FOFC-BBCF: The Utah Utes - Page 5

Groundhog · 06-03-2007, 06:58 PM

Week 9 Result: Utah Utes 9, UNLV Rebels 10

Player of the Game: RB Pedro Bloom (UNLV) 31 att, 200 yds, 0 TDs

BOX SCORE

Well, our good luck couldn't continue forever… Our running game never got going as Reynolds was held below 100 yards, and we are starting to feel the effects of losing our two top receivers. We targetted WR Wilburn 10 times, 4 of which he caught, and 2 of which he dropped. This is going to be a big problem for us in games where we aren't picking up yards on the ground with our usual ease.

Also a problem for us was our run defense, a real surprise considering our opponent. Rebel's RB Bloom picked up a massive 200 yards on 31 carries, one of which was a nice 1st down run in the final minute to prevent us getting one last shot at the win. I have no real explanation for this, as we came out targetting the run, but Bloom just had a few too many break-aways.

Despite all our issues, we still could have won this game. On our final possession of the game we decided to go for the TD rather than just get in to FG range, and James threw a pass in to the end zone which was picked off to give the Rebels the ball back with just over a minute to go, and the Bloom rush I mentioned above then put the game well out of reach.

So basically, a very dissapointing result from both units. We didn't get in to the endzone once, and gave up a 66 yard TD pass in the 1st Q that proved to be the difference maker. We clearly came out expecting to win this one, and wound up beaten by a previously win-less team. For us to maintain any dreams of clinching the conference, we'll pretty much need to go undefeated the rest of the way, but this is beginning to look far too much like last year, where we started strong but were beaten week after week by lesser MWC foes. Hopefully we can turn it around before it's too late.

Around the Mount West

Air Force defeat BYU 19-16
San Diego St defeat Colorado St 17-10
TCU defeat New Mexico 32-19

Falcons 2nd RB Hartley was the big difference maker in the Falcons-Cougars matchup, out-running his higher-profile RB team-mate and helping to seal the game with a big 24 yard run in the final minute to clinch the game. The Aztecs and Horned Frogs also both picked up must-wins, with TCU doing it in style against the Lobbos.

Game of the Week Result

As above. Congrats Falcons!

Groundhog · 06-03-2007, 07:23 PM

Week 10 Preview: Utah Utes (5-3, 3-2) vs New Mexico Lobbos (3-3, 2-2)

We'll be looking to turn things back around against the Lobbos this week, who are fresh off a pasting by TCU last week. The Lobbos have been surprisingly great against the pass, leading the nation in defensive passing yards allowed per game, while also being ranked #12 in rushing yards allowed. Much like UNLV though, they struggle to score points.

The Lobbos share it around on the ground and in the air, but RB Lester McNeill is the main guy to watch. He's only scored a single TD this year, but he is capable of big games and had 134 yards against TCU last week. We'll be looking to make-up for our piss-poor run D from last week by shutting this guy down and forcing the Lobbos to the air. Lobbo QB Paul Hardy started last week but after an attrocious game (10-34, 1-1 TD-INT) who knows if he'll be starting again. We certainly hope he will however.

The Lobbos have some talent on D, which could spell trouble for us. ILB Stephen Snow will be the main guy to watch as he is very capable of shutting down the running game with his ability to get beyond the LOS for stuffs. We'll need our blocking to really step up from last week to avoid us needing to throw the ball too much.

In the event that we do have to throw, the Lobbos secondary is no push over. Their corners aren't great, but sophomore FS George Cain is one to watch. He's had a couple of picks, but is just a great coverage defender and figures to make life tough if we try and go with the deep-ball.

I'll be very dissapointed if we drop this game, but it's certainly a tougher match-up than last week, and we'll need more from both ends if we're going to have a chance.

Prediction. Utah 24, New Mexico 20. We are +6 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

TCU @ Wyoming - TCU are +5 favourites.
UNLV @ BYU - BYU are +11 favourites.
Air Force @ Colorado St - Air Force are +15 favourites.

TCU have what figures to be a tough matchup with the Cowboys, while BYU should have an easy matchup with the Rebels. Air Force are heavy favourites, but with the up-and-down Falcons, who can say?

Game of the Week

#3 Clemson (6-1) @ #4 Florida St (7-1)

Clemson's running game has been a thing of beauty, led by Franklin. The Seminoles run D has been OK, but they'll need to really step it up this week and force the Tigers to the air if they want to pick up the win today. Florida State are +4 favourites.

Groundhog · 06-04-2007, 01:28 AM

Week 10 Result: Utah Utes 35, New Mexico Lobbos 28

Player of the Game: RB Jeffrey Reynolds (UTAH) 27att, 172yds, 1 TD, 6.37ypc

BOX SCORE

Our pass defense took the night off tonight - partly no doubt due to me not changing our run-focused gameplan from last week - but thankfully we were able to hit the endzone enough times to outscore the Lobbos in what wound up being more of a shoot-out than I would have liked.

A rushing TD from QB Saunders and a FG gave us an early 10-0 lead, but the Lobbos followed that up by making our D look foolish. First they completed a 50 yard TD pass with 1:30 left in the 1st Q, only to have a flag thrown down on the play due to an illegible receiver downfield. Not to worry, as the Lobbos then throw a 60 yard TD pass on the very next snap to make it 10-7 entering the 2nd.

We manage a FG in the 2nd, but the Lobbos continue to string 1st downs together, scoring on a 12 yd TD pass halfway through the quarter, and we enter the half down 14-13.

The 3rd Q sees a couple of nice plays. Firstly we block a 37 yard FG and recover the ball, then on the very next play Reynolds breaks away for one of his trademark big gain TDs rushes, this time a 62 yarder, and we complete a pass for the 2pt conversion to make it 21-14. The lead doesn't last long though as the Lobbos continue to abuse our secondary for big gains in the air, and connect with a TD pass to lock scores up at 21 entering the 4th.

QB James is in fine form to start the 4th, hitting reserve TE Holcomb for a 21 yard TD pass. The Lobbos follow it up a few drives later with another big TD pass; this time a huge 83 yard TD pass to level the scores once again at 28 with 9:01 left. We exchange drives, before James finds the endzone again, hitting WR Wilburn for a 16 yarder to give us the lead at 35-28 with 4:30 left. We contain the Lobbos on the next drive and they miss a 52 yard FG with 2:51 remaining. We milk 1:30 off the clock on our next drive, and the Lobbos return our punt to their own 39 yard line with 0:51 left. They throw 2 incompletes, then lose 10 yards to a holding play, to make it 2-20 on their own 25 with 0:25 remaining, needing a TD to level the scores. Lobbos QB Malone drops back for the pass, but it's intercepted by Utah CB Kim as the final horn sounds!

Reynolds was back to his usual self tonight, picking up yards on the ground, including that massive 62yd breakaway TD. Lobbos ILB Snow was on him much how I expected (4 stuffs), but Reynolds managed a number of nice runs to negate Snow's general effectiveness, and a lot of credit goes to my OLine for getting their act together this week. OT Steele in particular was solid (4 KRBs and 2 PCKs).

Our QBs had themselves nice games too, with James finally not throwing a pick while collecting 2 TDs in the 4th Q on 12/22 for 184 yards. Saunders was 8/11 for 55 yards and an interception, and also picked up a 13 yard rushing TD in the 1st Q.

Defensively we sucked against the longball, but completely shut-out the Lobbos running game. The Lobbos managed just 37 net yards on the ground, and as usual ILB Ybarra was like a brick wall at the LOS, finishing with 13 tackles, 1 sack, 3 stuffs, and a forced fumble. This kid could wind up one of the best ever at Utah. DE Gonzales outshone his higher profile linemate, finishing with 3 sacks and a stuff, while SS Herman was also big with a sack that led to a forced fumble.

It was a nice bounce back for us after last week's loss, but we made it tougher than it needed to be. We need to play about 150% better against Wyoming next week.

Around the Mount West

TCU defeat Wyoming 30-24
BYU defeat UNLV 22-19
Air Force defeat Colorado State 37-9

It took an OT period, but the Horned Frogs overcame the Cowboys to keep their slim conference title chances alive. UNLV showed that maybe last week wasn't a fluke, with a TD and a safety in the 4th Q nearly giving them a win over BYU, while Air Force handled Colorado State and remain the easy MWC favourites at this stage.

Game of the Week Result: Florida St defeat Clemson 30-19

Clemson RB Frankling had a nice showing with 169 yards on 7.68ypc, but he couldn't get in to the endzone and the Tigers as a whole turned it over too much and only a couple of late 4th Q TDs made the score look closer than it was in a convincing victory for the Seminoles.

Groundhog · 06-05-2007, 05:56 PM

Week 10 Injuries

Bold denotes starter, red denotes sitting out next week's game.

QB Eddie Mays - Prob (1-3)
RB Isaac Nolan - Prob (1-3)
WR Richard Chaffin - Out (7-9)
WR Robert Byrd - Out (10-12)
OT Louis Akers - Prob (3-5)
OT Rodney Munson - Prob (1-3)
OG Stanley Rangel - Doubt (6-8)
DE Christopher Lewis - Ques (4-6)
DT Donald Walton - Prob (1-3)
OLB Daniel Roman - Prob (0-2)
FS Brian Cox - Prob (0-2)

Lots of guys banged up, but outside of my two receivers all are listed on the depth chart.

Groundhog · 06-05-2007, 07:01 PM

Week 11 Preview: Utah Utes (6-3, 4-2) vs Wyoming Cowboys (4-3, 3-2)

This promises to be a tough game for us, as Wyoming have been far better than I think anyone expected. They are the only team that's beaten Air Force, lost in OT to TCU, and their only bad loss was a 17 point drubbing by the Aztecs back in week 4, which was a week after the lost by just 3 to #24 Oregon. They are a team that's been playing above their heads all season.

Cowboys QB Robert Spruill is a little erratic at times, but he is also a major threat. RB Eddie Hall is the most talented player they have on offense but the lack of any major talents on the OLine hinders his running more than it does Spruill's passing, so we'll be looking to pressure Spruill and work on the Cowboys OLine to try and take Hall down in the backfield.

Defensively the Cowboys are pretty poor individually, but seem to work well as a unit. Their secondary is particularily poor, so this should help us if we need James to go to the air due to our running game not clicking. The Cowboys have done quite well against the run (3.0ypc allowed, #24 in the nation), but again it's hard to see why. Our OLine is definately stronger than this DLine, so we'll be hoping to do some damage here.

This is one of those dangerous games that we "should" win, on paper at least. The key to the game will need to be our defense, as most of the Wyoming's strengths are on the attacking side of the ball, so we need to pressure Spruill in to throwing bad passes while containing the running game. This is the kind of game that Reynolds should star in for us on the ground, but I guess we'll see.

Prediction: Utah Utes 27, Wyoming Cowboys 24. We are +9 favourites.

Around the Mount West:

Colorado St (2-6,1-5) @ New Mexico (3-4,2-3) - New Mexico are +6 favourites.
BYU (6-3,4-2) @ TCU (5-3,3-2) - Odds are even.
UNLV (1-6,1-5) @ San Diego St (2-6,2-3) - Aztecs are +5 favourites.

BYU-TCU is the big matchup of the week. TCU are trying to keep their slim conference title hopes alive against the strong Cougars, who are also in the running. But the Falcons will need to drop their next two games - a road game @ New Mexico and a home game against the Aztecs - to give anyone else a chance.

Game of the Week

#7 Oklahoma (6-2) @ #1 Missouri (9-0)

Missouri's run defense has been sensational and has played a big hand in their undefeated season thus far. Oklahoma are a run-oriented team who have suffered a 4 point loss to the undefeated Longhorns, as well as a surprising 10-point upset by the MWC's very own TCU. Oklahoma has three of the best backs in the game, and will need a big game from them if they hope to pull out the win. They are surprising #4 favourites, even on the road against the #1 team in the nation!

Groundhog · 06-06-2007, 12:35 AM

Week 11 Result: Utah Utes 20, Wyoming Cowboys 10

Player of the Game: RB Jeffrey Reynolds (UTAH) 34 att, 348 yards, 10.24ypc, 2 TDs

BOX SCORE

It was an auspicious beginning to the game for us, with Reynolds picking up a combined 26 yards on our first two rushing plays to start the game. We worked it to the Wyoming 27 but were stopped, pushed back 5 yards due to a penalty, and then had our 50-yard FG attempt blocked in what was to be the first of many kicking blunders. The Cowboys attempt two passes before QB Spruill walks off the field holding his wrist, handing the reigns over to Jones. We get it back and work it downfield largely through Reynolds, before he busts out a 53 yard TD run in true Reynolds style! 7-0 Utah with 6:20 remaining in the 1st. The Cowboys get it back and RB Hall busts free for a 54 yard run to get it to our own 26. They are forced to settle for the FG as our D tightens up, 7-3 with 2:56 remaining. We soon reply with a FG of our own at the end of the quarter to make it 10-3 entering the 2nd.

