An Alien in the NCAA - Year 1 - University of Rochester (NCAA 2013)

[Kang]

A short time from now, in a universe not so very different from yours...

[Kang]

[Star Wars scroll]

It is a time of great upheaval in college football. Years of conference realignment have fundamentally altered the landscape of the FBS. Now, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has ousted Penn State and at last claimed his precious, Notre Dame, with a sweetheart deal.

In the South, the first Super Conference is born when the SEC snags Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Clemson from the ACC, along with Louisville from the Big East. In turn, the ACC raids the Big East, grabbing Rutgers, West Virginia, and USF.

The Big East, desperate for its very survival, reluctantly gives the NCAA-sanctioned Penn State a landing spot over the fierce objections of Pitt. With few viable options available, the Big East also extends invitations to lowly Buffalo from the MAC, and to two regional FCS teams, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Rochester. In the end, all of them accept...

[/Star Wars crawl]

[Eaglesfan27]

Looking forward to reading this.

[Young Drachma]

Hahaha

[Kodos]

Here's how the conferences look heading into Season 1 of this dynasty. I favored regional conferences for the most part. You'll find about 6 teambuilder teams (maybe 7, I forget). I constructed a post-sanctions version Penn State using a weak roster and knocked down their pitches significantly, except for things like facilities, which would remain the same even with sanctions.

[Kodos]

I came to the University of Rochester in December of 2011. My predecessor, Coach Pomponio, was a failed jock who had moved over to the sideline to become a failed coach. A blown out knee had been his excuse for his failures on the field. The fact that he had gone to college for the football and not for the education might have played a role in his failure as a coach. Four wins in three seasons had been enough justification for Rochester to give him his walking papers.

A good friend of mine from my days as an undergrad at Indiana University, Rob Delaney, had become Athletic Director at the U or R two years prior. One blustery day in mid-December, I received a call from Delaney out of the blue. He asked how things were going, what I was up to these days, that kind of stuff. I told him I'd been unemployed for the 10 months since my division at Kodak had been shuttered due to the bad economy. He asked if I'd like to coach football.

I told him I'd never coached (or played) football at any level. That my only experience outside of watching it on TV was playing video games and text sims. He told me "Don't worry, Kodos--it's only FCS football. You'll be fine. Nobody watches it anyway."

With nothing to lose, I told him I'd give it a go.

[BYU 14]

Damn Kodos, thanks for sticking BYU back in the shitty Mountain West, you could have at least send Colorado there and let us rekinkdle The Holy War in the Pac 12

[Kodos]

For a while I had Colorado and Utah in the MWC, but then I decided it was better for them to be in the PAC-12.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Damn Kodos, thanks for sticking BYU back in the shitty Mountain West, you could have at least send Colorado there and let us rekinkdle The Holy War in the Pac 12

My thoughts...

[Kodos]

Fairbanks and Boise State should give you some nice competition.

By the way, expect this to be a slow-moving dynasty. The half hour between the end of work and when I have to leave for my train is the main time I will have for updates. Also, I only get to play a game or two a week, including my games in The Ladder league. I plan to keep at it for a long time, as long as it doesn't become a ton of work posting it. I find a dynasty write-up enhances my immersion and enjoyment.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Fairbanks and Boise State should give you some nice competition.

By the way, expect this to be a slow-moving dynasty. The half hour between the end of work and when I have to leave for my train is the main time I will have for updates. Also, I only get to play a game or two a week, including my games in The Ladder league. I plan to keep at it for a long time, as long as it doesn't become a ton of work posting it. I find a dynasty write-up enhances my immersion and enjoyment.

Well I will be glued and slowly following with you...I like the Dynasty threads of NCAA, and I enjoy writing my RTG ones...so I will have one here soon.

