We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

[kswgrad2012]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

The C-USA Championship Game may be the biggest game in the history of that conference.

And the MAC looked like absolute garbage this year.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

The C-USA Championship Game may be the biggest game in the history of that conference.

And the MAC looked like absolute garbage this year.

Absolutely huge. Two teams from a mid-major, the same conference possibly in the CFP? C'mon. More than makes up for what happened to Houston in 2011, lost the C-USA CG when they were a lock to make the BCS.

At least the MAC was competitive, lots of 7-5, 6-6 teams (even CMU had 4 wins in conference), so no one was truly garbage, the exception being possibly Ball St. and/or Toledo.

[HARLEE23]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

CAC Entry Form (Bold Fields = Required)

Name: Jordan James
Age: Youngest you can make them!
Skin Color: (Light, Medium, Dark) Light
Body Size: (Small, Medium, Large) Medium
Head: 3 (the young looking face)
Apparel: Polo and Khakis
Hat/Glasses (Optional)
Alma Mater: Ohio State
Offensive Philosophy/Playbook: (You can describe your style or give a playbook) Spread, Ohio State. Balanced up tempo attack with the emphasis depending on the personnel.
Defensive Philosophy/Playbook: (Same as above) 4-3 with emphasis on speed
Sub Frequency (Offense, Defense) like to keep a good rotation of pass rushers, as well as running backs unless I have a far and ahead number one back
Specialty: (Offense or Defense) Offensive coach by far
Coaching Style: (Example: Laid Back or High Energy?) High Energy, not one to curse at players but does have high expectations.

Any other information to consider for selecting initial job? When it comes to taking an initial job I assume I would be an offensive coordinator, I want my character to be the assumed QB coach at the time of Ohio State before taking the coordinator job, I would be happy wherever he could land! Would love a job in the states of Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, or the state of Kentucky if possible!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

New Year's Six, Away!

UConn off to New Year's Six with big win over Houston; which bowl?

Friends, we have almost climbed the mountain. Meet the 2016 American Athletic Conference Champions, the UConn Huskies!

With a dominating second half performance, UConn was able to overcome a 21-7 deficit and sprint away for a 52-31 victory over Houston, their 12th of the season and 11th in a row in what might possibly be the biggest game in the Rent's history. Credit the defense.

The tenacious secondary forced All-American John O'Korn into 6 more INT's compared to 1 TD, and the offense had plenty of chances to get some easy scores.

As a whole unit, the defense was able to shake off a 21-7 swing in the opening minutes (one Houston score a defensive TD from Steve Aikens), and force Houston into throwing when Juan Day and the Houston run game was cooking early.

Everything changed when Bryant Shirreffs threw a TD pass to Tommy Myers early in the 2nd quarter.

Javon Hadley snatched an O'Korn pass on Houston's next drive, and UConn tacked a field goal immediately after.

Jhavon Williams was the next man up, grabbing an INT of his own, and UConn got another field goal to pull within 3.

With time ticking down in the first half, Houston had a bit of a run going, but with 44 seconds left, Williams grabbed another INT, one handed as he was falling to the Rent's floor.

Noel Thomas and Damon Mitchell each caught passes of 15 yards or more, and UConn took the lead on, you guessed it, another Bobby Puyol field goal.

Victor Woods gave Houston a 24-23 lead on a 40 yard field goal, but from there, it was all UConn. Thomas caught a TD pass with 5:08 remaining, and Hadley collected another INT off O'Korn.

Josh Marriner's 16 yard rush TD gave UConn a 38-24 lead, before Jordan Floyd's INT (O'Korn's 5th of the game). Thomas' second TD put UConn up 45-24 and in cruise control.

However, Marriner would go down with an apparent forearm injury while UConn was trying to burn clock. Trainers could not immediately disclose the severity of the injury, but more news is expected soon.

Meanwhile, while Greg Ward Jr. caught Houston's first pass TD of the day, Jamar Summers victimized O'Korn yet again (he had 4 in the meeting early in the season), and UConn put the AAC on ice.

In the biggest game in the Rent's history, man did UConn ever show up. Through perseverance and a damn good defense, we took the AAC by storm this year, and now we are champions.

But, seriously, did you expect 12-1 at the start of the year? And the New Year's Six?

We'll catch you next time with the bowl selection show, where we find out where UConn is going. See ya there.

