DuckFan takes on Temple

[DuckFan]

Well I just finished season 10 in my Oregon Dynasty... and after a 61-game winning streak (all simmed) I have decided that it is time to move on to another challenge.

So I started scrolling through the Rosters page looking for a school that would make for a good challenge. Somewhere down the line I will create my alma mater (a Div III school) and take them to glory. But for now I figured a more realistic challenge made sense.

And I stumble across what may very well be the toughest school to take to prominence in the entire game. The Temple Owls.

The Owls certainly have some decent players on their roster. No doubt about that. They are a little better than a typical C+ team would be. But what sets the Owls apart from the rest is the number of seniors on the roster. 34 of them to be exact. Just a ridiculous number, and one that would be frightening to any accomplished recruiter. The roster is 7 players short of full as it is, and with 34 guys graduating after season 1, there are 41 potential roster spots to fill. Given that you only see 25 scholarships, the roster will be among the shortest in the NCAA for season 2.

In addition, the 7 freshman and 8 sophomores on the opening roster guarantees a dearth of composure on the field for year 3. That year there will be a minimum of 8 sophomore starters (barring JUCO recruiting). And considering these freshman and sophomores won't exactly be on their way to the pros, it should be fun.

With all those guys leaving (as an example we will graduate 5 of the 6 corners on the roster) playing time will be a very easy pitch to make. We have 3-star academics to work with, which is no great shakes but is better than the 1-star program and coach prestige.

What we DO have going for us is a lot of very good pipeline states for the first year. California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, many of those states are only pipeline states because of those seniors. When they graduate, we run a big risk of losing their status because there just won't be enough.

Parameters for the Dynasty:

* No more than 3 changed opponents from the opening schedule, and no changing of ranked opponents. The AD scheduled those to bring the school revenue so we will play them.
* Sim all but three games during the first two regular seasons.
* Sim all but two games in each following regular season.
* Bowl games may be played or simmed as desired.
* No use of the three broken aspects of Dynasty I have found so far.
* Coach contracts on, but I will not voluntarily leave Temple before its second NC.
* I will accept the very first conference realignment offered to me, no matter what it may be.
* No more than one change of offense type per season. (IE, I will not list myself as a "Spread" for inseason recruiting, then as a "Flexbone" during offseason recruiting to convince more players they might get playing time).

Comments and questions are absolutely welcome. This thread is as much a mental exercise for me as it is a storytelling time. I will try to break down as much of my decision process as possible (without disclosing any of the truly broken stuff I have found).

Let's begin.

[DuckFan]

Season 1
Pre-Season

We start out with the custom schedules... An A- to start with. Not good for our chances to get recruits this season. By my own rules I can't change the three ranked teams on the slate. So the only change we make is swapping out the Wisconsin game for Florida Atlantic. Still a B+ schedule, but at least we have a shot at 4 wins.

Red-Shirts... Was tempted to redshirt the scrambling backup QB. He's only a 68 but has 84 SPD. But it is better to let him go. However SR #34 HB is a nobrainer to be redshirted. Yes I know he's a senior, but he isn't the starter, and we'll need at least one guy who can carry the rock next year. Heck, he might win the Heisman in year 2 if I can get him 400 carries. SO DT #79 gets the redshirt as well. Only a sophomore and I could use three starting years out of him. I won't redshirt any of the 5 senior corners, but I will redshirt #29 (the JR). That will give him two years as a starter and I can still recruit based on PT for the next couple years. SR P #12 also gets the shirt. He is only 2 pts better than the SR(RS) #37 and this way I get a decent starter two years in a row rather than a wasted backup.

So 2 seniors will no longer be graduating (well they'll probably still be graduating, just sticking around for another year).


In-Season Recruiting.
This is tough. The program is so bad there is no point in even talking to any 5-stars. I will open up with a mix of 4s and 3s. Trying to keep them from my Pipeline States (in hopes of keeping those pipelines open).

We show 19 needs at the start of the process, so hopefully someone will want some playing time. I chose 4 guys from CA, 4 from FL, 1 from MD, 1 from NJ and 2 from PA. All were at least A- on AWR, since it will be easier for me to get my academics up to 4-stars than my prestige so it's a faster recruiting choice.


Coach Options
I leave the team options as is for now. Spread with a 4-2-5 with all the sliders where they begin. We'll change after the season based on what we need.

[DuckFan]

Week 1

Simmed - We UPSET #19 Arizona State! 28-24! A 14pt comeback in the 4th to pick up the huge upset. Starting QB throws 4 TDs.

ISR - We start out with two 4-stars who have us 2nd. I give them both 20%. We have another 3 players who have us in the top 4. They get 15% each. And a player has us 5th. He gets 15% as well. The rest get nothing.

IR - None
PS - None

Week 2

Bye week. Still resting on the laurels of the upset.

ISR - The guy who had us 5th moves us up to 4th. One of the guys who was 4th drops to 8th (we pull his points). One of the guys who was 3rd drops to 4th. We put 10 more on the guy who was moving up and 5 on the guy who dropped 1 slot. Talking to 3 CBs, 1 SS, and 1 LG.

IR - None
PS - None

[GoHuskies]

Dang, nice job bro.

Temple will be tough. So good luck. I will continue to read so don't stop posting !

[sandman]

DuckFan, have you talked about the broken aspects you have come across? If not, would you care to elaborate.

P.S. I must admit that 61 consecutive wins simming is very impressive.

[DuckFan]

Week 3

Played vs FAU - Won 29-28 and got doused with Gatorade. Couldn't stop FAUs passing to save my life and threw a pick on my first pass of the game. Started running the backup QB from the option and pounding the rock. Was down 28-14 at the start of the 4th. Drove the length for a TD then picked off his 1st pass at his 35. Punched it in myself. With 2 minutes left I was going to kick the XP, but they got called for offsides and I decided to go for 2 from the 1. They drove to my 40 as time was expiring but couldn't get in FG range. #3 greatest game with a 253 (Yes my previous games have rarely been great in 06)

HB 6 rolled up 156 on 20 carries. QB 3 had 142 on 11. LT 78 finished with 22 pancakes.

Overall a little scary since I am #65 and they were #113. But their QB isn't bad and the Impact MLB gave me fits..

ISR - Now 2nd on 4 players lists and 5th on the other. With a 1-star program you cannot get greedy. So I drop the guy in 5th and spread the pts around. Now 25% each on 4* CB CA, 4* SS CA, 4* LG FL, and 3* CB PA. Realistically if I sign 2 of these guys I should be happy. The program is just not good.

IR - None
PS - None

[DuckFan]

DuckFan, have you talked about the broken aspects you have come across? If not, would you care to elaborate.

P.S. I must admit that 61 consecutive wins simming is very impressive.

I haven't discussed them yet, and I don't plan to for a while. I blame myself for revealing what amount to absolute glitches the first year I posted here on the Madden side. And while I think it is best for the game community that that info eventually is out there (so that EA can fix it) I think it may be best to hold back just a little while yet. It's not as though I think you or Hobbs is going to hate the game if you know something you can "cheat" with. You're men enough to know about the glitch and not use it. But if I start posting the stuff that I have found too soon, there may be people who won't enjoy the game as much.

As for the 61 wins, I suspect it could have gone for at least 100 more. I was in no danger of ever getting in trouble with the NCAA. My depth chart was dynamically stable. And I found a balance of Training-Recruiting-Discipline that made it fairly easy to keep my average starter above 96. Yes, a team could randomly pull an upset. But I was beating "A" teams by an average of 18 pts. So it would have taken a lot. This game is still "breakable" on the Dynasty side...

[sandman]

DuckFan, I have another question for you. In this year's game I have found it extremely difficult to recruit three, four, and five star kickers and punters. What strategy do you use in recruiting these types of players? Is their interest solely based upon statistics put up by previous kickers and punters at your school or is it something else?

[DuckFan]

Week 4

Simmed vs Toledo - I get rolled 35-17. Their starting HB 38 rolls up 229 yards on 29 carries. Not much positive to speak of.

ISR - Still 2nd on all 4 players lists. I need to start thinking about who to drop next. I need to get to 1st on a couple lists or I have no chance of signing anyone. I leave them all at 25 for this week and plan to cut to two guys at 50 for next week.

IR - Backup RE for 3 weeks
PS - None

[DuckFan]

Week 5

Simmed vs Western Michigan - I lose a heartbreaker 25-24. Leading by 5 with 2 minutes to go they drive the field and score with 7 seconds left. Run defense was solid, but still no pass defense...

ISR - Still 2nd on all 4 players lists. I have a positive comment about coaching style from the 3* CB and I am virtually tied with Cal for the 4* SS. So those are the two I keep. Move them to 50% and lose the other 2.

IR - Backup RE for 2 weeks, SO WR 22 for 5 weeks
PS - None

[DuckFan]

DuckFan, I have another question for you. In this year's game I have found it extremely difficult to recruit three, four, and five star kickers and punters. What strategy do you use in recruiting these types of players? Is their interest solely based upon statistics put up by previous kickers and punters at your school or is it something else?

The only two things that ever seem to motivate them is awards and prestige. I can't ever get one to sign based on PT even when I don't have one. But when I have a 6-star program and my guys are winning the Groza I can usually sign the #1 K every other year with great success. Then I change one of them to being a P. :)

[DuckFan]

Week 6

Played at Bowling Green - I win 30-27 in OT. Leading 17-7 with 3 minutes to go in the game, my defense chokes and they score on 4 plays. I am expecting an onside kick but they kick deep. My guy catches it right behind the goalline but his sideways momentum carries him out past it. I hesitate for a split second then get tackled in the end zone. Safety. Leading 17-16. Punt 58 yards. They do nothing and punt back to me, with HB 6 running it all the way back for a TD. Had I been smart I would have run out of bounds at the 10. When leading by 1 you should never, ever, ever run the ball back. Never. So I get called for celebration (which prevents me from going for 2 to make it 9). Sure enough they march down and score with 17 seconds left. I get trucked on the 2pt and prepare to receive. Get a great runback to midfield. Run one option towards the sidelines making it to the 40 and call timeout with 1 second. The FG is long enough (57 yards) but wide right. In OT I get a huge stop on 3rd down and they kick the FG. My series was anticlimactic. Two options and I score the TD. #1 Greatest Game with a score of 1331.

I didn't attempt a single pass. Only had 250 yards rushing. HB 6 has 149 rushing and 3 TDs on 21 carries, 133 in KR on 3 returns, and one PR for 83 and a TD. Yeah. I am so glad I redshirted the backup HB. I will need him next year.

ISR - I move up to 1st on the two guys at 50% and strangely enough I keep in 2nd on the two guys I dropped. If by some fluke I can sign one of my guys early I might be able to swicth back and pick up a 3rd. Not counting on it though. This team sucks.

IR - Backup RE for 1 weeks, SO WR 22 for 4 weeks
PS - None (which is starting to bother me. You start with 75 pts and a healthy bar. I need someone to mess up if I want to get rid of that bar)

[DuckFan]

Week 7

Simmed vs Maryland - I lose 42-23. The only bright spot is that I kick 5 FGs. If you can call that a bright spot.

ISR - The two guys at 50% choose their top 3, and I schedule both for the Miami (FL) game next week. The other two drop me to 3rd and 4th. If somehow I happened to get a commit this week there might still be a chance. But I have to play stupidly well to beat the Canes.

IR - SO WR 22 for 3 weeks
PS - None

[DuckFan]

Week 8

Played vs Miami (FL) - I win 26-14. The game was extremely close and I probably should have lost it. But when Miami went into the hurry-up toward the end of the game the only player the QB wanted to throw the ball to was the TE 82. He literally threw to him on 11 consecutive plays. Didn't matter if he was open or triple covered. I got two user picks on their last two drives by manually covering him (in addition to the player assigned to him).

ISR - I get soft verbals from both. Given that my program is so bad, I am content to take the two guys. So they both stay at 50%.

IR - SO WR 22 for 2 weeks
PS - Still None

[DuckFan]

Week 9

Simmed at Clemson - I get smoked 48-21. No bright spots at all...

ISR - Still holding at soft verbals. So they both stay at 50%.

IR - SR HB 6 for 5 weeks... OUCH!... SO WR 22 for 2 weeks
PS - Finally!!! DT 99 goes down for forging signatures. Suggested suspension is 3 games. We give him the Season instead.

[DuckFan]

Week 10

Simmed vs Miami OH - I lost 42-39. QB 16 goes 25-27 for 265 and 4 TDs but with no running game it's not enough.

ISR - Still holding at soft verbals. So they both stay at 50%.

IR - SR HB 6 for 4 weeks... SR SS 31 for 1 week
PS - ROLB 96 skips film study. Suggested suspension is 2 games. We give him the Season instead.

[GoHuskies]

LOL.. poor guy skips one thing and he is done for the year. Way to be tough :D

[DuckFan]

Week 11

Simmed at #7 Virginia - I lost 31-10. A brutal game.

ISR - Both of my guys sign. So I know I will have a 4-star and a 3-star in the class. With a 1-star program that is not a guarantee.

IR - SR HB 6 for 3 weeks
PS - None new

Week 12

Bye Week

ISR - None

IR - SR HB 6 for 2 weeks
PS - LE 45 goes to a strip joint. Suggested 1 game (which is all that is left). I give him the season anyway, so he knows he wouldn't have gone to a bowl. :)

[DuckFan]

BTW... In week 12, my redshirted HB 34 is given Impact Player status... Wow, he must be a stud on the scout team...

[DuckFan]

Week 13

Played at Navy - I win 21-13. Navy marches down the field on the first drive, then I switch to 4-4 the rest of the game with 4 spies. They manage 21 yards of offense after the opening drive. A meaningless fumble return for TD gives them a 2nd score.

ISR - None

No further games... Week 14 and Week 15 are Bye weeks.

[DuckFan]

Heisman Winner: WR 88 Texas Tech
Otther finalists: Vince Young, HB 32 Va Tech, QB 10 Texas Tech, Matt Leinart

Final Top 10
USC
Texas
Tennessee
Georgia
Michigan
Virginia Tech
LSU
Florida
Texas Tech
Alabama

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 1

Program Prestige remains at 1-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige at 1-star

Adjust RTD sliders to:
80% recruiting
0% training
20% discipline

No players leave early... Big Surprise there... :)

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: PA, MD, NJ, FL... We lost CA and NY

There are 31 returning players. We have signed 2 during the season. There are 17 Needs.

There are 10 3-stars who are interested, and 63 2-stars...

We have 230 pts available to recruit with...

[RyanZ923]

how come u dont train at all... is it that useless??

[maddenbowl62]

Heisman Winner: WR 88 Texas Tech
Otther finalists: Vince Young, HB 32 Va Tech, QB 10 Texas Tech, Matt Leinart

Final Top 10
USC
Texas
Tennessee
Georgia
Michigan
Virginia Tech
LSU
Florida
Texas Tech
Alabama

I am the only one having problems winning the Heisman because a Texas Tech player wins it because of insane stats?

[sandman]

You have got to be kidding Maddenbowl because my HB just lost the Heisman to the Texas Tech QB.

[DuckFan]

how come u dont train at all... is it that useless??

Not at all. In fact, in most years of most dynasties I will train more than I recruit. My standard balance from my Ducks dynasty I spoke of earlier has dramatically more training than recruiting.

But the average returning player on the Temple roster is the equivalent of a 1-star. So I would rather recruit a new 3-star than train the 1-star that I already have. Yes, it's a shame that HB 34 will get no improvement. But there is little reason to train a bunch of 63s when I can just replace them with shiny new 71s...

[RyanZ923]

o ic ic thanks for clearin that up cuz i had like 48% train 45% recruit and 7% disipline and it made alot of my guys really good

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 1
Week 1 Recruiting

19 slots to fill means I am looking for bulk rather than specific guys. No reason to scout anyone at all. I will just take what I can get.

I put 12-16 pts each on the 10 3-stars who were interested. For most of these that means an In-Home Coach. That left 90 pts for the remaining 13 guys. I picked out 13 2-stars who were from Pipeline States who had Awareness of A- or better and had me in their top 3. I tried to scatter them through the different positions to get at least enough at each to where if they all signed I would fill my 19. I had two slots left over so I went for a 4-star and a 3-star that had a long bar from PA (but not top 5).

First week commits:
3-Star QB (#21 overall QB) from MD

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 1
Week 2 Recruiting

I hit pretty much the same guys. Most guys get either PT or location the first week, and the other pitch the second week. This team is so bad I cannot pitch prestige or coach prestige under any circumstances. Coaching style will be my 4th (and last choice).

Only 1 guy jumped to another school, so I picked a random PA guy who was a 2-star and talked to him.

Second week commits:
3-Star DT (#30 overall DT) from MD
2-Star DE (#79 overall DE) from MD
2-Star G (#118 overall G) from NJ
2-Star G (#108 overall G) from MD

Obviously MD will be a pipeline state next year...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 1
Week 3 Recruiting

I hit pretty much the same guys. A few guys have found a pitch they like. The rest I have switched to Academics.

No one jumped to another school.

