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

[Hellisan]

2022 - Week 8 Preview - #7 Iowa at #10 Wisconsin



The Badgers are going to get a close look at Larry Lloyd. The junior running back, a former JUCO transfer as a sophomore, is now firmly entrenched as the starting running back. The Badgers have a high powered offense and so far have been very solid on defense as well. But can their defense which includes some clear weak points along the front hold up against Iowa? That is going to be tested.

The Hawkeyes will take aim at Heisman trophy candidate Andy Herron, who has racked up big game after big game. James Brown has astutely run the team which has weapons galore, and has just enough athleticism to be a threat in the running game occasionally. He has at least five dangerous targets to throw the ball to in addition to their Heisman candidate, Herron.

If the Hawkeyes need to pass to win, they will have to protect well on the road but do have some areas they can target. Both of the safeties are much slower than average and each of the corners are shorter 5'11". However, the lack of height should not be confused with a lack of talent. The more aggressive the Badgers are in terms of man to man coverage with a blitz attack, the more dangerous it could be for the Hawkeyes.

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The Badgers have some problems with their depth chart. Like their most talented backer being at LOLB - We do run a lot of base sets but being able to get rid of him anytime we want with a 3-WR look is just tough from their perspective. We will try to play this fairly straight, and without Lukas Halligan, there's good reason to run from base sets as much as possible. One of the starting DT's is a DE with very little strength or size. Unfortunately, there's no way to help Wiscy with that one. He will be an issue.

Let's play.

Curious what kind of stats does Larry Lloyd have. Any chance he could see additional carries and make a case for a Heisman or National Award?

He's on the periphery of the discussion. See his stats in the game preview. He was at the bottom of the list two weeks ago, but came off of it during the bye week. We give him a lot of carries and plan to do so again against the Badgers. Thanks for checking in!

[Hellisan]

2022 - Week 8 - #7 Iowa at #10 Wisconsin






This was a frustrating one for me to play, just watching how stupid Wisconsin was during key decision making moments. I have been taking the time to optimize the playbooks for teams I play against as well as their play calling tendencies, and they did go with a good mix of run and pass including a realistic number of screens (due to taking most of those out) that had us off kilter at times, however, they just could not make good decisions when it mattered most. Sometimes you just have those wins that feel empty. With our inability to complete passes and their mental midget errors, it just became kind of a boring game that I wanted to get through, and didn't particularly feel like writing about. They should have won this one by a couple of touchdowns. Still, as I went through it, I did see some cool things. Look at the dichotomy between SS Drew Farmer, 2 career interceptions including a touchdown return as a freshman, and Jay Cook, zero interceptions his entire career. Both have 73 catch ratings. Cook seemingly has zero shot to catch any ball, it's really ugly, despite the rating being very solid for a safety. I don't think Farmer has dropped one so far, those two that he got to were both picked off. He could be really solid. Cook too is very good, but he's just a great force run safety that often times is the last line of defense - He just can't make those all important INTs.

[young22]

Re: Introduction and Table of Contents

I feel you on those empty wins. I really stopped enjoying this game until I turned off fatigue. Somehow stopped the CPU calling screens and 4 verts every 3rd down. Still wish they'd feed their stars more in the pass game, but short of controlling CPU offense there's nothing we can do.

Good win anyway.

Sent from my SM-A102W using Operation Sports mobile app

[moose141]

Re: Introduction and Table of Contents

Wild contest you had there Helli. Just had been singing Malone's praises last game and then he goes and has a clunker like that. Thankfully you ended up squeaking it out, just Larry gritting one for you and the team making enough plays to overcome things.

I feel you on the gameplay. The CPU has been interesting for me as well. The last few weeks they seem to to have gotten away from the screen passes and are taking some more shots downfield since I bumped the CPU accuracy slider up a tick, but I definitely agree with the lack of awareness by the CPU coaches. It seems like they just go into the game with a gameplan and then stick to it regardless of what is working. They could be running for 10 yards on every single carry but if they want to be a passing team then they just pass anyways, even if it isn't working. Sometimes there is just no way to figure this game out haha, but I guess it's like real life to be honest. Not every game is an instant classic and sometimes they just leave you scratching your head. Just look at Pitt's playcalling in the red zone in the 4th quarter when we lost to Penn State this past season. No idea what they were thinking from the one yard line. Sometimes it happens, aha, but either way good job pushing through and getting the win even in trying circumstances!

