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

[thesportsguru11]

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

Considering you own teams at home, why not call it the property. You no longer rent, you own.

Edit: Lol, I tried

That is freaking brilliant. Infinitely better than the jungle.

Go BG! Freday's offense better come up big. He's craving a head coaching job.

Some UConn fan you are. Haha. As for the HC gig, Quinn Shea is the only one who can get lucky enough to land a job where his offense is immortal. At times I wish I'd have let Diaco walk to USC.. we could've landed Shea instead.

Even so, I think Ohio's Woodard has a great chance at landing a head job if that Bobcat offense keeps walking over everyone. Joey Duckworth has more TD's than incompletions I believe.

Oh well.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Big 12 looking to geographically organize new divisions; More changes coming?

American making play on Marshall, North Texas

With the Big 12 back at 12 teams following the over-the-summer adds of UConn and Houston, commissioner Bob Bowlsby is looking to shape his new divisions in such a way as that they make sense geographically. With 5 teams from Texas and 2 from Oklahoma, someone is going to be left out in the new alignment.

As of right now, that someone may be Oklahoma State. The proposed divisions line up a Panhandle Division, featuring the 5 Texas teams and Oklahoma, and a North Division, featuring both Kansas teams, Iowa State, West Virginia, UConn and Oklahoma State.

Panhandle Division:
Baylor
Houston
Oklahoma
Texas
Texas Tech
TCU

North Division:
UConn
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
West Virginia

As you could imagine, Oklahoma State is clearly miffed about potentially being left out of the stronger Panhandle Division.

In effect, the Big 12 now has three options to revise the division alignment, and that is the topic of this article.

A.) Bring Oklahoma to the North and send someone else to the South, even if it doesn't make sense geographically.

The ageless T. Boone Pickens won't tolerate having Oklahoma State playing second fiddle in a conference it has been in since seemingly before he was born. But in this case, to prevent further revolt, the Big 12 may need to suck it up and nix the geographic alignment, even if slightly.

B.) Change divisions to East and West.

This one makes the most sense. It could, in some way, even out the power in the two divisions (UConn/Iowa State are on the rise, and K-State and West VA are solid each year while there is a floor and ceiling in the West in Baylor/Texas Tech and Oklahoma, repsectively) and keep protected rivalries, such as OU-OK St., Texas-Texas Tech and Kansas-K-State, alive and well each season. It could look like this:

EAST:
UConn
West Virginia
Kansas
Kansas State
Houston
Iowa State

WEST:
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas Tech
TCU
Baylor

C.) Leave the divisions to the original alignment and let all parties face any potential consequences.

It would be a daring move to make, as Oklahoma State would almost certainly take action if things didn't fall their way, but the Big 12 and Bowlsby could stick to the original plan and let things play out. The plan behind the original alignment was well-thought out and had good intentions, they just had one too many teams.

We'll see what the Big 12 does.

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

American negotiating with North Texas, Marshall, Army

Word has broken that the American Athletic Conference (a.k.a. the Conference USA rebranding) is looking at two former C-USA members to fill the vacated space of UConn and Houston come next fall.

Officials from Marshall and North Texas met in Providence, Rhode Island last week to discuss terms of joining the conference and expanding the AAC back to 12 teams. Both are optimal candidates, as Marshall's stock is drastically on the rise following a surprise CFP run and North Texas broke multiple school records on the way to a New Year's Day Bowl for the first time in school history last season.

Both have been popular candidates to move for about a year now. North Texas was briefly in discussion to join the Big 12 before Houston was chosen to join.

Reports also state that Army and FIU are potential candidates to jump into the AAC as well. Official word on new members should be out later this season.

[DrGravyBoat]

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

Right now, I like the second option. It keeps rivalries intact and is probable less travel for a team like UCONN.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Right now, I like the second option. It keeps rivalries intact and is probable less travel for a team like UCONN.

TBH, I am leaning toward that option. But, we still have lots of time before the end of the season, so we'll see if I can devise something even better.

[AdamJones113]

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

Long dynasty you got going on here! I'll have to read through it in the next few days as time permits.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Long dynasty you got going on here! I'll have to read through it in the next few days as time permits.

Yeah, by far the longest I've done on these boards. Even more amazing that this has been done over just 6 months. By comparison, ksw's Tulane chise has been going for a year and a half or something and he's at 600 something posts.

Anyway, read up now, because once noon hits on Friday, I'm off and running with posts fast and furious. If I'm anything like I was over my February break, we'll be getting a season done every two weeks this summer, so we'll hit 2020 by the fall.

[thesportsguru11]

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

One more news post to hold us over before the Bowling Green game.