Third week commits:
3-Star MLB (#53 overall MLB) from PA
2-Star DT (#62 overall DT) from MD
2-Star WR (#118 overall WR) from OH

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 1
Week 4 Recruiting

Still the same guys. Still the same pitches. For most of these guys they like what someone else is saying more than me, but I am yelling louder than anyone else and sometimes that is all that matters. When you are in a kid's face more than anyone else, they will sign out of fear...

No one jumped to another school.

Fourth week commits:
3-Star CB (#50 overall CB) from FL
3-Star QB (#22 overall QB) from PA
3-Star MLB (#33 overall MLB) from NJ
2-Star DT (#60 overall DT) from PA
2-Star TE (#38 overall TE) from MD
2-Star ATH (#80 overall ATH) from MD
2-Star HB (#83 overall HB) from NJ

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 1
Week 5 Recruiting

Still the same guys. Still the same pitches.

Fifth week commits:
3-Star CB (#32 overall CB) from MD

All told I wind up with the 37th best class... Not too bad for a 1-star program that isn't from one of the big 3 states...

1 4-star
8 3-star
9 2-star

[DuckFan]

Off Season 1
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

74 QB with 80 SPD
72 QB
72 HB
70 WR
72 TE
68 G
62 G
68 DE
76 DT
70 DT
65 DT
72 MLB
70 MLB
76 CB
70 CB
70 CB
72 SS (my only 4*, I hope he has potential)
65 ATH (who happens to be a 72 at QB)

Training Results

None of course...

Cut players

With only 54 on the roster I won't be cutting anyone... No matter how bad they are...

[Coach Stag]

You have got to be kidding Maddenbowl because my HB just lost the Heisman to the Texas Tech QB.

Yeah, Cody Hodges (TT QB #10) wins the Heisman in at least half the Dynasty's I start up. He is ALWAYS a finalist.

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 1

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a C with only 3 home games. I add FIU in week one, and change the Central Michigan game to a home game. Still only 5 home with 7 away, but that's about the best the Owls could do anyway.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt the 3rd best rookie QB (a 72), and the rookie WR (a 70 who is 4th on the chart). Everyone else can suit up.

Coach Strategy:

This team will live an die on the running ability of HB 34. So we switch to the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. Given that my depth is so bad, I slide to about 75% sub less. I tell the CPU I run a Flexbone so I can try to get a better FB.

I leave the base D as 4-2-5, and switch them to 80% Pass D with max aggression. This will shorten my simmed games and I may get a few guys with Coach Strategy out of it. Plus if I ever get a lead with ground game, the D will be in fullon pass defense to hold it.

In-Season Recruiting:

Tough call here. I still show 12 openings, including 4 on the OL, 2 HB, 1 FB, and 2 WR.

Current Pipelines: FL, MD, NJ, PA... I would like to get OH active at least, but I don't expect to be able to sign more than 3 no matter what I do...

I decide on 12 guys that all have A or A+ awareness. All on offense. 10 4-stars and 2 3-stars. 7 from pipeline states, 3 from OH, 2 from SC...


Athlon Sports has me as the #96 team... C with C- OFF, C- DEF and B+ ST

[DuckFan]

Week 1

Simmed vs FIU - I win 31-24. Team has 60 carries for 268 yards, and 14-17 with 2 TDs passing. HB 34 is on Heisman pace with 47 carries for 241 yards and 2 TDs. We were down 21-10 at the half but the punishment was too much for FIU to handle.

ISR - I am only in the top 5 on 6 guys. So the two that have me 2nd get 20 each and the other 4 get 15 each. Talking to:
LG - OH (has me 2nd)
RT - OH (5th)
LG - NJ (3rd)
RT - NJ (1st)
FB - SC (5th)
RT - OH (4th)
Mostly OL which is fine. That's the most important offensive position to recruit in this game anyway...

IR - FB 39 for 6 weeks (the only FB on the roster)

PS - None (45 pts left)

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 2

Played at NM - As the players are warming up I see the wind at 26mph. Beautiful! I wasn't going to be passing anyway :) As it turns out neither was the CPU, at least not successfully. The Lobo QB put the ball out of bounds on his first 5 passes. HB 34 broke his first carry for 61 yards and rolled from there. By halftime he had 200 yards. I just looked up his name on the Temple website, it's Umar Ferguson. I figure if he is going to win the Heisman this year I should at least know his name... :)

As a team we cranked out 586 rushing yards on 48 carries. Ferguson carried the rock for 313 on 24 carries with 5 TDs. Final 47-17 Temple.

ISR - Moving up huge on nearly every player. Talking to:
LG - OH (2nd)
RT - OH (2nd)
LG - NJ (1st)
RT - NJ (1st)
FB - SC (1st)
RT - OH (3rd)
I drop the guy that has me 3rd. Switch to 22 each on the guys that have me 1st and 17 each on the two that have me 2nd.

IR - FB 39 for 5 weeks

PS - RT 70, far and away my best OL, plagiarized a paper. Not good. Suggested is 3 weeks. We give him 7 games. Leaving us just 3 pts left.

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 3

Simmed at MTSU - I lose 17-7. My QB leads in carries with 27 for 75 yards. Ferguson only manages 62 on 14 with 1 TD.

ISR - Still moving on nearly every player. Talking to:
LG - OH (1st)
RT - OH (2nd)
LG - NJ (1st)
RT - NJ (1st)
FB - SC (1st)
I drop the guy that has me 2nd. Switch to 25 each on the guys that have me 1st.

IR - FB 39 for 4 weeks

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 4

Simmed vs Rutgers - We win 27-21 with a 4th quarter comeback. Ferguson carries 25 times for 104 and a TD.

ISR - Still moving on nearly every player. Talking to:
LG - OH (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
LG - NJ (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
RT - NJ (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
FB - SC (1st)

IR - FB 39 for 3 weeks

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 5

Simmed at Arizona - Leading 28-0 with 3 minutes to go in the first half... Somehow we lose 35-28. You would think with the defense set to shut down the pass and the offense trying to run the clock out this would be a gimme. But no... Somehow we lost. Ferguson gets 92 on 20, and the QB picks up 90 of his own on 21.

ISR - Still moving on nearly every player. Talking to:
LG - OH (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
LG - NJ (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
RT - NJ (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
FB - SC (1st)

IR - FB 39 for 2 weeks, LG 69 for 9 weeks...

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 6

Simmed at Ball State - Lose 34-20. The injury to the guard and the suspension of the tackle are starting to catch up. Two starters gone from a weak OL is not pretty. Ferguson gets 64 on 22 with 1 TD. Good thing I am playing instead of simming next week...

ISR - Still moving on nearly every player. Talking to:
LG - OH (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
LG - NJ (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
RT - NJ (1st) scheduled to visit week 7 vs CMU
FB - SC (1st) schedule to visit week 7 vs CMU

IR - FB 39 for 1 weeks, LG 69 for 8 weeks, LE 94 for 11 weeks...

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 7

Played vs Central Michigan - Win 35-21. Their scrambling QB 17 was a demon against me. By the end of the game I was running 4 spies on every play and he was still ripping off gains. But Ferguson did his thing, 39 carries for 283 yards and 5 TDs. The QB added 114 yards of his own. Didn't even attempt a pass. LT 86 got 18 pancakes. Hopefully that would help sign some guys.

ISR - Sure enough... insanity reigns again in NCAA 06. I sign all four guys after the game. Yeah, like that is gonna happen in real life. A team that is a solid 1-star is going to sign 4 4-star guys in week seven of a season... Whatever... I am still 5th on another guy (the T from OH) so I switch to 100% on him in hopes I might still have a chance... We'll see...

IR - LG 69 for 7 weeks, LE 94 for 10 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 2
Week 8

Bye Week...

ISR - RT from OH moves me back up to 2nd place behind Michigan. I have no doubt they are not recruiting him at 100% so I wouldn't be surprised if I get him...

IR - LG 69 for 6 weeks, LE 94 for 9 weeks...

PS - None new (2 games left on RT)...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 9

Simmed vs Akron - Lose 24-21. Ferguson carries 42 times for 187 and a TD. But it's not enough...

ISR - Now up to 1st. Invited him for the Navy game in week 13...

IR - LG 69 for 5 weeks, LE 94 for 8 weeks...

PS - None new... One game left for RT

Season 2
Week 10

Simmed at Arkansas - Win 35-21. The poor Razorbacks have a 13-game losing streak despite being a B team. My QB goes 9-16 for 278 and 3 TDs plus 98 yards rushing. Ferguson only manages 66 on 14. Assuming I win against Navy in my last played game I will get at least a 6-6 record. Just need to steal one more game against TCU or Maryland to have a winning season...

ISR - Still first, but Michigan and Notre Dame both have almost full bars too... I may or may not get him...

IR - MLB for 2 weeks, LG 69 for 4 weeks, LE 94 for 7 weeks...

PS - None new RT is available again, and my bar no longer exists, at all...

Season 2
Week 11

Bye Week

ISR - Still first, but Michigan and Notre Dame both have full bars too...

IR - MLB for 1 weeks, LG 69 for 3 weeks, LE 94 for 6 weeks...

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 12

Simmed at TCU - Lost 23-17. Ferguson couldn't get going. QB had 125 rushing but it wasn't enough. The Frogs go to 8-2. Easily the best team on my schedule this year.

ISR - Still first, but Michigan and Notre Dame both have full bars too...

IR - LG 69 for 2 weeks, LE 94 for 5 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 2
Week 13

Played vs Navy - Pity the poor Midshipmen. Racked by injuries and enduring a rough season, they were only too happy to leave. Before they did I charted a few records. Final was 77-0. 626 yards rushing on just 44 carries. No passing attempts. Held them to 39 yards on 33 carries. Ferguson carried 35 times for 561 yards and 8 TDs. But the star of the show was a rookie DT who had 10 tackles, all of them TFL, and all of them tackles of the Navy QB. Ferguson had TD runs of 23, 58, 58, 29, 68, 1, 76, and 24... Still only 3rd in rushing in the NCAA though, despite the 2000+ yard total.

ISR - I get the commitment from the T... That's FIVE 4-star recruits with a 1-star program...

IR - LG 69 for 1 weeks, LE 94 for 4 weeks...

PS - CB screws up. He gets a 1-qtr suspension (all I can give)

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Week 14

Simmed at Maryland - Lost 35-0. The only bright spots were WR 10 catching 7 for 105, and DT 98 getting 3 sacks. Ugly game.

ISR - None left

IR - LE 94 for 3 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 2
Week 15

Bye Week

ISR - None

IR - LE 94 for 2 weeks...

PS - None

Season 2
Championship Week

Bye Week

ISR - None

IR - LE 94 for 1 week

PS - None

WOO-HOO! With a 6-6 record we STILL get invited to a Bowl! PLaying against Virginia Tech (6-5 but ranked #24???) in the Meineke Car Care Bowl!

Awards:

LT 76 wins OL of the year!

Heisman Results:
HB 22 LSU - 1432
HB 30 MIA - 1346
HB 20 MICH - 1314
HB 6 GA - 520
HB 22 MIN - 79

That has to be the closest 3-way vote I have ever seen in NCAA. I had a 2-way race that was within 6pts last year, but a 3-way race like that is insane.

[DuckFan]

And for those who are wondering I went and looked to Texas Tech. Their QB was out hurt so three different QBs had over 1000 yards passing for them. I was surprised to see no TT in the Heisman race but it makes sense now...

[DuckFan]

Season 2
Bowl Game

We lose 28-9 (simmed) to VA Tech. And it frankly wasn't even that close... But that's okay. Finish with a 6-7 record, and a bowl should help the prestige a little.

Was offered a 2-year extension from Temple (yeah, in real life it would be 5) or I could jump to UL Monroe... Accepted the extension.

Final Top 10:

USC
Iowa
NC State
Florida
Georgia
Michigan
Miami
South Carolina
LSU
Michigan State

Two of my OL made 1st Team All-American... And Ferguson made 2nd Team.

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 2

Program Prestige remains at 1-star... grrrr...
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige at 1-star... again... grrrr...

Adjust RTD sliders to:
65% recruiting
20% training
15% discipline

No players leave early... Big Surprise there... :)

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, NJ, FL... Glad I finally picked up Ohio. That will make a big difference...

There are 39 returning players. We have signed 5 during the season. There are 8 Needs.

There are 5 3-stars who are interested, and 56 2-stars... That's just stupid that I was able to sign 5 4-stars during the season for a team that only has 5 3-stars interested after the season is over...

One of the Guards I signed is #30 Overall in the top 100.

We have 200 pts available to recruit with...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 2
Week 1 Recruiting

Just like last year I am looking for bulk rather than specific guys. No reason to scout anyone at all. I will just take what I can get.

Same strategy as last year. I went for all the interested 3-stars. Then picked a smattering of other 2-star guys who all had high awareness. Finally with a couple random picks I went after 2 of the stud HBs who had me high (but not top 5).

First week commits:
None

[sandman]

Keep it up DuckFan. This takes a lot of work. Good job thus far.

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 2
Week 2 Recruiting

I hit pretty much the same guys. Just like last year, most guys get either PT or location the first week, and the other pitch the second week. This team is so bad I cannot pitch prestige or coach prestige under any circumstances. Coaching style will be my 4th (and last choice) except for OL guys and HBs who I know will respond to it.

One of the 2 4-star HBs loves my pitch and bounced me all the way to first. I send the house, and will until he signs. The rest get normal pitches.

Second week commits:
3-Star HB (#49 overall HB) from PA
2-Star C (#55 overall C) from DE
2-Star WR (#131 overall WR) from PA
2-Star CB (#101 overall CB) from PA

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 2
Week 3 Recruiting

Third verse same as the first...

Still no one signing with anyone else and I am first on every player I am talking to...

Third week commits:
4-Star HB (#11 overall HB) from NJ
2-Star P (#11 overall P) from PA
2-Star CB (#63 overall CB) from PA

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 2
Week 4 Recruiting

Same old song and dance...

Lost one player to Penn State. Picked up a random A+ 2-star HB to talk to...

Fourth week commits:
2-Star G (#81 overall G) from PA
2-Star T (#107 overall T) from PA
2-Star HB (#87 overall HB) from OH
2-Star FS (#49 overall FS) from OH

OffSeason Year 2
Week 5 Recruiting

Same old song and dance...

Lost one player to Maryland. Picked up a random A 2-star FB to talk to...

Fifth week commits:
2-Star G (#77 overall G) from NJ
2-Star WR (#100 overall WR) from CT
2-Star CB (#77 overall CB) from MD
2-Star FB (#44 overall FB) from OH
2-Star FS (#66 overall FS) from OH

Ranked as the 22nd best class... Not bad for a 1-star program...
6 4-stars
1 3-star
14 2-stars

And 8 were A+, 5 were A, 4 were A-, plus 5 assorted Bs...

LSU, USC and Miami had the top 3 classes.

[DuckFan]

Off Season 2
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

78 HB
78 HB
70 HB
74 FB
70 FB
70 WR
68 WR
74 RT
74 RT
70 RT
78 G
74 G
72 G
70 G
70 C
74 CB
68 CB
68 CB
68 FS
59 FS
68 P

I changed a few guys from R to L and vice versa, but no other changes...

Training Results

Two guys went up 4. Eight guys went up 3. Half the rest went up 2. The other half did not improve.

Cut players

With only 60 on the roster I won't be cutting anyone... No matter how bad they are... The roster is weak, with the best player being an 80. But there are 43 players at 70 or better. So relative to the talent level I now have some depth. 43 guys within 10 of the best guy on the roster means I am less susceptible to injury catastrophes. There are only 9 seniors and 8 juniors on the roster, which means I need to suffer for at least one more year and probably 2.

[Locke888]

I have a question.....
You are a 1 star program so I was wondering when you are going up against 7 other schools during inseason recruiting are you going up against other 1 and 2 star schools? How about when you target a 5 or 4 star recruit, are you the only weak team trying to get the recruit? Or is there a good mixture.

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 3

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a A. A minor disappointment that EA does not have the Owls joining C-USA in 2007 as they are planned to do. Oh well. Scheduled for 4 ranked teams, which I cannot change. I do choose to change Penn State and Tulane to being Army and Navy. Still a B schedule. And I would be stunned if I pull off 5 wins (since I can only play 2).

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt the 5th HB (a 70 FR). Everyone else can suit up.

Coach Strategy:

This team will live and die on the running game. We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. The depth is better than last year so I slide to about 75% sub less.

I leave the base D as 4-2-5, and 80% Pass D with max aggression.

In-Season Recruiting:

I only have 4 LBs on the roster, and two will graduate. I need to hit these hard. They are critical for me holding leads.

Current Pipelines: FL, MD, NJ, OH, PA...

I decide on 10 guys that all have A or A+ awareness, plus 2 DEs with C+. All on defense. 12 4-stars, all from Pipeline States. Given that I know I will get trucked this season, I plan to just try to get 3 guys. That will be a success for me if I can do that.


Athlon Sports has me as the #114 team... C with C- OFF, C DEF and B ST

[DuckFan]

Season 3
Week 1

Bye Week...