[Kodos]

In late December of 2011, I started to assemble my staff. Painfully aware of the limitations of my own football knowledge, I set about putting together the most knowledgeable staff I could, with AD Delaney's help. Our staffing budget turned out to be surprisingly good, thanks to an anonymous wealthy donor. It was a bit perplexing, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

We put the unexpectedly generous staffing budget to good use, and in the end, we snagged a solid staff with winning football backgrounds. I used my superior alien intellect to soak up everything they were teaching the players, and soon my confidence in my viability as a head coach started growing. I would bounce ideas off of my coordinators, and sometimes they would actually like them. I knew I hadn't won their respect just yet, but I thought I saw a chance of it in the future. Especially because I had a secret weapon at my disposal...

--------

By the spring game, things were progressing nicely. As it turned out, Coach Pomponio had been a pretty decent recruiter. He just hadn't been very good at getting the most out of his players once they were in the fold. As we settled into offseason after the Spring Game, I was pretty pleased with our progress, and I thought we had a fighter's chance of making some noise in the FCS Northeast Conference.

[Kodos]

In March of 2012, the shit started hitting the fan in the FBS. The Jerry Sandusky scandal blew up. After the Freeh Report, the NCAA hammered Penn State with sanctions, and shortly after that, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney kicked the Nittany Lions out of the Big Ten. The dominoes started to fall, and in the end, the Big East was left with too few members, and too few options. It was all very fascinating to watch from a distance. That is, until the day that the Big East offered the University of Rochester a place in the conference.

Suddenly, my roster wasn't looking quite so good, and my confidence in our team being able to compete fell through the floor. The FCS was one thing; the FBS, something else entirely. Even for a guy who had a Jedi mind trick or two at his disposal.

[Kodos]

I came to Earth in the 1980s from my home planet of Rigel IV. We Rigelians are an advanced race compared to you humans, but you folks are not utterly without charm. Your sports are fantastic, your music is the best in the universe (at least it was in the eighties), and your Egg McMuffins are simply otherworldly. Literally.

I left Rigel IV because I was a bit of an outcast there. Rigelians pride themselves on their warrior nature, but I was always more interested in geeky things, like sports, science fiction, etc. It didn't help matters that I was a girl. I grew up watching your TV broadcasts alone in my room after they'd beamed across the vastness of space.

To be honest, the main reason I left my home planet was my big brother, Kang. Like many older brothers, he enjoyed torturing his kid sister. One day, I'd just had enough. I left for Earth without saying goodbye.

---

When I came to Earth, I assumed the form of a teenage boy so that I could blend in. No offense, but you humans seem to be pretty warlike too. If I had shown up as I really look, things certainly would have gone poorly. Instead, I showed up, blended in, and started life on Earth as a freshman at Indiana University. When I registered, I registered as an alien, only I told them I was from Canada. That's still pretty alien, eh?

[Kodos]

Following Rochester's promotion to the Big East, we had to scramble just to fill our out of conference schedule. The first out of conference game we scheduled was with the San Luis Obispo University Burn out of the WAC. Like us, they were just joining the FBS, and they were looking for an opponent that wouldn't embarrass them in their first FBS game. We agreed to a home-and-home series, with us traveling to their place in Week 1.

The next team to contact us was the Gatesville University Silicon Pirates out of the Texas division of the Big 12. They offered us a three-game series: two at their place, and one at ours. We were not in a position to bargain, so we took their offer.

We were able to schedule our first home game against the University of Fairbanks Northstars of the MWC in Week 5. The Northstars series will be a home-and-home, with the option of extending the series in the future if both teams are amenable to it.

Finally, we were able to add a home game against my alma mater from the Big Ten, Indiana University, in Week 9. In turn, we agreed to go to their place in a future season.

[Kodos]

According to the pundits, we're only supposed to finish second to last in the Big East! Woot!

1 North Plainfield
2 Cincinnati
3 Pittsburgh
4 Connecticut
5 Syracuse
6 Penn State
7 Massachusetts
8 Rochester
9 Buffalo

[sterlingice]

Sucks to be you, Buffalo!

SI

[Kodos]

Here's a look at the Two Deep for Rochester. We've got a lot of work ahead of us if we want to be competitive.

[Kodos]

Here is the schedule for our first season in the FBS. The schedule-makers frowned on us, giving us 4 road games in our first 5.

