Coach Mau and his Career

[mauboy]

[b]Week 6 of 10:[/b] Players committing to San Diego State OG Bobby Jordan (3 stars) OLB Brad Blakley (2 stars) Players recruited that committed to other schools WR Carl Garcia - Arizona State ILB Blair Matthews - Wash State C Tom Owens - New Mexico K Keith Garrett - Fresno State SS Chuck Drummond - Arizona State Only two players sign this week. One happens to be RB Mike Denson's buddy who sent me an email before the recruiting process. Only one of the players lost were recruited. SO that's good news. [b]Week 7 of 10:[/b] We need some players this week! More than five would be nice. Anything less is going to make me worry for our future years... I may have to get out of here while I can after the next season or two. Not good. Players committing to San Diego State SS Dennis Loville Players recruited that committed to other schools WR Greg Pea**** - Miami OG Jon Aiken - San Jose State WR Jerry Wheatley - New Mexico ILB Karl Lang - San Jose State ILB Rickey Williams - Hawaii WR Billy Anderson - Arizona State WR Victor Baker - Stanford RB Tony Simnjanovski - San Jose State OT Derek Ramsey - Marshall After signing only two players, we're going into panic mode. Well, not really after finding out they were just random players that we lost. [b]Week 8 of 10:[/b] 10 out of the 11 offered scholarships are 10/10 interested in me still, so hopefully I can get half of them and then a few more after this week. Players committing to San Diego State OG Ed Johnson (3 stars) WR Don Harris (3 stars) WR Jerry Johnson (3 stars) Players recruited that committed to other schools WR Mike Moulds - San Jose State WR Todd Whigham - Utah OG Dan Ezerins - Arizona State CB Stew Thomas - Boise State SS Chad Malone - Colorado OLB Scott Mitchell - Tulane CB Dee Braxton - Boise State OLB Matt Joseph - Colorado State We lost four players who we offered scholarships too. Two signed. [b]Week 9 of 10:[/b] This is it right here. Need some big time week here. I hope for 9 out of 9 schollies offered to sign, but I doubt it will happen. Players committing to San Diego State OG Lou Adamson OG Orpheus Johnson ILB Todd Smith Players recruited that committed to other schools CB Jim Dixon - California-LA WR Dean Murphy - California CB Simeon Lewis - Alabama Birmingham We got three more 3 star players. Not bad. We need a few more in the last week though. Let's get 'em! We only have 10 recruits signed so far, we need 5 more in the final week. That would be nice.

[mauboy]

[b]Signed Recruits[/b] Our highest rated recruit was 4-star OG Bobby Jordan. Surprise for me! Here are the rest: OG Bobby Jordan, 4-stars Encinal (Alameda, CA) National Rank: 418, Regional: 69, Position: 29 WR Jerry Johnson, 3-stars Elk Creek (Elk Creek, CA) National Rank: 679, Regional: 120, Position: 64 WR Greg Konz, 3-stars Florin (Sacramento, CA) National Rank: 823, Regional: 149, Position: 99 WR Don Harris, 3-stars Culver City (Culver City, CA) National Rank: 605, Regional: 102, Position: 55 CB Kaipo Woodson, 3-stars Weed (Weed, CA) National Rank: 818, Regional: 147, Position: 52 OG Orpheus Johnson, 3-stars Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley, CA) National Rank: 1051, Regional: 214, Position: 69 SS Dennis Loville, 3-stars Bakersfield (Bakersfield, CA) National Rank: 527, Regional: 87, Position: 52 ILB Matt Grant, 3-stars Lena-Winslow (Lena, IL) National Rank: 957, Regional: 201, Position: 81 OLB Brad Blakley, 3-stars Lamar County (Barnesville, GA) National Rank: 1076, Regional: 249, Position: 80 ILB Todd Smith, 3-stars Heights (Wichita, KS) National Rank: 745, Regional: 142, Position: 72 OG Ed Johnson, 2-stars Selma (Selma, CA) National Rank: 512, Regional: 84, Position: 43 OG Lou Adamson, 2-stars McFarland (McFarland, CA) National Rank: 1086, Regional: 223, Position: 71 RB Travis Roche, 2-stars Camanche (Camanche, IA) National Rank: 1275, Regional: 241, Position: 64

[JHopkins19]

Just wanted to throw in my two cents and say keep going and good luck! I've been following your career since the beginning, looking forward to see where this dynasty goes

[mauboy]

[b]Training Period[/b] I won't announce any changes from last season as they seem to really flunctuate from here to after training. [b]Depth Chart - OFFENSE[/b] We are quite solid all around except like last season, running back. Denson had a good year last year and I hope he can improve his numbers a little bit and keep his fumbles down! Click attachment to view Depth Chart! Looks good!

