Nostalgia Strikes: Heart Of The South | Mid Tenn State Football ('06)

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NCAA Off Season August 28, 2005 College football season outlook USC sits atop the preseason polls at #1 as defending champs with droves of talent pouring in. Defending the gold The USC Trojans and Matt Leinart are back at it again as the favorites to repeat as National Champions and are expected keep the Heisman trophy in Los Angeles. Both Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush are the preseason front-runner and runner-up Heisman candidates - and rightfully so. Leinart, the 2004 Heisman award winner, tossed the pigskin for over 3,300 yards to go with 33 touchdowns to just six picks en route to a National Championship win. His running mate, Bush, gained over 1,400 yards from scrimmage to account for 13 scores plus one through the air on a pass play. Reggie Bush showed explosiveness as a sophomore and is expected to break out with an even more electrifying season in 2005. Along with the top two preseason favorites to win the Heisman, the Trojans landed the top recruiting class in the country. A few five-star prospects in QB Mark Sanchez, WR Patrick Turner, and LB Rey Maualuga – paired with four-star defenders in LB Brian Cushing and DB Will Harris sets this team up to compete for a very long time. Young and hungry The Texas Longhorns come into the season feeling good after going 11-1 on the year and a Rose Bowl victory over the Michigan Wolverines. At the helm is Vince Young who provides size, arm strength, and the mobility to elude defenders – although rarely will because more often than not will just run through them. A solid recruiting class brings in QB Colt McCoy, TE Jermichael Finley, and RB Jamaal Charles. No five-star recruits, but good enough for 20th best in the nation. Looking for redemption Oklahoma got smashed by USC in the National Championship game last year, losing their undefeated season in the process. The Sooner to watch this year is going to be sophomore tailback, Adrian Peterson. Peterson led the way last season with 15 rushing touchdowns and fell just shy of 2,000 rushing yards. Possible Heisman candidates Besides the aforementioned players above, there are a few more who can contend as a Heisman candidate. QB Omar Jacobs, Bowling Green QB Brad Smith, Missouri QB Brady Quinn, Notre Dame HB DeAngelo Williams, Memphis HB Laurence Maroney, Minnesota HB Marshawn Lynch, California WR Dwayne Jarrett, USC WR Santonio Holmes, Ohio State WR Dwayne Bowe, LSU Finally... Preseason Top 25 of 2005 1. Southern California Trojans 2. Tennessee Volunteers 3. Iowa Hawkeyes 4. Oklahoma Sooners 5. Florida State Seminoles 6. Texas Longhorns 7. Michigan Wolverines 8. Louisville Cardinals 9. Louisiana State Tigers 10. Virginia Tech Hokies 11. Miami Hurricanes 12. Ohio State Buckeyes 13. Florida Gators 14. Georgia Bulldogs 15. Purdue Boilermakers 16. Alabama Crimson Tide 17. Boston College Golden Eagles 18. Boise State Broncos 19. Arizona State Sun Devils 20. Auburn Tigers 21. Texas Tech Red Raiders 22. Virginia Cavaliers 23. Pittsburgh Panthers 24. UTEP Miners 25. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

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Quote: Originally Posted by thesportsguru11

Hope I'm good to post... I sincerely hope you go deep into this dynasty. I recently dug out my copy of NCAA '06 and continued hand-naming my rosters as I don't have a max drive or anything like that and lost my original roster file from long ago. About halfway done, and I'm hoping to binge and finish before I go back to school in two weeks. Who knows, I might start a dynasty myself once I refine the rosters and re-rate guys a bit. Anywho, I too get nostalgia seeing some of these former college stars who were big when I first started getting obsessed with the sport like AP, Bush, Leinart, Quinn, DMC, etc. Good times indeed.... So good luck. Banner looks nice and I love the real recruits idea.

Props for the dedication of manually naming these rosters, it's a royal pain. But just skimming through these rosters and seeing some of the names is very nostalgic. This game is probably my favorite college football game. It's just so much fun and the gameplay mechanics are sound.

Although like you, I just started really getting into the sport around that time as well. So that brings back childhood memories. Thanks for checking in guru!

Quote: Originally Posted by Cheese2121

Love that you are using '06. Like guru, I hope this dynasty goes for a long time. Layouts look really clean and nice. I will definitely be following along.

Thank you cheese! Appreciate you stopping by. I love this game, I wish someone had roster files from each year like the Madden 08 PC or NFL 2k5 communities.

I'm going to get the first game preview up as well as the first game tonight!

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Week 2: Rolling with the Tide Middle Tennessee State (0-0) @ #16 Alabama (0-0) TUSCALOOSA, AL. — The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State travel to the land of Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide. Blue Raiders new head coach, Frank Wycheck, will be thrown straight to the wolves. It doesn't get much harder than opening up on the road against the #16 team in the nation, Alabama. Coach Wycheck and the Blue Raiders have their work cut out for them in this one. "This will be our toughest test of the season, so it'll nice to get it out of the way", said Wycheck. Corso's Pick: Not much to say about this game – the Tide should roll right through the Blue Raiders and start off the season 1-0. Give me Bama 35, Mid Tenn State 7. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders IMPACT PLAYERS HB Eugene Gross (85 Ovr) QB Clint Marks (82 Ovr) DT Jeff Littlejohn (85 Ovr) Injury Report: None #16 Alabama Crimson Tide IMPACT PLAYERS QB Brodie Croyle (89 Ovr) HB Kenneth Darby (87 Ovr) LB DeMeco Ryans (93 Ovr) Injury Report: None