Houston Cougars at Connecticut Huskies
Dec 12, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Houston Cougars (8-5, 6-3)	21	0	10	0	31
#6 Connecticut Huskies (12-1, 8-1)	7	16	22	7	52

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		HOU	CONN
5:59	(HOU) Day 1 run (Woods kick)	7	0
4:31	(CONN) Shirreffs 5 run (Puyol kick)	7	7
2:42	(HOU) Day 2 run (Woods kick)	14	7
2:35	(HOU) Aikens 36 fumble recovery (Woods kick)	21	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		HOU	CONN
5:31	(CONN) Shirreffs 12 pass Myers (Puyol kick)	21	14
3:47	(CONN) Puyol 48 FG	21	17
1:07	(CONN) Puyol 27 FG	21	20
:00	(CONN) Puyol 31 FG	21	23
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		HOU	CONN
6:18	(HOU) Woods 40 FG	24	23
5:08	(CONN) Shirreffs 13 pass Thomas (Marriner run)	24	31
4:49	(CONN) Marriner 16 run (Puyol kick)	24	38
3:03	(CONN) Shirreffs 11 pass Thomas (Puyol kick)	24	45
1:44	(HOU) O'Korn 9 pass Ward (Woods kick)	31	45
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		HOU	CONN
6:56	(CONN) Marriner 7 run (Puyol kick)	31	52

Houston Cougars PASSING C/A YDS TD INT John O'Korn 22-38 289 1 6 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Juan Day 7 53 7.5 2 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Latrell Martin 6 111 18.5 0 Demarcus Ayers 6 98 16.3 0 John Leday 4 36 9.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brandon Wilson 9 0 0 0 Khalil Williams 9 0 1 0 Steven Aikens 5 0 0 1

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Bryant Shirreffs 13-24 184 3 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Josh Marriner 24 91 3.7 2 Bryant Shirreffs 7 51 7.2 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Noel Thomas 5 73 15.4 2 Damon Mitchell 3 34 11.3 0 Thomas Lucas 2 46 23.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Omaine Stephens 5 0 0 0 Jhavon Williams 3 0 2 0 Jordan Floyd 3 0 2 0

CAC Entry Form (Bold Fields = Required)

Name: Jordan James

Thanks for the submission. I'll get you in the game today.

[RoundingThird]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

I've been dreaming of this moment my whole life.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Olsen claims Marshall's first Heisman

Kevin Olsen won the 2016 Heisman Memorial Trophy on Saturday in New York in a comfortable fashion, becoming the first Heisman winner for Marshall University. The junior, who transferred over from Miami-FL at the end of 2014, had a phenomenal year under the guidance of coach Blake Anderson and offensive coordinator Quinn Shea, passing for almost 3600 yards, rushing for almost 600 more and accounting for 41 TD's.

Olsen completes an award sweep by winning everything a QB can win; the Heisman, the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Davey O'Brien award.

Fellow C-USA competitor Willy Ivery of North Texas finished 2nd. The 3rd year sophomore garnered 103 1st place votes, but finished over 1000 points behind Olsen.

Wisconsin's star tailback Corey Clement placed 3rd, followed by SEC rivals Alex Collins of Arkansas and redshirt freshman DeAndre Flowers of South Carolina.

Ohio State's Warren Ball finished 6th.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph, Summers, 'Keel take home hardware for UConn

3 Huskies are proud award winners this year, as Junior Joseph took home the Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player in the country, according to the Maxwell Football Club. Joseph, a junior who led the NCAA with 74 tackles to this point, becomes the second Husky in two years to take the award, following Graham Stewart last season.

Junior corner Jamar Summers took home the Jim Thorpe Award, awarded to the top defensive back in the nation. His 7 interceptions place him tied for 5th in the UConn record books and led the NCAA this season. He also added 38 tackles.

Return man Arkeel Newsome took home his second consecutive returner of the year award as well. Newsome added 4 return touchdowns this year (including the game winning return vs. ECU), which far and away topped the NCAA.

I've been dreaming of this moment my whole life.

I bet you are dreaming about all this hardware we're hauling in too.

[kswgrad2012]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

I thought Greg Ward, Jr. played QB for Houston? Hmm.

Anyway, congrats on the win. On a side note, don't think I've ever seen a more lopsided Heisman vote.

