The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

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The Coaching Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Rosters: OS Community 2014-15
Sliders: Personal Set
Notes:
All Play Calls done from "Ask a Coach"
Special Teams are simmed 100% of the time


Credits: PocketScout designed the helmet's.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Tyler Kozlov

Historical W-L by Team
Akron Zips (23-16) 3 Years
Utah State Aggies (3-9) 1 Year
Overall: 26-25

Coaching Pedigree

AJ Milwee (HC) UAB
Lance Anderson (HC) Cincinnati

Historical W-L by Conference
American: 3-2
B1G: 0-4
B12: 2-7
Independents: 0-1
MAC: 19-9
Mountain West: 1-0
Pacific 12: 1-1
SEC: 0-1
Sunbelt: 1-0
vs Top 25: 4-7
vs Rivals: 3-1
Conference Championships: 1-0

Home: 14-8    
Away: 9-16
Bowl Games: 2-0
NCG: 0-0

Conference Titles: 1
Bowl Victories: 2 (1x Famous Idaho, 1x Go Daddy)

Bowl Game Records

Famous Idaho: 1-0
Go Daddy: 1-0

CACS

Spoiler

Eric Grant
Career Record: 5-7
Bowl Record: 0-0
Conference Championships:
NFL Draftees:
All-Americans:

Quinn Retney
Career Record:4-20
Bowl Record: 0-0
Conference Championships:
NFL Draftees:
All-Americans:

John Valkyrie
Career Record: 4-8
Bowl Record: 0-0
Conference Championships:
NFL Draftees:
All-Americans:

Corey Warby
Career Record: 8-5
Bowl Record: 1-0
Conference Championships:
NFL Draftees:
All-Americans:
UAB
2016-17 Poinsettia Bowl Champion (W 40-39 vs BYU)

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Time for a change in Akron

Akron has been in a long slump of futility throughout the history of the program including a poor 109-185-37 FBS record and only once making a bowl game, the 2005 season where they won the MAC with a 7-6 record. A far cry from a program that sees any sort of success in the future. It seems changes however are very present on the horizon. Akron is focused on changing it's losing tradition.

Hiring a Midwestern coach to step in, in Tyler Kozlov, Kozlov has bounced around the Division 3 and 2 levels, with stops in Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois after a playing career ended at Illinois that saw him exit without a playing career in the NFL, proceeding to intern with Illinois as an assistant before branching out as an offensive coordinator to a head coach. Kozlov has claimed six conference championships throughout his eight years as head coach and at the young age of 39, he will definitely be prepared for a long journey ahead.

Kozlov plays an aggressive, up tempo style game that is predicated on blitzing and fast attacking offensive units and will look to make an explosive offense in a conference known for its "MACtion" and has had a wide array of offensive talents across the conference, Kozlov will look to usher in a high speed and hard hitting style of offense.

In rather odd news, local sport legend, LeBron James has stated support for the college by pledging almost ten million to the athletic program, while most was appropriated to the basketball program, upgrades to the athletic facilities as well as a planned expansion to the football stadium are in the works.

The Zips will face quite a difficult schedule this season, which features matchups against state opponents, and one power. The Zips open the season on a slate of three road games, UCF, followed by Cincinnati and Ohio State to round out the slate of competition. To round out the out of conference schedule, the Zips will take on Army in Akron for their first game in their renovated InfoCision Stadium that saw its occupancy increased despite being a fairly new stadium in the first place.

The Zips will be led by Kyle Pohl under center and Jawon Chisholm in the backfield. This is a team that lacks a true top wide receiver threat but offers a bevy of options that are on a fairly common skill level which allows for a true "next man up" mentality in what will definitely be an uptempo offense.

On defense, Justin March-Lillard will patrol the outside of the defense, as the linebacker will look to cause havoc, and he will definitely be more than capable, especially with a strong group of interior linemen which will surely draw oppositions attention inside.

