NCAA 2011 Road To Glory - Nicholas Thomas (Houston)

[MacroGuru]

We are Marshall! Is a cry I hope I never hear again. It's a great place to play. Has some serious history around it.

They played us tough this season. Again my guys Vincent Jones fumbles a punt and ends up giving the ball right back to them where they score first. It forces our defense to go into a lockdown mode.

We held them until the 4 qtr. It was a solid game with interceptions and fumbles.

My Stats: 6 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 2 Sacks.

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Nebraska
5. LSU
6. Iowa
7. Georgia
8. Stanford
9. Houston
10. Florida St.
11. Ole Miss
12. Minnesota
13. Boston College
14. USF
15. Notre Dame
16. West Virginia
17. Boise
18. Virginia Tech
19. Penn St
20. OSU
21. Wisconsin
22. UCF
23. Georgia Tech
24. Pittsburgh
25. TCU

#5 Penn State loses a shocker to Big Ten opponent Purdue 14-7

The Sooners remain unbeated as the knock of conference foe Oklahoma State.

Michigan looks unbeatable after their 30-27 win against #2 Iowa

Gibson and Boston College knock off ACC opponent Virginia Tech, 17-3

Georgia Tech beats rival Clemson, but Archer will be sidelined for 9 weeks.

Simmons shows Washington the lost something good when he transferred.

BYU sits at 5-4 and 3-2 in conference play.

Colorado St is sitting at 8-1 with their only loss against a ranked TCU team.

UNLV is 1 - 7 and their lone win comes up against the likes of AF

[MacroGuru]

We have a bye for week 10.


1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Oklahoma
5. Nebraska
6. Georgia
7. Houston
8. Stanford
9. Florida St
10. USF
11. Boston College
12. Notre Dame
13. West Virginia
14. Boise
15. Virginia Tech
16. Minnesota
17. Penn St
18. UCF
19. OSU
20. Wisconsin
21. Iowa
22. Georgia Tech
23. Ole Miss
24. Pittsburgh
25. Central Michigan

We are now in the Top 10 officially and hope to stay there.

Cornhuskers remain unbeaten as they knock of conference foe Iowa State.

Michigan notches a conference win against Minnesota behind the arm of Adams.

Indiana's upset of Iowa raises some eyebrows around the league.

Arkansas refuses to lose as the Volunteers unravel let.

[MacroGuru]

It's the giant killers from last season. We know we will be in one of our toughest games of the season going into this game. They just match up with us to well. Their schemes keep us guessing.

They kept moving at will. They had our schemes down pat and we eventually were down 14 - 0.

We go in at halftime confused, upset and some of us feeling like last season all over again. Except for me. I grab the defense and pull them to a corner before the coaches get in the room.

I tell them flat out, we need to stop this team. We have to generate turnovers and give the ball back to the offense in favorable positions. I know we are tired, I know we are worn out. We are almost there. We can do this!

And it happened. My brothers on defense stepped up! We managed an interception on their side of the field, marched it down for a TD.

Then the next play I was able to force a fumble on their 20. We take that one in for a TD and the game is now tied.

Our offense then took over and racked up a TD and 2 FG's while we kept stuffing their O.

We rounded it out with 2 more FGs and ended up with the win. 33-14.

My Stats: 8 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack and 1 Forced Fumble.

I end up with Player of the Game and CUSA Player of the week honors

[MacroGuru]

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Oklahoma
4. Houston
5. Georgia
6. USF
7. Stanford
8. LSU
9. Florida St
10. Nebraska
11. Boston College
12. Notre Dame
13. West Virginia
14. Virginia Tech
15. Penn St
16. UCF
17. OSU
18. Iowa
19. Central Michigan
20. Pittsburgh
21. TCU
22. Colorado St
23. Boise
24. Minnesota
25. Wisconsin

We say goodbye to Vanderbilt and hello to Colorado State in the top 25.

Boise State falls to #23 following their 30-28 defeat at the hands of Louisiana Tech.

The Penn St campus is buzzing after a victory over #20 Wisconsin.

Oklahoma notches a conference win over OSU behind the arm of Carter.

The Wolverines remain unbeaten as they knock off conference foe Illinois.

Alabama rolls over LSU. Alabama takes down their bitter rival #3 LSU 44-20 earning the #1 spot again.

Offenses go wild as Florida outscores SEC foe Vanderbilt 42-39.

Also looking at the top 25 we see USF, UCF and Central Michigan in the top along with us.

We finally get a series look at 1 first place vote that moves up to the #4 spot.

[MacroGuru]

Alright, I thought I better log on and see where our everyone sits for the awards this season.

Bednarik
Nicholas Thomas

Nagurski
Nicholas Thomas

Lombardi
Pedro Brooks (LOLB Sophomore)
Doug Williams (LOLB Senior)

Best LB
Nicholas Thomas

Looking at this, we have to have one of the top linebacking corps in the country right now.

[MacroGuru]

UAB comes into town to challenge our perfect record. For us, it's getting stressful, we know each and every week we are going to be a bullseye. We know it's their shot for ruining our chances and building up their own.

It's a chance to say look...we did this.

