The Ladder 2017 - Player Cuts - Deadline is 7/6 (Sun) at 11 p.m. EST

[Kodos]

Here are the Out of Conference schedules. FCS teams must go, and don't forget any "play in player's home state" promises.

Buffalo
at Rutgers
vs. TCU
vs. Louisiana Tech

Duke
vs. FCS West
vs. Oregon St
at UL Monroe

Florida Atlantic
vs. Troy
at Tulane
at FIU

Rice
at K State
at SMU
vs. Kansas

South Florida
FCS
at WKU
at San Luis Obispo

USC
FCS
at Kent State
at UL Monroe

UTSA
vs. Arizona
at Colorado State
vs. Texas State

[Julio Riddols]

I'm good with my schedule as is, though I would prefer to play Texas State in my opener or as close to it as possible. I'm hoping my conference schedule is good enough that I won't need games against top teams added to the mix.

[gstelmack]

Can I get UCF to replace my FCS game? If not, FSU (Florida State, not the pretender in California that I used as the roster for this team...)

[MacroGuru]

I need to look at things tonight and I will let you know

[Eaglesfan27]

I would like ucla to replace my fcs game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Also, heads up: I will be out of the country for work on Feb 8th to the 15th so a bye work for the first week would be good.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Also, heads up: I will be out of the country for work on Feb 8th to the 15th so a bye work for the first week would be good.

Will try to arrange that.

[Julio Riddols]

My initial stuff is done too.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Also, heads up: I will be out of the country for work on Feb 8th to the 15th so a bye work for the first week would be good.

Might need to do something similar for me - I am at Disney World much of the same week.

[CU Tiger]

Lets make my Troy game AT Troy...promised 3 kids an AL game
Leave AT Tulane
And Id like to substitute the FIU game for a game in the state of MS.


Other than that done and ready to advance

[gstelmack]

There is one decent recruit whose top 3 schools are Indiana, USF, and Duke. Looks like he could play for us, with any luck his skills are a hair below top conference standards...

[cartman]

All set and ready to go

[MacroGuru]

Alright Kodos,

For my Schedule I need to do the following

Change

LA Tech to be @Temple
Rutgers to be @Tennessee or MTSU

If I am playing BYU or Utah State, make sure it is @ their location

If I am not playing either one, switch TCU to be @ BYU or Utah State

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

I'm good with my schedule as is, though I would prefer to play Texas State in my opener or as close to it as possible. I'm hoping my conference schedule is good enough that I won't need games against top teams added to the mix.

Week 1 vs. Texas State.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Can I get UCF to replace my FCS game? If not, FSU (Florida State, not the pretender in California that I used as the roster for this team...)

Hosting UCF in Week 2.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I would like ucla to replace my fcs game.

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Also, heads up: I will be out of the country for work on Feb 8th to the 15th so a bye work for the first week would be good.

You host UCLA in Week 2.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Might need to do something similar for me - I am at Disney World much of the same week.

Weeks 1 and 2 open, hosting UCF in Week 3.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Lets make my Troy game AT Troy...promised 3 kids an AL game
Leave AT Tulane
And Id like to substitute the FIU game for a game in the state of MS.


Other than that done and ready to advance

Week 2 at Ole Miss.
Week 3 at Troy.
Week 13 at Tulane.

That gives you 5 home games and 7 road games.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Alright Kodos,

For my Schedule I need to do the following

Change

LA Tech to be @Temple
Rutgers to be @Tennessee or MTSU

If I am playing BYU or Utah State, make sure it is @ their location

If I am not playing either one, switch TCU to be @ BYU or Utah State

Temple is in your conference, and you host them in Week 11. Can't switch location.
BYU is in your conference, you host them in Week 5. Can't switch location.

Week 2 at MTSU.
If you need a game in PA, I can give you @ Penn State in Week 1.
Week 4 hosting TCU. Cannot get a Utah team to show up on you OOC schedule.

[Julio Riddols]

Sweet. Glad to get those marshmallows out of the way early.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Kodos

That gives you 5 home games and 7 road games.

Have you seen our stadium? Thats a good thing. lol

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Temple is in your conference, and you host them in Week 11. Can't switch location.
BYU is in your conference, you host them in Week 5. Can't switch location.