[mauboy]

[b]Depth Chart - DEFENSE[/b] With our new defensive coordinator who specializes in the 4-4 defense, we may switch to that. I'll have to get a better feel once opening day comes around. Click attchmt.

[mauboy]

The expectations from the board are the same as last year, don't finish last and don't get blown out by Air Force. With this squad, it's gonna be tough to lose, I think! The only team we'll have trouble with this season in the conference is Utah. Possibly TCU also, but we should have a good year finally! For sure! We redshirt about 10 freshmen in all. I also redshirted Senior Delhomme(4/5) because he'll be behind Garay, so it will let me have a good QB next season once Garay is gone. I've got two players that are 3/4 that can back up Garay. If for some reason I have to bring Delhomme back, then I will, no problem. I don't need to do any changes in scheduling this year, as I have 12 games lined up already. I've got seven starters already getting academic help from tutors. If we lose even half these guys, we're in trouble. I have to go and do a lot of hours for these guys.

[mauboy]

Holy Crap. I'm a moron for not saving at all during the off season and I just got the boot out of my game............ Ouch........ I think it will take me back all the way to the last game of last year... I have to go to an interview right now, but after that I'll see what I'm going to do about this.

[mauboy]

Well.... This sucks. IT went all the way back to week 10 against Utah. I think I'll just sim it all as fast as I can and get back to this point tonight sometime.

[mauboy]

Well, we won one game more this time around for a 5-7 record compared to last time's 4-8. In the previous run we lost to Duke, but beat them this time. We also beat BYU, Air Force and lost to Bowling Green when winning last time. *shrug* We still got killed by Utah, who still ended up with 1 loss, so that's good. They can still represent! I'm not going to go into much detail this time around, I'll just tell you the recruits at the end.

[mauboy]

Instead of a new DC we needed a new OC, which we did and got a decent one, who scouts better than he develops, but that is okay. Lenny Alexander. He's blue in developing WR/TE's and Green in developing QB's. So that's good. [b]Recruit Signings[/b] - I let the computer do the recruiting for me. It seems they did the job just fine. I was ranked 71st the first time around and this time it's 67, so not much of a difference there. The following recruits ended up coming to San Diego State: OG Karl Saimes, 3-stars East (Salt Lake City, UT) National Rank: 619, Regional: 107, Position: 51 OG Dan Ezerins, 3-stars Life School (Mesa, AZ) National Rank: 572, Regional: 97, Position: 46 OLB Matt Joseph, 3-stars Sonora (Sonora, CA) National Rank: 757, Regional: 134, Position: 70 OG Orpheus Johnson, 3-stars Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley, CA) National Rank: 1051, Regional: 214, Position: 69 OG Shane Garmon, 3-stars Sierra (Manteca, CA) National Rank: 912, Regional: 178, Position: 66 WR Todd Whigham, 3-stars Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia, CA) National Rank: 420, Regional: 70, Position: 43 WR Dean Murphy, 3-stars Bishop Quinn (Palo Cedro, CA) National Rank: 716, Regional: 127, Position: 72 WR Randy Blount, 3-stars San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno, CA) National Rank: 678, Regional: 119, Position: 63 P Eric Plum, 2-stars American (Fremont, CA) National Rank: 579, Regional: 99, Position: 9 OG Reggie Diehl, 2-stars Pima (Pima, AZ) National Rank: 873, Regional: 166, Position: 65 OLB Anthony Haley, 2-stars Paris (Paris, MO) National Rank: 1205, Regional: 226, Position: 81 OG Ed Johnson, 2-stars Selma (Selma, CA) National Rank: 512, Regional: 84, Position: 43 FB Frank Collins, 2-stars Edison (Huntington Beach, CA) National Rank: 1822, Regional: 397, Position: 75 SS Quinn Williams, 1-stars Battle Ground (Battle Ground, WA) National Rank: 1125, Regional: 234, Position: 77 K Vernon Bernard, 1-stars Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley, CA) National Rank: 972, Regional: 197, Position: 26

