NCAA07: D-1A Football's Last Frontier

[Young Drachma]

After the discussion about TCY and Alaska and D-1 football, I decided this was a good idea for a dynasty. Perhaps if I can manage to do this interestingly enough, I can tackle the only other state without D-1 football (1-A or 1-AA), Vermont. (I argue that state would be harder...)

Anyway, here we go.

I'm starting at newly created University of Anchorage. We're a private university, sitting on a fairly large endowment, due to the largess of our trustees who are oil magnates and wanted an elite university in Alaska. And what elite university doesn't have good ol' fashioned football?

We play in the ExxonMobil Dome in Anchorage and well, here is our story. Rather than give chronicles of things that happen in minute detail, I'll be doing a "gloss-over" and then talking specifically about what we're doing in recruiting, etc.

NCAA07 has issues, but...I like to escape from textsimming every once in a while with some actual real life button mashing.

[Young Drachma]

I thought I had the original text that I wrote for this dynasty, but I must've deleted figuring I wouldn't actually follow through with this dynasty...

We are the the U of A Klondikes and our first season in D-1 was actually as a D-1A independent, but we played a schedule comprised mostly of D-1AA teams. We went 7-5, with all of our wins coming against 1-AA schools and 3 of our losses included the three 1-A games we scheduled that year.

Hawaii is our rival and we try to make it so that game is the last game of the season.

[Young Drachma]

Our first recruiting off-season went ok. Our top recruit was a 4-star QB from Colorado and our class ranked 60th overall. Not bad considering I had no real expectations. The real coup, I think, could be the potential huge transfer class. We accepted 6 transfers last year, so while we're sorta thin this year, we'll be able to look forward to next year, especially if those guys pan out.

I'll post our schedule for this second season (which I'm in the midst of) next.

[Young Drachma]

As we get further into this, I'll start to post rosters and all of that information. I won't right now, because I'd have to go through and tell you where everyone is from, so you can get invested in them...and we're in mid-season and so..I'd rather wait until the end of this second season before doing all of that.

Especially with our transfers coming in and all.

[Young Drachma]

(HOME GAMES IN CAPS)

1: @ Wyoming L 35-42
2: KENTUCKY W 40-24
3: @ Pitt W 27-21
4: @ #25 Kansas St. L 14-33
5: NORTH TEXAS
6: @ Rice
7: IDAHO
8: SMU
10: FLORIDA A&M
12: @ Mississippi State
13: @ Colorado State
14: HAWAII

[Young Drachma]

NORTH TEXAS (1-2) @ ANCHORAGE (2-2)
W 28-24
This was a game I thought we could win and we managed to pull it out. Down 24-14 heading into the 4th quarter, Anchorage Freshman QB David Samuel managed to make us forget about his FOUR interceptions in the game, throwing a 51-yard TD pass in the 4th quarter, followed by a INT return 40 seconds later by Freshman Linebacker Manuel Martin, to give the Klondikes the win and bumping us to 3-2 on the season.

ANCHORAGE (3-2) @ RICE (1-4)

This was another game that we scheduled under the premise that we thought we could compete and get a win. We've been hanging out in Texas a lot this year, but...you have to go where the people will play you. At any rate, this game turned out to be a low scoring affair, with our offense again proving that they can't really score much, but seemingly just enough to make a difference.

Samuel went 6 for 16 passing, with no TDs, with a 3-yard TD run in the 4th quarter that put the Klondikes over the top and allowed us to notch another W.

IDAHO (0-5) @ ANCHORAGE(4-2)
422 yards. That's the offensive output by the Klondikes in a game that was supposed to be about them making a statement that the program has arrived. Now, granted it was against a team that hasn't a won game yet this season, but...when you are in just your 2nd season as a Division 1 program, you take the moral victories when you can get them.

