Five Great Quarterbacks: 2007 Season

[WussGawd]

Yep, it's time to get a new season started.

For those of you late to the party, the previous seasons of our dynasty can be found here:

Five Great Quarterbacks, The Recruiting Season. (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17372)
Five Great Quarterbacks, the 2004 Season (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17746)
Five Great Quarterbacks, the 2005 Season (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18736)
Five Great Quarterbacks: 2006 Season (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=20038)

[WussGawd]

Willie Jennings, Clemson

A two-time First Team, All-ACC selection at Quarterback, Willie led his Tigers to the National Championship Game last year, only to watch their dreams fall short.

Now, as a redshirt junior, Willie looks to make the next step, and carry his team to the title.


Joel McDonald, Florida State

A two-year starter at Florida State (and 2005 Second Team All-ACC QB), Joel has played second fiddle to Willie in the ACC through the last two years, mainly due to his shakier supporting cast. Joel enters his last year of eligibility hoping to turn around the sagging fortunes of his beloved Seminoles.


Emmanuel Harris, Michigan

Emmanuel's career can only be described as disappointing to this point. In the past two seasons (after a redshirt year), Emmanuel has played in only three games and has yet to complete a pass (0 for 3). The big question, and far from a lock, is whether Emmanuel will break the starting lineup this season.


Norbert Clark, Oklahoma

Having spent the last three years behind a QB who will undoubtedly be playing on Sundays in 2007, Norbert managed to play in six games last year in a relief role, completing 21 of 30 passes and amassing a QB rating of 181.2. Norbert is now clearly the starter, and he leads a magnificent football team with a real chance of winning a national title.


Byron Huntley, UCLA

After a brilliant redshirt freshman year, Byron's season last year was cut short by a back injury in the third game of the season. With only an inexperienced backup behind him, UCLA faded to a 5-6 record in a very tough Pac 10 conference.

Byron looks to be the starter, though he will be pressed by Greg Forbes, who took over starting duties in Byron's absence last season. Byron hopes to prove the injury a fluke, and get his Bruins back to their winning ways.

[WussGawd]

2007 Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Oklahoma
2. Ohio State
3. Miami (FL)
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
6. Florida
7. Florida State
8. Nebraska
9. Clemson
10. Pittsburgh
11. USC
12. NC State
13. Texas
14. Oregon State
15. Notre Dame
16. Michigan State
17. Arizona State
18. Fresno State
19. Michigan
20. Penn State
21. Texas A&M
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Colorado State
25. Toledo

[WussGawd]

2007 NCAA Top 25 Scoreboard Week 1:

#2 Ohio State (1-0) 27, Alabama-Birmingham (0-1) 23
#5 Tennessee (1-0) 57, #3 Miami (FL) (0-1) 55
#15 Notre Dame (1-0) 37, #6 Florida (0-1) 20
Troy State (1-0) 31, #7 Florida State (0-1) 24
#8 Nebraska (1-0) 24, SMU (0-1) 17
#10 Pittsburgh (1-0) 48, Army (0-1) 28
#17 Arizona State (1-0) 31, #12 NC State (0-1) 23
#16 Michigan State (1-0) 31, Alaska-Fairbanks (0-1) 21
#19 Michigan (1-0) 30, New Mexico (0-1) 6
#20 Penn State (1-0) 31, Northern Illinois (0-1) 19
Duke (1-0) 56, #21 Texas A&M (0-1) 7
Indiana (1-0) 50, #24 Colorado State (0-1) 7
#25 Toledo (1-0) 55, Utah State (0-1) 7

Clemson, Oklahoma, UCLA-Idle

Offensive Player of the Week:
Mario Wentz (WR-Miami (FL)) 13 receptions, 256 yards, 3 Touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Week:
Donald Money (ILB-Rutgers): 9 Tackles, 4 Assists, 1.5 Sacks, 1 Interception.

