Black Shoes and Basic Blues - The Ascension of Happy Valley

[mjavon]

I've been itching to start a new NCAA 14 dynasty, and this time I hope to actually stick with it! I have started with the 2014-2015 rosters (with some personal tweaks to make it play better).

My House Rules:
-No scouting to make gems/busts a surprise and recruiting a bigger challenge
-Must watch FG and XP attempts - because user kicking is way too easy
-Must use "Zoom" camera, because you see less of the field and it provides an extra challenge
-I will play a "Game of the Week" game in addition to my own game every week. This helps provide a little variety and lets me be more engaged with the "world" of my dynasty

Sliders:
-using the Community Sliders and having a blast with them. If you're reading this and you haven't given them a try, DO IT. It makes for a much better game.

Re-rating system:
I plan on re-rating players at the end of each bowl season and again in the pre-season to ensure balance and realism.

1) Re-rating: End of each bowl season

At the end of each bowl season, I'll look to identify players who would have lost their starting jobs in real life, and identify players who should replace them as the starter. For example, in one of my past dynasties, a North Texas backup HB rushed for 1500+ and 17 TDs in relief of the starter. It was obvious that he should have won the starting job, so I edited his attributes to make him better than the starter. Another example, Cal's QB once had an awful season - he didn't deserve to start. They had a 5* QB commit to them so I lowered Cal's QB ratings to ensure the freshman would start the following season.

2) Re-rating: Preseason

It's no secret that the progression system in NCAA is pretty messed up. A few years into your dynasty, practically every elite player in the nation is a redshirt senior or junior. I will look at ratings across the country and standardize them based on how they've performed in the past. This will help create some differentiation between different players and teams and prevent the nation having thirty-five 99 OVR players somewhere down the line. I've also noticed a lot of lower tier programs that should be in the 70-75 overall range end up being rated 80-85 a few years in due to the progression issue. This leads to far too many upsets (I love upsets, just not three times every week), so this will help deter that as well.

[mjavon]

Placeholder: Year-to-year records.

[mjavon]

Placeholder: Year-to-year recruiting review.

[mjavon]

Year One: 2014 Season Preview

It's been a busy offseason for the Nittany Lions' football program. The hiring of coach James Franklin has been supplemented by the news that the Lions will be eligible for postseason play to create an abnormally high amount of excitement for the fans, even for Happy Valley.

Player Spotlight: QB Christian Hackenberg



The Lions will be led in the 2014 season by sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who was regarded as the nation's best freshman passer a year ago. He passed for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns as a freshman. This production earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award honors. Coach Frankin and his teammates hope he carries them to success in 2014.

Schedule and Expectations

Penn State Nittany Lions 2014 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 31	at Central Florida
Sep 7	vs Akron
Sep 14	vs Temple
Sep 21	vs Massachusetts
Sep 28	at Maryland
Oct 5	at Indiana
Oct 12	vs Michigan
Oct 26	vs Ohio State
Nov 9	at Minnesota
Nov 16	vs Purdue
Nov 23	vs Rutgers
Nov 30	at Michigan State

ESPN The Magazine has projected Penn State to finish the season 7-5, with losses to UCF, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota and Michigan State.

Recruiting Spotlight - Franklin's top targets

1. 5* HB Matt Duncan - Middleburg Heights, OH

Duncan is a big physical runner who may be a bigger threat to those tackling him than the other way around. At 6'2" and 228 lbs, he excels in short yardage situations, but also blew scouts away when he posted a 4.46 40-yard -dash time at an offseason camp in Columbus.

Ranked by SPARQ as the #5 recruit in the nation, it will not be easy for Franklin to lure him from his home state Buckeyes.

1. 5* C Bruce Ross - Pell City, AL
Perhaps a little undersized at 6'0" and 270 lbs, Ross makes up for it with his smarts, work ethic, and technique. He is regarded by his high school coach in teammates as a vocal leader, and a warrior in the trenches.

Ross is also a star in the classroom, where he has posted a 4.0 GPA and has already gotten a 34 on the ACT. He reminds the Penn State coaching staff of former Lion guard John Urschel, who became a published mathematician within a year of graduation, while he was also a Baltimore Raven.

1. 4* DE Ernest Walker - Asbury Park, NJ
The Lions graduate three defensive lineman this year, and four lineman are juniors. It is crucial that Franklin gets at least one key piece for the future.

