Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

[Nunyerbiz]

Nunyer's Notes

Finally! my first game against an American Conference opponent where the CPU QB played well! As I mentioned in the game story, they killed me underneath... I was largely playing man coverage early , and my outside corners are pretty good... so they would kill me in the slot. Then I'd try some Cover 3... and they'd kill me in the slot and/or over the middle. They had maybe 3 or 4 passes that went for more than 20 yards... but just kept finding seven yards on 3rd and 6.

On the ground game, I called a lot more traditional option plays and was able to spring some pitches to Kandakai for a few 15-19 yard gains... at the expense of Palinski taking hits and staying in the "blood red" zone for his stamina on the play calling screen... So not sure if that's a recipe for continued success or not... but it was nice to see a YPC average over 3.5.

Overall, a very enjoyable game from the perspective of sitting behind the controller. Never felt comfortable either way... most games you get that gut feeling that it's an easy-ish win so long as you don't piss the bed... or there are those rare games where the CPU can do no wrong... This was neither of those... Right until they batted down my final pass attempt, I was still in it without ever feeling cheated. This might be the most balanced and overall enjoyable game I've played on this thread.

EDIT: I forgot to comment on the 94-yard pick six that I threw...

So it's like 2nd and goal and I'm in a shotgun, my read is to the left where I have Gibbs on a slant and Kubiak on an out. Pre-snap I see a blitz look from the right, I don't bother shifting any protection, mainly because I typically don't do that against the CPU but also because I figure one of those two routes is going to be clean... Well, Gibbs gets hung up momentarily on press coverage but Kubiak is uncovered through his break to the sideline... might not be a touchdown, but it's going to be a race to the pylon... and I hit the wrong button... as I'm rolling slightly to my left... a hilariously bizarre lame duck floats off to the right... CPU guy picks it off and the closest I get is 3-4 yards away from making the tackle as he scores... My first "wrong button" this season and a hall of fame bad interception. I have temporarily stopped recording my game footage as I'm low on storage space, but damn I wished I could have shared that play... it was so horrifically bad that I can't help but want to share it for some laughs... I went into the replay system after the game, but the replay picked up at the 30 yard line long after the pick.

[Nunyerbiz]

[Nunyerbiz]

[Nunyerbiz]

American Conference Standings - Week 8

American - Blue Division Conference Standings - Updated: Oct 17, 2016
TEAM	REC	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	DIV
Niagara	4-2	0.660	4-1	202	204	1-0
Cincinnati	5-1	0.830	2-1	247	164	1-1
UConn	4-2	0.660	2-1	176	151	1-0
Louisville	3-3	0.500	1-2	208	193	0-0
Northwestern	1-5	0.160	1-4	157	206	0-2
Rutgers	1-6	0.140	0-4	152	221	0-0

American - Gray Division Conference Standings - Updated: Oct 17, 2016
TEAM	REC	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	DIV
Vanderbilt	5-3	0.620	5-1	272	203	2-0
Arkansas State	6-1	0.850	4-1	263	168	1-1
Memphis	2-5	0.280	2-2	182	248	1-1
USF	4-2	0.660	1-2	171	114	0-0
UCF	3-3	0.500	1-2	153	167	0-0
Houston	2-5	0.280	1-3	173	250	0-2

Top 25 Poll - Week 8

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Oct 17, 2016
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Ohio State (36)	7	0	1500
2	2	Virginia Tech (21)	7	0	1435
3	3	Ole Miss (2)	7	0	1385
4	4	Miami (1)	7	0	1358
5	6	Clemson (1)	6	0	1271
6	10	Nebraska	7	0	1131
7	8	LSU	6	1	985
8	9	North Carolina	6	1	964
9	15	Oregon	5	1	826
10	12	Florida	5	2	824
11	14	Auburn	5	2	749
12	7	UCLA	4	2	726
13	16	Alabama	6	2	676
14	21	USC	5	2	602
15	18	Michigan	4	2	595
16	13	Navy	6	1	551
17	20	Florida State	5	2	524
18	22	Washington State	5	1	459
19	5	South Carolina	7	1	455
20	11	Michigan State	2	3	396
21	24	Penn State	6	1	386
22	25	Notre Dame	5	3	332
23	19	Georgia Tech	3	3	304
24	17	Cincinnati	5	1	299
25	--	TCU	6	1	275

Others Receiving Votes:
Oklahoma (211), Miss St (173), Colorado (147), Arizona (125), LA Tech (101), Georgia (36), Texas (5), West Virginia (2), UConn (2)

Dropped Out:
Mississippi State (#23)

Around the NCAA

Tumble of the Week: Brought to you by Bounce Dryer Sheets
Previously undefeated and ranked 5th in the country with National Title dreams in their heads, the Gamecocks get throttled at home by the previously winless Tennessee. The Volunteers put up a stellar 2nd half, outscoring SC by a 34-10 margin to take the 55-38 victory. Coming into the game, the Gamecocks had only been giving up 19.5 points per game. The embarrassing defeat sends them tumbling all the way down to 19th in the polls.

