NCAA 2011 Road To Glory - Nicholas Thomas (Houston)

[MacroGuru]

My final rivalry game, my final Battle for the Bayou Bucket. I knew growing up around my dad how intense rivalry games could get, but I didn't know how bad they were when you play in them.

Last season Rice played us very tough, but some key injuries to them this season I do not think they will.

Prophetically they didn't as we practically scored every time the offense touched the ball. We punted twice all game and missed 1 FG.

Rice could not generate anything against us offensively. We shut them out and did it in dramatic fashion 55 - 0.

My Stats: 6 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack

[MacroGuru]

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

We sit at 6 and have a 1 loss Oklahoma and Alabama ahead of us and an undefeated Boise St.

BYU moves to 8-3 with a win over Ball State.

UNLV shocks Utah and moves to 5-6, a win over ULM next week and they are bowl eligible.

[MacroGuru]

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

BCS National Championship Game - LSU vs Penn St

Bowl games in italics means their projection has changed

We are still sitting at the Orange Bowl and Boise is in the Fiesta..

[MacroGuru]

Senior day. My last day playing at home, in front of this crowd. I have been here for four years and the emotions I am feeling today are crazy. I want to perform, I want to play well. I want this game to be the best game I have ever played.

Idaho comes out running and throwing away from me. I could not become part of the play. I was getting frustrated, angered almost. It was the right thing to do for them though.

Our offense again, nothing. In fact we went in at halftime down 3-0. It wasn't until late into the 3rd qtr when they decided to string some plays together to score. We then tacked another TD on in the 4th qtr and held on to this game to win 14 - 3.

It was a win, but a disappointing one for me.

My stats: 6 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss.

[MacroGuru]

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

Central Michigan makes it back into the Top 25 while Penn St loses and drops themselves out of the National Championship.

We move up to the 4 spot. LSU and/or Miami have to lose in order for us to get in.

BYU ends up 8-4 with their last game being a loss to Central Michigan.

UNLV finishes the season at 6-6 and they are bowl eligible, I hope they get an invite.

[MacroGuru]

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

BCS National Championship Game - Miami vs LSU

Bowl games in italics means their projection has changed

Bring on Alabama...but I would like to end my career in the National Championship.

Also, it looks like UNLV will more than likely get the invite!

[MacroGuru]

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

Wow, we just hit #3...We play Marshall for the conference championship while LSU plays Florida for the SEC Championship and Miami plays Wake Forest for the ACC Championship.

If one of them lose, we are in the National Championship game if we win against Marshall.

[MacroGuru]

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

BCS National Championship Game - Miami vs LSU

Bowl games in italics means their projection has changed

I like Boise in the Orange, we move to the Sugar and play Alabama...I hope LSU loses...

[MacroGuru]

Not much to say here. Win and you are in a BCS game. Win and LSU or Miami loses and you are in the National Championship game. We know what we have to do.

1st qtr - Not much to say here, we were able to score a FG and hold them scoreless

2nd qtr - We go off for 21 points, unfortunately Marshall goes off for 13.

3rd qtr - we are both scoreless in the third

4th qtr - We add another TD for a 31 - 13 victory

My Stats: 5 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss

Not a great game again, but that is what happens when they run and pass away from me.

[MacroGuru]

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

OMG! LSU drops the game to Florida! WE ARE GOING TO THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! WE MADE IT!

We ran off the field and watched the LSU/FLORIDA game from the locker room. When the game ended we went wild. The chant of BCS! BCS! echoed throughout the locker room.

Not one of us could walk anywhere on campus after the games or we were mobbed by everyone, even professors.

I am elated, shocked, surprised and excited all wrapped up into one...this game is big time and will determine my draft status for the NFL, not to mention set history here at Houston and for the conference, this is major.

[MacroGuru]

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

BCS National Championship Game - Houston vs Miami

UNLV makes a bowl game and will play their rival, Nevada.

And if you haven't heard by now....the 2013 HOUSTON COUGARS are going to the BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!

[MacroGuru]

The following Houston Cougars have brought home some hardware:

Bednarik
OLB Nicholas Thomas

Nagurski
OLB Nicholas Thomas

Lombardi
LE Lee Nance

Best LB
OLB Nicholas Thomas

That's three straight seasons of winning the awards for me! It's a historic achievement and has never been done before, the press won't stop blowing my phone up. The agents won't quit and everyone is starting to bother me. I have a game to focus on.

[MacroGuru]

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

BCS National Championship Game - Houston vs Miami

Teams in bold are the winners of their bowl game.

