The Joe Middleton Story (TCY)

[Big Six]

Hi, everybody-

With Signing Day approaching, I was thinking a lot about how much I've missed playing TCY. I had a laptop crash out on me back in the fall, taking TCY with it, so I was left with no choice but to begin an entirely new story.

This time, I'm beginning my career in the Solecismic Eight, which I'm locating in Connecticut and renaming the Charter Oak Conference. My character ,Joe Middleton, has just been hired as the head coach of the Torrington Titans, and he has his work cut out for him.

The Titans are among the weaker teams in college football. As the 2004 season begins, they're ranked #103 out of 125 teams in the coaches' poll. Unlike some noteworthy institutions with mediocre football programs, Torrington doesn't have much of an academic reputation, either. Its overall academic reputation is 38, which ranks Torrington #103 in that category, too.

Coach Middleton will try to build a winning football program at Torrington while, simultaneously, improving its academic reputation. It won't be easy, but I think it will be a lot of fun.

I'll write much of the story in first person, from Coach Middleton's perspective. I don't want to turn it into a "stat fest," but I won't neglect the numbers, either. In the past, I've spent so much time typing out/formatting stats that I haven't enjoyed the narrative as much as I'd like, and I end up losing interest. Hopefully that won't happen this time around.

I hope you'll all enjoy the story.

[DavidCorperial]

I'm surprised you are starting a new college in Torrington for this, wouldn't it have been easier to take a school like southern and move it from the FCS to the BCS?

[Big Six]

Preseason, 2004
Meet the Staff

Our Syndicate Coordinator, Pat Varitek, is Pretty Good at hitting our alumni up for donations, and he's Excellent at dealing with Syndicate Investigations--a talent I honestly hope he's not called upon to use very often. As tempting as it can be to cheat, I'm planning on running a clean operation.

Unfortunately, Varitek is Lousy at keeping our players academically eligible. Between us, I might be looking to find a better man for this job next year.

Defensive coordinator Timothy Martinez, 63, is a veteran with a fairly good set of skills. He's an Excellent playcaller, he's Good at developing DBs, and Decent at developing LBs. He is flat-out Terrible at coaching up defensive linemen.

Our offensive coordinator, Kurt Lyon, looks like he's more talented than Martinez. He can develop talent at any offensive position fairly well (he's Fair with running backs, his weakest category), and is known for his Excellent playcalling. He prefers the Wing-T offense, and I'm fine with that. I wish Coach Lyon were younger, though. He's 60, and right now I'm hoping he sticks around.

I can't see us doing much recruiting out of our immediate area, so the skills of Gilbert Bender will be more important than the other talent evaluators on our staff. Bender scouts the New England region. He is Excellent at scouting QBs and LBs, and he's Very Good with receivers. Unfortunately, he has no clue when it comes to evaluating O-linemen or DBs. I wouldn't mind seeing if there's somebody better available. What I really wish I could do is assign Bender another territory and put a better scout in New England. Kenneth Collins, our Middle Atlantic scout, is the best talent evaluator on our staff.

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by DavidCorperial

I'm surprised you are starting a new college in Torrington for this, wouldn't it have been easier to take a school like southern and move it from the FCS to the BCS?

That would be cool, but The College Years won't let you do that. It only includes BCS schools, and adds one eight-team conference made up of "FCS-style" programs.

If the game had FCS schools, too, I'd take William and Mary and see what I could do with them. I went to grad school there, settled down, and still follow them closely.

[Big Six]

Preseason, 2004
Welcome to Alumni Stadium

One of the things that attracted me to Torrington was the quality of our facilities. Alumni Stadium is nice and new (built 1990), and seats 48,600 fans. It has a wonderful view of the nearby hills and, honestly, the setting couldn't be nicer.

We are also lucky to have such strong backing from the community and our alumni (Community Loyalty = Very Good, Alumni Loyalty = Very Good) And I couldn't believe how excited our student body is about Titans football (Student Goodwill = Terrific).

We've sold 32,700 season tickets, so we should have good crowds on hand for our home games. Now it's up to us to give the fans a team that is worth watching.

[DavidCorperial]

Seriously, your stadium is bigger than Uconn's stadium, there's no way that could work out well in regard to ticket sales.

[Big Six]

Here are the players who will start the season on Torrington's first team offense.

Players from Connecticut towns don't have a state listed with their home town.

POS  NO  NAME              HT    WT   CL  HOME TOWN/HIGH SCHOOL
 QB   3  Darren O'Neal     6-2   192  Fr  West Haven/Hall
 RB  29  Daryl Kerns       6-2   208  Jr  Middletown/Middletown
 FB  35  Curtis Booker     6-0   222  Sr  Newington/Newington
 FL  82  Roderick Levine   6-0   186  Sr  West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South
 SE  84  Junior Huffman    6-2   205  Sr  Vernon Rockville/Rockville
 TE  85  Edward Crane      6-4   238  So  Somers/Somers
 LT  63  Mike Weeks        6-7   273  Jr  Darien/Darien
 LG  66  Erik Rhodes       6-2   265  Jr  Guilford/Guilford
  C  51  Joe McCormick     6-3   256  So  Cranston, RI/West
 RG  77  Charlie Joyner    6-3   293  Jr  Sinclairville, NY/Cassadaga Valley
 RT  64  Vincent Stitt     6-3   262  Fr  Dolgeville, NY/James A. Green
  K  18  Corwin Raymond    5-8   163  Jr  New Britain/New Britain

O'Neal might take his lumps as he learns on the job, but he has potential. Booker will be our primary ballcarrier, because we are weak at running back. Huffman and Levine give us good, experienced WRs, but behind them, there's nothing much. We'll need to recruit some dynamic skill position players this year. Crane looks solid at TE.

Rhodes is the best lineman on the team, and Joyner is pretty good, too. The tackles are apt to get manhandled this year. Stitt has some decent upside. McCormick, too, has a lot to learn.

Raymond is a decent kicker, and there's a freshman behind him that looks promising.

Here's our first team defense:

POS  NO  NAME              HT    WT   CL  HOME TOWN/HIGH SCHOOL
LDE  73  Mercury Petrovic  6-5   258  Sr  White River Junction, VT/Hartford
LDT  72  Sedrick Bullock   6-1   257  Sr  Syracuse, NY/Corcoran
RDT  70  Trevor Donaldson  6-5   258  Sr  Tolland/Tolland
RDE  95  Dexter Ackerman   6-2   231  Jr  N. Grosvenordale, CT/Tourtellote Mem.
LLB  54  Trevor Brennan    5-10  193  Sr  Albany, LA/Albany
MLB  48  Carl Desrosiers   6-1   205  Fr  Coventry/Coventry
RLB  94  Gus Cochrane      5-11  207  Sr  Rush-Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta
 CB  22  Steven Lynn       5-11  172  Sr  Highland Falls, NY/James O'Neill
 CB  43  Bubba Shapiro     5-11  169  Fr  Farmington/Farmington
 FS  46  Fred Collett      6-0   182  Sr  Hartford/Weaver
 SS  33  Teddy Souza       6-2   189  Fr  Martinez, CA/Alhambra
  P  14  Donny Hillery     6-0   192  Jr  Winnebago, IL/Winnebago

On paper, we should be better defensively than we are offensively. Our D-line is experienced, and all of them look like they're up to Charter Oak Conference standards. Petrovic is the best pass rusher, and he has the coolest name in our program. Bullock might be pressed by a very promising freshman, Clyde Dolan.