[Hellisan]

Re: Introduction and Table of Contents

I feel you on those empty wins. I really stopped enjoying this game until I turned off fatigue. Somehow stopped the CPU calling screens and 4 verts every 3rd down. Still wish they'd feed their stars more in the pass game, but short of controlling CPU offense there's nothing we can do.

Good win anyway.

Sent from my SM-A102W using Operation Sports mobile app

Don't get offended, as I appreciate greatly your reply and input. However, when I saw some of your posts after awhile of not seeing you around, I kept saying to myself there's a reason I should remember this guy. You're the fatigue off guy. :-) I remember now.

I have tried what you guys have mentioned and haven't seen any improvement, and it takes away so much of the experience for me to not have my own guys get tired that I just can't do it. I do periodic resets if it looks like this might be what's impacting the game (I did about a 10 play period of fatigue off at the start of the 3rd qtr) and I've never seen any benefit from that or fatigue off in general.

Wild contest you had there Helli. Just had been singing Malone's praises last game and then he goes and has a clunker like that. Thankfully you ended up squeaking it out, just Larry gritting one for you and the team making enough plays to overcome things.

I feel you on the gameplay. The CPU has been interesting for me as well. The last few weeks they seem to to have gotten away from the screen passes and are taking some more shots downfield since I bumped the CPU accuracy slider up a tick, but I definitely agree with the lack of awareness by the CPU coaches. It seems like they just go into the game with a gameplan and then stick to it regardless of what is working. They could be running for 10 yards on every single carry but if they want to be a passing team then they just pass anyways, even if it isn't working. Sometimes there is just no way to figure this game out haha, but I guess it's like real life to be honest. Not every game is an instant classic and sometimes they just leave you scratching your head. Just look at Pitt's playcalling in the red zone in the 4th quarter when we lost to Penn State this past season. No idea what they were thinking from the one yard line. Sometimes it happens, aha, but either way good job pushing through and getting the win even in trying circumstances!

Good point Moose. Sometimes it happens in real life too that the fans like you said just can't explain it. Even though you try to win every game while running a dynasty like this, sometimes you're watching them and going o.k. now would be a time to take the free win when we can't do a darn thing - and nope.

Malone struggled there for sure, but it was just really bad reads, it's almost like I forgot everything I knew post Eddie Allen and thought I could go sling the ball around the field or something. hahaha

Thanks for reading and checking in fellas.

[Deuce2223]

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

I have tried both Fatigue on and off. Like you I personally like it on. I like that my WR's have to get rest and the guy's #6/#7 on the depth chart get a few snaps. Same with backup's on O-line and Defense. It also seems to lead to more fumbles by my ball carriers and has led to numerous in game injuries when they stay in and are red... It also forced me to call a Timeout before instead of keep running hurry up on offense cause my entire team was gassed.

[Careless Whisper]

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

Sucks about the CPU's incompetence in that one, because as you said it's hard to get too excited about a game like that where you win handily, and you didn't anything but earn that. Feel like Malone is going to have these peaks and valleys all season in his first year as a starter, but at least you have Lloyd to lean on when the quarterback is really off like this.

[young22]

Re: Introduction and Table of Contents

Don't get offended, as I appreciate greatly your reply and input. However, when I saw some of your posts after awhile of not seeing you around, I kept saying to myself there's a reason I should remember this guy. You're the fatigue off guy. :-) I remember now.

I have tried what you guys have mentioned and haven't seen any improvement, and it takes away so much of the experience for me to not have my own guys get tired that I just can't do it. I do periodic resets if it looks like this might be what's impacting the game (I did about a 10 play period of fatigue off at the start of the 3rd qtr) and I've never seen any benefit from that or fatigue off in general.

I was actually the fatigue reset guy, but I ended up switching to fatigue fully off last year when I did a dynasty with Florida that I didn't report on. JBrew was the fatigue off guy, I don't believe I've ever seen him in the dynasty forum.