We get the ball after a 3-and-out by the Cowboys, and a 57 yard pass from James gets us the ball in good position. We aren't able to get to the endzone however, and shanks a 26 yard FG for our 2nd horrid kick of the day. The Cowboys are doing OK on the ground but can't connect on their passes so we get it back, work it to FG range, and Hernandez blows a 42 yard FG. He had missed 2 FGs all season prior to this game, and is now 0-3 just in this game with 7:28 left in the 2nd Q. We get the ball back shortly after and work it once again to FG range. Hernandez lines up for a 49 yard attempt but, surprise surprise, it's blocked. 0-4, and we enter the half up 10-3.

We trade possessions with the Cowboys to start the 3rd Q before putting together a nice drive on the ground that is broken when Nolan misses a block that leads to a blind-sided Reynolds fumbling the ball with 9:55 left in the quarter. Cowboys recover the fumble, work it in to our half of the field, but miss the 41 yard FG. We get the ball back and Reynolds busts out a 43 yard run to get us good position. We work it to the 6 yard line, before Medina fumbles a screen pass at the 3 yard line and we cough up possession. We pin the Cowboys back within our 10, and force them a 3 and out. Their punt is a poor one and puts us in FG range. We can't move the ball and finally convert a FG to make it 13-3 with 2:38 remaining, and our kicker is now 1/4 on FGs. Our special teams coverage is terrible however, as the Cowboys return our kickoff 86 yards to our own 4 yard line, and soon RB Hall is in the endzone for the Cowboys first TD to make it 13-10 Utah to begin the 4th.

We trade drives once again before Reynolds busts free for his 2nd 53-yard TD run of the game with 12:46 left in the quarter! 20-10 Utah. The Cowboys are looking heavily to pass but can't get anything going, and despite moving the ball well we need to settle for yet another FG... a 47 yarder that misses, of course. Cowboys still keep trying to work it through the air without success, and we get the ball back with a few minutes to go. Reynolds and Nolan share carries and pick us up enough 1st downs to allow us to QB kneel out the game for the win!

Our running game was just unstoppable tonight, with Reynolds picking up an incredible 348 yards on the ground - the 3rd highest total in FOFC-BBCF history, with the 2 higher totals both coming this season as well. Nolan, our 2nd RB, was also big for us with 72 yards off 10 carries, while OT Steele moves to #1 in the nation after picking up 4 KRB tonight.

Defensively we didn't do quite so well against Cowboys RB Hall who had 117 yards on 17 carries. He had two big rushes that pushed his numbers out, and both were due to defensive stuff-ups (a missed tackle and an OOP). ILB Ybarra wasn't the major run-stuffing force he usually is tonight, but the Cowboys threw the ball more than we expected. Losing their starting QB early, who was 0/2 at the time, probably helped things, but we defended the pass extremely well. His backup Jones ended up 11/24 and though we didn't get any interceptions we did a decent job of pressuring the quarterback and receivers.

Two big thumbs down to our special teams however. Hernandez was attrocious tonight, finishing 2/7 on FGs. To be fair, many were 45+ yards, but he shanked a 27 yarder and had two blocked. The weather was overcast, and certainly not extreme enough to account for these kicking results. We also gave up a big kick return that led to a TD, and I'm going to be taking a good look at our special team guys and making some changes.

It's a good win for us though, and keeps us in the chase for the conference title. All we need now is for Air Force to revert back to their inconsistent ways and drop the next 2 games!

Around the Mount West

New Mexico defeat Colorado St 24-6
BYU defeat TCU 24-13
San Diego St defeat UNLV 21-18

The Lobbos are easy victors over Colorado St, while BYU defeat the Horned Frogs and dash all hopes of a top finish for TCU, and the Aztecs get back to .500 in their quest for respectability.

Game of the Week Result: #7 Oklahoma 23, #1 Missouri 6

Well, the bookies got it right, and then some! Massive road win for the Sooners over top-ranked Missouri. The Tigers played the run well but got killed through the air instead, and couldn't find the endzone.

astrosfan64 · 06-06-2007, 08:15 AM

Great Dynasty. I just read the whole thing and it was worth it. This really is a great game and league.

Groundhog · 06-06-2007, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrosfan64

Great Dynasty. I just read the whole thing and it was worth it. This really is a great game and league.

Thanks astro, glad you enjoyed it!

Groundhog · 06-06-2007, 07:23 PM

Week 11 Injuries

Bold denotes starter, red denotes sitting out next week's game.

QB Eddie Mays - Prob (1-3)
RB Isaac Nolan - Prob (1-3)
WR Richard Chaffin - Out (7-9)
WR Robert Byrd - Out (10-12)
OT Louis Akers - Prob (3-5)
OT Rodney Munson - Prob (1-3)
OG Stanley Rangel - Doubt (6-8)
DE Christopher Lewis - Ques (4-6)
DT Donald Walton - Prob (1-3)
OLB Daniel Roman - Prob (0-2)
FS Brian Cox - Prob (0-2)

Saunders took a hit last week and is listed as doubtful, but will be my #2 QB after our bye in week 12.

Groundhog · 06-06-2007, 07:46 PM

Week 12 Preview: No Game

After 9 straight weeks of football, we get ourselves a week off to lick our wounds and prepare for our showdown with TCU, who are run by FOFC's own st.cronin.

As you can see in the post above this one, we have a number of guys nursing niggling injuries, so they should be closer to 100% come next week. My receiver core is still a shambles, though at least Newby - who under normal circumstances is a punt returner rather than a WR - should be back.

Around the Mount West:

Wyoming (4-4,3-3) @ BYU (7-3,5-2) - BYU are +10 favourites.
TCU (5-4,3-3) @ San Diego St (3-6,3-3) - TCU are +4 favourites.
Air Force (7-3,5-1) @ New Mexico (4-4,3-3)- Air Force are +4 favourites.
UNLV (1-7) @ Michigan St (8-3) - Michigan St are +15 favourites.

This is an important week for several teams. BYU and us here at Utah will be praying to every deity imaginable that Air Force lose to New Mexico. If the Falcons win today, they cement their spot as MWC champs. We'll be hoping that BYU AND Air Force lose, which gives us our best shot at the title, but Air Force would need to lose next week's game as well, which is a home game against the Aztecs. So it's definately the Falcons title to lose at this point, but there is a slim shimmer of hope.

Game of the Week:

Air Force @ New Mexico

Going to be greedy once again and award it to the MWC.

The Falcons are prone to outings where they struggle to get in to the endzone, but their defense is usually enough to get them by. We'll be hoping that the Lobbos, who have been solid at times this season but have also struggled to find the endzone, can contain them and win in what figures to be a low scoring game.

DeToxRox · 06-06-2007, 08:05 PM

Helluva' performance by Reynolds.

My Wildcats are in the same position, need to win out and need a loss by UW to win the Pac 10, remarkable because we'd win the P10 by going 7-5, but parity runs ripe in this damn league.

Groundhog · 06-07-2007, 09:50 PM

Week 12 Result: No Game

Nothing to do except sit around and watch the Falcons take out the MWC crown with a convincing 21-0 road victory over the Lobbos at home.

Around the Mount West

BYU defeat Wyoming 26-22
TCU defeat San Diego St 31-28
Air Force defeat New Mexico 21-0

Falcons do it with ease thanks to some big passes, taking out the MWC title and dashing our chances at it. Now we need to win against TCU next week to cement our #2 spot.

Game of the Week Result: Air Force 21, New Mexico 0

Two 40+ TD passes in the 2nd half put the game well and truly out of reach for the Lobbos, who could manage absolutely nothing against the Falcons D. Air Force OLB Joel Munoz was huge, with 8 tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 stuffs to help guide the Falcons to the MWC crown.

Groundhog · 06-10-2007, 07:16 PM

Week 13 Preview: Utah Utes (7-3, 5-2) @ TCU Horned Frogs (6-4, 4-3)

With Air Force's win last week we can no longer win the conference, but this is still an important game for us. If we win, we finish 2nd in the conference. If we lose, 3rd.

The Horned Frogs struggled to begin the year, but have found their form of late and are looking to cement a 3rd place finish tonight. Offensively they are a team that has struggled some-what with their passing game, despite having talent, though generally get some production from their running game. We'll need our boys to be in fine form tonight to keep these guys under 100 on the ground, while hopefully picking up a couple of turnovers off of coverage. Definitely won't be that simple, but we need to limit the Horned Frogs' scoring if we want to win.

Defensively the Horned Frogs are weak on the DLine, but their secondary is probably the best in the MWC, talent-wise. Interceptions have come easily for these guys, with CB Rob Holland having 5 to his name, and with our QBs tenancy to throw picks this may wind up hurting us. Hopefully our running game is on today to limit our need for long passes, but again it will take solid blocking today to get us positive yardage on the ground.

Last year our matchup with TCU came right down to the end, with a Utah fumble near the endzone eventually costing us the game. I'm hoping for another close one tonight.

Prediction: Utah 20, TCU 23. TCU are +5 favourites.

Around the Mount West

Wyoming (4-5,3-4) @ New Mexico (4-5,3-4) - New Mexico are +5 favourites.
San Diego St (3-7,3-4) @ Air Force (8-3,6-1) - Air Force are +7 favourites.
Colorado St (2-7,1-6) @ UNLV (1-8,1-6) - UNLV are +2 favourites.

Wyoming stumbled after a strong start and will be looking for a win to finish .500 in conference play. The Falcons are already champions but should handle the Aztecs, while the Rams and Rebels battle it out in a game that I suspect very few care about.

Game of the Week:

Utah @ TCU

There are very few games on this week, and even fewer of note, so the battle for 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in the MWC is our game of the week.

Groundhog · 06-11-2007, 06:11 PM

Week 13 Result: Utah Utes 7, TCU Horned Frogs 27

Player of the Game: QB James Olsen (TCU) 21/35, 334yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT

BOX SCORE

Our passing game and lack of depth got utterly exposed tonight by TCU. Reynolds broke away for a 45 yard TD run to open the scoring for the game with 13:30 left in the 1st Q, but that was to be the last points we put up on the board, as the Horned Frogs moved it through the air on their way to a dominating win.

Defensively our secondary really let us down on a number of occassions. We were pretty good against the run, with Ybarra picking up 10 tackles and 2 stuffs as our usual rock inside. We did manage to buckle down in the 2nd half a little, not allowing the Horned Frogs to put another TD on the board.

It was on offense that we really struggled. With the injuries to our receivers we have really been forced to rely on WR Wilburn a lot, as he's the only non-1-star WR we have on the available roster. He has some talent, but he's prone to drops and mistakes and is not nearly an efficent option. We targetted him 9 times tonight, 3 of which he caught, only to fumble one away in the redzone, and another 2 he dropped. Combined with our lack of talent at QB and the skill of TCU's secondary it's probably surprising we did as well as we did, with just 1 pick thrown by James (into the endzone, no less). Reynolds struggled outside of his 45 yard TD run to open the game, and it didn't help that our 2nd RB Nolan, who is usually one of our best receivers too, left the game injured early.

We didn't even attempt a single FG and got the ball in the redzone just once. A terrible showing to end conference play, and one that sends us from a 2nd place finish to a 4th place.

Congrats to TCU however who wind up 3rd after a rough start to the year.

Around the Mount West

New Mexico defeat Wyoming 28-6
Air Force defeat San Diego St 31-10
UNLV defeat Colorado St 17-9

All the home teams picked up wins today to end MWC play for the season. Conference write-up to come shortly.

Game of the Week Result: See Above

Groundhog · 06-11-2007, 06:19 PM

Week 13 Award Watch:

The finalists were announced for the end of season awards, and the following Utes are in the running:

2009 Heisman Trophy: RB Jeffrey Reynolds
2009 Doak Walker: RB Jeffrey Reynolds
2009 Vince Lombardi: OT Joseph Steele
2009 Lou Groza: K Timothy Hernandez

As good a year as Reynolds is having, I doubt he wins either of his two awards. Clemson RB Johnny Franklin has had a statistically better year against stronger competition so he has a better chance at it. Steele is a real chance for his award however, while Hernandez probably had a chance before he went 2/7 a few weeks ago.