[mauboy]

[b]Week One vs Arizona State[/b] - I clicked save, yes! I've finally reached back to this point.. Everything is pretty much the same as before. Denson will be starting, Delhomme got redshirted so he can play next season while Garay plays now. Our defensive line is good this year; it's all around. We should surprise everyone this season. It all looks the same pretty much. :) ASU is favored by 7 points this week, not as much as last year, by ten.. It was 17 last year. We need to contain a pretty average offense and play well against a decent defense. [b]1st Quarter[/b] After a first down for ASU, we force a fumble and recover it on the Sun Devils 45 yard line! We need to come up with these plays all year if we want to make some noise. Nothing came out of the turnover, a touchdown was called back thanks to a hold by TE Brinker; forcing us to punt later on. Denson sealed his fate for the season. I'm not going to trust a guy who fumbles as much as he does. He lost a fumble in the 1st quarter and will be benched for Jr Dickie Reese(3/5) as Monroe is being redshirted this season. Denson was running decent, 8 carries for 38 yards, but those damn fumbles.. I won't put up with it this year. [b]2nd Quarter, 0-0 still[/b] Arizone St scores right away to start the 2nd quarter as our secondary blew the coverage and the Sun Devils scored on a 39 yard pass. 7-0. Dang. So far this game, we've been called for three holding penalties, two of them on TE Brinker, the other on OG Boobie Bland. They're good players making stupid mistakes. It's most definitely costing us on offense as we'removing the ball down the field pretty well. Ephraim gets us our first points of the day. 7-3. A 3rd and 8 conversion allows ASU to score a TD later on in the drive to make it 14-3 with 8 minutes go to in the half. Ephraim missed a 30 yard field goal, inches to the left. What a loser. He should not be rated 8/8. 21-3. What on Earth. This Oline, which is the only good thing about this ASU offense is completely dominating my Dline, which is pretty good...or so I thought. Ah, hell. Great start to what was supposed to be a good year. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] Another offensive line holding stalls our drive... Ugh... Our OL is supposed to be better than last season's but they're not playing like it. Our fifth holding........ Seriously........ We're basically 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter and we've already got five holding penalties this game. That is just plain awful. Yes, our 6th hold with time to go in the 3rd after we got safety'd. :( 23-3. [b]4th Quarter[/b] On a short route, Tomich was able to break a few tackles and take it 78 yards for the touchdown. John is having quite the game. 23-10. We get the ball back with seven minutes to play in the game.. We need to make some more stuff happen! We try to run a screen on our first play, but what do you know, our seventh holding penalty called...... Unreal. I don't think i've seen anything like this. ASU scored two more times after our failed drives to make the final score a blowout, 36-10. *sigh* Garay ended up with nearly 400 yards passing, but he threw a costly interception at the end of the game along with a touchdown. We only had 45 yards rushing on 20 attempts between our backs. If we want to compete this year, we'll need more yards and less fumbles. Denson. Ugh.

[bigguy9854]

Great diary. You have a reader here. I hope you can turn things around coach. Don't worry, just have faith in your team and the plays that you call and everything will be just fine.

[mauboy]

