Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

2020 BOWL MATCHUPS

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
#2 Niagara (11-1) vs #1 LSU (12-1)

Fight Hunger Bowl Bowl
#15 Pitt (10-2) vs UCLA (6-6)

New Mexico Bowl
Nevada (6-7) vs Arkansas State (8-4)

Idaho Potato Bowl
Central Michigan (7-5) vs San Diego State (6-6)

Poinsettia Bowl
SMU (8-4) vs Utah State (6-6)

Beef O'Gassy Bowl
LA Tech (7-5) vs Temple (6-6)

New Orleans Bowl
Middle Tennessee State (6-6) vs #21 Florida International (11-2)

Las Vegas Bowl
Oregon State (7-5) vs New Mexico (8-4)

Hawaii Bowl
UL Monroe (9-4) vs Idaho (8-4)
(IDAHO MADE A BOWL GAME!?!? THE 7th SEAL IS BROKEN! THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US!)

Little Caesar's Bowl
Minnesota (6-6) vs Toledo (9-4)

Holiday Bowl
#13 Oklahoma (8-4) vs USC (7-5)

Military Bowl
Miami of Ohio (8-4) vs USF (7-5)

Belk Bowl
North Carolina (7-5) vs Kansas (8-4)

Independence Bowl
Western Kentucky (8-4) vs Hawaii (7-5)

Russell Athletic Bowl
Air Force (9-4) vs Syracuse (9-4)

Meineke Car Care Bowl
Nebraska (7-5) vs Oklahoma State (8-4)

Armed Forces Bowl
UAB (6-6) vs Colorado State (6-6)

Alamo Bowl
Baylor (7-5) vs #10 Oregon (8-4)

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
#20 Arkansas (7-4) vs Purdue (6-6)

Music City Bowl
Mississippi State (6-6) vs Wake Forest (7-5)

Hyundai Sun Bowl
Stanford (6-6) vs #17 Florida State (8-4)

Liberty Bowl
#19 Notre Dame (8-4) vs Rice (11-2)

Chik-fil-a Bowl
#11 Florida (7-4) vs #16 Clemson (8-4)

Gator Bowl
Ole Miss (6-6) vs Michigan State (7-5)

Heart of Dallas Bowl
Southern Miss (6-6) vs Indiana (6-6)

Outback Bowl
#14 Louisville (9-3) vs #12 Ohio State (10-2)

Capital One Bowl
#4 Virginia Tech (10-2) vs #9 Michigan (11-2)

Rose Bowl
#8 Wisconsin (11-2) vs #18 Arizona State (9-4)

Fiesta Bowl
#24 Texas (8-5) vs #7 California (12-1)

Cotton Bowl
Tennessee (9-4) vs #22 South Carolina (9-4)

Orange Bowl
#5 Georgia Tech (11-2) vs #25 Army (10-3)

Sugar Bowl
#3 Alabama (9-3) vs #6 Cincinnati (10-2)

Compass Bowl
Iowa State (7-5) vs West Virginia (6-6)

Go Daddy Bowl
#23 Ohio (10-3) vs South Alabama (9-4)

[Deuce2223]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty



Congrats on being super sneaky. Now the question is can the Rhino's put on a show.

Interesting matchup with Pitt getting a revenge game against a UCLA program that never seems to be good in anyone's dynasty.

Also when did South Carolina move to the Big 12? Seems like a odd place to be.

Idaho in a bowl game. Want to know what's crazier in my dynasty they actually won the MW title one year and beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. I really did think the world was coming to a end. But then I saw something even crazier. New Mexico State won the SunBelt and 9 games something they have never done in real life.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Interesting matchup with Pitt getting a revenge game against a UCLA program that never seems to be good in anyone's dynasty.

Also when did South Carolina move to the Big 12? Seems like a odd place to be.

Idaho in a bowl game. Want to know what's crazier in my dynasty they actually won the MW title one year and beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. I really did think the world was coming to a end. But then I saw something even crazier. New Mexico State won the SunBelt and 9 games something they have never done in real life.

I had totally forgot that Pitt had played UCLA earlier in the year... and I'm not sure if I've ever had a revenge bowl game before... but I'm gonna try my darndest to get wins for both Pitt and Niagara...

As far as conferences... there has been so much flip flopping and just having fun with it... I have no idea behind the reasoning anymore. It might have been touched on a few dozen replies back... but I think I recall wanting Miami in the SEC for whatever reason when I un-did a lot of the moves to independent... So maybe South Carolina was just stuck wherever there was a Power 5 opening? Your guess is as good as mine... if I play this dynasty for another 10 or 15 seasons... we'll have Hawaii and South Alabama playing for the Big Ten title.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

I was browsing around the dynasty and decided to just do a quick and dirty / out-of-character update for the award winners... along with a quick look around the rest of NCAA for anything that stood out. With the exception of the Heisman, I'll only highlight awards taken home by a Niagara or Pitt player.

