Yep, here we are again. Yet another Izulde TCY/FOF dynasty. On the other hand, it's only my second shot at UNLV. The last one ended after two posts and I forget why. I apparently bitched about the box scores, but watching college football and seeing UNLV get killed always puts me in the mood to play TCY/FOF and try to build the program.
I'm also going to try and finally figure out how to use TCY Helper.
Try being the key word.
So starting up new game, I realize only some of the bowls are set to something recognizable. Bleh I'll do the rest of them later.
So here it is, 2004. I,
Izulde Jestor, have been hired as the head coach of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels and we'll be introducing the concept of
Fidometrics to try and make this a good football program.
Code:
Diaz, Bryce 2 QB Fr 9 41
Bycroft, Timothy 19 QB Sr 35 43
Minter, Geoff 18 QB Sr 47 47
Rangel, Marshall 6 QB* So* 13 17
Both the rest of the coaching staff and Fidometrics agree Minter is the best QB on the team and will start this season. Where the disagreement occurs is who is the better future starter - Diaz or Rengel. The staff thinks it's Diaz, Fidometrics thinks it's Rangel. If I have my druthers, neither one will be it.
Recruiting Priority: Very High
Code:
Dimick, Gerald 41 RB So* 26 47
Antonius, C.J. 20 RB Sr 34 34
Dupont, Jamal 42 RB Fr 23 60
Nanamaker, Alvin 48 RB* Fr 15 15
Fleming, Rich 47 RB* Fr 22 55
The staff believes we have a lot of quality potential youth here, and Fidometrics agrees on Dupont and Dimick, who will be the #1 and #2 RBs. Dupont looks like a four year starter - I just wish his endurance was much better than what it is.
Recruiting Priority: Low
Code:
Meier, Christian 44 FB Jr 22 22
Gaylor, Richie 23 FB Jr 46 54
Benoit, Zack 25 FB So 18 44
Duncan, Sherman 27 FB Sr 32 32
Really not much to choose from here. I see it more as different fullbacks will have different roles, with no real starter as such.
Recruiting Priority: Medium
Code:
Coffey, Antonio 94 TE Fr 22 65
Spindler, Junior 89 TE Sr 51 70
Prescott, Peter 80 TE Jr 40 40
Diaz, Quentin 98 TE* So* 12 38
Boy oh boy, does the staff love the TEs. Fidometrics is much less enthusiastic, although the low endurance Spindler will start, with Prescott his backup. The difference between Diaz and Coffey isn't that great by Fidometrics.
Recruiting Priority: Low-Medium
Code:
Cash, Hugh 86 WR Fr 20 44
Hungate, Seth 3 WR Fr 27 31
Fancher, Tracy 82 WR Jr 44 44
Anderson, Walter 1 WR Fr 22 55
Hillery, Ernie 87 WR Jr* 19 43
Malone, Vernon 9 WR Jr 23 43
Rubini, Victor 85 WR Jr 35 49
Both sides are in agreement that this is a group of good, but not great young potential ballcatchers. Fancher is far and away the most polished of the bunch and will also be a return man. The rest of the group is a little hard to distinguish right now, so there will be fights for PT.
Recruiting Priority: Very Low
Code:
Meier, Antoine 57 C Sr 43 43
Emerson, Andrew 51 C Fr 11 43
West, O.J. 55 C* Jr* 12 46
Meier is the clear-cut starter. Love Emerson's potential, but he's so raw right now, he could use a redshirt to let him grow and develop, so we're going to go ahead and do that. More help is needed though, in case Emerson isn't ready.
Recruiting Priority: High
Code:
Miller, Orlando 67 G Sr* 58 75
Niemeyer, Charlie 60 G Jr* 17 49
Tatum, Luther 69 G Sr* 40 42
Dimry, Kelly 70 G So* 8 58
If TCY ran parallel with the latest FOF at game start, Miller would be the first Rebel of my regime in the NFL. He's that good. Unfortunately, it won't start matching until 2008, so it's a no go. Tatum's the other starter and they're both juniors thankfully, but we need to build some more quality youth.