[b]Week 2 @ Baylor[/b] Thanks bigguy. :) Last season was a big battle for us and Baylor. They took a 30-0 lead into halftime and only came out winners while we failed to score a touchdown from 10 yards out to make the final score 30-24. This year will be different. We're actually favored to win this game, the spread is four. [b]1st Quarter[/b] We score first towards the end of the first quarter with the leg of Ephraim. 3-0. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] We gave the start to good ol' Denson, but now we regret it. On a nice 12 yard gain on a screen which would have been good enough for first and goal, but instead Denson fumbled the ball and most definitely has lost his job for the season until Reese can prove that he can't do it. Baylor capitalizes on the turnover and gets a field goal to tie up the game at three. 3-3. Baylor goes 72 yards on the drive for a touchdown with seven minutes left in the half. 10-3 Baylor. Baylor gets the ball back on a Garay fumble from a sack, and gets a quick field goal to make it 13-3. We need to stop turning the damn ball over. Oh, great. Fumble on the kick return. We held them to two yards before they kicked a field goal with two minutes to go in the half. 16-3. 8 plays, 66 yards, and 1:21 later, Garay connects with WR Keating from two yards out for the score! 16-10 as we go into the half. Garay going into the half is 16/29 with 226 yards and a TD. Nice game. I suspect we'll keep throwing with the lack of a running game. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] The third quarter goes down quietly, but we had chances to make lots of noise as we intercepted two passes, but both deep in our own territory. It's still 16-10 goin' into the 4th quarter. [b]4th Quarter[/b] After a great defensive series from the Baylor 6 yard line which forced them two more yards back, we were able to force them to punt to mid field which we then took the ball 9 plays, 53 yards for a touchdown. An 11 yard pass from Garay to Roche! 17-16, with 10 minutes to play in the game. Pa-chow! First play for Baylor is picked off by Cid Williams, our ball at mid field again. 3 and out for Baylor after we turned it over on downs at the 34 yard line. 6 to play. 3 and out for us with less than five minutes to go. Baylor ball at the 24 yard line with 4:30 to go. Need a big play again! Dantzler comes up big with a 10 yard sack on 3rd and 11! Which forces Baylor to punt with just over two minutes to play. After two first downs, we were finally forced to punt from our 37 yard line. 4th and 4. A 14 yard punt to the 23 yard line for Baylor, 31 seconds left to play in the game. Eight sacks allowed us to seal this victory and shut down Baylor completely in the 2nd half. Garay was 28/49, 303 yards and two TDs. RB Reese played very well as Denson lost his job, 13 carries for 78 yards. Tomich, 8 catches for 80 yards. So DE Mel Tonnemaker came up huge on the defensive side of the ball, three sacks! Conference Freshman of the Year, Clark, added two sacks to bring his total to three on the season. We move to 1-1 on the season with an impressive defense game against Baylor.

[mauboy]

Here's our schedule since I forgot to post it bfeore. I wish we had a week off this week, but we don't. We should be all right. 1 Arizona State L 36-10 2 at Baylor W 17-16 3 Bowling Green - 4 at Wyoming - 5 at Brigham Young - 6 at Utah - 7 New Mexico - 8 OPEN - 9 at Colorado State - 10 OPEN - 11 Nevada-Las Vegas - 12 Texas Christian - 13 at Air Force - 14 Duke - 15 OPEN

[MirageAg99]

Good to see you back up and running. Keep up the good work and remember, save, save, save. :)

[bigguy9854]

Nice way to squeek past the Bears. Let's go for two in a row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mauboy]

[b]Week 3 vs 1-0 Bowling Green[/b] - We're favored by six points this week. Tomich is starting to get under a 2.0 in his schooling, but we put a lot of effort in making sure he doesn't fall below it in three weeks. We lost our backup MLB Wonsley due to grades, and DE Adamson(4/7) remains injured. [b]1st Quarter[/b] We open the game with a 10 play, 54 yard drive which ended in a field goal from Ephraim. 3-0. A Reese fumble on our own 6 yard line allowed BG to get an easy touchdown two plays later. 7-3. So everyone we play at RB is going to fumble like a mad-man. Dang it. I guess I should just play Denson who shows more bright spots than anybody, pretty much. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] We make a nice stop after a solid drive for BG, we hold them to a field goal, 10-3 to start the 2nd quarter. We received a punt on the 35 yard line and WR Houston took it 65 yards for the score! Tie ball game 10-10 with six minutes to go in the half. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] 7 plays, 77 yards later we have to settle for a field goal from Ephraim to take a 13-10 lead with the 3rd quarter coming to an end. It was a very quiet 3rd quarter until the end. [b]4th Quarter[/b] Garay's 2nd interception on the day results in a short drive for BG that results in a field goal from 48 yards out to tie the ball game at 13. We come right back down the field, 55 yards for a field goal of our own. 35 yard field goal is good by Ephraim to give us the lead again, 16-13 with 9 minutes to go in the game. We get the ball back after a punt-touchback and move a little ways down the field go punt it ourselves with four minutes to go in the game. Bowling Green ball on their own 26 yard line. We were able to hold them to 3 and out with less than three minutes to go. Our ball at our 41 yard line! Just need one or two first downs to close out the game! 2:11 to play. We're forced to make a big decision, we can seal the game right now, or punt the ball on 4th and 1 on BG's 37 yard line with 54 seconds to go. In the end we decide to punt, they only have one timeout and they'd possibly have to go down the whole field pending a good punt. A 23 yard punt makes it 1st and 10 for BG on their own 14 yard line with 47 seconds to play in the game! Bowling Green couldn't get anywhere as the secondary kept knocking the ball away and eventually with no time remaining intercepted a pass to end the ball game for good! We move to 2-1 on the season!! And it's time for conference play. Our offense didn't really click all afternoon, Garay threw two picks. It was our defense once again that allowed us to win this game. They held BG to only a field goal in the 2nd half to seal the victory! Woot woot! Garay was 24/37 for 249 yards, no TDs, 2 INTs. The running game was non-existent, but the short passing game worked well. Tomich had 9 catches for 53 yards. Denson had 8 catches for 128 yards! Another big day obviously for our defense totalling only five sacks this time, DE Tonnemaker with his fourth sack of the season which now leads the team. We're going in hot against a poor Wyoming team, who's 1-1 on the year.

