American - 2014
 

Time to set up those recruiting boards, do custom schedules, redshirt players.

Let me know what out of conference teams you'd like me to try to get on your schedule.

My opponent wish list in order of preference:

Indiana
Florida
Florida St.
Navy
Ole Miss

-- If possible, I would like my home games with these teams to take place after week 5, and as many away games as possible before that. I'll do my recruiting and redshirting tomorrow morning after I drop off my boy.

Probably an unnecessary reminder, but you can only recruit 2-stars or below.
:)

Outer Banks has the recruiting board and red shirts setup. Below are some good out of conference games to setup:

Memphis
Kansas
Virginia
Air Force
Colorado

EF27--Any requests?

I'm doing my recruiting now and will look. I know I'd like to try to beat up on UCLA. Other than that, I need to look at what teams make sense. Will let you know in a few.

UCLA
UNC
NC State
Rutgers
Navy
Air Force

I'd like home games after week 5 as well please with road games early.

Thanks!

Asheville is set to advance :)

It's not giving me many options that you asked for. Florida, FSU, Navy, and Ole Miss are not available any week. I did get Indiana.

Week 3 at Indiana
Week 7 vs. Texas Tech
Week 8 vs. Houston

Week 2 at Virginia
Week 3 vs. Kansas
Week 5 vs. Colorado

UCLA, UNC, Rutgers, and Air Force were never available. Also, you have in conference games in weeks 1-8, including home games in weeks 1-5, so you're very front-loaded.

Week 10 at Navy
Week 11 vs. NC State
Week 12 at Wake Forest

Week 1 - Deadline is 11/27 (Fri) at 11 p.m. EST
 

We're on to season 2!

Week 1 Matchups
Vicksburg at Asheville
North Plainfield at Fairbanks

I was doing really good against Vicksburg and my controller died. I switched to my wired controller and had no idea that would force it to go to the title screen :(

I was up 14-10 and driving. Oh well. I'll play them tomorrow morning (and start with my wired controller.)

It is very interesting. My WR's can't catch it reliably for anything. I'm designing my play calling around my TE, which I have never done before. He is by far my most reliable set of hands catching it.

Edit to add: When it died, he had just caught a 44 yard pass and had 6 catches for 120 yards and a TD.

Ugh. 1st play of the replay - My QB underthrows the TE for an easy interception. We get them into 4 and 1 from the 2, but Stokes runs it in. Down 7-0 early.

We respond with a nice balanced drive that ends with a 1 yard TD run. Our TE was our top receiver on the drive. 7-7 game.

The first game I was doing a surprisingly good job of slowing up their run game. This time, they are running all over me. They run the ball 9 times in a row ending in a TD run by their QB. Down 14-7 as the 1st ends.

My usually reliable TE and WR's drop passes and we go 3 and out. Our defense is in trouble now as they are tired...

They move the ball at will with the option run game. Down 21-7.

We are driving down the field but Colvin underthrows a pass and it is picked off by their MLB in the redzone. Sheesh.

Also, we lose our TOP HB for most of the year with a back injury. This is brutal.

Only good news is that we were working the clock so they don't have time to score after the pick. Still, we had a good chance to be only down 21-14 if Colvin had just thrown that pass on the money.

21-7 at half.

We get them into 3rd and 5 to start the half and their HB bowls over 2 of my guys for a 6 yard run.

We force a 3rd and 8 but Stokes finds his HB for a 12 yard pass reception.

We finally get a stop at the 29 and they make the long FG to make it 24-7.

A balanced drive ends with a 1 yard TD pass to our TE. 24-14.

We somehow force a quick punt! Woo! Stokes broke 2 tackles and I thought for sure he was going to scramble on 3rd and 5 but he threw it wildly instead.

Tucker with a big punt return to give us a short field...

Gandy, our TE, drops 2 passes that would have gotten us a 1st and we have to settle for a long FG which our kicker makes. 24-17.

They run a lot of clock and then kick a FG with 1:30 left. Down 27-17.

Our WR's drop 2 passes and Gandy drops 2 more. We go 4 and out. Game over.

We lose 27-17.