ISR - I am 1st on 2, 2nd on 2, 4th on 1, and 5th on 3. Eight is too many to talk to even the first week. So I do 20 each on the two that are 1st and 15 each on the 2nds and 4th and 15 on the OLB that has me 5th.

IR - None...

PS - None...

Season 3
Week 2

Simmed vs Southern Miss - Win 16-10. Outgained by 100 yards, but hit 3 of 6 FGs and that was apparently enough. No real stars in the game to speak of.

ISR - I am 1st on 3, 2nd on 2, 3rd on 1. I keep the same pts as last week.

IR - WR 87 for 2 weeks...

PS - None...

Season 3
Week 3

Simmed vs Kentucky - Lost 26-21. Outgained by 170 yards, even though Green (freshman HB) picked up 194 on the ground.

ISR - No change in interest. But I know I need to narrow it down. So I keep the SS over the FS and keep the smarter of the two MLBs. I switch to 25% each on all four.

IR - WR 87 for 1 week...

PS - None...

Season 3
Week 4

Simmed vs Navy - Won 28-20. Outgained by 100 yards, even though Grigsby (starting QB) picked up 158 on the ground.

ISR - First on all four lists. And BOTH OLBs are ready for a visit. It's a shame my next game is hosting Oklahoma. I schedule them both for Vandy in week 7 (after the bye in week 6).

IR - None...

PS - None...

Season 3
Week 5

Simmed vs Oklahoma - Lose 34-22. Much closer than I had a right to, since the Sooners are still a top 10 team. Kicked 5-5 in FGs. Other than that just slowed them down to keep it reasonably close.

ISR - Still first on all four and the MLB is ready to visit as well. He'll be here for the Vandy game.

IR - FS 33 out for 3 weeks...

PS - None...

Season 3
Week 6

Bye Week

ISR - No changes. Three visitors will be here for the Vandy game. The 4th guy is still at top 5 status.

IR - FS 33 out for 2 weeks...

PS - None...

[DuckFan]

Season 3
Week 7

Played vs Vanderbilt - Won 35-25. An ugly game all the way around. Lots of turnovers on both sides. But a win is a win.

ISR - All 3 of my visits signed... Yes, that is 3 more 4-stars signing in-season. For a 1-star program. Just plain dumb. I bump the SS (1st still top 5) to 60% and add 40% back on to the FS (5th still top 5).

IR - FS 33 for 1 week

PS - None...

Season 3
Week 8

Simmed vs UTEP - Won 27-20. Green runs for 201 and Tupea (impact SO MLB) gets 3 sacks.

ISR - The SS is ready for a visit. Good thing since I only have one more home game left. The FS is not ready, but moved me to #2. If I can sign the SS this week and go to 100% on the FS next week I can likely get them both.

IR - None...

PS - None...

[GoHuskies]

Uh oh, 4-2.... what are you ranked? any shot at an invite to a bigger conference?

[DuckFan]

Season 3
Week 9

Played vs Washington State - Won 21-18. A very good game. Wazzou's QB picked apart my corners to the point where I had to go to a mixed coverage scheme to give myself a chance. But his K shanked two field goals. Towards the end I was up 21-10 and turned the ball over on a stupid fumble (my fault for trying to juke four guys at once). They marched down, scored, got the 2 pt. I recovered the onside but couldn't get a first down. They burned all three timeouts. I punted back to them with 50 seconds left, nailing it out of bounds at the 4. I went to 4-2-5 Cover 2 with everyone playing deep. They drove to my 40, I got called for offsides to move it to the 35 with 6 seconds. But there was no way their kicker was going to do anything. So they chucked it deep and we picked it off at the 2 as time expired. #2 greatest game (funny how I never had any "great" games with the Ducks, but lots with Temple). Green and Grigsby both collected 100+ rushing. And Tupea picked up 2 more sacks. A good game all around.

ISR - Soft verbal from the SS. FS has narrowed it to 3, so he comes for a visit during my bye week next week.

IR - None

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Uh oh, 4-2.... what are you ranked? any shot at an invite to a bigger conference?

Even at 5-2 we're not ranked. And the Owls start as an Independent. In real life they join the C-USA in 2007 and play 4 conference games this year with 6 next year, but the CPU doesn't know that...

With this crummy schedule I would have to finish 9-3 to even have a chance at a ranking...

[DuckFan]

Season 3
Week 10

Bye Week

ISR - Soft verbals from both.

IR - None

PS - None

Season 3
Week 11

Simmed at Army - Won 38-14. I think any game where you run the ball 58 times you should win. Should be a new rule. I know I haven't ever lost when I have toted the rock 55+ times. Could just be sampling bias though. 100+ for both Grigsby and Green. Up to a record of 6-2...

ISR - SS signed. FS bailed and signed with FSU... Oh well. Four 4-stars is still sick for a 1-star program.

IR - None

PS - None

Season 3
Week 12

Simmed at UNC - Lost 45-24. Wasn't even that close. An ugly game.

ISR - None left to do.

IR - None

PS - None

Season 3
Week 13

Simmed at #16 Nebraska - Won 27-7!!!! Holy frijoles!!! Record goes to 7-3. A quick check shows that we are leading the NCAA in rushing and in turnover margin. That's just good coaching right there! :)

ISR - None left to do.

IR - CB Childress 7 weeks

PS - None new...

Season 3
Week 14

Simmed at #19 Ohio State. Lose 45-0. Ouch... Okay, so maybe this team doesn't deserve its press just yet. I had 4 first downs. They had 620 yards of offense. Didn't even have a red zone trip all game. Record goes to 7-4.

ISR - None left to do.

IR - CB Childress 6 weeks, Carr CB 1 week, Grigsby QB 2 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 3
Week 15

Bye Week

ISR - None left to do.

IR - CB Childress 5 weeks, Grigsby QB 1 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 3
Conf Champ Week

Bye Week

ISR - None left to do.

IR - CB Childress 4 weeks

PS - None new...

We get a bowl bid for the Motor City Bowl, against 9-4 Northern Illinois! :)

[DuckFan]

Heisman Results:

WR 21 GA Tech (1519)
QB 10 USC (1511) ----- JUST EIGHT VOTES BACK!!!!
QB 13 Texas Tech 935
HB 28 GA
QB 15 Texas A&M

[GoHuskies]

A win and you might get an invite to something small like MAC or WAC.

[DuckFan]

Season 3
Bowl Game

Played against NIU. Leading 7-0 with 3 minutes in the 2nd quarter I run as much clock as possible, scoring with 45 seconds left to make it 14-0. NIU fumbles on the very first play of their drive and I run it back for a TD. 21-0. I kickoff, and they fumble the kick back to me. One option run later and it's 28-0 at the half. With 50 seconds left in the half I was expecting a 10-0 lead with a FG. Instead I lead 28-0. I run the ball every play (and run the clock to 2 seconds) the entire second half. They score twice but there isn't enough time. The Owls win. 35-14. Grigsby gets 219 yards on the ground with 3 TDs. Not bad for a QB...

I was ranked 58th going into the game. NIU was ranked 54th...

Was offered deals with Notre Dame and Washington State... Thought the Notre Dame offer was odd. I can't remember the last time I was offered a job at a school with more prestige than me. Both of those schools are 4-star programs, the win in the bowl only pushed Temple to 2-stars...

Final Top 10:

GA Tech
USC
Auburn
Iowa
Florida St
South Carolina
Michigan
Miami
Utah
Oregon State

One of my guards made the All-American Freshman team. No other honors.

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 3

Program Prestige now at 2-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige now at 2-star

Adjust RTD sliders to:
60% recruiting
25% training
15% discipline

No players leave early... Big Surprise there... :)

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, NJ, FL... All are solid except for Florida which only has 3 players. Need to get more there...

There are 50 returning players. We have signed 4 during the season. There are 4 Needs.

There are 4 3-stars who are interested, and 47 2-stars... Interesting that the number of interested players is going down as my prestige goes up...

Three of the four guys I signed were listed as Red Zone Top 50. Well it turns out that my four guys are #50, 82, 88, and 89 overall...

We have 210 pts available to recruit with...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 3
Week 1 Recruiting

Just like last year I am looking for bulk rather than specific guys. No reason to scout anyone at all. I will just take what I can get.

Same strategy as last year. I went for all the interested 3-stars. Then picked a smattering of other 2-star guys who all had high awareness. Finally with a couple random picks I went after 3 stud kickers (since I don't have one).

First week commits:
None

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 3
Week 2 Recruiting

The 4-stars I went after all blew me off... So I dropped them and picked more 2-stars. I still have some sub-60 OVR players on the roster and I need to fix my depth first. Plus there are lots of 2-star A+ players out there so I might get the bump to 4-star academics...

Second week commits:
2-Star HB (#71) from OH ---- Named "Grigsby". That will make for a weird backfield...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 3
Week 3 Recruiting

Third verse same as the first... A bunch of positive response to location but not much to anything else...

Third week commits:
3-Star SS (#21) from OH
2-Star DE (#121) from NJ

A little worried at the lack of response at this point, but not ready to panic yet...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 3
Week 4 Recruiting

More of the same. Only one guy left me. So I keep at it...

Fourth week commits:
2-Star OLB (#49) OH
2-Star DT (#85) NJ
2-Star MLB (#104) NJ
2-Star MLB (#97) OH

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 3
Week 5 Recruiting

More of the same. Four guys left me. I grab four random guys with 2-stars and A awareness...

Fifth week commits:
3-Star K (#7) OH
3-Star DE (#65) MA
3-Star OLB (#18) DE
2-Star HB (#138) SC
2-Star SS (#56) RI

34th best class... with:
4 at 4-stars
4 at 3-stars
8 at 2-stars

I needed LBs desperately and got the #5, 6, 18 and 49 at OLB, as well as the #4, 97, and 104 MLB...

Having Ohio as a Pipeline is critical. I got 7 signees from there just this year. Unfortunately no FL. Will have to try for one in the inseason next year.

[DuckFan]

With three straight top-40 classes I would expect to see the team improving quite a bit. The much-needed depth is starting to arrive. And next year should be even better since we will only lose 8 seniors...

[DuckFan]

Off Season 3
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

70 HB
68 HB
70 DE
62 DE
65 DT
76 OLB
76 OLB
74 OLB
72 OLB
78 MLB
70 MLB
70 MLB
76 SS
72 SS
62 SS
74 K

I moved a SS to FS (76 to 70), but no other changes...

Training Results

Six guys went up 4. Seven guys went up 3. 25 went up 2. One went up 1. The rest did not improve.

Cut players

With only 66 on the roster I won't be cutting anyone... No matter how bad they are...

The roster is still weak but improving, with the best player being an 85. There are 51 players at 70 or better.

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 4

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a A. Yuk... I am starting to regret my own rules. The CPU has me playing VA (#18), USC (#1), NCST (#14) and GA (#13). In addition I have games against Boise State, Alabama, Minnesota, and Kansas State. I think I can take VA with this team, but I will be lucky to win 3 of the other 7.

I change Boise State to Navy, and Minnesota to Army. I add Air Force for the 12th game in week 1. My goal is a 6-6 record with this schedule, but I could see 7-5 or maybe even 8-4 with some good luck. New schedule is a B-.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt an OLB, a CB, and a MLB. Everyone else can suit up.

Coach Strategy:

We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. The depth is much better than last year so I slide to about 60% sub more.

I leave the base D as 4-2-5, and 80% Pass D with max aggression.

In-Season Recruiting:

Very little in the way of real needs. I could use a C, and I will start talking to scrambling QBs. I don't need one yet, but I will soon...

Current Pipelines: MD, NJ, OH, PA... I lost Florida...

I decide on 12 guys that all have A or A+ awareness, all from Pipeline States.

Athlon Sports has me as the #56 team... C+ with C OFF, C DEF and B ST... That's a jump of like 60 slots in one year...

[DuckFan]

Season 4
Week 1

Simmed vs Air Force - Won 28-14. Rolled up the rushing yards. Fitzhugh and Grigsby each with 170+ on the ground.

ISR - 1st on 4, 2nd on 2, 3rd on 2... will go with 20 each on the 4 I am first and 10 each on the two I am 2nd...

IR - None

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 4
Week 2

Played at #18 Virginia - Won 45-13. Two early VA turnovers led to scores and after that I just pounded the rock over and over and over. Fitzhugh gets 238 rushing and Grigsby adds 125...

ISR - The 4 I was 1st stay first. The 2 I was 2nd stay 2nd. I keep the same pts...

IR - None

PS - RT 80, suggested 1 quarter, given 1 game (which completely removes the interest bar)...

[skillz97]

Even at 5-2 we're not ranked. And the Owls start as an Independent. In real life they join the C-USA in 2007 and play 4 conference games this year with 6 next year, but the CPU doesn't know that...

With this crummy schedule I would have to finish 9-3 to even have a chance at a ranking...

Temple will play in the MAC

http://www.nbc11.com/cfoot604/4499004/detail.html

Philadelphia, PA -- "Temple University announced during a Tuesday press conference that the school has accepted an invitation for its football program to join the Mid-American Conference.

The move will begin in 2005, with Temple adding a home game against Western Michigan to increase its total to four MAC opponents for the upcoming season.

Last year, the Owls faced two teams from the MAC and lost both games. They were defeated 45-17 at Toledo and then suffered an embarrassing 70-16 setback at home to Bowling Green. In addition to rematches this year against the Rockets and Falcons, Temple is also scheduled to play Miami-Ohio.

The Owls will then play a six-game conference schedule in 2006 and a full eight-game slate, with eligibility to compete for the MAC championship, in 2007."

[DuckFan]

I did know that. I don't know why I typed C-USA... To be honest I get all those 2nd tier conferences confused... :p

I thought it was odd that they are eligible for the MAC's bowl games even this year... Hard to tell how you would decide tie breaks...

[DuckFan]

Season 4
Week 3

Simmed at #22 Kansas - Won 27-17. 17 unanswered in the 4th quarter after blowing a 10-0 lead. Guess my boys took the middle of the game off. Two 100yd rushers again... :)

ISR - The 4 I was 1st stay first. The 2 I was 2nd stay 2nd. I keep the same pts...

IR - None

PS - RT 72, suggested 1 game, given 2 games...

Season 4
Week 4

Simmed vs Arkansas State - Won 24-21. Hey, a win is a win right... Man, I knock off two ranked teams and then win by 3 against a D+ team... yuk... At least I won...

ISR - The 4 I was 1st stay first. The 2 I was 2nd stay 2nd. I can't wait any longer so I drop the two guys that had me 2nd, and since I am still 1st on a 5-star scrambling QB I move the 20 pts on him to make him 40.

IR - None

PS - LG 76, suggested 3 games, given 2 games...

[DuckFan]

Season 4
Week 5

Simmed vs #1 USC - Lost 35-28... Heck, I think if you asked the Owls today if being within a TD of the #1 team in the country in four years was good they would laugh you out of town. I don't mind being 4-1 a bit...

ISR - Still 1st on all 4. The CB wants a visit. He will come for the Navy game the following week...

IR - LG 5 weeks

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 6

Simmed vs Navy - Lost 21-16. Crap... I just couldn't justify playing this game. But oh well. 4-2 with 3 games against ranked teams is still fine by me... Strange stat, we ran the ball 104 times between us...

ISR - Signed the CB. Bump the 5-star QB to 50 and the other two to 25 each.

IR - LG 4 weeks

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 4
Week 7

Played at #12 NCST - Won 35-7. Picked off their first two passes, and the running game was huge. Fitzhugh with 220, Grigsby with two 60yd TD runs.

ISR - Still 1st on all 3...

IR - LG 2 weeks

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 8

Simmed at Alabama - Lost 34-24. Fitzhugh and Grigsby went nuts, but the defense played matador...

ISR - Signed the CB. Bump the 5-star QB to 50 and the other two to 25 each.

IR - LG 1 week... LOLB 1 week...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 9

Simmed vs USF - Won 31-28. Grigsby throws 4 TDs and Fitzhugh runs for 175...

ISR - Signed all 3. A 5-star QB with 4.46 SPD, a 4-star QB with 4.39 SPD, and a 4-star FS. Yeah, inseason recruiting is broken... I have a 2-star program here. We are talking about the equivalent of Baylor or Kentucky or Illinois or Vandy, except I am not even in a real conference. And I get sick recruiting in the regular season... There are still 2 guys who have me 5th, I put all 100% on a 4-star C.

IR - None...

PS - None new...

[DuckFan]

Season 4
Week 10

Played vs #16 GA - Won 21-11. Ball control. Ball control. And more ball control... Fitzhugh ran for 146 but the key to the win was the defense. I absolutely love putting impact MLBs into zone coverage.

ISR - Up to 1st on the C. Invited him to my Bye week next week...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 11

Bye Week

ISR - Soft verbal from the C...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 12

Simmed vs Army. Won 24-13. Up to an 8-3 record after Fitzhugh runs for 140 yards. Soft schedule, but we have beaten 4 ranked teams, you would think we might get some love...