AWARD WINNERS

HEISMAN
HB | Lorenzo Edwards | Kansas | 89 OVR
2048 rushing yards, 6.6 ypc, 23 TDs

BEDNARIK
LB | J.R. Dequindre | Niagara | 88 OVR
57 tackles, 21 TFL, 11 sacks, 1 FF
Other finalists: LB F.Fowler (NIA), SS S.Banks (NIA), LB G.Iorg (NIA), LB B.Manahan (NIA), LB C.Ashley (PITT)

NAGURSKI
LB | J.R. Dequindre | Niagara | 88 OVR
57 tackles, 21 TFL, 11 sacks, 1 FF
Other finalists: LB F.Fowler (NIA), LE E.Williams (PITT), LE T.Starks (NIA), LB G.Iorg (NIA)

LOMBARDI
LE | Eric Williams | Pitt | 83 OVR
55 tackles, 21 TFL, 12 sacks
Other finalists: LE T.Starks (NIA), DT A.Ramadan (NIA)

BEST LB
LB | J.R. Dequindre | Niagara | 88 OVR
57 tackles, 21 TFL, 11 sacks, 1 FF
Other finalists: LB F.Fowler (NIA), LB G.Iorg (NIA), LB B.Manahan (NIA)

BEST RETURNER
WR | Tanner Kulka | Niagara | 84 OVR
1299 KR yards, 353 PR yards, 2 TDs
Other finalists: WR D.Pollard (PITT)

NOTABLE FINALISTS
QB Tiki Browning (NIA) - Maxwell (9th), O'Brien (8th)
QB Jeremy Palmer (PITT) - O'Brien - 5th
HB Brock Apisa (NIA) - Walter Camp (12th), Walker (7th)
HB Robbie Woods (PITT) - Walker (11th)
TE Napoleon Tyler (PITT) - Mackey (8th)
LT Freddie Smith (NIA) - Outland (5th)
RG John Hodgsen (NIA) - Outland (8th)
C Austin Koch (NIA) - Rimington (7th)
SS Shovante Banks (NIA) - Thorpe (3rd)
CB Teddy Krupski (NIA) - Thorpe (10th)
K Akindi Badu (NIA) - Groza (3rd)
K Carl Chavez (PITT) - Groza (12th)
P Ronnie Finkbeiner (NIA) - Guy (4th)


RANDOM NOTES

Not only did Idaho go 8-4 and make a bowl game, they went 3-0 out of conference which included perhaps the biggest upset in program history. On November 21st, they traveled to Memorial Coliseum and defeated the USC Trojans by a convincing score of 38-21. (On the season, the Trojans went 7-5 overall)

Preseason #16 Stanford finished the season with five straight losses to end up at 6-6... including an ugly regular season finale in which they lost 16-13 against Temple.

Clemson heads into bowl season with a respectable 8-4 record and ranked 16th in the polls. However, they needed a six game win streak to get there... Early in the year they put up ugly games to FCS NW (L 17-20) and Hawaii (L 21-37).

Pitt vs UCLA isn't the only rematch this bowl season. #3 Alabama vs #6 Cincy in the Sugar Bowl is a week 6 rematch where the Bearcats upset the Crimson Tide by a score of 38-27.

Low prestige independent UMass didn't have an extraordinary season on paper, finishing only 6-6. However, when you dig a little deeper you'll find the Minutemen knocked off some impressive Power 5 competition. They had victories against Georgia (35-28), Auburn (24-13) and UCLA (35-28).

Speaking of Georgia and Auburn, they were easily the two most disappointing national powerhouses in 2020. The Bulldogs finished 2-10, with their only wins against Vandy and equally inept Auburn. As far as the Tigers, they did slightly better at 3-9 including a 38-31 upset over #24 Texas... but they failed to win a single game in the SEC and had that dud against UMass.

[Careless Whisper]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

I actually have been doing full recruiting for Pitt, figuring my sanctions would limit what I could do with Niagara. In the few cases where a recruit showed interest in both schools, I figured I would lean towards Pitt, but it was a case by case basis... with I think a total of three cases. In two of those cases, Pitt had the higher bonus points, so I had Niagara back down and Pitt got those players. In the other case, Niagara had the higher bonus but another school took control early on and he got away.