[mauboy]

[b]Week 4 @ 1-1 Wyoming[/b] - SDSU faves by 7 We should beat these guys, but our injuries may allow this game to be closer than it should. We're missing a few key defensive players still, DE Adamson, DE Dantzler and a few others. [b]1st Quarter[/b] After a 70 yard pass play to WR Roche, Garay connected with WR Kennedy 9 yards out for the score. 7-0. The rest of the quarter goes down quietly. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] Linebacker Woodson recovers a fumble forced by Triplett and returned it 47 yards for the Touchdown! 14-0 early on in the 2nd q. The defense comes up big again, this time it's cornerback Jeff Calhoun who picked it off and returned the interception 77 yards for the TD! Wooohooo.. 21-0, still with 13 minutes to go in the half. Wyoming gets their first score on a field goal from 39 yards out. They're still moving the ball down the field on us with ease, but as long as we keep coming up big, we don't need to worry about it too much. 21-3. 5 plays, 60 yards, 1:40 later we responded with a touchdown, Garay to Tomich, two yards out. But the prevoius play was a 40 yard pass play by the same two players. 28-3 with plenty of time to go in the half. Wyoming gets a 43 yard field goal to make it 28-6 with three minutes to go. We were able to finish the half with a 24 yard field goal, 31-6 at the half. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] This will allow me to put my backups in midway through the 3rd if we can maintain this lead. *sigh* Just when we were about to put this game on the ice, Denson had to fumble the ball... What to do, what to do. I may have to bring Monroe(2/5) off the redshirting and just play him everyday, though I'm not convinced that would be the best thing to do either. The fumble was returned 37 yards into our territory. But our defense stepped it up and stopped them and forced them to miss a field goal from 49 yards out. With nothing happening so far through the third quarter, 4 minutes to go, we decide to start pulling out our starters, one by one, starting with Tomich and our DE's. A few players later after a few substitutions, we give up a 64 yards touchdown pass... 31-13 as we near the end of the 3rd quarter. [b]4th Quarter[/b] The game is over now as Mel Tonnemaker picked up a fumble and returned it 36 yards for a score. That's the THIRD defensive touchdown of the game! !!! 38-13. 41-13 as Ephraim knocked in a 39 yarder. 44-13 after a 54 yard field goal! Niccce. Stud. Our defense, obviously the players of the game! 3 Touchdowns on defense, six turnovers, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 interceptions. Very impressive. The offensive MVP easily goes to Garay who had a helluva game to lead our team to 3-1 on the season. Garay - 29/38, 335 yards, 2 TDs! Very impressive in the route of Wyoming. He had over 200 yards in the first half, which is where most of the yards came from as he didn't play most of the 4th quarter. Our running game is non-existent, but who needs one when Garay is throwing so well? Well, we do. :) We had 26 rushes total for 40 yards.. Whoop-dee do. We've got a big BYU game coming up before going to Utah who will probably be a tough game despite them having a loss, but that was to 10th ranked Ohio State, which they got shut out 19-0.

