Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

[WaitTilNextYear]

2018bowl: California @ Wyoming

Wyoming quarterback Nick Smith and running back Milo Hall celebrate their first bowl win.

WHITNEY, Nev. -- Let's go Bohling. Wyoming's outstanding season just keeps getting better. Undefeated in conference play, ranked, and now with a bowl win over a P5 team. Coach Bohl has set all kinds of milestones this season. Fitting for it to be capped with a bowl win and a COY award.

It was certainly a hard fought Las Vegas Bowl. Cal jumped all over Wyoming in the 1st quarter to take a 14-0 lead after TD passes at the 6:52 mark and the 4:01 mark. The Golden Bears had the hurry up air raid offense in full force and that awful mascot was doing plenty of break dancing on the sideline. Cal quarterback Chase Forrest was a one man army. He completed 35/44 for 403 yards with three TDs and an INT (174.4 QB rating). Perhaps even more impressive, was the Golden Bears doing all that damage with their star WR Demetris Robertson out with a strained back. Melquise Stovall was the favorite target; he hauled in 11 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Kanawai Noa and Brandon Singleton also made TD grabs. The Cal run game was mostly a hypothetical.

As tends to happen in big games, Wyoming's quarterback Nick Smith started slow. He badly missed on his first three passes and started 1/8 before rounding into form. In his last collegiate game, Smith went 28/40 for 271 yards (126.9 QB rating). Smith also rushed 13 times (a season high) for 59 yards (4.5 YPC) and a pair of TDs. It was Smith's read option game that started to crack Cal's defense open just a bit in the 2nd quarter.

Nico Evans also capped off his Wyoming career in a blaze of glory, extending his 100-yard rushing streak to 14 games. Evans carried 22 times for 111 yards (5.0 YPC) and no scores, but set a single season school rushing record. Move over Brian Hill. Evans is the new head Poke and the new mark is 1873 yards.

Some games can be defined with a single play and this was one of those games. With Cal shredding Wyoming's defense, and threatening to put the Pokes out of their misery early, senior SS Marcus Epps was able to pick Cal off in the endzone. Epps has been invisible at times in the secondary, but seems to have a knack for making interceptions at the right time. Without that play, Cal most likely buries Wyoming before they make a game of it. As it turned out, Wyoming had just enough time and firepower to come all the way back, scoring a game-tying TD with 3:56 left and then a game-winning FG as time ran out.

Perhaps the highlight of the game was seeing that Cal has a fullback named Malik McMorris. McMorris runs about 5'11" and 315 lbs. Not that Cal uses a FB anyway, but this McDonalds guy might be pretty good.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Unreal finish to your regular season! Talk about getting a head of steam and not letting up. Congrats on the championship! Looks like that offense found a solid balance and no one could stop you once they got going. Excited to see if you can continue turning the corner next season.

Saw that Auburn was #3 but 13-0 after the conference win. Will you have a playoff going? Or using the good ol fashioned BCS?

Good ole fashioned BCS. Part is me being too lazy to mod it and part is I don't mind seeing teams get screwed over, lol.

There were 3 P5 undefeateds this season. Auburn vaulted another team after winning the SECCG. Another blue blood program got royally screwed as a result. Of course it's Auburn involved in a 3-way scenario.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Season Wrap Part 1: Rankings and Stuff

We'll do this end of season stuff in 3 parts--this is part 1. How did everything work out? Who won it all? Which teams are conspicuously absent from the Top 25 and what did Texas do to anger the BCS gods?

Next up will be offseason part 2 of 3--an awards and stats gala! And then we'll take a closer look at Wyoming a bit more specifically to close out offseason business.

And that's a split national title, folks. Entering conference championship week the top 3 teams were:

1. Notre Dame (12-0)
2. Texas (12-0)
3. Auburn (12-0)

Both Notre Dame and Texas were idle, but Auburn put a whoopin' on Tennessee and the BCS had a change of heart:

1. Notre Dame (12-0)
2. Auburn (13-0)
3. Texas (12-0)

Nobody questioned Notre Dame's inclusion--led by DeShone Kizer, they were beating people by an average of 30 points despite their usual loaded schedule. However, the Texas/Auburn decision simply came down to the conference championship. Both teams were deserving, but there was only one spot to be had. Call it the Revenge of Cadillac Williams if you must. Or maybe the Curse of Ronnie Brown.

