The Ladder 2014 Season Thread

[cartman]

Things weren't looking good for us against Mizzou early on. Their QB was on fire both running and throwing the ball, and they jumped out to a 14-0 lead. But my putrid defense got a good hit on him, and he's out for 6 weeks. His backup wasn't bad, but we were able to get enough stops to get back in the game, and my QB went insane, and we pulled away to get the 58-31 win.

[chesapeake]

I squeaked out a win against Louisville with the stands full of recruiting targets. I don't know that I will get another win this season, but that was the one I needed the most.

[Kodos]

Advancing us now. Will post schedule later.

[cartman]

Got a solid win over SMU. We got up by 28 and coasted from that point. They got within 14 a couple of times, but never threatened to make it closer.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our offense was off for the 2nd week in a row, but a kickoff return for a TD and a few big defensive plays gave us a 35-21 win over Colorado.

[chesapeake]

I was the victim of the hail mary TD pass to end the 1st half and found myself still down by 2 TDs in the 4th q, but I managed to score 3 TDs to squeak out a lucky win against Tennessee on the road. I need one more win to become bowl eligible, but that seems unlikely given that my last 3 games are against the best teams in my half of the ACC.

I'm recruiting failrly well based on the good pitches I was able to accumulate against the easier AI in past seasons. I usually prefer to redshirt all my freshmen, but I'll have 7-10 recruits who will be numerically good enough to start for me next season. I may just have to bite the bullet and throw them in there.

[Kodos]

Indiana beat Toledo 23-20 on a last-second field goal as time expired. We had a lot of trouble stopping their spread offense.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

USC loses to Florida 42-28 as their HB has over 200 yards and 3 TD's.

16 carries, 244 yards, 4 TDs against us. We got down early, thanks to a 3-and-out, then a fumble after a completed pass to give them a short field. We didn't let Florida get too far ahead though, as we kept hitting passes. Their speed meant that when we did complete a long pass, we couldn't take it all the way, they usually caught us. But we did keep the ball moving through the air and with timely draw plays. We came up just short though, 49-47, as they kept breaking runs and we could not stop them from running out the clock.

[Julio Riddols]

Gah, we had chances to seize momentum early, but turned it over instead. Eventually ULL got going and our defense wore down.

We did manage to reel in a 6'7" WR and a gem QB who will likely be a 4 year starter for us. Big week coming up with tons of visits lined up. Could be a big boost to our class if we find a way to win.

[MacroGuru]

Defensive battle against CMU. We ended up winning 20-0.

I was unable to take advantage of several turnovers.

[CU Tiger]

If I am the only one holding the show up..I should be home by 10est tonight and will get updated immediately.

Sorry.

[Kodos]

No problem. I've been outside shoveling all day.

[Kodos]

Going to give cmdodgers another few hours, then will advance if I don't hear from him.

[Kodos]

We're on to the next week. Buffalo is looking to go over .500 with a victory over Temple, while Rice tries to break into the Top 25 with a win over #19 Texas Tech.

Fresno State (6-3) at #6 USC (8-1)
#12 Maryland (7-1) at Middle Tennessee State (3-5)
Virginia (5-5) at #17 South Florida (7-2)
#19 Texas Tech (7-3) at Rice (7-2)
Indiana (7-2) at Northern Illinois (4-5)
Virginia Tech (5-4) at Duke (5-4)
Temple (6-2) at Buffalo (4-4)
FCS team at UTSA (4-5)
Western Kentucky (6-2) at Florida Atlantic (2-7)

[cartman]

Just as a heads up, I'm likely not going to be able to get my game done until Sunday evening. I'm heading out of town in an hour or so and won't be back until Sunday evening. I'll bring my game with me in case I make it to an Xbox and can get my game done.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Kodos

We're on to the next week. Buffalo is looking to go over .500 with a victory over Temple

Not to mention the lead of the conference...

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by cartman

Just as a heads up, I'm likely not going to be able to get my game done until Sunday evening. I'm heading out of town in an hour or so and won't be back until Sunday evening. I'll bring my game with me in case I make it to an Xbox and can get my game done.

