The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

[philliesfan136]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Was just watching a random 2010 Eagles game on Youtube, Shady was so young lol. Was he a beast like that at Pitt?

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

SHADYYYYYYY!!! Even better for my boys that he'll have to stay at least one more year haha, unlike in real life. That should let next year (in your file)'s Panthers challenge what the real ones accomplished, which was to break my heart more than any Pitt football team ever. I still see that Cincinnati game in my nightmares, I can remember being there like it was yesterday.

Not a bad performance from you though, to be honest. Obviously tough day for the defense, but offensively it seems like you at least could mildly keep pace if you could just limit the turnovers then the two headed rushing monster seemed to be working well. If you get McMillan in at QB maybe Keyes becomes a running back if he never develops as a passer aha.

I forgot for a minute there that Shady declared after his sophomore season and that he was originally committed to Miami. You're right, with him being forced to stay at least one more season, he should be a star on the national scale and help Pitt have a big 2009.

I'm somewhat satisfied with the performance. Getting two touchdowns means we're improving in this rivalry, and I was able to run the ball pretty well with Manning and Keyes. I could shift to more of an option look to take advantage of Keyes' talents and avoid his flaws, but Manning is more of a power back that doesn't quite fit as well there as he does in a pro-style, I-formation look. Maybe Keyes sees some time at RB if I land one of these quarterbacks, lol.

Tough loss. I was really pulling for the upset. It's sad cause you got a great RB in Manning but the poor kid can't carry the team. Keyes does seem to be a decent runner, but when you are behind it sorta limits what you can do.

Yeah I can tell pretty early whether my team will be in a game or not, based on if I get a few stops to start it off. My offense just isn't made to play from behind because of Keyes' throwing issues, and if I want to get Manning 25-30 carries then I need to get ahead early or at least hold serve.

Was just watching a random 2010 Eagles game on Youtube, Shady was so young lol. Was he a beast like that at Pitt?

Moose can probably provide more context, but I remember Shady being awesome at Pitt. One thing the Panthers have done so well over the years is churn out productive tailbacks - Shady, Dion Lewis (who as I look this up, didn't realize he left after his sophomore year too!), and James Conner over a 10-year span is a pretty solid group!

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Around the NCAA – Week 3 Edition
After knocking off #5 Penn State in Happy Valley, 37-28, #8 Arkansas gears up to host #3 Texas

USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll
1 | USC [40 first-place votes] (2-0)
2 | LSU [21] (3-0)
3 | Texas (3-0)
4 | Ohio State (3-0)
5 | Michigan (3-0)
6 | Iowa (3-0)
7 | UCLA (2-0)
8 | Arkansas (3-0)
9 | Texas Tech (3-0)
10 | Virginia Tech (2-1)
11 | Penn State (2-1)
12 | Nebraska (2-1)
13 | Missouri (3-0)
14 | Florida State (2-1)
15 | West Virginia (2-1)
16 | Oklahoma (2-0)
17 | Texas A&M (2-1)
18 | Louisville (3-0)
19 | Florida (3-0)
20 | Oklahoma State (3-0)
21 | Wisconsin (2-1)
22 | Arizona State (3-0)
23 | Maryland (3-0)
24 | Miami (Fla.) (2-1)
25 | Tennessee (3-0)

Heisman Watch
Ryan Grice-Mullen, R-Sr., WR, Hawaii | 8 catches, 66 yards
Colt McCoy, R-Jr., QB, Texas | 200.9 QB rtg., 61-92, 1,177 yards, 10 TD, 4 INT; 11 carries, 23 yards, 1 TD
Chris Wells, Jr., HB, Ohio State | 91 carries, 653 yards, 7 TD; 3 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD
Ryan Perrilloux, R-Jr., QB, LSU | 169.2 QB rtg., 67-102, 936 yards, 10 TD, 3 INT; 21 carries, 49 yards, 1 TD
Graham Harrell, R-Sr., QB, Texas Tech | 160.8 QB rtg., 108-150, 1,162 yards, 12 TD, 2 INT

NCAA Players of the Week
Offensive: Gartell Johnson III, R-Sr., HB, Colorado State | 25 carries, 185 yards, 5 TD in 56-0 win against Harvard
Defensive: Brandon Graham, Jr., MLB, Michigan | 5 tackles (3 TFL), 1 sack, 2 INT, 2 TD in 45-17 win at Notre Dame