Groundhog · 06-11-2007, 11:11 PM

2009 Mount West Final Standings

Code:

		{   Conf. }  {			Overall			 }
#   Team	W-L  PF  PA  W-L  PF  PA  Streak  Home  Road  Media  Coach  
1.  Air Force	7-1 179  88  9-3 299 172      W6   5-2   4-1    0-1    0-1
2.  BYU		6-2 231 159  8-3 302 200      w3   5-0   3-3    0-1    0-0
3.  TCU         5-3 187 162  7-4 257 215      w2   4-2   3-2    1-0    1-0
4.  Utah        5-3 194 163  7-4 294 240      L1   6-1   1-3    1-0    1-0
5.  New Mexico  4-4 142 162  5-5 177 189      W1   4-2   1-3    0-1    0-0
6.  SD State    3-5 154 177  3-8 200 287      L2   2-4   1-4    0-2    0-2
7.  Wyoming     3-5 138 182  4-6 185 218      L4   2-2   2-4    0-0    0-0
8.  UNLV        2-6 109 152  2-8 145 237      W1   2-2   0-6    0-0    0-0
9.  Colorado St 1-7 115 204  2-8 176 260      L6   1-3   1-5    0-1    0-1

My pre-season predictions were(actual finish in brackets):

1. TCU (3)
2. Air Force (1)
3. San Diego State (6)
4. Utah (4)
5. BYU (2)
6. New Mexico (5)
7. Colorado St (9)
8. UNLV (8)
9. Wyoming (7)

I knew Air Force would be strong, but I didn't think they'd only lose 1 game in conference, while TCU also lost a couple of games I didn't expect. I was spot on with ourselves, though in hindsight it's dissapointing that the loss to UNLV dropped us from 2nd to 4th. We were a better team than I expected.

I was a little surprised at how the Aztecs performed as well, and expected better from them, and the Cowboys really faltered after a strong start.

So congrats to the Falcons, who now get to go on to be most likely spanked by a ranked team!

Groundhog · 06-12-2007, 06:28 PM

Week 14 Preview: No Game

Another week off to prepare for our final game of the season; a rivalry matchup with Utah State!

Around the Mount West:

San Diego St (3-8) @ Tennessee (6-5) - Tennessee are +12 favourites.
Wyoming (4-6) @ Nebraska (7-3) - Nebraska are +17 favourites.

Only two games on this week for the MWC, and both figure to be tough outings against heavily favoured opponents on the road. Should be a tough ask for either team to do anything but keep it respectable.

Game of the Week:

#1 Notre Dame (9-1) @ #25 Texas Tech (6-4)

Even though the Irish are heavily favoured, Tech have performed pretty well against ranked opponents, beating #11 Oklahoma 47-46, #24 Colorado 30-27, and falling to #2 Texas 27-22. The question will be whether or not their pourous defense can handle the Notre Dame offense. Notre Dame are +11 favourites, but I think it will be closer than this.

Groundhog · 06-14-2007, 06:46 PM

Week 14 Result: No Game

*yawn*

Around the Mount West

Tennessee defeat San Diego ST 40-10
Nebraska defeat Wyoming 37-10

No surprises here, as both MWC teams are beaten handily to end their seasons.

Game of the Week Result: #2 Notre Dame 27, Texas Tech 13

The Red Raiders took a 10-7 lead in to the halftime break, but couldn't hit the endzone in the 2nd half as Notre Dame came home comfortably, and cement themselves as co-favourites with Texas to make the Championship game!

Groundhog · 06-14-2007, 07:19 PM

Week 15 Preview: Utah Utes (7-4) @ Utah State Aggies (4-6)

It's rivalry week this week as we head out to State to take on the Aggies and try and end the regular season on a high-note, while also cementing a spot in a bowl game.

Last season we spanked the Aggies senseless at home 51-16, but I don't expect such a one-sided affair this year. The Aggies are fresh off 2 straight victories, and their defense is much stronger this year. Their pass-orientated offense is a weakness for them however, as QB Perez (50.4%, 7-9 TD-INT, 109.5) is not blessed with a particularily great arm nor particularily great receivers - though having said that, either of their two starters at WR would be starting for us right now with the injury woes we've been having. We'll be expecting the pass, while relying on Ybarra and co inside to keep their running game, which is led by freshman John Garber (4.27ypc, 4 TDs) who is coming off an 153 yard outing against San Jose State, under control. He's not particularily spectacular in any one area however, so we should manage.

Offensively we will be hoping we don't blow our blocking assignments so we can ride Reynolds and not have to throw the ball too much, as the Aggies secondary is their strongest point. If Reynolds can pick up a few TDs and over 100 yards on the ground, we should be able to win this game. Having said that, we have been shaky as hell on the road, so we'll see...

Prediction: Utah 27, Utah State 14. We are +15 favourites.

Around the Mount West

#24 Colorado (6-4) @ Colorado St (2-8) - Colorado are +15 favourites.
TCU (7-4) @ SMU (5-5) - TCU are +11 favourites.
UNLV (2-8) @ Nevada (5-5) - UNLV are +6 favourites.
New Mexico (5-5) @ New Mexico St (3-8) - New Mexico St are +2 favourites.

Should be a rough game for Colorado St, but all other MWC teams are favoured in their final games of the regular season.

Game of the Week: #9 Boston College (8-2) @ #2 Notre Dame (10-1)

The Eagles struggled against their matchups with ranked ACC opponents this year, but have been solid outside of that thanks to a stiffling defense and strong run-based offense. Notre Dame on the other hand have gone from strength to strength, and are +12 favourites at home. This will be a very tough matchup for Boston College, and I don't think they'll be quite up to it.

Groundhog · 06-17-2007, 08:33 PM

Week 15 Result: Utah Utes 9, Utah State Aggies 20

Player of the Game: WR Michael Banks (Utah St) 3 Rec, 94 yards, 2 TDs

BOX SCORE

Yuck. That sums this game up pretty well. It was much the same as the TCU and UNLV games - we were forced to go to the air, and just couldn't get it done. Wilburn, our only WR with any kind of ability, is being asked to do way too much and when combined with a borderline-quality QB, it's surprising we've done as well as we have this year. We did manage a sole TD through the air though, with a nice 56 yard TD off a James pass, but that was the lone highlight for our offense tonight.

Reynolds was solid, picking up 159 yards on 25 carries, but couldn't find the endzone and again found life tough due to missed blocking assignments. With our passing game as it is, we needed Reynolds to have a monster game to compensate, and it just wasn't happening tonight.

Defensively we again faltered against the longball. We frustratingly allowed two 30+ yard TD passes, and that dug us a grave that was far too deep for our offense to pull us back out of. We were strong most of the day, with Ybarra having another huge outing (13 tackles, 1 sack, 2 stuffs, 1 FF), but all of it was negated by those two plays.

Our special teams also earnt itself another shameful performance today, allowing both another FG as well as an XP to be blocked.

A sour note to maybe (depending on whether we get a bowl invite) end the season on, and perhaps Reynolds' career if/when he declares for the NFL, but the highs certainly out-weighed the lows this year.

Around the Mount West

TCU defeat SMU 23-17
UNLV defeat Nevada 33-27
Colorado defeat Colorado St 34-23
New Mexico St defeat New Mexico 37-16

Colorado St did better than expected, while TCU and UNLV both pulled out close ones. The Lobbos join us as dissapointments on the road.

Game of the Week Result: #9 Boston College 19, #2 Notre Dame 20

Very exciting finish to this one. Down by 9 with 1:28 remaining, Notre Dame find the endzone to make it 17-19 with a minute left, then recover the onside kick, march down field, and nail the FG to win the game!

Groundhog · 06-21-2007, 12:30 AM

2009 Report Card

Format stolen directly from st.cronin's dynasty.

Passing

Code:

name		g	att	cmp	cmp%	yds	yds/att	td	int	lg	sack	rating
A. Saunders    12	78	49	62.8	566	7.3	2	5	50	10	119.4
Freddie James  11	195	104	53.3	1486	7.6	6	10	85	30	117.2
Eddie Mays     5	53	24	45.3	329	6.2	1	1	43	9	99.9

Mays started out as our starter, but when he came down with injury James shone with some solid performances behind Saunders. Come season end, it's obvious to me that; a) Mays might make a good RB some day, which says a lot about his passing ability, b) Saunders probably should have seen more snaps, c) James was merely OK, and finally d) We really, really need an upgrade here. The lack of recieving options hurt our QBs though, and they performed better than I expected most nights. Our pass protection was quite poor, as our sack tally shows.

Grade: C-

Rushing

Code:

name		g	rush	yds	ypg	ypc	td	lg
J. Reynolds    12	348	2045	170.4	5.88	15	65
Isaac Nolan    12	80	365	30.4	4.56	5	51
R. Medina      12	25	195	16.2	7.80	1	24
A. Saunders    12	25	123	10.2	4.92	1	24
Eddie Mays      5	17	59	11.8	3.47	0	18
R. Smith	4	3	15	3.8	5.00	0	7
K. Blanchard   10	10	13	1.3	1.30	0	11
Freddie James  11	24	0	0.0	0.00	0	3

Reynolds broke the 2000 yard mark in what was a monster junior year for him, and likely his last on campus. Nolan is probably a better receiver than running back at this point, but he had his moments and has the talent to step it up next year. FB Medina did great when we called upon him for rare FB runs, while Saunders and Mays did OK when trying to use their feet rather than their hands.

Grade: A

Receiving

Code:

name		g	att	rec	yds	ypg	ypc	yac	td	lg	dp
Dewey Wilburn	12	72	35	643	53.6	18.4	131	3	85	5
Isaac Nolan	12	43	24	333	27.8	13.9	224	1	47	0
James Evans	12	37	24	330	27.5	13.8	43	1	57	0
Robert Byrd	5	26	20	252	50.4	12.6	64	0	35	0
John Newby	12	25	14	215	17.9	15.4	28	0	50	2
J. Reynolds	12	41	23	205	17.1	8.9	111	2	19	0
R. Medina	12	36	20	152	12.7	7.6	70	0	19	4
Richard Chaffin 2	15	6	121	60.5	20.2	16	1	43	2
W. Holcomb	8	9	5	69	8.6	13.8	7	1	26	0
Donald Haley	12	7	2	29	2.4	14.5	3	0	23	0
R. Smith	4	2	2	18	4.5	9.0	11	0	12	0
K. Blanchard	10	12	2	14	1.4	7.0	14	0	9	1
S. Williams	1	1	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0

The loss of Byrd 5 games in really stung us here. Wilburn did his best, but he's best used as a speedy 3rd WR than a primary target, and when Chaffin also went down we were really screwed. RB Nolan was good for a big gain or two through the air, and we probably didn't target TE Evans as much as we should have either.

Grade: D

Blocking

Code:

name		g	rb	pnk	sa	hold	false	missbl
Joseph Steele	12	28	15	1	4	0	4
Louis Akers	12	11	6	0	0	0	2
Jerry Oneal	12	5	11	4	1	0	4
E. Fitzpatrick	12	3	4	1	2	3	3
James Evans	12	3	0	1	0	0	0
William Smith	6	1	3	2	1	1	2
Kevin Charles	12	1	2	3	1	1	12
Brad Carr	2	1	0	0	1	2	0
Patrick Davdson 2	0	0	2	0	0	1
Leonard Heath	1	0	0	1	0	0	1
K. Blanchard	10	0	0	12	0	0	3
Russel Smith	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
Isaac Nolan	12	0	0	15	0	0	15
Rodney Munson	9	0	2	3	1	0	7
W. Holcomb	8	0	0	0	0	0	4
Jason Frank	1	0	0	1	0	0	1
Stanley Rangel	4	0	0	3	2	0	3
Marcel Wilhelm	3	0	0	0	0	1	1
R. Medina	12	0	0	0	0	0	3

We struggled here all season, and it's easy to see the culprits. Steele was a monster on the line, but true-freshman OG Charles in particular really hindered our running game. Wingback Nolan wasn't much better, but it's forgiveable given his position. Charles really needs to step it up. Our lack of pass protection also falls back to our wingbacks who allowed 27 sacks between them. I think I'm going to scale back my wingback formations next year or use my FBs more, as that's just insane.

Grade: C

Defensive Line

Code:

pos	name		g	tack	solo	ast	sack	stf	hur	dp	pd	int	def td	misstak	oop	bpa
de	John Gaddy	12	28	25	3	4	7	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
de	Bruce Gonzales	8	12	11	1	5	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	0
dt	Harold Rhodes	12	8	8	0	3	0	8	2	0	0	0	3	0	0
de	Dennis Terry	9	3	2	1	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	3	2	0
de	C. Lewis	5	3	3	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
de	Scott Berry	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
dt	Donald Walton	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0

Gaddy's final year was once again a bit of a frustration for me. He has so much talent, and despite harrassing the QBs at a decent rate he should be more of a threat than he was. Gonzales missed some games but did well when he was in there, and Rhodes performed pretty well for a true-freshman.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Code:

pos	name		g	tack	solo	ast	sack	stf	hur	dp	pd	int	def td	misstak	oop	bpa
ilb	Larry Ybarra	12	112	88	24	7	23	2	4	7	1	0	2	1	0
olb	Daniel Roman	12	91	64	27	3	11	4	0	5	0	0	3	3	0
ilb	Jamie Jones	12	56	41	15	0	6	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	2
olb	Adrian Esparza	9	49	35	14	5	3	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
ilb	Grover Sharpe	7	13	11	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1
olb	Stanley	Huynh	7	11	7	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
olb	John Barrett	4	7	6	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
ilb	Todd Whiting	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

Transfer Ybarra was massive for us this season, and Roman, Jones, and Esparza were no slouches either. This was the strongest unit on my entire roster this year, and that figures to ring true next year as well, with all the key guys returning. Even our depth, Sharpe and Huynh in particular, were strong when needed.