This week wasn't any different, and our offense is not able to do a lot. Plus UAB made a lot of "safe" plays. They also caught us in a few blitzes. This time, I was double teamed all the time. When I say double team, they had wr's on me when I was spread out in coverage. It's crazy and I let it get to me mentally and had probably my worse game of my career here at Houston.

We won, 24 - 10, but it does not feel like it.

My Stats: 1 Tackle

[MacroGuru]

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Oklahoma
4. USF
5. Houston
6. Georgia
7. Stanford
8. LSU
9. Florida St
10. Nebraska
11. Boston College
12. Notre Dame
13. West Virginia
14. Virginia Tech
15. Penn St
16. Iowa
17. Central Michigan
18. Pittsburgh
19. Colorado St
20. Boise
21. UCF
22. Texas A&M
23. Michigan St
24. Georgia Tech
25. OSU

Damn, USF jumped us to 4 and we fell to 5. If we could have shut out UAB, I think we keep our 4 spot.

Oklahoma keeps their perfect record with a conference win against Baylor.

Iowa improves to 5-2 in Big Ten play with a 26-14 win over #17 OSU.

A dominant win by Oregon St in their trip to Los Angeles defeating USC 31 - 7.

Oregon holds conference rival Arizona to a goose-egg on the scoreboard.

Miami drops NC State, Increases it's ACC record to 4-4.

LSU explodes for 56 points against SEC rival Ole Miss.

BYU is 6-5, 4 - 3 in conference play with loses against Oregon St, Boise, TCU, Utah and Colorado St.

UNLV can't catch a break and are sitting at 1-9.


Bowl Projections


New Mexico Bowl - Syracuse vs Louisiana Tech
St. Petersburg Bowl - MArshall vs Bowling Green
New Orleans Bowl - UAB vs UL Lafayette
Las Vegas Bowl - Washington St vs Colorado St
Poinsetta Bowl - Cincinnati vs TCU
Hawaii Bowl - Memphis vs Hawaii
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Minnesota vs Central Michigan
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Georgia Tech vs Temple
Emerald Bowl - Fresno State vs Oregon St
Music City Bowl - Vanderbilt vs North Carolina
Independence Bowl - Utah vs Wake Forest
EagleBank Bowl - Miami (OH) vs Clemson
Champs Sports Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Virginia
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - West Virginia vs Boise St
Holiday Bowl - Oklahoma St vs Washington
Brut Sun Bowl - Oregon vs Miami
Armed Forces Bowl - SMU vs BYU
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - OSU vs UCF
Texas Bowl - Wisconsin vs Kansas
Insight Bowl - Kansas St vs Northwestern
Chic-fil-A Bowl - Arkansas vs Virginia Tech
Outback Bowl - Ole Miss vs Penn St
Capital One Bowl - LSU vs Iowa
Gator Bowl - Florida vs Michigan St
Rose Bowl - Houston vs Stanford
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs Florida St
Alamo Bowl - Texas vs UCLA
Orange Bowl - Boston College vs Nebraska
Sugar Bowl - USF vs Georgia
GMAC Bowl - Western Michigan vs Notre Dame
AT&T Cotton Bowl - South Carolina vs Texas A&M
Papajohns.com Bowl - Arkansas State vs Texas Tech

BCS National Championship Game - Michigan vs Alabama

We have the potential to visit the Rose Bowl or the second time in 3 years. I am pretty excited by that, although I would like the cards to fall to get us into the NC.

[MacroGuru]

The top 3 players for each award were announced this week. The following Houston Cougars are in the top 3

Bednarik
Nicholas Thomas

Nagurski
Nicholas Thomas

Lombardi
Pedro Brooks (LOLB Sophomore)

Best LB
Nicholas Thomas

For all intense purposes it looks like we will be bringing us 4 individual trophies home on top of whatever team trophies we can earn.

[MacroGuru]

The battle for the Bayou Bucket..It's the rivalry game, almost the last game of the season and this one has been heated all week. Words have been exchanged in the press. Rice is feeling really sure of themselves and picked on. This point makes them scary.

We start the game off rough. They march down the field easily on us. We have no answer for them. The score a TD on a deep pass. We turn around and make a time clock chewing drive and score tying it up.

They then put up 10 unanswered on us. Our offense continues to screw up into the 4th where we finally save the game by getting an INT for a TD. We then stuff Rice with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game. We march down the field and kick the FG, tying the game at 17. We leave them about 40 seconds to score and are able to hold them sending this game into OT.

Not only does it go into overtime, we send it into Triple OT and end up pulling the win out, 39 - 31.

It was a rough game, a lot of anger, pushing and shoving to start but ended up just being a focused affair in the end.

My Stats: 9 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Houston
5. Stanford
6. LSU
7. Florida St
8. Nebrask
9. Boston College
10. Notre Dame
11. West Virginia
12. Georgia
13. Virginia Tech
14. Central Michigan
15. Iowa
16. USF
17. Boise St
18. Michigan St
19. Georgia Tech
20. Penn St
21. Utah
22. Colorado St
23. Texas
24. SMU
25. Texas A&M

Michigan is tops in the rankings after blanking OSU 38 - 0.

USF is still in shock after losing their first game of the season to UConn 31-26.

