Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

[pjmoore 28]

Basic Info
Name: Demarcus Cravens
Age: 22
Alma Mater: Ohio State
Offensive Playbook: Multiple (Generic)
Defensive Playbook: 4-3 (Generic)
Roster: Gamingtailgates
Qtrs: 8 min
Sliders: Hartstoppers Heisman
Recruiting: Heisman

Year 1: Kent State 0-0

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

On a summer morning, Demarcus Cravens had gotten the phone call of a lifetime. His long-term dream of being a head coach was finally becoming a reality. Cravens had served 4 years as an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2007-2011 seasons. He was a member of the staff that Jim Tressel had put together but because of the scandal, majority of the staff was scrapped and forced to search for other jobs. After a year of no success, Cravens had received a call to be the head coach of the Kent State Golden Flashes. “It was an honor,” said Cravens, “I need to pack my bags and get to Kent, OH and begin preparing.” Cravens also liked the job offer because it was in Ohio, his home state and with his background of high schools, had background access to recruits. He also liked it because hopefully he could find his way to working at his alma mater, Ohio State.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Kent State Contract: 2 years
Goal:
Win 8 games in one season
Win 75% of your games in one season
Beat a Rival Opponent
Sign 5 2-star or better prospects each regular season
Finish each season ranked in the BCS Top 100
Finish 4th or better in the conference one season
Fill all team needs before the off-season each year
Win 4 games in one season
Win 25% of your games in one season

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Athlon Sports Pre-Season Prediction

Kent State
Offensive: The team has potential to make a case in the Mac if the offense can provide points. The return of QB Spencer Keith and HB Traylon Durham really helps their chances, and also helps give new head coach, Demarcus Cravens, some stable options until he can get his recruits into the system.

Defense: The strength of the team by far. With 6 players returning from the year before, all 6 are in key skill positions and can help the Golden Flashes offense by keeping the opposing team off the board. The defense will also benefit by having Demarcus Cravens at the head position, seeing as he served on the defensive side of the ball when at Ohio State.

Overall: 5-7 record for Kent State as the adjustment to a new system poses to be too much for the team during the offseason and the upsurge of NIU, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ohio, and Miami(OH) proves to be an upward climb for the Golden Flash, But if Coach Cravens aspires to establish his team in the mix for a MAC championship, then he is going to need the players to rally around him, despite many of them being only a few years younger than him.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Kent State Golden Flashes 2012-13 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 1	vs Marshall
Sep 8	at Kentucky
Sep 22	at Buffalo
Sep 29	vs Ball State
Oct 6	at Eastern Michigan
Oct 13	at Army
Oct 17	at Bowling Green
Oct 20	vs Western Michigan
Oct 27	at Rutgers
Nov 3	vs Akron
Nov 10	at Miami University (OH)
Nov 24	vs Ohio

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Aug 30, 2012
RK	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	Alabama
2	USC
3	LSU
4	Oregon
5	Oklahoma
6	Georgia
7	Arkansas
8	Florida State
9	Michigan
10	West Virginia
11	South Carolina
12	Michigan State
13	Kansas State
14	Clemson
15	Virginia Tech
16	Wisconsin
17	TCU
18	Ohio State
19	Nebraska
20	Stanford
21	Boise State
22	Texas
23	Oklahoma State
24	Notre Dame
25	Florida

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Running By Committee??

Marshall Thundering Herd at Kent State Golden Flashes
Sep 1, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Marshall Thundering Herd (0-0)	7	0	0	10	-	17
Kent State Golden Flashes (0-0)	7	17	0	0	-	24

Team Stats Comparison
	MRSH	KENT
Total Offense	411	354
Rushing Yards	168	98
Passing Yards	243	256
First Downs	20	9
Punt Return Yards	17	3
Kick Return Yards	123	43
Total Yards	551	400
Turnovers	2	1
3rd Down Converstion	7-16	3-11
4th Down Conversion	1-2	0-0
2-Point Conversion	1-1	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-2-0	1-0-0
Penalties	3-20	2-16
Posession Time	16:57	15:03

