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

[Knickerbocker91]

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

So with Oregon's loss, USC is the clear #1. I'm curious to see how the Top 4 will be seeded. I cant imagine Oregon falling to #4 simply because the committee would have a rematch immediately after the Pac 12 title in the semifinal matchup. So Oregon is either the #2 or the #3 seed, and I think it'll end up being USC-Nebraska and UConn-Oregon. Looks like the Huskies will have to make the Title Game to see their old friend in TDL.

Quinn Shea's happy to have to the momentum of the close win.

[thesportsguru11]

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

So with Oregon's loss, USC is the clear #1. I'm curious to see how the Top 4 will be seeded. I cant imagine Oregon falling to #4 simply because the committee would have a rematch immediately after the Pac 12 title in the semifinal matchup. So Oregon is either the #2 or the #3 seed, and I think it'll end up being USC-Nebraska and UConn-Oregon. Looks like the Huskies will have to make the Title Game to see their old friend in TDL.

Quinn Shea's happy to have to the momentum of the close win.

You nailed it right on the head -- USC and Oregon have to be split up because of last week's matchup and USC is locked in at #1, meaning the worst Oregon can do is #3.

The only real debate in any of this is does Nebraska deserve to be ranked ahead of us. The Huskers have the better record, but have a loss to a 6-6 Illinois squad and that loss came late in the season; we've won eight straight, on the other hand, and our losses came to a pair of ranked opponents in Penn State and Virginia Tech.

I'd say that because our win in Champ Week was "better" (#3 GA Tech vs. #9 Ohio State who had one win fewer than Tech), there is justification in keeping UConn ahead of Nebraska at #2 or #3 while the Huskers settle for #4. It's nice that seeding is the only issue with this year's playoffs, and even then it really isn't a huge debate. It's much better than agonizing over who gets the last spot out of three teams.

I badly want a rematch with Oregon after what happened last season and it's highly likely we get it in the semis; but you all know the team I want is USC. My CAC is there, I've been cheering on USC all of my childhood in real life, the TDL storyline.. it's just too perfect. Ice-Jax vs. TDL on the field to settle the score once and for all would be the greatest game yet in this dynasty.

The only downside to all of this is that your brilliant author decided midway through the season how awesome it would be to have the Title Game at the Coliseum this year... which, as fate would have it, would give USC home field advantage in the Title Game, should they get there.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Playoff Bracket Released; UConn gets rematch with Oregon in Orange Bowl

For a change, there was no debate about who would occupy the four spots in the College Football Playoff this year. With Nebraska’s win over Ohio State and USC knocking off previously undefeated Oregon, the Playoff Committee was able to sit back on Saturday night and sip some cocktails as the four best teams were clear; Pac-12 Champ USC, the team they defeated in Oregon, Big 10 Champ Nebraska and ACC Champ UConn. The bracket looks quite similar to last year as Oregon, Nebraska and UConn all made it to the Final Four last year as well.

UConn and Oregon will get their national title rematch from a year ago in the semifinals; they get the late game on New Year’s Day when they face off in the Capital One Orange Bowl. The two teams are getting quite familiar with one another; this will be their third matchup in the playoff over the last five years, with UConn winning the 2017 Sugar Bowl semifinal and Oregon taking the National Title Game last year. The Ducks make the playoff for the record fourth time and will look for their third title under Mark Helfrich, while UConn is in the Final Four for the third time, but first under Stephen Belichick.

Top seeded USC and Big 10 champ Nebraska get the early game in Dallas’ Cotton Bowl. The Huskers are returning to the playoff looking to a second consecutive semifinal exit, while USC is looking for their second title in four years under young star coach Quinn Shea.

Should USC and UConn make the final, the game will showcase two former teammates against each other at QB in Tanner Dean-Lowry (grad transfered from UConn to USC last year) and UConn QB Isaac Jackson.

The winners will face off in Los Angeles’ Coliseum on January 10th to decide the 2021 National Champion.

Full Bowl Map

For those who haven’t been following that closely, I change up bowl names regularly. If there are any questions about which bowl game became what, let me know and I’ll repost some lists.