Porter and Texas knock off Big 12 opponent Texas A&M 22-16.

Michigan State wins big at University Park against Penn St.

Buffalo barely edges out conference foe Ball State in 25-23 thriller.

Louisville improves its conference record to 3-4 with a shutout of Syracuse.


Bowl Projections


New Mexico Bowl - Mid Tenn St vs Louisiana Tech
St. Petersburg Bowl - Miami (OH) vs Ohio
New Orleans Bowl - UAB vs UL Lafayette
Las Vegas Bowl - Washington St vs TCU
Poinsetta Bowl - Arizona State vs Utah
Hawaii Bowl - Memphis vs Hawaii
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Minnesota vs Central Michigan
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Georgia Tech vs Florida
Emerald Bowl - Boise State vs Oregon St
Music City Bowl - Cincinnati vs Wake Forest
Independence Bowl - Colorado St vs Clemson
EagleBank Bowl - Bowling Green vs Navy
Champs Sports Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Virginia
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - West Virginia vs Fresno St
Holiday Bowl - Kansas St vs Washington
Brut Sun Bowl - Oregon vs Miami
Armed Forces Bowl - SMU vs BYU
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - OSU vs UCF
Texas Bowl - Wisconsin vs Kansas
Insight Bowl - Oklahoma St vs Northwestern
Chic-fil-A Bowl - Arkansas vs Virginia Tech
Outback Bowl - South Carolina vs Michigan St
Capital One Bowl - Georgia vs Iowa
Gator Bowl - Vanderbilt vs Penn St
Rose Bowl - Florida St vs Stanford
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs USF
Alamo Bowl - Texas vs UCLA
Orange Bowl - Boston College vs Nebraska
Sugar Bowl - Houston vs LSU
GMAC Bowl - Western Michigan vs Notre Dame
AT&T Cotton Bowl - Ole Miss vs Texas A&M
Papajohns.com Bowl - Arkansas State vs Iowa St

BCS National Championship Game - Michigan vs Alabama

And if we can beat Georgia Tech and secure our conference championship we should be heading to the Sugar Bowl. Our hope now is someone else plays the role of spoiler and takes out either Michigan or Alabama.

[MacroGuru]

Our first ranked opponent all season. It's Georgia Tech and their option attack coming into Houston. We are bound and determined to not lose this game.

It starts out well as we start out stuffing them and then on a 3rd and 2, their QB drops back. I am blitzing from the outside, and wrap him up. As he is going down the ball pops lose. I get up, scoop the ball and run the 7 yards in for the first score of the game.

We then hold them and move down and kick a FG. They then rattle off 17 points unanswered. We in turn hold and counter and score a TD.

They then march straight down the field and score again. We duke it out back and forth into the 4th quarter where we tie the game.

With less than a minute remaining, they run their option sweep to my side. I step up into the space between the back and the QB and pick the ball in mid stride and take it to the house scoring the game winning TD! This one is probably the highlight play of my career!

We hold them and force the 4 and out and end up walking away with a 31 - 24 win.

My Stats: 7 Tackles, 5 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack, 1 Forced Fumble, 2 Fumble Recoveries, 2 TD's.

My play earns me Player of the Game, CUSA and NCAA Player of the Week honors. I was bound to not lose this game.

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Houston
5. Stanford
6. Florida St
7. Nebraska
8. Boston College
9. Notre Dame
10. West Virginia
11. LSU
12. Central Michigan
13. Virginia Tech
14. Iowa
15. USF
16. Michigan St
17. Utah
18. Penn St
19. Colorado St
20. Georgia
21. Texas
22. Texas A&M
23. Boise St
24. Fresno St
25. Pittsburgh

Utah leaps to #17 after their victory over Boise St.

Oklahoma passes a major test against the #6 Tigers

UCLA travels to hostile Colosseum and takes out USC in OT.

Alabama shows just how dominant they can be at home spanking Akron 50- 7.

Washington State suffers a collapse against Pac-10 adversary Washington.

Syracuse improves to 6-6 and is bowl eligble after win over NC State.


Bowl Projections


New Mexico Bowl - BYU vs Louisiana Tech
St. Petersburg Bowl - Clemson vs Iowa St
New Orleans Bowl - UAB vs Arkansas St
Las Vegas Bowl - Washington St vs TCU
Poinsetta Bowl - Nevada vs Utah
Hawaii Bowl - Memphis vs Hawaii
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Minnesota vs Central Michigan
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Georgia Tech vs Texas Tech
Emerald Bowl - Boise State vs Oregon St
Music City Bowl - Arkansas vs North Carolina
Independence Bowl - Colorado St vs Wake Forest
EagleBank Bowl - Bowling Green vs Navy
Champs Sports Bowl - OSU vs Virginia
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Fresno St
Holiday Bowl - Kansas St vs Washington
Brut Sun Bowl - Oregon vs Miami
Armed Forces Bowl - SMU vs New Mexico
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Vanderbilt vs UCF
Texas Bowl - Wisconsin vs Kansas
Insight Bowl - Oklahoma St vs Northwestern
Chic-fil-A Bowl - Ole Miss vs Virginia Tech
Outback Bowl - Kentucky vs Michigan St
Capital One Bowl - LSU vs Iowa
Gator Bowl - South Carolina vs Penn St
Rose Bowl - Florida St vs Stanford
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs Notre Dame
Alamo Bowl - Texas vs UCLA
Orange Bowl - Boston College vs USF
Sugar Bowl - Houston vs Nebraska
GMAC Bowl - Western Michigan vs West Virginia
AT&T Cotton Bowl - Georgia vs Texas A&M
Papajohns.com Bowl - UL Lafayette vs Cincinnati

BCS National Championship Game - Michigan vs Alabama

One more game to help determine our fate!