Last Game Gandy had 6 catches for 120 yards and a TD before halftime. This time, he could only get 8 catches for 97 yards and a TD. He also had 4 official drops, although I think he had a few more.

Their option running attack was just too athletic for our slow guys to stop.

We're done recruiting.

We're gambling heavily this year, going with only 6 offensive linemen. Trying to redshirt my entire freshman batch of OL so I can hopefully ride them for 4 seasons and end up making some noise.

Week 2 - Deadline is 11/30 (Mon) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Week 1 Results

Vicksburg 27, Asheville 17
Fairbanks 42, North Plainfield 35

Week 2 Matchups

FCS West (0-0) at #24 Tucker (0-0)
Vicksburg (1-0) at Fairbanks (1-0)
Outer Banks (0-0) at Virginia (0-1)
North Plainfield (0-1) at Asheville (0-1)
FCS Northwest (0-0) at Chesapeake (0-0)
FCS Northwest (0-0) at Frederick (0-0)

Against the Plague, our receivers kept dropping it but Gandy was very reliable in amassing 17 catches for 191 yards and 2 TD's. Furthermore, our defense played a great game as we forced Conti into bad throws and we even overcame 2 interceptions by our QB and drove down the field for a last second TD to win it 28-21!

Week 3 - Deadline is 12/4 (Fri) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Week 2 Results

Asheville 28, North Plainfield 21
Outer Banks 49, Virginia 24
Vicksburg 31, Fairbanks 26

Week 3 Matchups

Western Kentucky (1-1) at #24 Tucker (1-0)
Kansas (1-0) at Outer Banks (1-0)
Chesapeake (1-0) at Asheville (1-1)
Orlando (0-0) at Indiana (1-0) Go Hoosiers!
Rochester (0-0) at Fairbanks (1-1)
Frederick (1-0) at Utah (2-0)

Go Hoosiers he says. Finally getting our first game of the year is nice. We're ready to roll. I'll probably play it tomorrow.

Colvin had a REALLY rough game with 4 picks. Despite that, we were within a touchdown and a chance to score in the 4th. However, the 4th pick was a pick 6 and that was too much to overcome. We lose 49-35 to Chesapeake.

After a battle with the Norovirus, I am on the road to recovery and should have a chance to get my game in tonight.

Got my game in a couple days later than hoped, but it was worth the wait. Held Indiana's 99 OVR offense to 240 total yards and beat them soundly, 35-14. Was almost able to stretch it to 42-14, but time ran out on me at their 5 yard line as I tried to score one last time. We pretty much did what we wanted in this one, except I made one mistake passing when I made a terrible throw against underneath coverage on a hook route. Overall it was a breeze of a game.

If the defense can play like this for the in-conference games we could win 10 with this squad.

Rochester starts the season with a nice 21-17 win in Fairbanks.

Week 4 - Deadline is 12/14 (Mon) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Week 3 Results

Tucker 35, WKU 28
Outer Banks 51, Kansas 20
Rochester 21, Fairbanks 17
Orlando 35, Indiana 14
Chesapeake 49, Asheville 35
Frederick 24, Utah 17


Week 4 Matchups

Vicksburg (3-0) at #17 Clemson (1-0)
Chesapeake (2-0) at Fairbanks (1-2)
Washington State (1-1) at Frederick (2-0)
Rochester (1-0) at Asheville (1-2)
WKU (1-2) at North Plainfield (1-2)

Hey EF: What times are good for you? I can schedule Tuesday night or some other night during the week.

I can probably do Tuesday night after 9. Other nights that are good are Wednesday or Thursday. I am also off during day Monday and Thursday which are best times for me.

So far, it looks like Wednesday night around 9:30 works best for me.

I had a family thing come up. Tuesday night is out for me as a result. Wednesday night should be good.

My recruiting is done.

Still on for 9:30 tonight?

I think I might need to start at 10 PM instead. Got stick with a few things I didn't anticipate. Is that too late for you?

Nah, that can work.

Ugh. There is a local internet outage. Not expected to be fixed until 1 am per Comcast. (Posting on my iPad)

Okay. Ill-fated tonight. Tomorrow night? Saturday morning?

Tomorrow night around 9:30?

