NCAA Football '12 impressions thread

[Icy]

How is this year RTG (or whatever the be a pro mode is named this year)?

I enjoyed a lot 09 and that was my last purchase of the series, but as i'm going to import MLB the Show in March from USA, i might order NCAA too as it's cheaper now.

[whomario]

@ BYU : Thanks, i´ll try some of it tonight

@ Icy : You can´t change the minutes which is ridiculous and a dealbreaker for me. You can change pretty much anything else if you agree not to be on the leaderboards, no idea why they´d exclude minutes here ...

[Ksyrup]

I can barely read coverages; I just throw the football. Ha!

I improved to 3-0 on the season with a couple of wins last night over Miami University and Oregon State. My offense is unstoppable so far. Marcus Smith leads the NCAA with 550 yards receiving, with 30 catches and 8 TDs so far. He destroyed Oregon State for a new school record 13 catches in a 42-30 win. My D worried me in that game, though - could never quite finish them off and they moved up and down the field. If not for a couple of TOs, might have been a scare.

The schedule gets more difficult as I get Utah next, then ranked Cal, Stanford, Oregon, and USC over the next 2 months. I drew the toughest southern division teams possible.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Some games, the D has these passes completely defensed and I've got to go with play action and work the outside with the TE or RBs over the short middle.

I had one game in The Ladder Online Dynasty we've got going here where the defense played "Cover 6" I think it was: 6 guys in short zones across the field. Combined with super-jump LBs, it was the perfect pass defense. There was no place to throw it except a lob downfield or out into the flat where a super-jump LB or CB was not in position to knock it down. I had to power-run to win that game.

[Ksyrup]

Every now and then I'll run into a defense I have no answer for in the passing game.

In fact, the Miami University game I played last night was kinda like that. They took away most of my over the middle throws and deep balls, so for most of the game I just took 5-12 yards a shot. I think at one point, my QB had 18 completions and 171 yards. And then it got ugly (we won 42-10).

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I could talk about this forever, LOL.

Hey, who said you could stop?!

Great stuff, BYU...like your "real life" dynasties, always a pleasure to read.

Never played a snap of real football but have always loved playing it on PC/consoles and when I read stuff like that I realize how much of a disadvantage it is to not have played at one time or another compared to guys who eat, sleep, and breathe it.

BYU, keep talking, PLEASE!!!

[Ksyrup]

Same here. I played 1 year of football in junior high and loved it, but hated the practice time/game time ratio, so I quit.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Same here. I played 1 year of football in junior high and loved it, but hated the practice time/game time ratio, so I quit.

Up here, it's hockey or hockey so I chose hockey.

I had a couple of buddies who played football growing up (a few of them eventually made a living at it) but they didn't get to play hockey and for me, that was a deal-breaker.

Oh well.

[johnnyshaka]

DOLA, a couple of sites I like to waste time on:

NCAA Playbooks 2012 • playbooks2012.com

NCAA 12 Strategies (Xs & Os) - Utopia

[Ksyrup]

Wow, I like that playbooks site. I usually tweak my playbook before every season, but it's so unwieldy, it's hard to do with any kind of efficiency. This would be a good site to go through and pick out what i want so when I'm in there, I know what to add/remove, and don't feel like I'm wasting time going in circles.

[johnnyshaka]

Oh yeah, it's a beauty of a site.

Say, custom playbooks, seems whenever I use one in my online dynasties I can't practice with them. What I mean is that when I have a custom playbook set as my default book and go into practice mode in one of my online dynasties I don't get my playbook. Instead I get a mish mash of Lord knows what.

Am I the only one?

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

Hey, who said you could stop?!

Great stuff, BYU...like your "real life" dynasties, always a pleasure to read.

Never played a snap of real football but have always loved playing it on PC/consoles and when I read stuff like that I realize how much of a disadvantage it is to not have played at one time or another compared to guys who eat, sleep, and breathe it.

BYU, keep talking, PLEASE!!!