Grade: A

Secondary

Code:

pos	name		g	tack	solo	ast	sack	stf	hur	dp	pd	int	def td	misstak	oop	bpa
ss	Joseph Smith	12	46	28	18	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	1
cb	John Kim	12	45	29	16	0	3	0	0	13	5	0	2	1	0
ss	Matt Herman	12	37	21	16	2	3	0	0	6	1	0	9	2	3
fs	Brian Cox	11	26	17	9	0	3	0	0	3	1	0	4	1	4
cb	Lester Clayton	12	22	15	7	0	0	0	0	14	0	0	4	1	1
ss	David Lutz	8	8	5	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
cb	John Moore	3	5	2	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0
fs	Tim Lewis	4	5	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	1
cb	Benjamin Talbot	3	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1
fs	Eric Smith	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2

This is, once again, where our problems lay on defense. CB Kim didn't have the big year we expected/hoped for, but he and CB Clayton weren't the problems. Freshman Herman and backup Smith just about split snaps, and they were both prone to mistakes, and FS Brian Cox wasn't a lot better. We figure to be better here next season, with an older and hopefully wiser Herman, as well as the arrival of our highly-touted transfer FS. Losing my other freshman CB, John Moore, to an academic suspension for what turned out to be most of the year was more than a little dissapointing, too. Should have just redshirted the guy.

Grade: C+

Kicking

Code:

Name		xp	fg 	1-29	30-39	40-49	50+	fg%	long	points
T. Hernandez	26-27	29-39	8-11	12-13	9-14	0-1	74.4	49	113

Name		punts	avg	net	tb	in20	long
Edward Custer	73	42.6	35.7	6	6	70

Hernandez's ability to shank the easy ones from within 29 is mind boggling, but he is quite good from 30-39, and usually hit the long ones that mattered - when our special teams weren't allowing them to get blocked, anyhow. Custer was, for the most part, entirely adequete. Both guys will be missed next season.

Grade: B

Returns

Code:

Name		kr	yds	avg	long	td
Donald Haley	37	896	24.2	47	0
Jaime Jones	1	35	35.0	35	0
John Newby	3	56	18.7	23	0
William Smith	2	38	19.0	27	0
William Holcomb	2	36	18.0	25	0
Dewey Wilburn	1	18	18.0	18	0
Randolph Medina	1	2	2.0	2	0

Name		pr	yds	avg	long	td
Matt Herman	1	2	2.0	2	0
John Newby	40	364	9.1	36	0
Lester Clayton	7	88	12.6	31	0

Very unspectacular, which was the key theme to my whole special teams unit this year. We need to improve here next year.

Grade: D-

Overall

We finished with about the win/loss record that I expected pre-season, but the big wins to begin the year ended up building my expectations up to what would prove to be unreachable levels. Our already weak passing game was torn to shreds when I lost two solid WRs out of an already shallow pool of talent, forcing us to rely on our running game more than I wanted to. Even so, Reynolds did about as well as we could have hoped given that every D we went up against was locking in on the run against us. Still, there were at least two games, possibly 3, that we should have won if we could just string a few passes together. This will be the key for us this coming recruiting phase.

Defensively I thought we did a good job for 80-90% of most games, but our safetys had a tendancy to allow the big plays, and that hurt us. It's been a problem for us two years running, though I expect some improvement here next season with the guys we'll have. The loss of Kim at CB will no doubt hurt though.

Overall Grade for the year: C+

Groundhog · 06-21-2007, 12:31 AM

2009 Report Card

Format stolen directly from st.cronin's dynasty.

Passing

Code:

name		g	att	cmp	cmp%	yds	yds/att	td	int	lg	sack	rating
A. Saunders    12	78	49	62.8	566	7.3	2	5	50	10	119.4
Freddie James  11	195	104	53.3	1486	7.6	6	10	85	30	117.2
Eddie Mays     5	53	24	45.3	329	6.2	1	1	43	9	99.9

Mays started out as our starter, but when he came down with injury James shone with some solid performances behind Saunders. Come season end, it's obvious to me that; a) Mays might make a good RB some day, which says a lot about his passing ability, b) Saunders probably should have seen more snaps, c) James was merely OK, and finally d) We really, really need an upgrade here. The lack of recieving options hurt our QBs though, and they performed better than I expected most nights. Our pass protection was quite poor, as our sack tally shows.

Grade: C-

Rushing

Code:

name		g	rush	yds	ypg	ypc	td	lg
J. Reynolds    12	348	2045	170.4	5.88	15	65
Isaac Nolan    12	80	365	30.4	4.56	5	51
R. Medina      12	25	195	16.2	7.80	1	24
A. Saunders    12	25	123	10.2	4.92	1	24
Eddie Mays      5	17	59	11.8	3.47	0	18
R. Smith	4	3	15	3.8	5.00	0	7
K. Blanchard   10	10	13	1.3	1.30	0	11
Freddie James  11	24	0	0.0	0.00	0	3

Reynolds broke the 2000 yard mark in what was a monster junior year for him, and likely his last on campus. Nolan is probably a better receiver than running back at this point, but he had his moments and has the talent to step it up next year. FB Medina did great when we called upon him for rare FB runs, while Saunders and Mays did OK when trying to use their feet rather than their hands.

Grade: A

Receiving

Code:

name		g	att	rec	yds	ypg	ypc	yac	td	lg	dp
Dewey Wilburn	12	72	35	643	53.6	18.4	131	3	85	5
Isaac Nolan	12	43	24	333	27.8	13.9	224	1	47	0
James Evans	12	37	24	330	27.5	13.8	43	1	57	0
Robert Byrd	5	26	20	252	50.4	12.6	64	0	35	0
John Newby	12	25	14	215	17.9	15.4	28	0	50	2
J. Reynolds	12	41	23	205	17.1	8.9	111	2	19	0
R. Medina	12	36	20	152	12.7	7.6	70	0	19	4
Richard Chaffin 2	15	6	121	60.5	20.2	16	1	43	2
W. Holcomb	8	9	5	69	8.6	13.8	7	1	26	0
Donald Haley	12	7	2	29	2.4	14.5	3	0	23	0
R. Smith	4	2	2	18	4.5	9.0	11	0	12	0
K. Blanchard	10	12	2	14	1.4	7.0	14	0	9	1
S. Williams	1	1	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0

The loss of Byrd 5 games in really stung us here. Wilburn did his best, but he's best used as a speedy 3rd WR than a primary target, and when Chaffin also went down we were really screwed. RB Nolan was good for a big gain or two through the air, and we probably didn't target TE Evans as much as we should have either.

Grade: D

Blocking

Code:

name		g	rb	pnk	sa	hold	false	missbl
Joseph Steele	12	28	15	1	4	0	4
Louis Akers	12	11	6	0	0	0	2
Jerry Oneal	12	5	11	4	1	0	4
E. Fitzpatrick	12	3	4	1	2	3	3
James Evans	12	3	0	1	0	0	0
William Smith	6	1	3	2	1	1	2
Kevin Charles	12	1	2	3	1	1	12
Brad Carr	2	1	0	0	1	2	0
Patrick Davdson 2	0	0	2	0	0	1
Leonard Heath	1	0	0	1	0	0	1
K. Blanchard	10	0	0	12	0	0	3
Russel Smith	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
Isaac Nolan	12	0	0	15	0	0	15
Rodney Munson	9	0	2	3	1	0	7
W. Holcomb	8	0	0	0	0	0	4
Jason Frank	1	0	0	1	0	0	1
Stanley Rangel	4	0	0	3	2	0	3
Marcel Wilhelm	3	0	0	0	0	1	1
R. Medina	12	0	0	0	0	0	3

We struggled here all season, and it's easy to see the culprits. Steele was a monster on the line, but true-freshman OG Charles in particular really hindered our running game. Wingback Nolan wasn't much better, but it's forgiveable given his position. Charles really needs to step it up. Our lack of pass protection also falls back to our wingbacks who allowed 27 sacks between them. I think I'm going to scale back my wingback formations next year or use my FBs more, as that's just insane.

Grade: C

Defensive Line

Code:

pos	name		g	tack	solo	ast	sack	stf	hur	dp	pd	int	def td	misstak	oop	bpa
de	John Gaddy	12	28	25	3	4	7	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
de	Bruce Gonzales	8	12	11	1	5	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	0
dt	Harold Rhodes	12	8	8	0	3	0	8	2	0	0	0	3	0	0
de	Dennis Terry	9	3	2	1	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	3	2	0
de	C. Lewis	5	3	3	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
de	Scott Berry	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
dt	Donald Walton	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0

Gaddy's final year was once again a bit of a frustration for me. He has so much talent, and despite harrassing the QBs at a decent rate he should be more of a threat than he was. Gonzales missed some games but did well when he was in there, and Rhodes performed pretty well for a true-freshman.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Code:

pos	name		g	tack	solo	ast	sack	stf	hur	dp	pd	int	def td	misstak	oop	bpa
ilb	Larry Ybarra	12	112	88	24	7	23	2	4	7	1	0	2	1	0
olb	Daniel Roman	12	91	64	27	3	11	4	0	5	0	0	3	3	0
ilb	Jamie Jones	12	56	41	15	0	6	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	2
olb	Adrian Esparza	9	49	35	14	5	3	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
ilb	Grover Sharpe	7	13	11	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1
olb	Stanley	Huynh	7	11	7	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
olb	John Barrett	4	7	6	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
ilb	Todd Whiting	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

Transfer Ybarra was massive for us this season, and Roman, Jones, and Esparza were no slouches either. This was the strongest unit on my entire roster this year, and that figures to ring true next year as well, with all the key guys returning. Even our depth, Sharpe and Huynh in particular, were strong when needed.

Grade: A

Secondary

Code:

pos	name		g	tack	solo	ast	sack	stf	hur	dp	pd	int	def td	misstak	oop	bpa
ss	Joseph Smith	12	46	28	18	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	1
cb	John Kim	12	45	29	16	0	3	0	0	13	5	0	2	1	0
ss	Matt Herman	12	37	21	16	2	3	0	0	6	1	0	9	2	3
fs	Brian Cox	11	26	17	9	0	3	0	0	3	1	0	4	1	4
cb	Lester Clayton	12	22	15	7	0	0	0	0	14	0	0	4	1	1
ss	David Lutz	8	8	5	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
cb	John Moore	3	5	2	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0
fs	Tim Lewis	4	5	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	1
cb	Benjamin Talbot	3	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1
fs	Eric Smith	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2

This is, once again, where our problems lay on defense. CB Kim didn't have the big year we expected/hoped for, but he and CB Clayton weren't the problems. Freshman Herman and backup Smith just about split snaps, and they were both prone to mistakes, and FS Brian Cox wasn't a lot better. We figure to be better here next season, with an older and hopefully wiser Herman, as well as the arrival of our highly-touted transfer FS. Losing my other freshman CB, John Moore, to an academic suspension for what turned out to be most of the year was more than a little dissapointing, too. Should have just redshirted the guy.

Grade: C+

Kicking

Code:

Name		xp	fg 	1-29	30-39	40-49	50+	fg%	long	points
T. Hernandez	26-27	29-39	8-11	12-13	9-14	0-1	74.4	49	113

Name		punts	avg	net	tb	in20	long
Edward Custer	73	42.6	35.7	6	6	70

Hernandez's ability to shank the easy ones from within 29 is mind boggling, but he is quite good from 30-39, and usually hit the long ones that mattered - when our special teams weren't allowing them to get blocked, anyhow. Custer was, for the most part, entirely adequete. Both guys will be missed next season.

Grade: B

Returns

Code:

Name		kr	yds	avg	long	td
Donald Haley	37	896	24.2	47	0
Jaime Jones	1	35	35.0	35	0
John Newby	3	56	18.7	23	0
William Smith	2	38	19.0	27	0
William Holcomb	2	36	18.0	25	0
Dewey Wilburn	1	18	18.0	18	0
Randolph Medina	1	2	2.0	2	0

Name		pr	yds	avg	long	td
Matt Herman	1	2	2.0	2	0
John Newby	40	364	9.1	36	0
Lester Clayton	7	88	12.6	31	0

Very unspectacular, which was the key theme to my whole special teams unit this year. We need to improve here next year.