A key statistic for Anchorage, they were 7 for 12 on 3rd down, a problem area for the team earlier in the season that seems to be working itself out as time goes on. Yet, the team had three fumbles, though no interceptions was the relief of the day for freshman QB David Samuel, who threw for 258 yards on 22 of 34 passing and 4 TDs, the best game of his short career.

Freshman running back David Al-Emin had 21 carries for 149 yards and 1 TD. While there is a sense of excitement in the area, there is little talk from the faithful in Anchorage about bowl consideration.

"We're an independent and we haven't played anyone good enough -- and won -- to consider any real consideration for a bowl. I tell the boys each day that they ought to go out and play each game this season as if it's a bowl game. That's their motivation," said Coach Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

We had one kid visit last week, OLB Tom Carrie out of Campbell, CA. He's 6'5" 240 and decided to sign with us in Week 8. He's a 4-star recruit and the #7 rated player at his position in the country. Needless to say we are happy.

Other recruits we are targeting:

FS Johnny Hawk - Turlock, CA
(Other schools: UNLV, San Diego St.)
Runs a 4.4 40, has great field awareness and decent (c+) hands. Has average potential, but is the #1 rated free safety out of HS in the nation. So needless to say, he'd be a coup for us to get...so long as he qualifIes.

WR Micheal Thompson - Draper, UT
(Other schools: Nebraska, Oklahoma, UCLA, Texas)
Runs a 4.3 40, has excellent hands and squats 350. 42.5" vertical leap. Ranked #5 at his position nationally and has A+ hands.

C Jim Mitchell, San Gabriel, CA
(Other Schools: USC, UCLA, San Jose St., Cal)
Has excellent field awareness, but doesn't have a ton of potential. Squats 655 lbs. 6'3, 277 lbs. #3 rated C in the nation.

C Tommy Barnes Richfield, UT
(Other Schools: Oklahoma, Kansas St. Nebraska, Texas)
6'2, 301. Excellent field awareness, but not very nimble. #6 rated center in the country.

G Todd Vinson, Evansville, WY
(Other schools: Nebraska, Oklahoma, USC, Oregon)
6'2" 325. #5 rated guard in the country. He'd add to our collection of 4-star recruits if we could sign him. Our line is the weakest part of our team, especially on the offensive side, so...we're desperate.

WR Tommy Turner, Hamilton, ONT, Canada
(Other schools: Ohio State, Michigan)
Tenth rated out of HS players, Has good hands, but not exactly very field aware. Runs a 4.3 40, 6'2" 190 lbs.

DT Shawn Nash, Kerrville, TX
(Other schools: Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M)
#6 rated in the country, benches 455, 6'2" 298.

DT Justin Ross, Palo Alto, CA
(Other Schools: USC, UCLA, Boise St., Arizona St.)
#5 Rated, 6'1" 305, Has Poor potential, but still a 4-star recruit.

C Brian Novak, Chula Vista, CA
(Other Schools: USC, New Mexico)
#9 rated, 6'3" 270

OLB Austin Miles, Meadow Lakes, AK
(Other Schools: USC, UCLA, UNLV, Colorado)
#5 rated, Top prospect in all of Alaska.

[Young Drachma]

SMU (1-5) @ ANCHORAGE (5-2)
W 21-16
470 yards of total offense, but we gave up 418 yards to them. Both teams threw 2 picks and it came down to another 4th quarter rally for the Klondikes to get it done, with an 85-yard pass for a TD, followed up by a 55 yarder with 7 seconds left, to win a thriller at home. While fans are excited, they are more interested in seeing us play better teams. "In all due time, we tell them."


RECRUITS COMMITTED: FS JOHNNY HAWK, WR TOMMY TURNER, C BRIAN NOVAK

[Young Drachma]

The rest of season two went a little something like this:

10: FLORIDA A&M W (52-7)
12: @ Mississippi State W (16-14)
13: @ Colorado State L (16-21)
14: HAWAII L (14-38)

So we end our first full D-1 season at 8-4. Not exactly the most challenging schedule in the world, but..if you saw our team, you'd understand that I wasn't looking to play teams that were going to bomb us into the stone age.