To each their own man, I just remember before messing with fatigue I was coming back from 21 down 7-8 times a season against superior opposition, and I wasn't seeing the CPU stick to their run game much. What sliders are you on, actually?

[Hellisan]

2022 - Around the NCAA - Week 9

I have tried both Fatigue on and off. Like you I personally like it on. I like that my WR's have to get rest and the guy's #6/#7 on the depth chart get a few snaps. Same with backup's on O-line and Defense. It also seems to lead to more fumbles by my ball carriers and has led to numerous in game injuries when they stay in and are red... It also forced me to call a Timeout before instead of keep running hurry up on offense cause my entire team was gassed.

Yeah it just lines up better with my idea of fun in a a dynasty and without dead solid proof (or personal experience) that fatigue reset does anything, I just can't go for it. I do the same things as you, sometimes needing to burn timeouts just to have a better chance at making a big stop.

Sucks about the CPU's incompetence in that one, because as you said it's hard to get too excited about a game like that where you win handily, and you didn't anything but earn that. Feel like Malone is going to have these peaks and valleys all season in his first year as a starter, but at least you have Lloyd to lean on when the quarterback is really off like this.

I agree with that for sure. I am not going to pull Malone yet but I definitely need to have a better game with him. It hasn't hurt him that when the backup comes in, he struggles to do anything in the passing game despite being a really good runner.

[Deuce2223]

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

Nice to see WSU pulling off some big wins without Coach Bryan at the helm.

[Hellisan]

2022 - Week 9 Preview



Homecoming promises to be a great matchup. Northwestern have never beaten Coach Clark but have given the Hawkeyes trouble at every opportunity. In their first meeting, Iowa required overtime to win. In 2019, the game against NU was the most insane game of the year with the Wildcats missing a pair of easy field goals in overtime. Last year's 44-34 win in Evanston was the largest margin of victory of the four games in which Clark and Fitzgerald have faced off against one another. Northwestern are a team top loaded with offensive talent at the skill positions, particularly at quarterback and running back, although they also have good wide receiver depth. On defense, they seem to have a solid secondary every year. The potential weak spots are in the trenches, but the Wildcats have played like more than the sum of their parts in the past.

So far this year, the Wildcats have been hot and cold. After an opening week win at Stanford, they were stunned by Ball State of all teams, 10-31. They bounced back with offensively dominant performances the next four weeks, and were particularly impressive in a 49-24 win against a pretty talented Minnesota squad. Last week, the training wheels appeared to fall off for a second time as they lost to a solid Ole Miss team, 28-42. Can the Wildcats bounce back against the Hawkeyes? Tune in Saturday at 3:00 p.m. for the pregame show.


Vessel out with ankle sprain

Freshman wide receiver Nick Vessel, who leads the team in receptions and has made big plays running the ball as well as returning punts, will miss the game with what the team says is a typical ankle sprain. He is expected to return in Week 10.


Hawkeyes add a third commit - Dawit Cunningham is on board

Alabama made a late push but do not have the firepower any longer with Saban retired to come back from the dead on players like they did in the past. Cunningham will bring good speed but needs to work on his coverage skills. He could be slated for a switch to strong safety as he is capable of playing any position in the secondary.

[Deuce2223]

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

Surprisingly Northwestern looks pretty good... Feed the Lloyd.

[moose141]

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

Agree with Deuce, NU looks pretty well balanced with no real weak spot on their offense. The only real suspect area on their team is probably the front seven, so might need a return to the old Iowa offense with the ground and pound. I could see Hark getting a good run out in this game to really wear down the Wildcats in a partnership with Larry.

[Careless Whisper]

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

Echoing what Deuce and Moose have said, Northwestern looks pretty solid and this should be a good game. Mayhew's having a really good year for his 88 rating and Strong has been very steady running the ball. I think you feed Lloyd, deploy Hark more often and really grind this one out, especially with Malone's recent struggles and Vessel out injured.

[Careless Whisper]

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

Bumping this off the second page. Hope all is well with you, Hellisan.