Recruiting Priority: High
Code:
Peterson, J.B. 71 T So 25 28
Schwantes, Bryant 74 T Sr* 20 24
Jenkins, A.J. 63 T Sr* 30 39
Bernstein, Rodney 64 T* Fr 0 30
The staff hates this group, but Fidometrics loves Peterson and Bernstein's upside. Peterson and Jenkins are the obvious starters, and I'd love to redshirt Bernstein, but we just don't have the bodies. Another massive critical area.
Recruiting Priority: Very High
Overall Synosis of the Offense
Overall it's a blend of youth and experience here, though tilting more towards the upperclassmen. I'm thankful all our best linemen are RS juniors or we'd be in a world of hurt next year. Our 55 year old OC, who, by the way, is pretty good as far as they go, is a 5 year veteran of the
Wing T formation. Is it my favorite offense? No. Is it the best offense for us right now? Probably, although look for a change next season.
QB Geoff Minter (Sr)
RB Jamal Dupont (Fr)
FB Richie Gaylor (Jr)
TE Junior Spindler (Sr)
WR Tracy Fancher (Jr)
WR Seth Hungate (Fr)
C Antoine Meier (Sr)
G Orlando Miller (RS Jr)
G Luther Tatum (RS Jr)
T J.B. Peterson (So)
T A.J. Jenkins (RS Jr)
Code:
Porter, Hunter 17 P So* 28 53
Dawkins, Winfred 13 P Jr 32 40
Buckley, Harris 5 P Fr 19 54
Duncan, Bryan 7 K Sr* 47 47
Amdahl, Paul 12 K Fr 12 64
Ah yes, the usual overload on scholarships for kickers. Fidometrics doesn't like any of the punters, but I'll redshirt Buckley anyway and give Porter the starting punting duties. Duncan is clearly the best kicker. Fido doesn't like Amdahl, but he'll redshirt.
Recruiting Priority: Medium-Low for P, Medium for K
Code:
Burbank, Harris 78 DE So 19 30
Haddock, Jesse 73 DE Jr 30 40
Barlow, Todd 92 DE Jr* 28 32
Watkins, C.J. 90 DE So 27 48
Doyle, Jackie 79 DE* Fr 8 14
Huang, Kerry 72 DE* Fr 9 47
Barlow and Watkins grade out as the best DEs on the balance of things, with Barlow the defensive stopper and Watkins the lone legitimate pass-rush potential threat. I feel like even with all this youth that the talent here is sorely lacking, no matter what Fidometrics says.
Recruiting Priority: High
Code:
Long, Robbie 96 DT Sr 32 48
Farrell, Clay 93 DT Sr 44 45
Malone, Mike 77 DT Sr* 29 29
Shanabrough, Erik 75 DT* Fr 13 33
Long and Farrell are obvious starters and they're good enough for me to be able to run a 4-3 scheme like I prefer. But Shanabrough is raw and has only average potential, so this is another big need area.
Recruiting Priority: Very High
Code:
McWilliams, Henry 91 ILB Jr* 19 19
Conway, Dustin 50 ILB* Fr 10 54
Raymond, Carl 56 ILB* So* 11 18
Smolka, Leland 43 ILB* Fr 9 13
Fidometrics loves the upside of some of these guys. It's a pile of really bad options to choose from, but for my money McWilliams is actually the best of a bad, young bunch. Still, we have so many other pressing needs, and we're running a 4-3, so I'll downgrade this from what seems obvious.
