"Dragon Breath" A UAB Dynasty (NCAA12)

[gorillapittpray]

Quote: Originally Posted by mm boost

man, such a tough way to end the season. I felt for sure you guys would match up well against TCU, did not expect for you guys to drop that game. Still, a great season and should help bring a little more exposure to your school down the road. Looks like a pretty decent recruiting class as well. That safety Holycross sounds like a monster, great size there!!

SMH, Boost, one of the most frustrating games ive ever played defensively. I finally stopped the pass and they got smart and starting using the Heisman. Man I played against some good backs this season against Aub, Vtech and the NCAA rushing leader from UCF. This Herron kid was a straight animal, broke mad tackles and pulled away, my guys werent ready for that. Their oline too, man pancakes every play, three of their olinemen were all americans...

Holycross seems to be legit, a 3 star with a lot of B's on his attributes. I got on him late like the 10th week, he had 9 offers already and I wasn't even in his top 10, gave him 6 hours every week until the last week of recruiting and got him. Hope to see how he pans out!
Im actually anxious to see this quarterback dyks hope he can be like the quarterback from UL Monroe because he has weapons and if Scott can stay healthy could be a good year cant spell his real name using e because theyll blank it out.

[gorillapittpray]

MARCH 2013
CONFERENCE SHAKE UP
AS THE STARS ALIGNED SO DID THE CONFERENCES

ESPN STUDIOS- Last season came information that Texas A&M wanted to leave the big 12 for the SEC, but the SEC kindly declined the Aggies stating they needed to find another team to join them. We thought that would be the end of it until the ACC accepted in Syracuse and Pittsburgh from the Big East.
This is where the domino effect started. After hearing that the Pac-12 was no longer expanding Texas and OU decided to stay in the Big 12. With Colorado and Nebraska leaving a year ago the Big 12 looked to gain back their power by extending invitations to Houston, TCU and Tulsa. Houston and Tulsa accepted quickly but TCU held off until the news of Pitt and Syracuse leaving the conference came out. TCU then accepted the invite to the Big 12.
With the loss of three teams in the matter of days the Big East tried to save their conference by sending out invitations to UCF, Troy, Ohio and Miami of Ohio and ECU, all up and coming schools. All four schools accepted.
This leads us back to Texas A&M, who still feels the shadow of the Longhorns TV deal isn't fair to their recruiting. The SEC extended a offer to up and coming UAB giving the SEC a reason to add Texas A&M and giving them their 14 teams.
Finally the conference USA lost their conference championship game but they extended invitations to Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, UL Lafayette and North Texas.
In order to add a conference championship the Mountain west extended invitations to Utep and BYU, despite leaving a year ago, BYU accepted to get back in along with UTEP. But the even Bigger news is Notre Dame joining the Big East like the rest of their programs.

Here are the moves:

• SEC - Texas A&M and UAB
• Big 12 - TCU, Houston, Tulsa
• ACC - Syracuse and Pittsburgh
• Big East - Troy, Miami (oh) , UCF, ECU, Notre Dame and Ohio
• Conference USA - La Tech, Arkansas State, North Texas, and UL Lafayette
• Mountain West - UTEP and BYU
  

Here are the Conference Break downs
In the ACC Pittsburgh was added to the Atlantic division while Syracuse to the coastal.
The Big 12 got their conference championship again and aligned the teams like the original. Houston was added to the South while Tulsa and TCU was added to the North.
In the SEC A&M was added to the West while UAB to the South.
The Big East added a North and South Division here how its aligned
North: ----------SOUTH:
Cincinnati -------- ECU
Uconn ----------- Louisville
Notre Dame -------Troy
Ohio --------------West Virginia
Miami (OH) -------- UCF
Rutgers ------------ USF
The conference championship will be played at Lincoln Financial field in Philadelphia.

