Duke Blue Devils (NCAA Football 06)

[superjames1992]

This football season I've decided to go back to NCAA Football 06 to get my football fix. The game isn't perfect and has its issues, but it's a fun game to play and I also enjoy the menus/soundtrack, which is a nice plus.

I've managed to find some sliders that tone down some of the ease of the deep ball. I wish I could do the same to neuter impact players, but you can't win 'em all!

I'll be running with the Duke Blue Devils for this one. I picked them because they are the worst team in a BCS conference (rated C across the board), and have a two-star prestige. As a bonus, though I am not a Duke fan, I now live in Durham within 10 minutes of Duke's campus, as well!

I've turned off coach contracts as I expect this to be a difficult rebuild with the sliders I'm using, and I don't want to get fired early on because of unrealistic expectations from the game.

Stylistically, this will be very similar to my recent football dynasties (such as my WVU dynasty with NCAA Football 2004 last year). It will be a minimalist style without graphics, as I'm not generally a big graphics guy and I like going with this style for older games, as it's appropriate for the times!

We'll be starting in the 2005 season. I've renamed Duke's roster as best as I was able to. It's not perfect, but it should be mostly accurate. The rest of the teams are autonamed, with some exceptions. For example, I generally manually entered the correct names for the top quarterbacks, running backs, etc. (Troy Smith, Mike Hart, Chris Leak, Tyler Palko, Matt Leinart, etc.), as well as the top backfield guys in the ACC (Leon Washington, Marcus Vick, etc.). So the guys at the top of the Heisman Watch list should mostly have the correct names.

[superjames1992]

Reserved for sliders/settings.

[superjames1992]

Reserved for yearly recaps.

[superjames1992]

Reserved for miscellaneous.

[superjames1992]

2005 Duke Blue Devils Roster



(Number / Name / Rating / Height / Weight / Class)

(Redshirted players are shaded red)

OFFENSE

QB
7 Mike Schneider (82) 6'2, 215, Jr (IP)
10 Gene Delle Donne (68) 6'5, 222, Fr
6 Marcus Jones (68) 6'5, 218, Fr
12 Curt Dukes (62) 6'1, 215, RJr
88 Kevin Cronin (52) 6'0, 170, Jr

HB
33 Cedric Dargan (82) 6'0, 200, RSr
20 Justin Boyle (76) 6'1, 220, So
40 Ronnie Drummer (72) 5'9, 165, So
35 Tim Ball (70) 6'1, 205, So

FB
22 Malcolm Ruff (80) 6'0, 250, Sr
31 Mike Dowling (68) 6'1, 245, RJr
45 Beau Tooley (56) 6'0, 215, RJr

Backfield Notes: We actually have a pretty good backfield. The problem is going to be who is Mike Schneider going to throw it to and who is going to block so these guys can actually play to their skill levels? With the weakness of the offensive line, that is going to be a huge issue. We also have no depth at quarterback, so if Schneider goes down we'll be in huge trouble.

WR
28 Ronnie Elliott (78) 5'10, 185, Sr
81 Jomar Wright (76) 6'1, 180, So
9 Deon Adams (74) 6'1, 190, Jr
1 Jabari Marshall (72) 6'2, 180, So
2 Ryan Wood (68) 6'2, 210, So
8 Marvin Marcelin (59) 5'9, 195, RSr

TE
83 Norman Gee (84) 6'4, 260, RJr
89 Andy Roland (72) 6'4, 235, RSr
80 Nick Stefanow (59) 6'4, 230, RSo

Receivers Notes: Our wide receivers are competent, but no one is particularly good. Norman Gee is a good tight end, but he won't get very much use with the air raid offense I'm installing.

T
75 Lavrim Bauta (74) 6'5, 290, RJr
79 Demetrius (68) 6'7, 300, RSr
61 Rob Schirmann (65) 6'5, 265, So
76 Zach Maurides (56) 6'6, 275, RSo
71 Danny Bowling (56) 6'7, 245, Jr

G
66 Tyler Krieg (82) 6'4, 300, Jr
67 Matt Golden (68) 6'3, 285, Jr
72 Garrett Mason (59) 6'5, 290, RSo
74 Cameron Goldberg (56) 6'6, 250, RFr
60 Jonathan James (56) 6'3, 315, RFr

C
68 Matt Rumsey (68) 6'4, 275, So
53 Paul Campitelli (62) 6'3, 265, Jr
63 Andrew Guidry (56) 5'11, 255, Sr

Offensive Line Notes: Tyler Krieg is decent, but aside from him this unit is really bad. As I stated above in the Backfield Notes, this unit is going to pose problems for us, and we also have no depth here, so if someone goes down we're going to be in trouble.

