The Thrill of the Chase: Chevy Chase College (TCY)

[MoonlightGraham]

Hello, everyone. I'm Graham.

I've been an off-and-on reader for a while now, and I decided it was time to join the forum and join in the fun with my own dynasty story.

During my own college years, I played The College Years for a while. A few years ago, I purchased the game again and had fun with it. Then, just the other day, I thought about this delightful game and wondered if it was still available for purchase. It isn't, but I discovered I could still download it...and when I located the email with my order ID, I was back in the game!

I interpreted this fortuitous set of circumstances as a clear sign that I should begin a TCY story of my own.

Since I'm a Maryland native, I placed the Solecismic Eight there. I remember having fun trying to build a small program into a national powerhouse, so I'll begin my coaching career in this small, fictitious conference.

It's now the fall of 2004, and I'm the head coach at Chevy Chase College.

What do we have going for us? We're located in an area that could provide a number of potential recruits, and we have an excellent academic reputation. Chevy Chase is ranked 18th in Undergraduate Average, right below USC and Army and above Maryland, Wake Forest, and Penn State. I want to maintain that academic excellence while we deliver an on-field product of equal quality.

I'll probably play through our first season or two quickly. When more of the players I've recruited are playing key roles, I'll have more to say. I've looked at some of the ways in which TCY players have told their teams' stories, and I'll unashamedly and gratefully borrow from some of them as I figure out how I want to tell my own tale.

Next time, I'll briefly introduce you to the team, and then we'll kick off. I hope we all enjoy the ride.

[MoonlightGraham]

Preseason 2004

There are 125 teams in TCY's version of Division I college football. Chevy Chase is ranked 124th. It's probably going to be a very, very ugly season.

According to the Roster Strength Report, Chevy Chase has the worst defensive ends, defensive tackles, and cornerbacks in the entire country, and the safeties are second worst. If this report is accurate, our defense won't be able to stop anyone.

Among the six highest-rated players on our roster are two centers and two placekickers. Since a a football team employs only one player at each of these positions at a time, this is not an optimal distribution of talent. Bobby Sheldon and Kendrick Fulton are both redshirt seniors with two years of eligibility left. I think I might move Sheldon to another spot on the O-line, possibly to tackle.

Our linebacking corps is decent; senior OLB David Holliman is the most talented player on the roster. Consequently, our base defense will be a 3-4, because I want to put as few of those awful defensive linemen on the field as possible.

My offensive coordinator has experience coaching the Wing T offense, so that's what we'll use this year. A decent fullback is a requirement for this offense; we have one, the appropriately named Hardy Strong. I seem to remember that it's sometimes possible for a Solecismic Eight team to recruit fairly well at that position. And, speaking of recruiting...

Recruiting Priorities
Honestly, a team as lousy as this one must prioritize every position on the field. That being said, we'll need to replace bodies on the offensive line and in the backfield. We have eleven scholarship seniors, so we'll need to make sure to bring in at least that many players.

[MoonlightGraham]

The 2004 Season



My first Chevy Chase team proved the doubters who said they were the second-worst team in the country wrong.



We opened the season with three non-conference losses, two of which could have been wins if we had been better at holding on to the football. We lost a fumble deep in UConn territory with three minutes left on the clock, and an exciting drive late in the San Jose State game ended when a pass into their end zone was picked off.

In fact, we were only routed twice: by Miami and Auburn. Otherwise, we provided our fans with exciting football. And, we ended the season on a good note by winning our last two games.

Offensive Highlights
Kendrick Fulton tore up his elbow in the San Jose State game, and I thought our chances for a decent season ended when Kendrick went under the surgeon's knife. Moved to left tackle from his natural center position, Fulton was our most talented O-lineman, by a wide margin.

Our running game turned out to be decent anyway. Running backs Marty Heise and Bobby Grider combined to rush for over 1300 yards, freshman Grider averaging over five yards per carry. Once I remembered how to adjust the game plan to get fullback Hardy Strong more carries, he gave us a third good ball carrier. Also an effective blocker, Strong made the All-Solecismic first team. He was joined on the first team by center Bobby Sheldon, who was as good as we hoped he would be; he succeeded on over 40 percent of his run blocking assignments. Guard Craig Wayne and tight end Cole Hoover were second team All-Conference selections, receiving credit for their contributions to our ground attack.