On further review, tonight doesn't work so well for me. We can push it to some night next week. Or I can do early in the morning (7ish) on Saturday.

Ok. I can't do Saturday morning. I have my wife's Christmas party Friday night and we are hosting a party Saturday night for my staff. We'll figure out a time next week.

Actually, it turns out that tonight can work, if you're still up for it. My wife has a party to go to, so if I can get done putting the kids to bed by 9:30, I can play.

See you at 9:30 tonight! :)

Easy way to put the kids to sleep early: CO

Who wants to be Daddy's cheerleader?!?

We decorated the tree tonight and Mary didn't want to stop reading the Bible... hard to push her on that. I might be a few minutes after 9:30 but not too many. Getting her to bed now.

No problem.

Sorry, my console keeps freezing as I'm loading the dynasty.

No problem. Hope it works soon.

Me too. Last time, it got to 91% before freezing.

Ugh. 86%. I wonder if you can just challenge me without me loading it all the way?

I did send you a challenge... want me to exit and resend it?

Well, that was painful, but looks like we're in.

Kodos and I had a good game that was tight early, but we got a few good breaks and I think we rattled his QB. That helped us have a strong 2nd half for a 38-14 win.

EF27 and his Axemen chopped us up like kindling tonight. Had a good first drive, but from there, things went downhill pretty quickly. 0 for 2 against the Axemen. GG, EF.

Week 5 - Deadline is 12/18 (Fri) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Week 4 Results

Asheville 38, Rochester 14
North Plainfield 35, Western Kentucky 14
Chesapeake 38, Fairbanks 31
Vicksburg 28, Clemson 21 OT
Frederick 42, Washington State 35 OT

Week 5 Matchups

Fairbanks (1-3) at #13 Tucker (2-0)
Maassluis (1-1) at #25 Vicksburg (4-0)
Colorado (4-0) at Outer Banks (2-0)
Tulsa (0-2) at Chesapeake (3-0)
Orlando (1-0) at Asheville (2-2)
South Alabama (1-2) at North Plainfield (2-2)
Rochester (1-1) at Syracuse (0-3)

Let me know when you're good to play, EF. I'm free as long as we start by 1 PM any day except for Mon/Tues, when I am free any time after 4 PM.

I work tomorrow and have family stuff this weekend. I can probably play Monday or Tuesday night. Next week is "my on week" at work, so I can't play during the day any of those days.

Monday or Tuesday works for me.

Do you want to play tonight or tomorrow?

Tonight works. What time?

Have to get the kid to bed and do a bit of work. Between 10:00 and 10:30 (eastern time) work?

I'll be there.

Julio killed me with 3 interceptions. The first one was an amazing dive on a tipped ball by his safety. The 2nd was due to HORRIBLE lag in which my screen completely froze. I shouldn't have panicked and thrown it still, but I did and I couldn't even see what happened. Next thing I know, he has the ball. Lag got me on the 3rd one too. It was so frustrating. But, we fought back and took it into OT. I scored first and seriously considered going for 2, but decided to play it safe. That cost us as Orlando marched down the field, scored, and ran it in for 2. 43-42 win for Orlando. So frustrating. Good game, JR.

I had a couple lag influenced plays too, one that didn't hurt me on a run play, and the other was that pick I threw in the end zone trying to go up 28-7 was a wrong button press because I never saw the icons come up and I wrongly guessed X for the inside receiver in a fit of panic because my crosser was wiiiide open. I feel fortunate to win, especially with that nutty ass fumble that gave you guys the ball and a chance to tie late. I was just trying to line up a fg attempt but the damn back had to cough that shit up and I almost knew he would if I ran it. After that I had to go for two because I wasn't gonna let it get to the forced 2 point conversions.

Hell of a game, maybe next time those weird lag hiccups won't hit us. That was the first time I have seen something that bad in a game, and it was weird that it only happened 3 or 4 times. Played smooth otherwise.

Maybe we will see each other in the conference championship. I hope not though, it is nerve wracking.

We don't have a conference championship. EF will have to wait until next season.

Ugh.

Oh shit.. Thats actually a huge relief, haha.

I feel like next season I'm in for an ass beating.

I doubt that. You played a great game and I know our next game will be a battle.

