the field. He has nice agility, but probably the poorest hands of the group. He doesn't break tackles as well as a man his size should. He also doesn't pick up the blitz well. He is also a little injury prone.

Tomorrow, I will look at my full backs.

[Eaglesfan27]

Could have picked a better school though...

LOL :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Darn, I just lost a long post..

[MrBug708]

In real life, a 4.43 is a hella fast 40 time. It's nearly unheard of for someone under 4.3 and 4.3's are rare as it is.

[Eaglesfan27]

In real life, a 4.43 is a hella fast 40 time. It's nearly unheard of for someone under 4.3 and 4.3's are rare as it is.

I know those times are fast, but those are the times my scout saw after scouting the player.. I'm using all times from the game for this.. I have one WR, who my scout swears runs a 4.18.

Edited: Actually he transferred because i didn't play him enough.. turns out the track star couldn't catch the ball so he was 5th string for me the first two years before transferring.

Edited again to add: I think 4.43 is very fast for a QB, not as fast as I would like my HB's to be. In context, that is why I said that wasn't very fast in this thread under HB's. However, I called the same speed fast when talking about my QB's.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 16th 2009,

You might think that I would want a FB with great hands given my predilection for the passing game. However, that is not true, I want a FB that can block and block as well as anyone on the field. I want a mobile terror that can open holes, pick up blitzes and scare the opposition. When I arrived here, the team didn't really have those types of FB's. Coach Carroll preferred great receiving fullbacks. 4 years ago, we had no true FB's on the roster. I went and recruited two. I'll never forget those recruiting trips. Sergeant Carr was a good honorable man who didn't want me to raise a pro football player (although his kid will be a pro soon enough), he wanted me "to finish raising a good young man." I did that I believe, but Clayton was already a good boy before he came to me.

#47 Clayton Carr (Burbank, CA) - Clayton is not the fastest fullback. He doesn't have great hands. But, he is big (6'2 265) and he is a great blocker. Clayton can stop just about any individual blitzer. He can pave holes for the halfback. He has enough speed (4.72) and agility to get to the 2nd line of the defense and even the 3rd line where he can plow down some defensive backs. He also has great awareness and composure. He is a true senior and I will truly be sad to see him go after this year. He is unselfish and has been a 4 year starter. He has started every game despite his relative predisposition to get small minor injuries.

#40 Mo Wilson (Indio, CA) - Mo is an interesting back. He transferred from ASU after hearing I was the coach. Maybe he wants to come back to California? Maybe he is homesick? He has good speed (4.6) and he is a strong back with good but not great blocking skills. He has ok size at 5'9 220. He doesn't have good hands, but he does have the power and ability to be a successful short yardage block. Unless we recruit a dynamic fullback, he will be the starter next year after Clayton and Ashton graduate. He seems to be more durable than Clayton and Ashton and I've liked what I've seen of him so far.

#44 Ashton Fitzgerald (Adamsville, AL) - I'll never forget this trip. We went to Alabama because we needed a 2nd fullback to back up Clayton and there were no good fullbacks in California that year. Alabama was hot and humid that time of the year, but it was a good trip. I had a delicious home cooked meal made by his mom. But, I digress. Ashton has sufficient size at 6'2 236. He also looks like he could pack on 20 pounds more of muscle and be devastating. He has fair speed in the 4.8 range. He has good agility for his size. He has the best hands of all of the fullbacks. Unfortunately, at this point he is the least proficient blocker. This means he won't play much this year. However, I expect him to work hard and be ready to start next year.

Tomorrow I will examine my notes on our wide receivers.

[MrBug708]

4.18? That's like Tim Montgomery speed...

[Eaglesfan27]

May 17th, 2009 -

"You can't coach speed." That is one of my favorite sayings and I know it is true for receivers. Unfortunately, I don't think our receivers have elite speed. Yes, they are fast, but they don't have the top notch elite speed I wish they had. That being said, we have a good group of guys overall. I'm not sure who is going to start because they are very indistinguishable so far in practice from each other. Here are my notes on each one individually.

#87 Brian Horner (Pasadena, CA) - I love his size (6'5 215) but he lacks elite speed (4.47). He does have very good hands, even if they aren't elite. He has great acceleration and is strong enough to beat most jams at the line. He has good but not great agility and I think he runs a little stiff at times. He has good durability and stamina which I like, and he might be a candidate to return kicks if he doesn't start at WR. He also is a good blocker for a receiver, which is not surprising given his size. He is a redshirt junior who has good awareness and composure and he will likely win one of the starting jobs.

#86 Matt Joseph (Kilgore, TX) - This was a kid that I was raving about when I saw him play on a tape that a friend from Texas sent me. I traveled out there and wasn't disappointed. This kid has the body of a small forward but the moves of a dancer. He is 6'6 232 with good body control. He has good hands, but they could be much better. He has good speed for his size with a 4.48 in the 40. He has the strength and moves to fight off most jams. He also has good acceleration. He is a top notch jumper and I think we will throw a lot of fade routes to him. He is injury prone which worries me and will limit his routes over the middle some. He is a top flight run blocker at least for a wide receiver. He is also a redshirt junior and has good awareness and top flight composure. He had 19 catches last year which unfortunately is the top among returning receivers. 3 great receivers graduated last year. He seems likely to win one of the starting jobs.

#85 Steven Poole (Fountain Valley, CA) - This kid doesn't have the great size of the other 2 (5'10 195) but he also doesn't have superior speed (4.46) What does he have? Great heart, a fearless drive to go over the middle. He never seems to get hurt. He has good body control and probably the best hands of the group. He also is a very good jumper. He is not much of a blocker, and he doesn't have good ability to get off jams. I envision him likely ending up as the 3rd slot receiver, but he may surprise me and win one of the starting jobs. He is also a redshirt junior, and is part of a great recruiting class for WR. He has top notch composure and awareness.

#84 Maurice Wilson (Los Angeles, CA) - I love this kid. He was one of my best recruits this year. He already has the talent to be considered as a starter despite being a true freshman. He has the best speed of the group (4.41), great size at 6'5 207. He is a world class high jumper and he can really jump on the field. He also has very good hands, perhaps the best in the group. He has excellent body control and is good at breaking jams at the line. What are the drawbacks? He is a true freshman and his awareness is poor and he lacks composure. I suspect this will relegate him to 4th string. I might also try to convince him to redshirt so that he can be even more ready to play when the time comes. Of course, that could backfire on me.

#23 Marcus Hess (Redding, CA) - This guy is another true freshman. He has 4.43 speed with nice size (6'2 190). He has the capability to put on some more weight and muscle. Right now, he seems to get pushed around at the line of scrimmage. He also has trouble with accelerating in and out of breaks quickly. He does have nice hands. He could make a case that he has the best hands of the group. It is close between them. He lacks awareness and composure and will not see the field much this year. I may consider the redshirt option for him as well.

#82 Thornton Smith (Norwalk, CA) - I'm not sure about this kid. He is a true freshman, but he seems to have really poor awareness even when that is considered. He has fairly good speed (4.45) but is a little small (5'10 175). He has good hands, but poor ability to accelerate out of his breaks to get open. He doesn't have good body control either. He is looking very resiliant out there, which I admire. I can't decide if I will redshirt him or not. He won't see the field much this year regardless.

I'll analyze my tight end situation tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 18th, 2009 -

Coach Burns said that the TE should have the receiving ability of a WR, but the blocking of a lineman. I agree. I want really versatile athletes at this position. Of course, these kinds of athletes are rare, but I keep looking. Our current group of TE's don't fulfill that requirement, but the last one that I just recruited might with some development. Let me examine his qualities first:

#81 Burt Gillespie (Mesa, Arizona) - I knew we needed a tightend, so we went to Arizona to recruit the top highschool kid in the country. He has good size (6'6 234) and good speed for the position (4.59) He also has great hands that are as good as most of my wide receivers. He has good strength and is already a good blocker at the position. He certainly isn't dominating, but for a freshman he is very good. He has good jumping ability and fair acceleration and body control. I think he could probably put on 15 pounds without losing too much speed and become a dominating blocker while still being a very good receiver. He seemed injury resistant in H.S., and hopefully that will continue. I worry about his past discipline problems, but he was too talented not to take a chance on. He will likely be one of the few and maybe only true freshman to start on the team this year. However, his awareness and lack of composure worry me and he might end up getting beat out for the starting job by one of the more experienced competitors.

#89 Vince Walker (Yucalpa, CA) - A true sophomore who we had to use in one game last year due to injury. It ruined a redshirt year. He has good speed at 4.63. He has good size (6'7 224) although his lankiness prevents him from being a good blocker. He tends to lose leverage battles and get pushed around. However, he is a tall target with good hands and he caught a few passes in the one game he played. He has nice jumping ability as well. He lacks awareness and composure and forgets the plays at times. This is concerning and will likely mean that he will be second or third string.

#73 Levon Benson (Stanton, CA) - I didn't have a good season recruiting another TE this year, and I wanted a third option. So, I move Levon from guard where he was buried in the depth chart to TE where he might be second, but even if he isn't he will get time as the third option. The good thing is that he blocks like a lineman. Unfortunately, he catches somewhat like a lineman too. He has hands of stone, I'm hoping they will develop. He has very good strength. He also has surprising mobility for his size (6'3 289, 5.01). He has some agility for a big man as well. Hopefully, he can grow into the role. On the plus side, he has the most experience and composure of the three even as he learns a new role.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 18th, 2009 -

I've always believed protecting your QB is vital to winning any game. A key part of that is the offensive tackles. Coach Burns thought the line had to be built inside to outside starting with the center. That is one of the few things we disagreed on. In any case, I've managed to help recruit some great tackles to this team. First, I want to talk about on my best recruits ever:

#74 Scott Archer (Castro Valley, CA) - Scott is a huge mountain of a man at 6'7 318 pounds. He started right away last year as a true freshman and he nows look to have a dominant season as a sophomore. He has great feet, overpowering strength. He has amazing awareness especially for a sophomore and he seems to have great composure. Last year, he would get rattled at times, but I don't think that will happen this year. He has fairly good speed for his size with a respectable 5.05 in the 40. He has excellent run blocking technique and I think it is the best in the country. He had 34 pancake blocks last year, and I expect even more this year. He also has excellent pass blocking technique and I expect him to cut down on the 10 sacks he gave up last year as a rookie. His only area of concern is his relative lack of stamina. Hopefully, that will improve as the year goes on. He clearly will be the starter at Right Tackle again this year.