Grade: D-

Overall

We finished with about the win/loss record that I expected pre-season, but the big wins to begin the year ended up building my expectations up to what would prove to be unreachable levels. Our already weak passing game was torn to shreds when I lost two solid WRs out of an already shallow pool of talent, forcing us to rely on our running game more than I wanted to. Even so, Reynolds did about as well as we could have hoped given that every D we went up against was locking in on the run against us. Still, there were at least two games, possibly 3, that we should have won if we could just string a few passes together. This will be the key for us this coming recruiting phase.

Defensively I thought we did a good job for 80-90% of most games, but our safetys had a tendancy to allow the big plays, and that hurt us. It's been a problem for us two years running, though I expect some improvement here next season. The loss of CB Kim will hurt us a lot though, so we'll need Clayton or Moore to take it to the next level.

Overall Grade for the Season: C+

06-03-2007, 06:58 PM	#201
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 9 Result: Utah Utes 9, UNLV Rebels 10 Player of the Game: RB Pedro Bloom (UNLV) 31 att, 200 yds, 0 TDs BOX SCORE Well, our good luck couldn't continue forever… Our running game never got going as Reynolds was held below 100 yards, and we are starting to feel the effects of losing our two top receivers. We targetted WR Wilburn 10 times, 4 of which he caught, and 2 of which he dropped. This is going to be a big problem for us in games where we aren't picking up yards on the ground with our usual ease. Also a problem for us was our run defense, a real surprise considering our opponent. Rebel's RB Bloom picked up a massive 200 yards on 31 carries, one of which was a nice 1st down run in the final minute to prevent us getting one last shot at the win. I have no real explanation for this, as we came out targetting the run, but Bloom just had a few too many break-aways. Despite all our issues, we still could have won this game. On our final possession of the game we decided to go for the TD rather than just get in to FG range, and James threw a pass in to the end zone which was picked off to give the Rebels the ball back with just over a minute to go, and the Bloom rush I mentioned above then put the game well out of reach. So basically, a very dissapointing result from both units. We didn't get in to the endzone once, and gave up a 66 yard TD pass in the 1st Q that proved to be the difference maker. We clearly came out expecting to win this one, and wound up beaten by a previously win-less team. For us to maintain any dreams of clinching the conference, we'll pretty much need to go undefeated the rest of the way, but this is beginning to look far too much like last year, where we started strong but were beaten week after week by lesser MWC foes. Hopefully we can turn it around before it's too late. Around the Mount West Air Force defeat BYU 19-16 San Diego St defeat Colorado St 17-10 TCU defeat New Mexico 32-19 Falcons 2nd RB Hartley was the big difference maker in the Falcons-Cougars matchup, out-running his higher-profile RB team-mate and helping to seal the game with a big 24 yard run in the final minute to clinch the game. The Aztecs and Horned Frogs also both picked up must-wins, with TCU doing it in style against the Lobbos. Game of the Week Result As above. Congrats Falcons! __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 06-03-2007 at 07:01 PM.

06-03-2007, 07:23 PM	#202
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 10 Preview: Utah Utes (5-3, 3-2) vs New Mexico Lobbos (3-3, 2-2) We'll be looking to turn things back around against the Lobbos this week, who are fresh off a pasting by TCU last week. The Lobbos have been surprisingly great against the pass, leading the nation in defensive passing yards allowed per game, while also being ranked #12 in rushing yards allowed. Much like UNLV though, they struggle to score points. The Lobbos share it around on the ground and in the air, but RB Lester McNeill is the main guy to watch. He's only scored a single TD this year, but he is capable of big games and had 134 yards against TCU last week. We'll be looking to make-up for our piss-poor run D from last week by shutting this guy down and forcing the Lobbos to the air. Lobbo QB Paul Hardy started last week but after an attrocious game (10-34, 1-1 TD-INT) who knows if he'll be starting again. We certainly hope he will however. The Lobbos have some talent on D, which could spell trouble for us. ILB Stephen Snow will be the main guy to watch as he is very capable of shutting down the running game with his ability to get beyond the LOS for stuffs. We'll need our blocking to really step up from last week to avoid us needing to throw the ball too much. In the event that we do have to throw, the Lobbos secondary is no push over. Their corners aren't great, but sophomore FS George Cain is one to watch. He's had a couple of picks, but is just a great coverage defender and figures to make life tough if we try and go with the deep-ball. I'll be very dissapointed if we drop this game, but it's certainly a tougher match-up than last week, and we'll need more from both ends if we're going to have a chance. Prediction. Utah 24, New Mexico 20. We are +6 favourites. Around the Mount West: TCU @ Wyoming - TCU are +5 favourites. UNLV @ BYU - BYU are +11 favourites. Air Force @ Colorado St - Air Force are +15 favourites. TCU have what figures to be a tough matchup with the Cowboys, while BYU should have an easy matchup with the Rebels. Air Force are heavy favourites, but with the up-and-down Falcons, who can say? Game of the Week #3 Clemson (6-1) @ #4 Florida St (7-1) Clemson's running game has been a thing of beauty, led by Franklin. The Seminoles run D has been OK, but they'll need to really step it up this week and force the Tigers to the air if they want to pick up the win today. Florida State are +4 favourites. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-04-2007, 01:28 AM	#203
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 10 Result: Utah Utes 35, New Mexico Lobbos 28 Player of the Game: RB Jeffrey Reynolds (UTAH) 27att, 172yds, 1 TD, 6.37ypc BOX SCORE Our pass defense took the night off tonight - partly no doubt due to me not changing our run-focused gameplan from last week - but thankfully we were able to hit the endzone enough times to outscore the Lobbos in what wound up being more of a shoot-out than I would have liked. A rushing TD from QB Saunders and a FG gave us an early 10-0 lead, but the Lobbos followed that up by making our D look foolish. First they completed a 50 yard TD pass with 1:30 left in the 1st Q, only to have a flag thrown down on the play due to an illegible receiver downfield. Not to worry, as the Lobbos then throw a 60 yard TD pass on the very next snap to make it 10-7 entering the 2nd. We manage a FG in the 2nd, but the Lobbos continue to string 1st downs together, scoring on a 12 yd TD pass halfway through the quarter, and we enter the half down 14-13. The 3rd Q sees a couple of nice plays. Firstly we block a 37 yard FG and recover the ball, then on the very next play Reynolds breaks away for one of his trademark big gain TDs rushes, this time a 62 yarder, and we complete a pass for the 2pt conversion to make it 21-14. The lead doesn't last long though as the Lobbos continue to abuse our secondary for big gains in the air, and connect with a TD pass to lock scores up at 21 entering the 4th. QB James is in fine form to start the 4th, hitting reserve TE Holcomb for a 21 yard TD pass. The Lobbos follow it up a few drives later with another big TD pass; this time a huge 83 yard TD pass to level the scores once again at 28 with 9:01 left. We exchange drives, before James finds the endzone again, hitting WR Wilburn for a 16 yarder to give us the lead at 35-28 with 4:30 left. We contain the Lobbos on the next drive and they miss a 52 yard FG with 2:51 remaining. We milk 1:30 off the clock on our next drive, and the Lobbos return our punt to their own 39 yard line with 0:51 left. They throw 2 incompletes, then lose 10 yards to a holding play, to make it 2-20 on their own 25 with 0:25 remaining, needing a TD to level the scores. Lobbos QB Malone drops back for the pass, but it's intercepted by Utah CB Kim as the final horn sounds! Reynolds was back to his usual self tonight, picking up yards on the ground, including that massive 62yd breakaway TD. Lobbos ILB Snow was on him much how I expected (4 stuffs), but Reynolds managed a number of nice runs to negate Snow's general effectiveness, and a lot of credit goes to my OLine for getting their act together this week. OT Steele in particular was solid (4 KRBs and 2 PCKs). Our QBs had themselves nice games too, with James finally not throwing a pick while collecting 2 TDs in the 4th Q on 12/22 for 184 yards. Saunders was 8/11 for 55 yards and an interception, and also picked up a 13 yard rushing TD in the 1st Q. Defensively we sucked against the longball, but completely shut-out the Lobbos running game. The Lobbos managed just 37 net yards on the ground, and as usual ILB Ybarra was like a brick wall at the LOS, finishing with 13 tackles, 1 sack, 3 stuffs, and a forced fumble. This kid could wind up one of the best ever at Utah. DE Gonzales outshone his higher profile linemate, finishing with 3 sacks and a stuff, while SS Herman was also big with a sack that led to a forced fumble. It was a nice bounce back for us after last week's loss, but we made it tougher than it needed to be. We need to play about 150% better against Wyoming next week. Around the Mount West TCU defeat Wyoming 30-24 BYU defeat UNLV 22-19 Air Force defeat Colorado State 37-9 It took an OT period, but the Horned Frogs overcame the Cowboys to keep their slim conference title chances alive. UNLV showed that maybe last week wasn't a fluke, with a TD and a safety in the 4th Q nearly giving them a win over BYU, while Air Force handled Colorado State and remain the easy MWC favourites at this stage. Game of the Week Result: Florida St defeat Clemson 30-19 Clemson RB Frankling had a nice showing with 169 yards on 7.68ypc, but he couldn't get in to the endzone and the Tigers as a whole turned it over too much and only a couple of late 4th Q TDs made the score look closer than it was in a convincing victory for the Seminoles. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-05-2007, 05:56 PM	#204
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 10 Injuries Bold denotes starter, red denotes sitting out next week's game. QB Eddie Mays - Prob (1-3) RB Isaac Nolan - Prob (1-3) WR Richard Chaffin - Out (7-9) WR Robert Byrd - Out (10-12) OT Louis Akers - Prob (3-5) OT Rodney Munson - Prob (1-3) OG Stanley Rangel - Doubt (6-8) DE Christopher Lewis - Ques (4-6) DT Donald Walton - Prob (1-3) OLB Daniel Roman - Prob (0-2) FS Brian Cox - Prob (0-2) Lots of guys banged up, but outside of my two receivers all are listed on the depth chart. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-05-2007, 07:01 PM	#205
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 11 Preview: Utah Utes (6-3, 4-2) vs Wyoming Cowboys (4-3, 3-2) This promises to be a tough game for us, as Wyoming have been far better than I think anyone expected. They are the only team that's beaten Air Force, lost in OT to TCU, and their only bad loss was a 17 point drubbing by the Aztecs back in week 4, which was a week after the lost by just 3 to #24 Oregon. They are a team that's been playing above their heads all season. Cowboys QB Robert Spruill is a little erratic at times, but he is also a major threat. RB Eddie Hall is the most talented player they have on offense but the lack of any major talents on the OLine hinders his running more than it does Spruill's passing, so we'll be looking to pressure Spruill and work on the Cowboys OLine to try and take Hall down in the backfield. Defensively the Cowboys are pretty poor individually, but seem to work well as a unit. Their secondary is particularily poor, so this should help us if we need James to go to the air due to our running game not clicking. The Cowboys have done quite well against the run (3.0ypc allowed, #24 in the nation), but again it's hard to see why. Our OLine is definately stronger than this DLine, so we'll be hoping to do some damage here. This is one of those dangerous games that we "should" win, on paper at least. The key to the game will need to be our defense, as most of the Wyoming's strengths are on the attacking side of the ball, so we need to pressure Spruill in to throwing bad passes while containing the running game. This is the kind of game that Reynolds should star in for us on the ground, but I guess we'll see. Prediction: Utah Utes 27, Wyoming Cowboys 24. We are +9 favourites. Around the Mount West: Colorado St (2-6,1-5) @ New Mexico (3-4,2-3) - New Mexico are +6 favourites. BYU (6-3,4-2) @ TCU (5-3,3-2) - Odds are even. UNLV (1-6,1-5) @ San Diego St (2-6,2-3) - Aztecs are +5 favourites. BYU-TCU is the big matchup of the week. TCU are trying to keep their slim conference title hopes alive against the strong Cougars, who are also in the running. But the Falcons will need to drop their next two games - a road game @ New Mexico and a home game against the Aztecs - to give anyone else a chance. Game of the Week #7 Oklahoma (6-2) @ #1 Missouri (9-0) Missouri's run defense has been sensational and has played a big hand in their undefeated season thus far. Oklahoma are a run-oriented team who have suffered a 4 point loss to the undefeated Longhorns, as well as a surprising 10-point upset by the MWC's very own TCU. Oklahoma has three of the best backs in the game, and will need a big game from them if they hope to pull out the win. They are surprising #4 favourites, even on the road against the #1 team in the nation! __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 06-05-2007 at 07:02 PM.