Rise of the Week: Brought to you by Cialis
There would have been some kind of joke available had the Gamecocks won the Cialis Rise of the Week, but alas, the honor this week goes to the University of Southern California. The Trojans stumbled early in the PAC-12, losing their first two conference games to Cal and Washington. Since then, they have rattled off three straight victories. The latest catapults them seven spots up the rankings to #14, with an impressive 38-19 win over the previously undefeated Midshipmen of Navy. USC never trailed in the game and held Navy to 100 yards under their season offensive average.

What blackmail ammo does #20 Sparty have?
What the heck does Michigan State have to do to get kicked out of the Top 25? They have started 2-3, with their only wins coming against the powerhouses of Eastern Michigan and Florida Atlantic. In their defense, they've lost to a couple of good teams in #1 Ohio State and #22 Notre Dame... but this latest loss to a middle of the road Wisconsin team should have banished them from the polls.

[Nunyerbiz]

From: Galoshes, Lunar ([email protected])
To: Nonek, Reinhold ([email protected])

Subject: Mid Season Recruiting Update

We all agreed that a big focus this season was going to be recruiting for the trenches, on both sides of the ball. Our efforts are starting to pay dividends, as the first four recruits to commit are all linemen:

John Lopez / T / 3-star (76 OVR)
6'4" / 298 lbs / Centerville, OH

John Hodgsen / G / 3-star (77 OVR)
6'4" / 286 lbs / Halifax, NS

Bryan Landry / DE / 3-star (74 OVR)
6'4" / 245 lbs / Miamisburg, OH

Matthew Vogel / DE / 3-star (74 OVR)
6'3" / 258 lbs / San Leandro, CA

The most promising of this bunch is local boy John Hodgsen, well relatively local as Nova Scotia is like 2,000 kilometers away from Niagara, but you get the idea. John would start right now anywhere on the interior of our offensive line. John Lopez is a bit more of project. While he has the raw size, strength and technique to start right away, he's not in the greatest shape and frequently looks winded in his high school games (64 STA).

The two defensive lineman are solid recruits, but not exactly world-beaters. Matthew Vogel has shown some solid bull rush technique in high school and Bryan Landry is a bit more of finesse guy. With only three defensive ends returning next season, we might not be able to redshirt either of these guys... but both should be decent rotational pieces as true freshman.

The Unexciting Guys
Here's a few depth guys that will likely sign at some point. Nothing too special here, but backups need love too....


Josh Holycross / LB / 3-star
5'11" / 217 lbs / South Gastonia, NC

We are pretty deep at linebacker and should not be losing anybody in the off season, but this kid really wants to be a Rhino. He's not the fastest or the most agile, but he's a solid run-stopping type. Impeccable tackling technique and good hit power for his size. Likely a redshirt, but could develop into a solid contributor down the road.

Randy Cook / TE / 3-star
6'1" / 251 lbs / Walnut Creek, CA

We lose our 3rd string TE to graduation this year and this guy is a replacement 3rd stringer. A well-balanced player, he is good but not great on both the blocking and receiving fronts. After looking like a lock for Niagara, somehow the Crimson Tide have stuck their greedy little noses into things. He visits them in a few weeks and they might just steal him away. If we lose out on him, former walk-on WR Mike Smith could convert to TE. He's a little slow for WR but is 6'3", 220 lbs and has decent run blocking ability for a receiver.

[Deuce2223]

I have a feeling that win over Cincy is going to play a big factor in your ability to win the Blue division. Looks like maybe a possible rematch with Vandy for the Conference title.

Any big time WR's or Athlete on the recruiting boards to come in and help out "The Jet"

Also have you started looking at a possible replacement for Conrad.

[Nunyerbiz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

I have a feeling that win over Cincy is going to play a big factor in your ability to win the Blue division. Looks like maybe a possible rematch with Vandy for the Conference title. Any big time WR's or Athlete on the recruiting boards to come in and help out "The Jet" Also have you started looking at a possible replacement for Conrad.

I don't have anybody on the board who has quite the same ability as Gibbs, who has progressed to 99 SPD / 99 ACC... but there are a few WR candidates that I mentioned in my first recruiting update a page back or so. As far as the next QB, at this point I'm leaning towards Tiki Browning, who is rated as a 3-star athlete, but would probably be a 4/5-star straight QB prospect. Not as fast or elusive as Palinski but good THP/THA for a freshman. Overall, the class is shaping up to be very good as a lot of the guys I targeted in the pre-season have ended up being completely ignored by the CPU teams.

[Nunyerbiz]