The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

[Hellisan]

Moscow, ID – As Daniel Powter’s “You had a bad day” blared over the Kibbie Dome loudspeakers following a 44-10 blowout triumph of Idaho over Old Dominion, Taylor Heinicke must have thought the song was being played just for him. He not only had a bad day, he had just about the worst day imaginable as a quarterback.

Heinicke threw two horrible interceptions in the early stages of the game as Idaho built a solid lead, sustaining multiple sacks in the process. As the pressure mounted, he decided to scramble one too many times and despite a nice gain, was tackled from behind by Mark Millan, who forced a fumble that the Vandals recovered. Later, Heinicke put the wraps on the game with an interception that Delency Parham returned for a touchdown. The final result: Three interceptions, seven sacks, a lost fumble and an interception returned for a touchdown. Truly a bad day.

“We had planned in advance to play the song if the Vandals won in a blowout this year, but admittedly it felt like rubbing it in a little bit,” said a sports department media staffer afterwards.

The Idaho coaching staff felt strongly this would be one of the few games all season – maybe the only game – in which the Vandal offense had a big speed advantage on the defense. With two slow safeties, the game plan was to get quick offensive players into open space on a couple of plays in the early going.

Najee Lovett took a reverse handoff on just such a play, and after finding a crease he made a quick move past the cornerback and was gone, going 74 yards for a 7-0 lead. The two interceptions by Heinicke ensued, each thrown directly at a defensive player. The Vandals turned those possessions into a short field goal and a 10-yard touchdown run by Chad Chalich, leading 17-0 at the quarter break.

Mark Millan forced a punt with a sack on third down and short, and the Idaho offense went right back to work with a 7 play, 56-yard drive spanning 1:54 as James Baker scored on a 14-yard run. Old Dominion kicked a field goal to get on the board, but he Vandals sensed blood and Chalich threw a 51-yard bomb over the top to Dezmon Epps to take control of the momentum for good. Epps finished with 5 receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown, but didn’t get the game ball as Coach Clark gave those to defensive players.

“We did some great things today, but the number one thing we did was play fast, physical, aggressive defense and took advantage of every opportunity. That’s how we’re going to shape this team in the future is to play that brand of football. We want to be the team people just hate to face,” said Coach Clark.

[Hellisan]

Coverage of Week 11

[Hellisan]

Coverage of Week 12

[thesportsguru11]

Andre is coming for you....watch out...

[Hellisan]

[Hellisan]

NOTES

DE Maxx Forde set a team record with four sacks. Forde was able to trip up Jameis Winston on a pair of scramble attempts, had one pure coverage sack where he was knocked to the ground and then got up to make the sack, and had another nice play where he was able to beat his man off the edge and sack Winston from behind.

WR Dezmon Epps was injured early in the game, suffering a bruised sternum and wasn't able to come back into the game. He is expected to play next week against New Mexico State.

"We need Dezmon to answer the bell next week," said Coach Clark. "We hope he puts a nice finishing touch on what has been a great season."

Epps has 77 receptions, ranking fourth in the NCAA, and 1,088 yards which ranks fifth. He is currently 7th in the Biletnikoff award voting. His 10 touchdowns are tied with 5 other players for 10th in the nation.

[WeagleWeagle]

Really enjoying following this dynasty. What do you use for these game recap layouts?

Keep up the awesome dynasty!

[Hellisan]

Quote: Originally Posted by WeagleWeagle

Really enjoying following this dynasty. What do you use for these game recap layouts? Keep up the awesome dynasty!

Thanks Weagle... Appreciated man. I need to figure out a way to get weeks done quicker, I'm going to cut down on some of the around the nation reporting I do to make that a 10-minute process instead of 30. I need to get this season done asap but have very limited spare time... As for answering the question... I just use excel where I have some spreadsheets I made (for the box score) and word for the actual story, cut and paste to photofiltre (free) and save as a .bmp, then upload to imgur. Easy peasey.