06-06-2007, 12:35 AM	#206
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 11 Result: Utah Utes 20, Wyoming Cowboys 10 Player of the Game: RB Jeffrey Reynolds (UTAH) 34 att, 348 yards, 10.24ypc, 2 TDs BOX SCORE It was an auspicious beginning to the game for us, with Reynolds picking up a combined 26 yards on our first two rushing plays to start the game. We worked it to the Wyoming 27 but were stopped, pushed back 5 yards due to a penalty, and then had our 50-yard FG attempt blocked in what was to be the first of many kicking blunders. The Cowboys attempt two passes before QB Spruill walks off the field holding his wrist, handing the reigns over to Jones. We get it back and work it downfield largely through Reynolds, before he busts out a 53 yard TD run in true Reynolds style! 7-0 Utah with 6:20 remaining in the 1st. The Cowboys get it back and RB Hall busts free for a 54 yard run to get it to our own 26. They are forced to settle for the FG as our D tightens up, 7-3 with 2:56 remaining. We soon reply with a FG of our own at the end of the quarter to make it 10-3 entering the 2nd. We get the ball after a 3-and-out by the Cowboys, and a 57 yard pass from James gets us the ball in good position. We aren't able to get to the endzone however, and shanks a 26 yard FG for our 2nd horrid kick of the day. The Cowboys are doing OK on the ground but can't connect on their passes so we get it back, work it to FG range, and Hernandez blows a 42 yard FG. He had missed 2 FGs all season prior to this game, and is now 0-3 just in this game with 7:28 left in the 2nd Q. We get the ball back shortly after and work it once again to FG range. Hernandez lines up for a 49 yard attempt but, surprise surprise, it's blocked. 0-4, and we enter the half up 10-3. We trade possessions with the Cowboys to start the 3rd Q before putting together a nice drive on the ground that is broken when Nolan misses a block that leads to a blind-sided Reynolds fumbling the ball with 9:55 left in the quarter. Cowboys recover the fumble, work it in to our half of the field, but miss the 41 yard FG. We get the ball back and Reynolds busts out a 43 yard run to get us good position. We work it to the 6 yard line, before Medina fumbles a screen pass at the 3 yard line and we cough up possession. We pin the Cowboys back within our 10, and force them a 3 and out. Their punt is a poor one and puts us in FG range. We can't move the ball and finally convert a FG to make it 13-3 with 2:38 remaining, and our kicker is now 1/4 on FGs. Our special teams coverage is terrible however, as the Cowboys return our kickoff 86 yards to our own 4 yard line, and soon RB Hall is in the endzone for the Cowboys first TD to make it 13-10 Utah to begin the 4th. We trade drives once again before Reynolds busts free for his 2nd 53-yard TD run of the game with 12:46 left in the quarter! 20-10 Utah. The Cowboys are looking heavily to pass but can't get anything going, and despite moving the ball well we need to settle for yet another FG... a 47 yarder that misses, of course. Cowboys still keep trying to work it through the air without success, and we get the ball back with a few minutes to go. Reynolds and Nolan share carries and pick us up enough 1st downs to allow us to QB kneel out the game for the win! Our running game was just unstoppable tonight, with Reynolds picking up an incredible 348 yards on the ground - the 3rd highest total in FOFC-BBCF history, with the 2 higher totals both coming this season as well. Nolan, our 2nd RB, was also big for us with 72 yards off 10 carries, while OT Steele moves to #1 in the nation after picking up 4 KRB tonight. Defensively we didn't do quite so well against Cowboys RB Hall who had 117 yards on 17 carries. He had two big rushes that pushed his numbers out, and both were due to defensive stuff-ups (a missed tackle and an OOP). ILB Ybarra wasn't the major run-stuffing force he usually is tonight, but the Cowboys threw the ball more than we expected. Losing their starting QB early, who was 0/2 at the time, probably helped things, but we defended the pass extremely well. His backup Jones ended up 11/24 and though we didn't get any interceptions we did a decent job of pressuring the quarterback and receivers. Two big thumbs down to our special teams however. Hernandez was attrocious tonight, finishing 2/7 on FGs. To be fair, many were 45+ yards, but he shanked a 27 yarder and had two blocked. The weather was overcast, and certainly not extreme enough to account for these kicking results. We also gave up a big kick return that led to a TD, and I'm going to be taking a good look at our special team guys and making some changes. It's a good win for us though, and keeps us in the chase for the conference title. All we need now is for Air Force to revert back to their inconsistent ways and drop the next 2 games! Around the Mount West New Mexico defeat Colorado St 24-6 BYU defeat TCU 24-13 San Diego St defeat UNLV 21-18 The Lobbos are easy victors over Colorado St, while BYU defeat the Horned Frogs and dash all hopes of a top finish for TCU, and the Aztecs get back to .500 in their quest for respectability. Game of the Week Result: #7 Oklahoma 23, #1 Missouri 6 Well, the bookies got it right, and then some! Massive road win for the Sooners over top-ranked Missouri. The Tigers played the run well but got killed through the air instead, and couldn't find the endzone. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-06-2007, 08:15 AM	#207
astrosfan64 College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2004	Great Dynasty. I just read the whole thing and it was worth it. This really is a great game and league.

06-06-2007, 07:23 PM	#209
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 11 Injuries Bold denotes starter, red denotes sitting out next week's game. QB Eddie Mays - Prob (1-3) RB Isaac Nolan - Prob (1-3) WR Richard Chaffin - Out (7-9) WR Robert Byrd - Out (10-12) OT Louis Akers - Prob (3-5) OT Rodney Munson - Prob (1-3) OG Stanley Rangel - Doubt (6-8) DE Christopher Lewis - Ques (4-6) DT Donald Walton - Prob (1-3) OLB Daniel Roman - Prob (0-2) FS Brian Cox - Prob (0-2) Saunders took a hit last week and is listed as doubtful, but will be my #2 QB after our bye in week 12. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-06-2007, 07:46 PM	#210
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 12 Preview: No Game After 9 straight weeks of football, we get ourselves a week off to lick our wounds and prepare for our showdown with TCU, who are run by FOFC's own st.cronin. As you can see in the post above this one, we have a number of guys nursing niggling injuries, so they should be closer to 100% come next week. My receiver core is still a shambles, though at least Newby - who under normal circumstances is a punt returner rather than a WR - should be back. Around the Mount West: Wyoming (4-4,3-3) @ BYU (7-3,5-2) - BYU are +10 favourites. TCU (5-4,3-3) @ San Diego St (3-6,3-3) - TCU are +4 favourites. Air Force (7-3,5-1) @ New Mexico (4-4,3-3)- Air Force are +4 favourites. UNLV (1-7) @ Michigan St (8-3) - Michigan St are +15 favourites. This is an important week for several teams. BYU and us here at Utah will be praying to every deity imaginable that Air Force lose to New Mexico. If the Falcons win today, they cement their spot as MWC champs. We'll be hoping that BYU AND Air Force lose, which gives us our best shot at the title, but Air Force would need to lose next week's game as well, which is a home game against the Aztecs. So it's definately the Falcons title to lose at this point, but there is a slim shimmer of hope. Game of the Week: Air Force @ New Mexico Going to be greedy once again and award it to the MWC. The Falcons are prone to outings where they struggle to get in to the endzone, but their defense is usually enough to get them by. We'll be hoping that the Lobbos, who have been solid at times this season but have also struggled to find the endzone, can contain them and win in what figures to be a low scoring game. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-06-2007, 08:05 PM	#211
DeToxRox Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Michigan	Helluva' performance by Reynolds. My Wildcats are in the same position, need to win out and need a loss by UW to win the Pac 10, remarkable because we'd win the P10 by going 7-5, but parity runs ripe in this damn league.