This is a team that has won only 3 games in the past 3 years and even approaching .500 would be an accomplishment, yet that would be very unlikely with such a tough out of conference slate. The season is close to starting and this will be a tough transition for a team that suddenly saw a very public endorsement from a big sports figure.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Akron Zips (0-0) 21 @ UCF Knights (0-0) 31

7 0 7 7 21
7 7 3 14 31

Knights survive against the Zips despite mistakes

On opening weekend, there was certainly enough drama rolling around as teams fought for their first victory on a young season. In a game where there was a multi-touchdown favorite, the scoreline ended up being much closer than expected. Although, score doesn't always tell the story of the game. Not at all.

Quite simply, UCF should've ran away with this one from the start. A drive where two roughing the passer penalties led to a deep lob resulting in the opening touchdown of the game from a pass to Zach D'Orazio that opened this one up in favor of Akron. It wouldn't remain that way for long though, as UCF matched their score on just two plays and 84 yards to tie the game up at 7-7. Justin Tukes went for 80 yards on his lone reception of the game to tie the game up.

UCF would than see a lead heading into the half thanks to a big 35 yard run from Holman that gave the Knights some breathing room, and through the second, the Zips offense was anemic. Accounting for just 12 yards in the quarter in a rather tough display by a defense that is expected to carry this team.

The Knights weakness lies in its lack of firepower on the offensive end and will rely on their defense to carry them, so when Senter intercepted an overthrown pass to tie the game up just after half time, UCF faithful were quieted. The upset alert was very real for a team seeking to become a BCS Buster, from a team that over the past three years never surpassed more than 1 victory!

It seemed to light a fire for the Knights who would than score 17 unanswered. A late third quarter field goal to keep the Knights just well enough ahead of the Zips, followed by a pair of fourth quarter touchdown runs by Holman and Stanback from 4 and 8 yards respectively to extend the score to 31-14. A late touchdown in garbage time for the Zips on a touchdown pass to Pratt would give Kyle Pohl his second touchdown pass of the evening.

The Knights would end up running out the clock in victory formation to send themselves home with a season opening win, yet it wasn't convincing. Allowing four sacks largely due to over-excessive scrambling in the backfield, an interception for a touchdown and an obscene four drops spelled a very plausible upset scenario. Yet it didn't come to fruition, thanks to a 204 yard difference in favor of the Knights, who will have to rely on their smothering defense to keep their BCS Busting hopes alive.

Player of the Game:
Justin Holman [UCF] (7-16) 149 Yards 1 TD 1 INT (17 Rushes) 142 yards 2 TD

Akron Top Performers
Passing: Pohl 14-23 90 YDS 2 TD 1 INT
Rushing: Chisholm 15 Rushes for 77 yards
Receiving: D'Orazio 3 Receptions for 37 yards 1 TD
Defense: Senter (CB) 3 Tackles 1 INT 1 DTD

Coach Tyler Kozlov's thoughts:
"It was a disappointing introduction to the season. We had every opportunity to pull an upset and we just didn't convert. The late interception absolutely killed us and there were too many times our players didn't play until the whistle and it led to a lot of big plays for UCF. We came close to picking up our first win, and the road won't get any easier from here. We have Cincinnati next week and we will need to turn things around if we are going to hope to walk away with even a respectable scorecard."

[Miles Perry]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

That fear the roo pic is awesome lol

[Matt10]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Nice, man. Always enjoyed reading your reports - this is going to be great. Looking forward to it.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Week 1 Wrapup - 2013

Week 1 is in the books and it definitely gave a lot of reason to get excited for the upcoming season. On the field, scores came and went on opening week, with only Oklahoma State tumbling out of the rankings by virtue of their 21-10 defeat at the hands of #14 Mississippi State. Replacing them was UCF who eked out a victory from Akron thanks to a huge performance from their quarterback.

No upsets of note this week, as the top 25 held steady for an impressive (22-1) record with two teams not playing on kickoff weekend. Florida State led by Jameis Winston remains entrenched at #1 following their 10 point victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers, Florida State saw 40 first place votes this week, the only remaining team remaining votes was the Oregon Ducks who received 21 after routing Sam Houston State in their season opener.