[mauboy]

[b]Week 5 @ 3-1 BYU[/b] - BYU favored by 3 To start the week, we're ranked 59 in the computer rankings. I suspect if we keep winning like this, we'll be in the top 25 in no time! ;) Triplett, Tonnemaker, and Clark all have four sacks. They said before the game they're betting that each of them will lead the day in sacks; so I expect huge games out of all my DE's. Triplett has been playing DT all season so far, and doing a decent job. We do give up big plays on runs, but they're worth it for when I get a big sack. [b]1st Quarter[/b] Drew Kennedy hauls in a 10 yard pass from Garay to give us the lead mid way through the 1st quarter. He got drilled by two DB's when he made the catch and still held on! 7-0. Garay so far, 7/9, 51 yards, 1 TD. After moving down the field effortlessly, Air Force is forced to kick a 42 yard field goal, which is made. 7-3 nearing the end of the 1st Quarter. WR Roche beats his man down the sideline, Garay tosses it up and its caught, Roche is going to score! 61 yard touchdown! 14-3! [b]2nd Quarter[/b] 13 plays, 72 yards, 62 on the ground, Air Force comes back down and scores a TD of their own. 14-10. We could not stop the run, even blitzing basically everyone on a run defense, even so, nothing could be stopped. With two minutes to play in the half and more effortless running game, Air Force managed to make a 50 yard field goal after we finally were able to stop them. 14-13. Our first play from the 45 yard line we a corner pass to Kennedy who snuck between two defenders and took it 55 yards for the touchdown! 21-13! TE Brinker leaves the game and likely not to come back. Dang. We already lost our SS Harper for the game. Air Force had 1:48 to get down the field, but they only made it to mid field where they went for it on 4th and 2 and failed allowing us to get the ball back with 43 seconds to play at our own 48 yard line! Let's score again! We get nothing though. So we take a 21-13 lead into half! Garay struggled towards the end of the half making his numbers only 12 of 22 for 189 yards and 3 TD passes. :) No running game yet. 1 carry for 3 yards. We haven't needed it at all. We'll start to go to it more as we get into the 2nd half because we want to run the time down now. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] With 1st and Goal on the two, we weren't able to run it in after two attempts, and went to the air to Tomich, who couldn't pull it in, thus forcing us to kick a field goal. 24-13. We had 25 yards rushing on the ground during that drive. Basically two big runs and five minimal runs. The defense was able to force and recover a fumble at mid field allowing us to move down the field into 1st and Goal again. A sack, 10 yard run, and 2 yard run later, we were forced to kick a field goal again. 27-13. 2:10 left in the 3rd. [b]4th Quarter[/b] BYU has the ball on our 41 to start the 4th quarter. 1st and 10. Free safety, Griffith comes up big with an interception ! Huge play as we take it the other way now with 13 minutes to go in the ball game. With 6 minutes to go, we make it a 3 possession ball game with Ephraim's leg, 22 yards out. 30-13. I feel so much better now. Whew. That is the final, we were outgained 413 to 390, but the score board says differently as the final score is a blow out 30-13! Oooh, yeah! 4-1 baby. Bring it on Utah! Garay was the offensive player of the game. 22 of 36, 332 yards, 3 TDs. Our defense got dominated up front, giving up 256 yards rushing, but they came up with the stops when they needed to. WR's WR J. Roche 6 catches, 118 yards, 1 td WR D. Kennedy 5 catches 108 yards, 2 tds WR J. Tomich 6 catches 62 yards Bowling Green came up with another victory, pushing them to 3-1. This will help us out with our SOS. Utah is next now, who was off this week giving them two weeks to size up their game plan against us! This win pushed us to the computer rank of 46. Utah is 45th with a 2-1 record. Bring it on, bab-aaay..

[mauboy]