06-07-2007, 09:50 PM	#212
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 12 Result: No Game Nothing to do except sit around and watch the Falcons take out the MWC crown with a convincing 21-0 road victory over the Lobbos at home. Around the Mount West BYU defeat Wyoming 26-22 TCU defeat San Diego St 31-28 Air Force defeat New Mexico 21-0 Falcons do it with ease thanks to some big passes, taking out the MWC title and dashing our chances at it. Now we need to win against TCU next week to cement our #2 spot. Game of the Week Result: Air Force 21, New Mexico 0 Two 40+ TD passes in the 2nd half put the game well and truly out of reach for the Lobbos, who could manage absolutely nothing against the Falcons D. Air Force OLB Joel Munoz was huge, with 8 tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 stuffs to help guide the Falcons to the MWC crown. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-10-2007, 07:16 PM	#213
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 13 Preview: Utah Utes (7-3, 5-2) @ TCU Horned Frogs (6-4, 4-3) With Air Force's win last week we can no longer win the conference, but this is still an important game for us. If we win, we finish 2nd in the conference. If we lose, 3rd. The Horned Frogs struggled to begin the year, but have found their form of late and are looking to cement a 3rd place finish tonight. Offensively they are a team that has struggled some-what with their passing game, despite having talent, though generally get some production from their running game. We'll need our boys to be in fine form tonight to keep these guys under 100 on the ground, while hopefully picking up a couple of turnovers off of coverage. Definitely won't be that simple, but we need to limit the Horned Frogs' scoring if we want to win. Defensively the Horned Frogs are weak on the DLine, but their secondary is probably the best in the MWC, talent-wise. Interceptions have come easily for these guys, with CB Rob Holland having 5 to his name, and with our QBs tenancy to throw picks this may wind up hurting us. Hopefully our running game is on today to limit our need for long passes, but again it will take solid blocking today to get us positive yardage on the ground. Last year our matchup with TCU came right down to the end, with a Utah fumble near the endzone eventually costing us the game. I'm hoping for another close one tonight. Prediction: Utah 20, TCU 23. TCU are +5 favourites. Around the Mount West Wyoming (4-5,3-4) @ New Mexico (4-5,3-4) - New Mexico are +5 favourites. San Diego St (3-7,3-4) @ Air Force (8-3,6-1) - Air Force are +7 favourites. Colorado St (2-7,1-6) @ UNLV (1-8,1-6) - UNLV are +2 favourites. Wyoming stumbled after a strong start and will be looking for a win to finish .500 in conference play. The Falcons are already champions but should handle the Aztecs, while the Rams and Rebels battle it out in a game that I suspect very few care about. Game of the Week: Utah @ TCU There are very few games on this week, and even fewer of note, so the battle for 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in the MWC is our game of the week. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-11-2007, 06:11 PM	#214
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 13 Result: Utah Utes 7, TCU Horned Frogs 27 Player of the Game: QB James Olsen (TCU) 21/35, 334yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT BOX SCORE Our passing game and lack of depth got utterly exposed tonight by TCU. Reynolds broke away for a 45 yard TD run to open the scoring for the game with 13:30 left in the 1st Q, but that was to be the last points we put up on the board, as the Horned Frogs moved it through the air on their way to a dominating win. Defensively our secondary really let us down on a number of occassions. We were pretty good against the run, with Ybarra picking up 10 tackles and 2 stuffs as our usual rock inside. We did manage to buckle down in the 2nd half a little, not allowing the Horned Frogs to put another TD on the board. It was on offense that we really struggled. With the injuries to our receivers we have really been forced to rely on WR Wilburn a lot, as he's the only non-1-star WR we have on the available roster. He has some talent, but he's prone to drops and mistakes and is not nearly an efficent option. We targetted him 9 times tonight, 3 of which he caught, only to fumble one away in the redzone, and another 2 he dropped. Combined with our lack of talent at QB and the skill of TCU's secondary it's probably surprising we did as well as we did, with just 1 pick thrown by James (into the endzone, no less). Reynolds struggled outside of his 45 yard TD run to open the game, and it didn't help that our 2nd RB Nolan, who is usually one of our best receivers too, left the game injured early. We didn't even attempt a single FG and got the ball in the redzone just once. A terrible showing to end conference play, and one that sends us from a 2nd place finish to a 4th place. Congrats to TCU however who wind up 3rd after a rough start to the year. Around the Mount West New Mexico defeat Wyoming 28-6 Air Force defeat San Diego St 31-10 UNLV defeat Colorado St 17-9 All the home teams picked up wins today to end MWC play for the season. Conference write-up to come shortly. Game of the Week Result: See Above __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-11-2007, 06:19 PM	#215
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 13 Award Watch: The finalists were announced for the end of season awards, and the following Utes are in the running: 2009 Heisman Trophy: RB Jeffrey Reynolds 2009 Doak Walker: RB Jeffrey Reynolds 2009 Vince Lombardi: OT Joseph Steele 2009 Lou Groza: K Timothy Hernandez As good a year as Reynolds is having, I doubt he wins either of his two awards. Clemson RB Johnny Franklin has had a statistically better year against stronger competition so he has a better chance at it. Steele is a real chance for his award however, while Hernandez probably had a chance before he went 2/7 a few weeks ago. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-11-2007, 11:11 PM	#216
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	2009 Mount West Final Standings Code: { Conf. } { Overall } # Team W-L PF PA W-L PF PA Streak Home Road Media Coach 1. Air Force 7-1 179 88 9-3 299 172 W6 5-2 4-1 0-1 0-1 2. BYU 6-2 231 159 8-3 302 200 w3 5-0 3-3 0-1 0-0 3. TCU 5-3 187 162 7-4 257 215 w2 4-2 3-2 1-0 1-0 4. Utah 5-3 194 163 7-4 294 240 L1 6-1 1-3 1-0 1-0 5. New Mexico 4-4 142 162 5-5 177 189 W1 4-2 1-3 0-1 0-0 6. SD State 3-5 154 177 3-8 200 287 L2 2-4 1-4 0-2 0-2 7. Wyoming 3-5 138 182 4-6 185 218 L4 2-2 2-4 0-0 0-0 8. UNLV 2-6 109 152 2-8 145 237 W1 2-2 0-6 0-0 0-0 9. Colorado St 1-7 115 204 2-8 176 260 L6 1-3 1-5 0-1 0-1 My pre-season predictions were(actual finish in brackets): 1. TCU (3) 2. Air Force (1) 3. San Diego State (6) 4. Utah (4) 5. BYU (2) 6. New Mexico (5) 7. Colorado St (9) 8. UNLV (8) 9. Wyoming (7) I knew Air Force would be strong, but I didn't think they'd only lose 1 game in conference, while TCU also lost a couple of games I didn't expect. I was spot on with ourselves, though in hindsight it's dissapointing that the loss to UNLV dropped us from 2nd to 4th. We were a better team than I expected. I was a little surprised at how the Aztecs performed as well, and expected better from them, and the Cowboys really faltered after a strong start. So congrats to the Falcons, who now get to go on to be most likely spanked by a ranked team! __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-12-2007, 06:28 PM	#217
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 14 Preview: No Game Another week off to prepare for our final game of the season; a rivalry matchup with Utah State! Around the Mount West: San Diego St (3-8) @ Tennessee (6-5) - Tennessee are +12 favourites. Wyoming (4-6) @ Nebraska (7-3) - Nebraska are +17 favourites. Only two games on this week for the MWC, and both figure to be tough outings against heavily favoured opponents on the road. Should be a tough ask for either team to do anything but keep it respectable. Game of the Week: #1 Notre Dame (9-1) @ #25 Texas Tech (6-4) Even though the Irish are heavily favoured, Tech have performed pretty well against ranked opponents, beating #11 Oklahoma 47-46, #24 Colorado 30-27, and falling to #2 Texas 27-22. The question will be whether or not their pourous defense can handle the Notre Dame offense. Notre Dame are +11 favourites, but I think it will be closer than this. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-14-2007, 06:46 PM	#218
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 14 Result: No Game yawn Around the Mount West Tennessee defeat San Diego ST 40-10 Nebraska defeat Wyoming 37-10 No surprises here, as both MWC teams are beaten handily to end their seasons. Game of the Week Result: #2 Notre Dame 27, Texas Tech 13 The Red Raiders took a 10-7 lead in to the halftime break, but couldn't hit the endzone in the 2nd half as Notre Dame came home comfortably, and cement themselves as co-favourites with Texas to make the Championship game! __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-14-2007, 07:19 PM	#219
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 15 Preview: Utah Utes (7-4) @ Utah State Aggies (4-6) It's rivalry week this week as we head out to State to take on the Aggies and try and end the regular season on a high-note, while also cementing a spot in a bowl game. Last season we spanked the Aggies senseless at home 51-16, but I don't expect such a one-sided affair this year. The Aggies are fresh off 2 straight victories, and their defense is much stronger this year. Their pass-orientated offense is a weakness for them however, as QB Perez (50.4%, 7-9 TD-INT, 109.5) is not blessed with a particularily great arm nor particularily great receivers - though having said that, either of their two starters at WR would be starting for us right now with the injury woes we've been having. We'll be expecting the pass, while relying on Ybarra and co inside to keep their running game, which is led by freshman John Garber (4.27ypc, 4 TDs) who is coming off an 153 yard outing against San Jose State, under control. He's not particularily spectacular in any one area however, so we should manage. Offensively we will be hoping we don't blow our blocking assignments so we can ride Reynolds and not have to throw the ball too much, as the Aggies secondary is their strongest point. If Reynolds can pick up a few TDs and over 100 yards on the ground, we should be able to win this game. Having said that, we have been shaky as hell on the road, so we'll see... Prediction: Utah 27, Utah State 14. We are +15 favourites. Around the Mount West #24 Colorado (6-4) @ Colorado St (2-8) - Colorado are +15 favourites. TCU (7-4) @ SMU (5-5) - TCU are +11 favourites. UNLV (2-8) @ Nevada (5-5) - UNLV are +6 favourites. New Mexico (5-5) @ New Mexico St (3-8) - New Mexico St are +2 favourites. Should be a rough game for Colorado St, but all other MWC teams are favoured in their final games of the regular season. Game of the Week: #9 Boston College (8-2) @ #2 Notre Dame (10-1) The Eagles struggled against their matchups with ranked ACC opponents this year, but have been solid outside of that thanks to a stiffling defense and strong run-based offense. Notre Dame on the other hand have gone from strength to strength, and are +12 favourites at home. This will be a very tough matchup for Boston College, and I don't think they'll be quite up to it. __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-17-2007, 08:33 PM	#220
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	Week 15 Result: Utah Utes 9, Utah State Aggies 20 Player of the Game: WR Michael Banks (Utah St) 3 Rec, 94 yards, 2 TDs BOX SCORE Yuck. That sums this game up pretty well. It was much the same as the TCU and UNLV games - we were forced to go to the air, and just couldn't get it done. Wilburn, our only WR with any kind of ability, is being asked to do way too much and when combined with a borderline-quality QB, it's surprising we've done as well as we have this year. We did manage a sole TD through the air though, with a nice 56 yard TD off a James pass, but that was the lone highlight for our offense tonight. Reynolds was solid, picking up 159 yards on 25 carries, but couldn't find the endzone and again found life tough due to missed blocking assignments. With our passing game as it is, we needed Reynolds to have a monster game to compensate, and it just wasn't happening tonight. Defensively we again faltered against the longball. We frustratingly allowed two 30+ yard TD passes, and that dug us a grave that was far too deep for our offense to pull us back out of. We were strong most of the day, with Ybarra having another huge outing (13 tackles, 1 sack, 2 stuffs, 1 FF), but all of it was negated by those two plays. Our special teams also earnt itself another shameful performance today, allowing both another FG as well as an XP to be blocked. A sour note to maybe (depending on whether we get a bowl invite) end the season on, and perhaps Reynolds' career if/when he declares for the NFL, but the highs certainly out-weighed the lows this year. Around the Mount West TCU defeat SMU 23-17 UNLV defeat Nevada 33-27 Colorado defeat Colorado St 34-23 New Mexico St defeat New Mexico 37-16 Colorado St did better than expected, while TCU and UNLV both pulled out close ones. The Lobbos join us as dissapointments on the road. Game of the Week Result: #9 Boston College 19, #2 Notre Dame 20 Very exciting finish to this one. Down by 9 with 1:28 remaining, Notre Dame find the endzone to make it 17-19 with a minute left, then recover the onside kick, march down field, and nail the FG to win the game! __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-21-2007, 12:30 AM	#221
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	2009 Report Card Format stolen directly from st.cronin's dynasty. Passing Code: name g att cmp cmp% yds yds/att td int lg sack rating A. Saunders 12 78 49 62.8 566 7.3 2 5 50 10 119.4 Freddie James 11 195 104 53.3 1486 7.6 6 10 85 30 117.2 Eddie Mays 5 53 24 45.3 329 6.2 1 1 43 9 99.9 Mays started out as our starter, but when he came down with injury James shone with some solid performances behind Saunders. Come season end, it's obvious to me that; a) Mays might make a good RB some day, which says a lot about his passing ability, b) Saunders probably should have seen more snaps, c) James was merely OK, and finally d) We really, really need an upgrade here. The lack of recieving options hurt our QBs though, and they performed better than I expected most nights. Our pass protection was quite poor, as our sack tally shows. Grade: C- Rushing Code: name g rush yds ypg ypc td lg J. Reynolds 12 348 2045 170.4 5.88 15 65 Isaac Nolan 12 80 365 30.4 4.56 5 51 R. Medina 12 25 195 16.2 7.80 1 24 A. Saunders 12 25 123 10.2 4.92 1 24 Eddie Mays 5 17 59 11.8 3.47 0 18 R. Smith 4 3 15 3.8 5.00 0 7 K. Blanchard 10 10 13 1.3 1.30 0 11 Freddie James 11 24 0 0.0 0.00 0 3 Reynolds broke the 2000 yard mark in what was a monster junior year for him, and likely his last on campus. Nolan is probably a better receiver than running back at this point, but he had his moments and has the talent to step it up next year. FB Medina did great when we called upon him for rare FB runs, while Saunders and Mays did OK when trying to use their feet rather than their hands. Grade: A Receiving Code: name g att rec yds ypg ypc yac td lg dp Dewey Wilburn 12 72 35 643 53.6 18.4 131 3 85 5 Isaac Nolan 12 43 24 333 27.8 13.9 224 1 47 0 James Evans 12 37 24 330 27.5 13.8 43 1 57 0 Robert Byrd 5 26 20 252 50.4 12.6 64 0 35 0 John Newby 12 25 14 215 17.9 15.4 28 0 50 2 J. Reynolds 12 41 23 205 17.1 8.9 111 2 19 0 R. Medina 12 36 20 152 12.7 7.6 70 0 19 4 Richard Chaffin 2 15 6 121 60.5 20.2 16 1 43 2 W. Holcomb 8 9 5 69 8.6 13.8 7 1 26 0 Donald Haley 12 7 2 29 2.4 14.5 3 0 23 0 R. Smith 4 2 2 18 4.5 9.0 11 0 12 0 K. Blanchard 10 12 2 14 1.4 7.0 14 0 9 1 S. Williams 1 1 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 The loss of Byrd 5 games in really stung us here. Wilburn did his best, but he's best used as a speedy 3rd WR than a primary target, and when Chaffin also went down we were really screwed. RB Nolan was good for a big gain or two through the air, and we probably didn't target TE Evans as much as we should have either. Grade: D Blocking Code: name g rb pnk sa hold false missbl Joseph Steele 12 28 15 1 4 0 4 Louis Akers 12 11 6 0 0 0 2 Jerry Oneal 12 5 11 4 1 0 4 E. Fitzpatrick 12 3 4 1 2 3 3 James Evans 12 3 0 1 0 0 0 William Smith 6 1 3 2 1 1 2 Kevin Charles 12 1 2 3 1 1 12 Brad Carr 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 Patrick Davdson 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 Leonard Heath 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 K. Blanchard 10 0 0 12 0 0 3 Russel Smith 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 Isaac Nolan 12 0 0 15 0 0 15 Rodney Munson 9 0 2 3 1 0 7 W. Holcomb 8 0 0 0 0 0 4 Jason Frank 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 Stanley Rangel 4 0 0 3 2 0 3 Marcel Wilhelm 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 R. Medina 12 0 0 0 0 0 3 We struggled here all season, and it's easy to see the culprits. Steele was a monster on the line, but true-freshman OG Charles in particular really hindered our running game. Wingback Nolan wasn't much better, but it's forgiveable given his position. Charles really needs to step it up. Our lack of pass protection also falls back to our wingbacks who allowed 27 sacks between them. I think I'm going to scale back my wingback formations next year or use my FBs more, as that's just insane. Grade: C Defensive Line Code: pos name g tack solo ast sack stf hur dp pd int def td misstak oop bpa de John Gaddy 12 28 25 3 4 7 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 de Bruce Gonzales 8 12 11 1 5 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 dt Harold Rhodes 12 8 8 0 3 0 8 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 de Dennis Terry 9 3 2 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 de C. Lewis 5 3 3 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 de Scott Berry 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 dt Donald Walton 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 Gaddy's final year was once again a bit of a frustration for me. He has so much talent, and despite harrassing the QBs at a decent rate he should be more of a threat than he was. Gonzales missed some games but did well when he was in there, and Rhodes performed pretty well for a true-freshman. Grade: B- Linebackers Code: pos name g tack solo ast sack stf hur dp pd int def td misstak oop bpa ilb Larry Ybarra 12 112 88 24 7 23 2 4 7 1 0 2 1 0 olb Daniel Roman 12 91 64 27 3 11 4 0 5 0 0 3 3 0 ilb Jamie Jones 12 56 41 15 0 6 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 olb Adrian Esparza 9 49 35 14 5 3 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 ilb Grover Sharpe 7 13 11 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 olb Stanley Huynh 7 11 7 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 olb John Barrett 4 7 6 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 ilb Todd Whiting 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Transfer Ybarra was massive for us this season, and Roman, Jones, and Esparza were no slouches either. This was the strongest unit on my entire roster this year, and that figures to ring true next year as well, with all the key guys returning. Even our depth, Sharpe and Huynh in particular, were strong when needed. Grade: A Secondary Code: pos name g tack solo ast sack stf hur dp pd int def td misstak oop bpa ss Joseph Smith 12 46 28 18 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 1 cb John Kim 12 45 29 16 0 3 0 0 13 5 0 2 1 0 ss Matt Herman 12 37 21 16 2 3 0 0 6 1 0 9 2 3 fs Brian Cox 11 26 17 9 0 3 0 0 3 1 0 4 1 4 cb Lester Clayton 12 22 15 7 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 4 1 1 ss David Lutz 8 8 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 cb John Moore 3 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 fs Tim Lewis 4 5 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 cb Benjamin Talbot 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 fs Eric Smith 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 This is, once again, where our problems lay on defense. CB Kim didn't have the big year we expected/hoped for, but he and CB Clayton weren't the problems. Freshman Herman and backup Smith just about split snaps, and they were both prone to mistakes, and FS Brian Cox wasn't a lot better. We figure to be better here next season, with an older and hopefully wiser Herman, as well as the arrival of our highly-touted transfer FS. Losing my other freshman CB, John Moore, to an academic suspension for what turned out to be most of the year was more than a little dissapointing, too. Should have just redshirted the guy. Grade: C+ Kicking Code: Name xp fg 1-29 30-39 40-49 50+ fg% long points T. Hernandez 26-27 29-39 8-11 12-13 9-14 0-1 74.4 49 113 Name punts avg net tb in20 long Edward Custer 73 42.6 35.7 6 6 70 Hernandez's ability to shank the easy ones from within 29 is mind boggling, but he is quite good from 30-39, and usually hit the long ones that mattered - when our special teams weren't allowing them to get blocked, anyhow. Custer was, for the most part, entirely adequete. Both guys will be missed next season. Grade: B Returns Code: Name kr yds avg long td Donald Haley 37 896 24.2 47 0 Jaime Jones 1 35 35.0 35 0 John Newby 3 56 18.7 23 0 William Smith 2 38 19.0 27 0 William Holcomb 2 36 18.0 25 0 Dewey Wilburn 1 18 18.0 18 0 Randolph Medina 1 2 2.0 2 0 Name pr yds avg long td Matt Herman 1 2 2.0 2 0 John Newby 40 364 9.1 36 0 Lester Clayton 7 88 12.6 31 0 Very unspectacular, which was the key theme to my whole special teams unit this year. We need to improve here next year. Grade: D- Overall We finished with about the win/loss record that I expected pre-season, but the big wins to begin the year ended up building my expectations up to what would prove to be unreachable levels. Our already weak passing game was torn to shreds when I lost two solid WRs out of an already shallow pool of talent, forcing us to rely on our running game more than I wanted to. Even so, Reynolds did about as well as we could have hoped given that every D we went up against was locking in on the run against us. Still, there were at least two games, possibly 3, that we should have won if we could just string a few passes together. This will be the key for us this coming recruiting phase. Defensively I thought we did a good job for 80-90% of most games, but our safetys had a tendancy to allow the big plays, and that hurt us. It's been a problem for us two years running, though I expect some improvement here next season with the guys we'll have. The loss of Kim at CB will no doubt hurt though. Overall Grade for the year: C+ __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