This is a good spot to mention that the bulk of the credit for the teambuilder art goes to cuervo72. I have no artistic ability whatsoever. San Luis Obispo, Rochester, North Plainfield, and Massachusetts (located in Maassluis, MA) are all personal favorites that came from his work in the IHOF. Fairbanks has a Googled image for the big star, along with cuervo's awesome big dipper image (which unfortunately doesn't show up well in NCAA 2013, so I found the big yellow star to use instead). Gatesville has an image I found by googling "Silicon Pirate". I thought it was cool, even if it was clearly an Apple pirate, not a Microsoft one. I guess in this universe, Gates owns Apple too. Basically, I wanted to have some fun with my Lake Monsters in a console football game, and brought along a few favorites from IHOF to increase my fun. Then I concocted a weird backstory to explain everything. Silly aliens.

[Kodos]

Players to Watch

The Burn are led by their mercurial junior QB, Everett "Aces" Glenn. He is equal parts playmaker and playbreaker. For every spectacular run he makes, there will be a mind-numbing fumble on the way. You can be sure that every tight spiral thrown between two defenders will be followed by a wounded duck that is up for grabs. For San Luis Obispo, he is the yin as well as the yang.

Junior wide receiver Lamar Hymes is Glenn's most dynamic target. He has solid hands, and isn't afraid to go over the middle. He has good straight-line speed, but is not terribly agile.

On defense, true freshmen middle linebacker Quentin Sherry is the one to watch. With great speed and acceleration, solid tackling, and a nose for the ball, this stud out of Florida will be a force for years to come for the Burn. One wonders why he didn't take his talents to a more prestigious school like Florida. Or even USF.

Vegas says

Lake Monsters by 3.

[Kodos]

I won't spend a lot of time reporting on recruiting in this dynasty, but will provide updates like this, as they are simple and quick to produce.

[Kodos]

I'll be using these sliders and Heisman difficulty on recruiting.

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Reason for changes - Speed threshold due mainly to make the closing speed of defenders more realistic as it seemed that linebackers in particular were getting to running plays a bit too fast.

Interceptions are noticeably different since the last tuner, so this was the big change. Everything else status quo. Just had my first real defensive slugfest, beating Oregon State 14-0, stopped them on turnovers or change of possession three times inside my 30.

Sliders updated 07/17 - Changes in red

Heisman
8 minute quarters
speed threshold - 20
game speed slow

Offsides and false start - 80
Holding, clipping and roughing the passer - 50
Facemask - 55
Kick, off and def pass interence - 90
Intentional grounding - 90

Gameplay - Hum / CPU

QB Accuracy 15 /15
Pass block 35 / 30
WR catch 45 / 45
RB Ability 55 / 55
Run block 45 / 50
Coverage 20 / 20
Pass rush 25 / 25
Interceptions 15 / 20
Rushing D 20 / 15
Tackling 35 / 35

FG power 45 / 45
FG acc 40 / 35
Punt pow 50 / 50
Punt acc 45 / 40
Kickoffs 45 / 45

[Kodos]

The long-awaited day of our major college football debut finally came in early September of 2012. In front of a small crowd in San Luis Obispo, California, the first quarter played out with each offense trying to feel out the opposing defense. In the early going, each defense generally held the opponent's offense in check. In the second quarter, San Luis Obispo's junior QB Everett Glenn broke the stalemate with a 24-yard TD pass to Lamar Hymes that capped off a 7-play, 67-yard drive.



The University of Rochester was able to answer on our next drive with a 30 yard Broderick Hidalgo field goal that made it a 7-3 game with 5:12 remaining in the first half, but a long return by Lamar Hymes on the ensuing kick immediately set up the Burn in scoring position on our 15. A few plays later, the Burn cashed in with a one-yard Darius Ford run that gave the Burn a 14-3 advantage.