#79 Rasheed Booth (El Toro, CA) - Rasheed's family was a memorable one. They were die hard USC fans. They had posters all over the house. It was one of the easiest committments I ever was able to procure. It was also among the best. Rasheed, is a big powerful man at 6'5 325 pounds. He has good speed for a lineman at 5.07. He has very good but not excellent strength. Rasheed started the first four games as a true freshman before breaking his leg and missing the rest of the year. However, he worked hard in the offseason and it shows. His run blocking and pass blocking technique are both excellent now. His stamina has improved. The lack of a full year has hurt the development of his awareness and his composure on the field. He will likely win the starting job but might face a challenge from the man who gained valuable experience last year, Ricky Smith. However, in his 4 games Rasheed only gave up 1 sack and he had 8 pancake blocks. It will be an interesting battle.

#78 Ricky Smith (Fullerton, CA) - Unlike the previous 2 gentlemen, Ricky is a redshirt sophomore. He lacks the relative speed of the other two with a 5.4 in the 40. He has good size at 6'9 340, but his height sometimes lets defensive players get leverage on him. He is better at pass blocking when he uses his long arms than he is at run blocking, but he is still very good at both. He has the best stamina of the 3 candidates for starter among the tackles. He also has the best awareness and composure on the field among the 3 tackles. Left tackle is his natural position, but he seems to have the capacity to play either side, however Scott has the right locked up barring injury. It will be an interesting battle at Left Tackle.

#70 Steven Colon (Pasadena, CA) - A true junior, this player is a possibility to transfer after this year. He has to know that he can't beat out Scott because Scott is just so talented. Steven is a big man who is good enough to start for most teams. He is 6'7 320 and runs a (5.3) 40. Steven has superior strength, but often plays upright and lacks great technique. He is a slightly better run blocker as he tends to play lower on running plays. He has good stamina for a man his size and he has excellent awareness and composure on the field. He will be a great backup RT this year.

#72 Corey Lake (Hesperia, CA) - I really like this kid's name. I also like his game. He has good size at 6'4 350. He has poor speed (5.45) but he is a mauler. The guy locks onto people and dominates them. He doesn't have the agility to get into the 2nd line of a defense. He is a 5 year senior and can play either tackle spot, but he is slightly better on the right. He doesn't have as much awareness or composure as I would expect out of a senior, but he is alright in those departments. He does have a surprising knack for catching the ball, and I might consider him in some tackle eligible plays or even as a surprise TE. I'll miss him when he graduates as he is a really good kid. He may also play some guard if the need arises.

Tomorrow, I need to evaluate the guards. The season will be here before I know it.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 19th, 2009 -

Coach Burns would be sad to see my relative neglect of the guard position. I generally put the guard position on the lowest ranking of my priorities when recruiting. That isn't to say I haven't recruited some great guards, but there have only been a few. We now only have 3 true guards on our roster, and we could have problems if any of them have to miss games.

#75 Terry Fry (Brea, CA) - I like this kid. But he worries me. He has been a discipline problem in the past. We need him to play a whole year, and if he becomes a problem we will be hurt as a team. I will ask our other seniors to keep an eye on him. Hopefully, he is maturing this year. He is a true senior and has been a starter for his entire time here, except for the 4 game suspension his freshman season and his 2 game suspension his sophomore season. He has very good size at 6'4 340. He has poor speed at 5.4 approximately in the 40. He has excellent strength and very good awareness on the field. He seems more composed in practice this year. He is a stellar pass blocker and a very good to excellent run blocker. He will start on the right side and hopefully be there the entire year.

#63 Mario Cole (Yorba Linda, CA) - A true freshman who was one of my best recruits this year. I focused on getting a quality guard due to the lack of quality in my other returning guard. Mario was the top rated guard in the nation. He has good size at 6'5 288. He has great speed for a big guy at 4.96. Ge has the agility and acceleration to pull. He has good but not great strength, however he has surprisingly good run blocking technique. His pass blocking technique is good but not great. That should improve with experience. His lack of stamina worries me. He has excellent awareness for a freshman, but he will need to gain experience on the field. That should start right away as I expect him to be the immediate starter on the left side.

#56 Corbin Collier (Mission Viejo, CA) - I expected Corbin to be a top flight guard. He is a true sophomore and he played some last year, but he didn't play well. He hasn't been working out and it shows. His technique is good on both pass and run plays at times but his lack of strength or speed really hurts him. He runs a (5.4) 4o and he has decent size at 6'6 290, but he plays too upright at times too. I hope he will develop with time, but right now he is strictly a backup on both sides.

I'm going to make an entry on our centers after some dinner tonight.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 19, 2009 -

My father always told me work harder than any other person, but live better too. The lobster was delicious. The waitress was really good looking too. Glad I got her number. Ok, now to work. The center position is one of strength at the moment. We have 2 quality centers and a younger redshirt freshman who could be a quality player in a year or two.

#67 Bryan Brown (Faairfield, CA) - Bryan is a tough young man. He isn't that big at 6'4 265. However, he is very smart. He also plays with great leverage. He has good speed (5.02) and he makes it to the second level to make blocks. He also makes all of the right line adjustments. He is a consumate technician when it comes to run or pass blocking. If he was stronger, he would demolish people. As it is, he just guides people where the offense needs them to go. He is a true Junior who has shared time with his main rival on the team but he appears ready to win that battle and be the lone guy this year to start at center.

#66 Floyd Holden (Escondido, CA) This is Bryan's main competitor for the job. Floyd is a 4 year senior who is graduating with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He is very bright both on and off the field. He is 6'3 276 pounds but doesn't have much more strength than Bryan. In fact, he might not be quite as strong. He also doesn't have the technical ability when it comes to run blocking that Bryan does, however, he is probably his equal at pass blocking. He does have stamina and this really helps him. Also, has good but not great composure for a senior likely secondary to his insecurity about Bryan taking his job. He might start at Center, but is more likely to be the backup center and might get some time at guard as well.

#60 Montrell Edmonds (Visalla, CA) - Montrell is bigger at 6'6 290, but he lacks the knee bend to be a great center at this point. He is a redshirt freshman and will hopefully learn to play with better leverage. He might also move to guard or even tackle in the future. He lacks great awareness. He has better strength then either Bryan or Floyd, but he lacks their technical ability. He also isn't that fast (5.4) He does have surprising catching ability, and I might consider him at TE as well if he doesn't improve as a center. He has very poor composure especially considering he is not a true freshman. Hopefully, this will improve.

Next, I need to consider the defensive side of the ball, and make some hard decisions.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 20th, 2009 -

You must stop the pass. Most great teams in the current climate can pass the ball. I want quick, fearsome pass rushing ends to stop the pass. I want guys that can power through the tackle or go around him. My guys should be getting at least 10 sacks a year. The DE and the Cornerback are the two most important defensive positions in my philosophy. I haven't recruited as many good cornerbacks as I would like, but I have had more luck with defensive ends.

#97 Everett Moore (Buena Park, CA) - This kid has great size at 6'6 275 without sacrificing speed (4.73) He can really get after the quarterback. He is a true sophomore, but played in blowouts last year. He managed to have 25 tackles and 4 sacks in limited action. With the graduation of my two seniors at this position, Everett is clearly the top guy at LE. He has a very good bull rush move that compliments his speed rush. He is an excellent defender against the run as well. He is good at getting off of most blocks. His awareness could be better and he needs to play with more composure. However, I still believe he will hold off all challengers for the starting LE position.

#90 Steven McBride (Walnut Creek, CA) - This kid is a freak of nature it seems. He is light at only 6'5 228 but he manages to play RE effectively. He was our 3rd defensive end last year and he managed to win 2nd team Pac-10 with 65 tackles and 6 sacks. He has very good speed (4.61) and a nice outside rush. He lacks strength and sometimes get pushed around, yet his long arms are great at catching running backs and just tripping them up. He has a great first step which is key to his beating his man. He also has managed to resist injury. He is a true senior and we hope he has a monster year. He doesn't have as much awareness or composure as I would expect from a true senior, but he will likely hold onto the starting RE position this year.

#99 Willis "Big Man" Long (Hacienda Heights, CA) - He is a huge man at 6'7 290. He has surprising speed for his size (4.87) and he is agile for his size. However, he doesn't play with great strength or leverage. He lacks awareness on the field. He seems to take plays off. He lacks stamina. He is a ferocious tackler once he gets his hands on his man. I hope he improves his stamina and effort as he is the heir apparent at RE. He is a redshirt sophomore and he will likely be the 3rd DE, backing up both sides.

#94 Lynn Talton (Santa Rosa, CA) - This kid is a true freshman who has the capability to be a dominant DE in the future. He was a top 5 guy in the country at his position. He has good speed with excellent agility for the position. He runs a 4.63 in the 40. He is 6'5 258 and he really gets after the QB. Coaches say he is like a pitbull once he latches on. His stamina needs work and he needs to develop awareness. I'm going to see if I can talk him into redshirting as I think he could be truly special with more time. Hopefully, he doesn't become angry at my request. Also, I may have to remove his redshirt if any of the other 3 guys go down to injury.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 20th, 2009 -

Coach Burns said, "It becomes much easier to stop the pass, once you stop the run." He believed that two huge defensive tackles in the middle of the line were key to this. I prefer big quick defensive ends, but I also appreciate a good tackle. I haven't been as vigilant in getting great defensive tackles as I would like but we do have two good and two average defensive tackles. I need to recruit a great DT or two this year.

