FACC (PS3): 2011 - Week 4 - Deadline Wednesday (3/23) Midnight EST

[Sun Tzu]

Has anyone seen Groundhog at all today?

[Sun Tzu]

Alright...well. Groundhog, lemme know if you can play tomorrow. The earlier in the afternoon the better. I think I may know what happened. Our original calculation was that I was 16 hours behind you...but LAST NIGHT we (the United States) moved our clocks back one hour, putting me just 15 hours behind you. Absolutely incredible timing that it just happened to occur the exact same day that our first H2H game was going on, AND that one of the people lived outside the US. I can't imagine worse timing. Anyways...let me know when works for you

[bighouserulez]

We played USC tight. It was not as close as the 17-6 score shows really. I held them decently with defense but cannot move the ball. That is going to be a message all year long it seems.

I do post up videos if people get into that. I have learned it adds to the dynasty experience.

[Groundhog]

Well, that game was something else.

Thanks for the game Sun Tzu! That game had pretty much everything - fumbles returned for TDs, QB option TD runs, offside penalties with time all up to push the game to OT...

I actually thought you had it on the free play when the ball bounced off the defender and your guy nearly reeled it in.

Lag was good outside of kicks. Had some real problems with that as you probably noticed...

I sorta have to tap the stick to start the kick, and then nearly straight away wack it like 3 times to get it to set the power or else it ticks back to 0.

[Sun Tzu]

Groundhog, did the game report for you? After the game it went to another coin flip for me, now it's stuck where I can't pause it or anything. Let me know...

[Groundhog]

Yeah, on my end the game wrapped up after your TD and it uploaded to the server. Hopefully should be OK. Not sure how long it usually takes to update on the website?

[Groundhog]

Website looks OK.

[Sun Tzu]

Heh...looks like it reported fine. Weird...I had some funky glitch where after I scored the winning TD in OT, it went straight to a coin flip screen. Then it just stuck there...I couldn't select anything, couldn't pause it...really odd. It wasn't frozen, just glitching, or something. Glad it uploaded fine.

Anyways, moving on. The game was nuts, filled with crazy plays. I lost four...count'em...FOUR fumbles in this game. One was a punt muffed on our own 5 yard line, one was inside the redzone, I can't remember what the third one was, and the last one was with 50 second left to play while driving down the field on our opponents 40 yard line for the potential game-winning field goal...which was returned for a TD. He also picked off a pass or two, as my starting QB was knocked out of the game twice! I only forced one turnover, but thankfully it was a fumble returned for a TD.

Fantastic game played on both sides. Kicking can be a little testy in online games, due to the latency of the connection. It takes some getting use to, and I definitely think Groundhog struggled with it a bit more than I did.

After he returned the fumble for a TD with 50 seconds left, I had to drive down the field and score a TD just to force overtime. I had all three timeouts left. I got to his 26 with one timeout, but after a few incompletions was forced to run the ball on a 4th and one with 12 seconds left. That left me with no timeouts and 9 seconds to score a TD. First play was a high throw that my WR2 caught, but then promptly dropped after getting hit in mid-air. So, I had one chance at a 20 some yard TD pass on the last play of the game. Groundhog had been using the "user jump snap" pretty effectively all game, and on this play I was able to get him to jump offsides, giving me a free play. I fired a bullet to my HB who ran a streak up the middle, which was batted around and fell right into my slot WR's lap...only to watch it bounce off his hands and onto the ground. No big deal, I accepted the offsides penalty giving me a free play with zero time on the clock. This time my slot WR ran a streak and had a tiny opening. I fired it in, he got blasted by two guys about five feet into the endzone, and he held on. Overtime!

In OT I (somehow) held Groundhog to a 3 and out, and he was forced to kick from the far right hashmark. A very difficult kick from any distance, and he wound up pushing it left. My HB had a pretty solid game, rushing for 140 yards on 21 carries. He dominated our possession in OT, finishing the game off with a 4 yard touchdown run to the right side.

gg Groundhog. Definitely a heart-pounder. I thought for sure you were gonna win it when you took that fumble back for a TD.

