The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

[Hellisan]

NCAA Preview 2021


Preseason 2021

[djp73]

Re: NCAA Preview 2021

very exciting to see new posts here!

[OldHossRadbourn]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Saw ND on the schedule. Is that something new? Maybe I'm forgetting you facing them before. Going to be an annual game?

[moose141]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Big Ten is looking like it's in for a bit of a down year (in your division, anyways), so I like the inclusions of both Notre Dame and Georgia Tech to the non-conference schedule to really provide a good test for you. If you can get through those matchups, then you'll be well on your way to proving that you deserve a chance to repeat as national champs. Looking forward to seeing the storylines as you break some of the young guns into the starting lineup, glad you ran that article to highlight some of the key pieces who are breaking into the lineup. A great thorough review as always, looking forward to the new season!

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

very exciting to see new posts here!

Thanks man. Believe me, I'm excited to have the time and personal space to at least get started again. Looks like work is going to pick up, but since I have it set up now (El Gato, televisions, etc), I can at least peck away at it.

Saw ND on the schedule. Is that something new? Maybe I'm forgetting you facing them before. Going to be an annual game?

This was one of those, schedule just had it there and it looked really. juicy. I said yes sir that will stay. And yep, this will be the first time we've played Notre Dame in this dynasty, to do it in South Bend will be awesome. I was looking around as you said you started a dynasty but I didn't see it. Did that go away?

Big Ten is looking like it's in for a bit of a down year (in your division, anyways), so I like the inclusions of both Notre Dame and Georgia Tech to the non-conference schedule to really provide a good test for you. If you can get through those matchups, then you'll be well on your way to proving that you deserve a chance to repeat as national champs. Looking forward to seeing the storylines as you break some of the young guns into the starting lineup, glad you ran that article to highlight some of the key pieces who are breaking into the lineup. A great thorough review as always, looking forward to the new season!

Yeah, I mean very little in terms of rankings or hype for teams, but I hope this conference picks it back up. I took a look at Michigan's team the other day and man they are just awful at some spots. They can't stop the run at all, their defensive ends are just like those old western saloon doors. So that's not good! I know they're not on my side but you know what I'm saying. There's our team, Ohio State, and everybody else and I hope some teams emerge and have great seasons this year.

Thanks for checking in with me Moose, always appreciate your input and take!


... I'm just gonna jump right into it with Georgia Tech, it's been a long week and I want to get a game up. We know what they are... lol ncaa 14 option trash that needs to be cleared back like weeds once in awhile.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Just want to echo the sentiment that it's good to see you back! I got lost in this thread during many slow days at work and it was the primary inspiration for my dynasty thread that I started a few months back... and I also basically stole many of my layout / presentation ideas from you as well.

Various random thoughts / observations:

As somebody who enjoys replacing the dull CPU generated names, I am already enamored with Ambrogino Pollino...

Your starting LT is from my hometown!

Also you look to have a real solid base 3-4, although like you said, those safeties that are more box guys and maybe a little sketchy in center field work. But against most WRs, your starting CBs should be able to cause some havoc with press coverage.

[OldHossRadbourn]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

This was one of those, schedule just had it there and it looked really. juicy. I said yes sir that will stay. And yep, this will be the first time we've played Notre Dame in this dynasty, to do it in South Bend will be awesome. I was looking around as you said you started a dynasty but I didn't see it. Did that go away?

Yeah, it went away...for now. Biggest issue I had was I was taking over what should have been a terrible team and was hoping for some down seasons and a true build but I got like 6 or 8 games in and had only lost once and it was sucking the fun out of it for me. This isn't a humble brag at all I just don't know if my sliders are off or what but I couldn't get that struggle/grind I was wanting...and frankly really expecting with a terrible team. Any advice? Tips? Tricks?

[Deuce2223]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Yeah, it went away...for now. Biggest issue I had was I was taking over what should have been a terrible team and was hoping for some down seasons and a true build but I got like 6 or 8 games in and had only lost once and it was sucking the fun out of it for me. This isn't a humble brag at all I just don't know if my sliders are off or what but I couldn't get that struggle/grind I was wanting...and frankly really expecting with a terrible team. Any advice? Tips? Tricks?

Well I am not Hellisan, I do understand your struggle with wanting to have a true rebuilding experience.