I've really enjoyed this season with the two teams... still not sure what I'll do next year, but I just might repeat the same format... Where Niagara has "full ESPN coverage" and Pitt gets the "ESPN2" treatment.

I've also enjoyed how you've reported on this season with the two teams, and would like to see that continue. Is Stevie going to always go out and do his own thing, or do you anticipate him possibly leading Niagara at some point?

Glad to see Niagara get the breaks it needed to get to the title game. I wouldn't say this is your best team by any stretch, but sometimes your best teams are the ones that finish the job. Good luck against LSU!

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty



PANTHERS GET REVENGE IN FIGHT HUNGER BOWL
Palmer and Co defeat UCLA 24-21 in an ugly game
Report by LACES OUT DAN! | December 31st, 2020

This wasn't a game that was going to go down as an all-time classic. Both offenses were sloppy, fumbles, interceptions and dropped passes were common throughout. Senior QB Jeremy Palmer did just enough in his final game as a Panther, putting up over 300 yards and throwing for two touchdowns.

On defense, the Panthers bent but never broke. They surrendered plenty of yardage but kept UCLA just barely out of reach for the entire game. A goal line forced fumble and recovery early in the 4th quarter proved to be the difference. Pitt took the ball and drove downfield to take a 10 point lead in a game won by a only three points.

Pittsburgh Panthers at UCLA Bruins
Dec 31, 2020	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#15 Pittsburgh Panthers (11-2)	7	3	7	7	24
UCLA Bruins (6-7)	0	7	7	7	21

Team Stats Comparison
	PITT	UCLA
Total Offense	373	344
Rushing Yards	65	119
Passing Yards	308	225
First Downs	20	20
Punt Return Yards	22	7
Kick Return Yards	40	44
Total Yards	435	395
Turnovers	3	1
3rd Down Conversion	5-13	7-13
4th Down Conversion	1-2	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-3-1	3-2-0
Penalties	4-30	4-33
Possession Time	21:16	14:43

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		PITT	UCLA
2:49	(PITT) TD - 7 yd pass, J.Palmer to S.Johnson	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		PITT	UCLA
5:17	(UCLA) TD - 3 yd pass, T.Stephens to C.Cooper	7	7
2:58	(PITT) FG - 25 yd, C.Chavez	10	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		PITT	UCLA
6:44	(UCLA) TD - 2 yd run, T.Stephens	10	14
2:17	(PITT) TD - 6 yd pass, J.Palmer to N.Tyler	17	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		PITT	UCLA
6:33	(PITT) TD - 7 yd run, R.Woods	24	14
0:59	(UCLA) TD - 35 yd pass, T.Stephens to R.Washington	24	21

Pittsburgh Panthers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT J.Palmer 29/43 308 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD R.Woods 16 78 4.8 1 J.Palmer 9 -25 -2.7 0 S.Jenkins 3 6 2.0 0 K.Davis 1 6 6.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD S.Johnson 7 63 8.9 1 D.Martin 7 128 18.2 0 R.Woods 5 1 0.2 0 J.Alexander 5 91 18.2 0 N.Tyler 5 25 5.0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD J.Seals 7 0 0 0 M.Fuller 6 0 0 0 C.Ashley 6 0 0 0 E.Williams 6 0 0 0 M.Givens 5 0 0 0 A.Johnson 4 0 0 0 N.Simpson 3 0 0 0 A.Roberts 3 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG C.Chavez 1/1 3/3 6 25 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 C.Coleman 3 145 48.3 0

UCLA Bruins PASSING C/A YDS TD INT T.Stephens 19/32 225 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD B.Johnson 25 75 3.0 0 T.Stephens 9 27 3.0 1 A.Johnson 2 17 8.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD B.Johnson 4 29 7.2 0 E.Smith 4 47 11.7 0 M.Rice 3 41 13.6 0 J.Johnson 2 28 14.0 0 R.Washington 2 42 21.0 1 J.McCormick 1 18 18.0 0 A.Johnson 1 7 7.0 0 C.Cooper 1 4 4.0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD C.Freeman 7 0 0 0 C.Pace 7 2.0 0 0 M.Patterson 5 0 0 0 H.Kirkpatrick 4 0 1 0 E****shing 3 0 1 0 J.Williams 3 1.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG J.Lloyd 0/0 3/3 3 n/a PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 J.Billings 5 227 45.4 1

DJ Martin didn't find the end zone, but went out with a team leading 128 yards on 7 catches.


Johnson finds an opening for a touchdown!


Roberts forces the fumble on a failed option pitch...


...which then gets scooped up and returned 23 yards the other way.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

[xToXiCxSAVAGEx]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Is this Niagra's first natty appearance?