LOL, thanks Johnny, I will be returning to coaching next season after my 1 year "retirement". I missed the game too much, and am totally recharged, so I will have plenty to talk about come fall

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

LOL, thanks Johnny, I will be returning to coaching next season after my 1 year "retirement". I missed the game too much, and am totally recharged, so I will have plenty to talk about come fall

Great to hear that you'll be back on the sidelines once again!

Until then, feel free to unleash some more knowledge on us!!

[Ksyrup]

Only got to play 1 game last night, due to child illness. But it was an awesome one - beat #4 California 42-17. Game was close for 1.5 quarters, then we scored 3 TDs in the last few minutes before halftime to blow it open. Come to think of it, the game played out a lot like the Pats/Broncos game last week.

[Ksyrup]

SuperStud WR had another 8 catches for 150 yards and a TD. Through 5 games, he's got 48 catches, 878 yards, and 10 TDs. He's now #5 on the Heisman Watch list. He made a catch during the Cal game on an animation I'd never seen (or paid attention to) before - I sent him on a play-action pass flag/corner route to the sideline and basically forced the pass to him, as he was well covered with the DB running just in front of him. So what did he do? Lept in the air, spun around to face me, and caught the ball falling OOB while getting both feet down. It was amazing.

[whomario]

I don´t know what exactly is doing this (reading coverage, moving in the pocket, using pumpfakes, changing up the PB) , but i´m playing/passing right now like a light went on.
Beat Hawaai, Duke and FIU as well as Northern Illinois and a decent Temple team (that freaking sacked me 10 times in a wild 51-44 win, glad i escaped that one with my QB still healthy)

Lost an absolute stunner of a game on the road at Fresno State (rated B overall). They destroyed me with their run game, breaking tackle after tackle for long TD runs, their starting HB ended up with 250 yards on 20 carries including 3 TD runs of 30+ yards.
After fighting back from down 21-35 to go up 39-35 i throw my first Int of the season for a pick 6 on a 3rd and long and end up loosing 39-42 after my WRs drop 3 passes on my last drive ...

Now won 2 more league games, also have gotten a real nice connection with a just 69 rated speedster receiver who i have 3rd on the depth chart and who is really carving up defenses with his speed.

[Ksyrup]

I'm on a great run, now 10-0 and ranked #1. Quite a move from unranked after 5 weeks. Beat 3 ranked teams in 4 weeks, including a wild 31-28 last-second win against Stanford (seems I've beaten them the same way 2 years in a row), and moved quickly from 19 to 12 to 5. Then beat #8 Oregon in a tense game and that, coupled with a wild weekend that saw 3 of the top 5 lose, moved me to #2 and I overtook OU for #1 the next week. I was happy to see I got moved up to #1 because based on SOS, OU has nothing on me (they've played 2 teams with a winning record, and no one ranked).

So I've got 5-4 USC and 2-7 Washington left. OU and FSU are the only other undefeated teams left. Away at USC should be really tough. Gonna hopefully play both later tonight.

Marcus Smith is up to #2 on the Heisman rankings, with 90 catches, 1497 yards, and 15 TDs so far this year.

[MacroGuru]

The game from play SD vs HD has so much more Highlights and unique things added to it...I missed playing in HD.....

[Balldog]

We just finished a wild 2nd season in the CAS OD we have going on with guys from work.

Wk 1 - Beat FCS-SE 42-21
Wk 3 - Lost to USC 7-3: I was up 3-0 all game and had the ball on their 1 with 4th and goal and went for it in the 4th qtr. They stopped me and 4 plays later scored the winning TD.
Wk 4 - Lost to WSU 31-20
Wk 6 - Lost to OK St 17-10: We blew a 10-3 lead in the 4th Qtr
Wk 8 - Lost to UVA 45-21: Despite losing we ran for almost 500 yards
Wk 9 - Beat GUS 37-14: Guy from work who beat me last year and this one wasn't even this close.
Wk 10 - Beat LA Tech 21-14: We scored with 30 seconds left to win
Wk 11 - Lost to Fresno 34-28 in OT: We were going to score in OT but the pitch on the option hit the defenders helmet and they recovered. They went on to be undefeated and finish #2 in the country.
Wk 12 - Lost to Hawaii 27-22: We intercepted them in the end zone with 20 seconds left but my DB fumbled and they recovered it.
Wk 13 - Beat SJSU 41-38 in 2OT
Wk 14 - Beat Utah State 48-30
Wk 15 - Beat Nevada 34-31 in 2OT
Bowl - Beat Temple 37-34 in 2OT