I feel like the only way to do this is to put some really tight recruiting restrictions on yourself. When at a new school limit yourself to only recruiting 1* or 2* players outside your state/region. Limit the # of 3* inside your state and region and only allow yourself to recruit 4* and 5* until after you have won multiple conference titles and become a regular in the Top-25.

Boise State built their program on 2 and 3* players and now they still don't pull in a ton of 4* guys.

Also don't cheese the playbook. I find personally I can find 4 or 5 passing plays where I will have a guy wide open ever down. I have played against people who just spam plays like this. I stopped building custom playbooks because I fell into the trap of using the same plays to often.

I watch alot of dynasties on youtube and have also noticed a theme. Everyone likes to go for it on 4th down. Its another rule to have. If you are trailing or maybe if you are like 5 yds outside your kickers FG range I can see it but I see to many guys go for it on 4th and 1 and 4th and 2 early in the game. We all know how easy it is to get 1 or 2 yds unless you have Run Block pretty much set at 0 and RB ability at less then 20.

[OldHossRadbourn]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Well I am not Hellisan, I do understand your struggle with wanting to have a true rebuilding experience.

I feel like the only way to do this is to put some really tight recruiting restrictions on yourself. When at a new school limit yourself to only recruiting 1* or 2* players outside your state/region. Limit the # of 3* inside your state and region and only allow yourself to recruit 4* and 5* until after you have won multiple conference titles and become a regular in the Top-25.

Boise State built their program on 2 and 3* players and now they still don't pull in a ton of 4* guys.

Also don't cheese the playbook. I find personally I can find 4 or 5 passing plays where I will have a guy wide open ever down. I have played against people who just spam plays like this. I stopped building custom playbooks because I fell into the trap of using the same plays to often.

I watch alot of dynasties on youtube and have also noticed a theme. Everyone likes to go for it on 4th down. Its another rule to have. If you are trailing or maybe if you are like 5 yds outside your kickers FG range I can see it but I see to many guys go for it on 4th and 1 and 4th and 2 early in the game. We all know how easy it is to get 1 or 2 yds unless you have Run Block pretty much set at 0 and RB ability at less then 20.

Thanks for the tips. I already have some pretty tight recruiting restrictions and I never run zone-read plays because the CPU seems like they can't defend it very well. I'm sure it's a bit of a slider issue. I tend to be able to run well(but never break any long ones)I seem to always be able to have 25att 100-120 yard games with long runs of like 8 yards. I'm sure it's a slider issue..I just can't find balance.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

The best remedy I found for rebuilding challenge is the J-Kits slider set... It turns lower OVR teams into liquid [expletive]. When you have a 90-something OVR team playing other 90-something OVR teams, the effects aren't quite as extreme... but if you are slumming in the MAC or Sun Belt, it should make a rebuild much more challenging if that's what you're after. The o-line will be effectively useless and your receivers only slightly less useless. Like I said, the sliders aren't quite as harsh when you have a roster filled with 90+ OVR players... but they were a rough slog for me early on... in fact, I abandoned them pretty early because I didn't want my dynasty thread to be 2-3 seasons of getting curbstomped by the Akron Zips. Obviously, stick skills vary... and I tend to play pretty vanilla and don't go too crazy with audibles and pre-snap adjustments... so your mileage may vary.

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Just want to echo the sentiment that it's good to see you back! I got lost in this thread during many slow days at work and it was the primary inspiration for my dynasty thread that I started a few months back... and I also basically stole many of my layout / presentation ideas from you as well.

Various random thoughts / observations:

As somebody who enjoys replacing the dull CPU generated names, I am already enamored with Ambrogino Pollino...

Your starting LT is from my hometown!

Also you look to have a real solid base 3-4, although like you said, those safeties that are more box guys and maybe a little sketchy in center field work. But against most WRs, your starting CBs should be able to cause some havoc with press coverage.

Sorry it took awhile to respond to you... You see that custom user title of mine? it's non negotiable. Well, usually. I had a chance to read through the first four pages of your dynasty and I'm already hooked, and my cheeks hurt more than I'd like to admit. I'm happy if I could help with a little something here or there to assist in any way. Looking forward to reading up on your dynasty and eventually getting current. I'm glad to have a new dynasty writer such as yourself aboard at OS, Nunyer.