Injury Report
Rudy Carpenter, R-Sr., QB, Arizona State | Broken tailbone (10 weeks)
Ekom Udofia, R-Jr., DT, Stanford | Torn tricep (10 weeks)
Janoris Jenkins, Fr., CB, Arkansas | Broken collarbone (4 weeks)

Week 3 Notable Top 25 Scores
#20 Oklahoma State 41, East Carolina 14
#8 Arkansas 37, #11 Penn State 28
#23 Maryland 24, Clemson 14
#6 Iowa 39, Boise State 22
#3 Texas 56, #21 Wisconsin 49
#5 Michigan 45, Notre Dame 17
#2 LSU 52, Tulane 14
#25 Tennessee 53, Northern Illinois 17
#4 Ohio State 38, Washington 17
#1 USC 51, #12 Nebraska 27
#14 Florida State 51, Boston College 17
#24 Miami (Fla.) 51, #17 Texas A&M 9
#22 Arizona State 60, San Diego State 14

Week 4 National Broadcasts
Mississippi State (2-1) at #15 West Virginia (2-1) | 9/27, 12:30 PM
Georgia (2-1) at #2 LSU (3-0) | 9/27, 12:30 PM
#3 Texas (3-0) at #8 Arkansas (3-0) | 9/27, 1:00 PM (Game of the Week)
Notre Dame (1-2) at Michigan State (3-0) | 9/27, 3:30 PM
#19 Florida (3-0) at #25 Tennessee (3-0) | 9/27, 3:30 PM
#4 Ohio State (3-0) at South Florida (1-2) | 9/27, 8:00 PM
California (2-1) at #1 USC (2-0) | 9/27, 8:00 PM
#10 Virginia Tech (2-1) at #14 Florida State (2-1) | 9/27, 8:00 PM

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

by Joe Greenberg, Carnegie Mellon insider for Rivals.com

Cousins hopes to see more targets going forward

Redshirt junior wide receiver Kevin Cousins (9 catches, 110 yards) isn’t letting Carnegie Mellon’s passing struggles put a damper in his first season since transferring from Penn State.

“We’re all trying to find a way to get it going,” said Cousins after Wednesday’s practice. “I’d love to see more targets and do everything I can to make this offense more explosive, but really we all need to be better to do so. It’s not particularly on one player, or one unit of the offense.”

Sophomore quarterback Justin Keyes has a 68.8 quarterback rating with 214 yards and four interceptions through three games.

Reserve offensive tackle suspended

Senior offensive tackle Jon Young has been suspended for four games after police were called into his off-campus apartment on Sunday night.

Young, a reserve that adds depth at both left and right tackle, will miss games against Buffalo, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, and Miami (Ohio).

Houston removes CMU from consideration

Three-star quarterback Randy Houston will not be considering Carnegie Mellon going forward, as he has trimmed his college list to five schools.

Houston, a six-foot-one, 185-pound signal-caller from Rochester East High School, is deciding between Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Louisville, and Michigan. He was one of four quarterback targets the Tartans offered scholarships to in the in-season period.

Carnegie Mellon In-Season Recruiting Targets
Tyrone McMillan, QB, *** (6’4”, 185 lbs.; West New York, N.J. / Memorial) – Top 5
Marcus Cooley, HB, *** (6’2”, 175 lbs.; Hanover Park, Ill. / Hanover Park) – Top 5
Matt Burnsides, DT, *** (6’3”, 280 lbs.; Hyattsville, Md. / Northwestern) – Top 5
Joey Pruitt, WR, *** (6’0”, 208 lbs.; Glenpool, Okla. / Glenpool) – Top 5
Terrance Hurst, DE, *** (6’4”, 252 lbs.; Lodi, N.J. / Lodi) – Top 12
Malcom Crenshaw, DE, *** (6’5”, 255 lbs.; Rolla, Mo. / Rolla) – Top 12
Joey Muhammad, C, *** (6’0”, 290 lbs.; Winnipeg, Manitoba / Grant Park) – Top 12
Bryan Williams, QB, *** (6’4”, 210 lbs.; Charlottesville, Va. / Charlottesville) – Top 12
Kedrick Goodwin, QB, *** (6’2”, 215 lbs.; Allentown, Pa. / Parkland) – Top 12
Zach Nugent, DT, *** (6’3”, 270 lbs.; Westerville, Ohio / Westerville) – Top 12
Mike Horn, OT, *** (6’6”, 320 lbs.; Madeira, Ohio / Madeira) – Top 12
Leonard Williams, DT, *** (6’1”, 285 lbs.; Lombard, Ill. / Glenbard East) – Top 12
Ryan Thomas, MLB, ** (6’3”, 229 lbs.; Perth Amboy, N.J. / Perth Amboy) – Top 12