Good luck the rest of the way.

[Sun Tzu]

Now we're just waiting for DT to do his recruiting and we can advance one day early.

[Sun Tzu]

For the record, I love the video uploads. I would have uploaded several from this last game if it weren't for the glitch.

Keep 'em coming!

PS: We will probably be advancing tonight, as DT let me know he'll probably be getting in his recruiting after work. Another early advance!

[DaddyTorgo]

I had 2 safeties in my game forced by me...just thought that was so amusing I had to upload videos of them (one on a sack and one where they tried to run an option-pitch in the endzone and i forced the RB out of bounds in the endzone.

[DaddyTorgo]

FYI - I ran my recruiting!

[Sun Tzu]

Fantastic! I'll advance us now. Thanks for the heads up DT.

[Sun Tzu]

We have advanced to Week 3. We have only 3 games this week, with two teams enjoying a bye. Two of the games pit our teams against top ranked competition, including my own Duke Blue Devils facing off against Alabama, the #1 team in the nation. Maryland got the first 3* recruit, signing DT Kellen Avery. Remember even if you have a bye you still have to do your recruiting. Should be a relatively quick week, but I'm still setting the advance deadline at the usual 5 days (Saturday). Have fun and good luck!

=============== Boston College Eagles (1-1) ===============
Last week, Boston College lost 17-14 against Kent State (1-1).
This week, the Eagles are idle.

=============== Duke Blue Devils (2-0) ===============
Last week, Duke won 37-31 against Wake Forest (0-2).
This week, the Blue Devils will host #1 Alabama (2-0).

=============== Maryland Terrapins (2-0) ===============
Last week, Maryland won 38-6 against New Mexico State (0-1).
This week, the Terrapins travel to Morgantown to face the #24 West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0).
In recruiting news, the following Maryland targets have announced their decisions:
- (***) DT Kellen Avery has committed to Maryland

=============== NC State Wolfpack (2-0) ===============
Last week, NC State won 31-3 against UCF (1-1).
This week, the Wolfpack will host Cincinnati (1-1).

=============== Virginia Cavaliers (1-1) ===============
Last week, Virginia lost 17-6 against USC (1-0).
This week, the Cavaliers are idle.

=============== Wake Forest Demon Deacons (0-2) ===============
Last week, Wake Forest lost 37-31 against Duke (2-0).
This week, the Demon Deacons travel to Stanford to face the Stanford Cardinal (2-0).

[Sun Tzu]

In regards to the weird glitch I experienced, it looks like none of my player statistics from that game have been recorded for the season. Hopefully that won't affect progression too much in the off-season. Really strange...

[Groundhog]

That stinks re: the stats. You'd think both players would send the same results file back to EA, but obviously each player sends his own stats back to the server.

We finally notched a win against a very good Stanford side. Came right down to the final minute again as the Cardinals had the ball in a 4-and-1 situation in (or just outside?) the redzone with 50 seconds left, down by 6. We ran a risky double LB blitz expecting them to run as they had a timeout left and lined up just the 2 WRs, but thankfully we got the QB and kneed out the rest of the clock.

Luck was accurate for the Cardinals but man, he killed the Cardinals about 4 times this game by trying to scramble on 3rd and short and getting stopped each time after a nice drive.

Still can't do jack out of the wishbone formation. Had much more success running and passing out of the I Form, and my HB carved them up in the 2nd half once I discovered that.

[bighouserulez]

Yeah love the video uploads! I have bye so i will get my recruiting in tonight or tomorow.

I have learned with the lag on kicks is to tap the r3 knob a few times real fast at the highest point on the kick just fyi.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by bighouserulez

I have learned with the lag on kicks is to tap the r3 knob a few times real fast at the highest point on the kick just fyi.

Yah, I eventually figured that out, but I have to start tapping when it's halfway to the top so it registers at/around the top of the meter. Unfortunately I was a little too aggressive with the tapping on the OT FG miss and shanked the kick.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm away on business Tue/Wed this week, but should get my game in early Thursday morning. How are we doing so far?