Bowl	Team	Team
Sports Authority Bowl Denver	#21 (9-3)	(9-4)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	(7-6)	(6-6)
Dish Network Poinsettia Bowl	(8-4)	(9-3)
Tropicana St. Petersburg Bowl	(8-4)	(7-5)
CenturyLink New Orleans Bowl	(9-3)	(7-5)
Amazon Las Vegas Bowl	(6-6)	(9-4)
Sheraton Aloha Bowl	(9-3)	(6-6)
Ford Motor City Bowl	(6-6)	(7-5)
CitiBank Military Bowl	(7-5)	(6-6)
Chevron Holiday Bowl	#25 (8-4)	#11 (9-3)
Nassau Paradise Island Bahamas Bowl	#13 (9-3)	(7-5)
Camping World Independence Bowl	(9-4)	(7-5)
Target Bowl Minneapolis	(9-3)	#20 (9-4)
Phillips 66 Bluebonnet Bowl	(7-5)	(7-5)
Cessna Armed Forces Bowl	(8-5)	(8-4)
Intel Silicon Valley Classic	(6-6)	#15 (9-2)
Valero Alamo Bowl	#23 (8-4)	(6-6)
Buffalo Wild Wings Cactus Bowl	(8-4)	#17 (8-4)
Dollar General Music City Bowl	(7-5)	(6-6)
Sysco Sun Bowl	(7-5)	#10 (9-3)
Garden State Bowl	(7-5)	#19 (8-4)
Fidelity Financial Bowl	(8-4)	(6-6)
NextEra Energy Citrus Bowl	(8-5)	#16 (9-3)
AutoNation Cigar Bowl	(7-5)	#18 (8-4)
AutoZone Liberty Bowl	(6-6)	(9-4)
Windy City Chicago Bowl	(6-6)	(7-5)
Hall of Fame Classic	#24 (11-2)	(7-5)
NEW YEAR'S SIX
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	#14 (10-3)	#6 (10-2)
Farmers Insurance Rose Bowl	#12 (9-3)	#5 (10-2)
Microsoft Fiesta Bowl	#9 (9-3)	#8 (10-3)
Allstate Sugar Bowl	#7 (10-3)	#22 (9-4)
Capital One Orange Bowl (CFP SEMI)	#3 (12-1)	#2 (11-2)
Goodyear Cotton Bowl (CFP SEMI)	#4 (12-1)	#1 (11-2)
CFP National Championship (Los Angeles, CA)	Winner Orange	Winner Cotton

Bob Diaco/Dynasty Coaching Tree in Bowl Games:

Boise State - HC Barry Odom (Potato Bowl; UConn DC 2018-2020)
Illinois - HC Tim Albin (Motor City Bowl; UConn OC 2016)
UCF - HC Mike Denbrock (Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl; UConn OC 2017)
Tennessee - HC Marty English (Fidelity Financial Bowl; UConn OC 2017)
Oklahoma - DC Anthony Poindexter (Sugar Bowl; UConn DC 2014-16)

CAC in Bowl Games

Century Link New Orleans Bowl - Texas State (OC William Brooks; TheOtherPotterGuy)
Amazon Las Vegas Bowl - Washington State (HC Kaelyn Willingham; kswgrad2012)
Sheraton Aloha Bowl - CAC MATCHUP! - Southern Miss (OC Trent Davis; UKWildcat999) vs. Hawai’i (HC Bob Trebell; DrGravyBoat)
Ford Motor City Bowl - Central Michigan (OC Max Crenshaw; whughes)
Nassau Paradise Island Bahamas Bowl - Middle Tennessee State (OC Equanimeous St. Brown Sr.)
Garden State Bowl - Ball State (OC Jerome Baumann; RaiderAid89)
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Vanderbilt (HC Dale Miller; glunsford)
Windy City Chicago Bowl - UTEP (OC J.J. Mac; RedRaider10)
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl - UCF (OC Connor Turley; convict38)
Goodyear Cotton Bowl - USC (HC Quinn Shea; thesportsguru11)

[thesportsguru11]

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

Early Signing Day Recap

With the end of the early signing period, UConn snagged four more minor recruits to make eleven commits for the Class of 2022. Here are all of the prospects committed to join UConn country next fall now that we've wrapped up the in-season portion of recruiting.

If you'd like to view previous recruiting updates, you may do so by clicking on these links.
Nation's top tailback visiting UConn (Week 4)
Bye Week: First commits and more
UConn Recruiting Update 2 - mid-November

UConn Recruiting - Early Signing Day (as of December 9, 2021)
NAME	POS	CLASS	HOMETOWN	HT	WT	CALIBER
Ashanti Swift	RB	HS	Wayne, NJ	6'1	210
Linzell Tyson	ATH	HS	Paramus, NJ	6'2	211
Morgan Bench	QB	HS	Long Branch, NJ	6'3	219
Quendon Shakespeare	OT	HS	Cranford, NJ	6'6	313
Tevari Lindsay	ATH	HS	North Haven, CT	6'4	288
Jayson Meier	ILB	HS	Sayreville, NJ	6'0	222
Avan Goulding	OLB	HS	Camden, NJ	6'2	220
Darrell Jones	ATH	HS	Ellicott City, MD	6'1	214
Kenny Graves	TE	HS	Orono, ME	6'8	242
Josh Mirvil	TE	HS	Winnsboro, LA	6'1	213
Nate Dotson	ATH	JUCO Jr	West Haven, CT	6'3	275

And below are brief bios on the four newest commits (and two misses) on UConn's recruiting board since we last checked in.

ATH Darrell Jones is likely going to slot at a skill position or in the back end as a safety. Either way, Jones has an upward climb to playing. I rate him as a fringe three-star prospect; he is a bit on the slow side and isn’t particularly good at one thing.

TE Kenny Graves is intriguing because of his size (6’8, 243). Like Jones, he is a bit slow for his position and can’t block, which will make him kind of an odd fit for the offense. His catching is solid and can be developed in time, but Graves will likely need some work before becoming an every-down contributor like a Ryne Thomas or Ja’Montres Jones.