Luckily, New Jersey prospect Ernest Walker, a self-proclaimed lifelong Penn State fan and bane of NJ high school quarterbacks, is going to college next year. The 6'3" and 230 lb defensive end is a 3-year starter for his varsity squad, and has racked up 23.0 sacks in his sophomore and junior years alone.

1. 2* (JUCO JR) QB Scott Miles - Allen Park, MI
Miles is a junior college prospect from Michigan. He stands tall and moves well in the pocket at 6'4" and could fill a much needed backup role for Christian Hackenberg.

1. 3* LB Terrance Davis - Colonial Park, PA
Pennsylvania boy Terrance Davis is a lifelong Penn State fan who may be undervalued. The main concern with Davis is his 219 pound frame. He'll need to work a few years in the weight room before making it out at the next level, but he could be a big producer at Linebacker U.

[mjavon]

Week One 2014

Penn State Nittany Lions at UCF Knights
Aug 31, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Penn State Nittany Lions (0-0)	0	14	14	10	38
UCF Knights (0-0)	7	10	0	15	32

Team Stats Comparison
	PSU	UCF
Total Offense	445	324
Rushing Yards	169	95
Passing Yards	276	229
First Downs	20	15
Punt Return Yards	31	0
Kick Return Yards	130	78
Total Yards	606	402
Turnovers	2	2
3rd Down Converstion	6/12	2/7
4th Down Conversion	0/1	0/0
2-Point Conversion	0/0	1/1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-2-1	1-1-0
Penalties	2-17	1-5
Posession Time	22:34	13:26

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		PSU	UCF
7:06	(UCF) J. Ozerities, returned interception 52 yards	0	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		PSU	UCF
8:09	(UCF) 42 yard field goal good by S. Moffitt	0	10
5:52	(PSU) 3 yard touchdown pass to G. Lewis from C. Hackenberg	7	10
4:48	(UCF) 55 yard touchdown pass to R. Hall from J. Holman	7	17
0:28	(PSU) 17 yard touchdown pass to J.James from C. Hackenberg	14	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		PSU	UCF
8:36	(PSU) R. Keiser, returned fumble 26 yards	21	17
3:50	(PSU) 20 yard touchdown pass to D. Hamilton from C. Hackenberg	28	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		PSU	UCF
8:44	(UCF) 5 yard touchdown run by W. Stanback (2-pt)	28	25
3:35	(PSU) 21 yard field goal good by S. Ficken	31	25
3:28	(PSU) A. Amos, returned interception 14 yards	38	25
1:35	(UCF) 25 yard touchdown pass to J. Akins from J. Holman	38	32

Penn State Nittany Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT C. Hackenberg 20/30 276 3 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Z. Zwinak 14 78 5.5 0 B. Belton 13 122 9.3 0 C. Hackenberg 8 -33 -4.1 0 B. Smith 1 2 2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD D. Hamilton 9 162 18.0 1 G. Lewis 8 86 10.7 1 J. James 1 17 17.0 1 C. Godwin 1 4 4.0 0 B. Belton 1 7 7.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD M. Hull 10 0 0 0 A.Amos 5 0 1 1 D. Barnes 4 1 0 0 N. Wartman 3 2 0 0 C. Olaniyan 2 2 0 0 R. Keiser 3 0 0 1 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG S. Ficken 1/3 5/5 8 21 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 C. Gulla 1 43 43.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD A. Lynch 3 72 24.0 0 G. Haley 2 58 29.0 0 C. Godwin 1 0 0.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD J. Della Valle 2 31 15.5 0

UCF Knights PASSING C/A YDS TD INT J. Holman 16/20 229 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD W. Stanback 17 79 4.6 1 J. Holman 11 13 1.1 0 B. Perriman 1 3 3.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD R. Hall 4 91 22.7 1 J. Tukes 3 19 6.3 0 W. Stanback 2 21 10.5 0 K. Miller 2 24 12.0 0 B. Perriman 2 33 16.5 0 J. Akins 1 25 25.0 1 J. Worton 1 14 14.0 0 D. Wilson 1 2 2.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD J. Ozerities 7 0 1 1 B. Alexander 6 0 0 0 T. Gray 6 0 0 0 E. Clarke 5 0 0 0 D. Anderson 4 1 0 0 J. Mamea 4 2 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG S. Moffitt 1/2 3/3 6 42 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 C. Houston 4 189 47.2 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD R. Hall 3 78 26.0 0

Lions Outlast Knights

The 3-point favorite Lions got off to a rough start on Saturday, but were able to rebound late. On Penn State's first drive, Hackenberg flung a screen pass to the left only to have it jumped by Central Florida's senior CB Ozerities. Ozerities intercepted the pass and took it 52 yards to the house for a score.