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Roll Tide Middle Tennessee State (0-1) @ #16 Alabama (1-0) TUSCALOOSA, AL. — It wasn't until about two minutes left in the first quarter that we heard the fat lady start belting away. But up until then, the game was all squared away. The Blue Raiders received the opening kickoff and the 2005 season was underway. A couple of hard runs by Eugene Gross moved the chains, but after a short gain on the ground and two misfires from Clint Marks, Mid Tenn State would find themselves punting the ball away. The Crimson Tide were unable to break lose from a stifling Blue Raider front seven, however, after a couple drives were able to punch it in to land themselves the lead. Kenneth Darby wrestled his way through the goal line to cap off a ten-play 78 yard drive and the Tide never looked back. For Mid Tenn State, quarterback Clint Marks failed to complete a pass in the first quarter. After seven attempts, he finally connected one in the second quarter, but it would be too late as the Crimson Tide had all the momentum needed to roll their way to victory. Catching up with the coach of the Blue Raiders after the game, Frank Wycheck has this to say, "It was a hard challenge, but we knew that coming in. Now we just move on to North Texas next week". Middle Tennessee State go up against the North Texas Mean Green next week in their first Sun Belt conference match up of the year. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders QB Clint Marks: 9-22, 115 Yds, 1 Int HB Eugene Gross: 16 Car, 37 Yds, 1 TD WR Chris Henry: 3 Rec, 70 Yds LB Jonathan Bonner: 8 Tkl, 3 TFL, 1 Sack FS Jeremiah Weaver: 3 Tkl, 1 Int TD (53 Yds) Injury Report: None #16 Alabama Crimson Tide QB Brodie Croyle: 9-18, 208 Yds, 4 TD, 1 Int HB Kenneth Darby: 28 Car, 128 Yds, 2 TD WR Tyrone Prothro: 2 Rec, 78 Yds, 2 TD FB Tim Castille: 2 Rec, 62 Yds, 1 TD SS Charlie Peprah: 2 Tkl, 1 Int Injury Report: None

[Cheese2121]

Tough loss against Alabama but as you eluded to also very much expected. Some day you will be competing with teams like that. Should be a much more competitive game with North Texas in the next week. Great layout!

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Quote: Originally Posted by Cheese2121

Tough loss against Alabama but as you eluded to also very much expected. Some day you will be competing with teams like that. Should be a much more competitive game with North Texas in the next week. Great layout!

Thanks cheese. I can't wait to build this team up. My offense is just flat out awful. A couple surprises in the next couple updates, nothing huge, but still. Thanks for the kind words!

Going to get an update or two in today.

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Week 3: The sun is bound to shine North Texas (0-1) @ Middle Tennessee State (0-1) MURFREESBORO, TN. — For these two Sun Belt teams, one of them will walk out of Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium with their first win. North Texas fell to the #9 Tigers of LSU last week in similar fashion to the 48-14 shellacking Mid Tenn State received from the Alabama Crimson Tide. The difference? The Mean Green showed a bit of life on the offensive side of the ball. Mean Green tailback, Jamario Thomas, collected 134 yards on the ground against one of the nation's top powerhouses. This compares to the absolutely horrendous display of offense – or lack thereof, shown by Middle Tennessee State. The lefty slinging quarterback, Clint Marks, has to have a better game this week than he had a week ago. A little consistency, a couple more first downs, and a bit more time with the ball can do wonders for this Blue Raiders offense. But that's a lot of "if's". *Side note: MTSU DE Erik Walden will be inactive for the first quarter due to an academic violation. Corso's Pick: I think this one goes down to the wire. A good offense against a good defense is the classic battle, and to top it off, this one is a conference match up. Give me Mid Tenn State 24, North Texas 17. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Last Game: L, 48-14 @ #16 Alabama Points/Game (Rk.): 14.0 (97) Total Offense (Rk.): 148.0 (106) Rush Offense (Rk.): 33.0 (103) Pass Offense (Rk.): 115.0 (103) Total Defense (Rk.): 408.0 (72) Turnover Diff. (Rk.): 0.00 (47) TEAM LEADERS QB C.Marks: 9-22, 115 Yds, 0 TD, 1 Int HB E.Gross: 16 Car, 37 Yds, 2.3 Avg, 1 TD, 37.0 Y/G WR C.Henry: 3 Rec, 70 Yds, 23.3 Avg, 0 TD, 70.0 Y/G Injury Report: None North Texas Mean Green Last Game: L, 49-17 @ #9 LSU Points/Game (Rk.): 17.0 (92) Total Offense (Rk.): 300.0 (86) Rush Offense (Rk.): 169.0 (25) Pass Offense (Rk.): 131.0 (102) Total Defense (Rk.): 574.0 (107) Turnover Diff. (Rk.): -1.00 (66) TEAM LEADERS QB J.Byerly: 17-30, 127 Yds, 1 TD, 1 Int HB J.Thomas: 27 Car, 134 Yds, 5.0 Avg, 1 TD, 134.0 Y/G WR B.Jackson: 4 Rec, 43 Yds, 10.8 Avg, 0 TD, 43.0 Y/G Injury Report: DT S.Pruitt

[Cheese2121]

Should be a very even matchup with North Texas and a good measuring stick of where your program really is. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out!