TE Josh Mirvil is the receiver and could be a surprise in this class. He has solid catching attributes for someone of the 2-star status and has good speed and acceleration ratings for his position (70 and 80, respectively). His catch ratings are also solid across the board. What may hold Mirvil back from playing immediately, however, are his poor blocking ratings. Despite that, I've documented that UConn is set to be extremely thin at tight end next year, with no returnees at that position, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on Mirvil in fall camp next year.

ATH Nate Dotson, as is the case for most JUCO guys, is ready to play right now. It appears that Dotson could play on either side of the line; his ratings in scouting indicate he could contribute at defensive tackle right now with high 70s ratings in most of the important defensive line attributes. However, because of need on offense, I’d expect Dotson to slot in at an interior guard position and challenge for minutes, possibly at left guard where Vince Jones will be vacating his spot upon graduation.

Two major prospects UConn missed out on are defensive tackle Gander Mukachukwe (Penn State commit) and tight end Rahmel Petersen (LSU commit). Petersen is a great athlete with blocking tendencies which would have been well utilized, while Mukachukwe could have contended for reps immediately at another weaker spot on the UConn roster along the interior. However, both elected to stay closer to home, and I can't fault anyone for that. We wish them the best in their college careers.

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What’s Next?

With the early signing period behind UConn, several key battles loom into the offseason and for the February signing day. Inside linebacker Marshawn Dortch from Virginia is going to be the top priority - UConn and Alabama are locked in a close race for the four-star prospect who could be a starter next fall for the Huskies, competing alongside rising seniors Mike Hill and Alex Brown.

Athlete Tarik Madison, a three-star New Jersey product who was a late add to the board, is looking more like a gem prospect who would likely slot in at defensive tackle and be another who could contend for playing time right away.

Cornerback Curtis Tuttle is another important prospect UConn will try to snatch. The three-star prospect from North Plainfield, New Jersey is favoring Rutgers, but will be a welcome addition to a cornerback group expecting to lose key backups Kyler Parks and J.D. Rudie, as well as Shavlion Wade, widely expected to jump to the NFL at the close of the 2021 season.

Athlete Olu Wkunde, a four-star prospect from Richmond, Virginia, is still on the board, as are four star wideout Denzel Jones and three star wideout Hashante Morgan.

Other names to keep an eye on are defensive end Ontrell Jackson from New York, as well as linebackers Vasean Gatewood, three-star prospect from New Jersey (favoring Kentucky) and three-star Ohio linebacker Easton Lennox (favoring UConn slightly over Cincinnati), who could both provide depth to a thinning unit.

[thesportsguru11]

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

Defensive End Gardner to miss playoff after breaking wrist

If UConn wants to win a second national title, they’ll have to do it without one of their top defenders. Senior defensive end Altarri Gardner, the two-time Lombardi Award winner and Nagurski Award winner, has been diagnosed with a broken wrist, suffered in the first half of the ACC Title Game against Georgia Tech. He did not return and the recovery time for such an injury is listed as ten weeks, meaning he has played his final game in a UConn uniform.

The two-time Division-I sack leader has become one of the defense’s most valuable pieces over the last two years and his presence as UConn’s top pass rusher will be sorely missed. Junior James Mandrell will remain in his left end spot, while senior Brett Lowery will get the starting nod in Gardner’s place for the Orange Bowl Semifinal - Lowery tallied two sacks in the ACC Title Game. The Louisiana native has made two starts in his career, both coming in place of Sam Rourke when he served his recruiting suspension in 2019.

Gardner is a local product from Derby, Connecticut and was lightly regarded in recruiting - a three-star prospect in the class of 2018 recruited alongside Lowery and Mandrell. Despite that, Gardner has become one of the most underrated players in the first eight seasons of this dynasty. After playing in sub packages for his freshman and sophomore years, Gardner won a starting job before the 2020 season began and recorded 13 sacks, tops in the nation. He followed that up with 18 more sacks this fall, including multiple games of three and four sacks early in the season. Gardner will finish his career with 32 sacks, second most in school history, along with 48 tackles for loss, good for fifth in that statistic.

Obviously it's a shame to see any guy go down hurt, but when it's a senior and a starter as valuable as Altarri it's even more devastating. We'll carry on as best as we can without him, though; Brett [Lowery] has been around a long time and he knows what's he doing, I'm confident in his abilities.

I'm devastated that it has to end this way, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I'm thankful to everyone in Husky Nation for their support and well wishes, and I hope to be good to go when the Draft rolls around. You know I'll be cheering on my teammates and my hometown school from wherever I may be when the Orange Bowl kicks off. Bleed Blue!

[Deuce2223]

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

Jones stats make him look like a Fullback,but I am guessing WR is where he will be rated the highest.

What was Swift's 40 time or I guess what's his speed rating if you have him scouted. Seems like he has the perfect name for a RB.

[nofx94]

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

Tons to read through. You really drive through this thing very quickly. Good luck in the playoff!