DEFENSE

DE
48 Phillip Alexander (86) 6'4, 255, Sr (IP)
52 Eli Nichols (82) 6'4, 250, RJr
91 Ayanga Okpoko (74), 6'4, 240, Fr
97 Clifford Respress (72) 6'4, 241, Fr
41 Justin Kitchen (68) 6'4, 235, Sr
92 William Kimmett (65) 6'5, 215, Jr

DT
51 Casey Camero (78) 6'5, 265, Jr
77 Vince Oghobaase (70) 6'6, 295, Fr
93 Brian Sallee (62) 6'4, 250, RJr
62 Joel East (56) 6'3, 260, RJr

Defensive Line Notes:We have a good pair of defensive ends in Phillip Alexander and Eli Nichols. This unit is the strength of the defense, and we should be able to get some decent pressure on opposing quarterbacks with this group.

OLB
30 Brendan Dewan (80) 6'1, 205, RSr
29 Deandre White (74) 6'0, 210, Sr
46 Paul Thornton (68) 6'3, 210, Fr
84 Patrick Bailey (68) 6'4, 240, So
36 Brandon Tapps (62) 5'11, 200, RSo

MLB
58 Codey Lowe (68) 6'2, 230, RJr
47 Zach Smith (56) 5'11, 210, So

Linebackers Notes: Our linebacking corps, particularly in the middle, leaves a lot to be desired. Brendan Dewan is pretty solid, but aside from him we're weak here. We're also slow.

CB
11 John Talley (86) 5'11, 180, Jr (IP)
10 Deonto McCormick (74) 5'10, 180, Jr
39 Adrian Aye-Darko (70) 5'11, 170, So
3 Jabari Marshall (68) 5'9, 185, Fr
37 Rodney Ezzard (68) 5'10, 180, So
38 Evalio Harrell (65) 5'9, 165, So

FS
23 Brian Greene (70) 6'1, 190, RSr
5 C.J. Woodard (65) 6'0, 190, Sr

SS
44 Matt Rising (72) 6'2, 190, So
27 Chris Davis (65) 6'0, 175, So

Secondary Notes: John Talley is good, but aside from him our secondary lacks much talent, especially at safety. We're also pretty slow across the board here, so if we allow opposing offensive players to get behind us, they'll be off to the races for long touchdowns.

SPECIALISTS

K
34 Greg Myers (68) 6'0, 200, RSo
26 Joe Surgan (68) 6'4, 200, Fr

P
74 Chris Sprague (74) 6'1, 180, RSr

Specialists Notes: Special teams is also not a bright spot for this team. We're going to surrender points on special teams this year.

[superjames1992]

2005 Preseason Outlook

Top 25
1. USC (34)
2. Tennessee (21)
3. Iowa (2)
4. Oklahoma (3)
5. Florida State (1)
6. Texas
7. Michigan
8. Louisville
9. LSU
10. Virginia Tech
11. Miami
12. Ohio State
13. Florida
14. Georgia
15. Purdue
16. Alabama
17. Boston College
18. Boise State
19. Arizona State
20. Auburn
21. Texas Tech
22. Virginia
23. Pittsburgh
24. UTEP
25. Georgia Tech

Heisman Watch
1. Matt Leinart, QB, USC
2. Adrian Peterson, HB, Oklahoma
3. Reggie Bush, HB, USC
4. Vince Young, QB, Texas
5. Ted Ginn Jr., WR, Ohio State

ACC Preview
Atlantic Division
1. #5 Florida State
2. #17 Boston College
3. NC State
4. Clemson
5. Maryland
6. Wake Forest

Coastal Division
1. #10 Virginia Tech
2. #11 Miami
3. #22 Virginia
4. #25 Georgia Tech
5. North Carolina
6. Duke

Season Schedule
9/3 - at ECU
9/10 - #10 Virginia Tech
9/17 - VMI
9/24 - at #22 Virginia
10/1 - Navy
10/9 - at #11 Miami
10/15 - #25 Georgia Tech
10/22 - #5 Florida State
10/29 - Wake Forest
11/5 - at Clemson
11/19 - at North Carolina

Projected Record: 2-9 (0-8 ACC)

[johnstone1987]

Hope we can post, this looks great. I love old school franchises like this. Are you on the PS2 for this?

[nofx94]

I was going to say they have named rosters on GameFAQs but you seem to be all set.

I think I'm gonna try and follow this.

Definitely think the air raid is a smart idea. Try to sub the TE into the slot through packages or subs or the depth chart.

My first thought, before you even said it, was how talented your backfield was