Finished 7-6, very well could have been 11-2 or 4-8

With the triple option offense we were 2nd in the nation in rushing with 3200 yards. We had 6 backs with over 400 yards rushing, our leader was our freshman first string QB who had 811 but missed the last 5 games due to injury.

[Ksyrup]

I finished out the 2025 season with Washington State, winning the BCS championship. After beating 3 ranked teams in 4 weeks, the computer moved me up from 19 to 2 after a slew of undefeateds got beat. It was me, Oklahoma, and FSU left undefeated. We played USC in game 11 and had a close call - I had a 21-0 lead at half, but they scored to start the 3rd quarter, and I drove right down field for what probably would have been the game finisher, but threw a stupid pass on 3rd-and-goal that was picked off and run for a TD. And that was game on. They started dominating me, and only thanks to 2 fumbles deep in my territory did I hang on for a 21-17 win.

In the PAC12 championship game, I easily handled Utah 35-10. FSU lost a couple, so left me and OU as the only undefeateds left. I was ranked #1, jumping OU (which was totally deserved, given our SOS - they played only 1 ranked team all year).

The championship game was LSU/Alabama tough. The defenses dominated - they were a 99/99/99 team, so none of my usual plays worked. Their LBs either swatted down everything over the middle, or the safeties were too fast and broke up any passes that managed to get past the LOS. It was frustrating. Luckily, my running game was working fairly well. We both threw 2 INTs - I picked off 2 30-40 yard passes into the end zone, but I also stupidly threw 2 picks inside the OU 10. At half it was 3-0 OU. Early 4th quarter, I managed to get back into the red zone and finally scored on a quick pass to Marcus Smith from 5 yards out. 7-3. OU had a couple of chances to score, but we held, got a punt with 2:30 left, and got 2 1st downs to close it out. What a game!

Marcus Smith ended up winning the Heisman. He finished with 121 catches, 2050ish yards, and 21 TDs.

My daughter was trying to get me to leave for a new team (I have 1 year left on my contract), but I decided to stick around for 1 more year and then decide what to do from there. We finished with the 3rd best recruiting class and are now a 6-star program. I start 2026 ranked #17. I can't get no respect!

[whomario]

Question : I´ve been in the godaddy.com bowl again, is there a rule that the MAC champion plays in that game regardless of how good a season he had ? I was rated 16th (13th after the bowl win) and kind of would have liked to play a better team

I have had a very nice recruiting class including 4 4-star guys, unfortunately 3 of those weren´t rated very high, just 66,68 and 69 ...

I basically lost my entire starting offense, starting QB, both HBs i played, the top2 WRs, my starting TE. That´ll be interesting i guess

[Ksyrup]

If it follows the normal at-large rules, isn't it that the BCS has to take the top-ranked non-AQ team that won its conference, if they are in the top 12 or 14? Something along those lines. Either there was a better non-AQ team ahead of you (and after playing 15 seasons and seeing how many Troy/ULM/Fresno State/Nevada types are perennial top 15 teams, I going to guess that's the case), or you just missed the top 14 cut-off. Otherwise, you default to the conference bowl tie-in for the winner of the MAC.

[Johnny93g]

I think it says something about this game that this thread has gone on this long.

I wasn't planning on picking this up, but I'm thinking about it now. For those who have been playing this all along, would you say buy now and skip NCAA13? or just wait it out for NCAA 13?

[johnnyshaka]

Well, what are you going to play until July??