[el_rousso]

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

How do you see your chances against Oregon, with Gardner out ?

As far as your commits go, I think I could see Jones being some kind of a coverage LB as well, but he sure is not a big tackler. Graves has interesting catching skills, maybe he could be used in Big formations when you need an additional receiving option, as Mirvil does as well. I also agree with you that Dotson looks like a good defensive prospect, but if you need more depth on the offensive line, maybe he can switch over there for a year and back on defense for his senior season ?

[thesportsguru11]

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

Jones stats make him look like a Fullback,but I am guessing WR is where he will be rated the highest.

What was Swift's 40 time or I guess what's his speed rating if you have him scouted. Seems like he has the perfect name for a RB.

And wideout is likely where he'll end up. He isn't good enough to start immediately at most places on our depth chart (he's just too raw of a prospect), so stashing him at a position of depth and letting him develop could be our best play.

Swift's speed rating (according to the recruits section on the DB editor) is 88 with 91 agility and 92 acceleration. His name may be more apt than I thought!

Thanks for dropping in Deuce!

How do you see your chances against Oregon, with Gardner out ?

As far as your commits go, I think I could see Jones being some kind of a coverage LB as well, but he sure is not a big tackler. Graves has interesting catching skills, maybe he could be used in Big formations when you need an additional receiving option, as Mirvil does as well. I also agree with you that Dotson looks like a good defensive prospect, but if you need more depth on the offensive line, maybe he can switch over there for a year and back on defense for his senior season ?

For the tight ends, because we have two true freshmen at fullback I've been playing both of our tight ends extensively this season - Ja'Montres Jones at fullback where we can better utilize his blocking skills and Ryne Thomas as the traditional pass catching tight end. I was hoping we could've landed Rahmel Petersen as we could've continued to have a blocking specialist and a receiving specialist, but sadly that doesn't appear to be in the cards.

I think Mirvil could be in line to play immediately as a receiver.. but the question is this: I run a lot of I-Form (and sometimes twin tight end sets) to help our running game; Graves has great size, but I wonder if his blocking can improve, as that is his best path to see the field.

Dotson could easily play both ways. I've got a 3-4 look on D that I've been using for years (may or may not be subject to change down the line), but if I want to run more four-down linemen sets Dotson provides much needed depth. As it is right now, I've only got three defensive tackles on the roster next year, but I'm still awaiting a few more decisions in the offseason. If I land someone like Tarik Madison, Dotson won't be needed on defense.

Offensive line depth has been a work in progress for three seasons now - though we have a lot of bodies, I don't have confidence in a lot of them. I think that Dotson likely slots in along the interior. I mentioned in the recap that we're graduating our starting left guard Vince Jones after this season and Dotson could jump into that competition immediately. If he plays well in practice, he'll start, where I wouldn't be able to guarantee the same on defense.

As for Gardner, his loss is certainly big, but not a death sentence. Brett Lowery has been a four-year contributor and has a lot of experience; plus he had two sacks in the ACC Title Game. I think we'll be just fine along the defensive front trying to stop Oregon's Heisman winner Chris McGill and their sensational dual threat QB Nelly DeWeaver.

Thanks again Rousso!

Tons to read through. You really drive through this thing very quickly. Good luck in the playoff!

I don't like to drag things out; I want to play as much as I can when I have time. Being a student with the PS3 at home and not on campus, I try to play on schedules as best as I can. The second half of this season I took care of over my Thanksgiving Break while progressively catching up as I could over the last few weeks of the semester. I finished the playoff and offseason last week knowing that I was away this week and may be busy next week.

This sort of schedule also includes posting while on breaks - naturally because I'm not bogged down by classwork I can get more done in this sort of downtime I've got right now. The games take longer to write up and get prepared to post, so my goal is to finish posting the season before I go back over MLK weekend. Things should settle down after that, I'll take my time posting the offseason and we can get back to a more reasonable pace for readers such as yourself!

As for the playoff, we've definitely got our hands full, but we'll do the best we can! Oregon is a formidable foe as they've got the Heisman winner in McGill and their lovely, even-keel quarterback , but revenge would be so, so nice.

Thanks as always bud!

[Bigsheen]

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

Big fan of the Early Signing Day. Do you recruit all of the prospects that you create?

Sometimes I create a few guys and just let the game go at them and don't recruit them. I'll also recreate a lot of the guys that go uncommitted in a year's recruiting class to a JuCo prospect. Add's a nice little touch to follow guys that you might not get and whatnot.

Sucks about losing Gardner for the CFP. Never easy to lose any starter let alone a stud like him. Hopefully Lowery can keep up his momentum from the ACC Title game.

[thesportsguru11]

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

UConn History: Last Year vs. Oregon and the Forgotten 2017 Semi

Of course, for those who have followed the thread at any point since August, you’re aware of what happened at the end of last season and why this matchup means a lot. Oregon defeated us in last year’s National Championship Game; they denied us our second national title, and it also marked the final game Bob Diaco coached before departing UConn for the NFL (if you read this and want to know how he’s doing, please know that I’ve got an update coming soon!).