[bighouserulez]

Last i looked it showed 2/5. I had my stage done. I will look again tonite as my other league sims this evening.

[Sun Tzu]

Thanks

[Sun Tzu]

Alright gentlemen, we have a new owner in the house!

Please welcome johnnyshaka as the new owner of the George Tech Yellow Jackets! I'm going to send him an invite tonight. He plays a lot of human owned schools this year, so watch out for him.

[bighouserulez]

Welcome Johnny!

Still 2 of the 6 complete btw.

So Johnny must really suck cause the Jackets might be the 3rd most talented team in the conference

[johnnyshaka]

LOL...that I do bighouserulez, that I do.

Sun suggested GT but if you guys would rather I take a different team I'm fine either way.

[bighouserulez]

No we went lowest rated teams and i think GT it next up there.

[johnnyshaka]

So, doing a little practicing with GT and this wonderful Option offense...is it normal for my QB not to even be able to barely fake the handoff to the FB before getting sacked? I mean are the sliders Sun linked in one of the first posts the ones you guys are still using?

[Sun Tzu]

Yes we're still using these. After year one I'll open a discussion about altering the sliders one way or another, but the set we're using now is pretty popular within the NCAA community. I remember when running an option offense guaranteed 300+ yards rushing every game, but now that's certainly not hte case. It's supposed to be difficult

I don't see anything wrong with altering your playbook. Just because a team runs a specific playbook in RL doesn't mean you have to adhere to that. If you have the roster to run a spread offense, I say hell...do it!

[bighouserulez]

He cannot because his qb cannot hit the broad side of the barn when standing on it. lol

The sliders are by far the toughest i have used and i love it thus far. I want to see what happens in game against players and see what happens.

I am also worried about the user catch. I am not a deep pass or hardcore passer(in this league at least) whore but i do like to use the user pass. I will apologize beforehand if i play anyone because i have never been without it.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

I don't see anything wrong with altering your playbook. Just because a team runs a specific playbook in RL doesn't mean you have to adhere to that. If you have the roster to run a spread offense, I say hell...do it!

Ok, good, 'cause that was my next question.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by bighouserulez

He cannot because his qb cannot hit the broad side of the barn when standing on it. lol

Nor do I have any receivers to even try to protect that barn he keeps missing!

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

Alright gentlemen, we have a new owner in the house!

Please welcome johnnyshaka as the new owner of the George Tech Yellow Jackets! I'm going to send him an invite tonight. He plays a lot of human owned schools this year, so watch out for him.

Just in case you've sent out the invite already...I still haven't received anything.

[Sun Tzu]

Weird...I sent it early this morning. What's the exact spelling of your EA name?

[johnnyshaka]

same as my name here, johnnyshaka

Should I be able to see the invite online by logging in at easports.com or only when I sign in on the PS3?

[Sun Tzu]

You'll see the invite when you're in game. You need to go to "online dynasty" and then view invites.

[johnnyshaka]

Well then...my bad. Told ya I was n00b!!

I'll have a look shortly and let you know how it goes.

[johnnyshaka]

Ok, we're in! Sorry for the mix up, Sun...that's the last one, I promise!!

Ok, recruiting...am I better off just letting the CPU handle it for the rest of this season or should I shake things up?!

[Sun Tzu]

Well, I'm rather new to the game myself, having only bought it just a few weeks ago. If it were me, I'd shake some things up. I get emotionally attached to guys that I recruit, which makes the game much more immersive.

[Sun Tzu]

Ok, so I've been throwing around a few ideas for a league name. We have two members outside of the US, and I think even those of us stateside are spread out pretty well. With that in mind, here's what I have so far...

IFL - International Football League (a bit too close to IHOF though, another FOFC league...though it's FOF based)
WWFL - World Wide Football League
WFL - World Football League
TFL - Trout Football League (just because...)
NOFL - Night Owl Football League (this was one of the FOFC dynasties I was in for NCAA '09...in fact I won the NC one time)

Thoughts? Suggestions? Other ideas?

[Sun Tzu]

Double Dola...