Recruiting Priority: High
Code:
Sampson, Teddy 58 OLB Sr 33 36
Newton, Dusty 59 OLB Sr* 33 33
Norton, Daniel 54 OLB Sr 35 35
Fitzgerald, Dean 49 OLB* Fr 7 48
Strong, Clifton 97 OLB* Fr 4 37
Norton and Sampson are the starters, with Newton the pass-rush threat. Like DT, this is going to look really damn ugly after this season, so it's a high priority area of so many.
Recruiting Priority: Very High
Code:
Nylund, Travis 29 CB Sr 41 41
Gargiulo, Bennie 28 CB Fr 24 72
Culhane, Riddick 32 CB Sr 28 28
Horvath, Jim 35 CB* So 14 28
Emmons, Everett 37 CB* Fr 1 27
Gargiulo has some serious potential, even with Fidometrics' tempered expectations. He and Nylund will start, but this, too, is an area in major need of upgrades.
Recruiting Priority: Very High
Code:
Boone, Deion 46 S Sr* 16 27
Dempsey, Zack 45 S So 29 32
Crozier, Russell 26 S So 20 43
Donovan, Sammy 22 S Sr* 26 29
Banks, Bill 24 S* Fr 7 17
Fidometrics is high on Dempsey's potential, so he and Donovan will be the two starters. Although we need talent infusion here as well, the youth is enough to keep us going if worst comes to worst.
Recruiting Priority: High
Overall Defensive Synopsis
Weird blend of young starters and old starters overloading specific position groups. Obviously we're going with the 4-3 scheme.
DE C.J. Watkins (So)
DE Todd Barlow (RS So)
DT Robbie Long (Sr)
DT Clay Farrell (Sr)
ILB Henry McWilliams (RS So)
OLB Dan Norton (Sr)
OLB Teddy Sampson (Sr)
CB Travis Nylund (Sr)
CB Bernie Gargiulo (Fr)
S Zack Dempsey (So)
S Sammy Donovan (RS Jr)
Recruiting Trail
Very High
----------
QB
T
DT
OLB
CB
High
----------
C
G
DE
ILB
S
So it's pretty obvious what we need to do - find a new QB, beef up the offensive line, and focus on all areas of the defense.
House Rules
#1. Nevada is fair game because you want to win your state.
#2. One black, one red target out of state, unless there's a teammate from that high school, to simulate pipelines.
#3. Recruits must have a 2.3 GPA and a non-red SAT score. No dummies here.
Note: I'm not using TCY Helper's time management suggestions for the first year. I'm too lazy. I'll use it starting with the freshmen of my first recruiting class, though. I feel like that will help simulate the gradual climate change of a program.
We find our ideal QB target early -
Rufus Heath of William Workman High School in City of Industry, CA. More on him later, but he'd be a huge get. He's our black line recruit and gets the full press, including scholarship offer.
Other Week 1 Recruits:
WR Floyd Beyer - North Las Vegas, NV (HS teammate) - Campus Invite
C Herb Mackay - Waipahu, HI - Scholarship
G Louie O'Neill - Davis, CA (HS teammate, redline) - Scholarship
T Leland Wolflick - Purvis, MS - Scholarship
T Oscar Kozhin - Mililani, HI (HS teammate, redline) - Scholarship
ILB Neil Lyon - Las Vegas, NV (redline) - Scholarship
S Dennis DeNeff - Elko, NV (HS teammate, redline) - Scholarship
Without realizing it, I started using the pipelines set down by my predecessor, which allowed me to target two redline guys
and still have my one redline spot open. Now if we can just land some of these guys...
Week 2 Precruiting Notes
-
WR Floyd Beyer has an offer from Purdue, so I'll probably just let him go.
-
C Herb Mackay has an offer from Iowa State, but we've got the edge, I think.
-
T Oscar Kozhin has a lot of interest, including offers from Utah and Wisconsin.