Without star tailback Luke Williamson, lost for the game in the prior week’s Sugar Bowl, UConn struggled to move the ball on offense and had a hard time stopping Oregon’s backfield mates DeWeaver and tailback Casey Swanson, now a member of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

While you may remember last year's final, you may also forget that this is the third time UConn and Oregon have met in the CFP: They also played a semifinal in the 2017 (New Year's 2018) Sugar Bowl, one of my favorite games in the dynasty's history: UConn won 10-3 en route to an undefeated 15-0 campaign and the first football national title in school history.

Relive the 10-3 game here and Relive last year’s game here!

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Nelly DeWeaver: One Year Later

One year ago, we were introduced to Oregon’s brash quarterback Nelly DeWeaver.

Their front seven.. I don't know who any of these guys are. They come from the suburbs.. they've got no talent.
We're gonna slice them up.. it's gonna be real hot in therrre tomorrow night and we're going to quack quack those Huskies back to New England.

Yeah I'm good. I know it. We all know it. And now I'm ready to prove it because people still doubt it. Let's go.

The then junior talked a heavy game and backed it up, completing 20 of his 26 passes for 191 yards while running for 197 more on 25 carries and two scores to follow up a fourth-place finish in Heisman voting. As a senior widely viewed as the favorite to win the award entering this fall, DeWeaver didn’t have the accolade season he had hoped for, instead watching his teammate, running back Chris McGill snare college football’s top honor. “That was hard. I wanted it bad, but I want to win too.” DeWeaver has still had a great season, and win he has done. The senior helped lead Oregon to a perfect regular season and playoff berth despite losing for the first time in the Pac-12 Title Game.

He’s been quiet in pre-game, his only real smack-talk coming by way of saying “I never liked dogs” and “of course we’re going to win…. of course”. DeWeaver has remained calm and focused in saying that “there’s a job that has to get done” while not backing off his stance of “wanting to be the best there ever was, period.” The senior, who would’ve likely been the #1 pick in the 2021 Draft had he declared, is widely considered to be a top five pick this spring, with a good chance of going #1 in a strong class for quarterbacks.

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Brandon Garner and Gary Patterson: What Could Have Been

Not only will UConn get a rematch with Oregon, they’ll get a chance to best two guys who almost but didn’t end up in UConn blue. Brandon Garner from Georgia was a wide receiver in last season’s recruiting cycle who chose between college ‘ball’s two top teams on Signing Day in February. Garner, citing the loss of Coach Diaco as a major contributor, chose Oregon, who was gaining a new defensive coordinator as well. Garner has been a solid contributor to the Ducks as a true freshman, racking up 32 catches for 401 yards and five scores. But with Oregon’s top wideouts, Michael Burkett Jr. and Tony Williams, out for the Orange Bowl with various injuries, Garner has been elevated to second receiver on the depth chart and will see a lot of playing time in the biggest game of his young football career.

Gary Patterson was, perhaps inexplicably, fired from TCU after consecutive 5-7 seasons and just two years after guiding the Horned Frogs to two straight playoff appearances. Patterson was one of four finalists hand picked by UConn athletic director Bobby Valentine to replace Bob Diaco as Husky head coach last year. Valentine, of course, went the youth route and tabbed Stephen Belichick, robbing UConn of a chance to run an air raid offense and a 4-2-5 defense. Nevertheless, Patterson has taken his work in stride and done a solid job with a fledgling defensive unit replacing a lot off of the title winning team from a year ago. “No hard feelings against UConn”, Patterson commented. “They did what they wanted to do, and that was that. I’m thankful for the chance Oregon has given me and I’m sure another head coaching job will come along.”

Now? The two get a chance to show that they made the right decision picking Oregon over UConn.

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Big fan of the Early Signing Day. Do you recruit all of the prospects that you create?

Sometimes I create a few guys and just let the game go at them and don't recruit them. I'll also recreate a lot of the guys that go uncommitted in a year's recruiting class to a JuCo prospect. Add's a nice little touch to follow guys that you might not get and whatnot.

Sucks about losing Gardner for the CFP. Never easy to lose any starter let alone a stud like him. Hopefully Lowery can keep up his momentum from the ACC Title game.

I actually did not create any prospects - I've used mattrd39's 2016 Class for this season with (most of) the real players' names edited by me to something made-up.

For next season my hope is to do some recruit editing of my own through the DB editor in terms of names, skin tones and ratings to diversify the recruit pool a bit now that I've used both of Matt's classes... I'm the type of compulsive player who doesn't want to recruit a white running back named John Smith. I may do some creating of prospects in addition for next season, and in that case I would try to recruit all of them or as many as I could.

Early signing day is of course something that has sprung up only since the game was released, so I feel that the end of the regular season is a decent substitute as you can't do any recruiting after Week 15. I know others on the boards have started to do the same, and I agree that it's a nice place to take stock of everything so far and look ahead to the offseason recruiting!