[Ksyrup]

Here's my take: I haven't followed what, if anything, EA has planned for NCAA13 that will be new and exciting. I'm sure there will be something that will make me think, "Well damn, I wish I could incorporate those 2-3 things into NCAA12, then it would be damn near perfect." So I can't say yet what I'm going to do.

But I do know this - NCAA12 was a VERY flawed product when it was released in mid-July. I ended up getting it as an early birthday present a couple of weeks after it was released. As a career game, it was unplayable both online and solo until the first or second week of September (I think, somewhere around there). And then they had another update to fix a couple more specific things about a month later. And I'm not sure, but I think it might still have some issues that prevent people from playing it (especially related to player tendencies, which I don't notice or ignore).

So the game was essentially a door stop for 2 months. And for me, I don't like jumping into a career until I've got a decent idea of how the games are going to play out. So that means time spent trying different sliders, testing, reading the forums, etc., and taking even more time before getting into a career. I didn't actually start my career until early October. We're talking 3 months after the game came out, and halfway through the college season.

That said, I've really found a comfort level with the game and enjoy it quite a lot (as you can probably tell by my frequent updates). I'm not sure I want to go through finding that comfort level again, as well as dealing with the possibility of not being able to play until September/October.

So as of today, I think I'm going to stick with NCAA12. But we'll see what they come up with. The only thing I'm really certain of is that I'll be tempted to buy the new one.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm with Ksyrup. I didn't touch the game for months even though I got it on release day. That was very frustrating for me, as I really wanted to play, but I knew there were serious issues. I only bought the game upon release because I got $20 Amazon credit for buying it, so it was like getting it for $40. Unless the same kind of deal comes up with the NCAA13, I'll just wait. I'm tired of buying sports games upon release because there seems to always be some game-killing bug.

Not to derail the thread, but I also got Madden upon release (due to $20 Amazon credit), and I still haven't played it. I probably will in the next couple of weeks. I don't need it to be anywhere near perfect, but I need it to be playable, and my impression was that it wasn't playable upon release.

[Ksyrup]

I got the $20 deal, too. Some deal. If I let Warren Buffett invest my $40 for 3 months, I bet I would have gotten more than $60 back.

[johnnyshaka]

I signed up for a 6-month subscription of SI and got the game for free. I've enjoyed SI again, for a while, but find I don't read it all that often so I've cancelled...and just might go for the same deal next summer!

I play primarily online in dynasties but have just recently started my first offline dynasty with Marshall. I've setup some pretty aggressive sliders that I think are along the right lines as we got run over, literally, by West Virginia and then eeked one out against Miss. State in a game that could've gone either way.

Regardless of the bugs early on, I was still having fun playing but I didn't play all the much simply because I didn't have that much time on my hands.

[Kodos]

Yep. You're probably better off buying 2012 because it is always a long wait for the patches to the inevitable game-killing bugs.

[Johnny93g]

Wow, i guess i never really thought of the how buggy this was, and in turn, how buggy the next version probably will be. Thanks guys, I'll probably pick this up soon

[BYU 14]

First game of 2014, young defense, but a lot of weapons back on offense. I have a RS freshman QB that has surpassed the two from last year, so I decide to start him since Central Michigan is coming to Lavell Edwards Stadium to open the season.

I have never seen a QB so f'n wild in my life. He goes 5-17 and throws 3 picks, over throwing wide open receivers 5 times and having 3 more passes right in the hands dropped. I bring in last years starter and he promptly fumbles and by halftime I am down 45-14.

I trail 59-21 early in the third before I score the final 25 points to lose 59-46. Over 500 yards total offense but SEVEN turnovers and a defense that could not stand up to a stiff breeze, not a great start!

The worst was a pick 6 the RS frosh threw before I yanked him. I get a 3 deep read and audible to the smash/hitch combo, the corner bails and the QB overthrows the hitch right to the corner who is sitting 10 yards behind the route!!! Off to the house he goes to put them up 31-7 at that point.

[Johnny93g]

I'm gonna head out and pick this up now!

What kind of sliders and rules do you guys use to get the most realistic gameplay?