#96 Patrick Cleveland (Petaluma, CA) - Patrick started last year and the experience has done wonders for him, but I'm still not happy that he is clearly my top guy. Patrick had 30 tackles and 3 sacks in 12 starts last year, and I would like to see more production. He is big at 6'2 298 pounds. He has nice speed for a man of his size (4.96) and a good first step. However, he doesn't seem to give consistent effort. He seems to let runners get out of his grasp some times. He also has trouble fighting off blocks as well as I would like. He doesn't work out hard enough and it shows on the field. I'll have to see if I can do a better job of lighting a fire under his ass this year. He is a true junior and I doubt he will leave early, because he isn't good enough to go pro yet.

#64 Greg Renedo (Rosemead, CA) - Greg is a true sophomore with great size (6'4 306) and the potential to be a dominant run stuffer. He isn't going to get after too many quarterbacks because he lack speed (5.24) but he will occupy two blockers frequently to make space for the linebackers and other linemen to make plays. Greg started last year as a true freshman, and he will likely start again this year. He had 21 tackles and 0 sacks in 9 starts, and hopefully his injury problems of last year will not reoccur. Also, he needs to develop better awareness this year and handle the pressures of the big game better.

#93 Torrie Lopez (Glendora, CA) - Torrie is a true freshman who we will unfortunately have to play some this year. Torrie has decent size at 6'0 and 282 and good speed with a 4.76 in the 40. However, he severely lacks awareness. He lacks big game experience. He doesn't have enough strength yet. He doesn't have a great first step. He has trouble getting to the ball carrier, but he is good at bringing the carrier down when he gets to him in practice. I just hope our top two guys stay healthy or our run defense could be a problem this year.

#95 Samson McPherson (Newark, CA) - He lives up to his name with great strength for his size (6'1 300) However, he appears to be a workout warrior who doesn't do well in practice. He misses tackles. He gets pushed around despite his low center of gravity. He also appears injury prone based on his history in high school. However, he is the strongest of our DT's and he will likely see the field quite a bit as a 3rd or 4th DT this year.

Next, I'll examine our outside linebackers. I'm glad the news is better at this position.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 22nd, 2009 -

I love speedy linebackers who can hit and tackle. It's even better if they have good hands and can catch the ball. I'll take a playmaker with speed over a bigger linebacker just about everytime. However, if he has good size that makes things even better. Chris is a special guy. I'll tell you about his physical attributes in a moment. First a great story about him. His parents were killed in a car wreck when he was 16. He managed to get himself emancipated so he didn't have to be a ward of the state and he managed to get custody of his 12 year old sister so she didn't have to be either. I'm still not sure how he managed to get the judge to believe he could financially support her, but he did. He worked odd jobs in H.S. and it hurt his schoolwork, but he did what he had to do. I like guys like that who get it done somehow. Chris is a true senior who will make it to the NFL next year without a doubt. He needed the money and he could have left the team this last year. Why didn't he? Because he wanted to honor his committment to us. Also, I suspect a booster is helping him out, but that won't make the final edition of the memoirs. Regardless, Chris is a special kid.

#50 Chris Magnum (West University, TX) - I went to Texas when I heard about this amazing kid who had the fiercest drive and great athletic ability to boot. Chris didn't disappoint. He isn't the biggest linebacker (6'1 228) but he has great speed (4.40) and is one of the fastest guys on our team in and out of pads. Chris also lifts like a madman and he has great strength for his size. He is a wonderful tackler. He has great acceleration and he makes all of the plays. He has excellent awareness and he has been through it all before. The only downside is that he gets injured on occasion. He missed 3 key games last year. Despite missing those three games he ended up being on the 1st team Pac-10 team. He had 80 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 2 recovered fumbles last year. I expect even more greatness from him this year as he has really worked hard to develop in the offseason. I hear he might even be named to the preseason All-American team. That would be a well deserved honor. In any case, he is clearly our starter at LOLB as long as he remains healthy.

#51 Travis Sweeny (Gilroy, CA) - I don't usually take junior college kids, but this one had so much talent and we had a hole, so I took a chance on him. He is now in his last year of eligibility and I'm glad I did. He is small at 6'2 217, but he has good speed (4.64) and he makes plays. The guy doesn't miss many tackles. He has good awareness and he plays like a senior should play - very few mistakes. He also has great leaping ability. Last year in limited action he had 22 tackles and 2 sacks. I expect a lot more from him this year as a starter. He will play ROLB.

#57 Duncan Simmons (Redwood City, CA) - Duncan is the likely backup at both outside linebacker positions. He has a nice frame, but needs to put more weight on. He is 6'5 220. He has good speed (4.54) with a great first step. He is a very solid tackler but he frequently takes bad angles to the ball. He needs better play recognition but that should occur with playing time. He also needs to compete on every down, he tends to get down on himself and lose focus. Hopefully, that will improve with experience as well. He is heir apparent to one of the outside starting jobs this year and I hope to get him plenty of PT this year to have him ready.

#54 Cole Davis (San Francisco, CA) - Cole was a very good recruit for us this year. He is a true freshman and his mom has been a lifelong USC fan so she convinced him to sign with us early in the process. Cole is 6'4 230 with very nice speed (4.51) Like many freshmen, he lacks awareness on the field and often takes bad angles to the ball carrier. He does have nice body control and he looks fluid out there. His speed and agility help him recover when he makes mistakes in practice. He is an above average tackler, but he needs to learn better technique. He can outrun any of the guys in our distance runs and has great stamina. He also has excellent jumping ability. This kid was quite the athlete in high school and we will be very happy to have him on our team if he can continue to develop.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 22nd, 2009 -

"A middle linebacker is like a symphony director - he conducts your defense and the whole thing falls apart if he doesn't do his job." That was another thing Coach Burns pounded into me. I believe it. Some people say the Free Safety is the conductor of the defense, but I want a MLB who can recognize everything, make all of the plays, and be a deterrent to the offense. Fortunately, I have a great recruit who meets those criteria.

#52 Nic Lee - Nic was hard to convince. He wanted to go to Oklahoma with their great tradition. I had to promise him something special. I did - I promised him the chance to start right away. That was what sold him (of course I got this approved by Coach Carroll). I rarely promise playing time like that to guys, but Nic was special in high school and he was the top middle linebacker in the country. We needed a guy like Nic, so I made an exception. Nic is 6'1 236, but has great speed for his size (4.52) He has wonderful awareness, great acceleration, great body control. He has good hands as well. He is a ferocious tackler and consistently has the best technique in practice. He also is great at fighting through traffic. He also demonstrates great stamina on the long distance runs, and never seems to get tired. He also has been injury resistant his entire time here. Nic a true junior who hasn't missed a game. He was 1st team Pac-10 last year when he had 102 tackles, 6 sacks, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles. I expect him to likely be a preseason All-American. I also expect him to likely leave to the pros early next year. I will be trying hard to convince him to do otherwise.

#58 John Harrison (Beverly Hills, CA) - John is a 5th year senior who was in line to start before Nic arrived two years ago. I'm shocked that John hasn't transferred somewhere to get more playing time. He is a top notch athlete who could start for many teams in the country. He has nice size (6'1 233) with good speed (4.61) He has great awareness and good leadership. He has a wonderful first step. His hands are suspect and he often drops an interception that he should make in practice. However, it says something that he gets himself in position to make interceptions. He is a very good, but not superior tackler. He has very good stamina and is a worthy backup to Nic. He may also get some time on the outside. We may even consider a few 3-4 defensive sets to get John a little playing time.

#46 Burt Edmonds (Gilroy, CA) - Burt has a great name I think. He also has the potential to have a great game. He is a true freshman who has already agreed to redshirt. If Nic leaves early, Burt will be the guy next year in all likelihood. Burt has nice size but needs to put more weight on (6'4 213) He has fairly good speed (4.69) and he has a great first step that maximizes his speed. He needs to develop his ability to recognize plays, as he is prone to fall victim to pump fakes and play action plays. That will come with experience. He is an above average tackler already and that should improve as we work on him with his technique. Overall, I'm excited about his potential.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 23rd, 2009 -

The cornerback is one of my favorite positions. I love speedy guys and I want my WR's and cornerbacks to be the fastest guys on any field they step on. My WR's lack speed, but my cornerbacks definitely do not. However, with the exception of my top guy, Mark, they lack other attributes.

#2 Mark Collins (Paramount, CA) - I recruited Mark because he was fast. He didn't have many other skills when he first arrived, but he had his wonderful speed. He is 6'2 165 and when he first arrived he ran a 4.21 in the 40. I don't think he has lost any of that speed. He is clearly the fastest guy when we run out of pads, and I think he is the fastest in pads as well. He also has GREAT acceleration. He hits top speed as fast as anyone I've ever seen. He also is very smooth with his backpeddling. He jumps as well as most guys in the country. His stamina is top notch. What are the downsides? He looks afraid to tackle and he isn't very good at it. He lacks the strength to jam receivers. His awareness isn't as good as I would like considering he has been my nickle cornerback for the past two years. He is now a true junior and he clearly will be the top starter at CB, but I need for him to show more play recognition and smarter decisions on the field. That being said, he has the potential to blanket any receiver. He also has above average hands which have really developed due to his work at catching pass after pass from the jug machine. In 2007, he was a freshman All-American when he had 40 tackles and 4 interceptions from the nickle spot. Last year, he dropped off a bit with only 35 tackles and 1 interception. Now that he is starting, I expect a big year. I'm also hopeful that I can convince him to come back for one more year after this.