At minimum, one would expect the state of Texas to start secession proceedings. :/

[WaitTilNextYear]

Season Wrap Part 2: WYO

After going 4-8 in 2016 (simmed) and then 5-7 in 2017, 12-2 with a conference title in 2018 was basically a miracle.

Outside of an early season ****canning at the hands of Drew Lock and Mizzou in Columbia and a close loss at Texas State, Wyoming was a force of nature. Their default setting was to run the ball down most teams' throats. As the season went on, the passing game found its stride as well. Their health stayed reasonably good, also. Wyoming relied on the same combination of offensive linemen in all 14 games. The starting QB and HB played in all 14 games. The only injuries of any significance were to All-NCAA linebacker Logan Wilson and slot/return man Austin Conway--both missed a handful of games with nagging injuries.

These Cowboys were one of the more experienced teams around. Every single starter on both sides of the ball had at least junior status. The starting quarterback and backup were both redshirt seniors. 60% of the offensive line were seniors or redshirt seniors. 75% of the defensive line and 100% of the secondary were seniors or redshirt seniors. Only the punter was an underclassman. That worked out great for 2018 as the team won several close games (23-22 @ Idaho, 35-34 vs UNLV, 21-14 @ Boise State, 30-28 vs Nevada, 30-27 vs Cal) likely as a result of their depth of experience. It'll really sting losing that many players at the same time to graduation, however.

Wyoming accomplished many "firsts" in this dynasty. Craig Bohl deservingly won Coach of the Year for the first time as a result of this turnaround job. The Pokes beat their first Power 5 conference opponent and won their first bowl game under Bohl all in a single swoop by beating Cal in the Las Vegas bowl. Wyoming also became ranked and beat a ranked team for the first time after their 31-21 road defeat of #24 Air Force. Cracking into the rankings at #22, they finished out the year ranked #18--third highest of any Group of 5 conference team.

It was scrumtrulescent. It was a cromulent experience. But will it be as cromulent or scrumptrulescent again in 2019?

Entering the 2018 season, both Josh Allen (rSR) and Nick Smith (rSR) were in a depth chart dogfight. Smith ultimately prevailed and the issue never resurfaced. No other QB even threw a pass in 2018. Durable and with increased ball security, Smith provided steady QB play as a change up to the dominant Wyoming run game. A 63% completion rate, 19 TDs vs 11 INTs, and a rating of 123.5 is the definition of workmanlike. Wyoming would be elated to get QB play like this next season from a new starter. And that new starter will most likely be throw god and rising sophomore Chandler Garrett. Or, the new starter might be incoming true freshman ATH/QB Ross Johnson--he's a certified beast.

The run game was the lifeblood of the 2018 Wyoming Cowboys. They played keep away. They pounded out 10-15 play drives that went 70-80 yards. They adopted 3rd and short as their religion. They demoralized and defeated the opposing team mentally.

Chief among Wyoming's stable of backs was Nico Evans. Evans came out of nowhere--he was the backup in 2017--and exploded onto the scene. Evans set a new school record for rushing yards in a season. He finished 3rd in the entire NCAA in rushing yards. He didn't miss a game. Then he graduated.

Evans' workload figures to be shared by a trio of backs going forward. Milo Hall (rJR), who was the lead back in 2017, Jason Swain (JR), and Mike Green II (rSO), the goal line back, all have plenty of experience and will have big shoes to fill.

Wyoming didn't really feature a go to receiver, rather, Nick Smith distributed the ball fairly evenly. All of the top 3 pass catchers are graduating and C.J. Johnson (rJR) could grow into more of a featured role.

A very steady unit in 2018. Graduating right guard Kaden Jackson has been a bit of a turnstyle over the years and Pahl Schwab (rJR) will probably slide in from RT to RG with Brinkley Jolly (JR) starting at RT. Uhhh, that's not how you spell "Paul."

Replacing graduating LT Zach Stewart and center Richard Bettencourt will be something to keep abreast of.

Reigning Bednarik winner Logan Wilson (rJR) struggled a bit with injuries, missing 5 of 14 games. But, he still led the team with an impressive 89 tackles. He didn't win any hardware in 2018, but the team will rely on him even more with all of the new starters expected around him.

One of the most significant losses will be Andrew Wingard, who was drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft. The supremely reliable safety has been the only 90+ OVR player on the Wyoming roster so far.