ISR - Lost the C to Michigan... oh well...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 13

Bye Week

ISR - None...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 14

Simmed vs Kansas State - Won 26-21. Huge 4th quarter comeback. Grigsby goes 14-18 for 262 and 3 TDs (2 in the 4th). Finish the regular season with a 9-3 record.

ISR - None...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Week 15

Bye week. Moved up to #25 in the rankings!

ISR - None...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 4
Conf Champ Week

Bye week. Still #25 in the rankings.

ISR - None...

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Awards: C 59 wins the Rimington trophy.

Invited to the Insight Bowl against Syracuse :)

Heisman Results:

QB 7 Oklahoma
QB 18 South Carolina
Barron HB Oklahoma
Dukes QB Texas
Avery QB Iowa

Season 4
Bowl Week

Simmed vs Syracuse - Won 24-21. Held off a furious comeback by the Orangemen. Fitzhugh and Green each rush for 100+. Temple gets a 10-win season in year 4. :)

I get offers from Georgia, Notre Dame, and Utah. The Bulldogs and Irish are both 5-star programs. I turn them down. I still have more to do here...

We finish #19 overall in the final rankings... Not bad for a C+ team...

C 59 gets 1st team status. LG Broussard gets 2nd team. I finish 2nd in the Coach of the Year voting to Oklahoma...

[DuckFan]

We jump to 3-stars on both Program and Coach Prestige.

Final top 10:

South Carolina
Iowa
Oklahoma
USC
Miami
Florida State
Michigan
Purdue
Ohio State
LSU

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 4

Program Prestige now at 3-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige now at 3-star

We only have 8 guys graduating, so I know I will not have many holes to fill. The talent level has risen dramatically, so I can start to shift more points to training.

Adjust RTD sliders to:
40% recruiting
45% training
15% discipline

No players leave early... Big Surprise there... :)

One guy trying to transfer. 80 OVR ROLB (FR)... I try 6 pts to keep him, but he leaves for Ball St anyway...

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, and NJ... Need to get Florida back on the list. It will be very difficult to make it over the 5-star hump without them...

There are 57 returning players. We have signed 4 during the season. There are 3 Needs.

There are 4 4-stars, 16 3-stars who are interested, and 65 2-stars... Better talent is finally starting to show up...

All four guys I signed were listed as Red Zone Top 50. Well it turns out that my four guys are #17, 47, 61, and unranked... The 5-star scrambler I picked up is the #1 QB in the nation...

We have 240 pts available to recruit with... (6 less after the ROLB transfer)

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 4
Week 1 Recruiting

Starting to narrow the focus a little more. I still hit all the 4 stars that were interested. And I hit all the 3 stars with A- or better awareness. I grabbed about 6 of the 2 stars that had A+ awareness and were in positions I needed. Then I went looking for guys who had me high but not top 5. Talked to the #1 DE, and I need a P so I talked to the #2 guy.

First week commits:
None

OffSeason Year 4
Week 2 Recruiting

The #1 DE moves me to 2nd on his list. I am still slamming him hard. A few guys like the opening pitch of location. 3-stars is tough for me on pitches. With 4 I feel comfortable pitching, with 2 I feel comfortable not pitching, but with 3 I know there are some guys who will actually love the prestige pitch and some will hate it and drop me...

Second week commits:
4-star MLB #11 OH
3-star TE #15 PA

OffSeason Year 4
Week 3 Recruiting

The #1 DE keeps me 2nd on his list. I am still slamming him hard. Hit and miss on pitches so far. I hate being 3 stars. I would rather spend more time at 2 and jump straight to 4...

Third week commits:
4-star CB #16 PA
3-star DT #36 PA

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 4
Week 4 Recruiting

The DE has moved me to 1st, in a dead heat with OSU (he's from OH). They have a better pitch than I do on all 6 categories. My only hope is the CPU is dumb enough to not be spending 15 pts (since I am spending 30). The other guys are shaking out mostly as expected, though I still can't find a P :(

Fourth week commits:
3-star DE #32 CN
3-star FS #19 RI
3-star C #17 OH
3-star SS #20 PA
3-star MLB #62 MD
2-star HB #123 FL (I need to keep this guy in hopes of getting the pipeline back)

OffSeason Year 4
Week 5 Recruiting

The #1 DE drops me for the Buckeyes. Oh well. I also get dropped by 4 random guys, so I grab 5 guys with A- or better awareness from the 2-star pool...

Fifth week commits:
4-star DT #2 KY (#40 overall in the top 100)
2-star P #22 PA

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 4
Recruiting Summary

20th best class... with:
1 at 5-stars
6 at 4-stars
7 at 3-stars
2 at 2-stars

[DuckFan]

Off Season 4
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

80 QB with 85 SPD, 87 AGI and 88 ACC
78 QB
65 HB (from FL so he stays)
78 TE
68 C
74 DE
78 DT
76 DT (who is also a 72 at FB, weighing 270# with 86 STR)
80 MLB with 86 SPD
74 MLB
78 CB
76 CB
78 FS
78 FS
74 SS
59 P

I moved the DT to FB, a MLB to OLB, and a G to C, but no other changes...

Training Results

Five guys went up 6. Two guys went up 5. 16 guys went up 4. Six guys went up 3. 19 went up 2. One went up 1. The rest did not improve.

Cut players

With 73 on the roster three guys have to go. I cut two 5th year seniors at QB and a JR-RS CB walkon.

The roster is improving, with the best player being a 91 (Grigsby). There are 23 players at 80 or better and only 10 under 70 (with only the punter a "starter" in that group.

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 5

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a A+. What the heck is the CPU trying to do to me??? Sheesh! I am scheduled for #3 MICH, #25 WIS, #19 AUB, #10 LSU, #17 TAMU and #20 TT, not to mention Oregon St, NC State and Penn State who are ranked 26th, 29th and 30th... Grrr...

I change Oregon State to Idaho, Penn State to Indiana, and NC State to Army. I add Rice for the 12th game in week 1. My goal is a 7-5 record with this schedule, but I could see 8-4 or maybe even 9-3 with some good luck. New schedule is a B+.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt both FR QBs, the converted DT-FB, the DT, the 76 CB, and the taller of the two 78 FS. Everyone else can suit up.

Coach Strategy:

We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. The depth is much better than last year so I slide to about 60% sub more.

I change the base D as 4-4, and keep 80% Pass D with max aggression. I have six LBs with SPD above 84 now, and my SSs are weak.

In-Season Recruiting:

Very little in the way of real needs. I need an OLB, that's it. But I have 25 juniors on the roster including all 3 of my T and 4 of my 5 G. So I will try a few OL guys...

Current Pipelines: MD, NJ, OH, PA...

I decide on 12 guys that all have A or A+ awareness, all from Pipeline States. 9 are 5-stars. 4 T, 4 G, 3 OLB, and a HB...

Athlon Sports has me as the #27 team... B with B- OFF, B- DEF and B+ ST... That's a jump of 29 slots in one year...

[DuckFan]

Season 5
Week 1

Simmed vs Rice - Won 28-7. Grigsby goes 11-12 passing and has 44 carries for 181 yards and 4 rushing TDs. I have NEVER seen the CPU have the QB carry the ball that many times. Ever. Just unreal. My star HB had 7 carries...

ISR - 1st on 3 guys, 2nd on 1 guy, 3rd on 1 guy and 4th on 4 guys. Given that I am going for 5 stars and I am only a 3-star program I have to focus pretty early. I go with 20 each on the 5 guys that are 1st 2nd and 3rd.

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 5
Week 2

Played at #3 Michigan - Won 49-0. This game was just plain stupid. If I didn't know any better I was playing on Junior Varsity. Michigan had 6 turnovers in the game. Grigsby went off for 140 yards and 4 rushing TDs.

ISR - Drop the 1 that still has me 2nd. Move the 4 that have me 1st to 25 each. All 5-stars, 3 OLBs and a HB.

IR - None

PS - SR CB Burns, suggested 3 games, gave him 4 (which removes the bar)

[DuckFan]

Season 5
Week 3

Simmed at Utah St - Won 24-14. Grigsby with 2 more rushing TDs.... now ranked #19 in the country

ISR - Still in 1st on all 4, staying at 25% each.

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 5
Week 4

Simmed vs UL Lafayette (which is a B- team) - Lost 32-26. Played okay I guess, but they played better...

ISR - Still the same.

IR - None

PS - None new

Season 5
Week 5

Simmed vs #23 Wisconsin - Lost 32-29. Was leading 21-0 after the first and found a way to lose... Fitzhugh rolled for 236 yards but it wasn't enough...

ISR - Still the same.

IR - None

PS - None new

Season 5
Week 6

Simmed vs Army - Won 29-22. Fourth quarter comeback saves me from getting fired.

ISR - The HB drops me to 2nd, so I drop him and shift to 33 each on the 3 guys (plus one on the fastest one).

IR - None

PS - None new

[DuckFan]

Season 5
Week 7

Simmed at Auburn - Won 31-24. Up 31-7 with 7 minutes to go in the game. Thankfully I didn't turn the ball over in the midst of the comeback.

ISR - Still in 1st on all 3, staying pat.

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 5
Week 8

Bye week

ISR - Still the same.

IR - None

PS - None new

Season 5
Week 9

Simmed at Indiana - Won 34-24. Grisby goes nuts with four TDs. Record goes to 6-2.

ISR - All three are scheduled to visit next week for the Idaho game.

IR - FS for 2 wks, WR for season

PS - RT for 1 game, given 1 game

Season 5
Week 10

Simmed vs Idaho - Won 38-29. Fitzhugh carries 44 times for 298 yards and 2 TDs.

ISR - Two sign with other teams. I get one...

IR - FS for 1 wks, WR for season, RG for 6 weeks...

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 5
Week 11

Played vs #4 LSU - Heartbreaking loss... First half we trade long slow TD drives. It's 7-7 with 50 seconds to go in the half when I get it at my 30. I march down to his 30 with 15 seconds left. Just need about 5 more yards for the FG. I run two plays. Stuffed on the first, called for holding on the 2nd. Set up for a 57 yard FG with 2 seconds left and miss it short. Second half I score early, then play D. He finally scores to tie it with 40 seconds left. I can't move the ball and we go to OT. I start on defense. Three plays and he scores 21-14. I run it in on the first play 21-21. I take two plays to score 28-21. He takes 7 plays. 28-28. He scores in two plays 36-28. I take 8 plays and finally score on 4th and goal from the 1. Convert, it's 36-36. I go back out on offense. My HB has 255 yards at this point. I get stuffed three plays in a row, then fumble. All he needs is a FG to win. I sack him back to the 33 on the first play. He throws out of bounds on the second. Third play I hit him as he throws. It's a long wounded duck toward the corner of the end zone. My guy tips it sideways, a receiver off screen catches it. TD. Game over 42-36... #2 greatest game with 1203... Grrr...


ISR - None left.

IR - WR for season. RG for 5 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 5
Week 12

Bye Week

ISR - None Left

IR - WR for season, RG for 4 weeks

PS - LOLB suggested multiple games, but I have no points, so 2 quarters... back to the bar I had to start the season.

Season 5
Week 13

Simmed vs #3 Texas A&M. Won 29-7. My third game against top 4 opponents this season and my second win! They had 5 turnovers. You just can't do that against a team that plans to run the ball all day long. Fitzhugh with 201 yards on the ground.

ISR - None Left

IR - WR for season, RG for 3 weeks, RT for 2 weeks

PS - None

Season 5
Week 14

Simmed vs #12 Texas Tech. Lost 43-24. I held Texas Tech to -2 rushing yards on 16 carries. But they had 537 passing yards. WR 3 for Tech had 14 catches for 247 yards. Ouch. They never punted all game...

ISR - None Left

IR - WR for season, RG for 2 weeks, RT for 1 weeks, DT for 3 weeks

PS - None

Season 5
Week 15

Bye Week

ISR - None Left

IR - WR for season, RG for 1 weeks, DT for 2 weeks

PS - None

Season 5
Conf Champ Week

Bye Week

ISR - None Left

IR - WR for season, DT for 1 weeks

PS - None

[DuckFan]

I get a bid to the Emerald Bowl against 8-4 Boise State.

Heisman Results

QB Iowa
QB 13 LA Tech
WR Iowa
HB Virginia
WR Texas

I am the #1 rushing team in the NCAA and #1 in turnover margin (+1.80 per game). #6 in total defense, #4 in run defense.

[DuckFan]

Season 5
Bowl Game

Simmed vs Boise State - Win 35-13. Too much Grigsby and Fitzhugh. No chance for the men in blue...


I get offered a 6 year contract extension. Still 3 stars (since we only managed a 9-4 record). It shows I was supposed to beat my primary rival, but as near as I can tell, Temple doesn't have one???

My record during the first 5 year contract: 38-24, 9-8 vs top 25, 1-0 vs Rival (no clue who this is), 4 Bowl Bids...

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT

Congratulations! C-USA has extended an invitation for Temple to replace UCF in 2010.

I accept. :)

Final Standings

Florida State
South Carolina
Georgia
Iowa
USC
Florida
Nebraska
Ohio State
Virginia
Texas Tech

Fitzhugh, a G and a T were named 2nd Team All-Americans...

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 5

Program Prestige at 3-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige at 3-star

We only have 8 guys graduating, again, so I know I will not have many holes to fill. The talent level has risen dramatically, so I can start to shift more points to training. I have a small bar of discipline left over from last year so I bump by 5% so I can remove it this season.

Adjust RTD sliders to:
35% recruiting
45% training
20% discipline

FIVE guys want to turn pro. A good sign for the program. 84 RG, 86 LG, 86 RT, 87 LT, and 89 HB (Fitzhugh). Losing 4 OL would be rough...

I spend 6 each on the LG and LT and both stay. I spend 6 each on the RG and RT and both leave. I spend 9 on Fitzhugh, he says wait a minute. I spend 9 more, he says wait. I spend 9 more, he leaves... Grrr...

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, and NJ... Need to get Florida back on the list. It will be very difficult to make it over the 5-star hump without them...

There are 59 returning players. We have signed 1 during the season. There is 1 Need.

There are 0 4-stars, 5 3-stars who are interested, and 49 2-stars... Ouch... This will be a rough year...

The 1 guy that I DID sign is the #1 player overall in the nation... Wow... Not bad for a 3-star program...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 5
Week 1 Recruiting

Definitely going to be a rough year. There are only 2 4-stars that even have a tiny bar for me. All other 4s and 5s have a completely black bar. 90% of the 3 stars also have a black bar. I talk to 15 guys from PA, both of the 4 stars that have tiny bars, and every 3 star that has me in his top 5. Yuk...

First week commits:
None

OffSeason Year 5
Week 2 Recruiting

Almost no movement. This may be one of those 1 year in 20 where I am better off turning things over to the CPU. If I don't see movement this week I will do just that for the final 3 weeks. When there are only 7 players better than a 2-star that do not have a black bar it is tough to do much of anything..

Second week commits:
3-star HB #36 OH

OffSeason Year 5
Week 3 Recruiting

I turn things over to the CPU and sim the remaining 3 weeks...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 5
Recruiting Summary

55th best class... with:
1 at 5-stars
0 at 4-stars
4 at 3-stars
4 at 2-stars
2 at 1-stars

I suspect the conference change may have actually hurt me for the current cycle. One of the indicators that players look at is your conference record. And mine shows zero wins in the CUSA, whereas I had 9 as an Indy. I experienced this in 05 every once in a while but not to this degree...

I will need to dump several of these guys, since the CPU signed guys with low awareness...

[DuckFan]

Off Season 5
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

62 QB
76 HB
70 HB
70 HB
76 FB
56 WR
68 RT
59 LT
68 DT
84 LOLB with 85 SPD
72 ATH (who is an 88 at FB???)

I moved the ATH to FB, but no other changes...

Training Results

Two guys went up 6. 19 guys went up 4. Seven guys went up 3. 26 went up 2. Five did not improve.

Cut players

With 70 guys on the roster I would normally not cut anyone. But there are few cases where by cutting a JR I can make my recruiting easier... And there are some real turds that need to be flushed...

I cut and cut hard... All in all I cut 16 guys. Trimming all the sub 70 guys that I can, and any JRs that will help me recruit for next year. I need guys to see some playing time chances...

The roster is stable, with the best player being a 90 LT. There are 36 players at 80 or better and only 2 under 70 (with only the punter a "starter" in that group. He's not even a real starter since I have the K do double duty...

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 6

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a C. Quite a change from last year. Last year I had to drop high ranking teams to avoid playing 9 of the top 30. This year I will need to add some... #7 Miami is my only ranked opponent.

I change Akron to #25 Tennessee. I change UConn to #5 South Carolina. And I add Arizona . New schedule is a B-.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt the FR HB, and a FS...

Coach Strategy:

We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. The depth is not as good as last year so I slide to about 60% sub less.

I change the base D as 4-4, and keep 80% Pass D with max aggression. I have six LBs with SPD above 84 now, and my SSs are weak.

In-Season Recruiting:

We have 16 needs... everything you can possibly imagine... I need bulk so I will talk to just 2 5-stars and 10 4-stars...

Current Pipelines: MD, NJ, OH, PA...