"It's always frustrating when you make a mistake like that," Hackenberg said after the game. "But you just have to kind of make yourself forget about it and focus on the next play."

The Lions moved the ball well early, but after Sam Ficken missed two makeable field goals, the Lions found themselves down 10-7. The Knights extended their lead on a 55-yard touchdown pass to Rannell Hall on a missed coverage assignment. The Knights had come to play.

Hackenberg followed that up with a touchdown drive of his own, capped by a 17-yard strike to TE Jesse James in the two-minute drill.

"That drive was huge for us," Coach James Franklin said. "It enabled us to carry some of that all-important emotional momentum into halftime.

Penn State carried that momentum into the second half and senior safety Ryan Keiser scooped up a fumble for a score on Central Florida's opening drive. Adrian Amos would score another defensive touchdown in the 4th, intercepting Justin Holman and putting the Knights comeback effort on ice.

Central Florida made it a game late, but after failing to recover an onside kick, the game was over. Penn State won 38-32.

Hackenberg had a big day, passing for 276 yards and 3 touchdowns, but redshirt freshman wideout Daesean Hamilton was the biggest shocker. Hamilton caught 9 passes for 162 yards for a score in his first ever collegiate game.

Week One: Around The Nation

Key Scores:
#1 Florida State beat Pittsburgh 49-25
#3 Alabama beat Virginia Tech 38-24
#5 Auburn beat Washington State 34-14
#12 Georgia lost to Clemson 28-24
#13 South Carolina beat North Carolina 34-18
#14 Mississippi State rolled Oklahoma State 60-9
#17 LSU lost to TCU 35-17
#20 BYU lost to Virginia 10-6

Week Two Rankings

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Sep 7, 2014
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Florida State	1	0
2	2	Oregon	1	0
3	3	Alabama	1	0
4	4	Oklahoma	1	0
5	5	Auburn	1	0
6	6	Texas A&M	0	0
7	7	Baylor	1	0
8	8	Notre Dame	1	0
9	9	Michigan State	1	0
10	10	Ole Miss	1	0
11	11	UCLA	1	0
12	13	South Carolina	1	0
13	14	Mississippi State	1	0
14	15	Arizona State	0	0
15	16	Stanford	0	0
16	18	USC	1	0
17	19	Wisconsin	1	0
18	21	Nebraska	1	0
19	12	Georgia	1	1
20	22	Ohio State	1	0
21	NR	Clemson	1	0
22	23	East Carolina	0	0
23	25	Kansas State	1	0
24	NR	Northwestern	1	0
25	NR	Louisville	0	0

[thesportsguru11]

Solid start, loving another new dynasty here.

Like the house rules, and a solid first win! Good luck going forward.

[LopaKa]

Impressive start to the dynasty mj, I'm enjoying it so far!

[mjavon]

Week Two 2014

Akron University @ Penn State University

Akron Zips at Penn State Nittany Lions
Sep 7, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Akron Zips (0-1)	7	3	14	0	24
Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0)	17	14	7	3	41

Team Stats Comparison
	AKR	PSU
Total Offense	321	501
Rushing Yards	14	174
Passing Yards	307	327
First Downs	14	25
Punt Return Yards	0	39
Kick Return Yards	131	76
Total Yards	452	616
Turnovers	1	0
3rd Down Converstion	3/8	8/12
4th Down Conversion	0/0	0/0
2-Point Conversion	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-3-1	8-5-2
Penalties	0-0	2-20
Posession Time	9:45	26:15

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		AKR	PSU
7:13	(PSU) 19 yard field goal good by S. Ficken	0	3
6:28	(AKR) 3 yard touchdown pass from K. Pohl to A. Ritossa	7	3
3:12	(PSU) 10 yard touchdown pass from C. Hackenberg to D. Hamilton	7	10
1:10	(PSU) 11 yard touchdown pass from C.Hackenberg to C. Godwin	7	17
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		AKR	PSU
8:35	(AKR) 24 yard field goal good by T. O'Leary	10	17
5:37	(PSU) 1 yard touchdown run by Z.Zwinak	10	24
2:37	(PSU) 15 yard touchdown pass from C. Hackenberg to D. Hamilton	10	31
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		AKR	PSU
6:38	(AKR) 17 yard touchdown pass from K. Pohl to F. Bickley	17	31
1:16	(PSU) 3 yard touchdown run by Z. Zwinak	17	38
0:00	(AKR) 7 yard touchdown pass from K. Pohl to F. Bickley	24	38
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		AKR	PSU
4:58	(PSU) 23 yard field goal by S. Ficken	24	41