#4 Justin Hicks (Thousand Oaks, CA) - Justin was recruited the same time as Mark was and they have battled each other bitterly for playing time. Last year, Justin won the starting CB spot ahead of Mark. It will be interesting to see how they play together this year. Justin is 6'0 184 with 4.26 speed. He never gets burnt. He is also a top notch leaper which helps him cover big receivers. He also has good strength and is decent at bump and run coverage. He has excellent agility and acceleration. He has very good hands. He is a more willing tackler than Mark. He also has been very resiliant. His awareness needs some work, and I hope that he will develop more this year. He will almost certainly be the 2nd starting CB.

#1 Skip Craft (Norwalk, CA) - Skip was a great recruit for us this year. He will fill the gap when Mark and Justin leave. Skip wants to play soon though and I had to promise him some PT so he will likely get the nickle CB spot. Nick is 6'2 170 and he has great speed too (4.31) He has wonderful acceleration, but sometimes lacks body control. His hands are average at best at this time. He is a very good high jumper. He has excellent stamina. I will likely let him return some kicks as well as play CB. His awareness needs work and he will fall victim to double moves in practice. He needs to work on that quickly, but fortunately his speed and acceleration help cover up those mistakes to an extent.

#3 Arnold Boyle (Newport Beach, CA) - Another member of the dynamic trio as the new freshmen cornerbacks like to call themselves. ARnold doesn't have the speed of his bretheren but he runs a respectable 4.48. He is 6'0 185 and he plays taller than he is with his superior leaping ability. He has very little strength and he cannot jam receivers despite his size. He is a little stiff in his backpeddling and he will need to work on his technique. However, he has naturally great hands and he could be a dominant force with some development. I thought about redshirting him, but we don't have enough depth and he will get some time as a dime back I believe. His awareness is very good for a freshman.

#9 Jon Horton (Buena Park, CA) - This third member of the dynamic trio has been the most disappointing. He has wonderful size with good speed (6'4 180, 4.47) but he doesn't play well on the field. He is stiff in the hips, he doesn't turn well. He doesn't catch well. He doesn't recover from mistakes well. He lacks tackling ability. However, he is an excellent jumper and he might be useful against taller receivers with some development time. I've convinced him it is in his best interest to redshirt this year and work hard with our coaches. I'm not sure how the rest of the dynamic trio feel about that.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 24th, 2009 -

The FS is someone who should be able to free lance and make plays. Yet, they have to be disciplined enough to never get beat deep as they are the last line of defense. I want a FS with excellent speed and great hands who is smart enough to take the right angle to save the touchdown. If he can tackle like a strong safety that is a bonus. I'm not thrilled with the current group.

#24 Gayton Long (San Marcos, CA) - Gayton is a true junior who hasn't seen much action the past two years, but due to graduation of our excellent leading FS, he will now be the starter by default. Gayton has average speed (4.63), average awareness, but good acceleration. He has above average hands and shows the potential to make interceptions in practice. He is a good jumper. He is a fair tackler at best. Hopefully, he grows into the role this year and plays better than he has looked on the practice field. He is also undersized at 6'0 188 which worries me.

#29 Will Franklin (Covina, CA) - "The Natural" was his nickname in high school. I would go that far as he needs to learn a lot about FS. However, this kid was a star athlete in every sport he tried. Pitcher in baseball, SG in basketball, and he played all over the field in football. I decided we needed depth at FS and he is willingly taking that assignment. He has nice size but needs to put on weight (6'5 172) He has good speed (4.53) along with nice acceleration and agility. He has the best hands of any of my defensive backs and I actually briefly considered him at WR. His hands are good enough that he could play some offense. He also is a top notch jumper. His biggest drawback is his poor awareness along with the lack of experience playing FS. Hopefully, they both develop quickly. I envison him playing as our 2nd FS and getting in any blowouts.

#6 Robert Brooks (Stockton, CA) - My other freshman at this position. Robert is a natural FS having played there 4 years in H.S. He is 6'1 203 and he hits receivers hard. His hands aren't as good as I would like nor is his speed (4.66) He has fairly good body control and good acceleration to help him keep up when a cut is made. He lacks awareness and I feel it is in his best interest to redshirt. He fortunately agrees.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 25th, 2009 -

The strong safety is my intimidator. He is the guy that I want to make hits so hard that the receiver drops the ball even when he isn't going to get hit. I want a powerful fast dervish of destruction. If he can catch the ball that is just a plus.

#20 Roderick Bowers (Oceanside, CA) - Roderick has it all. Size (6'2 220) speed (4.50) and the heart. He lays vicious hits on receivers. I'll never forget the play last year where he layed out a receiver who had caught the ball, causing a fumble. Roderick then leaped over another receiver pounced on the ball and then scrambled to his feet and took the ball in for a 24 yard touchdown. Roderick has great agility and acceleration. His hands are only average but he might get a pick or two this year. He had one last year when he shared the starting spot. He is a true junior and he doesn't have as much composure as I would like, but his awareness is good. I think he could be all Pac-10 at the least this year. He was 2nd team Pac-10 last year with 38 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovered fumble, and 1 defensive touchdown.

#25 Jermaine McClure (Ken Caryl, Colorado) - Jermaine is a character. That is a bad thing. Disciplinary problems cost him part of last year and that is when Roderick seized control of the starting SS spot and he never gave it up. Jermaine is a true senior and hopefully he has matured. He is 6'5 214. He has nice speed (4.55) He has very poor hands but he is also a ferocious hitter. He lacks the awareness of Roderick and really it is poor for a senior. However, Jermaine has seen a lot and he doesn't panick easily. His agility and acceleration are excellent. He will get plenty of time as the #2 SS, and might surprise me by earning his spot back but that is doubtful. He did have 14 tackles before he lost playing time secondary to his suspension.

#16 Joel Logan - A Redshirt freshman with potential. He is 6'2 185 and runs a 4.54 in the 40. He has good tackling ability but is not as vicious as the other two candidates for playing time. He has nice agility and acceleration for hte position. For a redshirt freshman his awareness is good, but he lacks composure in pressure situations in practice. Which makes me really worry about game time exposure. He won't play much unless we have injuries.

#28 Curtis Cody (Parkway, CA) - Curtis is a redshirt sophomore. He is 6'4 210 with 4.48 speed. He doesn't use these attributes well enough. He doesn't tackle hard enough. He doesn't work out enough. He doesn't have good hands either. However, he does have good awareness and his composure is improving nicely. He might play a bit to see if he can improve.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 26th, 2009 -

Kickers. I've never really understood them. I know I need them. I get mad if they blow the game, but I don't really want to be relying on them. That being said, I'll try to get the best kickers I can so they don't blow the game, but they are low on my recruiting priority list. I tried to get a great kicker this past year, but he went to FSU. I got stuck with an average kicker at best. The punting situation is even worse.

#49 Xavier Miles (Santa Clara, CA) - What kind of name is Xavier. That is a university, not a football player's name! Oh well, I didn't let his name scare me off of recruiting him. Honestly, he was the best option when Jeff shocked me by leaving California for FSU. Xavier is big 6'2 190. He doesn't run the 40 fast, but I didn't even pay attention to the time. Heck, he is a freaking kicker. He does have a strong leg, that is well above average, but his accuracy is only average. Hopefully he will improve with time. He will be the field goal kicker by default. He is a true freshman and lacks composure so I hope we don't need any field goals in a hostile environment to win the game.

#41 Micah Blanks - He was a decent punter in high school, but again I lost out on my top choice. Miah is 5'11 and 214. He is slow as molasses but if he has to make a tackle than I'm going to be too angry at my coverage team to yell at this kid. He has above average leg strength but is not good at being accurate. He is also a true freshman and he lacks composure. I hope he doesn't shank one in a big game.

Well, these notes have helped me organize my thoughts. Now, I'll need to determine my final depth charts in a few weeks and then before I know it the season shall begin.

[Eaglesfan27]

OOC Note: I'm going to spend today trying out some of the sliders and determining what gives the best realistic results before I actually start playing the games of the dynasty. I will post whatever set I decide to use (likely Skyboxers/Pared from OS)

OK, I'm going to use the ones that Todd posted from some guy at OS. See the thread about rating NCAA football if you want to know the specific sliders.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 1st, 2009 -

So, I've finally decided on my depth chart. Here it is:

QB: 1st: Ernest Kemp, 2nd: Chris McKenzie, and 3rd Brennan Kirk

RB: 1st: Khalid Harris, 2nd: Todd Winston, and 3rd: Josh Gates

FB: 1st Clayton Carr (of course), 2nd: Ashton Fitzgerald, and 3rd Todd Winston

WR: 1st Matt Joseph, 2nd Brian Horner (I love these guys having such good size), 3rd Steven Poole, 4th Maurice Wilson, 5th Marcus Hess, and 6th Mark McDermond (The guy played some WR in H.S. and he still has decent catching ability to go with his excellent speed)

TE: 1st Burt Gillespie, 2nd Vince Walker, and 3rd Levon Benson (who will get in during goal line attack formations)

LT: 1st Rasheed Booth, 2nd Ricky Smith, and 3rd Steven Colon.

LG: Mario Cole, Corbin Collier, Steven Colon.

C: Bryan Brown, Floyd Holden, and Montrell Edmonds.

RG: Terry Fry, Floyd Holden, and Corbin Collier.

RT: Scott Archer, Ricky Smith, and Steven Colon

LE: Everett Moore, Willis Long, and Torrie Lopez.

RE: Steven McBride, Willis Long, and Torrie Lopez.

DT: Patrick Cleveland, Greg Renedo, Torrie Lopez, and Samson McPherson.

LOLB: Chris Mangum (All American I hope), John Harrison, and Duncan Simmons.

MLB: Nic Lee (Also All American I hope), John Harrison, and Duncan Simmons.

ROLB: Travis Sweeney, John Harrison, and Cole Davis.

CB: Mark Collins, Justin Hicks, Skip Craft, Arnold Boyle, and Jermaine McClure.

FS: Gaylon Long, Will Franklin, and Jermaine McClure.

SS: Roderick Bowers, Jermaine McClure, and Joel Logan.

K: Xavier Miles (that kid better not cost us a game.)