Following another Ford rushing TD, we found ourselves trailing Trailing 21-3 with 3 minutes remaining in the first half. Senior QB Micah Dennis had hit on just 35% of his passes, so I decided it was time to give the freshmen Jackie Williamson a shot. Two plays later, the freshmen QB did this...

Spoiler

Williamson's second pass as a collegiate QB found slot receiver J.B. Dennis running free across the middle, and Dennis took it 42 yards to paydirt to trim San Luis Obispo's advantage to 21-10.

On their next drive, the Burn missed a field goal attempt that would have made it a 24-10 game. Our offense got the ball back with :40 left in the half. A couple of plays later, Williamson ducked a sure sack and heaved the ball downfield...

Spoiler

Junior wide receiver Amos Collins made a great grab, but was tackled in bounds. With no time outs remaining, Williamson hurried the team to the line of scrimmage, but the offense couldn't get set in time for the next snap, and we went into the half trailing 21-10.

Spoiler

In the third quarter, things quickly got worse for us.

Spoiler

Everett Glenn turned a broken play into a TD to make it 28-10 with this TD scramble.

Now down by three scores, it was beginning to be desperation time for Rochester. A quick 74-yard TD to senior Mo Godfrey with 6:20 left in the third brought us back to within 28-17. Following a three and out for the Burn, Williamson moved the offense downfield and had us inside of the Burn 10 when disaster struck. With nobody open, Williamson took off toward the endzone, but on his way to the goal line, he was stripped of the ball, and the Burn recovered it.

Starting from their own 4, the Burn drove it down the field. After we knocked San Luis Obispo QB Glenn out, freshman QB Chad Boatman came in and sealed the game with a 12-yard TD strike to halfback Jermaine Justice.



The Burn tacked on another score late in the fourth, to make it 42-17. All in all, a terrible FBS debut for the Lake Monsters. We clearly have a lot of work ahead of us. This was supposed to be our "easy" game...

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

Players to Watch

The Silicon Pirates are led by sophomore QB Devin Bergeron. Bergeron is very savvy for an underclassmen, and possesses a fine arm both in terms of arm strength and accuracy. He throws to a quality receiving corps that is highlighted by tried and true senior wide receiver Tracy Flowers and the sensational sophomore tight end, Chuck Farley. Farley runs great routes, can catch it in traffic, and is also a solid blocker. Junior halfback Michael Lazetti has speed, acceleration, and agility, and he can also catch the ball out of the backfield. In summary, our defense is probably looking at a very tough game.

Vegas says

Gatesville by 24.

[DataKing]

Chuck U. Farley lives again!!!

[Kodos]

It's a trip down fictional memory lane!

[Kodos]

We traveled to Gatesville, Texas in Week 2 looking to improve on our crappy performance in Week 1. However, things got off to a rocky start quickly.

1st quarter



The opening drive of the game was an eight-play, 62-yard drive that culminated with Devin Bergeron's 28 yard TD pass to senior Junior Maloney. The score was set up by a 4th and 1 conversion run by Michael Lazetti on the previous play.



With 30 seconds left in the first quarter, we got our first break when middle linebacker Stephen Saad picked off Bergeron in the endzone. Unfortunately, Saad made a freshman mistake and tried to take it out of the endzone. When he was tackled on the 5, the rest of us became Saad too. A quick three-and-out followed by a short punt set up the Silicon Pirates with a short field. Smelling blood, junior running back Michael Lazetti asserted himself, toting the ball 6 straight times to move the ball to our 1. From there, junior fullback J.T Kearse took it in with 5:30 left in half, putting us down 14-0.

2nd Quarter

Early in the second quarter, a fair catch interference penalty set the Pirates up in good position at their own 37.



It took them one play to capitalize with a 63-yard TD pass to freshman Derrick Alvarez. Now trailing 21-0 with 4 minutes left in the half, we made the decision to bench senior quarterback Micah Dennis in hopes of sparking the offense with Jackie Williamson, who had easily outperformed Dennis in Week 1. Williamson did get us one first down before we were forced to punt the ball away again.