My offensive line will be entirely Freshmen, so it will certainly be interesting, heh.

Week 6 - Deadline is 12/29 (Tues) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Week 5 Results

Fairbanks 41, Tucker 35
Orlando 43, Asheville 42 OT
Outer Banks 45, Colorado 7
Rochester 34, Syracuse 31
Chesapeake 37, Tulsa 10
Vicksburg 70, Maassluis 10
North Plainfield 56, South Alabama 7

Week 6 Games

Asheville (2-3) at #24 Tucker (2-1)
UMass (0-5) at Rochester (2-1)
Fairbanks (2-3) at Orlando (2-0)
Houston (1-2) at Chesapeake (4-0)

YES!!! we got 4 commits this week including our top target at QB - a 6'4 206 pound Juco who can run and throw it fairly well. We also got the top tackle on our board to commit! :)

Now, it is time to see if we can upset Tucker.

Such an exciting game:

We got the ball first and executed our offense to perfection and marched down the field for a 7-0 lead.

Our linebacker had a surprise pick and we moved the ball well again and took a 14-0 lead.

Tucker marched right back and sliced through our defense. 14-7.

We methodically moved the ball and ate up clock as we scored with only 1 second left to make it 21-7.

They got the ball to start the 2nd half and they moved it without any problems. 21-14.

We were marching down the field and we threw it to our WR... he takes a step and gets hit hard, the ball squirts out and they recover the fumble.

They march right down the field and we are tied at 21 at the end of 3.

Ok, we still have a good chance. We move the ball down the field well with passes but we get into 4th and 13 from their 33. Our kicker doesn't have the leg to make that kick, so I go for it. We fail to convert on a dropped pass.

They march right down the field. 28-21.

We respond with a quick TD and they get it right back late in the 4th. 35-28.

We move the ball carefully down the field and score with 19 seconds left. I don't think we can stop them, so I decide to take a shot and go for 2...

Our QB drops back... sees the TE open... and gets hit before he can get the pass off.

We lose 35-34 :(

Isn't it nice having a league where we actually lose to the CPU teams? :)

I'll be trying my luck against Fairbanks tonight hopefully. Probably play this one after I play my UTSA game.

Yes, it is. Although, my game with Gilmore was fun in a different way :)

Curb-stomping the cpu is also fun.

Ugh. I just lost on a last-play 27-yard touchdown pass into heavy coverage. We couldn't stop UMass all day long, but had finally taken a 54-49 lead on a 2-yard Clay Kirby run with 19 seconds left. I should have tried a field goal to win as time expired. Except, our kicker had already doinked an extra point off of the upright once. :(

Of course, we had a ton of recruits on hand. UMass wins 57-54.

I'll get my game in on this league tomorrow.

A most heartbreaking loss for us.. We played great defense all game long in our battle with Fairbanks, but they managed to steal the lead from us late with about a minute left, going up 22-21. We drove down with zero time outs to get into field goal range with 8 seconds left, got the kicker on the field and lined it up as fast as possible, but in a rush I unleashed a shitty kick that went just wide and cost us the game. We really should have won this one handily, but I have been horribly rusty these past few games and couldn't manage but two scores on offense the whole game. Super frustrating, but we'll bounce back. Our defense is good enough we can win a lot of games this year still.

Week 7 - Deadline is 1/23 (Sat) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Week 6 Results

Tucker 35, Asheville 34
Fairbanks 22, Orlando 21
Chesapeake 42, Houston 30
UMass 57, Rochester 54

Week 7 Games

Idaho (0-5) at #24 Tucker (3-1)
Fairbanks (3-3) at #25 Outer Banks (3-0)
Texas Tech (2-2) at Orlando (2-1)
Asheville (2-4) at Frederick (3-0)

Woot! 5 commits despite our 57-54 loss to UMass!

I'll likely get my game in against TTech tonight.

Got in a 42-28 win over Texas Tech. Our offense was better as I shake off the rust, and our defense was good.. The frustrating Texas Tech "toss up a wobbler when you're about to get sacked and have your receivers come back for it and outjump the Orlando guys" strategy kept them in it, but didn't get them the win.

Yay! we got 2 more commits and our class is shaping up nicely so far!