I just checked the forums at operation sports, but some of their threads go on for ever, plus I trust you guys.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

I'm gonna head out and pick this up now!

What kind of sliders and rules do you guys use to get the most realistic gameplay?

I just checked the forums at operation sports, but some of their threads go on for ever, plus I trust you guys.

The ones I have stuck with in my current dynasty, goes against some of the other logic, but I love the results. Think Ksyrup is using something similar.

Here are the sliders I am using

Sliders
AA - 9 minute Quarters
Game speed - Slow
Speed Threshold - 40

Slider - Hum / CPU
QB acc - 70 / 75
Pass blk - 75 / 60
WR cat - 75 / 65
RB ability - 60 / 60
Run Blk - 50 / 55
Coverage - 45 / 20
Pass rush - 50 / 30
Int - 25 / 20
Run Def - 40 / 60
Tackling - 40 / 40
FG Pow - 50 / 45
FG acc - 40 / 35
Punt Pow - 55 / 50
Punt acc - 35 / 45
KP - 50 / 50

Penalties
Offsides 90
False Start 90
Holding and Clipping 52
Facemask 50
Off/Def PI and KR int 100
Int grounding 80
RP and RK 55

I should add that I don't control a player on defense, I call the plays, make line, coverage adjustments pre-snap, then put the controller down and let the CPU execute it.

[Ragone]

I just picked up this game last week and loving it.. would love to find an actual active online dynasty.. ps3 that is

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Ragone

I just picked up this game last week and loving it.. would love to find an actual active online dynasty..

The Ladder is being run here from the leagues subforum. http://operationsports.com/fofc/forumdisplay.php?f=69

[Ksyrup]

I'm trying to kickstart myself after a week off with a lot of work and family commitments. If I don't get back into it soon, with football over, baseball coming on, and being away from the game for a couple of weeks, I might not pick it back up until July or August. I have my next season all ready to go, so I'm going to try to get a game or two in tonight.

[johnnyshaka]

Started my first Offline Dynasty in NCAA 12 last week...I chose to give Marshall a shot a greatness.

I'll check my sliders when I get a chance but I'm guessing they are probably pretty close to what's posted above. One thing I do know is that I've dialed up the run blocking for the CPU and for the first few games it was much too high as I gave up like 400 yards to VT and pretty close to the same to WVU in blowout losses. While Marshall should lose those games I don't think it should be because my defense fell down like they were James Bond bad guy extras.

After the VT loss I dialed down the CPU run block a little bit and then played my game against Louisville and beat them in a tight one on a late TD with less than a minute to go. They were still able to run on us, and they should be able to, but it was a much more respectable 175 yards or so.

Then we played UCF and they tore us apart...well, they got up early and then we got one-dimensional and eventually threw a bunch of picks. Ugh. Anyway, the sliders felt right with a better team being able to dominate us at least some of the time.

I believe we're 4-3 after pummelling Rice. A perfect 6-0 Houston is up next and I don't expect to win this one, or even be close...and that's the way it should be.

Odd thing with this dynasty so far is that my leading receiver is actually a WR (Wilson or Evans, I can't remember which one) with the TE close behind. Tron Martinez was hurt (out for the season) on his first or second run of the season so I'm already starting shorthanded having to roll with Van and Ward on the ground. Ward has proven to be pretty solid, though, as he's a tough one to get down.

Recruiting isn't easy, though, as I've yet to land a recruit, not even a "soft" commit at this point. Fingers crossed that picks up soon.

[Ragone]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

The Ladder is being run here from the leagues subforum. FOFC NCAA Football Online Dynasties - Front Office Football Central

sadly you guys are running xbox and i got it for ps3.. ah well

[Ksyrup]

Run D is hard to get right because the computer is utterly usless running the option. I got in my 1st 2 games as defending champions with Washington State - 37-3 over Vandy and 42-32 over #17 La-Monroe. ULM ran the option and I completely buried them - until I went up 28-10 with 5 minutes left and they started passing the ball. They torched me for 3 long TD passes and I was hanging on to a 35-32 lead but recovered the onsides kick and ran it down their throat for a finishing TD. Bizarre game - the 4th quarter was wild, but until then, their only points came on a kickoff return TD and a 40-yard punt return (same guy) that set up a FG.