The Mountain West added two division being the North and South.
NORTH:--------- SOUTH:
Air Force --------Fresno State
BYU ------------- Hawaii
Boise State --------Nevada
Colorado State -----New Mexico
UNLV -------------- San Diego State
Wyoming ----------- UTEP
The conference championship will be played at San Diego Stadium.

The Bowl Tie-ins
ACC-BIG EAST -- Orange Bowl
BIG 10- PAC 12 -- Rose Bowl
Big 12 - MWC -- Fiesta Bowl
SEC - Sugar Bowl

Leaving just one AQ slot open.

[gorillapittpray]

BLAZER'S ACCEPT SEC
INVITE

BIRMINGHAM, AL - UAB continues to move up in the college football world. Just two months after reaching the schools first ever National Championship, the Southeastern Conference has invited the Blazers into their conference for all sports. With the addition of Texas A&M the Blazers are further east so will take part in the SEC Eastern division against South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt with a protected rivalry against Auburn.
"Its, a great day to be a Blazer." The school's Athletic Director stated in a written statement. "This move helps our athletic department tremendously and also helps our school gain more national exposure to bring in the funds to help with research and renovations around campus."
Head Coach Travis Rhatigan had this to say about the move to the SEC.
"It's gonna be tough but with time we'll get to the top. This is arguably the best conference in all of college football. Three of the last four national champions have come from this conference. We're excited and ready to get to work."
The commissioner of the SEC at a press conference about the news said this about UAB.
"UAB has been a fun team to watch these last few years. When A&M came to us we knew we needed another team to join them. We looked at Clemson and we looked at Florida State and even West Virginia. But UAB had the numbers. In the past two years they have went 4-0 against this conference. Two of those wins were on the road at Auburn and Florida. Their fan base meets our requirements and to top it off they were in the national championship. We feel we have upgraded the conference with there addition."
The Schedule will be delayed a few weeks as they have to regenerate a new schedule. As Spring ball starts for the Blazers there is a lot of excitement in the air.

[gorillapittpray]

APRIL 27TH, 2013
BLAZERS HEAD INTO SUMMER WITH A LOT OF QUESTIONS
WILL IN-COMING FRESHMEN BE THE ANSWER
RHATIGAN AND BLAZERS NEED?

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Blazers wrapped up Spring ball with a 35-17 win by the Gold team. Ian Wilson looked good Hauling in 6 receptions for 98 yards and a score for the Gold team. Running back Matthew Scott also looked to regain form of last season rushing 10 times for 112 yards including a 60 yard scamper. The question mark comes on the defensive side of the ball. With a lot of coverage bust and missed tackles the Blazers hope the incoming freshmen in the fall can come in and produce right away.

"I'll tell you what, we're not winning a SEC championship playing defense like that." Head coach Travis Rhatigan said.
"Were definitely hoping a few of these freshmen can come in and help out."
The Blazers are particularly week at Linebacker and in the secondary.
"We'll score 50 a game on offense but that doesn't help if you give up 50. It will be an interesting fall. But until then I hope these guys dedicate themselves in the summer and understand what we have a chance to do next year."

The Blazers schedule comes out next week. They are to report on August 3rd.

[gorillapittpray]

MAY 2013
BLAZERS ANNOUNCE 2013
SCHEDULE

(SO. #52 TIMI MCCOLLUM MAKES A TACKLE LAST SEASON AGAINST AUBURN)

BIRMINGHAM, AL -- The UAB Blazers are proud to announce the unveiling of their 2013 schedule. The schedule brings six home games as well as six away games with two bye weeks it is the first schedule as a member of the SEC. Here is the entire Schedule below.

1. at Troy
2. vs #11 Virginia Tech
3. vs Southern Miss
4. at #7 Arkansas
5. bye
6. at #9 Auburn
7. vs #20 Texas A&M
8. at #18 South Carolina
9. at Kentucky
10. bye
11. Georgia
12. vs #19 Tennessee
13. at Florida
14. vs Vanderbilt

Key games on the calender:

Week 1 at Troy: Troy played UAB close last season, this will be a chance for UAB to see if they have the team to make a run with a early challenge.