On Gatesville's next drive, we caught a break when Michael Lazetti was stripped and Tyrone McCotter recovered the ball. Before we could get a snap off on offense, the officials decided to review the fumble. After a minute under the hood, the call was reversed, and Gatesville got to keep the ball.



From there, a nice 24-yard catch by tight end Chuck Farley set up Alvarez's second TD reception from 28 yards out to cap off a 2-play, 52-yard drive. It was now 28-0 with 1:47 left in the second quarter.



With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that I should have called things more conservatively as we neared halftime. Instead, I put the ball in Williamson's hands. On his second pass, Williamson was intercepted by senior cornerback Raishaun Grant. To our defense's credit, we were able to force a three and out, but two plays later, Williamson was picked off once again, this time by strong safety Daryll Sutter. At least we learned from our first mistake.

Predictably, on the next play, Bergeron hit senior Tracy Flowers for a 23-yard TD. Now trailing 35-0, the game was totally out of hand.

With 45 seconds left until the half, we once again put the ball in Williamson's hands. This time, Williamson rewarded us with a quick 49-yard drive that set up 46 yard Hidalgo field goal. Success! Now we only trailed 35-3. The shutout was over!

Third Quarter

We got the ball first in the second half, and thanks to a holding penalty, we managed to move backward 16 yards before punting. From there, Lazetti ran the ball twice, first for 39 yards, and then for 3 yards and a TD. 42-3. On the sideline, I was praying for time to speed up and let us escape from this debacle.

-----

Our first 3rd down conversion of the game came with 3:23 in 3rd, due to an unnecessary roughness call.

-----

Late in third quarter, a J.B. Dennis punt return set us up with a short field.

Fourth Quarter


Having marched our offense inside the Gatesville 20, Williamson took off on a broken play and scrambled inside their 5, but he lost the ball in the process. The officials ruled it a fumble, but we challenged the call, and it was overturned. On the next play, Kevin Wiggins finished the drive with a 2 yard rushing TD, cutting it to 42-10 with 7 minutes left.



I'd like to say we rallied from there to make it respectable, but truth be told, the Pirates tacked on two more TDs on their way to a final victory margin of 46 points, 56-10.


:sigh:

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

I'd say we need to tighten things up on defense a bit.

[Kodos]

I wanted to make this challenging.... and I have succeeded.

I promise to be more judicious with photos/videos in the future, but for now I'm just playing with the toys I have available. I also need to streamline game tracking / writeups. I wish EA gave us a gamelog to work from...

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

We dropped five-star OT Patrick Anderson when it became apparent we weren't making headway with him. I can't blame him for his lack of interest, really.

[Kodos]

Alright! Movin' on up!

[Kodos]

We got our first commitment this week. Defensive end Daniel Smith may not be a worldbeater, but he looks to see significant minutes next season.

In other news, our pursuit of the speedy Andrew Reynolds is going well. Let's keep reeling him in...

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

We got a big commitment from OLB Kenny Berry out of Alabama. We're graduating 4 out of 6 OLBs this season, so we need replacements FAST! Berry looks like he could be start opposite our best current linebacker (Frederick Garmon) next season.



We have a bunch of recruits coming to town this week, so hopefully we don't crap the bed too bad against the University of Fairbanks Northstars.

[Kodos]

Fairbanks comes in to Rochester sporting a 1-1 record. Their loss came to #1 USC, and it should be noted that the Northstars led that game 14-10 at the half before falling 23-14. So clearly, they're pretty good.

The Northstars are led by sophomore QB Joey Allen, a traditional pocket passer with a cannon arm. Allen throws to a group of receivers known as the "Snow Bombs" comprised of seniors Edwin Turnbull and Edward Duval, sophomore Antonia Daggett, and junior William Duenas. Our secondary will have their hands full for sure. Daggett is the speediest of the trio. Sophomore runningback Mark Halley is also dangerous.

On defense, left outside linebacker Jeffrey Boggs hits with speed and power.

Vegas Says:

Fairbanks by 28

[Kodos]

With the coming of Week 5, we finally had our first home game, hosting the University of Fairbanks Northstars. Fairbanks features a potent offense, so we looked to have our work cut out for us.