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	KENT
5:03	(KENT) C. Meadows INT for TD(FG Good)	0	7
2:07	(MRSH) J. Kelson, 16 yd pass from A. Graham(FG Good)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	KENT
4:14	(KENT) T. Goode, 37 yd pass from S. Keith(FG Good)	7	14
2:47	(KENT) M. Hurdle, 76 yd pass from S. Keith(FG Good)	7	21
0:00	(KENT) 40 yd FG from F. Cortez	7	24
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	KENT
5:55	(MRSH) Safety on Kent St.	9	24
1:11	(MRSH) T. Martinez, 19 yd pass from R. Cato(2pt Good)	17	24

Marshall Thundering Herd

Kent State Golden Flashes

With the first week of games finally underway, it was time for Kent State to strap up their chinstraps and play the Marshall Thundering Herd of the C-USA. “I felt that this first game would be a nice test for the team. We could see some strengths and weaknesses and also get a good challenge from a capable team” said Coach Cravens. The challenges he would get though, he probably didn’t expect. The first kickoff return was kicked to the left side and HB Traylon Durham fielded it and began running up the sideline. He was hit violently at the 23 yard line and that was just the beginning of Coach Cravens troubles. The star halfback had dislocated his elbow and would not return for a minimum of another 11 weeks. So Cravens was forced to rely on A. Meray to fill the load. He fared well for the time he was given, managing to go 17 carries for 68 yards, but he too would not manage to finish the game as he suffered broken ribs after stretching out for a first down. “So now we are down to our 3rd string running back and hopefully he can step up and perform with his opportunity in front of him.” Said Coach Cravens about the injuries, but despite them his team still managed to win and improve to 1-0. The team has a tough challenge next week with a Kentucky Wildcats team that is also 1-0 after beating rival Louisville.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 7, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	2	USC	1	0	1502
2	3	LSU	1	0	1431
3	4	Oregon	1	0	1363
4	5	Oklahoma	1	0	1316
5	9	Michigan	1	0	1198
6	7	Arkansas	1	0	1166
7	8	Florida State	1	0	1103
8	1	Alabama	0	1	1059
9	10	West Virginia	1	0	982
10	11	South Carolina	1	0	941
11	12	Michigan State	1	0	879
12	13	Kansas State	1	0	811
13	14	Clemson	1	0	811
14	15	Virginia Tech	1	0	705
15	16	Wisconsin	1	0	654
16	17	TCU	0	0	604
17	19	Nebraska	1	0	510
18	20	Stanford	1	0	464
19	22	Texas	1	0	379
20	23	Oklahoma State	1	0	338
21	24	Notre Dame	1	0	310
22	6	Georgia	0	1	276
23	25	Florida	1	0	261
24	21	Boise State	0	1	200
25	--	Washington	1	0	189

[jecraiders128]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Nice. I'll be following.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Kent State gets reality check

Kent State Golden Flashes at Kentucky Wildcats
Sep 8, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Kent State Golden Flashes (1-0)	0	0	7	0	-	7
Kentucky Wildcats (1-0)	10	10	7	0	-	27

Team Stats Comparison
	KENT	UK
Total Offense	312	338
Rushing Yards	57	172
Passing Yards	255	166
First Downs	14	15
Punt Return Yards	22	13
Kick Return Yards	103	42
Total Yards	437	393
Turnovers	3	2
3rd Down Converstion	4-17	7-17
4th Down Conversion	1-6	0-1
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-1-0	4-1-2
Penalties	5-25	5-41
Posession Time	15:12	20:13

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		KENT	UK
2:25	(UK) 27 yd FG Good, C. McIntosh	0	3
1:21	(UK) M. Caffey 47 yd INT TD(FG Good)	0	10
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		KENT	UK
4:04	(UK) G. McCaskill, 24 yd pass from M. Smith(FG Good)	0	17
0:20	(UK) 31 yd FG Good, C. McIntosh	0	20
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		KENT	UK
1:47	(UK) T. Robinson, 22 yd pass from M. Smith(FG Good)	0	27
0:12	(KENT) J. Durden, 2 yd run(FG Good)	7	27