I decide on a bunch of OL guys, 2 DTs, 2 CBs and a HB.

Athlon Sports has me as the #35 team... B with B OFF, B- DEF and A- ST...

[DuckFan]

Season 6
Week 1

Played vs #5 South Carolina - A tale of two halves. In the first half we each scored on all four possessions. Mine were TDs, they got 2 FGs. Was leading 21-13 at halftime. Then everything went wrong for them. They turn the ball over on four straight drives, I injure their starting QB (for the season). One thing leads to another. 70-13. I had four players with over 100 yards rushing. Two QBs and two HBs...

ISR - 1st on 1 guys, 2nd on 2 guys, 3rd on 1 guy and 4th on 1 guy. I run 20% on each of those five.

IR - None...

PS - Starting QB Grevious... suggested 2, given 4 games. Need to get that bar down... And he is only 3 pts better than my 3rd string...

Season 6
Week 2

Simmed at #25 Tennessee - Won 35-32 in OT!!! The backup QB Chance has a monster game 11-13 for 198 and 31 carries for 114 and 3 TDs. We move up to #23 in the rankings.

ISR - 1st on 2, 2nd on 3. I keep the pts as they are.

IR - None

PS - None new

Season 6
Week 3

Simmed at Arizona - Won 24-21. Lead 24-7 in the 4th, they make a comeback but not enough. We move up to #18 in the rankings.

ISR - 1st on 3, 2nd on 2. I keep the pts as they are.

IR - None

PS - None new

Season 6
Week 4

Simmed at Marshall - Won 48-17. Chance is sick, absolutely freaking sick. Kid goes 12-14 for 149 and 3 TDs, AND 33 carries for 154 and a TD. We move up to #17.

ISR - Still 1st on 3, 2nd on 2. I move 10 off the 4star C that has me 2nd and add them to the 5star C that has me 2nd.

IR - C for 1 week

PS - None new

Season 6
Week 5

Played at #4 Miami - Won 24-6. Miami commits 3 turnovers, including two INTs in the end zone. They outplayed me in this game, but I forced the tempo and waited for them to make mistakes. Thankfully they made 3 more than I did. We move up to #14. That's just no love from the polls. We are 5-0 with victories against #5, #4 and #25... Grrr...

ISR - Still 1st on 3, 2nd on 2. I drop all 10 off the 4star C that has me 2nd and add them to the 5star C that has me 2nd (now at 40).

IR - None

PS - None

Season 6
Week 6

Simmed at Memphis - Won 45-21. Grevious starts, and once we have a big lead Chance comes in to close it out. Heck of a closeout. Guy plays one half and goes 6-7 for 154 and 2 TDs plus 9 carries for 107 and a TD. We move up to #12.

ISR - Now 1st on all 4. 5-star G is ready for a visit. He comes for the Southern Miss game.

IR - LG for 7 weeks

PS - None

Season 6
Week 7

Simmed vs Southern Miss - Lost 20-18. Green runs for 197 but we can't tackle well. We drop all the way out of the rankings.

ISR - Soft Verbal from the G that watched us lose. 5star C still 1st. Other two 1st and ready to visit for the ECU game.

IR - LG for 6 weeks. LE for 2 weeks.

PS - None

Season 6
Week 8

Simmed at Tulane - Won 37-3. Up 30-0 at the half. They had 30 carries for 30 yards. We outgained them 428-100. Moved back up to #23 in the rankings.

ISR - 5star C now top 3, all 3 ready to visit for the ECU game.

IR - LG for 5 weeks. LE for 1 weeks.

PS - None

Season 6
Week 9

Simmed vs ECU - Won 31-28. Up 30-0 at the half. They had 30 carries for 30 yards. We outgained them 428-100. Moved up to #22 in the rankings.

ISR - Sign the 4star G from FL. The other 3 all give soft verbals. And strangely enough the 4-star C that I dropped on is down to his top 3 and ready for a visit. I put 20pts back on him. Then I look and see that I am a distant 3rd behind Miami. I am not stupid. I pull the points back off, and move 10 of them onto the 5star C (now up to 50) and 5 each on the other 2.

IR - LG for 4 weeks.

PS - None

Season 6
Week 10

Simmed at Houston - Won 38-27. Up 38-14 with 3 minutes left, I give up two meaningless scores at the end. Record up to 9-1. Moved up to #19 in the rankings.

ISR - All 3 guys sign. Gives me 2 5-stars and 2 4-stars. All on the OL which is what I needed most. The 4star still has me in his top 3 so I roll all 100 on him. May as well, he's the only guy available...

IR - LG for 3 weeks.

PS - General Grevious acts up again. I suspend him for the rest of the year. Chance did so well in his absence last time I am not that worried...

Season 6
Week 11

Simmed vs UAB - Lose 21-13. I forgot to change my depth chart after suspending Grevious. It had FR(RS) Young in at QB when it should have been SR(RS) Chance. My fault completely. Same OVR rating but it is much better to have the senior in there. Record to 9-2. Drop out of the rankings.

ISR - He signed elsewhere. None left.

IR - LG for 2 weeks.

PS - None

Season 6
Week 12

Simmed vs Rice - Win 35-10. Chance proves I was right. 9-11 for 134 and 2 TDs. 35 carries for 138 and 3 TDs. Record to 10-2. Can't believe I made that mistake last week. Should have been an 11-1 season... Back to #23 in the rankings.

ISR - None left.

IR - LG for 1 weeks.

PS - None

Season 6
Week 13-15

All three weeks are Bye weeks. We move to #20 after week 13. We move to #19 after week 14. We stay at #19 after week 15.

ISR - None left.

IR - None

PS - None

Season 6
Conf Champ Week

I realize at it comes up on the schedule saying that I am due to play 7-4 Tulane in the CUSA Championship game that I did not set out any rules for who plays this game when I first started up the dynasty. I am used to the Pac-10 which has no need of such a game, and the Owls start as an Independent. So this is the first time it's come up. Just like the bowl game, I will sim or play these, my choice.

Played vs Tulane. Won 21-7. Both teams played good D. I managed the clock better and controlled who had the ball at the end of both halves. That wound up the difference.

ISR - None left.

IR - None

PS - None


Davis wins the Rimington Trophy. LT Hart wins OL of the year. We get a bid to play in the Liberty Bowl against Air Force (who was also a horrible team when I started).

Heisman Results

HB Maryland
WR South Carolina
WR LSU
QB VA Tech
HB VA Tech

We stay at #19 after the CC week.

Season 6
Bowl Week

Simmed vs Air Force. Won 28-14. 101 carries between the two teams. But they made two more turnovers.

We finish the season 1st in rushing and 1st in turnover margin. Again. Top 6 in both pass and run defense.

Offered a 6-year extension with Temple, also the Miami and Florida State jobs. I accept the extension...

Top 10

LSU
Georgia
USC
Michigan
Virginia Tech
Auburn
Florida
Texas
Virginia
Michigan State

My ENTIRE OL makes 1st team All-American. That should make it very easy to recruit... The FS and K make 2nd team. No freshman...

[DuckFan]

Oh yeah... Forgot to mention that we finished 16th in the final poll.

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 6

Program Prestige now at 4-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige now at 4-star

We have 20 guys graduating, so I know I will have many holes to fill. This is the toughest slider year for me yet. I have a lot of quality talent that needs training. But I also only have 34 guys returning so I need to hit the recruiting hard. Plus, I got screwed when two guys got suspended toward the end of the year because I could overcompensate and bring the bar down. I hate to say it, but this year there won't be much training...

Adjust RTD sliders to:
55% recruiting
20% training
25% discipline

My Kicker and LOLB try to leave early. The LOLB is my 2nd best player with a 90. I give them both 4 pts on a whim. They both still leave. Oh well...

A JR(RS) TE from the Wolverines wants to transfer in. He's an 85 and I am happy to take him.

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, and NJ... Still don't have Florida back, just one player away.

There are 32 returning players. We have signed 4 during the season. There are 14 Needs.

There are 4 4-stars, 27 3-stars who are interested, and 65 2-stars...

All four guys I signed were listed as Red Zone Top 50. Well it turns out that my four guys are #10, 13, 42, and 43...

We have 315 pts available to recruit with...

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 6
Week 1 Recruiting

I hit the interested 4 stars and many of the 3s. I go talk to five guys who did not have me top 5. I just have to find a K. Mine was also my punter...

First week commits:
None

OffSeason Year 6
Week 2 Recruiting

The top 3 guys I go after do nothing so I dump them. But the #1 ATH loves me so I keep hitting him hard. Several guys biting on prestige now. Pitching Style to all the OL.

Second week commits:
4-star HB #13 LA
3-star C #16 WV
3-star DT #37 PA

OffSeason Year 6
Week 3 Recruiting

Still hitting the same guys. No love from legmen yet. I may have some truly terrible special teams next year.

Third week commits:
4-star ATH #1 KY
3-star G #29 NJ
3-star OLB #42 CT

OffSeason Year 6
Week 4 Recruiting

Still hitting the same guys. No love from legmen yet. I may have some truly terrible special teams next year. Grrr...

Fourth week commits:
3-star FB #14 NY
3-star T #55 CT
3-star MLB #38 PA

OffSeason Year 6
Week 5 Recruiting

More of the same...

Fifth week commits:

4-star HB #21 NC
4-star HB #20 OH
3-star HB #69 NJ
3-star DE #33 PA
3-star G #51 MD
3-star T #43 OH
3-star CB #20 MD

I still have EIGHT unmet needs after recruiting, including 3 WRs. I never throw the ball, so having 3 walkon wideouts isn't as big a deal. My hope is that between the 8 walkons I get some guys from FL. Maybe that will help trigger Pipeline...

I get the #12 Class overall...
2 5-stars
6 4-stars
12 3-stars

[DuckFan]

Off Season 6
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

80 HB
80 HB
76 HB
72 HB
70 FB
78 LT
72 LT
70 LT
80 LG
78 RG
78 RG
72 RG
80 C
76 C
78 DE
76 DT
76 OLB
74 MLB
74 MLB
76 CB
80 ATH ( His name is Isaac Newton, which I had to laugh at...)

The ATH is just sick... I mean just plain sick... No really... Sick... You can move him to QB where these are his stats:
68 OVR - 92 SPD - 70 STR - 56 AWR - 82 AGI - 88 ACC - 65 CTH - 86 CAR - 76 JMP - 87 BTK - 44 TAK - 76 THP - 68 THA - 84 STA - 84 INJ

I don't care if that guy never throws the ball once the entire season. If I had him in a Dynasty where I was playing every game, I could get him 3000 yards rushing without even trying... Sick...

I moved the ATH to QB (I needed one anyway), but no other changes...

Training Results

One guy went up 5. Two guys went up 4. Three guys went up 3. 16 went up 2. Four went up 1. The rest did not improve.

Cut players

With 61 on the roster no one is going anywhere.

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 7

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a C. Once again I will need to add some good opponents. I add #9 Michigan State and #5 LSU, plus Louisville and Vanderbilt. New schedule is a B-.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt three FR HB, the FB, a T, 2 Gs, DE, OLB, and MLB...

Coach Strategy:

We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. I change to subbing less often as my depth is not as good.

I change the base D as 4-4, and keep 80% Pass D with max aggression. I shift to subbing more often as depth is better.

In-Season Recruiting:

We have 3 needs...

Current Pipelines: MD, NJ, OH, PA...

I decide on a wide mix of guys. Everything except OL...

Athlon Sports has me as the #29 team... B- with C OFF, B+ DEF and C ST... I really need to find a K/P...

[DuckFan]

Season 7
Week 1

Played at #9 Michigan State - Won 63-7. The Spartans first two pass attempts were both TDs for my ROLB. Four of my guys rushed for 100+ yards, including 170 for Newton who didn't even come in until the 2nd half. I score 21 each of the first quarters, then sub in all the backups for the 4th, giving up a meaningless TD near the end.

ISR - 1st on 1 guy, 2nd on 2 guys, 3rd on 1 guy and 4th on 2 guys. I'll take any 4 of these guys really, so we'll open with 25 on the guy who has us first and 15 on each of the other 5.

IR - None...

PS - Starting ROLB suggested 2 quarters. I have a significant bar and need to get rid of it. So he goes down for 4 games. 6 would have removed the bar entirely, but I can't afford him gone quite that long.

Season 7
Week 2

Played vs #5 LSU - Won 50-21. Newton is sick. I was having trouble getting the ground game going early, and trailed 14-7 late in the second. Then Newton took over. By the time he was done, I had a 3-TD lead. I put the starter back in to give him some reps, but Newton was the man. Moved up to #22 in the rankings.

ISR - Two 1sts, two 2nds, two 3rds. Still the same points for next week.

IR - None

PS - None new

[DuckFan]

Season 7
Week 3

Simmed vs #Louisville - Won 19-17. Bass (FR HB) carries 52 times for 195 yards. My 68 OVR K gets a 50 yarder to win the game. :) Move up to #21.

ISR - 3 1sts and 3 2nds. I drop the WR who has me 2nd and add 5 each to the other 2 that have me 2nd, and 5 to the guy from FL.

IR - None...

PS - None new...

Season 7
Week 4

Simmed vs Marshall - Won 38-21. Bass carries 48 times for 217 yards. Moved up to #18.

ISR - 4 1sts and a 2nd. SS ready for a visit week 6. Same pts.

IR - TE for 1 week

PS - None new

[DuckFan]

Season 7
Week 5

Simmed at UTEP - Won 34-21. They throw four picks. We don't turn it over... Move up to #17.

ISR - All five are first and two will visit next week. Same points...

IR - None...

PS - None...

Season 7
Week 6

Simmed vs Memphis - Won 34-14. Bass carries 39 times for 249 yards and 3 TDs. Moved up to #13.

ISR - Signed 4star MLB OH and 4star SS MN. Switched to 35ea on the two from FL and 30 on the other

IR - None

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 7
Week 7

Simmed at Southern Miss - Won 26-7. Nice mix of run and pass. 200 yards of each. We get 7 sacks. That's plenty. Move up to #12.

ISR - All three will visit next week. Same points...

IR - CB 6 weeks

PS - None...

Season 7
Week 8

Simmed vs Tulsa - Won 40-14. Bass carries 42 times for 161 yards and 2 TDs. Moved up to #8. Currently 7th in the Bowl Rankings.

ISR - Signed 4star G FL and 4star DT FL. Switched to 35ea on the two from FL and 30 on the other

IR - CB 5 weeks

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 7
Week 9

Simmed at ECU - Won 27-7. Should have been much worse but for the first time in a long time we were negative on turnovers (-3). Move up to #6. 5th in the Rankings. There are only two unbeaten teams, us and Florida. Michigan, USC, Iowa and Oregon State have a loss each and are ahead in the polls. We have 4 1st place votes. :)

ISR - DE commits... That's 5 4stars... No more available.

IR - CB 4 weeks

PS - None...

Season 7
Week 10

Bye Week. Moved up to 5th in the polls. But dropped to 6th in the Bowl Rankings...

ISR - None left...

IR - CB 3 weeks

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 7
Week 11

Simmed at UAB - Won 31-13. Move up to #4. 4th in the Rankings. There are only two unbeaten teams, us and Florida. Michigan, and Oregon State have a loss each and are ahead in the polls. We have 9 1st place votes. :)

ISR - None left.

IR - CB 2 weeks

PS - None...

Season 7
Week 12

Simmed vs SMU. Won 26-3. Bass carries 42 times for 169 yards and 2 TDs. Moved up to 2nd in the polls. Up to 3rd in the Bowl Rankings, behind #1 Michigan and Texas A&M...

ISR - None left...

IR - CB 1 weeks

PS - Starting ROLB for 1 game and Starting LOLB for 1 game. Ouch...

Season 7
Week 13

Simmed vs Vanderbilt. Won 24-23. Scored the winning TD with 2 minutes left in the game. Bass carries 42 times for 169 yards and 2 TDs. Moved up to 1st in the polls. A unanimous choice after Ohio State upset Michigan!!!
ISR - None left...

IR - none

PS - Starting ROLB for 1 game and Starting LOLB for 1 game. Ouch...

Season 7
Week 14-15

Both Bye weeks... Still 1st (there are no other unbeaten teams)

ISR - None left...

IR - None

PS - None

Season 7
Conf Champ Week

Simmed vs Houston. Won 30-24 in OVERTIME! No major stats that are interesting, but talk about your clutch performances. #1 team in the nation going to OT in the conference championship game and the defense comes up with a stop to win it...

ISR - None left...

IR - None

PS - None


I won Coach of the Year. Can't imagine why... :p

Wood won the Rimington. LT won the OL of the Year.

We are set to play #3 Ohio State in the NC...

But unfortunately for anyone who is reading the thread tonight, I have to go to work in the morning... so the game with have to wait... :(

[DuckFan]

One thing I do think is odd... My entire starting offensive line is true freshman... I don't care what offense you run... I don't care how good your backs are. I don't care how good your defense is. I don't care how good the coaching is. I don't care how soft the schedule is.