Quarterback Billy Scutaro was, statisically, the second-worst passer in the nation. He threw 18 interceptions and only three TD passes. As a result, I made recruiting a QB a high priority. We'll see how that turned out soon. Freshman WR Vinny Cineux proved to be a deep threat, averaging 21.0 yards per reception. He finished with 23 receptions, one behind team leader Wes Fulton.

Kicker Conrad Cassidy connected on 16 of 19 field goal attempts, including a game-winner at Salisbury with 20 seconds remaining. The junior from Swedesboro, NJ earned a spot on the All-Solecismic first team.

Defensive Highlights
I need to apologize to our defense for holding them in such contempt at the beginning of the season. They were as poor at defending against the pass as I had feared, but they turned out to be very good at snuffing out our opponent's ground games.

I'd expected OLB David Holliman to be our best defensive player. Holliman was good, but the man who lined up beside him, fellow senior Britt Bratsch, had an incredible season. Second in the nation in tackles, the senior from Fort Washington, MD was the Solecismic Eight Defensive Player of the Year, a first team All-Solecismic selection...and a second team All-American. His contributions will be nearly impossible to replace.

Senior defensive end Jake Caldwell led the conference with 11 sacks. Bennie Hutton, a junior safety, turned out to be a disruptive force against the run, dropping opposing ballcarriers for losses 11 times. He also raced 86 yards for a pick-six against Miami.

In the Classroom
I'm very proud of how our players performed academically. The team's GPA of 3.27 was second best in the country. We ranked ninth in Undergraduate Average, which probably figures in the difficulty of our players' majors. The schools that finished ahead of us were top-tier academic institutions: Stanford, Rice, Northwestern, Duke, Michigan, Virginia, California, and Georgia Tech. That's the kind of company we want to keep.

Billy Scutaro might not be a very good quarterback, but he's a brainy one. A Business major, he earned a perfect 4.00 GPA. Another starter, OLB Cris Shannon, also earned a 4.00 (Social Work), but neither he nor Scutaro made the conference Academic Team. WR Alexander Zaoussis (3.88, Medicine), DE Jake Caldwell (3.94, Metallurgy), and DBs Danny Franklin (3.94, Journalism) and Joseph Lathon (3.80, Computer Science) did earn that recognition.

[MoonlightGraham]

Recruiting the Class of 2004

I accidentally let my assistants have control of recruiting when I started my game. So, while I could play an active role in recruiting, things were also happening behind the scenes. I didn't figure out what was going on until two players I had never seen before accepted scholarship offers from us. Fortunately, they're both good players, although one is a very mediocre student.

That being said, I'm delighted with our recruiting class. Rivals ranks them #22 in the nation.




My first target was offensive tackle Dave Ransbottom, rated as the top player in Maryland and the #5 player at his position in the nation. He was admittedly a long shot, but our academic reputation and his desire to play close to home gave us a chance. At one point, I was sure we'd lose him to Penn State, but we ended up securing his signature. If Ransbottom is as good as advertised, he'll step directly into our starting lineup. He looks like he'll be a coach's dream, with a Terrific attitude.

We reached across the border to snag the best player in Delaware, too: guard Jon Quinn. Jon should also contend for a starting spot from Day One. I also have a good feeling about OG Dustin Kolosa, a massive young man who is an exceptional student.

Normally, when my starting quarterback is a sophomore, I don't make recruiting another QB1 a high priority. However, when he plays like Billy Scutaro did, my priorities change. I wanted a dual-threat QB to run our Wing T offiense, and I found one in Travis McGruddy. He threw for over 3200 yards and rushed for nearly 1000 more, accounting for 27 touchdowns.

Fullback Raymond Armstrong is considered one of the best FB prospects in the country, an all-purpose back who can run, catch, and block. Andrew Horton and Harvey Sawyers should add depth in our running back stable, at least.

We had less success landing our top targets on defense. DE Moe Sutter should be a star; the experts' choice as the top defensive player in New Jersey, he will have a chance to replace the graduated Jake Caldwell.