[WussGawd]

Five Great Quarterbacks, Week 1

Troy State at Florida State (Joel McDonald)

A new season for Joel, and one last shot at a National Championship. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Troy State mixed a deceptive option attack with timely medium passing to put together two long drives in the first and second quarter. Though Joel and the offense were able to answer, a late second quarter drive put Troy State up 17-10 at the half.

Early in the second half, Joel caught fire after struggling through parts of the first, and FSU tied it up, 17-17. After an exchange of punts, however, Troy State ran the ball straight at Florida State's tired defense, cashing in a 6 yard TD run to make it 24-17 early in the fourth quarter for Troy State. After a pair of punts, Joel took advantage of a short field to complete a couple of passes, including an 18 yard strike to tie it 24-24 with 5 minutes left.

Then, disaster struck. AFter an exchange of punts, Troy State took control of the ball on their own 6 yard line, with 1:41 left. On the first play, a simple, innocuous looking screen pass went 94 yards for the touchdown, making it 31-24 Troy State.

With 1:29 left, Joel and the Seminoles had plenty of time, and on the third play from scrimmage, a 46 yard pass by Joel put Florida State in business on the Troy State 34. On the next two plays, Joel threw for 18, and ran for 7, putting the Seminoles on the Troy State 9 with 35 seconds left and a timeout. Unfortunately, on the next play, Joel threw an interception, and in a flash, Florida State's championship dreams were dashed. Troy State won, 31-24.

Joel finished the game with 12 of 27 completions for 219 yards with 2 Touchdowns and 1 Interception (2 Sacks). A disappointing performance all over.


New Mexico at Michigan (Emmanuel Harris)

At long last, Emmanuel's dreams of starting a game in the Big 10 were realized. Michigan absolutely rolled in the game, turning a 9-0 halftime lead into a 30-3 rout before calling off the dogs.

Emmanuel scored on a 2 yard pass to Floyd Muth, and ran another score in from 13 yards out. Emmanuel finished the game with 11 of 18 completions for 151 yards with 1 Touchdown and 1 Interception. He also ran 10 times for 32 yards (including the 13 yard TD), despite deducting yardage for 2 sacks.

[WussGawd]

2007 NCAA Top 25 Scoreboard, Week 2:

#2 Tennessee (2-0) 41, Syracuse (0-1) 23
#3 Nebraska (2-0) 34, #15 Arizona (1-1) 14
#4 Pittsburgh (2-0) 49, Texas A&M (0-2) 10
USC (1-0) 28, #5 Notre Dame (1-1) 21
Missouri (1-0) 21, #6 Michigan State (1-1) 18
#9 Penn State (2-0) 20, Utah (0-2) 10
#10 Toledo (2-0) 55, Alaska-Kodiak (0-2) 10
NC State (1-1) 38, #12 Washington (1-1) 10
#13 Bowling Green (2-0) 28, Southern Mississippi (0-1) 21
Vanderbilt (1-0) 41, #16 North Texas (1-1) 9
#17 Iowa State (2-0) 56, Iowa (0-1) 39
Houston (1-0) 28, #18 Colorado (1-1) 24
SMU (1-1) 45, #20 Rutgers (1-1) 0
#21 Indiana (2-0) 24, Alaska-Anchorage (0-2) 21
#22 LSU (2-0) 27, Tulane (0-1) 14
#23 Troy State (2-0) 29, Northern Illinois (0-2) 13
#25 Mississippi State (2-0) 45, Virginia (0-1) 24

Other Scores:
Clemson 27, Kansas State 22
Oklahoma 45, Tulsa 9
UCLA 20, Army 19

Florida State, Michigan-Idle

Offensive Player of the Week:
Herman Ballinger (QB-California), 26 of 44 completions for 349 yards with 6 TDs and 0 INTs.

Defensive Player of the Week:
Skip Huffman (S-Vanderbilt): 7 Tackles, 2 Assists, 1 Sack, 3 Interceptions, 2 Passes Defended.

