B-Dawg's Western Michigan Broncos: Unfinished bidnezz

[BallinVol]

Good to see you back, Bdawg! I'll be following!

[LopaKa]

the man, the legend! BDawg! this is an instant subscription, good luck with WMU!

[NewNapkin]

this is beautiful

[BDawg35]

Tyler Van Tubbergen (left) spots an open Jaime Wilson, who hauls in the game-winning touchdown pass (right) with 56
seconds left in the game.

Disaster averted
Bomb to Wilson with :56 left
prevents loss to FCS Southeast

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — “Just get me the damn ball!”

That was Jaime Wilson’s demand heading into the second game of Western Michigan’s 2013 football season after he caught only one pass for 15 yards in a season-opening loss at Michigan State.

At 80 OVR, Wilson is the Broncos’ most-skilled offensive player, yet he was rarely targeted against the Spartans, as B-Dawg found that NCAA 2014 seems to favor slants to slot receivers as much as ever.

But with the 63 OVR FCS Southeast Pirates on the schedule, there would surely be a mismatch for Wilson and the Broncos to exploit.

Wilson blew up against an overmatched secondary, catching eight passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 51-yarder with 56 seconds left in a 28-27 victory.

B-Dawg has never lost to an FCS team, which he will only play of it is on the real-life schedule in Year 1 of any dynasty. This game was reminiscent of another close call against an FCS team, a 27-24 victory over Tennessee State while B-Dawg was at Vanderbilt in NCAA 2007.

In that game, receiver Earl Bennett hauled in a game-tying 36-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-23 with 2:32 remaining. Vanderbilt got an interception to set up a winning field goal in a 27-24 victory.

Bennett, a sophomore at the time, went on to become B-Dawg’s all-time leading receiver in just three seasons. He also became a real-life NFL receiver. Wilson, also a sophomore, can only hope to duplicate Bennett’s achievements. Bennett had nine catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns in that game.

“If Jaime Wilson is 80 percent of what Earl Bennett was for me, I’ll be a very happy coach,” B-Dawg said.

The Broncos were on the verge of an 0-2 start and an embarrassing loss to a faceless, nameless team.

Behind a ground game that churned out 159 yards on 38 carries and helped build a 20:50 to 15:10 advantage in time of possession, FCS Southeast took a 27-14 lead on a field goal with 7:57 left in the game. The key defensive play that forced the field goal was a tackle for a 2-yard loss by linebacker Kyle Lark on a third-and-three option keeper from the 25-yard line by Kerry Temple.

Western went straight to work from there, going 75 yards in 11 plays to cut the deficit to 27-21 on Brian Fields’ 8-yard run up the middle with 4:44 remaining.

Western got the ball back with 2:47 remaining at its own 18 after a third-and-10 pass by Temple was incomplete.

On the seventh play of the drive, quarterback Tyler Van Tubbergen spotted a wide-open Wilson down the left side of the field. All Van Tubbergen had to do was get the ball in the same area code as Wilson, who hauled it in and went 51 yards for a touchdown with 56 seconds remaining. Andrew Haldeman’s extra point made it a 28-27 game.

On the play, Wilson fought off a jam at the line and was clear of the cornerback, who had no safety help over the top. It was the same scenario, only on the opposite side of the field, when Wilson put the Broncos on the board with a 73-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter after FCS Southeast built a 10-0 lead.

“I seem to have one of these kinds of wins early in every dynasty,” B-Dawg said. “Ironically, I needed a similar play to beat Western Michigan in my NCAA 2012 Michigan dynasty. Teams that have no business beating me always give me trouble early in a dynasty until I get comfortable with the game.”

Glitches in the game were exposed as the Pirates got the ball one final time with hopes of getting into field goal range. They had all three timeouts left and started the drive with a 15-yard pass play. Tronic Williams got his second sack of the game on the next play before something odd happened: The Pirates let the clock run all the way down for one final play from their own 32. They snapped it just before time expired and Temple was sacked on the final play.