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Conference Championship Results

AAC: #6 UConn def. Houston, 52-31
C-USA: #1 Marshall def. #4 North Texas, 35-28
SEC: #7 South Carolina def. #11 Ole Miss, 27-17
MWC: Boise State def. Fresno State, 26-20 (OT)
Pac-12: #3 UCLA def. #23 Oregon, 34-31
ACC: #10 Clemson def. #8 Virginia, 20-17
Big 10: #12 Minnesota def. #2 Michigan, 33-21
MAC: Kent State def. Western Michigan, 42-21

College Football Playoff Bracket

Extreme underdog Marshall enters as the top seed in the College Football Playoff this season. While they have looked strong every time out this year, they will be tested by the best of the Power 5, as defending champ UCLA, South Carolina (the only team to appear in all 3 CFP's to this point) and run heavy Wisconsin all look to show the committee that Marshall is just another overachieving mid-major.

The Bruins look to defend their title, and play South Carolina again in the semis in what is sure to be a great matchup. The Bruins once again look to be a formidable opponent with regular QB Asiantii Woulard back in the lineup after being injured last year.

Full Bowl Map

To mix it up, I changed some sponsors for the bowl games, seeing as how these change every 30 minutes anyway. Might continue to do this going forward, may even change locations of these games if I want, we'll see. Bowl games with user coaches (Ohio, Marshall) are highlighted. As for UConn, we're sniffing roses!

Gildan New Mexico: Colorado State (6-6) vs. Stanford (7-5)
Famous Idaho Potato: Northern Illinois (7-5) vs. San Diego State (6-6)
San Diego Country Credit Union Poinsettia: #23 USF (8-4) vs. Air Force (8-4)
Bitcoin St. Petersburg: Temple (7-5) vs. #13 Virginia Tech (9-3)
R&L Carriers New Orleans: Tennessee (7-5) vs. Arkansas State (7-5)
Royal Purple Las Vegas: Arizona State (6-6) vs. Boise State (10-3)
Sheraton Hawai'i: Florida International (7-5) vs. UNLV (6-6)
Quick Lane (pres. by Ford): Maryland (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (6-7)
CitiBank Military (pres. by Northrop Grumman): Ohio (6-6) vs. Army (9-3)
Chevron Holiday: Texas (6-6) vs. #19 Washington (8-3)
Belk: Florida State (7-5) vs. Houston (8-5)
Duck Commander Independence: Auburn (7-5) vs. #21 Miami-FL (8-4)
Advocare V100 Texas: Iowa (6-6) vs. West Virginia (6-6)
Russell Athletic: #16 UCF (9-3) vs. #18 Virginia (8-4)
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces: Old Dominion (7-5) vs. Fresno State (7-6)
Foster Farms: Pitt (7-5) vs. Cal (6-6)
Valero Alamo: TCU (7-5) vs. Oregon (9-4)
TicketCity Cactus: Iowa State (7-5) vs. #15 Michigan State (8-4)
Franklin American Mortgage Music City: Alabama (6-6) vs. #17 North Carolina (8-4)
Hyundai Sun Bowl: Arizona (8-4) vs. #24 Georgia Tech (8-4)
AutoZone Liberty: Texas A&M (7-5) vs. Western Kentucky (8-4)
ExxonMobil Heart of Dallas: Utah (6-6) vs. Penn State (6-6)
Outback Bowl: #20 Arkansas (8-4) vs. #11 Ohio State (9-3)
TaxSlayer: Missouri (7-5) vs. #25 Nebraska (8-4)
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus: #22 Florida (8-4) vs. #10 Michigan (10-3)
Birmingham: Louisville (6-6) vs. Georgia (6-6)
GoDaddy.com Kent State (8-5) vs. New Mexico State (8-4)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Year's Six

Discover Orange: #7 Minnesota (10-3) vs. #8 Clemson (11-2)
Goodyear Cotton: Ole Miss (8-4) vs. #14 Oklahoma State (10-2)
Rose pres. by Northwestern Mutual: #5 UConn (12-1) vs. #6 LSU (9-3)
Allstate Sugar: #9 North Texas (11-2) vs. #12 Oklahoma (10-2)

VIZIO Fiesta: (CFP SEMIFINAL) #1 Marshall (13-0) vs. #4 Wisconsin (9-3)
Chick-Fil-A-Peach: (CFP SEMIFINAL) #2 UCLA (11-1) vs. #3 South Carolina (10-3)

College Football Playoff Championship (January 9, Tampa, FL): Winner Fiesta Bowl vs. Winner Peach Bowl

I thought Greg Ward, Jr. played QB for Houston? Hmm.