By the way, the JUCO/uncommitted idea is a very good one - I hadn't thought of something like that before but I'll tuck that away as something I could do down the line. It always bothered me that those uncommitted, no matter their prestige, always kind of disappeared; sometimes in real life they do disappear, but of course a bunch of them do resurface elsewhere with time.

Gardner's ability to apply pressure is indeed tough to replace considering Oregon's strength in the backfield. Gardner would have been matched up against right guard Triplett and right tackle Boor. They're solid, but Gardner would have definitely had the advantage against both. Lowery can easily handle them too, but the matchup becomes more of a toss-up with him in the game. Lucky us he has the experience and the hot-hand; as you mentioned, his good play last game could definitely carry over.

Thanks bigsheen!

[thesportsguru11]

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

Nebraska ruins my dreams, defeats USC in epic Cotton Bowl to reach CFP Final

Much like last year, the early game in the CFP Semis was a thriller. Top-ranked USC, coming off a surprising upset and Pac-12 Title Game win over previously undefeated Oregon, was favored by the media to win the Cotton Bowl and, more importantly, favored by me. However, despite the best efforts of Coach Quinn Shea (my CAC) and former UConn QB Tanner Dean-Lowry, the Trojans were bested by the Cornhuskers of Nebraska in a 38-35 thriller of a Goodyear Cotton Bowl.

Scott Frost’s squad jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead on the strength of two Isaac Zazzarion touchdown passes. USC’s sophomore tailback Baron Baggarly cut the lead to 21-14 by taking the half’s opening kickoff 102 yards for a score, and USC clawed to within three points by the end of the third. However, Zazzarion threw two more important touchdowns in the fourth to Brian Larson and Wyatt Osterlund. TDL threw a late touchdown to Baggarly to pull back within a field goal, but couldn’t recover the onside, sealing up Nebraska’s victory.

Both offenses played phenomenal games. TDL threw for 226 yards and four touchdowns while Zazzarion countered with 180 yards and four scores of his own, three of which going to the 6-foot-7 sophomore Larson. Neither team committed a turnover in the entire contest. Michael Doler of Nebraska led all rushers with 95 yards.

“We couldn’t quite do enough”, commented Shea on his team’s defeat. “We had a great group of guys this year, and I thought we had a real shot to pull through for another championship; we had ridden a lot of momentum into the Playoff. I know Tanner wanted to see UConn in the Final, but it wasn’t meant to be. We just ran into a team that was a little better”.

Though I am extremely disappointed that the hopes of a USC-UConn dream matchup fell by the waysides, it’s hard to be mad at Coach Shea. In five seasons as head coach, the 28-year old Boston College alum is 58-12 and has guided USC to the playoff three times, winning it all in 2018.

USC finishes their 2021 campaign at 11-3; their losses all came to teams that will likely end the year in the AP Top 10; they lost to Cal and Oregon in the regular season in addition to this defeat. The Big 10 Champion Cornhuskers advance to 13-1 ahead of the Title Game, where they will meet the winner of tonight’s Orange Bowl (Oregon or UConn) in one week’s time.

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

Aside from the Author: My dynasty has accurately predicted the future before - UConn A.D. Warde Manuel going to Michigan, for example. Scott Frost coaching Nebraska came true as well - and with that, Nebraska will make the Playoff by 2020. Book it.

[thesportsguru11]

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

CFP SEMI - ORANGE BOWL

(3) 37 --- 12-2

(2) 49 --- 12-2

Revenge Colored Orange

Record Breaker Ice-Jax, Huskies stage another second-half comeback, top Oregon 49-37 in playoff rematch to advance to second straight National Title Game; UConn comeback aided by injuries to Heisman winner McGill, Nelly



We're onto the Title Game!

For the second straight game, UConn’s late season hot streak and magical playoff run was about to crash and burn right in front of their faces.

Until Isaac Jackson willed UConn to a 42 point explosion in the second half of the Capital One Orange Bowl.

Staring Oregon right between the eyes in the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row, Jackson and co. finally got the one they wanted (well.. One of them, at least). A year removed from a sloppy performance in the National Title Game that contributed to UConn’s defeat on the sport’s biggest stage, it was Jackson, the senior leader, the king of clutch, who bailed out UConn from a slow start and kept the drive for title number two alive and well. Faced with a 24-7 halftime deficit, UConn got some lucky bounces and timely play on both sides of the ball en route to a 49-37 decision that advance the Huskies to the National Title Game for the second straight year and the third time in five years.

If you only watched the first half, however, you would have never suspected the outcome that was soon to come.

UConn turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions; two interceptions from Oregon’s sophomore linebacker Jaronday Peppers, and then a forced fumble and recovery from Stanford Johnson as Jackson tried to run a read option just a few yards shy of the end zone.

Jaronday Peppers keyed a fantastic first half defensively for Oregon with his two interceptions.

On the other end, however, it was all Oregon. The Ducks lit up UConn to the tune of 46 points and 300+ rush yards in last year’s Title Game, and started out looking as if they were on track to do it again.