[moose141]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Moose can probably provide more context, but I remember Shady being awesome at Pitt. One thing the Panthers have done so well over the years is churn out productive tailbacks - Shady, Dion Lewis (who as I look this up, didn't realize he left after his sophomore year too!), and James Conner over a 10-year span is a pretty solid group!

Shady was electric for the two seasons he was here. What was wild too was we had horrific quarterback play in his freshman season (2007), so we would just line him up in the Wildcat a lot of the time and just run exclusively from that because we had no other option, and he would still put up numbers. He had a stretch in '08 where he had at least 142 yards on the ground in 5 straight games. He was just a monster, so quick and so elusive with the ball. His magnum opuses though are probably the two wins we had over WVU while he was here, including the 13-9 win that kept them out of the BCS title game. We just ran him down their throats for four quarters in both games, it was incredible.

Pitt really has been blessed with incredible running backs really throughout their whole history (Dorsett, Curtis Martin, Ironhead Heyward) but especially lately with the ridiculous stretch of Shady, Dion, Ray Graham (sneaky underrated until he blew his knee out), Conner, and then Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall (Ollison is in the league with the Falcons) just torching defenses.

/endthreadhijack

[joshrmlb]

The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Im really enjoying this dynasty. Can I make a suggestion for the next season? Maybe go to a flexbone style offense. That way you can control the clock, and it was designed for less talented teams. I know you want to keep it realistic, but just a suggestion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Im really enjoying this dynasty. Can I make a suggestion for the next season? Maybe go to a flexbone style offense. That way you can control the clock, and it was designed for less talented teams. I know you want to keep it realistic, but just a suggestion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That might be an option, depending on the quarterback situation and such after this season. I would probably write it in as an offensive coordinator change, so any move to the flexbone would have to happen after the year is done. I've never run the offense as my primary attack, but I do want to experiment throughout the life of this report with a variety of different playbooks - flexbone, air raid, pro style, etc.

I'll say this - none of the quarterbacks I'm recruiting would fix in a flexbone attack. So we'll have to wait and see!

Next game preview coming here in a bit, then the game will be posted later tonight or tomorrow - definitely one I wasn't expecting going into it!

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

at
Buffalo Bulls (2-0, 0-0 MAC) at Carnegie Mellon Tartans (0-3, 0-0 MAC)
Saturday, September 27, 2008 | 12:30 PM (ET)
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Gesling Stadium | No television

Team Overview (C- overall, C- offense, D+ defense)
Buffalo opens the 2008 season with three straight road games, and has passed the first two tests with a 35-21 win at Brown and 52-16 triumph at BYU. The Bulls scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to knock off the Bears in the season opener, then had 31 points at halftime in a comfortable win over the Cougars.

Senior quarterback Drew Willy has had a spectacular start to the season (165.2 QB rtg., 51-74, 660 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT), and Buffalo has Wake Forest transfer Brett Hodges waiting in the wings for 2009. Redshirt junior tailback James Starks (30 carries, 159 yards, 3 TD) is more than capable on the ground, and does everything well. The receiving corps is filled with veterans, led by junior Naaman Roosevelt (12 catches, 49 yards), senior Brad Beggs (15 catches, 226 yards, 3 TD), and fourth-year Ernest Jackson (9 catches, 185 yards, 1 TD).

On defense, redshirt senior defensive end Chris Callahan (9 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 FR) was a Preseason All-MAC selection. Fifth-year linebackers Adekunle Akingba (6 tackles, 1 INT) and Ollice Ervin (12 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 FF) are the team’s defensive leaders, and redshirt junior cornerback Kendrick Hawkins (4 tackles, 1 INT) is one of three Bulls defensive backs with an interception this year. A pair of suspensions will force true freshman defensive tackle Thomas Bratton and safety Shaun Scott into the starting lineup on Saturday.