The injury bug bit hard in Ohio, with the team losing Doran Grant to a broken ankle in the opener. A tough loss for the team who will struggle to replace a defensive star such as Grant, especially as the season will only continue to get harder. Ohio State stayed at #22 in the polls and their rise will be slowed due to such a significant injury. It's likely he will miss one to two months and up to the whole season depending on potential setbacks.

Twisting into recruiting news, Isaiah Ross becomes the highest ranking player to commit thus far into the young season. Ross will join Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa next season. Ross the #3 ranked receiver and #8 overall prospect is a strong receiver with good hands, albeit average speed. He provides Saban the big target he loves to have. Alabama proved lightning strikes twice, also inking Melvin Graham (ATH) from Forestdale Alabama. The 5 star athlete plays halfback, wide receiver and safety in high school and could fill a bevy of needs for the program. He also has some experience playing as a wildcat quarterback and could see a potential move there.

Oklahoma State despite their loss, sees athlete Jeff Oliver from Concord, Missouri joining their ranks following his commitment. Oliver poises to be a linebacker to safety in the college ranks, while also playing tight end in high school.

Rounding out the top 100 prospects this season, Todd Williamson will be heading north. The San Diego prospect has inked his letter of intent to head north to Oregon, shunning USC and Texas in the process. The second ranked free safety in this years class, Williamson can be expected to be a major contributor within a year or two, with excellent speed and good coverage, he could be a future all-american.

Finally, the NCAA is gravitating towards a playoff system, and while they opened the season in silence (as oddly as that is), they have stated that this year, they have eliminated conference bowl game tie ins. While there are still automatic qualifiers, the NCAA is using this season as a test for the feasibility of a potential playoff by removing specific tie ins.

Akron Zips Weekly News

While news in Akron continues to be slow, unsurprisingly, no prospect inked their letter of intent to come play for the Zips, but Kozlov has made it clear who his top targets are. 2* Cornerback, Peter Wesley from Medina, Ohio has come into his sights, Wesley is a coverage cornerback, but with three other MAC teams (Toledo, Bowling Green and Miami) all fighting for his services.

Ahmad Watts (3*) outside linebacker from Jasper, Indiana is being recruited heavily by MAC programs, while not listing Akron as his top school, Watts has them as his second, just behind home school, Ball State. Kozlov described Watts as a "future star" and feel he could be a big prospect for the team.

TJ Moss (3*) quarterback from Mayfield Heights, Ohio is a pocket passer which doesn't fit very well with Kozlov's system, but Kozlov seems to be very interested in bringing the quarterback to Akron. Even so, Moss has stated he wants to go to West Virginia, while the school isn't hedging much interest in him, if that changes, it's very likely to see him heading to Virginia over Akron.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

That fear the roo pic is awesome lol

I thought the same thing when I saw it!

Nice, man. Always enjoyed reading your reports - this is going to be great. Looking forward to it.

Thanks, that's some high praise! Hopefully it lives up to the past ones, my brother gave me my old PS3
back and decided to jump back into NCAA. I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm still trying to get my sliders where I want them to.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Akron Zips (0-1) 24 @ Cincinnati Bearcats (1-0) 49

7 7 3 7 24
7 10 0 32 49

Cincinnati explodes in the fourth quarter to rout Zips

The second straight week saw theatrics come up short for the Zips who somehow despite being out manned found themselves in the thick of the battle for most of the game. It wasn't meant to be however as 32 4th quarter points spelled doom for the Zips who simply didn't have any sort of firepower to keep up or deal with it.

Cincinnati ran the ball, ran it some more, than ran it even more. Their ground game comprised most of their offense despite Gunner Kiel tossing 4 touchdown passes, most of the field was traversed on the ground. Gunner Kiel and Hosey Williams combined for 320 yards on the ground. The Zips defense has a major liability when facing opposition that utilizes option offense.

Hosey Williams piled up an incredible 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground as he was near unstoppable. While Gunner Kiel got a career high 109 yards on 10 rushes, thanks largely to a few big runs off of option reads that allowed for an offense that wore down the Zips defense by the fourth quarter which led to the pure implosion of the outmatched squad.