Week 2 vs Virginia Tech: UAB escaped Blacksburg with a huge win despite a subpar performance last year. A lot will depend on their national championship hopes early in the season.

Week 4 at Arkansas: UAB will get their first true road test in their first ever SEC conference game against #7 Arkansas the defending SEC West champion.

Week 6 at Auburn: Last season's national championship run started in the Hills of Auburn. The Tigers will be looking for revenge.

Week 8 at South Carolina: The Blazers will travel to Hostile Columbia to take on the two time defending SEC South Champs.

[gorillapittpray]

AUGUST 3, 2013
BLAZER WEEKLY

UAB FOOTBALL TEAM REPORTS FOR FALL CAMP

The 2013 football season has officially arrived for the UAB Blazers.
The Blazers reported for fall camp on Sunday and practiced for the first time tonight.
UAB head coach Travis Rhatigan welcomed his full squad as he kicks off his third season at the helm of the Blazers' program.
"It's an exciting day to get all these guys back together," Rhatigan said. "We can't have a lot of involvement with them during the summer, so it's just kind of getting started for us. We had some preliminary academic meetings. We got on the field tonight for the first time tonight and I liked what I saw."

The players reported Sunday afternoon, many of them checking into Rast Hall on campus. Later, they attended a team meeting with various campus and athletic department officials before settling in for a team dinner in the Green and Gold Room in Bartow Arena.
The Blazers return 11 starters from last year's team, including six preseason All Americans in running back Matthew Scott, receivers Matt Ford and Ian Wilson and defensive end Kareem Kirby, also corners Bryan Wyatt and Adam Love.
UAB opens its 2013 season on Saturday, August 24th when the Blazers welcome First team All American quarterback Matt Moore and the Troy Trojans.

August 17th, 2013

BLAZER TEAM PREVIEW

The Blazers will open the 2013 campaign with a new quarterback at the helm. Freshmen Adam Dyks. For the most part Dyks, who came in as a impact player has looked really good during two days and commands the huddle with great poise.

(Dyks throwing a pass at practice)

Essentially all quarterbacks with the Blazers have no real game experience. #7 Marques Wright will serve as the back up. The red shirt sophomore traveled last season but never got into game action. Transfer quarterback Luke Willis has to sit out this season.

RUNNING BACKS-- Matthew Scott returns after missing the last three games with a dislocated Elbow. The Fairhope, Alabama product rushed for 1,642 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. The task will be a little bit difficult in the SEC but if he can stay healthy the Blazers will take a lot of pressure off of young Dyks. He'll have to wear elbow brace so the coaches are watching carefully to see if it will cause fumble problems.

(Scott wearing his new elbow brace as he takes the handoff)

Backing Scott up will be transfer Marcus Rutledge and Roderick Brooks. Brooks rushed for 528 yards and 5 touchdowns. In the four games he started for Scott he had two 100 yard games.

RECEIVERS-- This is probably the most experienced group on the team. They lost James Moses to graduation last season, but bring back preseason All Americans #15 Ian Wilson and #83 Matt Ford. Wilson a senior hauled in 64 passes for 1,284 yards and 9 touchdowns his counterpart Ford just a sophomore hauled in 804 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 20 catches. Ford brings a different gear to this receiving corps. The blazers add depth and experience with Seniors #85 Ralph Rawls and #9 Michael Ross. Rawls was one of the top receivers before a knee injury caused him to miss 8 games. Ross was a very reliable target as he caught for 826 yards and 9 touchdowns. With a core that goes six deep #86 Travis Jackson a RS- freshmen and senior #84 Vince Jackson are reliable back ups.

DEFENSE: After being led by Senior Linebacker Tom Slaughter for the last two seasons the Blazers defensive unit is looking for an Identity. Topped with a possible four freshmen as starters. This defense returns just four starters. During the spring Linebacker Timi McCollum made the change from outside linebacker to middle linebacker as Rhatigan feels he has what it takes to lead this defense.