The defensive line featured graduating SDE Carl Granderson (9.0 sacks) and USER controlled graduating NT Sidney Malauulu (8.5 sacks). It remains to be seen who is next in line to be user'd.

Cooper Rothe (JR) hit a bunch of important field goals and figures to be leaned on heavily next year.

Nothing really special about the return game.

2018 was a career re-defining year for Craig Bohl. Instead of his seat heating up, he was offered a 6-year contract extension through 2025. When 6 wins are expected, and you produce 12, it tends to result in good things. A+ prestige and 100% job security among them. And a COY award. And a bump up to 2* program prestige.

Despite all the good feels, there's a lot to accompish. Coach Bohl has never landed a recruiting class higher than 83rd. Coach Bohl is still under .500 and has losing records against rivals, T25 teams, and MWC conference opponents in his career. In fact, it'll take another 10-11 win season just to get to .500 for his career.

Adding to the challenge will be a major re-wiring of the coaching staff for 2019. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was poached to be the new head coach at SMU. Defensive coordinator Steve Stanard was hired away by Auburn to run their defense.

New Wyoming OC Dan Enos, a Michigan State alum, limps into Laramie with his Pro Style playbook after being canned by Arkansas. New DC D.J. Eliot, a WYOMING alum, will install a 3-4 multiple scheme that he brings from Louisiana Tech. Both new schemes are dramatic changes from what the Pokes ran in 2018.

[djaeb2001]

Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

With the new contract what's the goal for wins per season now?

What was it before the last season started as well?

Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

With the new contract what's the goal for wins per season now?

What was it before the last season started as well?

Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

The old contract was 6 wins per year. The new extension is at 7 wins per year.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Season Wrap Part 3: Leaders and Awards

DeShone Kizer pulled off the Josh Rosen special--leading his team to an undefeated championship season while bagging the Heisman, Maxwell, Camp, and O'Brien awards.

In fact, the 99-OVR redshirt senior quarterbacked arguably one of the best college football teams of all time. The 2018 Notre Dame Fighting Irish scored 44.6 PPG and led the nation in yardage per game (529.5). Even though they didn't rank among the top 5 NCAA defenses in yardage allowed, the Irish were second only to Texas in being scored upon (14.2 PPG allowed). A little remedial math shows that this Notre Dame squad had a stellar 30.4-point average margin of victory, which ranks them as having the 3rd largest average MOV of the past decade behind only 2013-14 Florida State (+41.8 PPG) and 2010-11 Boise State (+32.3 PPG). Notre Dame's closest game was a 40-28 win over Bowling Green in week 2; conversely, they humiliated a range of good teams like #8 USC (48-17), Wisconsin at Camp Randall (45-10), Cincinnati (54-24), #10 Stanford (41-21), and #4 Auburn (34-14).

This Irish team was more than just a Heisman quarterback. They had 2 separate players win the Outland (best OL) and Rimington (best center) trophies in Quenton Nelson and Sam Mustipher respectively. They also boasted the Biletnikoff Winner Miles Boykin and Groza winner Justin Yoon who made good on 71 extra point conversions. If national award winners weren't enough, ND landed defensive end Jay Hayes on the 1st team All-NCAA list, and OT Alex Bars, FS Nicco Fertitta, and punter Tyler Newsome on the 2nd team All-NCAA squad.

Even though it was technically a "split" national title with some writing in 13-0 BCS snub Texas, most clearly saw Notre Dame as beast of the year.

[bravesfan1984]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Being an Irish fan, I wish this would have been true to life lol. Talk about dominance!

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Holy mother of pearl. I just played the kickoff game to the 2019 season and it was an absolute donnybrook. Me and the cpu were just bashing each other over the head with steel chairs again and again. Let's just say you guys are in for a treat if my narrative can even capture 50% of what went on, lol.

Still have to post the season intro material first, but I think it'll be worth the wait.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Season Wrap Part 4: Crootin' Summary

Coach Bohl's team saw 24 seniors walk across the stage and needed a big recruiting class in order to backfill. That effort resulted in the highest rated class of the dynasty so far (83rd); da Coach signed an even 20 baby Pokes. The class includes seven 3*, twelve 2*, and a sole 1* prospect.

Nothing quite as disappointing as the year prior, but Wyoming lost out on their top target again this time around. Coach Bohl went hard after 3* power HB Eric Franklin early, but once Bayor, Texas Tech, SMU and TCU all got involved, the early lead wasn't quite enough. The Texas-native ended up at Tech.