[b]Week 6 @ 2-1 Utah[/b] - Utah is faves by 6 We received some votes in the media poll this week, 3 points worth! :) ASU has lost all the games they've played except against us. Each loss was by less than 7 points, so I suspect they'll inch their way back up eventually. SS Harper is out due to grades, Wonsley is back from suspension. We're going to have to stop last season Heisman Candidate, QB Tony Biakabutuka. He's not doing so hot this year thanks to injuries, but he's healthy now and looking to take it out on someone. HOpefully not us. Utah has a good QB, and WR Corps. They've got an awful running back who won't do much against us, I imagine. The defense is inexperienced, but they are talented at the SS and one DE. It should be a good one! [b]1st Quarter[/b] Roche catches the ball and gains 8 yards before fumbling it into the arms of Utah at mid field. Not a good start. Dang. Utah converts a 4th and 1 at the 30 yard line which allowed them to get into the endzone for six. 7-0 on a 5 yard run! Argh. Oh, pfft. 3rd and Goal from the 17 is converted for a TD for Utah. 14-0. Still some time left in the 1st quarter. After a good drive, we settle for three on a 36 yard field goal. 14-3 with a minute to go in the 1st. ANOTHER 3rd and 17 is converted DEEP in Utah territory, 22 yard pass against our stellar dime defense. Utah has some good receivers, damn. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] Utah goes down the field some more and misses a 47 yard field goal. Our ball. 10 plays, 46 yards later we kick another field goal, this time from 43 yards out and drill it. 14-6. Still early in the 2nd. 3 and out and a nice return by Houston gives us the ball at the Utah 41 yard line. After a few nice gains, we finally get into the end zone on a Garay to TE Alston touchdown pass, 1 yard out. 14-13. 6minutes to go in the half. Utah answeres back with a 41 yard field goal which was helped by a 49 yard catch earlier in the drive. 17-13 Utah. With two minutes to go, Garay fumbled on a sack giving the ball back to Utah at our 41 yard line. Dang, we were moving too! Utah took advantage and took it in for a score, 23-13 after the missed extra point. Halftime. I'm throwing the ball way too much and not giving any carries to Reese, 3 carries 15 yards.. I need to do that in the 2nd half to come back. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] After a huge interception on our own 6 yard line, we decide to go on the ground and I'm once again reminded why I'm forced to pass all the time as Reese fumbles his first carry of the half giving the ball back to Utah who scores on the first play.... 30-13. Damn. 33-13 after another score, this time a field goal. Utah pretty much manhandling us. Our mistakes our killing us, earlier we had a 30 yard catch called back to a holding penalty. And to start the drive we have a 35 yard pass catch called back due to a holding. Mother*****rs. [b]4th Quarter[/b] 36-13 after another field goal. Game over as Garay can't complete a pass and throws a pick. 10 minutes to go in the game. Later on another holding penalty calls back a 28 yard pass. What the hell. There is going to be some action taken after this week. SOMEBODY ain't starting next week on the OL. Final score is 46-13, Utah massacres us. Such a downer that game was. Man. We're now 4-2 and 2-1 in conference play.

[mauboy]

[b]Week 7 vs New Mexico[/b] - We're even this game. Finally a dang home game after three straight away ones. I expect a 20 point win. [b]1st Quarter[/b] Hankton takes in a 5 yard touchdown pass from Garay to take an early 7-0 lead after a quick 3 and out by UNM. It's 10-0 after another defensive stop and nice drive. A 23 yard field goal is good by Ephraim. He's been pretty solid this year. Most importantly, no missed extra points! [b]2nd Quarter[/b] After some nice running by Reese, we go play action pass and Garay connects with Kennedy in the end zone from 14 yards out. 17-0. Reese has 6 carries for 61 yards, 35 of those yards coming on this drive. 20-0 with 5 minutes to play in the half after another Ephraim field goal. New Mexico gets on the board with a touchdown in the closing minute of the half. 20-7. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] We stick with what was working to start out the half, 49 yards rushing during the drive which resulted in a 51 yard field goal! 23-7 after Ephraim's leg booted another FG. 23-10 after a UNM field goal to end the 3rd quarter. [b]4th Quarter[/b] With just three minutes to play and our ball at the UNM 33 yard line, 3rd and 3 to go, we go to the air and Hankton takes in his second touchdown of the day with a 33 yard catch from Garay. That seals the game. 30-10 with two minutes to go. A fumble allowed us to get another 3 points off Ephraim's leg. A big 33-10 victory gets us rolling the ball in the right direction again! That moves us one win away from a bowl bid with five games remaining, Colorado State next after the bye week. We're 5-2(3-1). Garay 16 of 26, 192 yards, 3 TDs. Reese, 27 carries, 123 yards. After drilling the OL all week, there were no holds this game! Bye week now. yay

[mauboy]