(Rhatigan hopes sophomore linebacker Timi McCollum can lead this defense)

DEFENSIVE LINE: The Blazers lost the schools all time sack leader in Jerry Bowser. Bowser had season sack totals of 20 and 16.5 the last two years. Jr. Colloge transfer Tom Cox will be the one to fill those shoes as he won the starting job in the spring. Cox a 6'1 257 pound junior is undersized but uses his speed and quickness well. On the other side of him will be preseason All American Kareem Kirby. Kirby registered 10.5 sacks last season. His 6'5 frame shouldn't have a problem with the bigger linemen in the SEC. Defensive tackles Marcus Leak and Brandon Richardson return. Both had 6 sacks a piece last year. Richardson put on 20 pounds of muscle this off season in hopes of not repeating the performance he had in the national championship against TCU. This defensive line is deep as they can rotate six deep if need be.

LINEBACKERS: The graduation bug hurt this unit as no one returns as a starter, the only one with significant playing time is #52 Timi McCollum. The Blazers added transfer Cortez Means from Clemson but he's ineligible until next season. #50 Rashad Barnes and #51 Ben Martindale were huge contributors on special teams last year but now they have earned the starting jobs of the outside linebacking positions. With unit only having five total players the Blazers will give Kirby and Cox looks at backer.

SECONDARY-- The secondary was the unit that was lost the most. All American safeties Eugene Jackson and Mark Parrish are no more. The only return is cornerback Adam Love. Fellow All American Bryan Wyatt had the job of the left corner but was immediately beat out by freshmen Darrell Jones then beat out of the nickle spot by freshmen Harvey Nelson. This unit will feature three freshmen corners in rotation with the last being Anthony McFarland. The safeties will also be led by freshmen. Highly touted Free Safety Carl Holycross has been a hitting machine in camp, a few blown coverages however have the coaches working extra hard to get him ready.

(#29 Holycross tries to tackle Matt Ford as #22 Rhodes closes in)

At strong safety freshmen Dominique Rhodes won that job over junior Jason Mills. Rhodes has been the quarterback of the secondary and has made great reads on the ball. Mills has got some looks at backer, his bigger frame can help out the linebacking core. Jacob Brown, another freshmen will backup Holycross.

[gorillapittpray]

Aug. 19th 2013 Monday

Opening season intro:

ESPN STUDIOS-- Its been a long and hectic off season. The news of Joe Paterno retiring with the news of the major conference moves the country is finally gonna get to see some football.
There are so many questions like will TCU repeat, can USC finally get back to where they belong after the top recruiting class. Or will Penn State fall from the top with Joe Pa?
Only time will tell. Hear are the top headlines for opening weekend.

• Alabama is the consensus #1
• The SEC places four in the top 10 and seven in the top 25
• Duke is ranked in the top 25 to open the season for the first time in school history at #21
• TCU has won 33 straight home games
• How will Notre Dame do in their first season apart of a conference
• UCF tabbed to win Big East

Top 25 poll

1. ALABAMA
2. OREGON
3. TCU
4. PENN STATE
5. LSU
6. WISCONSIN
7. ARKANSAS
8. OHIO STATE
9. AUBURN
10. BAYLOR
11. VIRGINIA TECH
12. UTAH
13. IOWA
14. GEORGIA TECH
15. BOISE STATE
16. MIAMI
17. MICHIGAN
18. SOUTH CAROLINA
19. TENNESSEE
20. TEXAS A&M
21. DUKE
22. NEBRASKA
23. OKLAHOMA
24. FRESNO STATE
25. PITTSBURGH

Preseason Heisman

1. Matt Moore (Troy)
2. John Miller (Oreg)
3. Vince Alston (Boise)
4. Matthew Scott (UAB)
5. Mike Jones (UCF)

Its week one, with the majority of the big match ups next week. Here are our top games this week.