Week 2 at MTSU.
If you need a game in PA, I can give you @ Penn State in Week 1.
Week 4 hosting TCU. Cannot get a Utah team to show up on you OOC schedule.

Damn, so can't get Utah or Utah State?

Give me @Penn State in Week 1

Do I play @Ohio this season or are they coming to my place?

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm set to advance.

[chesapeake]

I'll get on this tonight. I'm just sobering up now after my Seahawks finally came through for me.

[Kodos]

Congrats, chesapeake. (I was on the other side, unfortunately.)

I'll get back on the stick with this stuff tonight.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Damn, so can't get Utah or Utah State?

Give me @Penn State in Week 1

Do I play @Ohio this season or are they coming to my place?

Yes. You play at Ohio, and at Bowling Green.

[Kodos]

We're on to the regular season opener.

[gstelmack]

This recruiting season is starting off nicely - insta-commits from the #3 CB and #4 MLB. MLB is a need, but I wasn't able to scout this guy much, so I don't know if his ratings are holding. The CB looks excellent and will be a very nice addition to our secondary.

Now to hope the rest of the season goes as well as this initial week.

[CU Tiger]

Week 1 right?
Noticed both the thread and post title say week 5?

[Kodos]

Yep, Week 1. It auto-populated, and I forgot to edit it.

[Julio Riddols]

We played some really good football in week 1, to the tune of an 84-7 win over Texas State. Pulled the starters a few minutes into the 3rd and still put up another 35 points, but frustratingly lost the shutout with 25 seconds left. Converted P Jim Fry saw his first action at RB late in the 4th and looked pretty good, I think he had about 40 yards.

[Eaglesfan27]

We also had a very good recruiting week in our bye week. We have 1 5 star and 3 4 stars who decided to end the process early and commit to USC!

[chesapeake]

Crap...I needed to swap out my FCS opponent for UNC at home, and I would have preferred Wake or NC State on the road to UL Monroe. I suppose I'm too late now. That would leave me with no rivals to play this season and a lot of disappointed recruits. This won't be good.

[Kodos]

Sorry, chesapeake. I replaced the FCS team, but thought you were set otherwise.

[MacroGuru]

Lost by 3 to Penn State, not a good start to our season. Their RB actually powered through several tackles knocking my guys right off of him.

Not a good start to the season game wise.

We did pick up an instant commit with a 4* QB

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Sorry, chesapeake. I replaced the FCS team, but thought you were set otherwise.

No need to apologize. It is entirely my fault for not getting on it sooner.

And I'm done with week 1. I got a mid-70s CB to instacommit, which fills one of my 2 needs.

One thought to kick around for the group: would you rather try to sign:
A) a "bust" that still clocks in at 77; or
B) a "gem" that scouts at 74?

I don't go to the effort of tracking the future development of busts and gems to determine whether that moniker affects the player's development throughout his career. I'd be curious to know if anyone else has.

[CU Tiger]

I have.
Bust vs GEM only relates to their actual value against initial perception.
Progression is strictly related to coach prestige and playing time.

[chesapeake]

Doesn't the quality of your facilities factor into development at all?

[CU Tiger]

from what I can tell...playing time (specifically starts)and Coach Prestige seem to be the factors.

But to be fair its a very small window. We arent talking a FOF algorithm here its much more simple. (Seems to be a avg development based on above factors +/- 1 for randmoness)

[CU Tiger]

done.
Just Kodos left
no instacommits

[Kodos]

No insta-commits for me.

May not get my game in until the weekend.

[Kodos]

My new QBs aren't as good as my old QB. Lotta turnovers and sloppiness before I pulled out a late win at FIU.

[Kodos]

We're on to Week 2. No deadline. We have a couple owners who are out of town this week, so we'll move ahead whenever.