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Houston
5. Stanford
6. Florida St
7. Nebraska
8. Boston College
9. Notre Dame
10. Central Michigan
11. West Virginia
12. LSU
13. Virginia Tech
14. Iowa
15. USF
16. Michigan St
17. Utah
18. Penn St
19. Colorado St
20. Georgia
21. Texas
22. Texas A&M
23. Boise St
24. Fresno St
25. Pittsburgh


Bowl Projections


New Mexico Bowl - BYU vs Louisiana Tech
St. Petersburg Bowl - Clemson vs Iowa St
New Orleans Bowl - UAB vs Arkansas St
Las Vegas Bowl - Washington St vs TCU
Poinsetta Bowl - Nevada vs Utah
Hawaii Bowl - Memphis vs Hawaii
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Minnesota vs Central Michigan
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Georgia Tech vs Texas Tech
Emerald Bowl - Boise State vs Oregon St
Music City Bowl - Arkansas vs North Carolina
Independence Bowl - Colorado St vs Wake Forest
EagleBank Bowl - Bowling Green vs Navy
Champs Sports Bowl - OSU vs Virginia
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Fresno St
Holiday Bowl - Kansas St vs Washington
Brut Sun Bowl - Oregon vs Miami
Armed Forces Bowl - SMU vs New Mexico
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Vanderbilt vs UCF
Texas Bowl - Wisconsin vs Kansas
Insight Bowl - Oklahoma St vs Northwestern
Chic-fil-A Bowl - Ole Miss vs Virginia Tech
Outback Bowl - Kentucky vs Michigan St
Capital One Bowl - LSU vs Iowa
Gator Bowl - South Carolina vs Penn St
Rose Bowl - Florida St vs Stanford
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs Notre Dame
Alamo Bowl - Texas vs UCLA
Orange Bowl - Boston College vs USF
Sugar Bowl - Houston vs Nebraska
GMAC Bowl - Western Michigan vs West Virginia
AT&T Cotton Bowl - Georgia vs Texas A&M
Papajohns.com Bowl - UL Lafayette vs Cincinnati

BCS National Championship Game - Michigan vs Alabama


Based upon projections and the championship games, it looks like we will be heading to the Sugar Bowl.

[MacroGuru]

This game here is the one we can not lose. We have to win this finish out the season undefeated and UCF has been a good time, bouncing in and out of the Top 25 all season long.

This will be tough, but I think we can do it.

We start out sputtering on offense, unable to generate anything. Our defense was in a bend but don't break mode.

The last few games we have given up the deep pass and it wasn't going to be any different this game.

We score first, they follow up with a FG. We then score again. They do not score until the 4th qtr with about 2 minutes remaining. They go for the onside kick and we are able to recover it and hold out for the 14-11 win.

My stats: 9 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss.

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Houston
5. Stanford
6. Florida St
7. Central Michigan
8. Notre Dame
9. Virginia Tech
10. West Virginia
11. Nebraska
12. LSU
13. Boston College
14. Iowa
15. USF
16. Michigan St
17. Utah
18. Penn St
19. Colorado St
20. Texas
21. Texas A&M
22. Boise St
23. Fresno St
24. Pittsburgh
25. Georgia Tech

[MacroGuru]

New Mexico Bowl - BYU vs Louisiana Tech
St. Petersburg Bowl - Cincinnati vs Clemson
New Orleans Bowl - UAB vs Arkansas St
Las Vegas Bowl - Washington St vs TCU
Poinsetta Bowl - Nevada vs Utah
Hawaii Bowl - Memphis vs Hawaii
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Minnesota vs Western Michigan
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Georgia Tech vs Iowa State
Emerald Bowl - Boise State vs Oregon St
Music City Bowl - Arkansas vs North Carolina
Independence Bowl - Colorado St vs Wake Forest
EagleBank Bowl - Bowling Green vs Navy
Champs Sports Bowl - OSU vs Virginia
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Fresno St
Holiday Bowl - Oklahoma St vs Washington
Brut Sun Bowl - Oregon vs Miami
Armed Forces Bowl - SMU vs New Mexico
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Vanderbilt vs UCF
Texas Bowl - Wisconsin vs Kansas State
Insight Bowl - Texas vs Northwestern
Chic-fil-A Bowl - South Carolina vs Boston College
Outback Bowl - Kentucky vs Michigan St
Capital One Bowl - LSU vs Iowa
Gator Bowl - Ole Miss vs Penn St
Rose Bowl - Florida St vs Stanford
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs Central Michigan
Alamo Bowl - Texas A&M vs UCLA
Orange Bowl - Virginia Tech vs USF
Sugar Bowl - Houston vs Notre Dame
GMAC Bowl - Miami (OH) vs West Virginia
AT&T Cotton Bowl - Georgia vs Nebraska
Papajohns.com Bowl - UL Lafayette vs Kansas

BCS National Championship Game - Michigan vs Alabama

Wow, we get to take on the Golden Domers! We get history and a large fan base to watch us at the Sugar Bowl. I think we should be playing Oklahoma but thats another story altogether.