Cochrane is the best of the LBs right now, but Desrosiers has the potential to be a beast one day. We'll probably move him outside before his career is over, since he's not too strong at the point of attack. Brennan needs to step up or a younger guy will take his position.

We're very excited to see what kind of football player Souza will become. We think Lynn is among the three or four best CBs in the conference. Shapiro and Collett should be fine.

Hillery will force our opponents to look at some very long fields this year.

I will be watching our players' academic standing very carefully. Among the starters, the best students are Joyner and Hillery, both aspiring engineers. Cochrane tries hard, but isn't very smart.

On the other hand, Rhodes isn't too interested in school, Weeks is smart but lazy, and Dolan has absolutely no academic motivation. The worst student among the first teamers is Donaldson, a Geology major who could be accused of having rocks in his head, too.

I'm going to be recruiting some better students, that's for sure.

[Big Six]

Week 2, 2004
Louisiana-Lafayette 38, Torrington 3

We have a particularly unforgiving schedule this year, with only four home games. Our season opened this week with one of those four games, and unfortunately we didn't give the fans much of a show.

It was an ugly game; they were ahead 31-3 at the end of the third quarter and coasted the rest of the way. We allowed them to gain almost 500 total yards, which isn't what I expected to see from our defense.

We ran the ball pretty well, but we got nothing done through the air. Darren O'Neal got hurt, so we gave another freshman, Tim Chaney, a chance. Chaney had a rougher day than O'Neal did.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Daryl Kerns 7-46, Curtis Booker 7-45, Chester Eberly 6-37, Bernard Clark 4-34.
RECEIVING: Roderick Levine 2-49, Junior Hoffman 2-30.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 9-21-141, 1 int; Tim Chaney 2-9-15, 1 int.

Recruiting News
We spent the past two weeks contacting high school players and inviting them to campus. We've offered 14 scholarships so far, and once players start visiting, we will introduce you to them.

[Big Six]

Week 2-3, 2004

Injury Update

• QB Darren O'Neal's injury was diagnosed as a bruised sternum. He'll be able to play, but we'll have Tim Chaney ready, just in case.
• WR Junior Hoffman has a bruised sternum. Sophomore Nick Torres will start this week, but Junior will be in uniform and could play some, too.
• The worst news of all concerns FB Curtis Booker. He injured his back and will require surgery. Since Curtis is a senior, his career is probably over. Chester Eberly, a junior, has been promoted to the first team.

Recruiting News
We learned that DE Rob Bates will make an official visit...the first of my coaching career!

Rob is a local kid, from Northwestern Regional High in Winsted. He's always dreamed of playing for Torrington, and what's more, he's good! Rob is the #11 player in Connecticut, and the #2 defensive end.

[Big Six]

Week 3, 2004
Kent State 35, Torrington 7
Record: 0-2

We traveled to Ohio to take on Kent State, and a tiny crowd sat in a chilly drizzle and watched the home team trounce us, 35-7.

The game started out well enough, with Daryl Kerns breaking free for a 73 yard touchdown run. From then on, however, it was all Kent State.

Our defense couldn't contain their dual threat QB, Irv Cooper. He rushed for 96 yards and went 14-20 with two TDs as a passer. We allowed the Golden Flashes to rush for over 200 yards.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Daryl Kerns 3-67-1, Chester Eberly 7-46.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 8-17-125, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Junior Huffman 3-64, Roderick Levine 2-25.
DEFENSE: Trevor Brennan 13 tackles, 1 TFL; Teddy Souza 10 tackles; Gus Cochrane 10 tackles.

[Big Six]

Weeks 3-4, 2004

Injury Update
The best news that came out of the Kent State game was the fact that nobody else got hurt. Our injured guys are a little closer to full strength.

Recruiting News
No new visits. Several other schools recruited Rob Bates hard this past week. He now has seven offers, and he has also scheduled a visit to conference rival New Haven. Rob also mentions he's interested in Temple. We've got a fight on our hands now.

[Big Six]

Week 4, 2004
Fresno State 28, Torrington 18
Record: 0-3

Midway through the fourth quarter, we had an 18-17 lead, but we allowed Fresno State to score 11 points in the final six minutes to steal the game from us.

Some good things happened this week. Corwin Raymond hit four field goals in four attempts. Darren O'Neal had a better game, even though he's still banged up. TE Edward Crane stepped up a little bit.

With Curtis Booker out, we decided to give Daryl Kerns more touches this week. The results weren't great. Kerns will split the load with Chester Eberly next week against Danbury.

Through three games, we've had a lot of success running behind Charlie Joyner. He's delivered 15 key run blocks, twice as many as any of other linemen.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Daryl Kerns 21-78; Bernard Clark 8-36.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 11-19-123, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Edward Crane 4-47; Louie Boddy 3-52.
DEFENSE: Teddy Souza 10 tackles, 1 TFL; Trevor Brennan 9 tackles; Bob Titone 1-29 INT.

[Big Six]

Weeks 4-5

Injury Update
Junior Huffman is now fully recovered, and he'll start against Danbury this week.

Recruting News
DE Rob Bates picked up another offer this week, giving him eight. Otherwise, there's very little news to report, other than the fact that we've made contact with a lot of talented players and invited them to campus.

We play our first conference game this week, when we travel to Danbury. They are the only Charter Oak team to win a game so far this year; they beat Navy 34-28 last week.

[Big Six]

Week 5, 2004
Danbury 17, Torrington 14
Record: 0-4, 0-1 in Charter Oak League

We lost our conference opener at Danbury when Darnell Cody kicked a 41 yard field goal with seven seconds left.

Our defense did a pretty good job of keeping Danbury out of the end zone, but once again, we allowed our opponent way, way too many yards, especially on the ground. Two Danbury backs rushed for over 100 yards against us; that makes five in five games. Their offensive line manhandled us, and that isn't acceptable.

There are some unemployed defensive coordinators with talent, so I have to admit I'm thinking about making a change here for next season.

Our running game looked much better, however. Daryl Kerns had a big game, and broke a nice 51 yard touchdown run. Again, we had a lot of success running behind Charlie Joyner.