I played my game against the top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide this morning. I kept it close through two and a half quarters, even holding a lead with just a few minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, but my team collapsed and the Tide ran away with the game. My QB was clutch for a good portion of the game, but (unfortunately) so was Mark Ingram, who racked up over 260 yards on the ground. Tacklers were falling off of him left and right, there was just nothing I could do. Despite holding a 21-17 lead with just 10 minutes to play, I eventually wound up losing 41-21. When I say my team collapsed, I mean it. There was one particular drive in the 4th quarter where I watched my wideouts drop four consecutive wide-open passes, untouched. First down, second down, third down and fourth down. Clank, clank, clank and clank. It was sad affair...too bad too, because the Blue Devil fans would have torn the house down if I could have pulled that one off. Oh well...

I uploaded four videos showcasing some big plays. Now we have DT and Johnnyshaka left to play their games/recruit, and I think one other person who has a bye week has to recruit too.

[johnnyshaka]

Doing my recruiting now and should be done shortly.

I likely won't play my game until later tonight or tomorrow night, though.

[bighouserulez]

Man at least you stayed in the game. Ingram is a beast and i do not even want to know what he would have done to my defenders.

League name
WFL or NOFL i like both

[johnnyshaka]

Our first game is in the books...a 6 point loss to North Carolina. We had our chances to win this one but I made a few n00b mistakes and they cost us. I also didn't even attempt a pass and ran it on every single down. I was a little worried early on when I was faced with 3rd and long but after settling down I was getting the hang of things and managed to convert a few long ones.

Our defense struggled out of the gates but we finally got some pressure on the QB and even forced a few INTs. I haven't even attempted to play defense myself until I get some more time on the practice field.

I uploaded a few hightlights...enjoy.

[Sun Tzu]

Ouch. I wouldn't have had nearly the discipline to stick with running the ball on every single down, especially if by the end of the game I had only racked up 120 yards. UNC is tough. You'll still be ranked pretty high after this week is up with a close loss like that.

Now all that's left is DaddyTorgo! Best of luck in your big game against #24 WVU.

[johnnyshaka]

I haven't had much time to mess around with the game so I just focused on getting familiar with a few plays, set them as audibles, and essentially ran the same 5-6 plays depending on where I thought I had more blockers than they had tacklers. I also stuck with the GT playbook for this one and the passing plays in there are pretty tough to use as 90% of them are play action passes that don't afford a n00b much time to survey the field. I may mess around with a different playbook before our next game, we'll see.

Still kicking myself for the one stupid blunder that likely cost us the game.

Late in the game I had Nesbitt running up the right side on an option play and he had daylight to at least the first down marker and for some unknown reason I barely tapped the L2 button...pitch...and he tossed the ball out of bounds...but 8 yards short of where I was...at the first down marker. I had strung together a decent drive until that point and it all unraveled right there. Ugh.

[johnnyshaka]

Does the order in which players are ranked on your list matter? I mean do the recruits know where they are on that list or is that just something for you to keep track of who you like best?

[Sun Tzu]

I'm almost positive that the order matters somewhat. I always rank the players based on caliber, which the game will do for you if you hit the square button...or maybe it's another button.

[johnnyshaka]

Another question...sorry guys...while I did all my recruiting on the PS3 yesterday will it continue to save any changes (i.e. ranking changes) that I've made using the website today? (I suppose I could wait and see for myself when I get home after work)

[bighouserulez]

Order does matter. It also helps to move a guy up on your list to "add" behind the scenes points.

It also matters when a player is on your list. Even if he is ranked 30th he know you are looking at him. If you spent 10 minutes a class and do it correctly you can sway certain prospects.

I personally try to keep the higher profile guys that i really want in the top 5 and the next 15 guys are guys that somewhat like my school that i kind of want to go after but not balls to the wall.

Yeah anything you do on the web will change what you do online. Remember to change your options though if you have not. Sometimes it will rearrange your list each and every week.

[johnnyshaka]

Thanks, bighouse...very helpful.

I've changed the three options pertaining to the AI doing anything for recruiting...that's what you are referring to in your last statement, right?

[bighouserulez]

Yep i had lack of explanation in my earlier post man sorry about that.