That ULM game was the 1st of 5 straight games against ranked opponents. I have Fresno State next, then Stanford and Cal, and either Oregon or Utah after that. I started the year #17 and am up to #11, but I get no freakin' respect - defending national champion and I'm ranked behind 2 other Pac12 North teams! Sheesh!

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Run D is hard to get right because the computer is utterly usless running the option.

UCF had little problem running the option against us as we were only able to stop them when we blitzed from the edges or called corner blitzes. When the CPU can get a few good blocks/pancakes then they are pretty effective running read options especially when they hand it off.

I guess it boils down to finding a balance that allows a better CPU team to actually do something on offense against a cupcake team like Marshall and that's what I'm getting with the sliders I have now. We'll see how things go if and when I'm able to boost the talent at Marshall.

[Ksyrup]

When my team was weaker I'd get torched every now and then by a strong running team. Almost never against an option team. Maybe they'd break 1 or 2 long runs, but consistently, I would end up with more zero or negative yard plays then they'd have positive.

[Ksyrup]

And on D, I just choose one of the 3 plays the AI suggests for me. I play LDE. So it's not like I'm blitzing every down.

[johnnyshaka]

With the run blocking turned up the CPU usually pancakes at least one lineman and is able to seal the edge as my LBs typically won't be able to shed the block so my safeties are usually the ones making a play on most runs...option or not. I have my tendencies set to focus on the pitch man (I find the bigger gains are going to come from a HB running it versus a QB) so hopefully he does pitch it and my safety can make the tackle.

I haven't played with my formation audibles yet and that might be something I should do. I haven't had a good look yet at exactly what I have on my roster so I might have a few run stuffing D-Linemen as well as a few LBs who are better defending the run. If that's the case then subbing them in for run situations could improve my chances and slowing down the run game but also keep the "game" fair as the CPU could catch me with my pass defense packages out there and run right through them.

In terms of how I play defense I have a handful of plays that I like to call and pretty much stick to them. I'll usually play with the DT or RE but would love to get more experience using a linebacker or safety.

[Ksyrup]

Something is very wrong with my D and I can't figure out what it is. Talent-wise, I have the best team I've had at WSU. But we aren't coming together. Took on #16 Fresno State and then #13 Stanford last night. The Fresno game was deja vu - just like the ULM game, I jumped out to a 15-20 point lead going into the 4th quarter (33-17) just to see my D give up 2 late TDs and have to sweat out a 33-30 win.

Then taking on Stanford, we had the game turn on a couple of big plays and from there, momentum steamrolled us. We had a 14-0 lead, driving inside the 20, when my #1 RB got knocked out of the game with a big hit and fumbled the ball away. Early 3rd quarter, up 14-7, same deal driving inside the 15, my #2 RB gets knocked out and fumbles, with Stanford picking it up and going 85 yards for the tying TD. And from there, we got destroyed, losing 42-21. Marcus Smith had 10 catches for 246 yards, but it wasn't nearly enough.

In 3 games against ranked opponents, my D has given up 32, 30, and 42 points - most of them in the 4th quarter. I guess I must have slacked off on conditioning during the off-season or something.

[Ksyrup]

Oh and up next - #2 Cal. GREAT.

[Ksyrup]

My defense is U-G-L-Y this year. My D line gets very little pressure on passes, so I get torched regularly. And it's usually on 3rd-and-long plays, too. I've had several bomb jump balls caught against me.

But, I'm still 5-1. The D came up semi-big in a huge 24-21 win over #2 California. They actually gave up the go-ahead TD with 3 minutes left, but my offense went down and scored, then we got an INT to seal it.

Next up was Utah. I was up 31-14 at half... and ended up sweating out a 38-35 win. AGAIN another 4th quarter meltdown on D. Crappy Colorado was next, and while it was a fairly easy 45-22 win, the D still gave up too many points/yards.