Best Buy new corporate sponsor of Rose Bowl

As new sponsors for bowl games are being released, the biggest change for this year is the newest sponsor of the Rose Bowl.

Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics chain in the U.S.A., has signed on to a minimum 3 year sponsorship deal of the granddaddy of 'em all, which is hosting a semifinal game in the College Football Playoff this season. Best Buy has the option of extending the contract to run into the next time the Rose Bowl hosts the College Football Playoff, which would be in the 2020 season.

Best Buy is new to the college football scene. While they have sponsored ESPN broadcasts, they have done nothing more, and have wanted to up their support of college athletics.

A new logo for the game is soon to be revealed, as are coporate sponsor/name changes for other bowl games. An estimated date for both is October.

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

Cigna, Rentschler Field lobbying for bowl game in East Hartford

Reports out of the Hartford Courant in the last week have stated that Cigna and Rentschler Field have sent paperwork to the NCAA inquiring a new bowl game, to be held at the Rent (a.k.a. The Property ) and corporately sponsored completely by Cigna.

The NCAA has received the paperwork, but declined to comment further at this time.

Cigna, headquartered in Bloomfield, is a global health services organization and is a Fortune 500 company.

"This is something we've been looking at for a while. We've hosted some NCAA Tournament games lately, and are looking to further our outreach to the NCAA. It's all a matter of seeing if the NCAA accepts.

2017 has been a busy year for UConn's athletic department, as UConn's men's and women's basketball teams made their respective Final Fours, the school announced a move to the Big 12 conference for the 2018-19 academic year, and the football team qualified for their second ever New Year's Six bowl game in January.

[Coach P]

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

Itching for an update here

[thesportsguru11]

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

Itching for an update here

Don't worry, the last of my exams is tomorrow and, being a half day, I'll get something up. Just have to get through a half day on Friday and I'm home for the next 2 weeks.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Shirreffs, Huskies dispatch Bowling Green

If there's anything Bob Diaco has become known for at UConn, it's his stifling defense and wicked slow starts in games.

Much like this week 4 game against Bowling Green at The Property, in which #24 UConn allowed the Falcons to tie the game after a quarter before pulling away, scoring 28 unanswered the rest of the way. UConn swept both ends of the home and home with the win.

Though it has been Josh Marriner leading the way on offense since the beginning of last season, today it was Bryant Shirreffs and his 4 TD passes that carried the Husky offense which ran, or should I say threw, circles around the BG defense. Again.

Points were few and far between early on, as it took almost an entire quarter to tack on the game's first points, when Shirreffs threw his first of a quartet of TD's to Thomas Lucas from 34 yards out.

Bowling Green actually did show signs of life early on offense, as Brandon English broke a few big runs up the heart of the UConn D. At the end of the first, it was Jasper Haley who tied up the game at 7 with a 6 yard scamper.

Toward the middle of the 2nd though, UConn started to break the game open. Arkeel Newsome (2-time NCAA Return man of the year, mind you), brought back a punt to the BG 43, and Marriner broke off runs of 6, 7 and a 17 yard run to put UConn back on top.

Bowling Green would make a crucial mistake on their next drive though. They made some headway, getting to about the 36 yard line, set up by an English run of 35.

However, they were stopped short of a first, and elected to bring out the field goal unit for a 53 yard field goal from Matt Davis. Only it wasn't a field goal.

BG decided to fake. Oh, Sam Freday, you never fail to disappoint.

Chris Williams, QB and holder, took the snap and got absolutely nowhere, as UConn sent out the block return package, and had it snuffed out from the get go.

UConn took over from the 35, and after a pair of Tommy Myers receptions of 21 and 19, UConn was cooking. Lucas (his 3rd and last catch of the game...all TD's) would be the benefactor of another TD pass, this time burning mismatched safety Nilijah Ballew while Myers helped block the last man between Lucas and the end zone. Touchdown UConn, with a 21-7 halftime lead.

BG went a trio and out on their first drive of the 3rd, and UConn responded with a TD from, who else, Lucas. 45 yards in single coverage, if you were curious.

UConn's defense, led by TFL's from Junior Joseph, Vontae Diggs and Cam Stapleton, continued to swarm Williams like moths to a flame. BG 3 and out.

The final bell tolled when Marriner broke a 19 yard run up the left sideline to set up a TD catch from ...... (GASP!) Jeff McNeal. Oh yeah. You remember him from about 2 seasons ago, right? Right?

Not only did we see the first action out of McNeal, but we also saw the first reps of young David Hamilton, the QB heir to be.

Sadly, he threw a pick to Aaron Banks, but so be it. In all honesty, I forced it.

So UConn continues to roll at The Property, where they haven't lost in damn near two years. Impressive, eh? Sorry Coach Freday, you've got nothing on us, I'm afraid. But it's OK. No one does. Except Navy.