Kiel only had 124 passing yards coming off of 10-14 passing with 4 touchdowns, while his touchdown total is absolutely a good stat, his yardage wasn't as the offense utilized his legs more than his arm, which was odd because he really wasn't struggling through his passing attack.

Akron kept the game exciting with Zach D'Orazio piling up yards and scores as he made some very big grabs in this one. Including the first score of the game on a rocket over the middle that he came down with cleanly. He also added a touchdown in the second quarter which gave the Zips the lead briefly until another touchdown pass from Gunner Kiel stole it away.

Jawon Chisholm left the game early with what has since been ruled an abdominal tear, he finished with 5 rushes for 19 yards. In his stead, Hakeem Lawrence came in and did very well especially against the level of talent they were facing by rushing for 69 yards but had a costly fumble. Kyle Pohl had 12 rushes for 39 yards, but also added two fumbles to go along with his interception on a day where there were 4 Zip turnovers.

Akron dips to 0-2 and will draw a very hungry Ohio State team next week in what should be an even worse matchup than today had been. Cincinnati rises to 2-0 and tilts further through the season, they are gelling early and that is only going to make things better for the Ohio school.

Player of the Game
Hosey Williams (HB-CIN) 20 Rushes 211 yards 2 TD 2 Receptions 1 yard

Akron Zips Leaders
Passing: Pohl 20-35 291 Yards 3 TD 1 INT
Rushing: Lawrence 69 Yards
Receiving: D'Orazio 146 Yards 2 TD
Defensive: March-Lillard 4 Tackles - 2 For loss 1 Sack

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Week 2 - 2013 Season

The second weekend of the season is over and the upset alert was on notice. Starting up in Washington, the Washington State Cougars hosted the #17 USC Trojans in what became a near upset thanks to 14 unanswered fourth quarter points by Conner Holiday and the Cougar offense, the Trojans would ultimately rally and reclaim the lead and victory to the tune of 31-28. Nelson Agholor finished with 2 touchdown receptions including what would amount to the game winner in the final two minutes of the game. The collective contingent of USC fans that made the travel had to be relieved to see their team not fall apart against a team that was expected to lose by double digits.

Going across the country down to Florida, the Gators and Hurricanes squared off in their annual rivalry game. The Gators escape with a narrow 16-13 victory thanks to Vernon Harggreaves III pulling down an interception and bringing it back 70 yards, turning a 3 point possession for the Canes into a 7 point possession for the Gators. It would be the only touchdown for the Gators, who notched 3 field goals. Brad Kaaya carried the Canes with 289 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, but what will be remembered is the ill advised pass that was brought back for a touchdown.

In the top 25 there was a lot of movement, four teams all dropped out of the rankings. BYU (#20), East Carolina (#23), Kansas State (#24) and UCF (#25) all fell out of the rankings. Climbing into the rankings was Northwestern, Louisville, Florida and Missouri who all have 2-0 records. At the moment, only one team in the top 25 has a loss, #18 Georgia fell from #12 after losing to #11 South Carolina in overtime. Kansas State lost in embarrassing fashion, a 7-31 defeat to Louisiana Lafayette.

The Heisman race is starting to generate some steam, with Trevor Knight leading the pack with a five touchdown performance versus the West Virginia Mountaineers, Melvin Gordon from Wisconsin found himself in second after a 139 yard, 3 touchdown performance against Youngstown State in a Badger victory.

No new signings in the top 100 to note, the top recruit David Whitaker a 2 way athlete from Alexandria, Kentucky remains largely undecided, stating a mutual interest in LSU, Alabama and Oregon as his top options. LSU is a top 3 option for all of the top 3 recruits in the nation, Whitaker, Cornelius Henry (WR) from Derby, CO and George Carter (HB) from Gunnison, CO. If LSU could pull off all three recruits, it would be a masterful display from the Bayou Bengals.

Akron Zips News

Unsurprisingly, no recruit has lended their signature this week either. Another loss has Zips faithful quickly having memories of their previous seasons, especially with the rout this week and a very likely one coming next week against Ohio State.