Redshirt senior kicker Gerry McGroarty is a perfect 12-of-12 on extra points and has made 1-of-2 field goals this season. First-year punter Dustin Parsons is averaging 35.6 net yards on eight punts in the early going, and Beggs (3 kick returns, 55 yards; 4 punt returns, 25 yards) and Jackson (4 kick returns, 74 yards; 2 punt returns, 15 yards) are the team’s primary returning threats.

Season Results
09/06 | at Brown | W, 35-21
09/20 | at BYU | W, 52-16

PFF Top Five
Ollice Ervin, R-Sr., MLB (84)
Chris Scharon, R-Sr., FB (84)
Chris Callahan, R-Sr., DE (82)
Drew Willy, Sr., QB (80)
Jerry Housey, Jr., MLB (80)

Injury Report
Buffalo: None
Carnegie Mellon: Matt Fitch, So., G (bruised shoulder – 2 weeks)

Suspensions
Buffalo: Davonte Shannon, R-Fr., FS (team rules – 2 games); Mike Thompson, R-Sr., DT (academics – 3 games)
Carnegie Mellon: Jon Young, Sr., OT (team rules – 4 games)

[mvpstax]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Could be a winnable game here

[Careless Whisper]

Season 3, Game 4: Buffalo at Carnegie Mellon

Pick City: Burton Nets Five Interceptions in CMU's First Win
Calvin Burton snagged a NCAA record-tying five interceptions as the Tartans tallied eight as a team



Sophomore cornerback Calvin Burton is the 24th different player to intercept five passes in an NCAA game. (Jane Kane / Getty Images)

by Alicia Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Calvin Burton had an impressive freshman season last year, winning Coca-Cola NCAA Defensive Player of the Week honors twice. He finished with four interceptions – running three back for touchdowns – and it seemed as if opposing quarterbacks would try to avoid his side in 2008.

Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy must have missed the memo.

Burton outdid his freshman season total in just 60 minutes, tying the NCAA single-game record with five interceptions as Carnegie Mellon netted its first win at the FBS level, a 45-35 triumph against Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Buffalo. The sophomore standout is now the 24th different player to pick off five passes in an NCAA contest, and the fifth to do so at the FBS level.

“It’s hard to put into words how special Calvin (Burton) and the rest of the defense’s performance was today,” said third-year head coach John Elliott. “We knew after the first few games of last year that we had a potential shutdown corner in him, and he certainly proved as much today. A few of the passes that he intercepted weren’t badly placed at all – he just went out and made the play. We were going to win this win for a long time, seeing it’s our first at this level, but Calvin’s performance makes it an even more historic afternoon.”

Not to be completely outdone, Carnegie Mellon (1-3, 1-0 MAC) also received a ridiculous performance from another star sophomore in tailback Jim Manning. Manning rumbled for 286 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries, offsetting another poor effort in the passing game. He nearly tied the record for longest run in NCAA history in the third quarter, scampering 98 yards to paydirt to tie the game at 35-35.

Buffalo (2-1, 0-1 MAC) had plenty of success with its rushing attack, with James Starks picking up 42 of his 153 yards on a first-quarter touchdown carry. Burton snagged his first interception on the Bulls’ next drive, leading to a Manning score from 16 yards out to tie the game. After another interception from the sophomore cornerback to end the frame, Justin Keyes connected with Kevin Cousins for a six-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.

Manning pushed the Tartan lead to 21-7 with a stiff-arm-aided score from 15 yards out, then Todd Andriano made a hat trick of interceptions for the defense with his second of the season. Keyes gave the ball right back shortly after, which was returned by Josh Thomas for a nine-yard pick six, but Pete Carlson netted his second kick return touchdown of his career on the ensuing boot. A Mark Toth interception at the end of the half moved Willy’s total to four through 30 minutes.

The Bulls responded with 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to regain the lead at 35-28, thanks to a Brad Beggs 81-yard punt return, a Willy 15-yard pass to Ernest Jackson, and a 45-yard sprint by Starks. Erik Sellers collected his first career interception over that span to give CMU five for the day, and number would tick to six soon after thanks to Burton, who corralled an errant pass at the two-yard line to set up Manning’s 98-yard dash.