UAB at Troy
UAB travels to Troy in a battle of preseason Heisman candidates.

Notre Dame at Ohio
Irish open the season with their first Big East conference game

Houston at #14 Georgia Tech
Tech gets a early season test against Houston.

[gorillapittpray]

AUG 21ST, 2013 WEDS
BLAZER WEEKLY

LEADING THE WAY

(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: #26 ANTHONY MCFARLAND, #33 JACOB BROWN, #6 HARVEY NELSON, #30 DARRELL JONES)

BLAZERS HOPE FRESHMEN ARE READY FOR
TROY AND THEIR PASSING ATTACK

BIRMINGHAM, AL -- It has been well documented that the Blazers will be led by Freshmen in the secondary with the exception of sophomore Adam Love. With the average age of 19 this could very well be the youngest secondary in the country. They have the task of taking on preseason Heisman quarterback Matt Moore in their first game. Moore threw for over 400 yards on the Blazers in a loss last season. For the season Moore threw for 4,305 yards with 44 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions.

"Im excited for my guys." Rhatigan said. "They get to go out and show the country on national television that they can play big time college football."
The game will be aired on ABC and has been selected as a national broadcast for their 3:30 time slot. The game is being played in Troy, Alabama.
"You get nervous, but then you tell yourself its time to go." Darrell Jones said. Jones earned the other starting cornerback job during fall camp.
"We get to go up against the supposed best passer in all of college football, I cant wait."

recap of last years game: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2042704382


Travis Rhatigan spoke to the media today about joining the SEC and this weekends game against Troy.

Opening Statement: Glad to be back to this point, its been a long week so far. Our guys look good at practice and you can tell theyre ready to hit someone else.
Im excited about joining the SEC, it gets us into kids homes. When they turn the tv on, on Saturdays and see UAB vs the Florida's the Auburn's the Bama's and hopefully winning, theyre gonna wanna be apart of that.
On to this week. We played against Matt Moore for two years running now, the kid is very smart and gets the ball out quick to his playmakers. Lets remember Troy ended the season ranked with a 10-2 record a year ago and brings back some key parts of that team. They have a big time receiving core like us. I remember Jarvis Green very well and I told our guys we need to pay attention to him he's fast and runs great routes. Piece may be the fasted but Armstrong is good as he had over 1,100 last year. Im interested to see how our conditioning is in the heat with their fast paced no huddle. Offensively we're gonna start Dyks. This will be the first time I started a true freshmen but He came in poised and brought leadership to this huddle and commanded respect from our vets here and because of that he's earned our trust and the players. Its gonna be fun we'll see you there.

TIME FOR KICKOFF

Matchup Preview | August 24, 2013
	@
UAB Blazers (0-0, Away)		Troy Trojans (0-0, Home)
Game Notes The Blazers travel to Troy to take on Troy. A battle between Heisman candidates in Matt Moore of Troy and Matthew Scott of UAB. UAB turned a close 31-27 game into a 50-31 blowout. Troy will be ready along with the Home crowd For UAB they still have one of the best offenses in the country but only if freshmen Adam ****s can handle the star power with it. He returns four receivers and a new offensive line. The Key will be for him to manage the game and not over do it. His receivers will get open, Scott will make big runs but dont over do it by trying to be the star of the show. For Troy, quarterback Matt Moore is licking his chops. He gets to face a secondary that will start four freshmen. He threw for over 400 yards a season ago against a veteran secondary of UAB and they return Pierce and Green. Green had over 140 yards in last years game and made big play after big play. To counter UAB will look for newcomer Tom Cox to provide pressure along with Kareem Kirby. That will be key, if UAB can get to Moore and cause pressure early then the Blazers can move coverage and play around around. Prediction: Troy doesn't have a defense that can stop UAB but does UAB have a D to stop Troy? Im going with UAB, two much offense and I expect the UAB defense to come and play. UAB 35 Troy 31