There are rumors though, that Peter Wesley (CB 2*) is coming closer to signing, as he has narrowed his decision to only Akron and Toledo. Ahmad Watts (3* OLB) remains in a fierce recruiting battle with Ball State and Akron. Halfback Damion Bain from East Cleveland, OH (3*) looks to be a Zip, as it's his top school and he has stated he is simply holding out to identify all options. It appears Akron has trimmed it's Tight End prospects by limiting themselves to Erik Greene (TE 3*) from Ashtabula, OH. Greene is deciding between Akron and ex-MAC program, Temple.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Akron Zips (0-2) 21 @ #18 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0) 45

0 7 7 7 21
0 21 14 10 45

Tensions escalate in Ohio State rout of Akron

"Classless, the game was over and they kept going. There was absolutely no reason for it. They should've accepted their position and moved on. Someone could've gotten hurt, no one was ready for them to go no huddle in the final seconds." Spoke a very irritated Urban Meyer in the post game conference, shortly after a fight nearly broke out after a late touchdown pass in the final seconds by Akron Zips quarterback Kyle Pohl.

"You play until the final whistle. They expected us to simply roll over because they had the lead. They won and were the better team today, no one is denying that. What is ridiculous is how some expect us to simply roll over because they are The Ohio State University." Spoke Tyler Kozlov to a significantly smaller contingent of reporters following the game.

How did tensions escalate? It actually started in the third quarter, with the Buckeyes already up 35-7 and on a scramble my Cardale Jones, he would take a low hit and get knocked up into there air where two more Akron Zips would hit him again as he fell to the ground resulting in a small scuffle that resulted in offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties.

Ezekiel Elliot was shut down in the first but exploded for a total of five touchdowns in the second and third quarters, four touchdown rushes of 2, 5, 16 and 80 yards as well as a touchdown reception of 40 yards on a screen pass that worked out brilliantly for the Buckeyes. The Zips only managed a pair of touchdowns through the first three quarters, one due to a roughing the passer penalty i the third that led to a touchdown pass to Hakeem Lawrence two plays later. The other on a lob to Zach D'Orazio who has proven himself to be a competent aerial threat through the first quarter of the season.

The fourth quarter after a second Kyle Pohl interception saw the Buckeyes pull their starters and in came the reserves who marched downfield but would be stopped in the red zone for a field goal to extend the lead to 45-14 with just a click over a minute remaining. Out came the Zips who moved downfield quickly thanks to a Keith Sconiers that went 47 yards. The final offensive play of the game was a touchdown pass from Kyle Pohl to Austin Wolf, the play that caused all of the escalation.

While the Buckeye aerial attack wasn't very dominant in this one, their ground game had quite a bit of power to it. Ezikiel Elliot went for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground while Cardale Jones had 2 more touchdowns of his own on 104 yards rushing, just 67 yards shy of his passing total. While many claimed that Urban Meyer would bring a SEC style offense to the B1G, they won this one through the old fashioned B1G smashmouth offense.

The Buckeyes improve to 3-0 on the season and climb slightly in the polls with this victory, while the Zips remain winless, but have a winnable matchup against the Army Black Knights on the horizon.

Player of the Game:
Ezekiel Elliot (HB-OSU) 148 Rushing Yards 3 TD 57 Receiving yards 2 TD

Akron Zips Key Contributors
Passing: Pohl (32-48) 327 Yards 3 TD 2 INT
Rushing: Lawrence 12 ATT 25 Yards
Receiving: D'Orazio 6 REC 72 Yards 1 TD
Defensive: Guiser 7 Tackles 1 Sack

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Week 3 - 2013 Season

Alabama is back on top of the college football world with their 41-0 rout over the previously ranked #6 Texas A&M Aggies. Blake Sims threw three touchdowns and ran for one more as the Tide rolled through the Aggies. An embarrassing showing for one team that hasn't been the same since Johnny Manziel went to the NFL leaving them without a star power under center. Alabama piled up 512 offensive yards including 270 on the ground while piling up 75% 3rd down conversion percentage.