Anyway, congrats on the win. On a side note, don't think I've ever seen a more lopsided Heisman vote.

Ward played WR up until O'Korn was benched early last season, IIRC. Then after that he played QB.



Note from the Author: And with that....we'll leave you hanging in this cliffhanger for a week. Yay! But seriously, I'm back in school in 12 hours, and I guarantee I will only be able to get out minor news feeds before the Rose Bowl this week. We have a Josh Marriner injury update, game preview, and likely something else to hold you over until the post goes up on Friday night. Don't forget, create-a-coach sign-ups are available on page 46, post 364. They are due on FRIDAY, MAY 1 @ 6:00 P.M. EST. I will not accept late entries, as I am hoping to be playing the opening 2017 game next weekend. As always, thanks for the continued support and I am honored to have you along with the tour while we smell some roses. Get hyped people! Rise up Together!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Marriner ruled out for Rose Bowl

Josh Marriner in action earlier this season.

UConn's star tailback Josh Marriner has been ruled out for the Rose Bowl with a broken forearm, suffered in the 4th quarter of UConn’s 52-31 win over Houston in the American Championship Game.

The 4th year junior has emerged as UConn’s main threat in the backfield in 2016, rushing for 1,315 yards and 15 TD’s, placing him among the top 15 in the nation in each category. Coach Bob Diaco has ruled Ron Johnson the starter for the Rose Bowl, with Arkeel Newsome and Brice McAllister the backups.

Despite the injury, Diaco thinks the gameplan will still be to pound the ball up the gut with Johnson and McAllister, even with All-Americans Christian LaCouture and Deondre Clark on the LSU line. Newsome will be utilized in a scatback, change of pace role.

It's a shame I have to miss the biggest game in UConn history, but I'll be fine in a few weeks. I know Ron and 'Keel will do just fine in my place.

[HARLEE23]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

I am excited to see this all unfold!

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Game Day Eve!! Rise up Together!!!!

How will UConn do without Marriner?

Josh Marriner is injured and done, this we know.

How does the team do?

Good question, but Ron Johnson should do just fine. Johnson has, after all, plowed for over 500 yards and (I think) 14 TD's this season (one off of Marriner for the team lead). He has lots of power, and is the only UConn back capable of tiring out Christian LaCouture and Deondre Clark down on the line. Arkeel Newsome is very similar to Marriner (less power though) and together, they can gain a lot of yards. Bob Diaco is smart enough to know when to use each, and may sprinkle in a couple runs for Matt Walsh and Brice McAllister, too.

We should be fine.

[RoundingThird]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

LSU is trying to recruit me for whatever reason, so this should be fun. I'll go to whichever school wins this one. (JK)

[thesportsguru11]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

Four the Show!

UConn D struggles, Fournette runs wild as LSU wins Rose Bowl

'Twas a good run friends. But alas, we have come up just short in our quest for New Year's Six success, falling to LSU 41-30 in the Granddaddy of 'em all.

Maybe we can't go hollering out the Selection Committee for snubbing UConn in the CFP after all, but heck, we had a great year.

Sadly, it was Leonard Fournette who made it come crashing down for us. The insanely powerful junior tailback pounded the Husky front 7 for 300 yards of rush offense on 26 carries, and allowed folks like QB Brandon Harris to open up the pass game and spell back Darrel Williams to gain 68 yards on a paltry 2 carries.

While we did have a terrible day defensively, we can take solace in the fact that we did keep it close and limited our offensive mistakes until the 4th quarter.

Fact of the matter is, we needed Josh Marriner to really have much of a chance.

Because once Fournette went 75 yards on the second play of the game, we ended up in a hole we could never climb out of.

But in the meantime, Arkeel Newsome did take the ensuing return to the LSU 21, and Ron Johnson was in the end zone in 3 carries.

A pair of field goals ended the scoring in the first half, but Harris broke the game open with a 39 yard read option that completely bamboozled the UConn D, and LSU had control a minute into the 2nd with a 17-10 lead. Bobby Puyol missed a field goal short that left UConn digging.

Colby Delahoussaye, an All-American, connected on a ridiculous 56 yard field goal to put LSU up 20-10 with 3 minutes to go in the first half.