No problem. We'll push back the deadline to Sunday night.

[chesapeake]

7 more dropped passes and 2 dropped TDs (plus a dropped 2-pt conversion)meant another disappointing loss, this time 21-9 at home to VA Tech. A bowl game appears out of our grasp this season.

[MacroGuru]

Lost in a shootout with Temple. In the end I couldn't tackle his RB to save me or stop one of his WR's.

We took the lead with 30 secs left in the game and he scored with 15 secs left in the game.

I think the final score was 45-42.

[gstelmack]

We played a nice first half, generating some turnovers and moving the ball well, and jumped out to a 21-0 lead early. They scored just before the half, and then in the second half the switch flipped and we couldn't tackle and my QB could not hit the broad side of a barn. Luckily we were running the ball well and playing good pass defense, and we snuck away with a 21-17 win over Virginia.

[Kodos]

We choked away a 17-0 first-half lead, but held off NIU enough to manage a 24-17 win.

[Kodos]

Something bad seems to have happened. We appear to have advanced, but I didn't advance us. At least, I didn't advance us on purpose. I did advance my solo OD league yesterday, and it is on the week I would expect it to be on, so I don't think I advanced the wrong league. But I guess it is possible that's what happened.

My apologies to guys who hadn't played yet, especially if your team lost. I know Rice lost. Not sure who else hadn't played yet. I feel really bad about this, especially since Rice's game was for the division lead. It's not much consolation, but if Rice finishes a game behind Texas Tech, I'm going to move Rice up the Ladder, not Texas Tech. It looks like USC got screwed here too. Fuck. At least they have a chance to get back into 1st with a head-to-head against UCLA.

If anyone has an idea for how to fix things, I am open to suggestions. Maybe we can have a stud player come in for one week to play as SMU against Texas Tech?

Also, anyone else who didn't get to play their game, please speak up. I am open to ideas for trying to fix things. I feel really bad, especially if this wasn't some glitch by EA. Like I said, I don't think I advanced the wrong league, but I have to concede that it is possible that's what happened.

I don't see anything that really fixes things for USC, unfortunately.

[Kodos]

Another idea is that I could edit all of Texas Tech's QBs to suck so that they lose in the sim. Although I don't know if my edits would take place for the current week.

[Kodos]

Thinking about it more, it seems like it had to be a fuckup on my part. Nothing else makes sense. I'm sorry guys.

[gstelmack]

I think the web bits are still in a beta state. I do know that since you've been using the web to advance more this time around, all "X signed with your team" notifications show every sim someone signs, rather than just the guys that signed this sim. I've also had two recruiting calls wasted because the web showed me blank info for the recruiting pitches, and I had to quit the web page.

I'll be going back to recruiting in-game. Less convenient, but more stable.

[Eaglesfan27]

Stuff happens. No worries.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Stuff happens. No worries.

Thanks, EF27. Very annoyed with myself.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Thanks, EF27. Very annoyed with myself.

Don't be. I'm not annoyed at all. I know it was an accident. Looking forward to kicking the butt of the little Gutties (our nickname for the Bruins.)

[gstelmack]

Signed a 79-rated MLB, and have the inside track on an 82-rated SS and a 77-rated SS. I've made over my LB and Safety core, should be good for the next 4 years there. CB will be an issue, D-Line should be okay.

I really need to pick up this 79-rated Guard to shore up my O-Line, that remains a weakness.

[gstelmack]

Beat up by Auburn. 14-14 at the half, but we could not slow their offense in the second half. They were able to run up their score late when we would get a TD, onside kick, they'd run all over us into the end zone, we'd score again, onside kick, repeat 3 times I think. Their RB put up 294 yards on the ground and caught 51 yards worth. Ugh.

[Julio Riddols]

God, I can't wait to get some defensive players in here. Offensive players too, but I feel like QB has been our biggest problem in that area. Lucky for us we're getting some commitments from pretty decent players.

