Climbing The Ladder : Coach Rousseau's Career (NCAAF 14)

[el_rousso]

Big XII officially offers BYU, issues expansion schedule

Obviously, the coming of the College Football Playoffs and the recent decision by the NCAA to keep the status quo on conference championship games has led the Big XII to officially award an invitation to BYU to join the conference. "BYU offers us a big following, deep history and prestige, and we can offer them a clearer, albeit tougher, path to a potential National Championship game," Big XII officials stated. "It is a win-win situation for both our conference and BYU." With this move, and the fact that Cincinnati is also coming to the Big XII, the conference will now have 12 members, and will be able to schedule a conference championship game, the lack of which would have hampered the conference's chance for a spot in the playoff picture.

That said, it was also announced that both teams would be playing a conference schedule as soon as 2018, a decision which is not really surprising considering the NCAA move to a playoff system. "We want to be competitive in the new championship format of the NCAA, and moving to 12 teams this early is the way to do it." We have not officially heard from either Cincinnati's or BYU's officials on this matter as of yet, but it has been said that a move to their new conference in 2018 would not be problematic. The Cincinnati move, however, raises some interrogations as to how the American Athletic Conference will react, as far as inviting teams or dropping to eleven members, canceling its own championship game in the process. Stating the fact may pretty much be answering it, so we would expect the AAC to move, perhaps sooner than later.

The other question now is : How will the teams in the Big XII be split up ? The current lineup of schools isn't really suited for any easy configuration, so just as West Virginia feels awkward to the whole Big XII right now, pretty much any divisional configuration will have one or more schools that will seem out of place, providing they try to keep rivalries as much as possible. Splitting the Oklahoma schools is likely out of the question, as is doing the same to the Kansas schools. Dividing the conference North and South along the Oklahoma-Kansas border would be feasible, but it would bring up two clear issues : the South division will easily be the more powerful one, and the North division will be tougher on traveling costs, with the two opposites (WV and BYU) playing year-in year-out against each other. Still, it would be the only one keeping the correct rivalries alive.

Proposed North : BYU, Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Cincinnati, West Virginia
Proposed South : Texas Tech, TCU, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

[bdiddy]

Recruit Name : Lorenzo Johnson
Height / Weight : 6'2" 205lbs.
City / State : Lakeland, FL
Position : SS
Tendency : Hard Hitter
Best Stat : Hit Power
Worst Stat : Man Coverage
Skin Color : Dark

Lorenzo is a quiet kid with a a mean streak. He became notorious in the state for his vicious hits after knocking 3 opposing players out of a game and to the hospital during his junior year. Led his league in forced fumbles his senior year. Wasn't ranked very high due to his lack of coverage skills, especially man to man coverage.

[el_rousso]

Quote: Originally Posted by bdiddy

Recruit Name : Lorenzo Johnson

Thanks bdiddy, I'll be sure to add him to the list for next season !

[el_rousso]

27 - 52

2nd quarter proves too much for Herd, Owls win big

BOCA RATON -- Outscored 28-7 in the second quarter alone, the Herd never were a threat to the Owls for the rest of the game, as FAU recorded their 8th win of the season over the 3-6 (3-2) Thundering Herd. HBs Jay Warren and Rob Wilkinson both scored two touchdowns each, and even 4 TD passes by Marshall QB Kevin Anderson were not enough to stop FAU from pulling the game out of their reach.

After a first quarter that ended up squared, the Owls put their foot on the floor, scoring three times in quick succession through WR Kalib Woods, HB Wilkinson and a rush by QB Greg Hankerson. That put the game away for the Owls, giving them a solid lead early in the game, A TD pass from Anderson to WR Dustin Purcell was the best effort from the Herd during this first half, but it was swiftly cancelled by WR Corey Bush's TD reception just before halftime.

Leading 35-14 at the start of the second half, the Owls started to play a little more defensively, stopping every Marshall drive short, while K Jeremy Carter added 3 points to the score midway through the 3rd quarter. A comeback led by Kevin Anderson fell much too short in the 4th quarter, and both Warren and Wilkinson scored their second TD of the game to confirm the win for FAU.

FS Courtney Givens came up with the sole turnover of the game, as he picked off a pass from Anderson in the third quarter, but FAU wasn't able to capitalize on this. Most notably, both Warren and Wilkinson rushed for over 100 yards with two touchdowns each, something we were not accustomed to see since the last games. The Owls will travel to face UAB (3-7, 3-3 C-USA) next week, in their first rematch since the Dragons are back from their hiatus. They are fielding a good team in the conference this season, but nothing impossible to overcome.

Marshall Thundering Herd at Florida Atlantic Owls
Nov 9, 2017	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Marshall Thundering Herd (3-6 (3-2))	7	7	0	13	27
Florida Atlantic Owls (7-2 (3-6))	7	28	3	14	52

Team Stats Comparison
	MRSH	FAU
Total Offense	330	547
Rushing Yards	22	414
Passing Yards	308	133
First Downs	14	30
Punt Return Yards	7	24
Kick Return Yards	193	40
Total Yards	530	611
Turnovers	1	0
3rd Down Conversion	4/11	7/11
4th Down Conversion	1/1	0/0
2-Point Conversion	2	1 / 1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2/0	6/1
Penalties	3-40	6/11
Possession Time	16:55	33"19.55

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	FAU
	(FAU) J.Warren, 3yd TD run (XP)	0	7
	(MRSH) B.Byrd, 8yd TD pass from K.Anderson (XP)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	FAU
	(FAU) K.Woods, 9yd TD pass from G.Hankerson (XP)	7	14
	(FAU) R.Wilkinson, 11yd TD run (XP)	7	21
	(FAU) G.Hankerson, 4yd TD run (XP)	7	28
	(MRSH) D.Purcell, 28yd TD pass from K.Anderson (XP)	14	28
	(FAU) C.Bush, 11yd TD pass from G.Hankerson (XP)	14	35
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	FAU
	(FAU) J.Carter, 20yd FG	14	38
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	FAU
	(FAU) J.Warren, 27yd TD run (XP)	14	45
	(MRSH) K.Powell, 28yd TD pass from K.Anderson (XP)	21	45
	(MRSH) D.Purcell, 0yd TD pass from K.Anderson	27	45
	(FAU) R.Wilkinson, 3yd TD run (XP)	27	52

Marshall Thundering Herd PASSING C/A YDS TD INT K.Anderson 20/39 308 4 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD B.Byrd 9 22 2.4 0 K.Anderson 3 0 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD S.Pitts 4 85 21.3 0 D.Purcell 6 75 12.5 2 B.Byrd 4 43 10.8 1 K.Powell 2 36 18.0 1 J.Hunt 1 22 22.0 0 O.Love 1 20 20.0 0 E.Williams 1 14 14.0 0 J.Barrett 1 13 13.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD A.Ham 9 0 0 0 D.Edwards 9 0 0 0 J.Ramsey 9 1 0 0 B.Oliver 7 0 0 0 C.Wilson 6 0 0 0

Florida Atlantic Owls PASSING C/A YDS TD INT G.Hankerson 12/16 133 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD J.Warren 37 268 7.2 2 R.Wilkinson 17 105 6.2 2 G.Hankerson 7 41 5.9 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD R.Yates 5 69 13.8 0 C.Bush 2 19 9.5 1 A****ffin 2 16 8.0 0 J.O'Neill 1 15 15.0 0 K.Woods 1 9 9.0 1 S.Vereen 1 5 5.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD R.Relf 7 1 0 0 J.Lowe 6 0 0 0 A.Downs 5 0 0 0 C.Holt 5 1 0 0 C.Givens 1 0 1 0