“I was tempted to call a timeout and help out the poorly programmed CPU,” B-Dawg said. “This is troubling to see some of the horrible clock-management issues from the CPU already.”

Van Tubbergen finished 21-for-38 for 332 yards, three touchdowns and a pick.

The game got an ESPN Classic score of 560 points.




FULL STATS

[BDawg35]

Editor’s note: Following is the game report from B-Dawg’s other close call against an FCS team, a 27-24 victory over Tennessee State in NCAA 2007.


Earl Bennett hauls in a game-tying 36-yard touchdown on fourth-and-
23 with 2:32 left in the game.

SHALLOW VICTORY
Vanderbilt needs miracle pass, late pick to
survive test from Division I-AA TSU, 27-24

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — B-Dawg got a Gatorade bath.

Vanderbilt’s football players, in turn, got a severe tongue-lashing.

B-Dawg would ordinarily have been overjoyed with the manner in which he got his first victory as Vanderbilt’s head coach, as the 97th-ranked Commodores battled back after trailing by 14 points early and seven points late.

There’s only one problem: The team that gave them such a tough challenge was Tennessee State, a Division I-AA program.

B-Dawg expected a stat-padding blowout, but needed a miracle fourth-and-23 touchdown pass to star receiver Earl Bennett to tie the game and a late interception to set up the winning field goal in a 27-24 victory over the Tigers on Sept. 23, 2006.

“I told them that they have absolutely nothing to be proud of, that we don’t celebrate like that when we beat teams like this,” B-Dawg said. “Now, if we beat the University of Tennessee instead of Tennessee State University, then I’ll let the boys have all the fun they want. Their performance today nearly disgraced our fine university and could have caused major damage when we go into kids’ houses to recruit in the offseason. What kid from Tennessee is gonna want to come to Vanderbilt when we may not even be the third-best program in the whole state? We’re definitely not up to Tennessee’s standards and I’d dare say that Memphis would slap us around, too. I’d hate to see what would have happened had we played this game on the road, because I’m not sure we could have pulled it out.”

Bennett’s tying touchdown came on a 36-yard pass from Chris Nickson into the left corner of the end zone with 2:32 left in the game. Vanderbilt’s next drive ended on an interception with 1:49 left, but budding star strong safety Reshard Langford grabbed his fourth interception in as many games with 42 seconds left to end a possible game-winning drive by the Tigers set up the Commodores at their own 46-yard line.

Nickson was injured while scrambling for a first down with 35 seconds left, which meant red-shirt freshman Mackenzi Adams was summoned from the bench. Adams went 3-for-4 for 29 yards to move the Commodores into field goal range, with Bennett making a diving catch at the 23 to get them there.

Bryant Hahnfeldt, who missed a 24-yard chip shot early in the game, came on and nailed a 40-yarder with five seconds left to give Vanderbilt the victory. Tennessee State had one last crack, but threw an incompletion.

The game got a 492-point score and ranks sixth on B-Dawg’s Greatest Games list.

The Tigers were not without at least a little talent. With an 88 OVR halfback and an 80 OVR quarterback, Tennessee State had Vanderbilt outmatched at those key positions. However, it was 65 OVR WR#19 (the Division I-AA rosters are totally botched!) who had a field day, catching nine passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

Vanderbilt (1-3) fell behind early on two touchdown passes, but got back in the game in a hurry with two touchdowns in the final 37 seconds of the first half. Cassen Jackson-Garrison scored on a 2-yard run with 37 seconds to go in the half, capping an impressive 13-play, 86-yard drive. The Commodores got the ball back with enough time for Nickson to hit Bennett from 57 yards out as time expired for the tying touchdown.

A 24-yard field goal by Hahnfeldt gave Vanderbilt its first lead at 17-14 with 24 seconds left in the third quarter, but Tennessee State got a touchdown pass and field goal just 1:14 apart midway through the fourth quarter to take a 24-17 lead.