Teams in Bold won their Bowl Game.

Michigan is brought back to national prominence while Alabama is playing for the 2nd straight.

[MacroGuru]

Well, traveling back and forth while practicing, talking to the media and starting to listen to NFL agents. It might be my time to jump to the pro's, I am not sure about it yet.

I picked up the same hardware as last season. And our Sophomore DT Pedro Brooks picks up the Lombardi!


Bednarik
Nicholas Thomas

Nagurski
Nicholas Thomas

Lombardi
Pedro Brooks (DT Sophomore)

Best LB
Nicholas Thomas

[MacroGuru]

I do not know how we end up being the visiting team for this game but it's ok. With that being said it might of well been a home game for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame sure as hell watched some of our game film at the end of the season. They attacked us deep and succeeded all day long. We were playing catchup the entire game. Our offense was not able to generate anything.

We lose the Sugar Bowl 27-21

My Stats: 7 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Oklahoma
3. Stanford
4. Alabama
5. Notre Dame
6. Houston
7. Central Michigan
8. West Virginia
9. Nebraska
10. LSU
11. Florida St
12. USF
13. Boston College
14. Virginia Tech
15. Utah
16. Penn St
17. Iowa
18. Texas
19. Texas A&M
20. Fresno St
21. Georgia Tech
22. Miami
23. Colorado St
24. TCU
25. OSU

[MacroGuru]

The 2012 season was a great season. I wish we could have pulled off the win in the Sugar Bowl. Our offense will click next season, I know it.

My final Stats for the season:

102 Tackles
33 Tackles for Loss
16 Assisted Tackles
9 Sacks
0 INT's
2 Defensive TD's
0 Pass Deflections
9 Forced Fumbles
2 Fumble Recoveries
0 Blocks
0 Safeties


My total career stats so far:


229 Tackles
66 Tackles for Loss
49 Assisted Tackles
22 Sacks
2 INT's
4 Defensive TD's
1 Pass Deflections
15 Forced Fumbles
8 Fumble Recoveries
0 Blocks
0 Safeties

[MacroGuru]

What to do. The phone has been ringing off the hook. The press has been calling me, NFL Agents, friends, family...everyone.

Mel Kiper and Todd McShay both have me valued as late 1st round / 2nd round in the NFL. I talk with my brother, who is in the NFL and my parents plus my coach. My brother made the leap now, I want to finish it out. I want to finish what I committed to, and I have made my decision to stay at Houston and finish out my senior season.

[MacroGuru]

We have the following freshman on the team this season:

QB Jeff Mullins
HB Quincy Williams
LG Marcus Wilcox
LG Anthony Dennis
C Kyler Williams
DT Tim Vinson
OLB Maurice Hall
SS Luke Wilson
K Heath Clark
P Joel Watkins

Quincy will platoon and end up being our 2nd HB, Kyler is our starting C, Heath and Joel are our kickers everyone else will be 3rd or lower on the depth chart.

[MacroGuru]

Our schedule for this season is:

FCS E
@ EMU
@ UTEP
@ Tulsa
@ Tulane
Memphis
Army
USM
@UCF
SMU
Rice
Idaho

Not a tough schedule as far as teams, but brutal with 4 away games right up front. We aren't ranked and will have to go undefeated again to get anywhere.

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Notre Dame
7. Nebraska
8. Florida St
9. Penn St
10. OSU
11. Texas A&M
12. Boston College
13. West Virginia
14. Texas
15. Virginia Tech
16. Iowa
17. Miami
18. Georgia Tech
19. Arkansas
20. Michigan St
21. Wisconsin
22. Georgia
23. Utah
24. Ole Miss
25. Central Michigan


This is crap, it goes to show you who controls college football now. All BCS schools until Utah @ 23. We are ranked 26th, right behind Central Michigan. I guess it pays to be in an AQ Conference.

[MacroGuru]

We have a BYE for Week 1.


1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Notre Dame
7. Nebraska
8. Florida St
9. Penn St
10. OSU
11. Texas A&M
12. Boston College
13. West Virginia
14. Texas
15. Virginia Tech
16. Iowa
17. Miami
18. Georgia Tech
19. Arkansas
20. Michigan St
21. Wisconsin
22. Georgia
23. Utah
24. Ole Miss
25. Central Michigan

No movement in the Week 1 polls

[MacroGuru]

Not much to say here. We were prepared to come out and prove that we are wanting to be one of the top teams in the nation.

We put on a defensive clinic this game with 2 interceptions, 3 Forced Fumbles, 3 Fumble Recoveries and just plain old stopping this team at every point.

Our offense has yet to gel, but it should be a very potent passing attack this season.