P: Micah Blanks (Ditto.)

KR: Mark Collins (His 4.21 speed is too tempting not to use here), Steven Poole (he isn't starting and he has good reliable hands with good speed)

PR: Mark Collins (the speed will make him a threat every time he touches the ball), Justin Hicks (also has great speed), Steven Poole.

Time to relax and check out the stories of interest in my preseason SI edition.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 1st, 2009 -

The Preseason polls are always a funny thing. They never really help you and they can set you up for major disappointment if you underperform. However, here at USC they have come to expect us to be in the top 10, and I'm relieved to see we are. Interesting top 25:

1 Ohio State: Well, they are a very talented team, so this is not a surprise. However, we did upset them last year. I can't really argue though as they have a great offense and defense. Their special teams are better than ours.

2. Texas: Sheesh, these guys always lose the big games. You would think the writers wouldn't put them so high. They also don't have as much talent on offense or defense. However, they do have better special teams.

3. Florida State: The defending national champions. I can't really complain about them being higher tan us. They have top notch talent on offense. Their defense is solid. Their special teams are not surprisingly better than ours.

4. USC - Wow, least we are in the top 5. I think our poor special teams hurt us in the rankings. We have the worst ranked special teams in the top 15. They believe we have a top notch offense and a very solid defense.

5. Wake Forest - They have become a consistent power over the past few years. They have excellent talent on offense. Wonderful special teams too.

6. West Virginia: Nothing spectacular, but very good talent all around.

7. LSU: A great offense couple with an even better defense. Their special teams are not that great (but still better than ours) I'm surprised they aren't ranked higher.

8. Oklahoma: An average offense coupled with a top notch defense makes them a scary team for many opponents.

9. Missouri: They have one of the best defenses in the country. They also have a good offense.

10. Michigan: No standouts, but solid all around talent.

11. Minnesota: A very dangerous running back makes them a talented threat. They have solid talent at all other positions as well.

12. Maryland: Good offense, good defense, and top notch special teams makes them be able to compete in any game.

13. Arkansas: They are on two year probation from post season play, but they have excellent talent on offense currently.

14. Nebraska: They have evolved into a high passing offense with top notch talent at QB and WR. They have a very good defense.

15. Tennesee: Always a perennial top 10 or so team. I think they are underrated in this SI.

16. Notre Dame: They now are a high flying offense too. Great QB this year. Wonderful HB to complement him. I'm not looking forward to that game.

17. Miami: They haven't won a national championship in 3 years. They are hungry. They are solid at the skill positions but lack talent on the lines.

18. Texas A&M - A very good offense must overcome an average defense for them to thrive.

19. Syracuse - Solid in all positions but not spectacular in any this year.

20. South Carolina - They have been a player on the national scene for the last few years. This year won't be different with their potent offense.

21. Alabama - Solid all around talent.

22. NC State - Nothing special, but no weak links either. Solid talent at all positions.

23. Georgia - They have a wonderful QB and good receivers. I think they will end up in the top 10.

24. Houston - This is the first time I've noticed this team in the top 25. They have a wide open offense with a good QB. Their defense is impressive.

25. Purdue: They are one of the few teams with worse special teams. They have a very solid offense and defense. Good talent along the lines.

Now let me see how they rank the toughest places. I'll just focus on the ones we play at as well as the top 10.

[Eaglesfan27]

The top 25 toughest places is one of my favorite articles. I want to get our home field into this story soon.

1. Neyland Stadium - Tennessee - 97,000 plus fans screaming will make any team likely get rattled. Tennessee has an 11 game home winning streak.

2. Ohio Stadium - Ohio State - 95,000 plus on average is enough to rattle the strongest of teams. The Buckeyes have won 4 straight there.

3. Memorial Stadium - Nebraska - Attendance has been down. Still they attract around 72,000 fans each week. They have a 2 game home winning streak.

4. Kyle Field - Texas A&M - 80,000 plus make this place a nightmare. 3 game winning streak at home.

5. Autzen Stadium - Oregon Ducks - This stadium is one of my least favorite places. 49,000 fans but they sound like 90,000. A loss here a few years ago cost us the national championship. We play there week 8 of this year - it will be a tough game especially for our younger players.

6. Kinnick Stadium - Iowa - 70,000 screaming fans. No winning streak currently.

7. Tiger Stadium - LSU - "Death Valley" is a hot humid swampy place with 87,000 plus fans each week. If the heat doesn't get you, the fans will. LSU has lost their last two games at home despite this advantage.

8. Sanford Stadium - Georgia - 95,000 rabid fans will tear down the will of the staunchest opponent. Despite this, Georgia lost its last home game.

9. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Flordia - "The Swamp" has been averaging almost 100,000 fans a year. They are powerful supporters. Despite this, Florida has a 3 game home losing streak.

10. Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - Avg Attendance: 74,000 fans approximately. 3 game winning streak for the home team.

12. Husky Stadium - Washington - I hate playing in this stadium and we play there this year. 70,000 fans make it hard on the opponent. Washington has a 2 game win streak. We visit week 12.

Wow, We've finally made it into the top 25!

This is a huge surprise.

We are #24 - USC Stadium "The Coliseum" Average attendance: 93,000 fans approximately. 4 game home winning streak. All time home record 410-134-24. Hopefully, I can move us up into the top 10 before I retire.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 1, 2009 -

I'm about to start the 1st week of my first season as head coach. I feel like I'm going to vomit. I can't sleep. I'm too jacked up. It's only 6 hours to kickoff. Maybe I'll find a way to relax. My men are prepared. It's time to do battle. Fortunately, we have an easy first opponent. Fresno State here in our house. They have a good quarterback and a good running back, but their corners and defense in general are suspect. I plan on using a balanced attack. We'll see how it turns out. Ernest will have the green light to run as needed. I just hope he remembers to slide. Ok, time to focus. Coach Burns always said, "Focus is the key to championships."

Here we go.

[Archer219]

May 18th, 2009 -
#81 Burt Gillespie (Mesa, Arizona) - I knew we needed a tightend, so we went to Arizona to recruit the top highschool kid in the country.


MESA REPRESENT!!!!!

*sorry about that*

[Eaglesfan27]

MESA REPRESENT!!!!!

*sorry about that*

OOC: Don't be sorry about that. It's nice to know someone is reading this :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 1, 2009 -

What a game. I thought we would win by a larger margin, however, we made a few mistakes. The first drive started out nicely enough with Khalid Harris pounding the ball inside. He had 8 yards here, 4 yards there. It added up. Ernest Kemp made a great scramble for 14 yards that got us a key first down. We made it down to the 10 yard line and I thought for sure we were going to score. Then, Ernest made one of the stupidiest passes I've ever seen into double coverage. He was looking for Brian Horner, but Horner was blanketed and not even with his height could he catch that pass. Instead, Mo Bright who is a tall kid himself jumped up caught it and sat down for the touchback.

We didn't score at all as Fresno State's Orlando Solomon played keep away from us. He just kept hitting those 3 and 4 yard runs. It was disgusting. Least our defense finally shut them down outside the 30 yardline. They tried a long field goal which they missed.

In the beginning of the second quarter we finally scored. Ernest made a great pass to Burt Gillespie for a key first down. Khalid ran the ball with authority. It was a nice drive. I surprised them by bringing Todd Winston in for a play on 1st down and goal at the 8 yard line. They were even more shocked when I handed off to him and he ran it past a stunned defense on a right sided sweep without being touched.

Towards the end of the 1st half, Gaylon Long bit on a play action pass and Stanley Walker connected on a 50 yard bomb to Edward Sapp. Edward is a big fast junior. He is the only guy we had trouble covering and it showed as he had 3 catches for 77 yards and that touchdown. Only Ron Hewitt their other WR even had one catch. We held their defense to 4 for 20. Gotta be proud of that effort. I'll send the D-coordinator a bottle of champagne tomorrow. He earned it.

In the second half, the scoring picked up. Earnest began connecting on more of his throws and his completion percentage picked up noticably. Midway through the 3rd quarter he had a beautiful roll out to his right and he fired a strike to Burt Gillespie the true freshman TE. Gillespie did a great job of holding on and keeping his feet in bounds in the back of the endzone. That was our only passing TD of the day. We were up 14-7 when on the ensuing drive, Roderick Bowers scared the WR who the ball was thrown to and grabbed it himself. Roderick layed some nasty hits on them. This time, he intercepted the ball and had a nice 25 yard return in which he showed some real good moves. This set up a short distance drive which was capped off by a Khalid Harris 4 yard touchdown run. We were now up 21-7 and I was thinking about when to put in the 2nd string.

I should have remembered the lesson about focus. Fresno state proceeded to run, run, run the ball down our throats. They capped a great drive with a 2 yard plunge by their FB, KaRon Merritt. Now it was 21-14 going into the 4th quarter.

I told Ernest to make sure he didn't make any mistakes. Win the game, don't lose it. Brilliant advice, I think. Ernest began making plays with his feet and he led a long ground it drive in which he himself evaded 2 defenders when all of his receiving options were covered and ran it 12 yards into the endzone. That was a freaking brilliant run. I love mobile quarterbacks. That gave us a 28-14 lead and I thought again about subbing guys out if we could extend the lead to 21 points. But with 5 minutes left Fresno had other ideas. They ran the ball and even completed a pass or two and they managed to have another drive capped with a 3 yard plunge by KaRon Merritt. 28-21 with 2 and a half minutes left. Would they go for the onside kick?