I'm also pleased that we didn't turn the ball over all day long.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Daryl Kerns 18-143-2; Bernard Clark 9-59.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 10-25-122.
RECEIVING: Roderick Levine 5-78.
DEFENSE: Trevor Brennan 9 tackles, 1 TFL; Trevor Donaldson 7 tackles, 2 TFL; Teddy Souza 7 tackles, 1-0 INT; Gus Cochrane 1-0 INT.

[Big Six]

Weeks 5-6

Injury Update

• RB Daryl Kerns is banged up. He sprained a knee and won't start this week against Boston College, but he'll be dressed and on the sideline.
• Second string TE Lamar Kirk has torn cartilage in his knee and will be out.

Recruiting News
We have received our first commitment for next year!
DE Rob Bates decided to play for the team he's loved since childhood. He is a fine signing for us--ranked #769 overall nationally. Rob isn't a great student--his GPA is 2.57 and his SAT score is below 1000--but he shouldn't be an academic casualty, either.

Welcome to the Titan family, Rob!

We also learned that OLB Horace Rife will be making an official visit here. He is the #7 OLB in Connecticut, and he's a very good student. We've offered Horace a scholarship, and he also holds an offer from New Haven.

This week, we're traveling up to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College. We're 32 point underdogs, so between us, our best-case scenario is one in which we come away with a healthy team.

[Big Six]

Week 6, 2004
Boston College 45, Torrington 7
Record: 0-5; 0-1 in Charter Oak League

We actually took a 7-3 lead over the Eagles, when Roderick Levine returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score. A 42-0 run the rest of the way made the score look a lot like what people had predicted it would be.

It was a chilly, rainy day, and on the whole, not a very pleasant afternoon.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Bernard Clark 10-39.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 10-22-54, 2 INT.
RECEIVING: Junior Huffman 3-14.
DEFENSE: Teddy Souza 8 tackles, 1 TFL.

[Big Six]

Weeks 6-7, 2004

Injury Update
RB Daryl Kerns still isn't healthy enough to start, but he'll play. Bernard Clark will get the start again this week.

Recruiting News
No new visits this week. Two players to whom we'd offered scholarships signed elsewhere, one with Hartford and one with New Haven. Neither were prime targets for us, however.

I've expanded our range of contacts over the last week or two. At first, I concentrated on players with very high grades and SAT scores, in an effort to boost our academic profile. Naturally, many schools want these guys, and a few of them have started scheduling visits--mainly to schools with better reputations than Torrington. At least right now, they're aiming higher than the Charter Oak League.

That worries me a bit, so I've started getting in touch with guys whose academic standards are a little bit lower, or who aren't being pursued avidly by big-name schools. Quite a few of them have been invited to campus, and the best of this group have been offered scholarships. I would hate to be left with nobody because I overestimated the quality of players who are willing to come to Torrington.

Next, we visit New Haven, and we'll be a seven-point underdog.

[Big Six]

Week 7, 2004
Torrington 38, New Haven 13
Record: 1-5; 1-1 in Charter Oak League.

FINALLY!

We finally played the kind of game we're capable of playing: offensively, defensively, and on special teams. We led 31-0 midway through the fourth quarter, and looked good doing it.

Our defense intercepted New Haven's quarterbacks six times, with Teddy Souza and reserve CB Aaron Bates each returning a pick for a touchdown.

Darren O'Neal threw his first TD pass of the season, and both Chester Eberly and third team RB Corwin Morrell scored on running plays. Ty Maltman, a freshman RB who hadn't gotten on the field much, busted off a 55 yard run.

It's wonderful to come off the field winners, and I'm proud of our players and coaches.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Ty Maltman 4-82; Chester Eberly 17-75-1; Daryl Kerns 10-46; Corwin Morrell 4-40-1.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 6-14-47, 1 TD.
RECEIVING: Eugene May 2-12-1.
DEFENSE: Teddy Souza 6 tackles, 3-69-1 INT; Steven Lynn 6 tackles, 2-4 INT; Aaron Bates 1-55-1 INT; Mercury Petrovic 6 tackles, 2 sacks; Lance Myers 2 sacks.

[Big Six]

Weeks 7-8, 2004

Injury Update
We're a little bit banged up this week.

• Daryl Kerns' knee is worse than it was, so he won't dress out at all this week. Corwin Morrell has been promoted to the second team, behind Bernard Clark.
• TE Edward Crane (sprained ankle), WR Junior Huffman (bruised shoulder) and CB Aaron Bates (broken hand) can all play through their injuries.

Recruiting News
We got a very pleasant surprise this week. Before he even visited campus, CB Carl Lee of Conard High School in West Hartford committed to play for us next year.

Lee is one of the more highly regarded players we recruited this year. He's considered the #5 player in Connecticut, he made the All-State team, and he's ranked #399 overall. He's also an outstanding student, with a 3.75 GPA and a 1530(!) SAT score. Carl looks like he will be exactly the kind of player we want to define Torrington football.

Lee's signing eases the blow we received when two other players turned down our offers; one's off to Penn State, the other to UConn.

This week, many players lined up their official visits. The following 19 players will be visiting campus:
QB Kelly Boudreau
RB Raymond Jones
RB Emmanuel Boyd
FB Britt Bruce
WR Winston Hairston
WR Hugh Murch
C Norbert Stewart
G Irving Grolsko
T Chris Gillard
T Gilbert Oglethorpe
DE George Reid
DE Zach Paradis
DT Gino Garcia
ILB Britt Sholan
OLB Phillip Hocking
OLB Quentin Mueller
CB Lincoln Schwartz
S Austin Slye

Boudreau's decision to visit us has us delighted. He's from Utah, well outside our normal recruiting area, and he's the #4 QB in the country. Kelly is also visiting BYU, Georgia, Nebraska, and Ohio State, so I'll be shocked if he picks us. The fact we're even on the list, however, might create some positive buzz for our program.

Slye, Grolsko, Boyd, Hocking, Sholan, and Oglethorpe are the next most highly regarded players we'll be hosting.

We're back at Alumni Stadium this week, taking on conference rival Stamford. We're actually favored to win by three points, a new experience for us.

[Big Six]

Week 8, 2004
Torrington 21, Stamford 14
Record: 2-5; 2-1 in Charter Oak League

We had a nice crowd of over 34,000 come out to Alumni Stadium on a chilly, rainy day to watch us win our second consecutive game.

Darren O'Neal was the star, playing his best game as a Titan and throwing three touchdown passes. Two went to big TE Edward Crane, the other to wideout Nick Torres. Darren and Edward connected for the game-winning score with just under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Our MVP was Charlie Joyner, who threw four big run blocks and kept his man away from O'Neal all day long.

OLB Trevor Brennan, who I once thought might be in danger of losing his position, was all over the field again, making 14 tackles.

I hope the recruits we had on campus this week liked what they saw!