We won 38 - 0.

My Stats: 5 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recovery

My play ended up getting me Player of the Game and CUSA Player of the Week honors.

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Florida St
7. Nebraska
8. Penn St
9. OSU
10. Texas A&M
11. Boston College
12. Notre Dame
13. Texas
14. Virginia Tech
15. Iowa
16. Miami
17. Georgia Tech
18. Arkansas
19. West Virginia
20. Michigan St
21. Georgia
22. Utah
23. Central Michigan
24. Houston
25. Texas Tech

Texas Tech jumps to #25 after beating Wisconsin 24-10

No other game was bigger in than Michigan's 40-7 win over Notre Dame

Wesley is all smiles after Miami hands his old team a 40-20 loss

Aztecs win their conference opener against Colorado State

[MacroGuru]

I didn't know what to expect going into this game as EMU hasn't been on the radar for the past few years. They run a single back, run and shoot type offense.

Again defensively we wanted to pitch a shutout and also prove the deep ball isn't going to beat us this season. Well one of them proved true.

We managed to put on another clinic defensively, their starting QB was injured in the 1st qtr and from then on it was just make life hell for the backup.

We ended up shutting them out and tormenting their QB all game long. The score was 30 - 0.

I am getting slightly concerned about our boys on offense, we handed the ball to them several times deep in Eastern Michigan territory and we came away with nothing.

My Stats: 8 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 2 Sacks, 1 Forced Fumble.

For the second week in a row I take Player of the Game and CUSA Player of the Week honors!

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Florida St
7. Penn St
8. OSU
9. Texas
10. Georgia Tech
11. Iowa
12. Miami
13. Nebraska
14. Boston College
15. Michigan St
16. Notre Dame
17. West Virginia
18. Virginia Tech
19. Utah
20. Central Michigan
21. UCLA
22. Houston
23. Arkansas
24. Texas A&M
25. Washington

Now before I break down some of the top headlines this week, I have to question the sanity of the coaches. Really, an 0-2 Notre Dame team is still ranked? HOW THE HELL?

Home field couldn't help #7 Nebraska overcome a lackluster performance against UCLA.

Yellow Jackets are confident after a ACC victory over Virginia Tech.

The 31 - 7 loss to FIU proves Texas A&M did not deserve to be ranked at #10.

The SEC season begins on a high note for Alabama as they took Arkansas to the woodshed, 66 - 28.

Oregon edges Tennessee, keeps the power of Autzen Stadium alive.

BYU sits at 2-0with wins over Akron and UNLV

UNLV is at 1-1 with a win over FCS E. They play #8 OSU this week.

[MacroGuru]

Our 2nd road game in the 4 road game stint. UTEP has a wide open offense with motion to confuse the defense.

They did it properly for the entire game and even attacked us deep. I don't know what our issue is other than we are to aggressive.

We were barely able to pull this one out, 31 - 28.

My stats: 4 Tackles, 1 Forced Fumble

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Florida St
7. Penn St
8. OSU
9. Texas
10. Georgia Tech
11. Iowa
12. Miami
13. Nebraska
14. Michigan St
15. Notre Dame
16. West Virginia
17. Utah
18. Central Michigan
19. Houston
20. Virginia Tech
21. Texas A&M
22. Washington
23. Boise St
24. Boston College
25. Kansas

[MacroGuru]

Tulsa and their high powered offense hit a meat grinder in today.

We took it to them from the get go and in the 1st half our offense looked like it should be scoring 31 of our 38 points. Coach dialed them back in the 2nd half and we stood pat on defense allowing a fluke TD in the third qtr.

I had to bruising hits this game, taking their QB and their RB out of the game with a sprained ankle and a separated shoulder.

I walked over to their RB at the end of the game to make sure he was ok, their QB hobbled up to and said nice hit at the end.

My Stats: 6 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 2 Sacks

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Florida St
6. Stanford
7. Penn St
8. OSU
9. Texas
10. Miami
11. Nebraska
12. Michigan St
13. Notre Dame
14. Georgia Tech
15. West Virginia
16. Utah
17. Iowa
18. Central Michigan
19. Houston
20. Virginia Tech
21. Boise St
22. Arkansas
23. Boston College
24. TCU
25. Pittsburgh

So we and Central Michigan sit at the same spots at 4-0 while others move and shift ahead of us. I honestly hate this.

BYU is at 2-2 with loses to #21 Boise St and Wyoming (ACK!)

UNLV is 1-3 with loses to #8 OSU, #24 TCU and BYU

[MacroGuru]

Tulane was tough and held on tight for the first qtr and half of the second. Our offense then started rolling and hitting the home run plays that we need in order to succeed.

Three and outs demoralize us on defense, it's almost like, do we really have to go back out, we just got here.

We stopped Tulane and pitched the shutout while we were at it 41-0.

My Stats: 5 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Stanford
5. Penn St
6. OSU
7. Texas
8. Miami
9. Oklahoma
10. Nebraska
11. Georgia Tech
12. Florida St
13. West Virginia
14. Michigan St
15. Iowa
16. Central Michigan
17. Houston
18. Boise St
19. Wake Forest
20. Pittsburgh
21. Arkansas
22. California
23. Texas A&M
24. Utah
25. Oregon

2 spots and Central Michigan is still ahead of us...guess the 41 - 0 drubbing wasn't enough of a statement win.