1st Quarter

The Lake Monster defense held Joey Allen’s offense to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the game. After the Fairbanks punt, senior QB Micah Dennis drove the offense into the red zone, where things stalled. Having learned from mistakes earlier in the season, we took the points with a 29-yard Broderick Hidalgo field goal, rather than risk coming away with nothing.

The Fairbanks offense came to life on their next drive. Allen led the team 70 yards in seven plays, capping things off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Edward Duval off of playaction.



2nd Quarter

We started the second quarter trailing only 7-3. Our gameplan to run Kevin Wiggins down their throat was going great until he went down with a strained shoulder early in the second quarter. Wiggins had amassed 72 yards on 9 carries, but now he was out for the game. His backup, freshman Joe Boulware, struggled mightily in relief of the injured Wiggins. Soon more bad news came when Dennis threw an interception at midfield. To our defense’s credit, they held the Northstars to a 41-yard field goal.

Now trailing 10-3, a Micah Dennis fumble promptly set Fairbanks up on our 17. Once again, the defense gamely kept the Northstars offense at bay, forcing them into a 4th-and-inches on our 7 yard line. Joey Allen and the offense stayed on the field, challenging our defense to hold them at bay for one more play.

Spoiler

Allen’s fade pass was caught by Duval in the back corner of the endzone for Duval’s second score of the game. We challenged the call, saying Duval didn’t get a foot in, but the ruling was upheld. Fairbanks was now on top 17-3.

A Rochester three-and-out set Fairbanks up at their 47 with 31 seconds left and two timeouts remaining. A few plays later…

Spoiler

… Edward Duval caught his third touchdown of the half from 27 yards out to make it 24-3. Heading into the break, we were in serious trouble.

Third Quarter

Coming out for the second half, we decided it was time to insert freshman QB Jackie Williamson into the game. Dennis had completed just 3 of 5 passes for 30 yards and an interception in the first half. Also, we needed to find a way to get Joe Boulware on track. Boulware’s 5 rushes for 4 yards were not going to cut it if we wanted to start moving the ball and take some pressure off of Williamson's shoulders.

We caught a break on the Northstars initial drive of the second half, when runningback Mark Halley was stripped by safety Ethan Palmer and cornerback Deon Ratan recovered the ball at the Fairbanks 43. Williamson and crew drove the ball a little closer, with Boulware finding a little more success carrying the ball, but we ended up settling for a 44-yard Broderick Hidalgo field goal that bounced off the crossbar and through, making it 24-6 with 2:40 in the left in the third quarter.

Spoiler

Any dreams of a comeback ended a minute and a half later when Antonia Daggett caught a 16-yard TD to make it 31-6.

4th Quarter

Late in the fourth quarter, Williamson drove our offense into the redzone. With time running out, we had one last chance to put up a touchdown and save a little face in front of the home crowd.

Spoiler

Williamson didn’t even get the ball in the air before he went down for our tenth sack of the game. Kinda a nice summary of our season so far. A total failure to launch…

Final score: Fairbanks 38, Rochester 6

Post-Mortem

In three halves of play, senior QB Micah Dennis has passed for only 89 yards while completing just 12 of 29 pass attempts. He hasn't thrown any TDs, but has fumbled and been intercepted once.

Freshman QB Jackie Williamson, in contrast, has moved the offense at times, and has thrown a couple of TDs. Yes, he's been a turnover machine so far, but we can work on ball control with him.

When we travel to face Buffalo in Week 7, Williamson will be the starter.

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

Andrew Reynolds has given us a soft commit that we are trying to turn into a firm commitment. The three-star athlete would bring us some badly-needed speed.

[Kodos]

[Kodos]

Reynolds committed! And I think it is interesting that the website lists him as a receiver instead of as an athlete.

[Kodos]

The Buffalo Bulls are led by junior runningback Branden Oliver. Oliver is a bowling ball of a runner who can beat you as a runner or as a receiver. He has amassed over 600 yards in 5 games (393 rushing yards, 211 receiving yards). He also returns punts and kickoffs. If we can slow him down, we could be looking at our first win of the season.