No team could ever go 13-0 with five true freshman starting on the OL. That's just ridiculous... Freshman QB? ok... Freshman HB? Sure... Freshman WRs? Sure... OL? Yeah... whatever...

[DuckFan]

Season 7
National Championship Game

Played vs Ohio State... I decided this would be a good time to try the new sliders everyone is talking about, where almost all of them are at zero. I was confident I could beat Ohio State (who is only a B+) using "normal" sliders so I decided to try these. I put all of the offense and defense sliders at zero for both teams and left the special teams sliders at my normal (slightly favoring the CPU). Running the ball was hard. And blocking was a mixed bag. I watched my LT pancake three guys on the same play, but I also watched him get plowed two plays in a row on the same drive. I completed just 3 of 8 passes in the game, but when it came down to it, my Impact QB (the former #1 overall scrambler I recruited) got the job done. He carried 36 times for 188 yards and two TDs. I got a timely interception by my Impact MLB (just after giving up a 77yd run to their Impact HB). Final score: Temple 24, Ohio State 17. We're the champs!

ISR - None left.

IR - None...

PS - None...

[DuckFan]

We finish the season 1st in rushing and 2nd in turnover margin. Top 3 in every defensive category including sacks...

Offered jobs with Miami, Georgia, and Virginia Tech. Decline them all...

Top 10

Temple
Texas A&M
Florida
Michigan
South Carolina
Ohio State
Virginia Tech
Georgia
Miami
Oregon State

Four of my five OL make 1st team All-American. The other makes 2nd along with my starting HB. No member of the defense makes either team (a defense that is 1st in just about every category). Eight guys make the Freshman Team (including the whole OL).

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 7

Program Prestige now at 5-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige now at 5-star

We have 8 guys graduating, so I know I won't have many holes to fill (other than some guys going pro). I know there will be lots more guys wanting to come, so I can replace some second tier guys. And I hesitate to train too much, because recruiting a 5-star is better than training a 3-star, but I can't afford to get greedy either. And unfortunately I got stuck with a late suspension again so I need to get the bar down.

Adjust RTD sliders to:
38% recruiting
37% training
25% discipline

Five guys want to leave. My backup QB (SO-RS) wants to leave to go to Navy. My starting QB wants to turn pro. You would think they would talk to each other. I mean if the backup knew the other guy was going pro he would know he had a starting job. Dumbass... An 84 SO-RS CB wants to turn pro, yeah, you go girl. My backup SS wants to go pro. I actually need him. And my all-world JR MLB wants to go pro... Yuk...

I start with 15 on the starting QB. He stays.
Good, that means his backup can go to Navy for all I care...
I give 15 to the MLB. He stays too. Cool.
I give 10 to the SS. He turns pro. Oh well... I can start a FR if I need to.
I give my blessing to the CB... Yeah, like an 84 OVR is even going to make the 7th round... *shrug*

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, CT, FL and NJ... Woo-Hoo! Six states!

There are 50 returning players. We have signed 5 during the season. There are 3 Needs (not counting the fact that my P is a 68 and my K is a 52).

There are 2 5-stars, 12 4-stars, and 38 3-stars who are interested...

All five guys I signed were listed as Red Zone Top 50. Well it turns out that my guys are #34, 79, and not in the top 100 (x3)...

We have 266 pts available to recruit with... (after talking to guys who wanted to leave)

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 7
Week 1 Recruiting

I talk to 5 5-stars and 15 4-stars. Mostly on defense since that is where I have a lot of seniors. And I am still trying to find a K...

First week commits:
None

OffSeason Year 7
Week 2 Recruiting

I hit pretty much all the same guys. Most I started with Prestige and the ones that didn't hit get switched to coach prestige.

Second week commits:
4-star SS #2 MS

OffSeason Year 7
Week 3 Recruiting

Two guys left so I pick out two random 3-stars to talk to.

Third week commits:
5-star DE #1 LA
5-star DE #4 MN
5-star DT #2 NY
4-star OLB #15 OH
4-star ATH #10 WI
4-star MLB #7 MI
4-star CB #24 MN

OffSeason Year 7
Week 4 Recruiting

Still hitting the same guys. Three drop me so I talk to some CBs. No love from WRs. My starting trio for next year may well be the walkons from last year. I am seriously considering just converting some TEs or something and letting them runblock.

Fourth week commits:
4-star CB #13 OR
4-star CB #12 MD
4-star SS #7 FL

OffSeason Year 7
Week 5 Recruiting

More of the same...

Fifth week commits:

None...

I still have one unmet needs after recruiting, a WR. I now have four walkon WRs on my roster... :)

I get the #4 Class overall...
3 5-stars
13 4-stars
3 3-stars (none of which I signed...)

[DuckFan]

Off Season 7
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

74 LG
80 DE
80 DE
72 DE
82 DT (who also has 75+ in PBK and RBK)
74 DT
74 OLB
78 MLB
76 MLB
74 MLB
76 CB
76 CB
72 CB
72 CB
72 CB (who is also a 68 WR which is better than my starter)
76 ATH (who is an 82 at FB)

I moved the ATH to FB, the CB to WR, but no other changes...

Training Results

22 guys went up 4. Six guys went up 3. 19 went up 2. One went up 1. The other two did not improve. Very disappointing. While I know that much of my current talent is 3-star players (who do not progress as quickly) the idea that I could put 37% into training and not get a single guy who goes up more than 4 seems lame.

Cut players

69 on the roster. I want to get rid of dead weight. I cut my 3rd TE so that I will only have seniors. I cut my 6th HB. I cut the worst FR DE. I cut the 74 FR DE (leaving two non-seniors so I can probably still get 1 next year). I cut a JR OLB 80. I cut last year's walkon CB. Down to 62 with 11 seniors and 7 juniors.

Top player is a 95 MLB. Eight guys 90+. Lots of 80+...

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 8

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a C, even though I have a game with #1 TAMU scheduled. Once again I will need to add some good opponents. I add #2 South Carolina and unranked Auburn. New schedule is a B-.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt the FB, two DEs, DT, 3 MLB, 2 CBs, and a SS...

Coach Strategy:

We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 80% of the time. Subbing at 50-50

I keep the base D as 4-4, and keep 80% Pass D with max aggression. Subbing at 60 more.

In-Season Recruiting:

We have 6 needs...

Current Pipelines: MD, NJ, OH, FL, CT, PA...

I decide on a TE, 3 DE, 5 DT, and 3 OLB...

Athlon Sports has me as the #11 team... B with B- OFF, A- DEF and C+ ST... I really need to find a K/P... Four OL guys are preseason 1st team.

[VGWabbit9]

Hey Duckfan. I really enjoy reading about your dynasty. Keep up the good work. I would however like to see you update it a little more often LOL.

[DuckFan]

Hey Duckfan. I really enjoy reading about your dynasty. Keep up the good work. I would however like to see you update it a little more often LOL.

I'll see what I can do... It's both a busy week for me and a slow week. I took a week off from work to go house hunting, and I have managed to sneak in a "little" football here and there... :)

There are worse things in life than being driven around in a Lexus all day by realtors that want to earn a commission, but if I have one more conversation about the benefits of a "ranch" over a "traditional" I may have to hit someone.

If I had to guess I will stop playing this dynasty by year 10. The team is already good enough that I could go undefeated if I was playing the games, and it's only a couple years away from being a perennial top 10 even with simming all the games... As I type this, my opening game of the season (vs South Carolina) is on the tv. I played the first half, ran up a 28-0 lead, got bored, and switched the controller to CPU-CPU. Temple is clearly not ready to run the Oregon playbook (which is what I run in the games I play). I almost forgot the CPU would be using my playbook, but the D is playing well enough it doesn't seem to matter. At the end of the 3rd it's still 28-0...

[VGWabbit9]

While you're simming, do you let the whole game play out on the tv? Or do you sim it "quick style" ??

[VTHokie32]

One question I have is this: I believe you said you were using 5 min quarters, but I can't hardly believe that on 5 min quarters there would be time for you to run the ball as much as you have in the games you've played. Unless you run out of bounds a lot to stop the clock or something.

[jbmagic]

One question I have is this: I believe you said you were using 5 min quarters, but I can't hardly believe that on 5 min quarters there would be time for you to run the ball as much as you have in the games you've played. Unless you run out of bounds a lot to stop the clock or something.


sims games doesnt go by the clock you set per quarter.

it uses 15 minutes for sims games.

[DuckFan]

While you're simming, do you let the whole game play out on the tv? Or do you sim it "quick style" ??

Quick style. Obviously there is no way my post count in this thread would be as high as it is if the games were taking 45 minutes each. :)

[VTHokie32]

sims games doesnt go by the clock you set per quarter.

it uses 15 minutes for sims games.

I realize that, but I remember in at least 1 game he played, I'm pretty sure his QB had like 31 rushing attempts. Heck, in my 5 min qtr games, when I run a lot, I have about that many plays.

[DuckFan]

I realize that, but I remember in at least 1 game he played, I'm pretty sure his QB had like 31 rushing attempts. Heck, in my 5 min qtr games, when I run a lot, I have about that many plays.

Normally what happens is that once I get a lead, the CPU is throwing on 90% of plays and the clock is stopping all the time. I may run 8 times in a drive and score in 3 minutes, then the CPU has six passing plays before a punt and it still only had the ball for 45 seconds...

Even though my sim strategy is to stop the pass at all costs, my play strategy is all about stopping the run until I get a lead. I frequently give up early passing TDs in the game, but once I can dictate the tempo it's all good.

For my played games with a strong team I run a 4-2-5 pretty much every play, calling some sort of run blitz if the CPU comes out with 0-2 WRs (figuring if he chooses to pass my safeties are strong enough to make plays), and calling a cover 2 formation with the corners in man and the linebackers in zone if the CPU comes out with 3-5 WRs (figuring the LBs in zone can react to a run if there is one). With a good team, my 2nd best SS is more than a match for the TE or 4th WR he is likely to face, plus he provides strong run support.

For my played games with a weak team I run a 4-4 pretty much every play, calling some sort of run blitz on 0-2 WRs, and calling a cover 3 formation with 3-5 WRs. For most weak teams, I would rather have my 2nd best OLB covering his 4th best WR than have my 4th best CB covering his 4th best WR. Just in general, bad teams depth at CB is really awful, but it's not hard to have a couple decent OLBs who can cover on short routes. That's why I never play a Dime against Spread sets with a bad team. The mismatch is too strong on crossing routes (where the 4th CB gets beaten like a rented mule) and it's even worse on the running plays out of 4-wide (where my 4th best CB plays matador against their starting HB).

I would say my average 5-minute quarter played game gives me around 44-48 offensive plays...

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 1

Played at #2 South Carolina - Won 38-7. Was leading 28-0 at the half and turned the game over to the CPU. Defense played well, and once I had the lead I could grind it out. The CPU put in Newton just after the start of the 4th. He picked up around 80 rushing yards and broke 6 tackles. Moved up to #8

ISR - 1st on 1 guy, 2nd on 1 guy, 3rd on 3 guys and 4th on 1 guy. The guy in 4th is the only 5-star I am talking to, and the only TE (I have none after this year). I go 20 on the TE, 20 on the guy in 1st and 15 each on the other 4.

IR - FR G for season...

PS - None

Season 8
Week 2

Simmed vs Air Force - Won 10-7. Lowest scoring game of my dynasty so far... We ran the ball 93 times between us. 30 of mine were by the starting QB. It's a good thing AF missed their one FG attempt. Stayed #8 in the rankings.

ISR - Three 1sts. Three 2nds. Still the same points for next week.

IR - G for season, 91 OVR MLB for 9 weeks.... ouch...

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 3

Played vs #1 Texas A&M - Won 21-19. Probably the best game I have every played of NCAA 2006 (though it was only the 6th greatest). I decided to give the Navy playbook a try (since I figure my guys are used to running it by now). The Aggie defense gave me fits early on and I punted on my first 3 drives. Young finally broke a 60yd gain on a FB Option that he cut inside against a spread line. A couple plays later we punched it in and made it 7-6 Temple. On my next offensive series I ground down to the six yard line and went for it on 4th and inches. I get tackled in the backfield by their impact LB who immediately crumples on his back. The ref comes on to say he was called for a 15-yd facemask, automatic first down for me. And the LB limps off the field holding his arm. When the update comes, he will miss 7 weeks with a hand injury. Maybe there's a reason you're not supposed to do that. I lead 21-13 in the 4th when Young throws an ugly pass that is tipped and picked. Eight seconds later, the Aggie is taunting me as he crosses the line. He sets up to go for two, I call a linebacker blitz and audible both ends into spy coverage. They go with a play fake and when the QB looks up to throw he gets plastered. I try to grind out the final two minutes of the game but stall at midfield with 30 seconds left. The Aggies get the ball back and I go into 4-4 cover 4 with looping ends. He gets a pass, I get a sack, he gets a pass, I get a sack. They are on my 40 yard line with 4 seconds left and no time outs. I send everyone back to the end zone and loop the line. He scrambles all the way to my 8 as time has run out. Great game to play. Moved up to #5

ISR - 1st on 5 guys, 2nd on one... I drop the guy that has me 2nd, now at 20 on the other 5.

IR - FR G for season... MLB for 8 weeks...

PS - None

Season 8
Week 4

Simmed at Marshall - Won 45-3. Young goes nuts... 9-10 for 103 and 3 TDs, 27 carries for 153 and 2 TDs. Move up to #4 in the rankings.

ISR - First on all five. One is ready for a visit in week 5. Still the same points for next week.

IR - G for season, MLB for 7 weeks....

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 5

Simmed vs UTEP - Won 34-6. Bass goes crazy. 44 carries for 238 yards and 3 TDs. I am still amazed at the fact that using the same playbook and the same coach settings, I will have one game where the QB carries 35 times and the HB carries 6 followed by a game where the HB carries 35 times and the QB carries 6... Stay #5

ISR - 4-star OLB OH commits, the guy I dropped last week is still 2nd, so on a whim I put the 20 back on him...

IR - FR G for season... MLB for 6 weeks...

PS - None

Season 8
Week 6

Simmed at Memphis - Won 45-28. Down 21-0 halfway through the first, but that lead wasn't enough for the Tigers. Too much Young, too much Bass, too much Temple. Move up to #4 in the rankings.

ISR - First on all five. Four are coming to visit next week.

IR - G for season, 92 OVR DT for 7 weeks, MLB for 5 weeks....

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 7

Simmed vs Southern Miss - Won 41-17. And the juggernaut rolls along... Move up to #3

ISR - 4-star DE MD commits, 4-star DE OH commits, 4-star DT CA commits, the TE gives a soft verbal, still second on the last OLB. I go to 60 on TE, 40 on OLB.

IR - FR G for season... DT for 6 weeks... MLB for 4 weeks...

PS - Still none... I need one soon to get this bar gone...

Season 8
Week 8

Simmed at Tulsa - Won 33-21. All Young. Young, Young and more Young. 7-10 for 123 and 3 TDs, 31 carries 182 yards 1 TD. Still #4 in the rankings.

ISR - TE commits. Go to 100 on the OLB.

IR - G for season, DT for 5 weeks, MLB for 3 weeks....

PS - Still none...

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 9

Simmed vs ECU - Won 23-21. Down 21-10 at the half. Defense steps up and Young throws two TDs to win the game. Drop to #4 (or maybe I was #4 last week I can't tell). Young is 2nd in the Heisman voting. We're 3rd in the Bowl Rankings.

ISR - OLB commits. That's SIX commits this inseason. One 5-star and five 4-stars...

IR - FR G for season... DT for 4 weeks... MLB for 2 weeks...

PS - Still none... GRRRRRR... I need one soon to get this bar gone...

Season 8
Week 10

Bye week. #3 in the rankings.

ISR - None left.

IR - G for season, DT for 3 weeks, MLB for 1 weeks....

PS - Still none...

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 11

Simmed vs UAB - Won 34-20. Scored 21 unanswered in the 4th quarter. Bass gets 40 carries for 200 yards. #4. Young is 5th in the Heisman voting. We're 3rd in the Bowl Rankings.

ISR - None left...

IR - FR G for season... DT for 2 weeks...

PS - Still none... GRRRRRR... I need one soon to get this bar gone...

Season 8
Week 12

Simmed at SMU. Won 42-10. We held them to 22 yards on 31 carries. #3 in the rankings.

ISR - None left.

IR - G for season, DT for 1 weeks....

PS - Still none...

[DuckFan]

Season 8
Week 13

Bye Week - #2. Two unbeatens lost and it's down to us and Notre Dame. Young is out of the Heisman voting. We're 2nd in the Bowl Rankings.

ISR - None left...

IR - FR G for season...

PS - Still none...

Season 8
Week 14

Simmed vs #17 Auburn. Won 35-16. They turn it over 3 times. We don't turn it over at all. Florida State knocks off the Irish and we are the unanimous #1.

ISR - None left.

IR - G for season....

PS - Still none...

Season 8
Week 15

Bye Week - Unanimous #1.

ISR - None left.

IR - G for season....

PS - Still none...