Other than that, Wyoming did well to add at positions of need. Darrin Green, a 3* ATH, will be tried out at QB and might see some playing time sooner rather than later. The offensive line got a boost with some quality pulls--2* gem (#73 C) Joshua Moore, 3* (#34 OG) Patrick Novak, and 2* (#111 OT) Luther Paul among them.

Disappointingly, the defensive line recruiting effort went south. No DE's were recruited, not a problem due to depth there, but busting out on both DT recruits--2* (#123 DT) Ri'Shaun Howard and 2* (#112 DT) Darryl Houston--after losing out on a 5* to Ohio State last year really stings. Howard could be used on the offensive line instead.

The recruits also underwent a thorough brainwashing and renaming per WYO Football statutes (h/t to Bigsheen for suggesting some good websites). For each recruit, the website http://random-name-generator.info was used to generate 10 names to choose from and the name style was toggled between common, average, and rare.

To add a little bit of randomness to the development of players, a random progression system was put in place (h/t to Hellisan for the concept).

Each offseason, starting with this one, 10 random numbers from 1-99 are generated using https://random.org and the numbers are matched to the jersey numbers of Wyoming players. The first 8 players chosen in this way undergo a regression between 2 and 12 points of OVR. The final 2 chosen undergo additional progression between 1 and 6 points of OVR. The first random number indicates the direction of change and a subsequent random number generation gives the magnitude of the OVR change. The individual attributes chosen to effect each change are at the discretion of this author--often there are several attributes impacted.

And, ouch.

Regression hit starting nose tackle Youhanna Ghaifan with a full -12. Not ideal for a team that graduated their previous starting DT and is transitioning to a 3-4 base defense. A team with well-chronicled troubles recruiting that position lately as well.

It also struck the entire stable of running backs. Goal line back Mike Green II was hit with a massive -12, Milo Hall got smacked for a second straight year--this time with a -6, and new starter Emmett Nash couldn't escape a -4. Talk about hitting a team right where it counts. The run-heavy Cowboys will have to cope with a bit less octane than they planned on.

The "curse" also impacted both new QB recruits. True freshman Darrin Green is probably out of the running for starting QB after sustaining a -10. Mychael Bryant also got a -4 applied.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2019 Season Preview

So, umm, Wyoming went a combined 9-15 in 2016 and 2017, then suddenly metamorphosed into a 12-2 conference champion. What had happened?

See, what had happened was, the 2018 squad was chock full of veterans--juniors, redshirt juniors, seniors, and redshirt seniors. It was also a season in which the entire coaching staff was carried over from the year before. Coupled with that consistency, Wyoming had a non-conference schedule that consisted of Missouri, Texas State, Idaho, and Wofford. Not exactly expecting to get slayed there. And the entire conference had an off year, exemplified perfectly by a 2-10 nightmare of a season for Boise State.

But enough about last year. The 2019 Wyoming Cowboys are heading for a big unknown of a season. Losing 24 seniors, both sides of the ball are either worse on paper or the same. The previous starter at QB is gone as is his erstwhile backup. The record-setting RB is also history at this point. The Pokes have massive changes on the coaching staff to deal with, complete with paradigm shifts.

Despite all the turnover, miraculously, the upcoming season will also feature a veteran Wyoming squad. Albeit one lacking the same depth of the 2018 unit. There are only two underclassmen starters on offense, both on the offensive line. On defense, aside from a redshirt sophomore DE, a redshirt sophomore LB, and a redshirt freshman SS, it's all juniors and seniors all over again.

Last year's starting 11 on offense had a composite 76.1 OVR. This year's composite is identical to that--the progression has exactly matched the attrition. That sameness is qualified though; this offensive line is a bit less experienced and talented (76.2 composite OVR) compared to 2018 (77.6 composite OVR). There are also new starters at QB (unproven throw god Chandler Garrett) and HB (Emmett Nash). Continuing on with the theme of change, new offensive coordinator Dan Enos is frantically installing an Arkansas-style pro playbook in place of departed Andy Kotelnicki's shotgun spread. This means it'll be more difficult to get mismatches against sparsely populated defensive boxes in the run game--this offense figures to telegraph their run/pass intentions more.