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Bernard Clark 13-65; Corwin Morrell 12-56; Chester Eberly 10-55.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 19-26-177; 3 TD, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Edward Crane 4-27-2; Roderick Levine 3-32; Nick Torres 1-31-1.
DEFENSE: Trevor Brennan 14 tackles, 2 TFL; Carl Desrosiers 3 tackles, 2 TFL; Trevor Donaldson 3 tackles, 2 TFL.

[Big Six]

Weeks 8-9, 2004

Injury Update: No new injuries this week.

Recruiting News: Two more players committed to play for us next year.

C Norbert Stewart is a big boy: already 6'5", 285 pounds. He's a product of East High School in Cranston, RI, a very good high school program. When I visited him, I got the impression he was a lot better than his scouting reports indicated. His 3.65 GPA and 1090 SAT are also very solid.

Like Carl Lee, OLB Jeff Voinovich committed to us without visiting campus first. He's from Horseheads (NY) High School, and he's the #9 OLB prospect from New York. He's not big (5'10", 194) but he's very athletic--he played some WR in high school, too. Jeff is an aspiring doctor with a 3.52 GPA and a 1270 SAT score.

We weren't too surprised to learn that QB Kelly Boudreau decided to stay close to home and sign with BYU. S Austin Slye, another reach, will play at Boston College. We lost G Chris Gilliard to Danbury and DE Zach Paradis to Army.

TE Scott Walters and WR Frank Wayne will be making official visits to Torrington soon.

We have a bye week coming up, so we'll concentrate on recruiting. Hopefully we'll have some more commitments to report soon.

Welcome to the Titan family, Norbert and Jeff!

[Moonlight Graham]

I have browsed this forum a few times without registering, so I thought I would make myself "official" here. I thought I recognized your username from the OOTP forums. I was thinking "is this the same guy?"

If you are, I have to say the FOFC boards just "signed" a legend. The Tom Haley story for OOTP is really good, and "The Base Ball Life of Patrick O'Farrell" is one of the greatest sports sim dynasty stories of all time.

I didn't know you did college football too, but this is good stuff. Hopefully Coach Middleton will take his place among the legends of sports dynasty stars.

MG

[Big Six]

Yes, that's me, and thank you very much for your kind words. I had a fantastic time with the Pat O'Farrell story, and I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

I've owned TCY for a long time, but for one reason or another I've never had much luck with a TCY dynasty story. The last one I tried had to end because my laptop crashed, but I hadn't posted there in about a year, so it's safe to say it was dead before the laptop incident occurred.

I think the recruiting aspect of this game is addictively fun, and I get a kick out of the personal "profiles," too. The fact that the players choose majors, get grades, have girlfriends, etc. makes them seem a little more real to me and makes the experience more immersive than it might otherwise be.

Thanks for reading!

[Big Six]

Weeks 9-10, 2004

Injury Update
Daryl Kerns is healthy enough to play again. He'll be our second team RB this week at Hartford.

Recruiting News
Six players to whom we've offered scholarships made their decisions this week, and FIVE of them picked the Titans!

The top name on the list is G Irving Grolsko, from Greenwich (CT) High School. Irving is the #1 player in Connecticut this year, #13 among players at his position nationwide, and #109 among the nation's top seniors. Irving carries a 3.52 GPA and scored 1320 on his SAT; he reads avidly and would like to major in English. Irving is 6'2", and weighs 267.

Britt Shalon, an ILB from Central High School in Bridgeport, is also highly regarded; he's #12 at his position nationally, and the #4 player in the state. He is big (6'4", 229) and athletic enough to intercept six passes. Britt has a 3.81 average, a 1270 SAT, and would like to study engineering.

Quarterback Kris Bernhard comes from Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School in South Hamilton, MA. He is an accurate passer who threw for over 2000 yards as a high school senior. Kris is smart (3.82 GPA, 1460 SAT), and his Excellent attitude marks him as a future team leader.

Mount Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine sounds like it would be more likely to produce the Ten Commandments than a Division I linebacker, but OLB Joe Peters will be coming our way next season. We discovered Joe late in the recruiting season. We liked what we saw, offered him a scholarship, and he quickly accepted it. Joe is raw and somewhat undersized (6'0", 190) but he's scrappy and tough. He's also a top student, with a 3.66 GPA and a 1570! SAT.

The week's fifth signee, CB Lincoln Schwartz, is an athlete from Floral Park (NY) Memorial High School. He was effective as a running back and a wide receiver as a senior, so he could possibly be used on offense or on special teams at Torrington, too. Lincoln is 5'11", 157 pounds, and quick enough to make a solid cover corner. He's also the valedictorian of his high school class--4.00 GPA, 1570 SAT.

We lost WR Martin Freeman to Temple, but with the five guys we did sign, I'm feeling great about how our class is shaping up.

On a down note, I suspended T Vincent Stitt for violating team rules. Vincent had been starting for us, and we'd put him on scholarship just a few weeks earlier. Adam Meier, a senior, will take over at tackle.

[Big Six]

Week 10, 2004
Hartford 29, Torrington 26
Record: 2-6; 2-2 in Charter Oak League

This one really hurts. We rallied back from a 17-0 deficit to tie the game on a Corwin Raymond field goal with 12 seconds left. In overtime, we matched field goals with Hartford in the first round, but lost in the second; we kicked another field goal, but Hartford scored a touchdown.

Our offense was very productive, especially our passing game. Darren O'Neal passed for 248 yards, his career high. Adam Meier played well in his first start at tackle, and Chester Eberly looked good running the ball. And we got a great play on special teams, a 94 yard kickoff return by Junior Huffman for a touchdown.

I'm proud of the way we came back and forced overtime, but to come so close...

Danbury, Waterbury, and Bridgeport are now tied for first in the league; they're all 3-1. Waterbury is coming to our place next week, and we need a victory to stay in the race for the conference championship.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Chester Eberly 16-89.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 14-33-248, 1 TD, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Junior Huffman 3-60; Edward Crane 3-54; Roderick Levine 4-52-1.
DEFENSE: Trevor Brennan 14 tackles, 2 TFL; Teddy Souza 11 tackles, 3 TFL; Trevor Donaldson 10 tackles; Steven Lynn 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1-8 INT.

[Big Six]

Weeks 10-11, 2004

Injury Update
No new injuries, and the guys who were hurt are recovering. TE Adam Kirk is back to full strength.

Recruiting News
Our recruiting class is now complete, with seven new commitments this week.

RB Emmanuel Boyd from Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (NY) High School, is a speedster who scored 29 touchdowns as a senior. He's ranked #16 among RBs in this year's class. We began recruiting Emmanuel right away, and we're glad our efforts paid off. He is a bright young man (3.62 GPA, 1360 SAT) who envisions himself as a teacher and coach one day.