After a scoreless stretch of nearly 13 minutes, Burton grabbed his fourth interception and Jon Foster booted a 28-yard field goal to put the Tartans ahead, 38-35, with 4:31 to go. The second-year corner then stripped Beggs of the ball after a catch and it was recovered by Devon Elliott, leading to a game-sealing drive that was topped off with a Manning eight-yard score. To put the cherry on top, Burton got his hands on his fifth interception on Buffalo’s final drive, etching his name in the history books in the process.

Burton joins Oklahoma State’s Lee Cook (Nov. 28, 1942 vs. Detroit), Brown’s Walt Pastuszak (Oct. 8, 1949 vs. Rhode Island), Houston’s Byron Beaver (Sept. 22, 1962 vs. Baylor), and Miami (Ohio)’s Dan Rebsch (Nov. 4, 1972 vs. Western Michigan) as the only players to intercept five passes in an NCAA Division I game. The sophomore now has nine interceptions in his career.

It’s a battle of CMU acronyms next Saturday, Oct. 4 when Carnegie Mellon heads to Central Michigan.

Buffalo Bulls at Carnegie Mellon Tartans
Sep 27, 2008	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Buffalo Bulls (2-1, 0-1 MAC)	7	7	21	0	35
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (1-3, 1-0 MAC)	14	14	7	10	45

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		BUFF	CMU
12:17	(BUFF) James Starks 42-yard run (Gerry McGroarty kick)	7	0
5:45	(CMU) Jim Manning 16-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	7	7
0:21	(CMU) Justin Keyes 6-yard pass to Kevin Cousins (Jon Foster kick)	7	14
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		BUFF	CMU
5:29	(CMU) Jim Manning 15-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	7	21
1:11	(BUFF) Josh Thomas 9-yard interception return (Gerry McGroarty kick)	14	21
1:02	(CMU) Pete Carlson 96-yard kick return (Jon Foster kick)	14	28
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		BUFF	CMU
10:30	(BUFF) Brad Beggs 81-yard punt return (Gerry McGroarty kick)	21	28
4:17	(BUFF) Drew Willy 15-yard pass to Ernest Jackson (Gerry McGroarty kick)	28	28
1:43	(BUFF) James Starks 45-yard run (Gerry McGroarty kick)	35	28
1:18	(CMU) Jim Manning 98-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	35	35
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		BUFF	CMU
4:31	(CMU) Jon Foster 29-yard field goal	35	38
1:55	(CMU) Jim Manning 8-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	35	45

Buffalo Bulls PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Drew Willy 16/37 158 1 8 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD James Starks 15 153 10.1 2 Chris Scharon 1 7 7.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Brad Beggs 4 42 10.5 0 Chris Scharon 3 25 8.3 0 Ernest Jackson 3 22 7.3 1 Naaman Roosevelt 2 34 17.0 0 Jesse Rack 2 22 11.0 0 Alex Pierre 2 13 6.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Adekunle Akingba 11 0 0 0 Josh Thomas 7 0 1 1 Ollice Ervin 7 0 0 0 Chris Callahan 5 1 0 0 Mario Henry 4 0 1 0 Stan Brady 4 0 0 0 Mike Newton 3 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Gerry McGroarty 0/0 5/5 5 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Dustin Parsons 4 170 42.5 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Brad Beggs 8 167 20.8 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Brad Beggs 7 113 16.1 1

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Justin Keyes 7/18 40 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Jim Manning 33 286 8.6 4 Nate Satele 8 19 2.3 0 Kevin Cousins 1 6 6.0 0 Justin Keyes 5 3 0.6 0 Korey Harper 1 2 2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Jim Manning 3 3 1.0 0 Pete Carlson 2 20 10.0 0 Kevin Cousins 2 17 8.5 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Matt Johnson 6 0 0 0 Hayden Temple 6 0 0 0 Mark Toth 5 0 1 0 Devon Elliott 4 1 0 0 Raymond Cooper 3 1 0 0 Todd Andriano 2 0 1 0 Andrew Miller 2 1 0 0 Calvin Burton 2 0 5 0 Erik Sellers 1 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jon Foster 1/1 6/6 9 29 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Brad Jones 8 304 38.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Pete Carlson 5 170 34.0 1 Jim Manning 1 23 23.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jim Manning 3 10 3.3 0

[Deuce2223]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Dang I have had 5 INT's in a game before as a team but never with 1 player. I think the most I have ever had with 1 guy was 3. Burton was a beast today, but even more so was Manning..