[MacroGuru]

What a feeling, the National Championship game is at the Rose Bowl this season. I thought it was loud when we have played there in the past, this was deafening. There was a constant hum all night and it was basically earth shaking when anything big happened.

I feel surprisingly at ease, I talked coach into letting my brother on the sideline for the game and he was able to get the pass, I think it helped to have someone that had been in this situation before next to me.

Coach didn't say much before the game other than he was truly proud of us and how we came together as a team and didn't let adversity get in our way this season.

I grabbed Pedro, Lee and Anthony and pulled them aside. These three are brothers to me. The bond we created over the past two years has been amazing. We talked about how awesome it would be to win this one. We know it's a battle and then them carrying on the legacy for the next few years and relaying that to the incoming freshman.

We run out on the field and the crowd erupts, Boise set the precedence for non-aq schools we are going to perfect it.

1st QTR - Miami is in control on defense as they shut our offense down. Their first series they march down and score a TD on us with me blowing my coverage, I bit on the play action. Miami is up 7-0

2nd QTR - Just after the second quarter begins we punt it. I am breaking down the field at full speed and their return man catches it without a fair catch signal and I smile as I unload on him. He fumbles the ball and Scott scoops it up and runs the 10 yards into the end zone for a TD. 7-7

3rd QTR - It's back and forth for most of the qtr, then our offense takes advantage of a few mistakes and ends up scoring a TD through a nice march down the field with two deep attacks. 14 - 7

4th QTR - Miami comes out in the 4th with a solid attack and quickly ties the game up. We take the kickoff and move the ball down the field scoring on a deep attack taking the lead 21-14. Miami starts from their 15 and we stuff their first play, Second down they run a draw play and gain six yards. Third down I blitz from the outside and get the critical sack and setting them at a 4th and 15.

There is a trade of punts and then Michael Hartman breaks a 60 yard TD run for us with a minute left in the game basically securing the win as we move to 28 -14. We play a prevent defense holding them, but they do manage to score a TD as time almost expires.

We win! WE WIN! 28-21

The field is chaos and everyone and their dog swarm it. Pedro and I give coach a Gatorade bath and he hugs me and says he can't wait to watch what I do in the NFL. My brother and I hug and he pushes me out to the field and sits on the sideline like this is old hat for him.

I run out with my team mates and we celebrate. The trophy presentation was amazing, holding that crystal egg and hoisting it in the air.

The other shocker was the announcement of the MVP. I don't know what the committee was smoking but naming me MVP of the game was crazy I thought. But watching Erin Andrews and Herbstreit talking about my play later that night, I don't think it was far fetched. Hoisting that trophy up was an amazing feeling.

My Stats: 12 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack, 1 Forced Fumble


My 2013 final stats

92 Tackles
25 Tackles for Loss
16 Assisted
12 QB Sacks
1 Interception
0 TD
1 Pass Deflection
8 Forced Fumbles
1 Fumble Recovery

[MacroGuru]

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

[MacroGuru]

What now? I think we all pretty much know I am going to the NFL, right now I am projected as a top 10 pick and some of the pundits imagine me starting as a rookie as well. I do not have that much faith, I watched my brother play and saw what he had to do.

Take what we went through in college and crank it up about two to three times more and we have the NFL. In fact, he was talking about retiring already due to the demands it calls upon his body.

As I sit back and think about how fortuitous we have been as a family and how much football has meant to us and what it provided has been pretty amazing.

Looking back at my career in college I wouldn't change a thing, not even what school I went to. I know my dad wanted me to go to BYU but they showed zero interest in me and I didn't want the family to pay for school.

My career achievements have been thrown around for the past few weeks as we lead up to the combine.

My Career Stats

3 INTs
2 PD
321 Tackles
65 Assisted
34 Sacks
91 Tackles for Loss

3 time Nagurski, Bednarik and LB of the year award recipient...

[MacroGuru]

That concludes this dynasty, I am more than likely going to get Madden 11 and port Nicholas over to it and will continue Nicks career into the pros.

[law90026]

This was a fun read, thanks for doing it

[Izulde]

Fantastic finish. Sweet way to end the senior season.

I'm proud of UNLV for making a bowl game, even though we lost to those asshats from Reno.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by law90026

This was a fun read, thanks for doing it

Thanks for reading...I truly enjoyed it.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Fantastic finish. Sweet way to end the senior season.

I'm proud of UNLV for making a bowl game, even though we lost to those asshats from Reno.

The finish was awesome, seeing the other players on the team with me as award finalists were cool.

The championship to be honest was unexpected.

I was slowly rooting for UNLV and may coach them in the game...

[chesapeake]

This was a fun read; thanks for writing it. What a storybook finish!