Bennett was the only Commodore who seemed able to take advantage of a mismatch against the lower-level talent at Tennessee State, catching nine passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson-Garrison found the going on the ground just as tough as it’s been against top-tier competition, needing 28 carries to get 102 yards.

Nickson, whose health status was unknown immediately after the game, threw three more interceptions. He has now thrown 12 interceptions and only four touchdown passes in four games.




PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
WR#19, Tennessee State; Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt

VANDERBILT 27, TENNESSEE ST. 24
First quarter
TSU: WR#19 11 pass from QB#8 (K#4 kick), :02
Second quarter
TSU: HB#22 16 pass from QB#8 (K#4 kick), 6:58
VANDY: Garrison 2 run (Hahnfeldt kick), :37
VANDY: Bennett 57 pass from Nickson (Hahnfeldt kick), :00
Third quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 24 field goal, :24
Fourth quarter
TSU: WR#19 5 pass from QB#8 (K#4 kick), 5:41
TSU: K#4 34 field goal, 4:27
VANDY: Bennett 36 pass from Nickson (Hahnfeldt kick), 2:32
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 40 field goal, :05

[LopaKa]

that would have been a terrible loss, glad you squeaked that one out. Pretty awesome that you still had that report from your Vandy 'Nasty saved! bringing back some memories haha

[BDawg35]

Northwestern’s Daniel Jones picks off a pass with 27 seconds left to seal the decision.

Moral victory?
Western Michigan competes well
in 20-17 setback at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. — Perhaps there were more encouraging signs in defeat than there were in victory for Western Michigan’s football team.

Last week, they pulled out a dramatic 28-27 victory on a 51-yard pass with 56 seconds left, but it was over an FCS team. A game against an FCS team should never be that close, even if you’re Western Michigan.

Fast forward one week. The Broncos are licking their wounds following a loss, but it came in a far more respectable performance against 86 OVR Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference.

The Broncos had the ball in the final minute with a chance to at least force overtime, but Daniel Jones picked off a deep pass with 27 seconds remaining to seal Northwestern’s 20-17 victory over 72 OVR Western Michigan.

“I was pleased with our defense against a pretty good team with a mobile quarterback,” Western Michigan coach B-Dawg said. “There was something to build on in this loss. I don’t believe in moral victories, but I do believe in taking something positive out of games like this.”

The game was tied 17-17 heading into the fourth quarter before the Wildcats (3-0) scored the only points of the final period on a 45-yard field goal by Jeff Budzien with 7:02 remaining.

Halfback Dareyon Chance was about the only source of offense for the Broncos (1-2). He ran 14 times for 39 yards and a touchdown and caught 10 passes for 77 yards.

Tyler Van Tubbergen threw for 298 yards, but didn’t throw a touchdown pass and served up two second-half picks.

The Broncos’ star of the game was linebacker Desmond Bozeman, who had nine tackles, four for losses and two sacks. One of his sacks on third down force Northwestern to settle for what proved to be the winning field goal.

Venric Mark ran 18 times for 70 yards and caught three passes for 54 yards and a score to lead Northwestern.

The Broncos will face a Big Ten team for the third time in their first four games when they travel to Iowa next Saturday.

“We’re going to have a lot of money in our football budget after these three games,” B-Dawg said. “Eventually, we’ll be paying major conference teams to come to our place to play us.”




FULL STATS

[BDawg35]

Quote: Originally Posted by LopaKa

that would have been a terrible loss, glad you squeaked that one out. Pretty awesome that you still had that report from your Vandy 'Nasty saved! bringing back some memories haha

Thanks! That's a feature I like to bring back from time to time. It brings back some pretty good memories. I think I had more fun with that Vanderbilt dynasty than any one I've ever done. That win over Tennessee State is one of my favorite wins ever, though I quickly learned that the deep ball was way too easy in that game.