I expect to lose another one this year, but we'll see. My schedule's decent down the stretch - I saw Oregon at 3-4, which is surprising.

[Ragone]

Playing in Johnnyshaka's online dynasty as Notre dame..

Nd's o is terrible.. Rees is awful, seemingly poor arm strength and bad offensive line play.. Yet i still find ways to win games.. I lost to michigan state but could have won with a 2 point conv. late.

Insane Interception abound on aa level.. i had 5 against me in mich state game.. 3 of which were one handed leaping int's by lb's.. No excuses mind you..

Nd's defense is great.. The o is really not good

[johnnyshaka]

Glad you joined us, Ragone...it's always lots of fun playing head 2 head games and recruiting against "real" people. Looks like you have 3 head 2 head games remaining so the fireworks are about to begin.

Finally got around to playing a game in my Marshall offline dynasty against Houston (6-0) and it was a shoot out that we managed to win by 10. Started off with our first play from scimmage, ACE BIG - X Option, with the left flanker running an option route...stick, slant, or go...and when the safety stayed inside to takeaway the middle we hit Evans for a 70 yard bomb. Awesome.

It was a back and forth affair for most of the game until Ward took things over late in the game as their defense was tiring. He ended up with 3 TDs and 130 yards on the ground while Cato was solid with only two picks. Our defense was decent but they were in 4 and 5 wide formations all game long and we just don't have a good enough secondary to match up with that so they passed on us pretty well. We just made enough plays, I guess, because they were driving for the tying score when we forced a fumble and returned it for six and the win.

UAB's up next.

[Ksyrup]

Well, I finished my 2026 (I think - I'm losing track of the years) season with Washington State. We somehow managed to finish 11-1, despite a D that continually gave up 20-30 points a game. Biggest test was Oregon - down 28-10 in the 3rd quarter, we came back for a 33-28 win. Only one game did we put it all together, a 54-7 thashing of USC. But then the next week, we let a 28-0 lead against 2-9 Oregon State slip away and barely escaped, 35-28.

We won the Pac 12 with a fairly easy victory over Arizona State, but finished #3 going into the bowls behind undefeated TCU and FRICKIN' TULSA! So we played Nebraska in the Rose Bowl and blew them out. In the meantime, my Sr. RB won the Heisman with 1820 yards and 27 TDs, while Marcus Smith set the NCAA record for receiving yards in only 3 seasonw (and set every other school receiving record, too). Not surprisingly, he left for the NFL.

I decided at that point that it was time to move on since my contract was up and I didn't feel like sticking around for 4 more years. I wanted to move east and targeted a few jobs that looked interesting, but in the coaching carousel you only get what they offer, and the best of the bunch (looking for a down team, not a good one) was Missouri. Yes, I took Missouri.

Coming off a 2-10 season and a 1 star program, it was the best choice. The team is actually fairly decent in terms of talent at the senior level. I can't stand the way the AI recruits though - I manage to avoid watching the computer make sausage 99% of the time, but getting into Mizz's offseason recruiting, I couldn't help but notice the absolute dreck we had already - 20 commits, all 1 or 2 stars, including 4 1-star and 1 2-star CBs. WTF? There was only so much help I could give, so the first recruiting class is a waste.

I've started tinkering with the sliders to make it slightly more difficult. I'm happy with the way the game plays now, but I am winning too much. I worry about destroying the fun factor by going too far the other way, though. We'll see. It's a work in progress.

[johnnyshaka]

Marshall is now at 6-3 with a decisive win over UAB. Cato was something like 8 for 22 for 300 yards with 3 TDs and 3 INTs. Ward went over a hundred again and added three TDs. UAB's offense played very well racking up close to 400 yards but settled for FGs while we were able to get into the endzone more often than not.

We also landed our first commit...in like Week 10 or 11...yikes. A 3* power HB is our lone commit but we have a dozen 3* guys who have at the top of their so hopefully we'll be flush with recruits before we know.

Tulsa is on deck.