No, they must have thought they could stop us, and to their credit they had several times already. I didn't mention a few 3 and out drives on each of our parts. Sure enough on 1st down they stuffed Khalid for only a 2 yard gain. On 2nd down, Khalid got a 3 yard gain. They used a timeout. On 3rd and 5, Ernest found Burt Gillespie across the middle for a key 6 yard gain. Whew! That was Burt's 3rd and final catch of the day. 1 minute and 40 seconds left. Khalid had a 5 yard run behind the big powerful blocking of Scott Archer (who had 8 pancake blocks on the day) Khalid then had a 4 yard run again behind archer. 3rd and 1 and now Fresno had just used their last timeout. What would we do? Well, I decided to give the ball to Khalid but have him run behind the LG Mario Cole (a true freshman) Mario didn't disappoint, he got Khalid the room to run and make the 1st with a 2 yard plunge. Khalid then ran the ball for 4 yards. 2nd and 6 and one more first down would seal the win. What would we do? I had Ernest run a QB keeper where he made a move to fake a pitch to Khalid and instead made 8 yards for the 1st down. I'm glad to say he remembered to slide. Khalid then ran the ball one final time to end the game. A hard fought 28-21 win.

My offensive leaders (up to top 3 in each category):

Passing: Ernest Kemp: 134.9 rating, 13 of 21 for 167 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. 61% of his passes complete. 7.9 avg. Sacked 6 times (probably due to his propensity to try to scramble to create some time for a receiver to get open) and a long of 37 yards.

Rushing: Khalid Harris: 18 carries for 76 yards. Avg: 4.2. 1 TD, long of 11 yards.
Ernest Kemp: 18 carries for a net of 61 yards, Avg: 3.3 1 TD, long of 22 yards.

Receiving: TE Burt Gillespie: 3 catches for 27 yards, avg: 9.0, 1 TD, long of 18 yards.
WR Brian Horner 3 catches for 41 yards, avg 13.6. Long of 22 yards.
WR Steven Poole 2 catches for 55 yards, avg of 27.5, long of 32.

Blocking: RT Scott Archer: 7 pancake blocks, 2 sacks (neither really his fault)
LT Rasheed Booth: 3 pancake blocks, 1 sack allowed.
LG Mario Cole: 3 pancake blocks, 0 sacks allowed.

Tackles: DT: Patrick Cleveland 5 tackles, 1 for a loss.
SS: Roderick Bowers 5 tackles.
DE: Steven McBride: 4 tackles, 1 for a loss.

Sacks: CB Skip Craft, 1 sack (3 tackles, 2 for a loss.)

Interceptions: SS Roderick Bowers 1 interception, 25 return yards.
ROLB Travis Sweeney 1 interception, 5 return yards.

Forced Fumbles: None unfortunately.

FG: None, thankfully.

Punts: Micah Blanks 3 for 94 yards. Avg 31.3, Long 33, 1 that was inside the 20. Net average: 29.3

KR: Steven Poole 3 returns for 52 yards. Avg of 17.3 Long of 19.
Mark Collins: 1 return for 12 yards.

PR: Mark Collins 4 returns for 101 yards. 25.2 average. Long of 44 (only the punter stopped him from making it the last 20 for a touchdown)

Opponent's stats (abbreviated to top at each position and not all positions):

Passing: Stanley Walker 4 of 20 for 88 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT, rating 53.5

Rushing: Orlando Soloman 23 carries for 103 yards, 4.4 avg. Long of 12 yards.

Receiving: Edward Sapp 3 catches for 77 yards. Avg of 25.6, long of 50 yards.

Tackling: LOLB Richard Blackburn: 5 tackles, 2 for a loss.

Sacks: MLB Glenn Donley, 2.

Interceptions: CB Mo Bright, 1.

My final thoughts: Ernest needs to make more things happen if we are going to win a national championship. He also needs to cut down on the mental mistakes. He needs to pick his spots on when to run and not lose yards like he did on some of those plays. I will work with him on that. I'm still very hands on with my QB's. Can't take the QB coach out of the head coach. Now to hope we have an uneventful 3 weeks until our next game - against #1 Ohio State.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 1, 2009 - News from around the league:

I'm stunned to see that FSU lost to BYU at home. As a result, FSU drops from number 3 in the polls and we move up into that slot :)

Experts are talking about Ernest Kemp for the Heisman. It's too early to talk about that crap. I hope it doesn't go to his head. I'll have to do something in practice to make sure it doesn't.

Roderick Bowers made the cover of SI: "Fearsome hitter leads USC to victory." Great, I need to make sure things don't go to his head either. He won Pac-10 defensive player of the week. I want him confident, but not cocky.

Another media outlet talked about how disappointing we looked in our week 1, and how we only squeaked by Fresno. I'll have to make sure the guys see that.

No one seems to be in academic trouble. No disciplinary problems. Good news.

Well, time to give the guys a light week of practice, before we begin going hard to prepare for Ohio State.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 3, 2009 -

I had the guys play a practical joke on Ernest. I can't go into the details, but it livened things up and made sure his head didn't swell too much.

SI's big story: Oklahoma lost their season opener. The big boys are dropping like flies. I just hope we aren't the next fly to keel over. They lost 30-16 to Boston College.

Nothing else of interest really in this week's SI.

No disciplinary problems this week. No injuries in our light practices. Time to start preparing vigorously for Ohio State. The game is only a week away.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 4, 2009 -

LSU lost to Texas Tech in a nailbiter 28-27. That is a shock.

SI is talking about Todd Bell the HB from Wake Forest for the Heisman. He had 28 carries for 204 yards and 3 TD's against ULM. Please, call me when he does something against a real team.

Wisconsin's David Miles had an impressive week last weak. Against UCF, he had 3 interceptions, 2 sacks, and 4 tackles in a game. Not surprisingly, Wisconsin won 62-19.

Well enough browsing of SI. It's time to lead the team into battle. We've prepared well this past week. The guys are ready. This will be a tough battle. Did I mention it is on their field? I forgot to note them on my schedule when I made my last entry into this file, but clearly they are among the top 25 toughest places. I hope Ernest doesn't get rattled. I hope I don't puke.

[Eaglesfan27]

Additional Entry before the Ohio State game - Know I know I am going to puke. Just now the coaches brought it to my attention that our star right tackle missed curfew last night violating team rules. He was dominant last week, but I can't let this go unpunished, can I? No, I will suspend him for a quarter. Would I have suspended him longer if he wasn't my best lineman? I don't know.. probably. Oh well, time to hit the field. *note to self: This isn't a good life lesson - I might not want to use this in the book*

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 4, 2009 (Halftime of Ohio State game)

We are down 23-0. We are getting our butts kicked. That is a life lesson. If you are getting your butts kicked, don't make excuses. Admit that the other team is playing better than you. Then, do something about it. My halftime speech was, "stop sucking boys."

They are dominating us in every way. Their QB is the fastest QB I've ever seen Calvin Donaldson is his name and he is dominating us. He is only 5 of 13, but he has passed for 188 yards in the 1st half, 89 of them on one play in which he actually faked scrambling and then threw a bomb. Our guys had already seen him run for 65 or so yards and they all rushed up to meet him before he threw the deep ball. It was amazing. He also has a great half back behind him, and he has used play action very effectively. We have managed to limit Fox their halfback to 37 yards on 12 carries, but only when we bring 8 men into the box, and then the passing game lights us up. Donaldson has 72 yards on 6 carries so far.

Ernest is overwhelmed by the sound. This is the loudest stadium we have ever played in. We practiced hand signals but they aren't helping. I'm trying to run some option plays and that is helping some, but Ohio State's defense is so fast. We will have to try to throw the ball more in the 2nd half. Ok boys, it's time to stop sucking and do something about this butt kicking we are getting.

[Eaglesfan27]

Well, I really thought the guys were going to respond to my speech. Ernest came in the beginning of the 2nd half and worked like a surgeon. Zipping passes through the defense. He marches us 72 yards in 7 plays. He also had a run of 20 yards on this drive. Khalid ran the ball in to finish to drive. We were back in the game and there were still 5 minutes left in the quarter. 23-7. Unfortunately, the last pass of the drive to Burt Gillespie was costly as the jerks from THE Ohio State University grabbed his facemask and pinched a nerve in his neck. He is going to be out for at least 2 weeks. Least that is initial impression from the doctors. Our team was fired up. We held them to a 3 and out.

Then, Ernest went to work again. 12 yard run here, 14 yard pass here. 8 yard run here. 13 yard pass. We managed to get first and goal on the 7 yard line. Ernest went to pass to Brian Horner across the middle. Horner didn't get to the ball, Ohio State's defender did. He tipped it to his teammate. His teammate, Jon Fredrickson proceeded to run it back 96 yards to make it 30-7. That took the fight out of our team. We had one last good drive in the beginning of the 4th, but we couldn't make it past the 40. Ernest threw one more pick in the fourth. It was over. We lost 44-7. A very disappointing loss.

Here are the top performers for my team (if you can call it that):

Passing: Ernest Kemp, 11 of 31 for 224 yards 0 TD 2 INT, QB rating of 83.3, 35% completion rate, 7.2 avg, 6 sacks, long of 55 yards.

Rushing: Earnest Kemp 17 carries for 71 yards, 4.1 avg, 0 TD, long of 24.
Khalid Harris 13 carries for -5 yards, -0.3 avg, 1TD, long of 9.

Receiving: Steven Poole 4 catches for 97 yards, 24.2 avg, long of 55.
Khalid Harris 2 catches for 1 yard, 0.5 avg, long of 4.
Burt Gillespie 2 catches for 19 yards, 9.5 avg, long of 17.

Blocking: Scott Archer (in 3 quarters) 5 pancake blocks, 2 sacks allowed.
Terry Fry: 4 Pancake Blocks, 1 sack allowed.
Bryan Brown: 2 pancake blocks, 0 sacks allowed.

Tackles: Nic Lee, 6 tackles 2 for loss.
Mark Collins, 5 tackles 1 for loss
Roderick Bowers, 5 tackles.

Sacks: Chris Mangum, 1 sack.

Interceptions: None

Forced Fumbles: Travis Sweeney, 1 FF.

No Recovered fumbles

No FG attempts.