BYU is now 3-2 with their win coming against #24 Utah!

UNLV drops to 1-4 with them losing this week at Nevada

[MacroGuru]

Our homecoming game is against Memphis who does everything in their power to destroy our night and it comes close to it.

Even though we won 13 - 0 it feels nothing like a win. An amazing performance from our Sophomore MLB is the only reason we won this game. He had a pick at the end that stopped a drive that was entering into our territory.

Memphis took me away from the play most of the time and when I blitzed I was double teamed a lot. I got into it with their center as he tried to chop block me while I was tied up with their left tackle.

My stats: 6 Tackles, 1 Forced Fumble

[MacroGuru]

1. Michigan
2. Alabama
3. Penn St
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Miami
7. Texas
8. Oklahoma
9. Georgia Tech
10. OSU
11. West Virginia
12. Michigan St
13. Iowa
14. Central Michigan
15. Wake Forest
16. Houston
17. California
18. Boise St
19. Florida St
20. Nebraska
21. Baylor
22. Texas A&M
23. Utah
24. Oregon
25. Notre Dame

A 3-3 Notre Dame team ends up ranked. 8-13 all have 1 loss and then we have us, Central Michigan and Wake undefeated.

BYU had a BYE week while UNLV had another loss.

[MacroGuru]

This is a game that I have been pretty excited to play. I know that the history behind the Army football program is unique and storied. I was also interested in the military growing up and Army was honestly a thought process for me as walking on to the team, but my parents talked me out of it.

As usual, this game was a slow start offensively for us. We were keyed up on defense, we tend to be against an option team. We shut them down on the run and they really weren't able to do much against us in the air.

Our offense scored 21 in the 2nd qtr and scored another 21 in the 2nd half. Defensively, we shut them out winning the game 42 - 0.

My stats: 6 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack and 1 Interception.

I ended up earning Player of Game honors and CUSA Player of the Week.

[MacroGuru]

1. Penn St
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Stanford
5. Miami
6. Texas
7. Michigan
8. Oklahoma
9. OSU
10. West Virginia
11. California
12. Wake Forest
13. Central Michigan
14. Iowa
15. Houston
16. Georgia Tech
17. Boise St
18. Florida St
19. Michigan St
20. Nebraska
21. Oregon
22. Notre Dame
23. Auburn
24. Baylor
25. Virginia Tech

Penn State ends up taking down Michigan and leaping to the #1 spot. We are unable to garner any respect and it's our schedule that is the cause.

BYU is 3 -3 with their last game an OT loss to TCU.

UNLV is now 2-5 with their 2nd win coming at the expense of Air Force.

[MacroGuru]

We don't have a ton of games left before I am done playing ball in the college ranks. USM has always been a tough play for us since I have been here, I know this game will not be different.

We come out just slugging them in the jaw but they fight back. We scored a FG initially and they march down to get into FG position, 4th and 11 and we lineup. I jump the snap, a little to early. They miss the FG but I get flagged for offsides, they lineup to kick it again and they miss! It will go to show you the kind of day USM.

We rounded the game out nicely with our offense doing the bulk of the work. USM played a pretty clean game as far as turnovers.

My stats: 6 Tackles, 4 Tackles for Loss, 3 Sacks

Player of the Game and CUSA player of the week honors were earned again!

[MacroGuru]

1. Penn St
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. California
7. Oklahoma
8. Wake Forest
9. OSU
10. West Virginia
11. Iowa
12. Central Michigan
13. Stanford
14. Houston
15. Michigan
16. Boise St
17. Georgia Tech
18. Michigan St
19. Oregon
20. Notre Dame
21. USC
22. Virginia Tech
23. UCLA
24. Auburn
25. Nebraska

The PAC-10 is seriously over-hyped this season with UCLA, CAL, Stanford and Oregon in the Top 25. I have given up on us catching a break. Hell, Wake Forest is in the ACC a BCS conference and they have barely cracked the Top 10.

BYU is 4-3 with a win over Colorado State this week.

UNLV is 3-5 with a 52-21 win over Wyoming. If they win 3 out of their last 4 games they become bowl eligible. They can do it with CSU, UNM, Utah and ULM.

[MacroGuru]

The Golden Knights always play us tough and we are on the road. We need to win and keep on winning in order to move up.

UCF plays us tough for the game. Our aggressive defense keeps them on their heels though and we keep on taking out starting QB's. It was a rainy game and the ball was all over the ground.

Offensively we score just enough to win, 17-7.

My Stats: 6 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack and 2 Forced Fumbles

I am awarded Player of the Game honors.

[MacroGuru]

1. LSU
2. Penn St
3. Miami
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
7. OSU
8. West Virginia
9. Central Michigan
10. Iowa
11. Houston
12. Boise St
13. Michigan
14. Georgia Tech
15. Michigan St
16. Oregon
17. Stanford
18. UCLA
19. Notre Dame
20. USC
21. California
22. Wake Forest
23. Auburn
24. Nebraska
25. Texas A&M

The papers complain Boise St is getting the shaft, but what about us? We are poised to crack the Top 10 with a win this week.