[kingfc22]

Nice to see Harris finally see some action with UM.

[WussGawd]

2007 Week 2 Five Great Quarterback Appearances


Tulsa at Oklahoma (Norbert Clark)

Norbert threw touchdown passes of 4 and 6 yards, and was the spark in Oklahoma opening a 38-3 halftime lead over the hapless Golden Hurricanes, before giving way to a backup in the second half. The Sooners rolled, 45-9, in a laugher.

Norbert's first start saw him complete 11 of 16 passes for 123 yards with 2 Touchdowns and 0 Interceptions in the win.


Kansas State at Clemson (Willie Jennings)

Willie Jennings dream of a repeat shot at a national championship was nearly snuffed out before it started. In the first half, Kansas State's Stan Close kicked 4 field goals, making it 12-0 at the half, as Clemson's offense sputtered.

It was more of the same in the third quarter, as K-State cashed in the first drive of the third quarter for a touchdown, making it 19-0. But with the game on the line, the steady brilliance of Willie Jennings led the Tigers to 4 touchdowns, 3 on the ground, the fourth on a backbreaking 94 yard punt return by star tailback Moe Bielby, as the Tigers rallied from 19-0 to win 27-22.

Willie completed 12 of 16 passes for 197 yards with 0 Interceptions and Touchdowns, and was sacked once. Clemson's dreams of a national title escaped intact.


Game of the Week: Army at UCLA (Byron Huntley)

It was supposed to be easy. A sellout crowd at the Rose Bowl, a soft service academy that typically plays more I-AA opponents than I-A. But a funny thing happened on the way to Pasadena. The Black Knights gave the Bruins all they could handle.

After a slow first quarter, Army successfully moved the ball through the air, connecting on a 38 yard field goal in the first minute of the second quarter, to make it 3-0.

UCLA moved the ball successfully back down the field to answer, with Byron Huntley completing a 10 yard pass for the score. UCLA 7-3.

But Army refused to give up. A pair of long passes moved them into field goal range, where a 43 yard field goal cut it to 7-6, UCLA, which is where it stood at the end of the first half.

On the first drive of the second half, Army consumed nearly 6 minutes of clock, before stalling at the UCLA 2, where they again kicked a figgie, this time from 19 yards out, to make it 9-7, Army.

After UCLA went three and out, Army again went on a long drive, this time burning up 5 minutes of clock, before punching it in from 4 yards out on a pass, to make the score 16-7.

Up to this point, outside of the scoring drive and another drive ended by a Byron Huntley interception, UCLA had seen its drives stall at midfield. Now, down by 9, disaster struck again. a fumble on the kickoff return gave the Black Knights the ball at the UCLA 34. Although Army could not get the ball into the end zone, they did extend the lead on a 43 yard field goal, to make it 19-7, Army on the last play of the third quarter.

On the ensuing possession, UCLA's offense burned 7-1/2 minutes of clock, but the drive stalled, forcing UCLA to settle for a 25 yard field goal, 19-10 Army.

But after running the ball for 33 yards on the first play from scrimmage, Army's drive stalled, and UCLA got the ball back on their own 20, down by 9, with 5:10 left in the game.

A pair of Byron Huntley completions were wasted, and UCLA's drive stalled on a 4th and 4 from the 43. UCLA punted, and a clipping penalty on the return pinned Army on their own 15 with 3:49 left.

Army, however, went three and out, and burnt less than a minute of clock in doing so. A poor punt added to Army's woes, and UCLA took the ball over on the Army 44, with 2:52 on the clock, down by 9.

With his back against the wall, Byron showed, once again, why UCLA considered him the jewel in the crown of their 2003 Recruiting Class. A 32 yard pass was quickly followed by a 12 yard touchdown pass, and in the space of 30 seconds, UCLA had cut the deficit to 19-17.