Season 8
Conf Champ Week

Simmed vs #17 UTEP - Won 48-17. We lead 41-7 at the half. Even though Newton threw a pick in the 4th there was no way the Miners were going to come back from that. Unanimous #1.

ISR - None left.

IR - G for season....

PS - Still none...

I win Coach of The Year. Again. Wood wins the Rimington. Again. LT wins OL of the Year. Again.

We're playing Florida State for the NC.

Heisman Results:

WR Texas Tech
QB Texas Tech
Young (Temple)
HB Nebraska
HB Michigan

[Locke888]

I see you keep winning OL awards. Are pancakes messed up even when simming? It appears that it is. I play all my games so I expect it to be flawed(pancakes).

[DuckFan]

I see you keep winning OL awards. Are pancakes messed up even when simming? It appears that it is. I play all my games so I expect it to be flawed(pancakes).

OL awards are directly tied to how much you run the ball...

It's a shame they can't look at a more realistic statistic, but pancakes vs sacks seems to be all they have.

[jbmagic]

duckfan

great dynasty


do you change your coach strategies during the season when simming against different teams? if so what key things you look at when changing it vs your opponent for offense aggressive, offense consertative, defense consertative and defense aggressive


if you have time, can you go over what kind of pesonal is good for offense consertative and for offense aggressive? and for defense consertative and for defense aggressive?

thanks

[DuckFan]

duckfan

great dynasty


do you change your coach strategies during the season when simming against different teams? if so what key things you look at when changing it vs your opponent for offense aggressive, offense consertative, defense consertative and defense aggressive


if you have time, can you go over what kind of pesonal is good for offense consertative and for offense aggressive? and for defense consertative and for defense aggressive?

thanks

In an ordinary Dynasty, yes I would make some small changes in play styles. Usually not based on my opponent (unless I know the coaching style is really skewed like Navy or Texas Tech). Usually any changes I make are based on my players that are out with injuries/suspensions.

But in this particular Dynasty I set as one of my ground rules that I would only change coaching style once per season.

In general you can break it down this way for aggressive and conservative. Conservative offense and defense rely on the most basic football fundamentals, blocking and tackling. Aggressive offense and defense rely on the most physical skilled athletes. When you are playing conservatively you are asking your players to out-execute on a consistent basis and win the attrition battles. When you are playing aggressively you are asking your players for explosion plays.

So if I am looking for a DE for a conservative defense, I care more about size, strength, awareness, tackling, tackling, and tackling. If I am looking for a DE for an aggressive defense I care about speed, agility, acceleration, speed and speed.

A WR for a conservative offense I care about height, awareness, catching, catching, run blocking, and catching. A WR for an aggressive offense I care about speed, acceleration, agility, catching, speed, and speed.

Conservative offense - Steve Largent, Jerome Bettis, Drew Bledsoe
Aggressive offense - Randy Moss, Barry Sanders, Michael Vick

[DuckFan]

Season 8
National Championship Game

Played vs Florida State... Wow. What a game. We trade 30 yards and punt drives through the first half. They get close enough for one FG. I get a breakaway from Young. It's 7-3 at the half. Both offenses do a little better in the second. I'm leading 14-6 when I throw an ugly pick, run back for a score. Defense comes up huge on the conversion. Still leading 14-12. They march down the field after I punt, score the 2. Down 20-14. I march back down the field. Take the lead 21-20. They get the ball back with 3 minutes left in the game and hit a deep bomb. They whiff the conversion, it's 26-21. I get it back with 2:18. Grinding out both yards and clock then bust a run with 54 seconds left. I look at the clock as I cross the 5-yard line and realize I am giving them too much time to get a FG. So I run out of bounds. I slam the FB into the hole twice, grinding down to 31 seconds. Then go in for the score. But I choke the 2, and lead 27-26. They down the kick in the end zone. 1st pass incomplete. 2nd pass a bomb to midfield. 3rd pass sacked back to the 40. 4th pass incomplete. 5th pass a bomb toward the 15 yard line, tipped by the FS and caught by the SS with 8 seconds left in the game. Take a knee. Game Over. Final score: Temple 27, Florida State 26. We're the champs! Again!

ISR - None left.

IR - None...

PS - None...

I receive offers from Florida, Miami and South Carolina... Decline them all...

Now a 6-star program... Not bad going from 1-star to 6-star in 8 years. Also horribly unrealistic. Two national championships is not enough to make a 6-star program. High prestige programs are about long-term success, and kids growing up knowing from the time they were 5 that they wanted to go to State U... 5-stars yes, 6-stars no...

6-star coach prestige as well... which I actually DO agree with. A coach who takes a 1-star to 2 NCs in eight years is a legendary figure... With or without the 31-game winning streak...

Final Top 10:

Temple
Michigan
LSU
Notre Dame
South Carolina
Texas Tech
Florida State
Iowa
Miami
Colorado

Young, Bass, 4 OL, and an OLB made 1st Team. The other OL made 2nd. A WR, CB and SS made Freshman AA...

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 8

Program Prestige now at 6-star
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige now at 6-star

We have 11 guys graduating, so I know I won't have many holes to fill (other than some guys going pro). Didn't get a single suspension last year, so the bar went down a little. Have some good training candidates. And I have already signed 6 guys so I can be a little picky with who I talk to in the offseason.

Adjust RTD sliders to:
30% recruiting
50% training
20% discipline

Four guys want to leave. My backup SS and backup C want to leave to go to Buffalo. My starting QB wants to turn pro (again). And my star LOLB wants to turn pro.

I start with 30 on the QB. He says wait. I give him 24 more and he stays. That's a whole lot of recruiting points for 1 year of a QB, but he was a 95 OVR before training, so he'll be a 99 for next year. I could use a Heisman...

I try just 6 points on the LOLB and he stays. I bid the other two farewell.

A 76 OVR SO-RS WR wants to transfer in... That's just amusing. Yes he would be my #1 guy right now. But still... LOL... I told him no...

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: OH, PA, MD, CT, MN and NJ... Woo-Hoo! Six states!

There are 49 returning players. We have signed 6 during the season. There are 3 Needs (not counting the fact that my P is a 74 and my K is a 56).

There are 3 5-stars, 21 4-stars, and 50 3-stars who are interested...

All six guys I signed were listed as Red Zone Top 50. Well it turns out that my guys are #9, 46, 47, 97, and not in the top 100 (x2)...

We have 187 pts available to recruit with... (after talking to guys who wanted to leave)

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 8
Week 1 Recruiting

I talk to 5 5-stars and 14 4-stars. Mostly on defense and I am still trying to find a K...

First week commits:
4star DT #6 WV

OffSeason Year 8
Week 2 Recruiting

I hit pretty much all the same guys. Most I started with Prestige and the ones that didn't hit get switched to coach prestige.

Second week commits:
5-star MLB #1 FL

OffSeason Year 8
Week 3 Recruiting

Two guys left so I pick out two random 3-stars to talk to.

Third week commits:
5-star DE #2 TX
4-star C #6 PA
4-star CB #15 FL
4-star DT #5 OH
4-star DE #3 NY

OffSeason Year 8
Week 4 Recruiting

Same guys.

Fourth week commits:
4-star FS #2 MD
4-star DT #3 CA

OffSeason Year 8
Week 5 Recruiting

More of the same...

Fifth week commits:

5-star DE #1 TX
4-star OLB #13 OH
4-star DE #9 NY
3-star WR #19 PA (probably 10 pts better than any WR currently on the roster)
3-star ATH #10 CN (hoping he can play WR, but he's probably a LB)

I still have one unmet needs after recruiting, a TE.

I get the #1 Class overall...
4 5-stars
14 4-stars
5 3-stars (only 2 of which I signed...)

Top 100:
#1, 5, 9, 18, 29, 46, 47, 53, 74, 78, 97....

[DuckFan]

Off Season 8
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

70 HB
76 WR (that guy was a freaking 3-star???)
80 C
84 DE
82 DE (also a 72 at TE)
82 DE
78 DE
78 DE
76 DE
78 DT
78 DT
76 DT
74 DT
74 DT
78 OLB
76 OLB
74 OLB
80 MLB
76 CB
80 FS
76 ATH best at SS but can play anywhere on D except MLB and DT.

I moved the ATH to SS, the DE to TE, but no other changes...

Training Results

One guy went up 8, two went up 7, six guys went up 6, four guys went up 5, 23 guys went up 4. Six guys went up 3. 7 went up 2. One went up 1. Huge difference from last year (when no one went up more than 4).

Cut players

72 on the roster. Still paring down dead weight. I cut the worst of the 5 WRs, a JR-RS T (80), a SO-RS G (78), the worst DT, a SO-RS CB (78), . Down to 67 with 7 seniors and 11 juniors.

Top player is a 98 LOLB. Eleven guys 90+. Forty guys at 80+...

[DuckFan]

PreSeason Year 9

Custom Schedules:

Given schedule is a C-, with no ranked opponents. Once again I will need to add some good opponents. I add #2 LSU, #4 Texas Tech, #16 UCLA and unranked Louisville. New schedule is a B.

Redshirt Players:

I redshirt two HBs, four DEs, three DTs, three OLBs, a MLB, a CB, a FS, and a SS...

Coach Strategy:

We keep the Navy playbook (for simmed games) and tell the CPU to run the ball 75% of the time. I would love to tell my 98 OVR QB to throw the ball a little more, but there is no one to catch it. Subbing at 50-50

I change the base D to 4-2-5 (since my LB depth is weak and I have three great safeties), and keep 80% Pass D with max aggression. Subbing at 60 more.

In-Season Recruiting:

We have 3 needs, QB and two FSs...

Current Pipelines: MD, NJ, OH, FL, CT, PA...

I decide on every 5-star who is not OL, three 4-star FSs, and a 5-star RT.

Athlon Sports has me as the #6 team... B+ with B+ OFF, A- DEF and B ST... I still need to find a K/P... Young, HB and all five OL guys are preseason 1st team.

[DuckFan]

Season 9
Week 1

Played at #4 Texas Tech - Won 49-28. My first game against the Red Raiders in 2006. Man can that team pass the ball. We rolled up 501 yards on the ground, they had 441 yards in the air. Played with 6 minute quarters and there were 112 offensive plays. Their freshman QB goes 19-34 for 441 and 3 TDs. Strangest play I have ever seen occurred late in the 4th. Down 3 TDs they are in the hurry-up and driving. One of their players gets injured on the play and they hurry up anyway and run the next play. That was the final play of the game and when I looked at the injury list it shows that guy went out for the season (but he was on the field at LG for the last play). We actually broke three of their guys for the season. Young got a game-ender himself so Isaac Newton came in and ran the ball for 225 yards... Move to #4 in the polls.

ISR - 2nd on 1 guy, 3rd on 5 guys. I put 25 on the stud scrambling QB (who has me 5th). I put 15 each on four other guys, and then 8 and 7 on two 4-star FSs who are clones of each other (figuring I will dump one next week and shift to the other).

IR - None...

PS - None

[DuckFan]

Season 9
Week 2

Played at #2 LSU - Won 56-0. Yeah, this will probably be my last year with the Temple dynasty. I did attempt one pass in the game, and it was picked off. But we outgained the #2 team playing in their #1 stadium by a count of 588-45. We had 31 first downs, scored exactly 14 in each quarter, had three different guys with 150+ rushing yards, picked up 71 pancakes... It was brutal. I still don't even know Navy's playbook all that well, but this was ugly... Move to #2 in the polls.

ISR - 1st on one, 2nd on 2, 3rd on 3 guys. As planned, I pull off one FS and go to 15 on the other.

IR - None...

PS - None

Riding a 33-game winning streak as we head into week 3...

[DuckFan]

Season 9
Week 3

Simmed vs Louisville - Won 40-14. Down 14-13 going into the 4th quarter. I'm sure Louisville wishes it was a 3 quarter game. Move to #1 in the polls.

ISR - 1st on one, 2nd on 3, 3rd on 1 guys. Points stay the same.

IR - None...

PS - None

Season 9
Week 4

Simmed vs Marshall - Won 39-25. Bass carries 27 times for 161 and 5 TDs. Stay #1 in the polls.

ISR - 1st on 3, 2nd on 2, 3rd on 1 guys. One of the two WRs has me 2nd, the other has me 3rd. I still badly need at least one guy who can catch the ball. I pull off the guy in 3rd, move 10 to the guy in 2nd, and 5 more on the stud scrambling QB. Now at 30, 25, and 15 (x3).

IR - LT for 3 games...

PS - My first suspension in a year and a half... Starting RG, suggested 3 games, I give him 5. My bar is gone, for now...

Season 9
Week 5

Simmed vs #19 UCLA - Lost 34-19. The 35-game winning streak comes to an end. Young went down in the 1st quarter (based on the stats) and Newton couldn't carry the load. Drop to #8 in the polls.

ISR - 1st on 4, 2nd on 1. Points stay the same.

IR - LT for 2 weeks, RT for 3 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 6

Simmed vs Memphis - Lost 35-31. The wheels come off. The Tigers are a C team and I am a B+ with A- defense. They had just 8 first downs. We outgained them 452-270. But we had three turnovers, they had none, and their QB goes 21-24 for 260 and 4 TDs. Drop to #24 in the polls.

ISR - A couple guys drop me a spot, including a FS from 1 to 3. I pull off him, and move more pts onto the other FS. I need two, but I really only need one in inseason. Now at 30 each on 5-star QB and 5-star WR, 18 on 5-star HB and 22 on 4-star FS.

IR - LT for 1 weeks, RT for 2 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 7

Simmed at Southern Miss - Won 43-29. Young goes 15-20 for 210 and 4 TDs, plus 25 carries for 118 yards. Move to #21 in the polls.

ISR - QB and WR are both visiting next week...

IR - RT for 1 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 8

Simmed vs Tulane - Won 37-21. Bass carries for 206 yards. Newton (QB) catches a pass for 59. Stay #21 in the polls.

ISR - QB and WR both signed... Go to 35 each on the HB and FS and add 30 back on the FS I dropped...

IR - LOLB for 2 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 9

Simmed at ECU - Won 63-7. 479 rushing yards and we were in the red zone 11 times in the game. Young gets 185 on the ground, Newton adds 106, Bass carries 13 for 100 and 4 TDs. Ramsey adds 9 for 57 and 3 TDs. Bass carries for 206 yards. Newton (QB) catches a pass for 59. Move to #18 in the polls.

ISR - All 3 will visit for the last home game against Houston...

IR - FB for 4 weeks... LOLB for 1 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 10

Simmed vs Houston - Lost 31-28. Sucks losing the week you have 3 guys visit, but we just didn't play well enough... Drop out of the polls.

ISR - All 3 give me a soft verbal even though I lost... Odd...

IR - FB for 3 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 11

Simmed at #18 UAB - Won 27-23. Boring game, but we win... Back to #25 in the polls.

ISR - One of the soft verbals drops, I move to 50 each on the other two...

IR - FB for 2 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 12

Simmed at Rice - Won 48-14. Rice just really is not a good team... Up to #23 in the polls.

ISR - One of the soft verbals drops, I move to 100 on the FS that is left...

IR - FB for 1 weeks...

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 13

Bye Week... Up to #22 in the polls.

ISR - The last soft verbal drops...

IR - None

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 14

Bye Week... Up to #18 in the polls.

ISR - None.

IR - None

PS - None new...

Season 9
Week 15

Bye Week... #18 in the polls.

ISR - None.

IR - None

PS - None new...

Season 9
Conf Champ Week

Bye Week... #17 in the polls.

ISR - None.

IR - None

PS - None new...

Wood wins the Rimington... Bulman wins OL of the year...

We get a bid to the Hawaii Bowl against 8-3 Boise State...

Heisman Results:

QB Texas Tech - REDSHIRT FRESHMAN WINS HEISMAN!!!

Kid was 317-457 for 4507 yards and 50 TDs... He's an 86 OVR at the end of the season. QB rating of 182.2

WR Texas Tech
QB South Carolina
QB LA Tech
HB Purdue

We get just 5 first team All-Americans... the entire starting OL...

At the end of the season we are an "A" team with B+ offense and A+ defense... first in rushing, as always, third in total defense, first in run defense...

Season 9
Bowl Week

Simmed vs Boise State. Win 48-34. #13 in the final polls.

Get coaching offers from Auburn and Texas. Turn them both down...

Final results:

Cal
Texas A&M
Michigan
Virginia
Florida
Virginia Tech
South Carolina
Tennessee
Ohio State
Miami

Temple finished #13

[DuckFan]

Offseason Year 9

Program Prestige still at 6-star (even after the 3-loss season last year)
Academics at 3-star
Coach Prestige still at 6-star

We have 7 guys graduating, so I know I won't have many holes to fill (other than likely several guys going pro). No discipline bar at all carrying over. Have some outstanding training candidates. Only signed 2 guys so far but they are absolute studs.

Adjust RTD sliders to:
24% recruiting
59% training
17% discipline

Seven guys want to leave. My entire OL... the same entire OL who has been All-Americans since the day the arrived... They ALL want to turn pro. Also my best HB... And a backup FB wants to transfer...