We signed a potential future backfield mate for Boyd, too. FB Britt Bruce is from Horseheads (NY) High School, and was a teammate of Jeff Voinovich there. Britt impressed us immediately with his terrific attitude. He's a powerful 5'10", 210 pound back who can run the ball, catch passes, and block. His 3.75 GPA and his 1260 SAT lead us to believe he'll do the job in the classroom one day, too.

We needed a wide receiver or two, and we signed a good one in Hugh Murch, from North Middlesex Regional High School in Townsend, MA. Hugh is a big, physical receiver--6'3", 207 pounds. He also starred on defense for a very solid high school team, and he was ranked #2 among WRs in Massachusetts. He is interested in studying business, and carries a 3.31 high school GPA with a 1410 SAT.

We picked up another offensive lineman this week, and he's a good one. Colin Sledge, a 6'5", 287 pound guard from Westerly (RI) High School, was ranked first among Rhode Island players at his position, and #939 nationally. He has a 3.32 GPA and an 1120 SAT, and wants to study engineering. He is, predictably, nicknamed "The Hammer."

I think we've landed a sleeper in DE George Reid, from Niagara Falls (NY) High School. He's not big for a defensive lineman, at 6'4", 224 pounds. George demonstrated a knack for getting to the quarterback, with 11 sacks as a senior, and he has a non-stop motor. He's got a lot to learn, but he's smart (3.94 GPA, 1430 SAT) and extremely coachable.

Defensive tackle Gino Garcia is a big, tough, 273-pound run stopper from Bodley High School in Fulton, NY. He didn't get a lot of attention in high school--he developed slowly as a player--and was under a lot of teams' radar. He was well-coached, however, and he'll have a chance to compete for a position as a freshman. Gino has a 3.92 GPA and a 1340 SAT.

Our final recruit was S Bucky Bishop, from Northeast High in Attica, NY. In high school, he had a reputation as a ball hawk; he intercepted 14 passes as a senior. He's also a very good run defender, and he hits harder than a 5'11", 175-pound player should. His high school GPA is 3.17, and his SAT is 1320.

Our completed 16-player class features:

• 7 players ranked in the top 1000 nationally
• 16 players ranked in the top 100 nationally at their positions
• 16 players ranked in the top 100 in their states
• 7 players ranked #1 at their positions in their states
• 14 players ranked in the top 10 at their positions in their states
• 9 players who made All-State teams
• 12 players with GPAs of 3.50 or better
• 10 players with SATs of 1300 or higher

I am very pleased with this class. They should enable our program to take a big step forward, both on the football field and in the classroom.

Our All-State players are Rob Bates, Kris Bernhard, Irving Grolsko, Carl Lee, Hugh Murch, Joe Peters, Britt Shalon, Colin Sledge, and Norbert Stewart.

Welcome to the Titans family!

[Big Six]

Week 11, 2004
Torrington 41, Waterbury 14
Record: 3-6; 3-2 in Charter Oak League

We bounced back from the disappointing loss to play our best game of the season. It was a crisp, sunny day in Torrington, and a big crowd came out to watch us beat Waterbury. Our game was televised regionally, which was a first for us.

The score was 34-0 at the end of the third quarter, so I was able to give lots of reserves some playing time. They've worked hard, and they deserved to get on the field. One of them, RB Ty Maltman, scored a touchdown on a nice 15 yard run. Roderick Levine took a reverse 52 yards to the house. Joe McCormick, our center, was our MVP for the game, with his seven key run blocks. Corwin Raymond hit a 45 yard field goal, his longest of the year.

Darren O'Neal played a great game at quarterback, which did a lot for his confidence. And, our defense looked good too--we sacked their quarterback six times and held them to only 210 total yards.

At 3-2, we still have a shot at a winning record in conference play.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Chester Eberly 10-62-1; Ty Maltman 7-57-1; Roderick Levine 1-52-1; Daryl Kerns 6-46; Bernard Clark 6-24-1.

PASSING: Darren O'Neal 16-20-162, 1 TD.

RECEIVING: Nick Torres 4-39-1.

DEFENSE: Dexter Ackerman 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks; Mercury Petrovic 5 tackles, 1.5 sacks; Clyde Dolan 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks; Fred Collett 1 tackle, 1-17 INT.

[Big Six]

Week 12, 2004
New London 24, Torrington 21
Record: 3-7; 3-3 in Charter Oak League

Our conference record fell to 3-3 with a close loss at New London. When we allow an opponent to run the ball virtually at will against us, bad things happen, and New London rushed for 246 yards. I'm surprised we came as close as we did to winning the game.

When Darren O'Neal was good, he was very, very good (211 yards passing, and a 34 yard TD pass to Roderick Levine) and when he was bad, he was horrid (4 interceptions). Chester Eberly had a good game at fullback, and we got good games from C Joe McCormick and G Charlie Joyner. Our defense allowed a lot of yards and didn't force any turnovers.

There's not much else to say. We really didn't deserve to make it this close.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Chester Eberly 11-102-1.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 11-22-211; 1 TD, 4 INT.
RECEIVING: Nick Torres 4-86; Roderick Levine 2-54-1.
DEFENSE: Trevor Brennan 11 tackles; 1 sack; Gus Cochrane 11 tackles, 3 TFL.

Next week, it's Senior Day against Bridgeport. We can end the conference season with a winning record if we step up and win the game.

[Big Six]

Weeks 12-13, 2004

We received notice that OT Adam Meier is failing one of his courses. He currently has an F in Statistics.

Adam is far from stupid (Intelligence 89, Aspiration 50) and he's planning to pursue medicine as a career, so the bad grade is somewhat puzzling. The poor academic performance of players such as safety/return man Kennedy George (Aspiration 1), who is taking Meditation and Decibel Production this term, and starting DE Dexter Ackerman (Aspiration 0), who can't pull better than a C- in Tabloid Journalism, is easier to understand.

No offense to Kennedy or Dexter, but between us, we won't be recruiting guys like them to play football at Torrington any longer.

Added to the factors that make Dexter's week suck is the fact that he hyperextended his elbow in last week's game, and he's Questionable for the Bridgeport game on Saturday.

[Big Six]

Week 13, 2004
Bridgeport 24, Torrington 16
Record: 3-8; 3-4 in Charter Oak League

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

A nice blanket of the white stuff covered the hills around campus, but a crowd of over 34,000 came to Alumni Stadium to say goodbye to our seniors. I wish we could have given the fans, and the seniors, a better farewell, but we fell behind early to Bridgeport and couldn't claw our way back on top.

We outgained Bridgeport and took fairly good care of the football, but we didn't do a good job of protecting Darren O'Neal, who was sacked four times. Darren threw a late pick-six that sealed Bridgeport's victory.

Bridgeport had already clinched the Charter Oak League championship, and their win gave them a 6-1 conference record. They'll be off to a bowl game; they'll be the only Charter Oak team to play postseason football.