On the ensuing kickoff, Army took over the ball on their own 30, with 2:20 left, needing basically a couple of first downs to wrap up the game. On the second play from scrimmage, they got one of them, moving the ball to the 47, and forcing UCLA to spend a timeout. After a three and out on the ensuing series of downs that burned 50 seconds and all of UCLA's remaining timeouts, UCLA got the ball back on their 24, with 1:25, no timeouts, and needing a field goal to win.

Byron went back to work. A 25 yard pass to Minter was followed by a defensive pass interference call, another 19 yard pass put UCLA into field goal range. After an 8 yard run, UCLA lined up for a 26 yard field goal, nailing it with 23 seconds left. UCLA led, 20-19, and held on to win by the same score.

Byron completed 17 of 27 passes for 259 yards with 2 Touchdowns and 1 Interception. He was sacked twice in the game.

[WussGawd]

2007 NCAA Week 3 Top 25 Scoreboard

#2 Ohio State (2-0) 27, Tulsa (0-2) 14
#5 Clemson (2-0) 23, #3 Tennessee (2-1) 13
Northern Illinois (1-2) 28, #4 Nebraska (2-1) 13
#6 Pittsburgh (3-0) 38, Virginia (0-2) 31
#7 USC (2-0) 52, Ohio (0-2) 24
#8 Texas (2-0), San Diego State (1-1) 14
#9 Oregon State (2-0) 31, #19 New Mexico State (1-1) 28
#12 Michigan (2-0) 38, Buffalo (0-2) 23
#13 Boise State (2-0) 18, #24 Maryland (1-1) 13
Missouri (2-0) 22, #15 UCLA (1-1) 20
#16 Oregon (2-0) 45, Arkansas State (0-2) 10
#18 Virginia Tech (2-0) 27, Louisiana-Lafayette (0-2) 9
South Carolina (2-0) 28, #20 Middle Tennessee St (1-1) 21
Tulane (1-1) 26, #21 Georgia Tech (1-1) 21
#22 Illinois (2-0) 52, California (1-1) 24
#23 Mississippi (2-0) 41, Nevada (0-2) 7
#25 Texas Tech (2-0) 41, UTEP (0-2)

Florida State, Oklahoma-Idle

Offensive Player of the Week:
Louis Richmond (RB-Illinois) 32 carries for 257 yards and 4 TDs.

Defensive Player of the Week:
Glenn Cortez (DE-California) 12 Tackles, 3 Assists, 3 Sacks.

[WussGawd]

2007 Week 3 Five Great Quarterbacks Appearances

Tennessee at Clemson (Willie Jennings

Moe Bielby ran for 90 yards, Clemson's stingy defense cashed in 7 points off a 41 yard interception return, and Willie Jennings completed 12 of 19 passes for 244 yards with a TD (and no interceptions with just 1 sack), as Clemson ran up a 20-6 lead and held on, 23-13.

For Willie, his national championship dreams live on for another week.


Buffalo at Michigan (Emmanuel Harris)

Emmanuel threw a trio of touchdown passes, as the Wolverines came back from an early 10-0 deficit to down the surprising Buffalo Bulls, 38-23.

Emmanuel was red hot, completing 18 of 24 passes for 272 yards with 3 Touchdowns. He did not throw an interception, and suffered just one sack in the win.


Missouri at UCLA (Byron Huntley)

Another sellout crowd in the Rose Bowl witnessed an astounding football game. Early on, it appeared that Mizzou was going to run UCLA out of the building, as the Tigers ran the ball five times in a row for 10+ yards before cashing in a 6 yard TD run, as Missouri took a 7-0 lead on the opening possession of the game.

The rest of the first quarter saw both teams struggle with getting it into the oppositions red zone, with neither team really threatening. Finally, early in the second quarter, Missouri moved the ball through the air before finally stalling at the UCLA 23, where the Tigers converted a 40 yard field goal to make it 10-0, Missouri.

On the ensuing drive, Byron Huntley shrugged off a sack and drove the Bruins down the field, ending the drive with a 22 yard field goal, making it 10-3, Missouri, which is where the score stayed at the end of the first half.

At the beginning of the third quarter, UCLA's running game got going, and the Bruins moved the ball to Missouri's 22, settling for a 39 yard figgie to cut the margin to 10-6, Missouri. After a Missouri punt, a promising UCLA drive late in third quarter was killed by a fumbled reception of one Byron's passes, giving Missouri the ball on their own 20.

From there, Missouri drove the ball the length of the field, shrugging off a game-ending injury to their starting QB. Early in the fourth quarter, Missouri scored, but a missed extra point left the score at 16-6, Missouri. After an exchange of punts, a UCLA drive ended in a missed field goal, followed by another three and out for Missouri. With 5:12 left in the game, down by 10, Byron caught fire, completing consecutive passes of 17, 52, & a touchdown pass of 2 yards to cut the lead to 16-13, Missouri.

Missouri then drove the ball to the UCLA 21, settling for a 38 yard field goal. With just over 2 minutes left, Missouri led, 19-13.

As on the last drive, Byron Huntley was red hot. Completing a 40 yard strike on the first play of scrimmage, he struck again with a 33 yard touchdown pass. UCLA converted the PAT, and led for the first time, 20-19.

But UCLA left too much time on the clock. With their backup QB at the helm, Missouri took over with 1:17 left, and shrugged off two sacks to complete a 49 yard pass on 4th and 21 to move the ball to the UCLA 33. A 5 yard run, followed by their final timeout put Missouri in place for a 45 yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds left. Their kicker, Videl, who ahd missed the extra point, converted, making it 22-20, Missouri.

With 14 seconds left, it appeared that UCLA's unbeaten season was done, but Byron put together one last bit of magic, completing aa 43 yard strike, and calling a timeout with 2 seconds left on the clock. Fron there, UCLA, missed a 54 yard field goal attempt (short), and the game ended, with Missouri winning 22-20.

Statistically, the game was about as close as the final score, as both teams offenses drove the ball between the 20's at will, but sometimes struggled to punch the ball into the end zone. Byron had a great game, completing 21 of 32 passes for 336 yards with 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Perhaps most impressively, he shook off 4 sacks in the process. But it was not enough, and UCLA will need to wait another year for a National Championship.

[WussGawd]

2007 NCAA Week 4 Top 25 Scoreboard:

#1 Oklahoma (2-0) 45, Maryland (2-1) 35
#2 Ohio State (3-0) 31, UCLA (1-2) 3
#10 Penn State (3-0) 23, #4 Pittsburgh (3-1) 13
#5 USC (3-0) 41, Alaska-Ketchikan (1-1) 7
#6 Texas (3-0) 45, North Carolina (0-3) 17
#7 Oregon State (3-0) 28, Fresno State (1-2) 25
#8 Arizona State (2-0) 37, San Diego State (1-2) 14
Notre Dame (3-1) 13, #9 Michigan (2-1) 7
#16 Bowling Green (3-0) 17, #12 Toledo (2-1) 10
#14 Oregon (3-0) 28, Wisconsin (0-3) 16
#17 BYU (2-0) 38, Arkansas State (0-3) 35
#18 Illinois (3-0) 48, Missouri (2-1) 17
Purdue (2-1) 33, #20 Texas Tech (2-1) 7
#21 Miami (FL) (2-1) 34, Washington (1-2) 21
#23 South Florida (3-0) 45, Cincinnati (0-3) 14
#24 Iowa State (3-0) 35, Memphis (1-2) 17
#25 East Carolina (3-0) 38, Wake Forest (0-3) 22

Other Scores:
Florida State (1-1) 38, Tulane (1-2) 7
Clemson-Idle

Offensive Player of the Week:
Kenny Bullock (RB-Baylor) 38 carries for 273 yards with 4 Touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Week:
Les Flynn (DE-Eastern Michigan) 4 Tackles, 1 Assist, 3.5 Sacks.

[Izulde]

Come on Willie! Win that National Title!