The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

[Bigsheen]

Enjoying this so far! I actually went to a college that is in the Presidents Athletic Conference (CMU's real-life D3 conference). I also absolutely love the garbage school buildup project as well. My Penn A&T dynasty writeup was my baby for a bit and while I've gotten away from the writeups, I still play the dynasty and trust me when I say that it's so much fun having success after truly struggling for so long. Having guidelines and following them is absolutely key. It doesn't make the losing by 30 any easier, but you "trust the process" anyway.

I too seem to enjoy playing the older games more and NCAA 07 is an underrated title. I'll definitely be following!

[ThatBritishGuy]

I mean there has to be some positives to take from the game, I thought they would be 50+ easily scored and you managed to score, on Pitt after struggling with other "lesser" teams.

Hard slogging so far, but the growth will be fun when it comes.

[Careless Whisper]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bigsheen

Enjoying this so far! I actually went to a college that is in the Presidents Athletic Conference (CMU's real-life D3 conference). I also absolutely love the garbage school buildup project as well. My Penn A&T dynasty writeup was my baby for a bit and while I've gotten away from the writeups, I still play the dynasty and trust me when I say that it's so much fun having success after truly struggling for so long. Having guidelines and following them is absolutely key. It doesn't make the losing by 30 any easier, but you "trust the process" anyway. I too seem to enjoy playing the older games more and NCAA 07 is an underrated title. I'll definitely be following!

Will definitely check out your Penn A&T writeup when I get a chance! I know the process of building CMU up to be a competitive FBS program will be long and grueling, but I'm excited to see what the finished project will be after 5-10 seasons. I've also always enjoyed the older titles, because it allows me to kind of rewrite history in some aspects.

Thanks for following!

Quote: Originally Posted by ThatBritishGuy

I mean there has to be some positives to take from the game, I thought they would be 50+ easily scored and you managed to score, on Pitt after struggling with other "lesser" teams. Hard slogging so far, but the growth will be fun when it comes.

Definitely happy with not losing by more, but I pretty much ran exclusively Max Zone out of Nickel to avoid giving up a ton of big plays and keep the score relatively manageable. Was happy to get on the board with my backups, and I thought my running game wasn't too bad against Pitt - so something to build on going forward.

Six more games of this until I can get some reinforcements!

[moose141]

Tyler Palko THA GAWD! Haha, love to see some of those old blast from the past names. Hopefully you'll find somewhere to squeeze out one win this season... or if nothing else at least hit double digits in points.

[Careless Whisper]

Quote: Originally Posted by moose141

Tyler Palko THA GAWD! Haha, love to see some of those old blast from the past names. Hopefully you'll find somewhere to squeeze out one win this season... or if nothing else at least hit double digits in points.

Hoping to hit double-digit points first, then maybe a win.

Palko torched me, would have had even bigger numbers if he didn't get too greedy a couple of times. It's a nice blast from the past seeing all these old names!

[Careless Whisper]

Around the NCAA – Week 7 Edition
Gut check time for #16 Iowa (6-1), who heads to #3 Michigan (7-0) this weekend

USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll
1 | Ohio State [35 first-place votes] (7-0)
2 | Oklahoma [24] (6-0)
3 | Michigan [1] (7-0)
4 | Miami (Fla.) [1] (6-0)
5 | LSU (6-1)
6 | Notre Dame (5-1)
7 | USC (5-1)
8 | Nebraska (7-0)
9 | Auburn (6-1)
10 | Texas (5-2)

Biggest Climb | Five moved up two spots
Biggest Drop | Auburn (6-1) – #2 to #9
Newcomers | #25 Georgia Tech (4-2)
Drop Outs | #24 Colorado

Heisman Watch
Zac Taylor, Sr., QB, Nebraska | 157.9 QB rtg., 155-238, 1,710 yards, 28 TD (1 rush), 6 INT
Jarrett Hicks, R-Sr., WR, Texas Tech | 72 catches, 1,019 yards, 10 TD
Kenny Irons, Sr., HB, Auburn | 167 carries, 1,073 yards, 12 TD; 13 catches, 240 yards, 2 TD
Troy Smith, R-Sr., QB, Ohio State | 161.2 QB rtg., 96-150, 1,053 yards, 20 TD (2 rush), 1 INT
Kenneth Darby, R-Sr., HB, Alabama | 162 carries, 1,092 yards, 10 TD; 14 catches, 221 yards, 3 TD

NCAA Players of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola
Offensive: P.J. Hill, R-Fr., HB, Wisconsin | 26 carries, 231 yards, 3 TD; 3 catches, 49 yards, 1 TD in 31-25 win vs. Minnesota
Defensive: Marcus Freeman, Jr., OLB, Ohio State | 10 tackles (4 TFL), 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 TD in 28-10 win at Michigan State

Injury Report
Lorenzo Booker, R-Sr., HB, Florida State | Broken hands (3 weeks)
Vincent Marshall, R-Sr., WR, Houston | Torn shoulder muscle (9 weeks)
Andre Fluellen, R-Jr., DT, Florida State | Hip fracture (season)

Notable Top 25 Scores
#14 Virginia Tech 40, Boston College 14
#12 Clemson 30, Central Florida 17
#15 Florida 21, #9 Auburn 10
#3 Michigan 49, #24 Penn State 28
#7 USC 31, #19 Arizona State 24
#8 Nebraska 42, Kansas State 27
#2 Oklahoma 27, Iowa State 9
#1 Ohio State 28, Michigan State 10
#23 Texas Tech 42, Colorado 31

Week 8 National Broadcasts
#20 Alabama (6-1) at Tennessee (3-3)
Colorado (5-2) at #2 Oklahoma (6-0)
UCLA (3-3) at #6 Notre Dame (5-1)
#16 Iowa (6-1) at #3 Michigan (7-0) – Game of the Week
#21 Texas A&M (7-0) at Oklahoma State (5-1)
#10 Texas (5-2) at #8 Nebraska (7-0)
Boston College (3-3) at Florida State (3-3)
#25 Georgia Tech (4-2) at #12 Clemson (7-0)

[Careless Whisper]

by Jeff Greenberg, Carnegie Mellon insider for Rivals.com

Bobby Smith returns against Harvard

Junior middle linebacker Bobby Smith has fully recovered from his foot stress fracture and will be in the starting lineup for CMU on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Harvard.

Smith suffered the injury in the season opener at Youngstown State, going down on a tackle in the second quarter. He was replaced by classmate Will Reid, who will see snaps on 3-4 and Nickel sets as head coach John Elliott eases Smith back into the fold.

Alex Smith to make first collegiate start

In the seemingly endless quarterback shuffle of this season, the Tartans will start their third different quarterback on Saturday against Harvard with true freshman Alex Smith getting the nod, Tartan Tidbits understands.

Smith will replace redshirt senior Andre Miller, who threw three interceptions at Pitt after he replaced David Ford, a starter of one game after replacing Miller. The first-year signal-caller made his collegiate debut against the Panthers last Thursday night, missing on his only pass attempt.

[ThatBritishGuy]

We are ALL rooting for you Alex Smith, either to do really really well or just to survive and no go and cry in a corner after the game due to several interceptions/concussion or both!!