=============== #6 USC Trojans (0-0) ===============
Last week the Trojans were idle.
This week, the Trojans will host UCLA (0-0).
In recruiting news, the following USC targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) ROLB Jimmy Johnson has committed to USC
- (****) FS Donta Romero has committed to USC
- (****) HB Courtney Slater has committed to USC
- (*****) WR Jonathan Jefferson has committed to USC
- (****) HB Eric Webb has committed to Oregon

=============== #11 Rice Owls (0-0) ===============
Last week the Owls were idle.
This week, the Owls will host #10 Georgia (0-0).
In recruiting news, the following Rice targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) TE Paul Nugent has committed to Rice
- (*****) WR Jonathan Jefferson has committed to USC
- (****) RE Shawn Briggs has committed to Rice

=============== #17 Indiana Hoosiers (1-0) ===============
Last week, Indiana won 31-26 against FIU (0-1).
This week, the Hoosiers will host #14 Notre Dame (1-0).
In recruiting news, the following Indiana targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) HB Jeff Bennett has committed to Michigan
- (*****) RG Andre Duckett has committed to Notre Dame
- (****) FS Keith Willis has committed to Stanford

=============== UTSA Roadrunners (1-0) ===============
Last week, UTSA won 84-7 against Texas State (0-1).
This week, the Roadrunners will host Arizona (0-0).
In recruiting news, the following UTSA targets have announced their decisions:
- (***) RE Will Jones has committed to Oregon

=============== South Florida Bulls (0-0) ===============
Last week the Bulls were idle.
This week, the Bulls are idle.
In recruiting news, the following South Florida targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) C David Harris has committed to LSU
- (****) CB Jarod Kirkpatrick has committed to South Florida
- (*****) WR Jonathan Jefferson has committed to USC
- (****) CB Daniel Little has committed to Duke
- (****) MLB Charlie Davis has committed to South Florida

=============== Duke Blue Devils (0-0) ===============
Last week the Blue Devils were idle.
This week, the Blue Devils will host ECU (0-0).
In recruiting news, the following Duke targets have announced their decisions:
- (****) RT Matt Rice has committed to Alabama
- (****) CB Daniel Little has committed to Duke
- (****) MLB Charlie Davis has committed to South Florida

=============== Florida Atlantic Owls (0-0) ===============
Last week the Owls were idle.
This week, the Owls travel to Oxford to face the Ole Miss Rebels (0-0).
In recruiting news, the following Florida Atlantic targets have announced their decisions:
- (***) LE Brandon Washington has committed to Auburn

=============== Buffalo Bulls (0-1) ===============
Last week, Buffalo lost 38-35 against Penn State (1-0).
This week, the Bulls travel to Murfreesboro to face the Mid Tenn State Blue Raiders (0-0).
In recruiting news, the following Buffalo targets have announced their decisions:
- (*****) RG Andre Duckett has committed to Notre Dame
- (****) QB Kevin Slater has committed to Buffalo

[Kodos]

Looks like Duke is embarrassing the SEC a bit.

[MacroGuru]

MTSU thought they would be cute and try and make a game of it. Because of that, I didn't let the pedal up at all.

My young QB's can't hold onto the ball and keep through INTs

We still won though.

[Julio Riddols]

Arizona jumped out 10-0 on us, but we came storming back and outscored them 38-13 the rest of the way. DE Derrick Everett had 5 sacks in the game.

[CU Tiger]

What a tough game to start the year.
Ole Miss wouldnt go away..and the changing dynamics between 13 and 14 had my passing game grounded. Luckily we managed to rush for nearly 400 yards having a 200 yard rusher and a 130 yard rusher... and we held on for the 11 point victory.

(BTW is it just me or anyone else having to adjust to the difference in throwing on the run between the 2 games. In 13 if my QB is not perfectly still and paused for a full second the ball is going in the dirt....vs in 14 at a full turbo run he can fling a dart...somewhere in between would be nice.)

[Kodos]

We were about to go into the half with a 14-7 lead over Notre Dame when they hit on a 67-yard hail mary that was deflected into their receiver's arms as time ran out in the first half. From there he dragged our best CB the last few yards to the end zone (I saved the video on the site if you want to check it out). All game, we pounded it on the ground, trying to keep their superior offense off the field. I really thought we were going to win, but a couple of missed field goals left us vulnerable, and they kicked the winning FG with just a few seconds left on the clock. Close but no cigar.

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Looks like Duke is embarrassing the SEC a bit.

Hopefully I can put a hurtin' on some of these chumps and earn us a little respect.

[Kodos]

I'm very curious to see if we can compete with the Big Boys in the Big Ten. I don't want to be the first demoted human team.