[MacroGuru]

yeah, we laid the wood to a poor UMASS team. They have a great stadium, but their QB threw 2 TDs to us.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Something bad seems to have happened. We appear to have advanced, but I didn't advance us. At least, I didn't advance us on purpose. I did advance my solo OD league yesterday, and it is on the week I would expect it to be on, so I don't think I advanced the wrong league. But I guess it is possible that's what happened.

My apologies to guys who hadn't played yet, especially if your team lost. I know Rice lost. Not sure who else hadn't played yet. I feel really bad about this, especially since Rice's game was for the division lead. It's not much consolation, but if Rice finishes a game behind Texas Tech, I'm going to move Rice up the Ladder, not Texas Tech. It looks like USC got screwed here too. Fuck. At least they have a chance to get back into 1st with a head-to-head against UCLA.

If anyone has an idea for how to fix things, I am open to suggestions. Maybe we can have a stud player come in for one week to play as SMU against Texas Tech?

Also, anyone else who didn't get to play their game, please speak up. I am open to ideas for trying to fix things. I feel really bad, especially if this wasn't some glitch by EA. Like I said, I don't think I advanced the wrong league, but I have to concede that it is possible that's what happened.

I don't see anything that really fixes things for USC, unfortunately.

In the interest of full disclosure, I went ahead and edited some players ratings in order to facilitate a Texas Tech loss (Rice lost to Texas Tech due to my mistake) in their next game. Did the same to try to get a Fresno State loss (USC lost to FS). Hopefully those teams will cooperate and lose, then I will re-edit them back to their former ratings. I just didn't feel right making cartman and EF27 miss shots at their conference championship game because of my blunder.

[Kodos]

Also, cartman is on a business trip, so we will likely need to push the deadline back to next Wednesday or so.

[Eaglesfan27]

USC and Arizona had a mostly boring game until the final 2 minutes when it became a classic. We lost our speedy leading WR on the 1st play of the game when he got decked going across the middle on a short slant. That shut down our offense most of the game as we became one dimensional with a short passing game and a run game that couldn't truly get going. We were down 6-3 with the ball on their 3 with 10 seconds left in the half. Our QB tried to scramble for a TD and got hit and lost it on their 1. We sent the house to try to get a safety and instead gave up a 99 yard TD run to go down 13-3 at the half.

We slowly crawled back into the game and tied it at 13 midway through the 4th, but our offense turned it over at midfield with under a minute to go. We watched helplessly as they got inside the 20 and then ate up clock. They kicked a FG with 7 seconds left that we thought would seal the game.

However, improbably, their CB slipped up and one of our WR's got wide open for a 75 bomb to end the game. We won 20-16.

[Kodos]

Wow. You must have been stoked!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Wow. You must have been stoked!

I was. I couldn't believe my possession receiver got so far wide open, but he was the only open target. Scary thing is he almost got caught from behind by their safety. 5 yards more and it wouldn't have been a TD.

[Kodos]

Deadline is probably Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when cartman can get his game in. I plan to get mine in tomorrow night.

[Kodos]

I'm going to get my game in tonight. How are things looking for you, cartman?

[Kodos]

We had a ton of trouble slowing down Kent State's RB, and trailed almost all of the game. We were able to tie things up with under 30 seconds left in the game, and then won in OT when we scored a TD and kept them out of the endzone.

Looks like Texas Tech lost. Didn't see a score for the other games of interest.

[Kodos]

We are on to Week 14. Will post the schedule later.

[Julio Riddols]

I'm glad that season is over. Driving for the game winner against Tex State, QB fumbles again leading to another huge point swing which seemed to be the order of things for us this season. Next season is already looking better, we have a true freshman QB coming in who should make a major difference in our offense, and hopefully we can lock down these remaining guys on our target list soon. The current QB might find himself at RB next year if we don't sign anyone who can play.

[MacroGuru]

Pulled off a nail biter against Miamo (OH) and won by. My saving grace that switched the momentum was a kick return for a TD. My defense played well and we managed a couple of INTs while our QB only threw one. We did have to attack deep at the end to get ahead.

Recruiting any kind of center is beginning to become a pain in the ass.

Oh, and unless Temple loses, I am stuck in the MAC.