Punts: Micah Blanks: 5 punts for 158 yards. Avg 31.4 yards. Long of 38. 3 Inside the 20, Net Average 29.4

Kick Returns: Steven Poole 6 returns for 129 yards, 21.5 average, long of 59.
Mark Collins 3 for 41 yards, 13.6 average long of 16.

Punt Returns: 1 for 15 yards.

Ohio State:

Passing: Calvin Donaldson, Rating of 161.6, 8 of 20 for 211 yards and 2 touchdowns 0 interceptions, 40% complete, average of 10.5, sacked once, long of 89.

Rushing: Calvin Donaldson 9 carries for 80 yards, avg of 8.8, long of 16.
Kevin Fox (HB) 14 carries for 56 yards, avg of 4.0, long of 14.
Andre Meyer (FB) 5 carries for 25 yards, avg of 5.0, long of 14.

Receiving: Aaron Nelson, 3 receptions for 38 yards, average of 12.6, long of 22.

Blocking: Bryan Northcut, 5 pancake blockes, 0 sacks allowed.

Tackling/sacks: Kenny Stone (a stud sophomore defensive end) 6 tackles, 4 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble.

Interceptions: Fredrickson, 2 interceptions returned for 110 yards and 1 TD.

Kicking: Nate McCray, 3 for 3 on F attempts with long of 41 yards. (I actually held them to field goals on their first few drives)

Punting: 2 for 83 yards, avg of 41.5, long of 45.

KR: Aaron Nelson 2 for 22 yards, long of 13, avg 11.0

PR: Brandon Jennings 2 for 10 yards, long of 6.

Final thoughts: It will be hard to win the national championship after this devastating loss. I'm just hoping to salvage the season and make a major bowl bid. We need to make sure this loss doesn't snowball us into a downward trend of losses. This will certainly help ground us and focus us for the rest of the season if handled properly. That will be the challenge for myself and my staff in the upcoming week. Next week we go to Colorado to face a good team with a potent ground attack. We need to do a better job of stopping that ground attack and getting our confidence up. Fortunately their defense is somewhat suspect.

I can't wait to see how SI handles our loss. Sigh.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 4, 2009 (the aftermath) -

Terry Fry, our senior right guard just blew off wind sprints at the end of practice without any communication. We are going to suspend him for the 1st half of the game against Colorado.

Our loss as the #3 team against #1 Ohio State didn't even make the front cover of SI. We dropped to 11th in the polls. Fredrickson is now being talked about as a possible Heisman candidate. Glad we could help him. He is a true freshman and he won national player of the week for his 2 interceptions, 2 sacks, and a TD.

Purdue pulled off an impressive win against Oregon.

Nothing else of interest in the media right now.

Time to get ready for Colorado.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 5, 2009.

Colorado is the 22nd toughest place to play in the country. I didn't know that going into this game. Now, I do as I reread my SI from the preseason. The fans were raucous despite their 0-3 record.

They won the coin toss and chose to receive. Our defense looked dominating at the beginning of the game. Before I knew it we had the ball. Ernest looked very sharp on our first drive. He ran the ball a bit. He handed it off even less. He passed it quite a bit. Zip. Zip. Quick short powerful throws. Our receivers seemed to concentrate better and drop less passes. Ernest was 4 of 5 on the first drive including a 24 yard fade route to Horner who outjumped his man. I knew Horner's size would work to our advantage.

The 2nd quarter was quite uneventful.. oh yeah, except Ernest was hurt. My hurt jumped into my throat. Turns out it was just a strained muscle. We thought about sitting him out the whole game, but insisted on coming back after the half. I'm glad I let him. Chris McKenzie got some valuable experience, but it was his first real game experience and it showed. He used his best asset his feet to nice effect. However, his passes were high and wide. He looked nervous. His first pass was at least 10 feet over the intended target. Fortunately, our defense held strong and we entered halftime up 7-0.

In the 3rd quarter, their QB Akil Fredrickson woke up. He had a horrible first half, but a scintillating second half. His best throw of the night was a 47 yard laser beam to Matt Crosby, a 6'6 WR. Crosby outjumped our corner in the endzone and it was a touchdown. In the 4th quarter, Ernest continued his nice passing, but it was his feet that got us most of the yardage on the 1st drive of the 4th quarter. We got to the 15 yard line, and we stalled. I thought about going for it on 4th and 7 but I decided if our kicker can't make a 32 yard shot I better know it now. Surprisingly, he made it.. barely. We were now up 10-7 but they fought back and they capped a nice balanced drive with a 1 yard run by their backup halfback William Burrough. They were now up 14-10, but there were 5 minutes left. Ernest came out with great passing again, and he quickly led us down the field. His last pass of this drive was completed to Horner who was tackled just inside the 4 yard line. We surprised them by handing it off to Carr on the next play. I'm glad I was able to reward the kid, and he rewarded me for doing it by plowing through defenders for a 3 yard touchdown run. That gave us a 17-14 lead and I thought the game was over as there was only 2 and a half minutes on the clock. I should have known better. Colorado had some quick crisp passes to move the ball down the field quickly. Before I knew it they had a 3rd and 1 on the 7 yard line with 1 minute to go in the game. I had to stop them. Greg Renedo, my much disparaged DT, threw his blocker aside and made the stop for a 1 yard loss (his third tackle for a loss of the night.) They chose to kick the FG despite the crowd's protests.

We prepared to take the kickoff, and without a big return I was prepared to run out the clock. However, Mark Collins had his best kick return of the year with the evasion of two tacklers and he netted us 23 yards taking the ball to the 35. We decided to see if we could move it. First Ernest made a quick option run in which he smartly got out of bounds after gaining 13 yards. Then, he remembered the Ohio State game in which they faked the option and threw downfield. I smiled as he suggested the play. The kid was learning. He sprinted out to the right, faked the pitch to Khalid Harris, and then he planted his feet and threw a strike Maurice Wilson the true freshman for an 18 yard gain. This got us to the 32 yard line with 40 seconds left. Now, I was trying to decide how close I had to get to trust Xavier to make another field goal. I definitely wanted to get inside the 15. We decided we would try a trick play. I called it for the first time this year. Ernest pitched to Khalid Harris and then he ran a screen pattern to the left. Harris threw a perfect pass back to Ernest who then proceeded to fake out a defender and make a 12 yard after the catch run. Excellent! We now had the ball on the 20 yard line with about 25 seconds left. I called time out. I decided to run a crossing pattern play hoping to see Ernest connect with Poole in the slot across the middle. Unfortunately, everyone was covered, but Ernest didn't panic. He ducked a defensive lineman and scrambled up the middle. He gained us 5 yards and then he calmly got up and called timeout. We now had the ball on the 15 yard line with 18 seconds left. I decided this was close enough and I was going to give the ball to Khalid Harris to center it for the kicker. Harris was told to run hard, but make sure he centers it on the field. Harris had other ideas! He ran to the center of the field, but then he saw a cut back lane and he made a great cut to beat the middle linebacker. Then, he kept going and he ran over the strong safety and fell into the end zone! I don't know if I should punish him for insubordination or reward his ingenuity. That was his best run of the year so far. I guess I'll just make him do an extra few laps. That put us up 23-17 and the extra point kick made it 24-17. We squibbed the kick with 11 seconds left, and they only had time for one hail mary which ended up never being thrown because Greg Renedo threw aside his defender again and made his second sack of the night! 24-17 we earned a hard fought victory in a very hostile environment.

Our statistical leaders:

Passing: Ernest Kemp, 130.6, 18 of 30, 213 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 60% completion rate, 7.1 avg, sacked 3 times, long of 33 yards.

Chris McKenzie 0.0, 0 of 3 with 1 INT.

Rushing: Ernest Kemp, 19 carries for 103 yards, 5.4 avg, long of 20.
Khalid Harris, 12 carries for 52 yards, avg of 4.3 long of 15, 1 TD
Todd Winston, 1 carry for 9 yards.

Receiving: Brian Horner, 5 catches for 82 yards, 16.4 avg, 1TD, long of 33.
Steven Poole, 5 catches for 49 yards, 9.8 avg, 0 TD, long of 18.
Matt Joseph, 4 catches for 46 yards, 11.5 avg, long of 14.

Blocking: Scott Archer, 6 pancakes, 1 sack allowed.
Rasheed Booth, 5 pancakes, 1 sack allowed.
Bryan Brown, 2 pancakes, 1 sack allowed.

Tackles: Patrick Cleveland 5 tackles
Greg Renedo, 4 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks.
Gaylon Long, 4 tackles, 1 for a loss.

Sacks: Greg Renedo 2 sacks
Everett Moore, 1 sack
Nic Lee, 1 sack.

0 interceptions

0 forced fumbles.

FG: Xavier Miles 1 for 1. Long of 31 yards.

Punts: Micah Blanks 5 for 201 yards, avg of 40.2 (with a nice wind behind him for many of them), long of 48, 2 inside the 20, no touchbacks.

KR: Steven Poole 3 for 91 yards, 30.3 average, long of 58 (OOC note: I think the game might be messing this stat up - I don't remember that long of a kick return this game)

Mark Collins 1 for 21 yards.

PR: Mark Collins 5 for 15 yards, average of 3.0, long of 12 (multiple fair catches in there.)

Colorado stats:

Passing: Akil Fredrickson: 128.3, 11 of 27 for 242 yards, 1 TD 0 INT, 40% complete, 8.9 avg, sacked 4 times, long of 47 yards.

Rushing: Terry Hawkins: 14 carries for 58 yards, avg 4.1, long of 9.

Receiving: Jimmie Williams 4 for 59 yards, avg 14.7, long 24.
Matt Crosby 3 for 105, avg 35.0, long of 47.

Tackles: Kwame Bradford 7 tackles.

Sacks: Multiple tied with 1.