The Pokes return All-NCAA middle linebacker Logan Wilson (rSR) once again, but will miss graduated All-NCAA free safety Andrew Wingard. Wyoming will also need to get that good good out of 2nd Team preseason All-MWC performers Josiah Hall and John Okwoli. Last year's defense made a major leap against the run, but this defense has nine new starters to break in. On paper, this defense projects to be a demonstrable step back from 2018. The composite OVR for the 2018 defense was a very healthy 79.0 and the present unit has a composite OVR of 76.4, decreasing from the point of attack backward through the secondary. Why not have a coordinator change and a new system on this side of the ball, too? D.J. Eliot brings his 3-4 Multiple front from Louisiana Tech. We're about to see how successful 240 lb DE's can be in that kind of system.

The 2019 season will largely depend on how effectively the Cowboys can channel their 2018-ness, capitalize on a home-friendly docket, and confront a step up in scheduling difficulty (C- rated schedule).

Wyoming has no FCS teams on the schedule this time. The non-conference slate consists of Washington State (home), @ Tulsa, and a rematch with Missouri (home).

The Pokes will also play nine MWC games this time as a result of expansion to 14 teams. Both Idaho and BYU were admitted to the Mountain West. In the restructuring, Wyoming took Hawai'i as a protected rival, so this schedule is jam packed with angry rivals. Colorado State, Utah State, Hawai'i, and BYU make four rivalry games. The roadie at preseason #17 BYU in week 14 could very well decide the Mountain Division champ.

Mike Leach, I will crush you.

[RaiderAid89]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

The schedule is set up nicely at home, but all the rivalry games could make or break the season. Your Leach comments always crack me up. Hopefully you and the old pirate can spark a little rivalry.

[WaitTilNextYear]

2019g1: Wyoming @ Tulsa

Chad President--bringer of doom, destroyer of worlds, devourer of entire galaxies, proprietor of final reckoning--rushes for a TD.

TULSA, Okla. -- It didn't take long for things to heat up in the new season. In a barnburner, Tulsa downed Wyoming 48-45 (OT) in hottt, steamy non-conference action.

To Tulsa's credit, they coaxed Wyoming into playing a very foreign style of ball. Hitting on a variety of big plays, Tulsa had a commanding 24-6 lead early in the 3rd quarter. Somehow they scored 24 points while earning only four 1st downs--a testament to their opportunism. Later on, a graphic overlay showed Tulsa had run 39 plays to score 38 points. Lolwut? How could this be?

The very first Golden Hurricane completion of the game went for 53 yards and set the tone. Tulsa quarterback Chad President would finish the drive with a four-yard TD run. They scored again by way of a 92-yard fumble-six returned by defensive lineman Maurice Prince. Thus ended the 1st quarter, 14-3 Tulsa.

President ended up having a whale of a game, completing 14/18 (77%) for 215 yards with two TDs and two INTs (192.5 QB rating). He also ran for a pair of scores.

After a sleepy 2nd quarter that saw an exchange of field goals, it was a 17-6 game at halftime. Unfortunately for Wyoming, they had a 61-yard TD pass overturned on a replay review at the 8:44 mark of the 2nd quarter. Allegedly, tight end Caleb Davis was ruled out of bounds after a much shorter gain.

If that weren't enough of a kick in the head, the Cowboys were once again knocking on the door with one second left in the first half only for Austin Conway to drop a more-than-likely TD pass on 4th down from inside Tulsa's 5-yard line. Coach Bohl opted to get the TD rather than settle for a third field goal. It didn't pay off. This might be the place to say that Wyoming receivers were credited with an even ten drops in this game--four by Butterfingers Conway.

So, to recap, Wyoming loss out on three touchdown drives due to an untimely fumble (that put points up for Tulsa instead), a replay review, and a goal line drop. An inauspicious start for sure.

But, surely this Wyoming team wouldn't let their eight-game winning streak get broken so easily? Yes and no.

Coming out of halftime, Tulsa got the ball and beat a 3rd and 15 situation with a 79-yard TD pass from Chad President to Brian Billings on an audible.

However, Wyoming started to mount a comeback. After Tulsa made it a 24-6 game, Cooper Rothe hit a 30-yard FG to cut it to 24-9. Finally, mercifully, Wyoming found the endzone on their next drive--Chandler Garrett hit Austin Conway on a slant-corner route. Of course, only after the original TD had been wiped out by a holding penalty...24-16 Tulsa.