The Top 25 is taking more losses as time goes on, this time it was Auburn who tumbled from #5 to #11 on virtue of their 17-21 defeat at Mississippi State. Auburn's offense wasn't able to get going while Dak Prescott went for three touchdowns to carry his Bulldogs to the victory. While the #5 and #6 teams in the nation fell, Ole Miss falling to Texas, Wisconsin to #13 Arizona State and Nebraska to #9 UCLA would round out the losses in the top squads of the nation.

In upset news, Army stunned the Stanford Cardinal thanks to a 21 point rally spanning the third and fourth quarters. Army would pile up 244 rushing yards and 184 passing yards and could be perfect in the red zone to knock off the previously #15 Stanford Cardinal in a victory that will definitely be remembered by the program for a long time. Army had no turnovers, while forcing one, and managed to survive a 300 yard passing outing by the Cardinal.

Akron Zips News

More recruits are oddly becoming more gravitated towards Akron. Following a brief news conference at Akron University by LeBron James endorsing the football program despite it's struggles in what he hopes will become a "dual-sport powerhouse" and gave a ringing endorsement of Tyler Kozlov and his winning mentality. Will it pay dividends? That's yet to be seen. As for recruiting news there isn't any to note.

The Zips following the tensions with Ohio State have agreed to a three game series with the Ohio State Buckeyes for the upcoming three seasons. An away-home-away deal that sees the Buckeyes hosting the Zips for three years, it's estimated the school will receive almost four million across the three years in royalties for the deal.

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Army Black Knights (3-0) 24 @ Akron Zips (0-3) 14

7 10 0 7 24
0 14 0 0 14

Knights triple option stuns Zips

The Army Knights are off to one of the best starts in recent school history as they open the season on a 4-0 tear following their 24-14 victory over the Akron Zips. It was a game that showcased one of the Zips biggest struggles in the option defense, unable to keep up with the Knights early and in the final quarter spelled doom for the Zips.

"We spent all week focusing on watching the ball, not the carrier and even than it wasn't enough, we couldn't get our feet planted and we just didn't keep our eye on the ball. The Knights are a talented triple option squad and they proved that today. We had our opportunities, it just didn't happen for us however."

The Zips had their chances of course, especially after an interception off a rare Black Knight pass led to a touchdown to Adam Pratt from 12 yards out. The draw wouldn't last very long as the lead would favor the Black Knights at the half in a 17-14 decision.

Early in the third, inside the thirty, the Zips who were eying the victory opted to go for it on fourth down and the running play would be stuffed in the backfield for a turnover on downs. Leading into the fourth, the run defense seemingly had stepped up until a long run led to Angel Santiago scoring from 11 yards out following a long run on the prior play. A 10 point deficit with a little over five minutes to go was anything but insurmountable.

It would be difficult though, requiring two fourth down conversions before the Zips approached the redzone, getting to the goal line, where on third and goal, Kyle Pohl fumbled the ball on a quarterback keeper and the Knights would pounce on it, they would kill all but twenty seconds of the clock following this drive leaving the Zips with only twenty seconds needing two scores.

Their drive went no where and on fourth down from their own goal line, Kyle Pohl lobbed a deep pass off his back foot which would be harmlessly batted down. The Knights would kneel the ball to kill the clock and end the game on top with a 24-14 victory. The Zips fall even deeper into a hole and are just three losses away from losing bowl eligibility. Their non-conference slate ends with them winless, and with no momentum heading into conference play, it's difficult to see where they could turn it around this season.

Player of the Game
Angel Santiago (QB- ARMY) 6-11 103 Yards 1 INT; 24 Rushes 170 yards 2 TD

Akron Zips Top Performers
Passing: Pohl 27-51 283 Yards 2 TD 2 INT
Rushing: Lawrence 11 Att 56 Yards
Receiving: D'Orazio 7 Rec 113 Yards 1 TD
Defense: Durant 4 Tackles 1 INT

[K0ZZ]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Week 4 - 2013

The week is in the book and there was quite a bit to talk about across the nation. Notre Dame sneaking into the national championship picture, the decline of Oregon despite winning, the rise of Mississippi State and Baylor, the respective falls of Michigan State and LSU? The stunning rout of previously #23 Missouri to the unranked and largely forgotten Indiana Hoosiers in a 24-48 tussle? There was a lot going on across the board but none the less, the high profile matchup of Notre Dame and Michigan State is what stole the spot light.