Playing the mighty undefeated Frederick team, I was expecting to get spanked.

We started off with a long lengthy drive that was running and short passes to get a 7-0 lead.

The 2nd play of their drive, Jackie Percy threw a pick that was the result of a very nice play by our CB.

We marched down the field again and make it 14-0.

Jackie threw a 2nd pick but we stalled out and were unable to take advantage.

We again used time on our stalled drive, but they drove the field and got a FG to end the half on some quick plays. Up 14-3, we felt good even though we had to kickoff to start the 2nd half.

We felt even better when Jackie threw a 3rd pick of the day to our LB. We turned that into a quick strike score and made it 21-3!

Jackie bounced back and led them on a quick drive that ended with 1 yard run. 21-10.

Colvin methodically moved us down the field and we made it 28-10!

Percy bounced back with 3 quick strike passes for a TD and the 2 point conversion. 28-18.

We knew we needed a good drive to end the game and then we had something that had my blood boiling. My QB dropped back and as I hit A to pass to the TE, he just fell to the ground. I've never seen anything like it. Not sure if he tripped, glitched, or what...

That put us into 3rd and 16, but fortunately, our star TE got open for a 20 yard gain and we converted. We methodically used up clock from there and scored to make it a 35-18 win! :)

Jackie threw 4 picks on the day and I will be using this defense in both dynasties now. Hopefully, it can work well throughout our season :)

I'll get recruiting done and advance us tonight.

Week 8 - Deadline is 2/6 (Sat) at 11 p.m. EST
 

Will add matchups later.

Scored a bunch this week and put away a pesky Houston team after struggling to separate for 3 quarters. I think the final score was 56-31.

I can play the Ospreys several times during the day today or Wednesday. I can also play most evenings after 9:30 PM. Let me know what works!

Im stuck with work and home stuff tonight. After 9:30pm works most nights. Would Tuesday or Wednesday work better?

Wednesday night is probably better for me.

Okay, lets shoot for Wednesday night at 9:30pm.

Sounds good!

The Ospreys had a vicious pass rush and crushed us in every phase of the game. 49-21 win for them. Good game, Grammaticus.

Week 9 - Deadline is 2/14 (Sun) at 11 p.m. EST
 

We're on to Week 9.

Week 8 Results

Outer Banks 49, Asheville 21
Rochester 64, Maassluis 22
Orlando 56, Houston 35
Frederick 38, Fairbanks 24

Week 9 Games

#6 Vicksburg (5-0) at #14 Outer Banks (5-0)
#18 Tucker (4-1) at #20 Chesapeake (5-0)
Orlando (4-1) at Rochester (3-2)
Frederick (4-1) at North Plainfield (3-2)
FCS Midwest at Fairbanks (3-5)

When is good for you, JR?

Any night after 11:30 PM or days before 1:00 PM. Monday and Tuesday I'm available just about any time of day, but would prefer an evening start if on one of those days.

I can play tonight around 9:30 p.m., if that works.

Julio's boys thoroughly kicked my butt. Couldn't do much of anything right. As I fell behind, started making dumb passes that were quickly picked off. Good game, bud.

On the first drive we had 3 straight dropped passes in the end zone and then missed an easy FG. I thought that was a sign of things to come, but fortunately the team has been hot and stayed hot, covering well and getting pressure at times. It wasn't easy clawing our way to that lead, but once we got a little cushion I got some confidence and our run game also seemed to wear down the Rochester front later in the contest.

Man, that play you made scrambling to the right and throwing the lob to the guy on the sideline.. I think it was a 4th and 2.. I was like damn, what a throw. I got a little excited because its the kind of play that makes you go wow in real life.

I think the play of the game for us came on a 3rd and 18 or so early on, when I just said hell with it and threw a ball up.. My man Ratliff somehow came down with it in triple coverage and I think we scored a TD on that drive. Wound up being kind of a turning point because things were pretty even up to then and it would have been a huge setback to have to punt there.

Yeah, that throw into triple-coverage was a controller-throwing play. Was definitely a turning point in the game.

I will do my recruiting by tomorrow.

The Ospreys bested Vicksburg. I think we may be ready to advance.