Daryl Kerns gave us our biggest highlight with a 51 yard touchdown run.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Daryl Kerns 6-59-1, Bernard Clark 11-59; Chester Eberly 8-34.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 15-29-130, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Roderick Levine 3-30; Edward Crane 2-31; Nick Torres 1-41.
DEFENSE: Trevor Brennan 7 tackles, 2 TFL; Gus Cochrane 3 tackles, 1-26 INT; Bubba Shapiro 4 tackles, 1-0 INT.

[Big Six]

Week 17, 2004

Bridgeport defended the honor of the Charter Oak League by defeating North Texas in the Happy Fun Bowl, 31-6.

I suspended senior S Fred Collett for violating team rules this week. I suppose the only good thing about this is the fact that Fred is a senior with no eligibility left, so he's on his way out anyway.

(Note: I'm curious about why Fred's misbehavior would create an issue for the team anyway. Our season's over, so he's not truly a member of the team any longer...)

[Big Six]

Here's a summary of the Titans statistics for 2004:

PASSING       ATT  COMP   PCT  YARDS  TD  INT  
O'Neal        249   129  51.8   1542   7   12
TEAM          262   133  50.8   1574   7   14

RUSHING       ATT  YARDS  AVG  TD
Kerns          91    534  5.9   4
Eberly        100    532  5.3   3
Clark          94    398  4.2   1
Morrell        46    215  4.7   1
O'Neal         40   -161 -4.0   0
TEAM          423   1873  4.4  12

RECEIVING      NO  YARDS   AVG  TD
Levine         24    348  14.5   2
Huffman        18    236  13.1   0
Crane          18    211  11.7   2
Torres         15    260  17.3   2
Boddy          13    213  16.3   0
Clark          12     42   3.5   0
Eberly         10     30   3.0   0
May             7     88  12.5   1
TEAM          133   1574  11.8   7

DEFENSE       TKL  SACK  TFL  INT PDF
Brennan        91   1.0   12    1   1   
Souza          78   0.0    6    5   5   
Cochrane       60   0.0    4    3   3   
Bullock        59   0.0    3    0   2   
Donaldson      53   0.0    7    0   0      
Collett        52   0.0    3    2   6
Lynn           50   0.0    7    0   0
McFarlane      40   0.5    4    0   0
Petrovic       39   5.5    6    0   0
Desrosiers     36   2.0    4    1   0
Snyder         35   1.0    4    0   6
Shapiro        31   0.0    4    1   5
Dolan          31   1.5    3    0   0
Ackerman       24   2.5    3    0   0
Rogers         21   1.5    3    0   1
George         20   0.0    1    0   0
Myers          19   4.5    6    0   0
Bates          17   0.0    0    1   1
Titone         16   0.5    3    1   1
TEAM               22.0   81   18  36

Our rushing attack was pretty good. We finished 29th nationally in net yards rushing, and 16th in yards per carry.

On the other hand, we simply couldn't get much done in the passing game. We were ranked no higher nationally than 102nd in any passing category.

Our defense against the run was lousy, too; we allowed 2,023 rushing yards (105th), 4.7 yards per carry (108th)

We finished the season ranked 101st in the coaches' poll. We have a lot of improving to do.

[Big Six]

Awards and Rankings

Safety Teddy Souza was named the Top Defensive Freshman in the Charter Oak League.

Guard Charlie Joyner and outside linebacker Trevor Brennan made First Team All-Charter Oak League.

Second Team All-Charter Oak League selections included WR Roderick Levine, OLB Gus Cochrane, and CB Steven Lynn.

Four Titans were named to the Charter Oak League Academic Team: QB Darren O'Neal (3.60/Nuclear Engineering), G Charlie Joyner (3.66/Electrical Engineering), T Mickey Walsh (3.86/Computer Science), and CB Steven Lynn (3.82/Random Number Theory). Our team GPA was 2.99, and we were ranked #108 in Academic Reputation.

Our recruiting class was ranked 74th by TCY Today. That's the highest ranking among the eight Charter Oak League schools, so we have reason to believe there are brighter days ahead for the Titans.

[Big Six]

Here's the Charter Oak League standings table for 2004:

              CHARTER OAK LEAGUE    OVERALL          
              W  L   PCT  PF   PA   W  L   PCT  PF   PA
Bridgeport    6  1  .857  228  104  7  5  .593  370  251
Danbury       4  3  .571  140  185  5  6  .454  196  337
Hartford      3  4  .428  171  219  3  8  .272  214  422	
Torrington    3  4  .428  177  135  3  8  .272  212  281
New Haven     3  4  .428  183  211  3  8  .272  203  409
Waterbury     3  4  .428  156  174  3  8  .272  211  339
Stamford      3  4  .428  144  154  4  7  .363  205  297
New London    3  4  .428  177  194  4  7  .363  270  367

Look at all the teams that ended the season 3-4 in conference play! Based on our points differential, we should have had a winning record in the league. And, when you compare our numbers to, say, Hartford or New Haven, it's hard to imagine that all three teams finished 3-8.

I confess that I'm surprised our defense did such a good job of keeping other teams from scoring, compared to the other teams in our league. Bridgeport was clearly the best team in the conference, but we weren't far from their standard.

[Big Six]

Preseason 2005

Our offensive coordinator, Kurt Lyon, was hired by Kansas State, so I needed to find a new one. We hired Teddy Lake, who looks like he'll be better than Kurt was.

Teddy's ratings are all Decent or better, with Excellent grades in play calling, developing running backs, and developing offensive linemen. He is 36 years old, and hopefully we'll be able to keep him around a while.

The rest of our staff will return for 2005. I had forgotten I don't have the ability to fire someone, or I'd look for a new Syndicate Coordinator.

[Big Six]

Preseason 2005

I was disappointed to see that our academic reputation fell three points from 38 to 35 this year. We're ranked #114 out of 125 programs, down eleven spots from last year's preseason ranking.

Hopefully the incoming freshmen, almost all of whom are extremely good students, will help us overcome our reputation for mediocrity.

By the way, New London compiled the highest team GPA, with a 3.30.

[Big Six]

Preseason 2005

As the season begins, here is our first team offense.

POS  NO  NAME              HT    WT   CL  HOME TOWN/HIGH SCHOOL
 QB   3  Darren O'Neal     6-2   198  So  West Hartford/Hall
 RB  25  Emmanuel Boyd     5-11  188  Fr  Burnt Hills, NY/Ballston Lake
 FB  27  Britt Bruce       5-11  221  Fr  Horseheads, NY/Horseheads
 FL   9  Hugh Murch        6-3   221  Fr  Townsend, MA/No. Middlesex Regional
 SE  87  Nick Torres       6-1   187  So  Potsdam, NY/Potsdam
 TE  85  Edward Crane      6-4   242  Jr  Somers/Somers
 LT  71  Irving Grolsko    6-2   276  Fr  Greenwich/Greenwich
 LG  77  Charlie Joyner    6-3   297  Sr  Sinclairville, NY/Cassadaga Valley
  C  51  Joe McCormick     6-3   263  Jr  Cranston, RI/West
 RG  66  Erik Rhodes       6-2   269  Sr  Guilford/Guilford
 RT  60  Pat Brock         6-7   291  So  Rockaway Park, NY/Beach Channel
  K  17  Curtis Chandler   5-11  176  Fr  Waterbury/Crosby

Returning starters include O'Neal, Crane, Joyner, McCormick, and Rhodes.