Like clockwork, the Golden Hurricane immediately hit on another big TD play after setting themselves up nicely with a 77-yard kickoff return littered with pancake blocks.

The game would enter the 4th quarter with Tulsa holding a 31-16 lead. And after Tulsa scored yet again via a Javon Thomas 16-yard rush, the 38-16 lead was looking downright untouchable. And things got weird.

See, Chandler Garrett is actually a throw god. As desperation set in, Garrett kept bombing away. He found Caleb Davis with a [legal] 13-yard TD pass with 8:14 to go. Then he hit Austin Conway again at the 6:20 mark. After sitting out a play injured--in which 60 ovr backup Terry Brooks made his only pass of his career so far count for a TD--Garrett was back on the scene again. Wyoming had whittled it down to a 45-37 game.

Wyoming nearly got the ball back with 1:43 left in the 4th quarter trailing by just the one score, but Tulsa's fumble was overturned by a replay review. Upon stopping Tulsa with just :30 left and no timeouts, Chandler went back to work--work that culminated in finding Caleb Davis once again for the game tying score with :01 left on the clock. Wyoming then made good on the 2-point conversion. After the dust settled, the Pokes had furiously put up 29 points in the 4th quarter, overcome a 67-yard Tulsa TD run on a read-option meanwhile, and somehow this game was headed to overtime.

Did I mention that Chandler Garrett is a throw god? He didn't play the cleanest of ballgames as there were three costly interceptions. But, this dude was flinging it. Garrett set all kinds of school records in this one. He completed 46/74 (62%) for 639 yards and four TDs (144.4 QB rating). The completions, attempts, and yardage are all school records for a single game. Not bad for his first start. Stats like that would even make a jerk like Mike Leach proud.

This is all well and good, but wherefore the Wyoming run game? Simply put, a combination of Emmett Nash's fumble (he had a two fumble game late in 2018 as well), Tulsa's early lead, and Garrett shredding fools made the calculus such that Wyoming passed on the run game. Definitely not a recipe the Pokes want to follow anytime soon. Nash carried only 12 times for 96 yards (8.0 YPC). Mike Green II and Milo Hall combined for 12 carries and 48 yards.

Overtime was pretty mundane compared to how the game went in regulation. Wyoming got the ball and Garrett promptly threw a pick--which was predictably almost returned for a touchdown. A deciding pick-six in OT would've been a fitting way to go out. But, alas, Tulsa settled for a more conventional 35-yard field goal to drive the stake through Coach Bohl's team's heart.

Eh, the nine-game conference winning streak is still intact. Losing the season opener has become something of a yearly tradition, as the 2017 Iowa game and the 2018 Mizzou game would indicate. Not ideal, but with lots of games left to play, we enter the Coug.

[moose141]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Love the ideas the spice things up as far as the roster is concerned, but why the choice to do so much regression??? I could see a bit more of balance, but unsure your reasoning on that one. I like how it spices up who might have a good season year in and year out, but I'm super disappointed that it means that we won't get to see "Darrin Green" on the field this year!

Edit after seeing the game 1 update: 649 PASSING YARDS?!?!?!?!

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Wyoming | The Reboot (NCAA 14)

Love the ideas the spice things up as far as the roster is concerned, but why the choice to do so much regression??? I could see a bit more of balance, but unsure your reasoning on that one. I like how it spices up who might have a good season year in and year out, but I'm super disappointed that it means that we won't get to see "Darrin Green" on the field this year!

You make solid points, lol. I didn't really care to see Ross Johnson/Darrin Green get smacked with regression either....I was very much looking forward to using him. He was my favorite recruit last cycle

However, in the past I've found it just a little (or a lot) too easy to build a powerhouse program in the middle of Wyoming of all places. My strict recruiting rules help me from ending up as SEC champ after year 6 as I chase an actual challenge (lol). Also, the random regression helps to counteract the massive, team-wide gains from offseason training. If guys increase +4 to +8 or so each offseason (and a little bit in season to boot), you can start with a 50 ovr dud and turn him into an 85 ovr monster during his redshirt senior year. Some guys could break out like that sure, but it shouldn't be all of them, imo.

Guys never stay the same or decrease and this system of tolerable regression adds a little bit of a monkey wrench into my plans. This cycle it was particularly brutal and hit a lot of players I was really counting on.