TE Richie Springer - Sparks, NV (redline) - Scholarship
WR Rickey Newsome - Winnemuca, NV (HS teammate, redline) - Scholarship
DE Bubba Overton - Kent, WA (redline) - Scholarship
DE Mo Dillon - Malibu, CA - Scholarship
DT Desmond Ross - Middlefield, OH - Scholarship
DT Brant Dacosta - Waukesha, WI - Scholarship
OLB Erik Emmons - Antioch, CA - Scholarship
OLB Martin Butler - Antigo, WI - Scholarship
That means we've handed out 15 of 16 scholarship offers already and haven't yet addressed the CB position. But things will shake out one way or the other.
@ #11 Tennessee (+16) (ESPN 2)
This went about as expected. Solid game by
QB Geoff Minter - 18/31 for 237 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs, but
Timothy Bycroft was horrible in mopup duty - 1 of 4 with 2 picks. Nice game by
OLB Teddy Sampson, too - 5 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 pass defenses, and a half-sack. We fail to beat the spread, unfortunately.
UNLV 14
Tennessee 31
Week 3 Pre-recruiting Notes
Great, great news.
S Dennis DeNeff is making a Visit and we're still the only ones to pursue a kid who looks terrific. I'll be thrilled if we land this kid.
Now for the bad news:
-
QB Rufus Heath got a scholarship offer from USC and is visiting.
-
G Louie O'Neill has a scholarship offer from Auburn.
-Florida State jumps in on
T Oscar Kozhin.
-
T Leland Wolflick has offers from Mississippi and Tennessee.
-
DE Bubba Overton has an offer from Washington State.
-
DT Desmond Ross has an offer from Miami (OH).
-
OLB Erik Emmons has an offer from San Diego State.
QB Cedric Albers - Wichita, KS - Scholarship
-We've had him on our backup radar for a while now. Idolizes Kansas State, so we may be pulling out here, too, but it's worth a shot.
CB Matthew Mustard - Martinsville, IN - Scholarship
That puts us at one over, so we'll sit tight now and see what pans out.
@ #15 Wisconsin (1-0) (+10) (Big 10 Network)
The good news is we're getting a truckload of TV exposure. The bad news is we get shut out. This game was so ugly we're not even going to talk about it. Let's just say absolutely nothing good happened in Madison last night.
UNLV 0
Wisconsin 38
Week 4 Prerecruiting Notes
-Georgia Tech is trying to horn in on
S Dennis DeNeff. Buzz off, assholes.
-Writing's on the wall for
QB Rufus Heath. UCLA and Penn State join the hunt and he's visiting the Bruins, but pride and the want of a challenge will keep me fighting. That is until he tells me, "I probably won't consider UNLV." Ugh.
-
TE Richie Springer gets an offer from Ole Miss.
-
Shit is on! UNR just offered WR Rickey Newsome!
-Arizona State offers
C Herb Mackay.
-
G Louie O'Neill gets an offer from Cal and goes visiting.
-
T Leland Wolflick gets another offer, this time from Texas A&M.
-
DE Bubba Overton takes a visit with Washington State.
-
DT Desmond Ross has an offer from Wisconsin.
-Really? UW-Stout offers
DT Brant Dacosta.
-
CB Matthew Mustard gets an offer from Mississippi.
vs Air Force (1-1) (-2)
Finally we're at Sam Boyd Stadium in our first truly winnable game of the year. Oh and is it a thing of beauty!
RB Jamal Dupont rushes 21 times for
200 yards and 2 TDs, then catches 2 passes for 44 yards and another TD.
OLB Teddy Sampson continues his fabulous senior campaign with 5 tackles, 2 assists, a 48 yard interception return for a TD.
DE Jesse Haddock records 1.5 sacks and a QB hurry, and the junior has shown in the first three games that he's our biggest pass-rush threat this year. Needless to say Dupont is PotG and gets a mention for Offensive Player of the Week, but he's beaten out by
QB Lamont Booker of Ole Miss, who throws for 392 yards, 4 TDs and 0 picks.
Air Force 24
UNLV 49
The win is a good stopping point.