O'Neal will be pushed fairly hard by freshman Kris Bernhard. Boyd and Bruce, both highly regarded recruits, beat out several returning players to claim starting positions. Torres played well as a reserve last year, and he'll team with Murch, another freshman, at WR. Crane returns at TE.

All-Conference guard Joyner will anchor the O-line. I'm happy with Rhodes and McCormick, too. Brock, who played in all 11 games as a redshirt freshman, and Grolsko, a priced recruit, will start at the tackles.

Chandler has the potential to be a very good kicker.

Here is the first team defense. I'm excited about its youth and potential.

POS  NO  NAME              HT    WT   CL  HOME TOWN/HIGH SCHOOL
LDE  70  Rob Bates         6-4   256  Fr  Winsted/Northwestern Regional
LDT  91  Clyde Dolan       6-0   250  So  Watertown/Watertown
RDT  64  Gino Garcia       6-3   288  Fr  Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley
RDE  95  Dexter Ackerman   6-2   235  Sr  N. Grosvenordale/Tourtellote Memorial
LLB  52  Joe Peters        6-0   195  Fr  Topsham, ME/Mount Ararat
MLB  35  Britt Shalon      6-4   246  Fr  Bridgeport/Central
RLB  48  Carl Desrosiers   6-1   213  So  Coventry/Coventry
 CB  22  Carl Lee          5-11  177  Fr  West Hartford/Conard
 CB  43  Bubba Shapiro     5-11  175  So  Farmington/Farmington
 FS  33  Teddy Souza       6-2   195  So  Martinez, CA/Alhambra
 SS  49  Kennedy George    6-0   195  Sr  Walnut Creek, CA/Northgate
  P  14  Donny Hillery     6-0   194  Sr  Winnebago, IL/Winnebago

Our returning defensive starters are Ackerman, Desrosiers, Shapiro, and Souza.

Recruits Bates and Garcia will be expected to contribute right away. Dolan is ready after a year as an understudy; junior Lance Myers will replace Dolan on passing downs.

Desrosiers shifts outside to make room for Shalon at the Mike, while Peters and fellow freshman Jeff Voinovich will split the other outside LB spot.

Lee gives us five true freshman starters on our defense; his upside is huge, but he'll need to step up and deliver right away. Souza, a second team All-League selection and last year's Defensive Freshman of the Year, is the leader of the secondary. Shapiro and George are both solid.

Hillery is one of the league's better punters.

[Big Six]

Week 1, 2005
Wyoming 21, Torrington 19
Record: 0-1

We had the biggest crowd I've seen at Alumni Stadium--37,800 strong--on hand to watch our home opener. We lost to Wyoming on a 35 yard field goal by Jeffrey Benton with three seconds left.

Emmanuel Boyd enjoyed a fine start to his college football career, rushing for 218 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Unfortunately, he was stuffed on a two-point conversion attempt which turned out to be the difference between a loss and a chance to win the game in overtime. LT Irving Grolsko and LG Charlie Joyner both did a great job of opening holes for Emmanuel all day long.

Darren O'Neal turned the ball over twice on interceptions, but neither one hurt us. Still, I'd like him to take better care of our possessions.

We did a fairly good job on defense; the Cowboys had one long run that set up a touchdown, but otherwise we kept their ground game bottled up pretty well.

It's tough to lose a game like this, but I give Wyoming credit. They won the game; we didn't lose it.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Emmanuel Boyd 25-218-2.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 10-15-95; 2 INT.
RECEIVING: Holliday 2-33; Nick Torres 2-31.
DEFENSE: Britt Shalon 7 tackles, 1 TFL; Kennedy George 7 tackles, 1 TFL.

Recruiting Update
We began our recruiting efforts this week, and I'll let you know when we have some real news to report.

[Big Six]

Weeks 1-2, 2005

Injury Update
QB Darren O'Neal has a bruised sternum, but he'll be able to start this week against Tulane.

Recruiting News
We've offered scholarships to 15 players, and we've been in contact with seven others. When someone agrees to a campus visit, I'll let you know.

[Big Six]

Week 2, 2005
Tulane 40, Torrington 15
Record: 0-2

Ouch.

The Green Wave was more like a tsunami that hit our defense and reduced it to shambles. Tulane had the ball for nearly 40 minutes, ran 88 plays, and gained two times as many yards as we did. We managed to sack their QB eight times, which is amazing, considering how dominant they were otherwise.

We turned the ball over seven times and forced one turnover. That, my friends, is not a winning formula.

The only bright spots were the play of our freshmen. Emmanuel Boyd and Hugh Murch each scored a touchdown. Britt Shalon and Joe Peters were very active on defense, even though they made too many tackles six or seven yards away from the line of scrimmage.

We're now 0-5 in non-conference games in two years. I thought with two straight games at home to open the season, we might come away with a win or two. Nope.

At least it was a nice day, and there was another good crowd.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Emmanuel Boyd 15-97-1.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 9-32-130, 1 TD, 3 INT.
RECEIVING: Hugh Murch 5-84-1.
DEFENSE: Britt Shalon 14 tackles, 1 sack; Joe Peters 12 tackles, 1 sack; George Reid 5 tackles, 2 sacks; Dexter Ackerman 4 tackles, 1 sack; Gino Garcia 4 tackles, 1 sack.

[Big Six]

Weeks 2-3, 2005

Injury Update
Fortunately, nobody got hurt in the Tulane debacle. QB Darren O'Neal's sternum is healing, but it will be two more weeks before he's back to full health.

Recruiting News
We've concentrated our early recruiting efforts in Connecticut and the neighboring states of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. There seem to be a number of very good high school players in New York this year.

Almost none of the players we're recruiting have planned visits to any schools yet. It will probably be a few weeks before the action really heats up.

We have an off week before New Mexico visits in Week 4.

[Big Six]

Week 4, 2005
Torrington 37, New Mexico 15
Record: 1-3

We got our first win against a non-conference opponent, and it was a big one! New Mexico came into the game ranked #41 overall; we were #114. We went up 24-0 in the second quarter, and New Mexico didn't score until they kicked a field goal as time expired in the half.

Emmanuel Boyd was the star of the game once again, rushing for 178 yards and scoring two touchdowns. He's currently second in the nation in rushing with 493 yards, and third in yards per game with 164.3. Darren O'Neal ran for a touchdown and passed for another.