Nelly DeWeaver, the soul godfather and top spokesman of Oregon football, was instrumental to the early success as he ran for 85 yards over Oregon’s first few drives and chipped in their first score; a five yard touchdown to show that UConn’s defense still had not found an answer for his legs. By the end of the first quarter, Oregon had built up a 14-0 lead.

Second verse same as the first?

It would have appeared so, had Oregon not lost both of their star players in the second quarter. First, Heisman winning tailback Chris McGill left the game with what would turn out to be a ruptured disk - not to return. The second? Nelly DeWeaver left with some bruised ribs. He ended up missing the second and third quarters of play while he was being tended to on the sideline, but UConn was afforded a chance to make amends for their slow start.

Even then, that was a tough ask as UConn finished out the first half sloppily. Their lone highlight was Ice-Jax leading a touchdown drive - during which he became UConn’s single-season passing leader - Luke Williamson (98 yards on the day) ran in the touchdown from two yards out to cut the lead in half.

The story for UConn was miscues and poor play in the first half - not counting Ice-Jax’s three turnovers, the usually reliable freshman kicker Anthony Ricciardi missed a 35 yard field goal and UConn continued to get gashed on the ground defensively by Oregon’s backups. Willie Taylor ran in a score for Oregon while Kai Tago led the offense efficiently. Tyler Whitworth chipped in a 47 yard field goal to help Oregon build up a 24-7 lead at halftime.

After the half, however? The Iceman cometh, once again.

Jackson led three straight touchdown drives out of the half to give UConn their first lead in the game by the end of the third quarter. 100-yard rusher J.P. Byers’ one yard touchdown run capped off a sixteen play drive. Jackson pitched a beautiful ball to an open Devin Brown on an in route and the Utah native raced past a host of Ducks for a 58 yard touchdown catch and run.

Devin Brown’s 58 yard touchdown catch and run shifted the game’s momentum in UConn’s favor for good.

The last touchdown was set up, in fact, by UConn’s defense, who suddenly looked inspired. Tago rolled out on a second down play deep in his own territory and was drilled by Altarri Gardner’s replacement Brett Lowery, who also popped the ball free. Alex Brown recovered and gave UConn a short field to work with. Ice-Jax gave UConn their first lead on a play action pass from the one yard line to freshman fullback Jayson Moss.

UConn kept the pedal to the floor as the third quarter faded into the fourth and Oregon’s offense continued to falter. Ice-Jax connected with Lonte’ Speier for gains of 23 and 16 on a touchdown grab, extending UConn’s lead to 35-24. Speier was once again UConn's leading receiver, crossing 100 yards on the evening.

DeWeaver returned on Oregon’s next drive, and sadly his performance may have been … too late.

Balen Brown was the catalyst for Oregon’s next touchdown drive, running for gains of 21, 14 and 30 before Nelly connected with Janaion Williston in the left side of the end zone over Shav Wade. Though the two-point try failed to pull Oregon within a field goal, Nelly and his Ducks still only trailed 35-30 with a little under seven minutes to play.

Ice-Jax, once again, though, wouldn’t let this one slip away in the waning minutes. Jackson led UConn on another long touchdown drive, capping off a nine-play, 80 yard drive with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Chamarkelle Byrom; by this point Jackson had surpassed the record for most passing touchdowns and passing yards in a season.

Lonte’ Speier (LEFT) and Chamarkelle Byrom (RIGHT) each had another touchdown catch to continue their sensational freshman seasons.

The Husky defense, continuing their fantastic play in the second half, rewarded Ice-Jax immediately thereafter. With Oregon needing to pass now down by 12 points, Vic Castalanetta intercepted DeWeaver as the Ducks were closing in on scoring. Byers and Williamson combined to bring home seven more points and though Oregon scored again, UConn had an insurmountable lead by that point and recovered the ensuing onside kick. Ice-Jax kneed out the clock, cementing a 49-37 victory and a return trip to the CFP Title Game.

“I’m proud of the resiliency of our guys”, quoted Stephen Belichick after the game. We can’t play like this all the time, but we made plays when it mattered most. Helps to have a quarterback who has been there before, but, on we go; one more left.”

Belichick did have a point; Oregon outgained UConn on the ground despite no Nelly and no McGill for long stretches, (DeWeaver passed 100 yards on just 11 carries, while Brown was two yards shy on the same 11 carries). To add insult to injury, the Ducks gained 461 yards of offense in total and converted each time they were in the red zone. It’s going to be hard to win a national title if UConn can’t stop anyone, but with the way Ice-Jax and the offense are playing, UConn is still going to be a very tough out.

UConn diehards were dealt a slight blow when Nebraska bested top-ranked USC and former UConn QB Tanner Dean-Lowry in this afternoon’s Cotton Bowl to deny a “dream matchup” with the Trojans, but it will be the Huskies and Huskers who will face off in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in one week’s time with the 2021 National Title on the line. UConn bested Nebraska in last year’s Sugar Bowl; this time, they’re meeting with the stakes even higher.

With UConn’s 12th win of the year, it’s becoming clearer that this is Ice-Jax’s team. Can the senior will his way to UConn’s second national title?

“You bet.”

That may be all the confidence UConn needs.