But we mustn't get ahead of ourselves. #13 Missouri (will be 4-0) next week, led by .... (GASP!) ... a scrambling QB. Who happens to be better than Tago Smith, Will Worth, Chris Williams, and whoever else you throw at us. Combined. We'll get a scouting report later.

See you back at The Property next (all licensing agreements go to DrGravyBoat. Thanks!!!!)

Bowling Green Falcons at Connecticut Huskies
Sep 16, 2017	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Bowling Green Falcons (1-1)	7	0	0	0	7
#24 Connecticut Huskies (2-0, 1-0)	7	14	14	0	35

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		BGSU	CONN
1:34	(CONN) Shirreffs 34 pass Lucas (McCray kick)	0	7
:22	(BGSU) Haley 6 run (Davis kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		BGSU	CONN
2:18	(CONN) Marriner 17 run (McCray kick)	7	14
:29	(CONN) Shirreffs 22 pass Lucas (McCray kick)	7	21
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		BGSU	CONN
5:40	(CONN) Shirreffs 45 Lucas (McCray kick)	7	28
1:09	(CONN) Shirreffs 5 pass McNeal (McCray kick)	7	35

Bowling Green Falcons PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Chris Williams 15-21 127 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Brandon English 12 114 9.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Brandon English 8 57 7.1 0 Matt Cooper 4 36 9.0 0 Roger Lewis 2 32 16.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Patric Hannon 11 0 0 0 Nilijah Ballew 7 0 0 0 Aaron Banks 3 0 1 0

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Bryant Shirreffs 13-18 239 4 0 David Hamilton 1-3 6 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Josh Marriner 20 85 4.2 1 Ron Johnson 10 44 4.4 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Thomas Lucas 3 101 33.6 3 Tommy Myers 3 57 19.0 0 Jonathan Haden 3 40 13.3 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Junior Joseph 6 0 0 0 Cameron Stapleton 5 2 0 0 Sammie Leonard 3 1 0 0

[thesportsguru11]

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

Few Minor Notes:

- @ Coach P: I sent you a PM, if you haven't seen it. I figured it out.

- 20,000 views coming later today. Holy s***.

- UConn is on a bye in Week 5. Thought we were playing, but no Missou 'till Week 6. DUHHHH. That's what I get for burning my brain for finals.

- Recruiting Update next. Because..what else are we supposed to do over a bye?

- Ohio is f-ing tearing up the MAC. And greater Big 12 area. mattynokes would be proud of his ex-NFL QB coach because Joey Duckworth needs some Heisman Love.













Week 4 Create-A-Coach Results

Quinn Shea (HC, USC; thesportsguru11)

W (2-1, 2-0) 31-28 vs. Cal (2-2, 1-1)

M. Browne: 17-26, 226 yds, 2 TD
D. Marshall: 21 rush, 98 yds
J. Smith: 8 rec, 114 yds, TD
A. Brown: 11 tckl (4 TFL), 1.5 sck

Week 5: vs. #12 Arizona State (3-0)


Brian Woodard (OC, Ohio; mattynokes)

W (3-0) 42-35 vs. Texas Tech (1-2)

J. Duckworth: 20-27, 249 yds, 4 TD
D. Brown: 25 rush, 133 yds, 2 TD
B. Cope: 12 rec, 141 rec, TD
C. Moore: 6 tckl (2 TFL), sck

Week 5: BYE


Max Crenshaw (OC, Central Michigan; whughes)

W (2-1) 27-17 vs. Utah (1-3)

D. Wood: 12-27, 277 yds, TD
C. Stith: 22 rush, 93 yds, 2 TD
J. Carson: 4 rec, 118 yds

Week 5: @ Buffalo (0-2)


Sam Freday (OC, Bowling Green, RoundingThird)

L (1-2) 7-35 vs. #24 UConn (3-0)

C. Williams: 15-21, 127 yds
B. English: 12 rush, 114 yds, 8 rec, 57 yds
P. Hannon: 11 tckl

Week 5: vs. Western Michigan (3-0)


Kaelyn Willingham (OC, Rice; kswgrad2012)

W (3-0) 35-22 vs. Baylor (0-2)

J. Jones: 27-35, 360 yds, 3 TD
K. Hicks: 13 rush, 78 yds, TD, 8 rec, 102 yds
T. Alaka: 7 rec, 84 yds
G. Schantz: 10 tckl (2 TFL), .5 sck

Week 5: BYE


Jordan James (OC, UTSA; HARLEE23)

BYE (1-1)

Week 5: @ #19 Georgia (2-2)

[thesportsguru11]

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

eBay, Amazon joining bowl sponsor ranks in 2017-18

A full list of corporate sponsor changes for this year's college football bowl games have been released, and several heavy hitters in the industry business are buying into college football's postseason.

eBay and Amazon are arguably the two biggest names to join the ranks, the former taking over sponsorship of the Foster Farms Bowl (formerly Kraft Fight Hunger), the latter tying into make the Amazon Las Vegas Bowl.