I give the FB my blessing, and I shoot 6 pts each at the other six for the first round. Three say they want to wait. One says he'll stay. The HB and C go pro. I try 6 pts each again on the 3. Two stay and the RG leaves. So I will have the RT, LT and LG returning...

Pipeline states as we begin recruiting are: TX, MN, OH, PA, NY, CT, and MD... Seven freaking states!!!

There are 56 returning players. We have signed 2 during the season. There are 5 Needs, including the desperate need of a Punter so I don't have to actually play my K who is a 63.

There are 1 5-stars, 21 4-stars, and 53 3-stars who are interested...

The two guys I signed were #10 and #18 in the top 100...

We have 132 pts available to recruit with... (after talking to guys who wanted to leave)

[DuckFan]

OffSeason Year 9
Week 1 Recruiting

I talk to 2 5-stars and 16 4-stars and 5 3-stars. Three punters, 7 OL guys and a smattering of other talent.

First week commits:
None

OffSeason Year 9
Week 2 Recruiting

I hit pretty much all the same guys. Most I started with Prestige and the ones that didn't hit get switched to coach prestige.

Second week commits:
5-star DE #1 MN
4-star G #17 OH
4-star P #1 MI
4-star T #12 TX
4-star FS #11 OH
4-star DE #26 PA

OffSeason Year 9
Week 3 Recruiting

Two guys left so I pick out two random 3-stars to talk to.

Third week commits:
4-star T #7 LA
4-star P #2 AL
4-star MLB #5 NY
4-star CB #21 MN
3-star FS #24 OH

OffSeason Year 9
Week 4 Recruiting

Same guys.

Fourth week commits:
4-star ATH #3 TX (guy is 6' 10")
4-star CB #17 OH
4-star DT #3 PA

OffSeason Year 8
Week 5 Recruiting

More of the same...

Fifth week commits:

3-star ATH #19 PA
3-star ATH #20 OH
3-star TE #27 PA

I still have two unmet needs after recruiting, a C and FB.

I get the #1 Class overall...
3 5-stars
12 4-stars
9 3-stars (only 4 of which I signed...)

Top 100:
#8, 10, 18, 74, 80 and 83....

[DuckFan]

Off Season 9
Position Changes

Results from recruiting:

80 QB (with 85 SPD)
74 QB
80 WR with 99 SPD, 95 AGI, 95 ACC and 80 CTH
72 TE
82 T
80 T
74 T
68 T
80 G
74 G
80 DE
74 DE
78 DT (also a 70 at FB - 6'7" 301#)
74 DT
76 MLB
76 CB (also a 62 at QB)
74 CB (also a 60 at QB)
80 FS
78 FS
80 P
74 P (also 70 at K)
76 ATH (a 78 at C)
74 ATH (a 76 at C)
68 ATH (a 70 at FS)

I moved the ATH to C, C, and FS, the DT to FB, but no other changes...

Training Results

One guy went up 8, four went up 7, four guys went up 6, one guys went up 5, 21 guys went up 4. 11 guys went up 3. 10 went up 2. Two went up 1.

Cut players

81 on the roster. Still paring down dead weight. I cut 17 guys who just don't belong. Down to 64 with 9 seniors and 11 juniors.

Top player is a 99 LG. Thirteen guys 90+. Fifty-Two guys at 80+...

[DuckFan]

A request for the viewers of this thread:

I will be finishing out the 10th season of the dynasty with Temple, since I have already done my recruiting for the season. But after that I am torn.

Clearly the Temple program has reached juggernaut status. Barring a total collapse in year 10, I should make it through year 10 with no more than a single loss, and will have another top 5 finish (if not a title). The team is up to an "A" overall, has an OL with an average of 96, HBs that are 98, 95, and 91, and a defense that is an "A+". And two years ago I reached the cusp of being able to redshirt nearly all my recruits (which is the big milestone for transitioning a bad program into a great one, once you can redshirt pretty much all your 4 and 5 star recruits you are guaranteed to stay with "A" talent level). The only logical goals left for that school are to get it into a BCS conference and to win some Heisman trophies...

I know that quite a few people are reading this thread (or at least have read parts of it) since the thread views count is so high...

I am curious where the readers think I should go next with this dynasty. There are a few ideas I have right now (not in any order of my preference, just the order they came out):

1) Stay with Temple until they reach a BCS conference.

2) Stay with Temple while shifting them to a more "normal" offensive scheme, adjusting recruiting and personnel while trying to continue the winning tradition. Stay with them until I can sim successfully with a 50-50 run/pass package using a mainstream playbook.

3) Stay with Temple and run 0 discipline with them until they get harsh NCAA penalties, then try to keep them a top program while getting out from under NCAA sanctions.

4) Drop Temple and take a job with another powerhouse school that offers me a position (such as South Carolina or Miami), figuring out exactly what small things need to be changed to get them to the NC. ----- this is probably the least interesting option in my eyes

5) Drop Temple and take a job at a horrible program that is in a big football state, such as San Diego State, Rice, Florida Atlantic, etc. Knowing that I can really only use Coach Prestige and Location the first couple years, and that my coach prestige will drop like a rock until I get them success.

6) Drop Temple and take a job at a horrible program that is NOT in a big football state, such as Idaho, UConn, Kentucky etc. Much harder to recruit here since there aren't as many in-state guys that can be recruited cheaply.

7) Drop Temple and find a decent program (3-4 star) that is currently under NCAA sanctions (don't know any off the top of my head in year 10 of my dynasty, but I am sure there are some) and try to turn them into a national power.

8) Drop Temple and take over a 6-star Academic school (probably 1-3 stars of Program Prestige) and try to dominate while only recruiting players with A+ awareness to keep the Academics rating. Not recruit a single player who lacks that awareness level, and still find a way to win.

9) Drop Temple and start a new Dynasty.

10) Other option I have not considered...

Opinions???

[VTHokie32]

How about staying at Temple and trying to get them to drop back to 1 or 2 star status and then back up to where you have them now before year 20? That's a challenge that you didn't list as an option. I'd like to see if you could do it by ignoring PS and however else you would go about it. It would be a heck of a challenge.

[wolverinejay]

I think the toughest challenge in the game might be to get Temple into the top 25 toughest places to play. It should take anywhere from 15 to 20 years of complete dominance at home. I would stay with Temple until I achieved a BCS conference and a ranking in the top 25 toughest places. In order to spice up your Dynasty you might want to switch offensive styles.

Here is the list from 05' (probably hasn't changed since EA is pretty lazy):

Stadium Rankings 26-115
26) South Carolina
27) Texas
28) Colorado
29) BYU
30) USC
31) Michigan St.
32) Purdue
33) Virginia
34) Arizona St.
35) Georgia Tech
36) Boston College
37) UCLA
38) Arkansas
39) Air Force
40) N.C. St.
41) Southern Miss
42) Army
43) Missouri
44) Ole Miss
45) Toledo
46) Colorado St.
47) Marshall
48) TCU
49) Boise St.
50) Utah
51) Hawaii
52) Minnesota
53) Kansas
54) Arizona
55) Mississippi St.
56) ECU
57) Maryland
58) North Carolina
59) Texas Tech
60) Louisville
61) Fresno St.
62) West Michigan
63) Pittsburgh
64) Illinois
65) Oregon St.
66) CMU
67) Kentucky
68) New Mexico St.
69) Middle Tenn. St.
70) Iowa St.
71) Oklahoma St.
72) UTEP
73) Wyoming
74) Idaho
75) Miami (OH)
76) Cincinnati
77) Wake Forest
78) Northern Illinois
79) UCONN
80) USF
81) Troy St.
82) Navy
83) Northwestern
84) California
85) Memphis
86) UNLV
87) Stanford
88) Bowling Green
89) New Mexico
90) Louisiana Tech
91) Ohio
92) UCF
93) North Texas
94) Nevada
95) Indiana
96) Duke
97) UAB
98) Ball St.
99) Rice
100) Vanderbilt
101) Kent St.
102) San Diego St.
103) Rutgers
104) Baylor
105) Houston
106) Utah St.
107) Tulsa
108) Akron
109) Tulane
110) Buffalo
111) SMU
112) Arkansas St.
113) Louisiana-Lafayette
114) Louisiana-Monroe
115) Temple

[sabertoothwolf]

I think they just want to gain some insight on how you do your dynasty. I personally have read almost every thing you have done since last year, when it comes to the recruiting. I have learned a ton of stuff.

Now, I have never done the recruiting of Ncaa 2006 yet. I have such a challenge ahead of me with the in year recruiting system, and the whole pipeline thing will be a pain. But one thing I do like is a challenge.

Now if you read any of my comments on 06 i said I have played about 50 games but that was RFTH not Dynasty.

I think that I read somewhere that we take this to seriously. But just FYI i do have a job. This is how I relax, I also have a gf but I told her that I love games and been playing them since pong. So threw all the heartaches I have to go threw my games have always been there.

I'm a fan of your work continue til nothing is satisfying for you any more.

DUCKFAN for PRESIDENT :p

[zpmad]

Duckfan,

Nice dynasty. I think you should try one with a terrible one star team (Temple, Army, etc.) with the following:
1) some recruiting restrictions.
No 3* recruits until your program is 3*.
No 4* recruits until your program is 4*.
No 5* recruits until you are 5*.
No 4* or 5* In-season, ever.
No cuts
You must scout all 3* and above.

2) sliders
use playmakers AA or the zero sliders

3) sim game restrictions (coach sliders)
no higher than 55% run on offense, no higher than 55% pass on defense

4) budgets
No higher than 40% in any area and must have at least 25% discipline

Try these and you will have a little more challenge. I am running these with a Rice dynasty and having a blast. I am in year 4, had to go on a 5 game winning streak in year three to save my job (don't know what happened, I changed the starting QB and HB and the team just caught fire). Even with the 5 game winning streak and making it into the C-USA title game (lost), I still only got a 2 year extension.

You will spend more time worried about being fired and how to get the most out of your sorry recruits, thus making it incredibly realistic. Try these for a challenge in a new dynasty thread. We are all waiting for more as your dynasty with Temple has been awesome.

[grape00]

Personally, I'd like to see what you'd do with UCONN.

[BigBlue22]

I like the no disipline idea.

[chuckitlong]

I think that the academic idea is the best. See if the "Nerds" can still play football.

[sandman]

I like the idea of staying with Temple until they reach a BCS conference. Is that something you have yet to accomplish DuckFan?

[DuckFan]

It hasn't happened yet in this particular dynasty, but it's just a matter of time. I regularly took my alma mater (a D3 school) through the various conferences until they reached BCS status. It typically took around 12-16 years in 05. I would assume this year is similar.

The tough thing for me about taking them to the BCS conference, or taking them to being one of the 25 best HFAs is that frankly... it's boring... The juggernaut is already in place... I can just sim every game from here on out, managing only the recruiting and the coach settings and Temple will average over 12 wins a year. They will never fall below 5-stars in prestige and will probably not drop below 6. It's like watching paint dry. The paint is already on the wall. We can sit here and debate the humidity and temperature all day, but the fact is the paint will dry... With my "normal" level of involvement in the coaching and the recruiting, this team will stay a juggernaut until I retire... So reaching either of those goals is just a matter of pushing buttons. There really isn't any strategy involved for me.

On a whim, I just looked through the PS status for all the teams and not a single team is on probation in year 10 of my dynasty. In fact I didn't see any teams with a bar past 25%. In last year's game you could count on at least a dozen teams being in danger of suspension every year and there were always at least 5 or 6 that actually had them.

[jbmagic]

Duckfan

here is an idea, play temple but use there own playbook.


or pick anohter team, but use there own playbook they use.

[Madlob]

What about this. Is it possible to add another coach during a dynasty? If you can do this, you will be able to keep your Temple dynasty going. You could sim all your Temple games and just do recruiting, and coach your other team like you have up to this point. Just a thought

[Fishboot]

Great write up.

How about building up a new 1* team (either by switching your coach around or starting over - at least coach switching would retain named players) with a pass heavy spread or WC offense (as opposed to this write up's ball control/running QB offense)? It would also be interesting if you could do something crazy like having a team that's 70% run out of a single wing or something like that - I don't have 2006 myself and I don't know if custom playbooks could be used that way. It might be fun to always grub for two or three athletes that can be hybrid QB/RBs so you could run some oddball playbook where everyone in the backfield can throw... But I'm sure I'm overestimating EA when I assume you could make those plays.

[raythatiknow]

good stuff man. learned alot about recruiting reading through your seasons.


anyways... my suggestion:


- create a cupcake school
- put them in the absolute worst conference substituting out the worst team
- make the stadium seat 20 thousand
- place the school in a terrible HS football state



i actually dove into NCAA06 (never played previous versions) doing this.
i've only finished one season and i did absolutely terrible! but DAMN FUN.

[riTzy]

Great stuff DuckFan :)

[BigBlue22]

- create a cupcake school
- put them in the absolute worst conference substituting out the worst team
- make the stadium seat 20 thousand
- place the school in a terrible HS football state



i actually dove into NCAA06 (never played previous versions) doing this.
i've only finished one season and i did absolutely terrible! but DAMN FUN.
Great idea, how about creating a school in Alaska and putting them in the ACC in place of Duke.

[DuckFan]

All of these suggestions involve me trashing the current dynasty and starting a new one altogether. Which I may do... But I haven't decided yet.

I have created the Anchorage Avalanche multiple times over the years and can consistently get them to national power status. Haven't done it yet in NCAA 06 but I may.

I just don't know what to do with my Temple coach who is currently a 6-star looking for something to do... After I finish house hunting I will get back to playing and figure something out.

[McMadden]

I can't believe its been over 3 months since Duckfan posted on Temple or a Madden Chise. MIA? :confused:

[BigBlue22]

Good question, DuckFan where are you?

[sandman]

He always does this. He appears for about 2-3 months around June/July and then disappears for the rest of the year. The insight he gives while here is plenty, however.

[DuckFan]

Welcome, DuckFan.
You last visited: 11-26-2005 at 05:18 AM

Yeah, a couple months away at a time, sometimes...

Bought a house, changed jobs, work got crazy. I haven't even turned on my PS2 since November... :confused:

Sad thing is, I have my schedule through April 3rd and I have a total of 2 days off in the next 75. Not much time for football.

My real-life Ducks had a pretty good year. Don't think they were ever a top 5 team, but 12th in the final rankings is nothing to sneeze at. I just can't understand why Belotti is recruiting so poorly this year. Scout has them at 50th in the country and 10th in the Pac-10. If they get 5-star CB Devin Ross it will help a lot. But still... I mean I know they return 16 starters next year and all the skill positions are set, but it's still scary to see the recruiting that weak...

I played Madden through one full Chise the first week it came out. Checked off 13 things they fixed and 8 that were still broken. Plus found a couple new broken things. Kind of waiting to see what the Next Gen stuff will be like when they have a whole year to work on it. I know the primary focus will be on graphics, but I hope the Chise and Dynasty side gets some love too...

[kevin21boston]

i just read this whole thread. what an amazing read. i started at eight PM, now its 1 AM!


i am not slow at reading, i was just somewhat preoccupied watching enemy of the state. good movie.


go dogs

[mstaple]

OffSeason Year 1
Week 5 Recruiting

Still the same guys. Still the same pitches.

Fifth week commits:
3-Star CB (#32 overall CB) from MD

All told I wind up with the 37th best class... Not too bad for a 1-star program that isn't from one of the big 3 states...

1 4-star
8 3-star
9 2-star

That's damn good for a 1* team. Also, I think my longest win streak I've had is 43 games. You got 60 some in a row? Man thats incredible.

[McMadden]

DuckFfan was the man! Being from Philly I loved his Temple Dynasty. :cool:

I miss DF. :(

[mightypharaoh]

DuckFfan was the man! Being from Philly I loved his Temple Dynasty. :cool:

I miss DF. :(


when I saw this I thought he was back:eek:

digging in the crates I see

[HatOnaHat]

DuckFfan was the man! Being from Philly I loved his Temple Dynasty. :cool:

I miss DF. :(

I was late to the site and really wanted to compare notes/info with DuckFan.

Ran an '06 Temple dynasty, but played it all on straight up Heisman/10min and blew the first couple years of recruiting because I hadn't played since 2003 and had to figure out what the h3ll I was doing on my own, lol (took til the 3rd try to get a full class). Once I got things rolling like around year 5-6, the hard part was moving up the BCS rankings b/c the computer killed you for any loss to a ranked team, higher or lower. The only conference offer was C-USA around year 7 and I figured another one would be coming soon, so I held out. Through 13 seasons, and about 5 straight top 10s, it didn't. Oops, lol. Did finally win a NC though. :rolleyes:

[chrisssteeven]

Hey player

I have got the pretty much the same guys. Such as last year, most of the guys get either PT or location the first week, and the other pitch the second week. This team is so bad I cannot pitch prestige or coach prestige under any circumstances. Coaching style will be my 4th (and last choice) except for OL guys and HBs who I know will respond to it.

I got some of.....

Second week commits:
3-Star HB (#49 overall HB) from PA
2-Star C (#55 overall C) from DE

Have it know..