Wake Forest fall for the first time this season against Virginia.

LSU crushes Alabama in Tuscaloosa 51-21.

Cal drops one to Oregon St in OT.

BYU is now 5-3 with a win over UNM

UNLV is 3-6 with a loss to Colorado State

[MacroGuru]

The following Houston Cougars are on award lists:

Bednarik
OLB Nicholas Thomas
DT Pedro Brooks
LE Lee Nance

Nagurski
OLB Nicholas Thomas
DT Pedro Brooks
LE Lee Nance

Rimington
C Kyler Williams (He is a FR to boot!)

Lombardi
DT Pedro Brooks
LE Lee Nance
RE John Rosario
DT Wayne Carlton

Best LB
OLB Nicholas Thomas

Groza
K Heath Clark (Another FR!)

[MacroGuru]

SMU, our bane, the one team that took us out last season and has a chance to do it this season. We can not let this happen again.

It was a back and forth affair for most of the game. We scored a FG first, they then rattled off 10 points and then we take and add 10 more points to our tally.

After that, we trailed most of the game, including the last 1:30, when I came in on a blitz on 3rd and long and forced their QB to throw it up and Triplett managed to get a pick 6.

We added 2 additional FGs in the waning seconds to win this one 34-28.

It was a rough game I am happy to get through...next week will be nice as we have a BYE.

My Stats: 10 tackles, 1 Forced Fumble

[MacroGuru]

1. LSU
2. Penn St
3. Miami
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
7. OSU
8. West Virginia
9. Houston
10. Iowa
11. Boise St
12. Michigan
13. Georgia Tech
14. Michigan St
15. Oregon
16. Stanford
17. UCLA
18. Central Michigan
19. Notre Dame
20. USC
21. Wake Forest
22. Nebraska
23. California
24. Tennessee
25. Utah

We crack the Top 10 and Central Michigan drops a game to Western Michigan. We are now down to two non-aq schools left for a chance to get into a BCS game.

BYU is 6-3 with a win over SDSU and have now become bowl eligible.

UNLV is 4-6 with a win over UNM. They must win at #25 Utah and ULM to become bowl eligible.

[MacroGuru]

1. LSU
2. Penn St
3. Miami
4. Oklahoma
5. Alabama
6. Houston
7. OSU
8. West Virginia
9. Iowa
10. Boise St
11. Texas
12. Michigan
13. Michigan St
14. Stanford
15. UCLA
16. Notre Dame
17. USC
18. Tennessee
19. Nebraska
20. Georgia Tech
21. Oregon
22. Wake Forest
23. Florida
24. Virginia Tech
25. TCU

We jump 3 spots without playing a game because Tennessee beat Texas to move to #18. Central Michigan loses again and drops out of the Top 25 altogether.

BYU is 7-3 with a win over Air Force

UNLV had a BYE week but plays a Utah team that just lost to TCU.

[MacroGuru]

The following Houston Cougars are Finalists for the award lists:

Bednarik
OLB Nicholas Thomas
DT Pedro Brooks

Nagurski
OLB Nicholas Thomas
DT Pedro Brooks
LE Lee Nance

Rimington
C Kyler Williams (He is a FR to boot!)

Lombardi
DT Pedro Brooks
LE Lee Nance

Best LB
OLB Nicholas Thomas

[MacroGuru]

I thought I would separate the projections from the Top 25 this season..

New Mexico Bowl - Eastern Michigan vs Nevada
St. Petersburg Bowl - Memphis vs Temple
New Orleans Bowl - UAB vs UL Lafayette
Las Vegas Bowl - California vs TCU
Poinsetta Bowl - Western Kentucky vs BYU
Hawaii Bowl - UTEP vs Fresno St
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Rutgers vs Western Michigan
Meineke Car Care Bowl - Florida St vs UConn
Emerald Bowl - Boise State vs Washington
Music City Bowl - Arkansas St vs North Carolina
Independence Bowl - Utah vs Duke
EagleBank Bowl - Kent State vs Clemson
Champs Sports Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl - USF vs San Jose St
Holiday Bowl - Missouri vs UCLA
Brut Sun Bowl - Oregon vs Virginia Tech
Armed Forces Bowl - Tulsa vs San Diego St
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Toledo vs Marshall
Texas Bowl - Louisville vs FIU
Insight Bowl - Oklahoma St vs Illinois
Chic-fil-A Bowl - Ole Miss vs Wake Forest
Outback Bowl - South Carolina vs Michigan
Capital One Bowl - Florida vs Iowa
Gator Bowl - Auburn vs Michigan St
Rose Bowl - Oklahoma vs USC
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs West Virginia
Alamo Bowl - Texas A&M vs Stanford
Orange Bowl - Miami vs Houston
Sugar Bowl - Alabama vs OSU
GMAC Bowl - Central Michigan vs Notre Dame
AT&T Cotton Bowl - Tennessee vs Nebraska
Papajohns.com Bowl - North Texas vs Cincinnati

BCS National Championship Game - LSU vs Penn St

I don't mind keeping where we are at unless we play in the National Championship..