Interceptions: Kwame Bradford 1 sack (of the backup QB)


Final thoughts: We are struggling to play to our potential, I believe it is the youth along the lines as well as in the receiving core that is holding us back. Hopefully we will mature as the year progresses. The only thing about our loss is that it was early, so we could still work our way into the national championship picture if we can dominate some teams. We are playing 5 games on the road in some of the 25 toughest places and our strength of schedule is being considered the tops in the nations by many experts. That should help us too, if we continue to win. Our next game is at home against Oregon State, we should be able to beat them by a nice margin.

(OOC note: The game earned my first greatest game score with a greatness rating of 983 :) )

[Eaglesfan27]

Aftermath of week 5, 2009 -

The SI didn't even mention our win, however we are now 6th in the polls. Minnesotea had a great win over Purdue which made the cover. The Golden Gophers are 4th in both pollls. Ohio State is still undefeated and #1. Maryland lost to WVU which dropped them out of the top 5 slots. Notre Dame lost to Stanford which dropped them down to 9th in the polls.

Terry Fry is in trouble again. He was caught plagarizing a paper. We can't let his reckless behavior continue. If you are going to plagarize don't get caught. He will be suspended for 2 games as the NCAA is getting very concerned about him and as a result our university. We really don't have the guard depth for him to be hurting us like this.

Least we have some good news, Burt Gillespie has been cleared to practice and play again. We miss his receiving ability over the middle and are glad he is back. He will have his starting role again before the game against Oregon State.

Time to diagram some new plays. I'm going to attempt to take more advantage of Ernest's great mobility to put more pressure on the defenses we play.

[Radii]

If you are going to plagarize don't get caught.


Good to see that you are teaching some solid life lessons to your kids :D

i'm following along, go trojans!

[Eaglesfan27]

Well, that was quite a game against Oregon State. I wonder how long I'm going to be coach here. Maybe I won't make it big after all. Yeah, Ernest used his mobility today. He had to as our offensive line was having trouble protecting him. Also, his receivers were dropping everything out there.

It started off in the very beginning of the game as Oregon State University won the toss, but chose to kick to us. I wandered why they did that. It worked out well for them as we ran the ball with Khalid Harris twice for a gain of 7 yards combined but Brian Horner dropped the 3rd down pass which would have given us a 1st.

Fortunately, our defense held strong as we forced them to go 3 and out. Our next drive wasn't much better as we threw the ball to Burt Gillespie on first down but he dropped the ball. On 2nd down, Harris ran the ball for 4 yards. On 3rd down, Ernest threw the ball to Brian Horner who dropped it again. We punted again. This time Oregon passed the ball on 1st down. They passed, passed, and passed some more on us. 7 passes with 5 completions led to a 15 yard pass from McDermott to Madison their WR. McDermott looked good out there throwing the ball.

I could see Ernest was clearly rattled in his receiver's lack of ability to catch the ball. I called an option play, he kept it for 10 yards. I called another option, he pitched it to Harris for 8 yards. I called a run on 2nd and 2.. he didn't see anyone open, the DE was zooming in on him. He made a nifty move on the DE. He then took and scrambled. After stiff arming the LB, he ran for 42 yards before the cornerback pushed him out of bounds just inside the 5. He then asked for me to call the option again. I agreed and he kept it himself after faking the pitch. 4 yard touchdown run for Ernest!

In teh beginning of the 2nd quarter, our defense held firm again. So, did Oregon's as they stopped a run and a pass. On 3rd and 9, Ernest decided to scramble again. He made a great move in which he almost faked himself out of his jock, but he maintained his balance and ran for 22 yards. Then, he finally completed a pass to Vince Walker for.... 8 whole yards. Finally a completion. However, on 2nd and 2, Steven Poole dropped the ball. 3rd and 2, Ernest decided to roll out to his left (he is right handed) and surprised the defense.. well not really, there was a pesky linebacker who wasn't fooled. Only the linebacker stood between him and the 1st, he bowled over the linebacker and got the 1st down.

Khalid had a couple of runs to get us some more yardage, and then Ernest threw a strike to a streaking Burt Gillespie for a 28 yard gain. Finally! This gave us 1st and goal, and Harris took it in for the touchdown.

Up 14-7 the team was starting to feel good. Our defense stopped Oregon State easily. We thought were in charge. We began passing and completing passes. That mixed in with a few Ernest runs had us 1st and goal on the 6 before I knew it. Ernest threw a lob pass to Horner who outjumped his defender for the touchdown!!

Now 21-7 with 2 minutes in the half, nothing could go wrong... right? Well not exactly. Oregon threw a bomb on us on their ensuing drive which they completed for 52 yards when the stupid safeties actually fell for the play action pass. Three passes later got them inside the 5 yard line where their big senior fullback Omari Hand made the 2 yard run for the touchdown.

So, it's 21-14 with 45 seconds left. Nothing further could go wrong, right? Well, unfortunately no. On the kickoff, The normally sure handed Poole fumbled the ball and Oregon State recovered. With only 24 yards to go, I hoped I could hold them out of the end zone. However, 3 plays later, McDermott connected with Madison for their 2nd TD of the day.

So, I went into the half tied 21-21 against an inferior opponent. Not great, but not the end of the world. We came out and Ernest was determined to make sure we scored. He didn't throw the ball very well, but he ran like the wind. 5 yard run here, 12 yard run there. Harris pitched in as well with a few runs. Before I knew it, we had the ball on the 1yard line with 4 chances to get it in the end zone. 1st play, I call for a run to the right side behind our huge tackle with Harris carrying it. He gets stuffed for no gain. 2nd and goal on the 1, I call a FB blast behind center. He is stuffed for a loss of 1. 3rd and 2, I call for a HB off tackle behind the LT, he gains a little but is stopped. Now, do I kick the field goal? No, we need a touchdown. I call a simple play action pass hoping Ernest will spot someone open or scramble for the TD. He rolls to his right for a split second and then flicks a quick dart to Burt Gillespie who is making his break to the corner of the endzone. Gillespie outjumps his man!!! Touchdown! 28-21.

Mark was back from his injury and I thought we could finally stop Oregon State. I was wrong. With strong running by Sims, and good play action short passes McDermott and Sims carved us up. Before, I knew it was the beginning of the 4th quarter and they had a long drive which was knocking on our goal line's door. A 7 yard pass from McDermott to Sims tied the game up. We got the ball back with 6 minutes to go, and Ernest was ready. However, they started finally putting a spy on him! The MLB was like white on rice, and Ernest couldn't get any big runs. Unfortunately, he couldn't really complete many passes either. However, he did get us enough runs to take us within the 15 yard line. I hated to do it, but I trotted Xavier out there for the 29 yard field goal. Xavier hit it into the stiff wind, wide right!!! Darn it, I need to recruit a better kicker.

Oregon state drove the ball quickly down the field, but our defense stiffened up in the red zone and we held them to a 36 yard field goal. We got the ball back, and Ernest couldn't make any more magic happen. He completed a few passes to get us to midfield, but we had 4th and 11 on the 48. Tough decision. It's 4 minutes left, do I punt and pin them back or do I go for it. Ernest was winded or I might have gone for it. I punted. Micah picked the worst time to have his first shank of the year as he hit it 12 yards. Oregon State drove the length of the field in a little over 2 minutes capped by a 12 yard touchdown pass from McDermott to Lake.

I tried to recruit that McDermott kid a few years ago. Looks like he turned out to be a heck of a QB.

Ernest tried some long throws, and actually completed a 14 yarder and then a 12 yarder. I thought he was going to pull us back. However, he had little time. He tried a long throw down the sideline to Horner. The DB tipped it up into the air and the safety intercepted it. That was it. It was over. Hopefully, my career as USC coach isn't over before it began. This is not what the school expected, and I hear confidence is quickly dropping among the school trustees.

I can't even bear to enter all of the stats into this journal, but I will enter our most pertinent stats:

USC Passing: Ernest Kemp Rating 71.7, 10 of 33 (30% completed) for 108 yards, 2TD 1 INT sacked 5 times.

Rushing: Ernest Kemp: 19 carries for 181 yards, 9.5 average, 1 TD, long of 50.
Khalid Harris 18 carries for 83 yards, 4.6 average, 1 TD.

Receiving: Brian Horner 3 catches for 12 yards and 1 TD, long of 9.
Burt Gillespie 2 catches for 30 yards and 1 TD, long of 28.

Blocking: Scott Archer: 8 pancake blocks, 0 sacks allowed.
Rasheed Booth: 6 pancake blocks, 1 sack allowed.

Tackling: FS Gaylon Long 8 tackles
CB Justin Hicks 6 tackles

Tackles for loss: Patrick Cleveland only person with 1 on the whole team.

Sacks: 0 by the team.

Interceptions: 1 by Roderick Bowers, 1 by Chris Mangum.

Fg: Xavier Miles 0 for 1 from 29 yards.

Punts: Micah Blanks: 5 punts for 126 yards, average of 25.2, long of 33. Punt

Punt Returns: Mark Collins 4 for 118, 29.5 average, long of 61.
Steven Poole: 1 for 17 yards.

Kick Returns: Steven Poole: 3 for 57 yards, long of 30.


Final Thoughts: I'm discouraged by our team's effort this week. The Wide Receivers really let us down. We need to work on catching drills the entire week. Hopefully, they won't be dropping so many passes next week. I'm very pleased with the running ability Ernest showed. If we can combine that with accurate passing and good catching by the receivers we could be a very dangerous team.

Next week we travel to Arizona and play a very good team. We need to execute much better against them.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 7 - two days before the game

Things have not been good this week. I'm getting hammered in the local radio talk show market. We dropped from 6th to 12 in the polls after this loss. I'm fortunate a couple of other big teams lost too, including Nebraska as Iowa State upset them.

Nothing else in SI really has caught my attention. I'm just got word that Steven Colon our backup tackle blew off practice this week. This is the kid's second infraction this season. I'm trying to decide what kind of punishment to give him. I think a 2 game suspension should be sufficient.

Well, time to finalize my preparations for Arizona.

[MizzouRah]

Great read... :)


Todd

[finkenst]

Good read so far.