[b]Week 9 @ Colorado State[/b] - CSU faves by 2. This is a big game for us. If we win, we're pretty much bowl eligible and standing tall in the conference race as well. This is going to be a pretty even battle. Both teams match up real well and I expect it to come down to the wire. [b]1st Quarter[/b] The usually dependable Ephraim misses a 36 yard field goal. Bummer. The rest of the first quarter just had a missed field goal by CSU and some punts. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] 12 plays, 71 yards, 35 on the ground, we finally get into the end zone after a few tries in goal situation. Garay connected with Tomich from 5 yards out for six points! 7-0! CSU comes right back with a touchdown of their own, 19 yard touchdown pass. Dang. It was on third and short and I picked a run defense. Good call. We get stuffed for a loss on 3rd and 1 from the 24 yard line forcing Ephraim back onto the field for a field goal try, which he missed! 0 for 2 in the game! Hopefully this doesn't cost us in the end. Two minutes remain in the half. After missing our field goal, CSU went down the field and made a field goal to take the lead into the half, 10-7. CSU ball to start the 2nd half. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] After a nice punt return CSU gets some more points as they get three points on a field goal to extend the lead to 13-7 with four minutes to go in the 3rd. 8 plays, 57 yards later and a touchdown pass from Garay to Roche gives us a 14-13 lead with a little time remaining in the 3rd. [b]4th Quarter[/b] Dickie Reese has three giant carries right in a row, 15 yards, 25 yards, 20 yards and that puts us on the 15 yard line of Colorado State. I wonder what we shall do now, hmm, run? But he had to be subbed in for because he was tired, and Denson did nothing with the ball and eventually we kicked a field goal, which Ephraim finally made. This one only from 31 yards out. 17-13! 11 minutes to go in the game! Hankton recovers the fumble on the kickoff and it's Aztec ball on the 13 yard line!!! Let's put this game away once and for all! After a defensive pass interference and a six yard gain we were 2nd and Goal on the 1. The defense came with an all out blitz goal line defense and we went into the air for an easy score, Garay to Tomich! His 2nd TD catch of the day. 24-13 with 10 minutes to play. CSU on the first play ran a reverse that should have been a loss but he made a fantastic move running it 64 yards before he was finally caught by Zola Dean. The next play however, the RB was drilled and Adamson recovered the fumble! Boo yah! The final score is 24-13 in a victory over the Colorado State Rams! What a victory! OUr defense comes up nicely again in the 2nd half only allowing 3 points! Garay was 21/35, 161 yards, 3 tds, 1 int. Tomich had 2 TD catches. The player of the game went to Garay but it could have easily gone to Reese had he gotten a touchdown. But he had 29 carries for 174 yards! Impressive. At the beginning of the week we were ranked 49 in the computer polls and I suspect we'll possibly jump to the top 40! But we don't, we go to 44th. We are receiving votes again in the media poll, and Utah as well, but moreso than us. Utah is ranked 23 in the GDCS with a 5-1 record. We're now 6-2, and 4-1 in conference play. We get a much needed week off to rest up a few guys who are close to being ready to play without any injury. We may be able to rest a few guys two weeks in a row as we have a lowly UNLV team coming to town before a good TCU team. We'll play it by ear.

[mauboy]

[b]Week 11 vs 4-5 UNLV[/b] - Aztecs faves by 3. After our bye week we jumped to 40th in the computer polls. We come into this game with lots of injuries still on the defensive side of the ball. The only offensive player injured is Tomich, who's been injured with a hurt finger for a few weeks, it hasn't really dampened his play at all. But on the defense, Adamson, Dantzler, Triplett, Wonsley, Tatum all have injuries. Tatum is the only one listed as out for the week, but the rest of the guys were suggested not to play. I figure I'll let them all play a quarter or two depending on the score and all that jazz. [b]1st Quarter[/b] Garay was 5 for 5, 68 yards on the first drive, and on a play action pass which sent Dickie Reese to the corner of the endzone who ended up wide open and Garay hit him in stride for the TD! 7-0 early on. Hankton is on the receiving end of Garay's next touchdown pass. Garay is HOT today. 9/11 124 yards, 2 TDs so far. One more score and we're going to start benching our defensive players to give them the rest they need. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] - 14-0 SDSU UNLV takes advantage of decent field position and goes 59 yards for a touchdown. 14-7. