FCFL begins its first season!

[Passacaglia]

The year is 2008, and college football is in upheaval. The BCS is a joke, and the inability of the NCAA to determine a national champion has left fans uninterested. Non-BCS bowl games are played in front of empty stadiums -- those that have enough money to stay in business, anyway. Even rivalry games received little interest, as most teams were out of the BCS picture with one or two losses, and their season was over early. Several colleges decided that a football team was too costly, and put an end to their teams.

Meanwhile, pro football was thriving. Stadiums were filled every week. Due to 12 teams making the playoffs, combined with the league's parity, most teams still had a shot at the national title until late in the season.

In a last-ditch effort, the NCAA decided to revise its Division 1A football program. The NCAA executives saw that the BCS wasn't working, and a true playoff system was needed. Looking to the NFL, they adopted the idea of having a 12-team playoff. They even adopted the NFL's scheduling. Unfortunately, there weren't 32 colleges still interested in Division 1A Football, so the NCAA paid a subsidy to some traditional big programs until there were 32 teams. Thus, the FCFL was born.

[Passacaglia]

Once the FCFL began, the 32 teams scrambed to sign players from 'old' division 1A schools, to bring them on for its first season, 2011. Most of the players sat and waited, unable to join the NFL, yet unable to play 1A football.

The first conference to join the new FCFL was the Big Ten. Since 8 teams joined, the conference was split between East and West. The Big Ten East consists of Michigan (coached by the FCFL Commissioner, Passacaglia), Penn State (coached by Coop), Ohio State, then Notre Dame (coached by Thul) was thrown into the mix, giving Big Ten fans something they'd been wanting for a long time. The Big Ten West consists of Illinois, Iowa (coached by tarcone), Minnesota, and Wisconsin (coached by SplitPersonality1).

The Pac 10 was next, with Oregon, Southern Cal (coached by EaglesFan27), UCLA (coached by MrBug708), and Washington. Next, and old-school WAC conference was created exclusively of teams that used to be in the WAC: Arizona State (coached by FranklinNoble), BYU, UTEP (coached by JeeberD), and Wyoming (coached by mighty shoe). These 4 divisions would play for one spot in the FCFL Championship game.

On the other side, the SEC kept with its practice of having two divisions. The East consists of Georgia (coached by George W Bush), South Carolina (coached by Easy Mac), Tennessee, and Georgia Tech, who moved from the SEC at the request of coach Gallifrey. The West consists of Auburn (claimed by AZTiger), Alabama, LSU (coached by Doug5984), and Kentucky, whose coach Timmer was nice enough to move from East to West (although, I'm sure the Wildcats are sick of having to face Tennessee and Georgia all the time anyway).

The Big 12 came in next, combining North and South into one conference consisting of Nebraska, Oklahoma (coached by detroit_fan), Texas (coached by cartman), and Texas A&M. Last but not least was the ACC (which, for some reason, I keep wanting to call the Big East), consisting of Boston College (coached by Sublime), Florida State (coached by drfeel), Miami (coached by OsanRokz), and Virginia Tech (coached by GeorgeC). These last 4 conferences will compete for the other spot in the FCFL Championship Game.

[Passacaglia]

And we're ready for Week 1! One complaint about the new FCFL format is that there won't be an emphasis on conference games, but it still seems like there's a lot of room for rivalries here. We've got Florida State at Miami, and we've got UCLA at Southern Cal, where the winner get the Victory Bell. We've also got Auburn at Georgia, "The Oldest Rivalry in the Deep South" going on. There's also a Big Ten West matchup of Illinois at Wisconsin, as well as Iowa at Notre Dame, Kentucky at LSU, and Oklahoma at Texas A&M. The games are scheduled for Thursday night, 9 PM Central, and a recap should be coming on Friday!

[JeeberD]

Go Miners!!!

[Passacaglia]

Week 1 has been over and done with for a while, and now that the coaches all have the file, I can talk about what happened here! Let's look at the rivalry games first.

UCLA faced USC in a defensive struggle. The Trojans went 3 and out, and the Bruins kicked a field goal. That was the only score of the first half, with no team crossing midfield. UCLA went three and out to start the 2nd half, and the Trojans had a nice drive building, but got stopped at the Bruins 41. UCLA started at their own 1, and drove 63 yards, and kicked a field goal to make it 6-0. UCLA went on to dominate from this point. The Trojans went three and out, and the Bruins drove down the field, but missed a 41 yard field goal. USC had a 6 play drive, that netted 8 yards, then punted. UCLA picked up 25, then punted. USC responds with a three and out, losing 12 yards. Winning the battle of field position, the Bruins drive down the field, setting up a 46 yard field goal, which they miss! 2:22 left in the game, ball at their own 36, the Trojans have one last chance. Trojan QB Nathaniel Pryor hits WR Rory Rosas for 17 yards to the Bruin 39, then he fumbles! A couple runs, and the game is over. Player of the game goes to UCLA QB Eliseo Merril, who threw 18/36, 178 yards.

Now for Auburn at Georgia. Georgia starts off big, leading 10-0 at the end of the 1st, highlighted by a 43 yard TD pass from QB Camron Nava to Chance Sharp. Meanwhile, the 8 yards Auburn picked up on the first drive were nullified by the 8 yards they lost on the following two drives. Georgia's driving again as the 2nd quarter starts, and they get into the red zone when Auburn makes a big play, intercepting Nava's pass. But the Tigers give it up 5 plays later, on an interception of their own, and Georgia has it 1st and goal at the Auburn 8. The Tigers get a nice stand, stopping the Bulldogs at the 1, where they kick a field goal. Georgia's still up 13-0, though. The Tigers finally get a drive going, ending up with a 35 yard field goal. 13-3. Three straight three and out drives, then Auburn is driving again. They get to the 33, but the 50 yard field goal is missed. Georgia has 35 seconds to get downfield, but Nava throws his 2nd pick, and the Bullddogs head to the locker room up 13-3. In the 3rd quarter, the Bulldogs get a nice return to the 43, but only get 14 yards on the drive, and punt. The teams exchange three and outs, and Auburn has the ball back at their 31. Auburn QB Conner throws a couple nice passes for 33 and 12 yards, but Davidson fumbles at the Georgia 14. The Bulldogs go three and out, and Auburn drives down the field, getting a 1 yard TD run by Fish. Conner threw 4 passes for more than 10 yards on that drive. As the fourth quarter starts, Georgia takes over at their 32, up 13-10. Nava starts feeling it, and he throws 4/4 for 46 yards, and Mccullough runs it in from 8 yards. 20-10 Georgia. But Conner and the Tigers aren't quitting. He throws 6/6 for 50 yards, including a TD pass to Davison. 20-17 Bulldogs, 5:48 left. But Georgia adequately kills the clock, and drive all the way down the field, with Schneider catching a 4 yard TD pass with 1:11 left. Auburn throws four bombs, all incomplete, and Georgia wins 27-17.

Congrats to the winners of the rivalry games!

[Passacaglia]

Now for the other games:

Arizona State scored a TD on the last play of the game to make the score look close, but Ohio State cruised to a home victory, 16-13.

Alabama dominates the 2nd and 3rd quarter, scoring 19 points on Boston College. The Eagles come back with a touchdown in the 4th, but it's not enough. Tide Roll in Tuscaloosa, 19-7.

A tale of two halves in Lincoln. The Huskers lead 20-0 at halftime, but the Georgia Tech comes back, cutting the lead to 20-14 with 1:19 left. Nebraska kills the clock to survive.

59 minutes of play in Madison with no touchdowns, and the Illini leading 12-6. Finally, a touchdown in the last minute -- for the Illini. They add insult to injury by getting the 2 pt. conversion, and beat the Badgers on the road, 20-6.

In South Bend, the Irish are dominating Iowa for most of the first half. If not for one 93 yard TD pass, it would be 24-0. The Hawkeyes score a couple more TDs in the 2nd half to make it 24-21, but their offense dies in the 4th, going three and out twice, and starting at their 8 with 1:51, only make it to the Irish 41 as time expires.

In 93 degree heat in Baton Rouge, Kentucky starts off nicely, leading 3-0 after 1 quarter. But the Tigers turn the heat up a little more, and lead 21-3 at the half. The game ends 28-10.

It was a doozy in College Station, as the Sooners came to town. Back-and-forth in the first half, with A&M leading 14-10 at halftime. Oklahoma pulls to 14-13 after the 3rd, then take a 16-14 lead early in the 4th. The Aggies strike back with a field goal of their own to make it 17-16, and the Sooners drive all the way to the 4, before settling for a field goal to make it 19-17 with 3:55 left. The Aggies finally get the ball in the end zone with 1:29 left, and win the game 24-19.

A low scoring affair in Provo. After an Oregon fumble, BYU puts together a nice TD drive as the 2nd quarter ends, to take a 10-3 lead at the half. They get another nice drive, this one for over 8 minutes, but it ends in a 19 yard field goal. 13-3 Cougars. The Ducks come back with their own drive, cutting the lead to 13-10, then they get an interception, giving them the ball at the BYU 37. They line up for a 42 yard field goal, but it misses. The Cougars have the ball control thing down, running the clock from 4:44 to 10 seconds left after their missed field goal. After 3 straight penalties, the Ducks have time for one play, but the pass is intercepted.

In Blacksburg, Tennessee starts the scoring on the opening drive, taking a 7-0 lead. But that's all they get. The Hokies take over the rest of the game, winning 19-7.

In Columbia, Texas kicks a field goal, then the Gamecocks score a touchdown. Repeat twice more, and you've got the game. Cocks win 21-9 (please don't ban me for saying Cocks).

In State College, UTEP always seemed to be a big play or two from taking the lead, but could never take care of it. Penn State wins 16-10.

In Minneapolis, the Golden Gophers kick a field goal to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the 1st. But Washington's offense wakes up in the 2nd, and they lead 17-3 at the half. Minnesota cuts the lead to 17-10, but the Huskies win, 24-10.

And in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines see a 13-10 halftime lead slip away on a Wyoming TD late in the 3rd. They kick a field goal to make it 17-16 with 7:24 left, and stop the Cowboys three and out. With 5:09 left, they get no yards on three plays. But they'll get the ball back, right? Wrong. Wyoming runs out all 4:38 left on the clock, winning by a point.

[Passacaglia]

HEISMAN WATCH
-----------------
Well, #1 on the list has to go to offensive player of the week. That goes to Washington's junior QB Harvey Fournier. He threw 18/28, 217 yards, 3 TDs, and no INTs. But there's also Georgia's senior RB Alton Mccullough, running for 131 yards and a TD. But, staying in Georgia, The Yellow Jackets think they have a candidate in their freshman WR, possibly the player with the coolest name in the league, Carson Carson. He caught 8 passes for 143 yards and a TD.

As for some guys people thought would do well in preseason, UCLA senior Eliseo Merril was the pre-season All-American QB -- we saw his stats earlier against USC. The pre-season All-American RB, Notre Dame senior Zachariah Reeves, was a disappointment, running 18 times for 55 yards -- he did catch 5 passes for 28 yards and a TD, though. South Carolina's senior WR Brad Yates had a pretty good game, catching 7 passes for 80 yards and a TD, and returning 3 kicks for 79 more yards. BYU's senior WR Jamal Dempsey caught 6 passes for 66 yards.

[Passacaglia]

Week 2
-------

No big rivalries this week. We've got Arizona State at Wyoming in the WAC, LSU at Auburn in the SEC West, Michigan at Iowa in a Big Ten East-West matchup, and Minnesota at Illinois in the Big Ten West. These damned September games -- Alabama goes into Miami to take on the Hurricanes in 100 degree weather.

[Passacaglia]

How about the html update? http://www.geocities.com/amadaun17/leaguehtml/index.html

[daedalus]

Spiff, Pass! I'll be following along! :)

[Doug5984]

Now for the other games:

In 93 degree heat in Baton Rouge, Kentucky starts off nicely, leading 3-0 after 1 quarter. But the Tigers turn the heat up a little more, and lead 21-3 at the half. The game ends 28-10.



LSU LSU LSU!
Next up- Auburn! :p

[fantastic flying froggies]

Go Miners!!!
Go Cougars! http://www.thecfl.net/forum/images/smiles/icon_twisted.gif

[JeeberD]

:eek:

You've taken BYU?!?!?!?!

Sigh...guess we can no longer be friends, fff...

[fantastic flying froggies]

:eek:

You've taken BYU?!?!?!?!

Sigh...guess we can no longer be friends, fff...
I don't particularly follow college football, so I had no real favorites.

I picked BYU only to to give you a hard time!... :p

[JeeberD]

Well, the more rivalries the better I suppose... :)

[Joe]

when is week 2?

[Passacaglia]

Week 2 is tonight. Get your files in!

[Passacaglia]

Game of the Week is LSU at Auburn. Tigers vs. Tigers. Auburn's been in a couple big games early, seems like. LSU starts out with the ball, gets a couple first downs, then punts. Auburn gets a nice drive going, but they also punt. Auburn's winning the battle of field position, though, as LSU gets buried at their own 2. LSU is trying to get a first down and out of trouble on 3rd and 3, when Junior QB Saul Boswell's pass is intercepted by Senior MLB Bryon Woodward at the 11. 3 plays later, Junior QB Rogelio Conner hits Senior FB Rashad Fish for a 7 yard TD pass. LSU comes back on their next drive, scoring a 3 yard TD pass to Junior WR Dwight McCormick early in the 2nd. Auburn gets a nice return to their 40, and get their first long drive, ending on a 22 yard TD pass to Senior WR Scott Reed. 14-7 Auburn. Both teams exchange 3 and outs, and LSU has the ball again and starts driving. On 3rd and 1 at the Auburn 10, Boswell underthrows a pass to 5th year Senior FB Jacob Robinson. But LSU fakes the field goal, and Junior Punter Nico Golden comes through in the clutch, hitting a 3 yard pass to Robinson. 2 plays later, Freshman backup RB Ryan Harris runs it in from 5 yards out, to even the score at 14 at the half. Auburn starts the 3rd quarter with a 3 and out, and LSU jumps on it, marching up the field, even bringing in backup QB, Freshman Jose Friedman, who throws a 3 yard TD pass to Junior WR Dylan Lutz. 21-14 LSU. Auburn's offense starts to move the ball again, but Conner throws incomplete to Fish on 3rd and 1 at the LSU 13. Not having the guts to go for it like LSU, they settle for a field goal. 21-17. LSU gets a nice drive going too, but they also settle for a field goal, and lead 24-17 with under a minute left in the 3rd. Auburn stumbles a little, and punt from their own 37. LSU ball at their own 28. On 3rd and 8 at their 30, Friedman gets picked off by Freshman S Glen Zimmerman, who takes it to the house, tying the game! And LSU looks like they're in even more trouble, as they go 3 and out, punting. Auburn takes over at their own 26 -- but wait! Roughing the kicker, Auburn. LSU goes 3 and out AGAIN (sorta), but this time Golden's punt buries Auburn at their own 4. 8:13 left. Auburn gets out of the woods, but still have to punt from their 29. LSU returns it to their 30. They get one first down before they have to punt. Auburn ball at their 14, 2:54 left. Auburn goes three and out, punt, and LSU takes over at their 46, 1:52 left. They get to the Auburn 34, with 24 seconds left and no timeouts, when they line up for the field goal. And Sophomore walk-on K Zane Cummins hits the 51 yarder! LSU wins it, 27-24!

[Passacaglia]

Other games

A low-scoring affair in Miami. The Hurricanes scored in the first, to take a 7-0 lead. Alabama came back to make it 7-3 right before the half. The Tide's poor offense had a chance to take the lead in the 3rd, as a Miami punt from their own 1 gave them the ball at the Hurricane 39. They even picked up 21 yards, but missed a field goal. Miami eventually went for the jugular with a little over 2 minutes left, winning 14-3.

In Laramie, the Cowboys scored on their first 4 possessions, and the Sun Devils turned the ball over on 3 of their first 5 -- and on that 5th, Wyoming returned the INT for a TD. After building a 27-0 lead late in the 2nd, the Cowboys offense took a break. They went on to win 37-0 -- with the other TD coming off a punt return.

BYU took their first game under the tutelage of new head coach TripleF. They started out hot, building a 21-0 lead. Kentucky made it 21-7 at the end of the half, and 21-14 at the end of the 3rd, but BYU clinched it with a 5-minute drive, giving them a 28-14 lead with 1 minute left. Kentucky put up another TD, but it wasn't enough. Cougars win on the road 28-21.

In LA, Georgia started out with a 14 lead, only to see UCLA come back to make it 14-10. The Bulldogs took over again, making it 24-10. UCLA made one more attempt, but lost 24-20.

In Iowa City, neither the Hawkeyes nor the Wolverines led by more than 4 points the whole game. Michigan tied it up 16-16 on a 20 yard field goal (wimps) with 58 seconds left. Iowa wins it in OT, 19-16.

One touchdown per quarter in Champaign. Illinois scores one in the first, and the Golden Gophers score one in the next 3. Minnesota wins, 21-7.

Another low-scoring game in Columbia. Nebraska kicks the game-winning field goal with 3:24 left, from 51 yards out (their 2nd FG from 50+ that game), to bea the Gamecocks 9-7.

Points galore in Eugene. The Irish seem to have the game in hand by halftime, up 17-6. Oregon makes it 17-13, but Notre Dame answers right away to make it 24-13, then over a quarter later, they add another to make it 31-13 with 2:33 left. Oregon scores one more time, losing 31-21.

In Norman, most of the scoring was done in the first half. The Sooners led 17-10 at halftime, and after a scoreless 3rd quarter, they put the Buckeyes away, 27-10.

A close game in Seattle. Washington led 15-14 at the half, but their start QB Harvey Fournier went down late in the 2nd. Freshman QB Trent Vtiale led the team the rest of the way. Penn State made it 17-15 midway through the 3rd, but Washington took the lead back 18-17 midway through the 4th, and added another FG at the end to win 21-17.

In El Paso, the Miners started out looking good, with a 10-0 lead over the Trojans midway through the 2nd. But USC woke up, leading 14-10 at halftime, and sailing to a 24-10 win.

In Knoxville, Tennessee led 14-0 after the 1st, and Texas was never really able to recover. Volunteers win 30-17.

A tale of two halves in Atlanta. A&M led 13-3 at halftime, but Georgia Tech came back to win it 16-13.

In Boston, Wisconsin put up 13 points with 3 minutes left in the 2nd, and decided that was all the points they needed. They were right, getting a 13-9 win over the Eagles.

[JeeberD]

Bleh, we suck... :(

[Passacaglia]

HEISMAN WATCH
-----------------
How about Harvey Fournier again? He went 11/19, 171 yards and a TD in the Huskies 21-17 in less than half the game against the Nittany Lions. He's now 29/47, 388 yards, and 4 TDs for the season. But his backup, unheralded freshman Trent Vitale, threw 13/17, 129 yards, 1 INT, so it might be the system. Fournier will miss next week's game, hosting the Volunteers, and will be back to full strength in 3 weeks.
Or Notre Dame's senior QB Will Blankenship. He went into Eugene and threw 23/33, 254 yards and 2 TDs. He's 45/65, 462 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT for the season.
There's also Kentucky's junior QB Muhammad Weeks. He's got 576 yards so far, but he's going to have to improve his completion percentage (55) and his TD/INT ratio (3 to 5) to be a contender. Also, Kentucky will need to win a game.
What about BYU's 5th year senior Larry Cramer? He's completing a gi-normous 75% of his passes, including a 21/25, 200 yard, 3 TD performance at Kentucky! If new coach TripleF can keep him a this rate, his stock will keep climbing -- this game was much better than his Week 1 performance at home against Oregon -- 23/33, 201 yards, 3 INTs.
Georgia's got a nice senior RB in Alton McCullough. He has 288 yards so far on 58 carries, but just 1 TD.
Washington's senior WR Bret Waters had a big day, catching 7 passes for 147 yards and a TD. He's got 12 catches, 238 yards, and 3 TDs on the season. You've got to wonder if it's him or Fournier who's most responsible for the Huskies offensive production.

[Passacaglia]

Week 3
-------
A surprise, no 2-0 teams face each other this week. We've got plenty of them, though. BYU, Georgia, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Washington, Wyoming.

Our rivalry game of the week is a battle for the Little Brown Jug. A less than spectacular game, pitting the 1-1 Golden Gophers at 0-2 Michigan.