Johnson got his second TD on the board right before the half, and UConn only faced a 20-17 deficit at the half.

UConn would get a big head of steam out of the break when LSU's DeSean Smith made a catch inside the UConn 10 following 3 straight long catches for the Tigers, but Smith had the ball jarred loose by Jordan Floyd, playing in his final collegiate game, and Bednarik winner Junior Joseph recovered.

Unfortunately, UConn went 3 and out, as did LSU.

UConn would start the next possession at the LSU 46, and got key catches from Thomas Lucas (who left injured after that play), and Brian Lemelle (Lucas' replacement), to pull within 19 yards of the go-ahead score.

Newsome would punch in the go-ahead with a 2 yard dive, and UConn had their first lead of the game with 1:26 in the 3rd.

Unfortunately, a visibly tired UConn defense couldn't keep up with Fournette, as his runs of 32 and 28 set up Williams' 18 yard equalizer, 27-24 LSU.

UConn started to see the game slip away early in the 4th when Bryant Shirreffs (who had a REALLY quiet day) hit a groove and completed 3 straight passes to pull into the red zone.

Johnson's carries of 9 and 7 set up a goalline pass to Dhameer Bradley, who hung on, but lost the ball at the 4 courtesy of John Battle. Jamal Adams fell on it, and that would be the start of the demise for UConn.

Trey Quinn's 8 yard TD catch put LSU up 34-24, and following an INT from Corey Thompson, LSU wore down the clock and left Pasadena with a basket full of roses. Oh, and the win, too.

Sorry we couldn't deliver the knockout punch folks. Just not enough in the tank to finish, but we got some good days out of Johnson (22 rush, 99 yds, 2 TD) and 'Keel (2 rushing TD's). Shirreffs quietly tossed 298 yards.

But hey, we came close. 12-2 is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it's the best season in UConn history. If only we had beaten Navy...

That's all for now folks, hope you have enjoyed the 2016 edition of UConn's tram tour.

Storrs/E. Hartford, we're playoff gunning in 2017, baby!

LSU Tigers at Connecticut Huskies
Jan 1, 2017	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#6 LSU Tigers (10-3)	10	10	7	14	41
#5 Connecticut Huskies (12-2)	10	7	7	6	30

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		LSU	CONN
6:20	(LSU) Fournette 75 run (Delahoussaye kick)	7	0
5:35	(CONN) Johnson 1 run (Puyol kick)	7	7
2:25	(LSU) Delahoussaye 33 FG	10	7
:48	(CONN) Puyol 19 FG	10	10
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		LSU	CONN
6:02	(LSU) Harris 39 run (Delahoussaye kick)	17	10
3:01	(LSU) Delahoussaye 56 FG	20	10
:53	(CONN) Johnson 1 run (Puyol kick)	20	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		LSU	CONN
1:26	(CONN) Newsome 2 run (Puyol kick)	20	24
:19	(LSU) Williams 18 run (Delahoussaye kick)	27	24
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		LSU	CONN
5:01	(LSU) Harris 8 pass Quinn (Delahoussaye kick)	34	24
1:20	(LSU) Smith 1 run (Delahoussaye kick)	41	24
:31	(CONN) Newsome 1 run (Conversion No Good)	41	30

LSU Tigers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Brandon Harris 14-17 272 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Leonard Fournette 26 300 11.5 1 Brandon Harris 5 59 11.8 1 Darrel Williams 2 68 34.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD DeSean Smith 7 101 14.4 1 Trey Quinn 3 29 9.6 1 Melvin Jones 1 25 25.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jamal Adams 9 0 0 0 Clifton Garrett 9 0 0 0 Duke Riley 6 0 0 0

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Bryant Shirreffs 16-23 298 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Ron Johnson 22 99 4.5 2 Arkeel Newsome 8 20 2.5 2 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Noel Thomas 5 94 18.8 0 Dhameer Bradley 3 50 16.6 0 Damon Mitchell 2 73 36.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Junior Joseph 9 0 0 0 Jordan Floyd 7 0 0 0 Vontae Diggs 5 0 0 0

[HARLEE23]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

That is upsetting! I know some people don't believe in moral victories, but I do! I believe this season was a moral victory!

[whughes]

Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)

There's no shame in 12-2, specially looking at your previous 2 seasons with the team. The key now is to continue the winning into next season and not slip back into mediocrity