Akron Zips PASSING C/A YDS TD INT K. Pohl 24/33 307 3 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD K. Pohl 8 -9 -1.1 0 J. Chisholm 7 23 3.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD L. Smith 7 72 10.2 0 J. Chisholm 6 53 8.8 0 F. Bickley 4 82 20.5 2 J. Allen 2 14 7.0 0 Z. D'Orazio 2 58 29.0 0 A. Pratt 2 25 12.5 0 A. Ritossa 1 3 3.0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD D. Morgan 9 0 0 0 C. Mizell 9 0 0 0 J. March 9 1 0 0 N. Capi 2 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG T. O'Leary 1/1 3/3 6 25 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Z. Paul 4 168 42.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD L. Smith 5 131 26.2 0

Penn State Nittany Lions PASSING C/A YDS TD INT C. Hackenberg 23/36 327 3 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Z. Zwinak 19 63 3.3 2 B. Belton 12 100 8.3 0 C. Hackenberg 4 -1 -0.2 0 A. Lynch 3 12 4.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD C. Godwin 6 87 14.5 1 D. Hamilton 5 53 10.6 2 G. Lewis 5 72 14.4 0 J. James 4 64 16.0 0 B. Belton 3 51 17.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD M. Hull 11 0 0 0 A. Zettel 2 1 0 0 B. Bell 2 1 0 0 A. Johnson 2 1 0 0 D. Barnes 2 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG S. Ficken 2/2 5/5 11 24 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 C. Gulla 1 42 42.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD A. Lynch 2 49 24.5 0 G. Haley 1 27 27.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD J. Della Valle 4 39 9.7 0

This Saturday's victory over the Akron Zips was never close, but the Nittany Lions never pulled away quite like the experts predicted. This was largely due to a very talented opponent in the Zips' quarterback Kyle Pohl.

Akron's Kyle Pohl stays focused in the pocket while facing pressure from Penn State's Anthony Zettel.

Although the Lion's front seven did a phenomenal job, sacking Pohl 4 times and holding Jawan Chisholm to just 23 yards rushing, there may be some concern about the secondary.

"You never want to feel bad about a victory," Penn State Defensive Coordinator Bob Shoop said. "But we do acknowledge that we have to be better against the pass."

Luckily, Penn State's offense was as good as ever. Headed by sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg, the Lions' offensive unit put up 31 points in the first half alone. Once they had built a lead, they were able to grind the ball out and run the clock down in the second half. Penn State won 41-24.

Next week, the Lions host the Temple Owls.

Week Two: Around the Nation

Key Scores:

#3 Alabama beat Colorado State 49-17
#4 Oklahoma lost to West Virginia 25-35
#8 Notre Dame beat Michigan 45-24
#12 South Carolina beat Georgia 24-17
#16 USC beat Washington State 31-21
#22 East Carolina beat NC State 34-31

Week Three Rankings

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Sep 9, 2014
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Florida State	1	0
2	2	Oregon	2	0
3	3	Alabama	2	0
4	5	Auburn	2	0
5	6	Texas A&M	1	0
6	8	Notre Dame	2	0
7	7	Baylor	2	0
8	9	Michigan State	2	0
9	10	Ole Miss	2	0
10	12	South Carolina	2	0
11	11	UCLA	1	0
12	13	Mississippi State	2	0
13	14	Arizona State	2	0
14	4	Oklahoma	1	1
15	15	Stanford	1	0
16	16	USC	2	0
17	17	Wisconsin	2	0
18	18	Nebraska	2	0
19	20	Ohio State	1	0
20	21	Clemson	1	0
21	22	East Carolina	1	0
22	23	Kansas State	2	0
23	NR	West Virginia	2	0
24	24	Northwestern	1	0
25	19	Georgia	0	2

This week we saw West Virginia make the Top 25 after a convincing win against Oklahoma in which Mountaineers' wideout Kevin White had 178 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. We also had Notre Dame jump Baylor after they were victorious on the road at Michigan.