Fellow junior Alex Neutz is a rangy receiver who leads the receiving corps for the Bulls. He is fast, but has merely average hands.

Left outside linebacker Khalil Mack is a run stopper who can lay the wood on opposing backs who aren't vigilant. He doesn't have a ton of speed, so perhaps we could take advantage of him if we had a tight end with a pulse.

To me, the Bulls look very beatable. If we don't beat them, we may not win a game all season. Come on Jackie, reward us for making you the starter!

Vegas Says

Bulls by 3.

[Kodos]

Recruiting is going pretty well. Of course, we aren't really shooting for the stars much. We shot for some stars early and got nowhere.

[Kodos]

Instead of a full game writeup, I'll post "Snapshots" from our game against the Buffalo Bulls.

1st Quarter



A Derek Pina interception of Collin Michael bailed us out on the Bulls first drive. Pina's interception inside our ten kept the Bulls off the board, but we went three and out and were forced to punt it away quickly.

-------

We caught a break on the Bull's second drive when sophomore kicker Patricke Clarke bounced a kick off the upright, keeping the game deadlocked at 0-0.


2nd Quarter

With 4:30 left in the first half, Broderick Hidalgo hit from 23 yards out to make it a 3-0 Rochester lead. The red zone has been tough sledding for our offense this season. On the plus side, we did get the points, instead of trying for the TD and coming away with no points.

-------

The Bulls ensuing drive took just 4 plays, as they drove 68 yards and scored on a one-yard Brandon Oliver rush that made it a 7-3 Bulls lead.

-------

With 30 seconds left in the half, we once again settled for a field goal inside the red zone, this time from 24 yards out. Still, heading into the half trailing only 7-6 on the road would have been considered somewhat of a win for the Monsters.

------

Junior wide receiver Fred Lee's 61-yard TD with 11 seconds left was a heartbreaker. Now, we went into the half trailing 14-6. (Sorry, no video. I had trouble getting the videos to upload for some reason. Rest assured, the TD looked like it came very easily.)


3rd Quarter

With a chance to cut the lead to 14-9 with 1:52 left in the third quarter, Hidalgo missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

---------



A minute and five seconds later, junior RB Branden Oliver ran it in from 22 yards out to make it a 21-6 game. A comeback was going to be a tall order.


4th Quarter

Things got even worse in the fourth quarter. First, Jackie Williamson threw an interception that set up a Bulls field goal.



Then, Micah Dennis, in to relieve Williamson after a minor injury sidelined the freshman, fumbled the ball on his second snap. Defensive tackle Wyatt Cahill's 38-yard return on the fumble set up another Bulls field goal, putting us behind 27-6.

---------

With 2:01 left in the game, Jackie Williamson ended our red zone drought with 11-yard TD pass to Percy Glenn. J.B. Dennis caught the two-point conversion to make it 27-14.

---------

One of our guys briefly had his hand on the ball during the ensuing onside kick, but the Bulls ultimately came up with the ball, snuffing out any hope for a comeback.

Final score: Buffalo 27, Rochester 14


Post-Mortem

Our offensive line is a sieve. For the second game in a row, we allowed 10 sacks. Seven Bulls recorded sacks in the game, including three players who recorded two each. Keeping the tight ends in to pass protect has not helped very much. Williamson has been scrambling a lot out of necessity. He ran for over a hundred yards in the game, but gave most of that back in the form of sacks. Also, his accuracy needs to improve. He needs to plant his feet before he throws. At least he didn't have any fumbles this game. Baby steps.

This loss really stung. We played them pretty even in the first half. If we could have gotten the job done in the red zone, we might have taken a lead into the half knowing we'd get the ball first after the break. Instead, our defense allowed a huge catch and run TD, continuing a pattern of missed tackles creating big plays for our opponents.

We have a lot of work ahead. This team has very little margin for error if we want to win any games.

[Kodos]