Other big names that will be sponsoring bowl games this year include Time Warner Cable (Godaddy.com) and Bank of America (Belk).

A full list of changes is below:

Old Bowl Name		New Bowl Name
GoDaddy.com Bowl		Time Warner Cable Bowl
Las Vegas Bowl		Amazon Las Vegas Bowl
Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl		Tropicana St. Petersburg Bowl
Foster Farms Bowl		eBay.com Bowl
Outback Bowl		TECO Energy Outback Bowl
TaxSlayer.com Bowl		Fidelity.com Jacksonville Bowl
Rose Bowl pres. by Northwestern Mutual		Rose Bowl pres. by Best Buy
Gildan New Mexico Bowl		Royal Purple New Mexico Bowl
ExxonMobil Heart of Dallas Bowl		ExxonMobil Dallas Bowl
Belk Bowl		Bank of America Bowl

Check this out....

I was dubbing around on the dynasty editor this morning while my brother was playing Minecraft on the PS3...found this.



Is that kswgrad2012/Rice's pride at QB, Jeremy Jones, in the Heisman race? But of course.

Granted I am about 3 weeks ahead in-dynasty, and Jones isn't quite on the watch list, but still neat.

Just thought I'd show that for amusement. Not revealing Rice's record to where I am, but any chance a Heisman winner gets you a head coaching gig?

[RoundingThird]

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

Stop destroying us. How am I supposed to get a HC job if you keep shutting down my offense?

[whughes]

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

Much better start to the season for my Chips than last year. MACC here we come!

[thesportsguru11]

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

UConn Recruiting Check-In

One of UConn's top targets is local tailback Luke Williamson. Williamson reminds the staff very much of former bowling ball Max DeLorenzo, who was in the same mold as Williamson. While Williamson, as expected, lacks top end speed or deadly elusiveness, he makes up for it with a solid skill set with the ball in his hands. His stiff arm is very good, and his power moves will continue to grow with time. Williamson could be a very good prospect for UConn.




UConn has a veteran group of linebackers, and coach Diaco has been recruiting lots of potential replacements for guys like Junior Joseph, Vontae Diggs and Luke Carrezola. However, Diaco doesn't seem overly excited about any of them. Perhaps this class will make him feel differently. UConn is currently in the lead for 4* 'backer Scott Coffman of Piedmont, AL. Coffman's size isn't very intimidating, but his skills are rather refined for a prospect of his age. His speed is good, and excels in coverage, making him a perfect potential left outside backer in UConn's 3-4 scheme.




UConn has produced a pair of Bednarik Award winners out of the middle linebacker spot in the past 3 seasons. Could the Canadian Mike Hill make it 3?

Hill's speed isn't great, but he has great instincts and can get into the backfield. However, his tackling technique may need a bit of work. Regardless, Hill is a very good prospect and can thrive under the genius of Diaco.




UConn hit it big two seasons ago in landing athlete Jeff McNeal, and the now redshirt freshman is already making a name for himself in a variety of ways for UConn. 3* Mississippi native Kyler Parks could be the next athlete to find success.

Parks has been playing receiver, corner and safety in high school, but he will materialize at corner should he commit to UConn. Parks has great speed and is overall a good athlete, so Parks could be used in other roles, such as return man when Arkeel Newsome graduates next spring.




Moving to the receivers to close out this check-in, we find 4* North Carolina native Carlton Parker, who has been receiving lots of interest from top programs this season. Parker is another speedster who has been playing receiver this season, but his hands aren't great, and could easily transition to a scatback role at UConn.




Lastly, we find New York/New Jersey native Ja'Montres Jones, a big target at tight end/wideout at 6'5, 244. Graded as the 3rd best tight end in the nation this year, Jones may have Diaco's attention at receiver, just because of his size. Regardless, with UConn in need of more weapons in the passing game as early as next season, Jones would be a great pickup.

Stop destroying us. How am I supposed to get a HC job if you keep shutting down my offense?

Then you really shouldn't have asked for this home and home.

Much better start to the season for my Chips than last year. MACC here we come!

Indeed. MAC as a whole looks better this year. While Ohio will be pacing the pack most likely after their red-hot start, BG, CMU and WMU are all looking like decent bets to go far as well. Lot of doormats this year though (Toledo, EMU, Buffalo, Northern Illinois).