Kent State Golden Flashes

Kentucky Wildcats

Kent State ventured to Lexington to play the Kentucky Wildcats, a team that was also 1-0 after week 1 games had been played. The winner of the game would have a 2-0 record and some momentum leading into the future weeks of each teams schedule. Unfortunatly for Kent State, the reality of playing with the 3rd string running back hit home for Coach Cravens. “He had some stints out there that were really good, I just think the speed of the opposing team proved to be too much and led to our demise out there. Also the poor performance by Spencer Keith also hurt us with the pick 6. More performances like that from him and he will find himself sitting on the bench. A team can’t win if we perform turnovers, especially if those turnovers turn into touchdowns.”
Kent State has a bye week next week which could be very helpful to the team. The players can get some rest and also learn more about their new playbook. It also allows them to prepare for their next opponent, Buffalo, by watching film and doing the necessary things to win the game. Winning that game would not only propel Kent State to a 2-1 record but would also make them 1-0 in conference play and 1 game closer to winning the MAC East.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 8, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	USC	2	0
2	3	Oregon	2	0
3	4	Oklahoma	2	0
4	5	Michigan	2	0
5	6	Arkansas	2	0
6	7	Florida State	2	0
7	8	Alabama	1	1
8	9	West Virginia	1	0
9	10	South Carolina	2	0
10	11	Michigan State	2	0
11	2	LSU	1	1
12	12	Kansas State	2	0
13	13	Clemson	2	0
14	14	Virginia Tech	2	0
15	15	Wisconsin	2	0
16	16	TCU	1	0
17	17	Nebraska	2	0
18	18	Stanford	2	0
19	19	Texas	2	0
20	20	Oklahoma State	2	0
21	23	Florida	2	0
22	25	Washington	2	0
23	24	Boise State	0	1
24	--	Baylor	1	0
25	--	Missouri	2	0

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Recruiting Update

Coach Cravens has hit the recruiting trail hard for his team, trying to acquire talent that would help make his team better for years to come. Because of his teams small prestige, he stuck to his pipeline states to search for recruits in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. At the beginning of the year, Coach Cravens had his recruiting board filled up with 35 players but as Week 3 came around, only 12 players remained on that list and Coach Cravens began making hard pushes for many of these players as they had not been offered scholarships by any other schools and were slowly beginning to consider Kent State as a possible landing spot for their college careers. A few of the players that Coach Cravens really pursued are as follows:

Alex Mayes – QB – 6’4” – 207 lbs – Brownfield, TX – 4*
The QB is certainly out of Coach Cravens pipeline states and also believed by many to be out of his schools league but after some talking with him and some one on one drills, Mayes began to possibly see Kent State as a landing zone. Even though after being fully scouted his skills proved he was possibly just an average player (70 ovr), that was still better than what Coach Cravens would have at the position next year and also would have 3 years of eligibility to improve and possibly guide Coach Cravens to a MAC Championship, if he doesn’t get one this year of course.

Jared Gore – OLB – 6’4” – 214 lb – Norristown, PA – 3*
This OLB is a real talent and has even been invited to the BIG 33 game even though he is a 3* prospect so Coach Cravens had to go check him out. And low and behold the kid was just what Cravens was looking for, a big opposing prescence that would help solidify his defensive unit. Gore has even began to think of Kent State as a landing spot since Ohio State, the only other team on his interest list, hasn’t shown him any attention.

Donnie Johnson – MLB – 6’2” – 242 lb - Church Point, LA – 3*
This MLB is another player that Coach Cravens really needs to be able to turn Kent State around. With the recruitment of another linebacker to play beside him, Cravens is trying to establish a defensive power for years to come in the MAC. But Cravens still has a ways to go with this recruit as he is only 5th on Johnson’s interest list with the likes of Florida, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M ahead of him. Only time will tell if Donnie wants to take his talents to Ohio and be a part of something special, but hopefully it isn’t too late into the season when he does because then Coach Cravens cant recruit another player to fill the void and could be left with a gaping hole on the defensive side.