We only turned the ball over once. What a difference two weeks makes!

Defensively, we were just as good. We held New Mexico to 35 yards rushing and racked up another eight sacks, three by DE Rob Bates, who is having the time of his life. With 16 sacks for the season, we rank second in the nation in that category.

This win should give us some momentum as we head into our conference season.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Emmanuel Boyd 33-178-2.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 17-27-195, 1 TD, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Nick Torres 4-35-1, Louie Boddy 3-55, Hugh Murch 3-42, Edward Crane 3-30.
DEFENSE: Rob Bates 6 tackles, 3 sacks; George Reid 4 tackles, 1.5 sacks; Bucky Bishop 3 tackles, 1-16 INT.

[Big Six]

Weeks 4-5, 2005

Injury Report
We suffered our first serious injury of the season. Second team TE Lamar Kirk, a junior, tore cartilage in his knee. The injury will take nine weeks to heal.

Kirk appeared in eight games last year, and caught four passes. He got in all of our first three games in 2005. Lamar is an especially good blocker. Hopefully he'll be back at full strength sooner than expected.

Recruiting Update
There's a player visiting Torrington this week: WR Derek Stevens, from Simsbury, CT. He's had a very productive senior year, hauling in 64 passes in his first eight games.

We open our Charter Oak League season this Saturday at New London.

[Big Six]

Week 5, 2005
Torrington 31, New London 21
Record: 2-2, 1-0 in Charter Oak League

Guess who is the leading rusher in America?

Emmanuel Boyd, that's who.

Boyd carried the ball 29 times against New London, gaining 258 yards and scoring three times, on runs of 4, 59, and 34 yards. Emmanuel's totals of 791 yards, eight touchdowns, and xxx.x yards per game are all NCAA bests. His performance gained him the national Player of the Week award.

Darren O'Neal has been playing better lately as well; today he completed 10 of 18 passes and hooked up with his new favorite target, Hugh Murch, for a touchdown.

Ideally, we wouldn't allow as many yards as we did against New London, who had the ball for 36 minutes and didn't turn the ball over. Britt Shalon and Teddy Souza played especially well on defense for us.

New London played well, but they had no answer for Emmanuel Boyd.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Emmanuel Boyd 29-258-3.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 10-18-90, 1 TD, 1 INT.
RECEIVING: Hugh Murch 3-23-1, Emmanuel Boyd 3-30.
DEFENSE: Britt Shalon 18 tackles, 2 TFL; Teddy Souza 8 tackles, 4 TFL.

[Big Six]

Weeks 5-6, 2005

Injury Update
WR Hugh Murch, our leading receiver (12-162-2 for the year) has a sprained ankle. He should be able to start, but we'll keep an eye on him.

Recruiting News
Four players to whom we offered scholarships committed elsewhere this week. All four of them were reaches for us, guys we certainly didn't expect to sign, so I'm not terribly surprised that they picked more prestigious programs.

Derek Stevens is still the only player who has lined up a visit to campus. If this year is like last year, in about two weeks we'll have a busload of recruits on campus.

One of the best high school players in the nation is from Connecticut: DT Casey Williams, out of Fairfield High School. He's ranked #6 among all recruits, and after visiting him, I'm convinced he's even better than the "experts" say he is.

We're recruiting Casey, and we're the only school in the state who's showing interest. He currently holds nine offers, and he's announced he's visiting Penn State, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio State. Penn State is currently tops on his list. If we can get a player like Casey to visit our campus, I'll call it a victory of sorts.

This week, we're flying out to San Diego State, where we're actually two point favorites.

[Big Six]

Week 6, 2006
San Diego State 35, Torrington 9
Record: 2-3; 1-0 in Charter Oak League

San Diego State has a very good passing game, and they used it to lay a pretty sound beating on us. Their senior QB, Alex Turnbull, completed 28 of 38 passes for 318 yards and three TDs. When your nickel corner leads your team in tackles, you know someone's been completing lots of passes against you.

They did a good job of containing Emmanuel Boyd, too, holding him to 119 yards on 28 carries and keeping him out of the end zone. His backup, Bernard Clark, scored our touchdown, his first of the year.

We got our first look at Kris Bernhard, our freshman QB, today. He completed 3 of 8 passes, but he looked pretty good. Otherwise, it wasn't much of a game for us.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Emmanuel Boyd 28-119; Bernard Clark 4-28-1.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 11-20-108, 2 INT; Kris Bernhard 3-8-25.
RECEIVING: Louie Boddy 3-33, Britt Bruce 3-25.
DEFENSE: Lincoln Schwartz 9 tackles; Teddy Souza 8 tackles.

[Big Six]

Weeks 6-7, 2005

Injury Update
WR Hugh Murch looks like he's recovered fully, which is good news. Hugh played last week, catching two passes for 25 yards, but he wasn't anywhere near as explosive as he usually is.

We don't have any other new injuries to report, which is even better news.

Recruiting News
Two more players with offers from us committed to other schools but, again, they were guys we weren't counting on getting. When a player chooses to play for Nebraska, it's pretty clear he's looking for brighter lights and bigger crowds.

A few players seem to be lining up some visits now, but Derek Stevens is still the only recruit who's planned a trip to our campus. His high school season is over, and it was a good one: 66 receptions, 1261 yards, 14 touchdowns.

Our Charter Oak League schedule resumes this week as we host Stamford.

[Big Six]

Week 7, 2005
Torrington 34, Stamford 31
Record: 3-3, 2-0 in Charter Oak League

Today was our conference home opener, and we wanted to give our fans something to cheer about. Almost 37,000 of them came out on a chilly, rainy day, and although the game wasn't pretty, it was exciting.

Our defense, especially against the run, was tough all day long. We held Stamford to 35 yards on 26 carries, our second dominant performance of the season. They threw for 266 yards, but they completed only 17 of 44 passes.

I'll hand it to Stamford; we were ahead 21-0 at halftime, and they came back and tied the game at 28. They kicked a field goal on their first overtime possession, and Emmanuel Boyd ran it in from 12 yards out to win it for us.

Emmanuel finished with another 100 yard game, and he caught two TD passes, too. He is still leading all NCAA players in rushing, and on his game-winning TD run, he went over 1,000 yards for the season.

Darren O'Neal had a great game for us, throwing 3 touchdown passes, and freshman Carl Lee returned an interception 83 yards for a touchdown.

TITANS LEADERS
RUSHING: Emmanuel Boyd 39-133-1.
PASSING: Darren O'Neal 23-34-243; 3 TD, 2 INT.
RECEIVING: Emmanuel Boyd 6-33-2, Louie Boddy 5-56-1, Nick Torres 4-53, Edward Crane 4-49.
DEFENSE: Joe Peters 8 tackles, 1 sack; Carl Lee 3 tackles, 1-83-1 INT.