Our team leaders were like this:

QB DAVID SAMUEL
(FR) 199 of 366, 2707 yards passing, 23 TDs, 19 INTs

RB DEVON AL-EMIN
(FR) 1204 yards rushing, 7 TDs

WR NATE VOGEL
(SO) 76 receptions, 1003 yards, 4 TDs
WR/FS LaMARR EDWARDS (played HB last year...had 7 TDs)
(SO) 33 receptions, 667 yards, 12 TDs
43 tackles, 4 INTs

WR KEN DANIELS
(FR) 44 receptions, 486 yards, 4 TDs

LE ROBERTO GALLEGOS
(FR) 128 tackles, 16 sacks,
ROLB BRIAN MURPHY
(FR) 95 tackles, 6 interceptions

That's pretty much our ballclub. It's a young team that played way over its head this year and naturally, having a weak schedule only helped us build a little confidence, but considering we lost to 1-AA schools last year, it's not to say that we were guaranteed to win the games we played against substandard teams.

Samuel did the best he could, given he was a four-star recruit who was clearly overmatched at this level in his first season as a starter, but we didn't really have a choice but to use him, as he was our best option at the position. We have a guy who transferred in (JR Scott Jennings) that will be battling hard for the gig next year.

Besides that, we're going to work hard in the off-season to continue to shore up our O-Line and to get more offensive pieces to the puzzle, because my offense relies on quick strike players at the wing, with a back who can decoy. It's unlikely we'll find everything we need, of course, but I'm confident that we can build on this recruiting season and find the sort of players we want to help us to be a real contender in the next 3-5 years. After all, we are not lacking in resources, our issue is just having success and encouraging players to come here.

We shall see. Awards and Bowl info next up.

[Young Drachma]

We were not empty handed in the awards category.

BRIAN MURPHY won the Bednarik and was named best Linebacker.

ROBERTO GALLEGOS won the Lombardi Award.

DARK CLOUD was a finalist for Coach of the Year.

Adam Silva, JR, Hawaii won the Heisman. 2076 yards, 26 TDs (152 Rec.0

We will take on UNLV in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. Needless to say, we're stoked about that. But it won't be easy and might not be particularly pretty for us. Two seasons in and we're in a bowl game. Might seem slightly unrealistic, but...when you consider that a school comes from scratch, plays as an independent and makes an impact as we have -- and make no mistake, to do this you'd have to make an impact or not bother -- it's not that insane.

It does raise the stakes for us a bit though.

[Young Drachma]

POINSETTIA BOWL
UNLV is the 18th in PPG this season (We are 71st)
They are the #8 rated offense in America (Ours is 59th)
We are however, the #57th rated defense in the country (they are 81st)

So...if we can find a way to score points (unlikely) this could be a good game.

[Young Drachma]

We lost the Poinsettia Bowl 14-10, with UNLV scoring a TD in the 4th quarter to seal the victory. Still, I'm proud of the team and what they managed to accomplish in just our second season in 1-A.

[Young Drachma]

National Title Game: West Virginia 45 Virginia Tech 22

We have been invited to join the WAC. Do we do it or not? I'm leaning towards no...but...

[Emiliano]

Niiice! I love this kind of start-from-scratch things.

How come you don't wanna join the WAC?

[Young Drachma]

I like being able to pick our schedule from scratch each year and it allows us a lot more flexibility. I mean, being a team in Alaska, I'd figure in real life that we'd be able to do a lot more to increase our national profile by traveling than we could trying to stick to the west coast entirely. That's just putting a "real world" spin on what we do.

[WVUFAN]

GO MOUTAINEERS -- NATIONAL CHAMPS, BABY!! And over the Chokies, too!

Oh yeah ... go Alaska too.