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

[young22]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Congrats man! Run game really made the difference in that one, great all-around performance though. Must feel great to get that title.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Is this Niagra's first natty appearance?

This is my 2nd natty appearance. The first one was three seasons ago... and we're now 2-0 in national title games! woot!

As far as this game, it was surprisingly tough in regards to the passing attack, lots of short passes were available for both HUM and CPU... But things downfield were a bit harder to come by... lots of drops and deflections on 3rd down and medium-to-long for both teams. Coverage was generally very solid.

LSU was feast or famine in the running game, either they'd go for 8-12 yards or -2... a few drives they just charged down field with nothing but handoffs and QB options... then a few drives they'd stumble into quick 3-and-outs. Niagara had a little more success in the ground game, as LSU seemed to constantly have their DEs and outside LBs set wider than normal... maybe I was just seeing things... but there were lots of looks where I just audibled to an inside run because there was nobody up the gut.

By early in the 3rd quarter I got that odd feeling... if I had a good drive, LSU would come right back with a good drive of their own... if I sucked, LSU would suck right afterwards... I realized it was going to be one of those games that was going to come down to clock management, that whoever had the ball last was going to win. Almost like the CPU was intentionally keeping it close... I fully realize that the EA coding is not that complex... and such things are just flukes or coincidences... but still... I couldn't shake that feeling that I should have been losing considering my general lack of scoring production. I scored the go-ahead TD win 21 seconds on the clock and LSU was out of timeouts... and they still managed to get into hail mary range for the final snap of the game.

[Deuce2223]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Congrats on #2... 4 more and you can catch Coach Moore.

[moose141]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Congrats on the title! Pretty satisfying way to the end the season, especially with the crazy luck that it took just to get you into the title game down the stretch! Good solid performance to get the win. I think the natty was a pretty good summation of this Niagara team as far as your teams through the year's are concerned. This team didn't feel like it really had the "it" factor or the explosiveness of the old Gibbs/Palinski squads, but they just gritted out victories week in and week out and did what they had to to win every week. Congrats again!

[Careless Whisper]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

Congrats on winning another natty! As I mentioned before, I never thought this was your best team throughout the years, but it did what it needed to do and kept grinding out wins to reach the pinnacle. Love that Tiki is able to raise the trophy - I know he's had an up-and-down career so far, but he really stepped up his game this season. Looking forward to what comes next for the Rhinos!

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Niagara Rhinos: An Alternate Universe NCAA 14 Dynasty

The 2020 No-Frills Stat Dump!


I did the full stat spreadsheet for Niagara, but not for Pitt. For them I'll just post a few of the highlights. I will do some quick team stats just to show the differences between how the teams played.

Big thing to note here was the passing offense of Pitt, which was pretty crazy, finishing with over 1,000 more passing yards than the team in 2nd place. Jeremy Palmer broke team records for career passing TDs (82), season yardage (5,209), season TDs (46) and single game yardage (561). As we all know, NCAA14 doesn't have the names of the historical players... but apparently Palmer broke the records of some scrub that played for Pitt from 1979-1982... don't think I've ever heard of him or his rockin perm.

Total offense:
Pitt | 3rd in NCAA | 6,305 yards
Niagara | 5th in NCAA | 5,993 yards

Passing offense:
Pitt | 1st in NCAA | 5,109 yards
Niagara | 5th in NCAA | 3,668 yards

Rushing offense:
Pitt | 126th in NCAA | 1,196 yards
Niagara | 52nd in NCAA | 2,325 yards

Points per game:
Pitt | 6th in NCAA | 39.3 ppg
Niagara | 3rd in NCAA | 40.0 ppg

Defense:

These stats aren't quite as interesting, as is typical in most seasons HUM teams are weaker against the pass and stronger against the run. Pitt was near the bottom in pass defense, Niagara was better but still in the bottom 1/3rd. Against the run, Niagara was 1st and Pitt was 7th.

The only big surprise for me was Niagara leading the nation with 50 sacks... as I didn't really think I had much of a pass rush this season. I think a lot of those were coverage sacks / containing the QB when he tried to scramble.

Niagara individual stats

Browning had a career year passing, with personal bests in yardage and touchdowns... Also had his best TD:INT ratio.

The biggest difference between 2019 and 2020 was the lack of explosiveness this year in the ground game. In 2019, Niagara had 29 rushes of 20+ yards, Babajide alone had 18. The entire team in 2020 had 5 rushes of 20+ yards.

Niagara's reception yardage leader finished with 845 yards. Pitt had three receivers over 1,000.