[gstelmack]

What a horrible game against UNC. My QB fumbles when he dives instead of slides on a scramble, I was way off my pass timing, it was raining, just ugh. I did get two awesome picks where we tipped a pass and a lineman rushing through the middle picked it off, those were fun. But just ugh. Can't wait for all these recruits next year though, we should have a much better all-around team.

As a side discussion, is there any influence we have over the weather? This is the same issue FOF has: there just aren't THAT many games with bad weather in real life. I'm tired of playing 1/2 - 2/3 of my games in the rain just because most of my games are played in the south, and like FOF NCAA assumes that if it rains at some point during a day, it must be raining at game time, so way too many games have rain.

[Eaglesfan27]

UCLA hung with us most of the game, but a pick 6 by their QB late in the 3rd gave us a comfortable lead and our offense kept producing all game long in order to get a 45-34 win.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

As a side discussion, is there any influence we have over the weather? This is the same issue FOF has: there just aren't THAT many games with bad weather in real life. I'm tired of playing 1/2 - 2/3 of my games in the rain just because most of my games are played in the south, and like FOF NCAA assumes that if it rains at some point during a day, it must be raining at game time, so way too many games have rain.

Unfortunately, I don't know of anything we can do about that.

[Kodos]

Was going to play today (had the day off), but we lost our power at 7 a.m. So the deadline is going to be extended until probably tomorrow.

[CU Tiger]

That would be awesome......I'm aurally trying to rearrange to get home earlier just to finish by 11...if I could have until tomorrow am that would be AWESOME!!!!!

[Kodos]

Only three human games in week 15, as the regular season winds down.

#12 Maryland (9-2) at Troy (7-4)
Buffalo (6-5) at Bowling Green (6-5)
Middle Tennessee State (4-7) at Florida Atlantic (2-9)

[Kodos]

=============== #7 USC Trojans (10-2) ===============
Last week, USC won 45-34 against UCLA (10-2).
This week, the Trojans are idle.
In recruiting news, the following USC targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) ROLB Michael Washington has committed to USC
- (***) HB Garrett Cox has committed to USC


=============== #12 Maryland Terrapins (9-2) ===============
Last week, Maryland won 35-7 against Western Kentucky (7-4).
This week, the Terrapins travel to Troy to face the Troy Trojans (7-4).
In recruiting news, the following Maryland targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) QB Jermaine Harris has committed to Maryland

=============== #16 Indiana Hoosiers (10-2) ===============
Last week, Indiana won 35-3 against Ball State (1-10).
This week, the Hoosiers are idle.
In recruiting news, the following Indiana targets have announced their decisions:
- (**) LT Rich Bracken has committed to Indiana
- (**) HB Mark Robinson has committed to Virginia

=============== South Florida Bulls (8-4) ===============
Last week, South Florida lost 43-28 against North Carolina (9-3).
This week, the Bulls are idle.
In recruiting news, the following South Florida targets have announced their decisions:
- (***) TE Tyrone Huff has committed to South Florida

=============== Rice Owls (7-5) ===============
Last week, Rice lost 62-59 against Iowa State (6-6).
This week, the Owls are idle.


=============== Buffalo Bulls (6-5) ===============
Last week, Buffalo won 37-33 against Miami University (5-6).
This week, the Bulls travel to Bowling Green to face the Bowling Green Falcons (6-5).


=============== Duke Blue Devils (5-7) ===============
Last week, Duke lost 38-35 against NC State (11-1).
This week, the Blue Devils are idle.

=============== UTSA Roadrunners (5-7) ===============
Last week, UTSA lost 26-14 against Texas State (3-9).
This week, the Roadrunners are idle.
In recruiting news, the following UTSA targets have announced their decisions:
- (***) WR Jason Davis has committed to UTSA


=============== Florida Atlantic Owls (2-9) ===============
Last week the Owls were idle.
This week, the Owls will host Mid Tenn State (4-7).
In recruiting news, the following Florida Atlantic targets have announced their decisions:
- (***) WR Anthony Downing has committed to Florida Atlantic
- (***) RG Ulysses Graham has committed to Florida Atlantic