Great to see you pick up that first "W" Excited to see what you can do in the MAC.. Hopefully you can make a run, because it would be great to see the Mellon Tartans go bowling. Maybe even to the Famous Idaho Potato (It always draws a MAC team in real life and in NCAA14 but not sure what the tie ins are in 2007/2008) Probably still called the Humantarian or MPC Bowl back then.

[moose141]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Holy smokes, what a day for Burton. Don't know if I've ever seen that level of production in a single game, pretty insane to just have things go your way like that. Willy must have had his blinders on all game, talk about not seeing the field haha. Tough day again for the passing game, it seems like there just isn't any progression so far this season from week to week. Cousins has to be wondering why in the hell he transferred from PSU, so let's hope he's happy with the education that he's getting at least. You might need Manning to run for 2500 yards just this season in order for you to get bowl eligible!

[philliesfan136]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

That’s incredible. Were you usering him a lot? 😲

Chances he’ll be CMU’s highest draft pick in this franchise?

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

Dang I have had 5 INT's in a game before as a team but never with 1 player. I think the most I have ever had with 1 guy was 3. Burton was a beast today, but even more so was Manning..

Great to see you pick up that first "W" Excited to see what you can do in the MAC.. Hopefully you can make a run, because it would be great to see the Mellon Tartans go bowling. Maybe even to the Famous Idaho Potato (It always draws a MAC team in real life and in NCAA14 but not sure what the tie ins are in 2007/2008) Probably still called the Humantarian or MPC Bowl back then.

This is the first time for me too, and I think three was my previous record with a player. Their quarterback just kept testing Burton and failing - I think one or maybe two of the interceptions were more a result of my stick skills. And offensively, they had no answer for Manning - as the stats suggested. I barely bothered with trying to throw the ball or even use Keyes in the run game when Manning got rolling.

Glad to get that first W from FBS portion of this report, and do so in a historic game! I'll wait to string a few more wins together before thinking about potential bowls, but I believe the MAC has a tie-in with the bowl you mentioned. I know with the game change from 07 to 08, there are a few additional bowl games (ex. International Bowl) that weren't an option before.

Holy smokes, what a day for Burton. Don't know if I've ever seen that level of production in a single game, pretty insane to just have things go your way like that. Willy must have had his blinders on all game, talk about not seeing the field haha. Tough day again for the passing game, it seems like there just isn't any progression so far this season from week to week. Cousins has to be wondering why in the hell he transferred from PSU, so let's hope he's happy with the education that he's getting at least. You might need Manning to run for 2500 yards just this season in order for you to get bowl eligible!

I had to do my research afterward because nothing came up on the NCAA single-game records list regarding five interceptions, but I figured I at least tied it. Like I said to Deuce, Willy just kept trying to pick on Burton and failing at it, but he was really just bad the entire game. I might turn the interception sliders down a tad because it seemed like a lot of those 50-50 balls were picked off, and I don't really want that.

As for the passing game, Keyes wasn't good again but I pretty much ignored it once Manning got going. Cousins is probably kicking himself for transferring to CMU, you're right, and I really want to get him more involved with the offense because he can be a dangerous weapon for me - especially in MAC play. I'd love to be a 50/50 attack with the run and pass, but I haven't quite figured out Keyes' strengths (if there are any) throwing the ball, and Manning's dominance also keeps the opposing offenses off the field.

Thanks - as always - to you both for following!

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

That’s incredible. Were you usering him a lot? 😲

Chances he’ll be CMU’s highest draft pick in this franchise?

I can't remember exactly, but I think only one or two of the interceptions were me baiting the quarterback. He has pretty good ratings in catching and speed (not so much in tackling), so there's always the potential for him to come away with a pick when it's thrown to his side. The one in the photo was in zone coverage, and Willy was well off the mark with his attempt.

As for his draft status, I'd like to get one or two of these guys drafted first, haha! But Burton (and Manning) are certainly in the running, especially if I can get their overalls to a point where they'll transfer into the exported draft classes.