The computer assistants kept chasing linebackers, so we ended up signing five of them. Big Andrew Barrett is the best of the lot on paper, but keep an eye on Tattoo Tim Wiggins, whom our staff think is a sleeper. Once I saw his name and discovered he was, indeed, a decent player, I had to recruit him.

Tom Breeden should immediately upgrade our lousy punting game. I knew we were losing a kicker to graduation, but it turned out to be our kickoff specialist, not All-Conference star Conrad Cassidy. I might not have worked so hard to land Willie Torres if I'd been more careful.


Our incoming class have strong credentials as students, too. Mercury Sims is one of the players the AI assistants brought in. He's the only mediocre student in the class. On the other hand, McGruddy, Ransbottom, and Sutter epitomize what I want Chevy Chase players to be. I hope to establish Chevy Chase as the dream school for the nation's best student-athletes.

[Chas in Cinti]

Following...

[MoonlightGraham]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Following...

Chevy Chase officially has a fan...let's GO! Hopefully we'll be as well-known as the comedian by the same name before long.

Thanks for following, Chas. I'll be back soon with the story of the 2005 season.

[MoonlightGraham]

The 2005 Season

I’m copying the style of my yearly reports from a couple of other TCY dynasty writers whose formats I liked. If you’re out there, I hope you don’t mind me sincerely flattering you with my imitation.

First, let's take a look at some information about our starters, along with other players who contributed meaningfully to our season.




Fourteen first-year players, including twelve true freshmen, played significant roles on this year's team. How did they do? We'll find out soon...

[MoonlightGraham]

The 2005 Season

So, how did we do?



I renamed our conference the Old Line Eight, hoping to give it a bit more Maryland flavor. That name is inscribed on the championship trophy we proudly lifted in my second season in charge. The OL8’s stingiest defense combined with its second-highest-scoring offense to create a perfect conference record.



We opened our season with two non-conference victories. Freshman Andrew Horton ran roughshod over Rice and Kent State, but he broke a bone in his leg against the latter opponent. Horton had grabbed the starting RB job with both hands, but just like that, his season seemed to be over.

Classmate Harvey Sawyers and last year’s starter, senior Marty Heise, split the feature back for the next few games, and both played well. Against Air Force, a Saywers TD gave us the lead with six minutes left in the game, but their kicker nailed a field goal with 00:02 remaining to snatch the victory from us. That Air Force team turned out to be better than expected, making the result more favorable than it seemed to be at the time.

Our victory against Hagerstown turned bittersweet when we discovered that Heise had torn a calf muscle, and first-year fullback Raymond Armstrong had wrecked his knee. Heise would probably be out for the year; Armstrong certainly would be. Now, our running game would ride or die with young Harvey Sawyers.

Meanwhile, another first-year, quarterback Travis McGruddy, was growing into a consistent game manager who could occasionally display flashes of greatness. Travis was the star of the Rockville game, completing 17 of 21 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

Three consecutive conference victories set up the most important game of our season: a rivalry clash with Frederick. Both teams were undefeated in the Old Line Eight, and the winner would almost certainly take control of the race to the conference championship.

We won in fine fashion, combining our best defensive performance of the season with a productive, opportunistic offense. We held Frederick to 117 yards of total offense, held the ball for forty minutes, and gashed their impressive defense for 30 points.

Again, our joy was dampened by news from the medical staff. Offensive tackle Dave Ransbottom had pulled his hamstring badly, and his season was over. Dave had proven to be every bit the player we thought we were getting when we recruited him, teaming with fellow freshman Jon Quinn to make the left side of our offensive line the best in the conference.

Quinn stepped up in dominant fashion, racking up 11 key run blocks as we rushed for over 400 yards in our route of Bethesda. Sawyers accounted for 230 of those yards on 24 carries. Our victory earned us a spot in the rankings for the first time, coming in at #46…and our first league championship, too!

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that we nearly slipped up against Salisbury. It took a last-second field goal–literally a last-second field goal–from Conrad Cassidy to redeem a three-TD performance from Sawyers with a narrow victory.

The Old Line Eight’s champion earns a date to the Happy Fun Bowl in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Our opponent was North Texas, champions of the Southern Harvest League. The Mean Green were definitely the better team on paper, and they proved it on the field, too. Nevertheless, I’m delighted with our 9-3 record and, most importantly, the way our first-year players bedded in.