I like the look of our D this year as well. It's not perfect, but I can see causing a lot of havoc with this group when we're on. I think I only mentioned it on here once, but I really feel I have the most fun way (for me) to do the naming, and it's the only way I could think of to sort of honor the high school from where the player came. I look at the face and try to match it with a realistic name, most of the time. I go to the school's maxpreps (or whatever) football page and to the roster, and then I roll a random uniform n umber. If the first name will work, I usually go with it, and if not I just find the first 2-3 names that will work and pick one randomly, and then do the same with the last name. So they're named after real players from their high school. Sorta. However this isn't done for every recruit, sometimes the name is somewhat unique or cool or just matches the player, I'd say that's 25% to 30% of guys that are real names. Although I never had one as cool as Omarr Hawk lol

Yeah, it went away...for now. Biggest issue I had was I was taking over what should have been a terrible team and was hoping for some down seasons and a true build but I got like 6 or 8 games in and had only lost once and it was sucking the fun out of it for me. This isn't a humble brag at all I just don't know if my sliders are off or what but I couldn't get that struggle/grind I was wanting...and frankly really expecting with a terrible team. Any advice? Tips? Tricks?

Hmm it's a hard one because it's so different for each person. I swear, at one time I was really good at this game, and no longer am. That really helps me. My sliders are probably WAY, WAY too easy for some. However, with calling a lot of bad plays from the playbook, mixing in missed field goals according to player rating, turning down those bail-out facemask penalties and a slider where my QB simply doesn't like throwing the ball straight, I have found a general mix that works for me. I think that's what everybody has to do. For me, if I felt that I wouldn't be able to find the perfect setup but really wanted to write up a dynasty report that was all about the struggle bus, I would probably do something like some kind of dice roll where 1 means I have to watch the game in coach mode, 2 means I get to play a quarter, 3 two quarters, 4 three, 5 full game, and 6 roll again for something between 2 and 5 and go with that. Just off the top of my head. Or other variants, only offense or only defense for a game whatever seems fun but likely to give the team problems. I kind of think it would be fun to roll a 1, and decide to play the 4th quarter and maybe have a high pressure chance to come back.

Reporting and enjoying a dynasty in that way are sort of like the only necessary part of the whole thing and then I would just force complete the other stuff some how some way.

[Hellisan]

2021 Game 1 - #7 Georgia Tech at #14 Iowa





Note: Due to a uniform number snafu - namely, giving him Nile Kinnick's number - no photos of Larry Lloyd were included :-)

[thesportsguru11]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Great opening win against a good team, looking forward to seeing how the title defense goes for you.

A little late to the running back debate, but man that is a tough decision you have to make with a rather deep stable of guys this year. I have had success with both shorter speed guys like you have now in Goodman and Brown, but in later years with UConn I ran almost exclusively with 210-pound bruising backs and they provided a real nice balance for our more pass-oriented attack. That said, I have concerns about Goodman's ability to run between the tackles.

I like Becton the best as his stats are solid all across the board, but I think you are justified in giving the other guys chances first. RB by committee (Lloyd as feature, Goodman spell/slot? and Norton goalline/3DRB?) might be an option for now just to feel things out, unless Lloyd gave you enough reason to start him after the opening week. Good luck!

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Sorry it took awhile to respond to you... You see that custom user title of mine? it's non negotiable. Well, usually. I had a chance to read through the first four pages of your dynasty and I'm already hooked, and my cheeks hurt more than I'd like to admit. I'm happy if I could help with a little something here or there to assist in any way. Looking forward to reading up on your dynasty and eventually getting current. I'm glad to have a new dynasty writer such as yourself aboard at OS, Nunyer.

Thanks for the kind words! And as far as real teams / fictional teams, I've always been the opposite... I think it's just from growing up in the 80s when no sports games had official licenses... and you were always playing as the New York Generics vs San Fran 69ers or whatever it was. Back then I cared more about my C64 teams then I did any real teams... I haven't touched Madden in a few years, but the first thing I do is simulate 10 years into the future to remove all the "real" players and relocate a bunch of teams to the alternate cities. I've always enjoyed removing myself from any baggage that comes with real players / teams and just getting lost in my own goofball world. All that said, I'm happy that you made an exception and enjoyed the first few pages of my thread. I'm happily following along here and it looks like the Hawkeyes are already in title defense mode.

[Deuce2223]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

I always love seeing Georgia Tech take a loss.

Do you normally run the ball 40+ times a game or was that just your strategy in this game.