06-21-2007, 12:31 AM	#222
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	2009 Report Card Format stolen directly from st.cronin's dynasty. Passing Code: name g att cmp cmp% yds yds/att td int lg sack rating A. Saunders 12 78 49 62.8 566 7.3 2 5 50 10 119.4 Freddie James 11 195 104 53.3 1486 7.6 6 10 85 30 117.2 Eddie Mays 5 53 24 45.3 329 6.2 1 1 43 9 99.9 Mays started out as our starter, but when he came down with injury James shone with some solid performances behind Saunders. Come season end, it's obvious to me that; a) Mays might make a good RB some day, which says a lot about his passing ability, b) Saunders probably should have seen more snaps, c) James was merely OK, and finally d) We really, really need an upgrade here. The lack of recieving options hurt our QBs though, and they performed better than I expected most nights. Our pass protection was quite poor, as our sack tally shows. Grade: C- Rushing Code: name g rush yds ypg ypc td lg J. Reynolds 12 348 2045 170.4 5.88 15 65 Isaac Nolan 12 80 365 30.4 4.56 5 51 R. Medina 12 25 195 16.2 7.80 1 24 A. Saunders 12 25 123 10.2 4.92 1 24 Eddie Mays 5 17 59 11.8 3.47 0 18 R. Smith 4 3 15 3.8 5.00 0 7 K. Blanchard 10 10 13 1.3 1.30 0 11 Freddie James 11 24 0 0.0 0.00 0 3 Reynolds broke the 2000 yard mark in what was a monster junior year for him, and likely his last on campus. Nolan is probably a better receiver than running back at this point, but he had his moments and has the talent to step it up next year. FB Medina did great when we called upon him for rare FB runs, while Saunders and Mays did OK when trying to use their feet rather than their hands. Grade: A Receiving Code: name g att rec yds ypg ypc yac td lg dp Dewey Wilburn 12 72 35 643 53.6 18.4 131 3 85 5 Isaac Nolan 12 43 24 333 27.8 13.9 224 1 47 0 James Evans 12 37 24 330 27.5 13.8 43 1 57 0 Robert Byrd 5 26 20 252 50.4 12.6 64 0 35 0 John Newby 12 25 14 215 17.9 15.4 28 0 50 2 J. Reynolds 12 41 23 205 17.1 8.9 111 2 19 0 R. Medina 12 36 20 152 12.7 7.6 70 0 19 4 Richard Chaffin 2 15 6 121 60.5 20.2 16 1 43 2 W. Holcomb 8 9 5 69 8.6 13.8 7 1 26 0 Donald Haley 12 7 2 29 2.4 14.5 3 0 23 0 R. Smith 4 2 2 18 4.5 9.0 11 0 12 0 K. Blanchard 10 12 2 14 1.4 7.0 14 0 9 1 S. Williams 1 1 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 The loss of Byrd 5 games in really stung us here. Wilburn did his best, but he's best used as a speedy 3rd WR than a primary target, and when Chaffin also went down we were really screwed. RB Nolan was good for a big gain or two through the air, and we probably didn't target TE Evans as much as we should have either. Grade: D Blocking Code: name g rb pnk sa hold false missbl Joseph Steele 12 28 15 1 4 0 4 Louis Akers 12 11 6 0 0 0 2 Jerry Oneal 12 5 11 4 1 0 4 E. Fitzpatrick 12 3 4 1 2 3 3 James Evans 12 3 0 1 0 0 0 William Smith 6 1 3 2 1 1 2 Kevin Charles 12 1 2 3 1 1 12 Brad Carr 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 Patrick Davdson 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 Leonard Heath 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 K. Blanchard 10 0 0 12 0 0 3 Russel Smith 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 Isaac Nolan 12 0 0 15 0 0 15 Rodney Munson 9 0 2 3 1 0 7 W. Holcomb 8 0 0 0 0 0 4 Jason Frank 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 Stanley Rangel 4 0 0 3 2 0 3 Marcel Wilhelm 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 R. Medina 12 0 0 0 0 0 3 We struggled here all season, and it's easy to see the culprits. Steele was a monster on the line, but true-freshman OG Charles in particular really hindered our running game. Wingback Nolan wasn't much better, but it's forgiveable given his position. Charles really needs to step it up. Our lack of pass protection also falls back to our wingbacks who allowed 27 sacks between them. I think I'm going to scale back my wingback formations next year or use my FBs more, as that's just insane. Grade: C Defensive Line Code: pos name g tack solo ast sack stf hur dp pd int def td misstak oop bpa de John Gaddy 12 28 25 3 4 7 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 de Bruce Gonzales 8 12 11 1 5 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 dt Harold Rhodes 12 8 8 0 3 0 8 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 de Dennis Terry 9 3 2 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 de C. Lewis 5 3 3 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 de Scott Berry 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 dt Donald Walton 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 Gaddy's final year was once again a bit of a frustration for me. He has so much talent, and despite harrassing the QBs at a decent rate he should be more of a threat than he was. Gonzales missed some games but did well when he was in there, and Rhodes performed pretty well for a true-freshman. Grade: B- Linebackers Code: pos name g tack solo ast sack stf hur dp pd int def td misstak oop bpa ilb Larry Ybarra 12 112 88 24 7 23 2 4 7 1 0 2 1 0 olb Daniel Roman 12 91 64 27 3 11 4 0 5 0 0 3 3 0 ilb Jamie Jones 12 56 41 15 0 6 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 olb Adrian Esparza 9 49 35 14 5 3 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 ilb Grover Sharpe 7 13 11 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 olb Stanley Huynh 7 11 7 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 olb John Barrett 4 7 6 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 ilb Todd Whiting 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Transfer Ybarra was massive for us this season, and Roman, Jones, and Esparza were no slouches either. This was the strongest unit on my entire roster this year, and that figures to ring true next year as well, with all the key guys returning. Even our depth, Sharpe and Huynh in particular, were strong when needed. Grade: A Secondary Code: pos name g tack solo ast sack stf hur dp pd int def td misstak oop bpa ss Joseph Smith 12 46 28 18 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 1 cb John Kim 12 45 29 16 0 3 0 0 13 5 0 2 1 0 ss Matt Herman 12 37 21 16 2 3 0 0 6 1 0 9 2 3 fs Brian Cox 11 26 17 9 0 3 0 0 3 1 0 4 1 4 cb Lester Clayton 12 22 15 7 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 4 1 1 ss David Lutz 8 8 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 cb John Moore 3 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 fs Tim Lewis 4 5 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 cb Benjamin Talbot 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 fs Eric Smith 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 This is, once again, where our problems lay on defense. CB Kim didn't have the big year we expected/hoped for, but he and CB Clayton weren't the problems. Freshman Herman and backup Smith just about split snaps, and they were both prone to mistakes, and FS Brian Cox wasn't a lot better. We figure to be better here next season, with an older and hopefully wiser Herman, as well as the arrival of our highly-touted transfer FS. Losing my other freshman CB, John Moore, to an academic suspension for what turned out to be most of the year was more than a little dissapointing, too. Should have just redshirted the guy. Grade: C+ Kicking Code: Name xp fg 1-29 30-39 40-49 50+ fg% long points T. Hernandez 26-27 29-39 8-11 12-13 9-14 0-1 74.4 49 113 Name punts avg net tb in20 long Edward Custer 73 42.6 35.7 6 6 70 Hernandez's ability to shank the easy ones from within 29 is mind boggling, but he is quite good from 30-39, and usually hit the long ones that mattered - when our special teams weren't allowing them to get blocked, anyhow. Custer was, for the most part, entirely adequete. Both guys will be missed next season. Grade: B Returns Code: Name kr yds avg long td Donald Haley 37 896 24.2 47 0 Jaime Jones 1 35 35.0 35 0 John Newby 3 56 18.7 23 0 William Smith 2 38 19.0 27 0 William Holcomb 2 36 18.0 25 0 Dewey Wilburn 1 18 18.0 18 0 Randolph Medina 1 2 2.0 2 0 Name pr yds avg long td Matt Herman 1 2 2.0 2 0 John Newby 40 364 9.1 36 0 Lester Clayton 7 88 12.6 31 0 Very unspectacular, which was the key theme to my whole special teams unit this year. We need to improve here next year. Grade: D- Overall We finished with about the win/loss record that I expected pre-season, but the big wins to begin the year ended up building my expectations up to what would prove to be unreachable levels. Our already weak passing game was torn to shreds when I lost two solid WRs out of an already shallow pool of talent, forcing us to rely on our running game more than I wanted to. Even so, Reynolds did about as well as we could have hoped given that every D we went up against was locking in on the run against us. Still, there were at least two games, possibly 3, that we should have won if we could just string a few passes together. This will be the key for us this coming recruiting phase. Defensively I thought we did a good job for 80-90% of most games, but our safetys had a tendancy to allow the big plays, and that hurt us. It's been a problem for us two years running, though I expect some improvement here next season. The loss of CB Kim will hurt us a lot though, so we'll need Clayton or Moore to take it to the next level. Overall Grade for the Season: C+ __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

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