With no commits to this point, Cravens hopes that these 3 players, along with the 9 others on his board will realize that Kent State is a great school and that they should enroll and be a part of history and possibly establish themselves as players and people.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 15, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	2	Oregon	3	0
2	3	Oklahoma	2	0
3	4	Michigan	3	0
4	7	Alabama	2	1
5	8	West Virginia	2	0
6	9	South Carolina	3	0
7	1	USC	2	1
8	11	LSU	2	1
9	12	Kansas State	3	0
10	5	Arkansas	2	1
11	13	Clemson	3	0
12	14	Virginia Tech	3	0
13	15	Wisconsin	3	0
14	18	Stanford	3	0
15	16	TCU	2	0
16	17	Nebraska	3	0
17	19	Texas	3	0
18	10	Michigan State	2	1
19	21	Florida	3	0
20	6	Florida State	2	1
21	22	Washington	3	0
22	-	Notre Dame	2	1
23	23	Boise State	1	1
24	24	Baylor	2	0
25	--	Purdue	3	0

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Nice. I'll be following.

Well thank you, also stay tuned in because at my next by week and probably the week before MAC Championship or Bowl Week(Assuming i make one of them if not both hopefully) i will have a press conference so u can ask any questions or anything. They can be serious ones or just random silly ones to see how i respond to them.

[pjmoore 28]

Re: Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

Kent State Golden Flashes at Buffalo Bulls
Jan 1,	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Kent State Golden Flashes (1-1)	7	3	3	0	-	13
Buffalo Bulls (2-0)	14	14	7	6	-	41

Team Stats Comparison
	KENT	BUFF
Total Offense	368	434
Rushing Yards	83	119
Passing Yards	285	315
First Downs	18	17
Punt Return Yards	13	25
Kick Return Yards	137	95
Total Yards	518	554
Turnovers	5	0
3rd Down Converstion	5-14	8-16
4th Down Conversion	1-2	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	5-1-2	6-2-2
Penalties	4-25	3-11
Posession Time	18:31	13:29

Kent State Golden Flashes

Buffalo Bulls

Coach Cravens Preaches but his team doesn’t hear

Kent State rolled into Week 4 with a big opponent ahead of them in the Buffalo Bulls. The Buffalo Bulls were not only 2-0 coming into the game but also had upset a ranked Georgia Bulldogs team earlier in the year. “I told my team before the game, that if we can be turnover free or at least have less than Buffalo, that we could very well win the game” said Cravens. After the game began and Kent State had a very methodical drive consisting of 12 plays, 72 yards, and consumed 4 minutes of the clock, Kent State seemed to be hearing their coaches words and could possibly improve to a 2-1 record. But then the Buffalo offense came onto the field and Coach Cravens saw how Georgia lost to the team, their no huddle was seeming unstoppable as Buffalo went down the field in 8 plays and in less than half the time it took Kent State. Kent States unraveling came when Kent State not only committed two back to back turnovers on consecutive drives but also saw both turnovers result in touchdowns for Buffalo. Those turnovers pushed Buffalo to a 21-7 lead in the middle of the second quarter and from there Buffalo obtained control and didn’t look back. “My team just has to learn to not commit turnovers. Once we manage to get that into our heads, we will be able to get back onto a winning track. We also have been banged up recently, losing even another player in the game for a long amount of time. One positive is that we get Anthony Meray, a running back, back into the line-up next week against Ball State. Now he is still trying to perfectly recover but I have to get him a few touches considering that he will be getting the workload in the meat of the MAC schedule. But by no means will Julian Durden, the 3rd string HB and current starter, not get any carries as he has led the team to this point with 149 rushing yards after 3 games and a staggering 5.3 yards per carry average, we will have to find a way to incorporate him and have a two headed rushing attack. Also considering that Durden is just a freshman, the early game experience may be just what he needs to compete in the offseason and possibly start next season.”

With Kent State falling to 1-2 and Ball State, another MAC opponent, next on the board, Kent State needs to find an offense that works and hopefully win some games before the seat that Coach Cravens sits in becomes warm and he finds himself once again, without a job…..