Two heisman contenders going head to head under center on Saturday night, Everett Golson for the Irish and Connor Cook for the Spartans. Golson would reign victorious on this day, with his ranking sky rocketing while the Irish move into third place in the nation by virtue of their 26-14 besting of their rivals from East Lansing. The game started out a back and forth affair for the first half with Everett Golson and Connor Cook trading touchdown passes in the first, while a pair of Notre Dame field goals were offset by a Connor Cook scramble for a touchdown for the Spartans who took the lead into the half, 14-13.

It wouldn't remain that way as the defense tightened up for the Irish who shut out the Spartans through the entire second half and proceeded to take the game over on two long drives, one culminating in a touchdown pass from Golson, the other a touchdown rush. The fans got treated to a beauty and it was deserving that the two quarterbacks each earned high honors for their teams, but Everett Golson walked away with the player of the game award with a 23-34 320 yard 2 touchdown performance, outshining Connor Cook, who had major struggles in the air (9-18) 94 Yards 1 TD, and 30 rushing yards with 1 touchdown. A testament to this Irish defense was holding Cook and Langford to 80 yards on 31 rushing attempts, and the entire Spartan offense couldn't muster 100 yards (97).

Turning towards the SEC, the LSU Tigers and the Auburn Tigers battled for their names and Auburn emerged victorious despite allowing a 9-0 run to close the game. Nick Marshall had the Tigers rolling in the first quarter pulling off consecutive scoring drives, one on a touchdown pass, the other a Cameron Artis-Payne touchdown rush. The Auburn Tigers had momentum and a shut out on the books through one, 14-0. The LSU Tigers however roared back with a flurry of offensive majesty resulting in a textbook touchdown drive capped off with a 28 yard touchdown pass. Most of the way through the quarter, the Auburn Tigers managed another Artis-Payne touchdown rush that had them cruising with a 21-7 lead, but as time expiring in the half, a LSU field goal crossed the uprights giving the LSU Tigers a better shot.

Bend but not breaking defense won the day for Auburn who would go on to allow two fourth quarter field goals but not much else. Despite their offense entirely shutting down, the Auburn Tigers emerged victorious in a 21-16 matchup.

Two more athletes in the top 100 rankings have inked their letters of intent, J.D. James from Victorville, CA has announced he will be staying in state as he chose the USC Trojans as his home for the next four years. James at 260 LBs and 6'4 is more of an agile interior lineman than an aggressor. He is strong for his size but he utilizes his agility and smarts to make a play more than brute strength.

Out east, David Washington (ATH) of Moorefield, WV has announced his decision to head west to Brigham Young. A sign of the times, the West Virginia native had no interest in the college of his home state and spurned geographical preference for an opportunity with the Cougars. Washington projects to be a linebacker or safety at the college level but has played wide out in high school as well.

Akron Zips News

Jawon Chisholm continues to nurse his abdominal tear and is already two weeks behind schedule. He is listed as questionable by Akron, joined by L.T. Smith who is also questionable for a comparable injury. Chisholm's departure has been a major negative for the Zips whose offense has struggled on the ground without their back. Smith has yet to record a statistic yet this season and was injured in practice.

Tyler Kozlov has scheduled several official visits for prospects. Jon Hollis (CB) ***, Peter Wesley (CB) **, Ahmad Watts (OLB) ***, Justin Bullock (WR) ***, Tony Guidry (WR) ***, Damion Bain (HB) ***, Travis Jones (C) ***, Neal Triplett (G) ***, Erik Greene (TE) *** will all be visiting a week from Saturday when the Zips return home to face the Ohio Bobcats!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: The Legacy of Tyler Kozlov

Army/triple option is always tough...I mean, in my dynasty I've gone combined 1-4 against Army and Navy.

Hopefully you can turn that 0-3 around once you get into MAC play. Couple wins in a row and you're right back in the bowl chase.