Oregon Ducks at Connecticut Huskies
Jan 1, 2022	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#3 Oregon Ducks (12-2)	14	10	0	13	37
#2 Connecticut Huskies (12-2)	0	7	21	21	49

Team Stats Comparison
	ORE	CONN
Total Offense	461	557
Rushing Yards	255	229
Passing Yards	206	328
First Downs	20	27
Punt Return Yards	16	81
Kick Return Yards	21	19
Total Yards	498	657
Turnovers	2	4
3rd Down Conversion	6-13 (46%)	11-16 (68%)
4th Down Conversion	0-1	1-1
2-Point Conversion	0-1	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	5-5-0 (100%)	7-6-0 (85%)
Penalties	1-5	0-0
Possession Time	14:25	21:35

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		ORE	CONN
3:17	(ORE) DeWeaver 5 run (Whitworth kick)	7	0
2:19	(ORE) Brown 4 run (Whitworth kick)	14	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		ORE	CONN
6:24	(CONN) Williamson 2 run (Ricciardi kick)	14	7
4:28	(ORE) Taylor 2 run (Whitworth kick)	21	7
:27	(ORE) Whitworth 48 FG	24	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		ORE	CONN
3:52	(CONN) Byers 1 run (Ricciardi kick)	24	14
1:43	(CONN) Jackson 58 pass D. Brown (Ricciardi kick)	24	21
1:09	(CONN) Jackson 4 pass Moss (Ricciardi kick)	24	28
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		ORE	CONN
7:57	(CONN) Jackson 16 pass Speier (Ricciardi kick)	24	35
6:56	(ORE) DeWeaver 15 pass Williston (conversion no good)	30	35
4:33	(CONN) Jackson 15 pass Byrom (Ricciardi kick)	30	42
1:39	(CONN) Williamson 7 run (Ricciardi kick)	30	49
:56	(ORE) Brown 1 run (Whitworth kick)	37	49

Oregon Ducks PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Nelly DeWeaver 7-12 92 1 1 Kai Tago 14-18 114 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Nelly DeWeaver 11 122 11.0 1 Balen Brown 11 98 8.9 2 Chris McGill 9 49 5.4 0 Willie Taylor 1 2 2.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Mark Pitts 5 56 11.2 0 Janaion Williston 5 54 10.8 1 Saiman Bradley 3 43 14.3 0 Brandon Garner 3 40 13.3 0 DEFENSE TACK (TFL) SACK INT TD Jaronday Peppers 11 (1) 1 2 0 Napoleon Goolsby 8 (1) 0 0 0 Stanford Johnson 7 (1) 0 0 0 D'Angelo Verrick 7 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Tyler Whitworth 1-1 4-4 7 48

Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Isaac Jackson 22-37 328 4 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Luke Williamson 25 98 3.9 2 J.P. Byers 15 103 6.8 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Lonte' Speier 5 107 21.4 1 Devin Brown 4 91 22.7 1 Ryne Thomas 4 36 9.0 0 Chamarkelle Byrom 3 52 17.3 1 DEFENSE TACK (TFL) SACK INT TD Alex Brown/John Cox 9 (1) 0 0 0 Jevon Sapp 7 (3) 0 0 0 Mike Hill 6 (3) 0 0 0 Brett Lowery 4 2 0 0 Vic Castalanetta 3 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Anthony Ricciardi 0-1 7-7 7

Janaion Williston did something rare; score a touchdown on Shavlion Wade. Too bad his touchdown was just a little too late.


UConn’s defense played an inspired game in the second half. New starting defensive end Brett Lowery forced a fumble and had two sacks (LEFT), while redshirt freshman Jevon Sapp (RIGHT) made more big plays on the big stage.

[whughes]

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

#WeWantBama

In all seriousness though, Ice-Jax is the man. And I’m glad you guys got sweet, sweet revenge against DeWeaver’s loud mouth

[thesportsguru11]

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

Here's Where We Stand

This is solely a brief update regarding our matchup in the Title Game - a pre-preview, if you will.

With their win against Oregon in the Orange Bowl, their opponent in the National Title Game will of course be Nebraska, as we talked about a few posts up. The two teams met in last year's CFP Semifinal Sugar Bowl. The game will take place in the L.A. Coliseum.

We'll get into more specifics about the matchup when I get the game preview up, hopefully later today!

#WeWantBama

In all seriousness though, Ice-Jax is the man. And I’m glad you guys got sweet, sweet revenge against DeWeaver’s loud mouth

Not in this dynasty haahha.. Alabama has missed a bowl game in each of the last four or five seasons and are about to fire their first head coach post-Saban. I'd still love to play Bama eventually, though.

Ice-Jax has stepped up his game so much in the last few weeks.. he brings this composure to the offense especially late in games that TDL never had. At some point I'm going to count up how many fourth quarter comebacks he has pulled off in the last three years, but the number must be close to a half dozen. Considering the season and a half he's had, if he can do something incredible in the Title Game he'll be up there with our new QB coach Dan Orlovsky in terms of best QB in school history. And the most memorable, for sure.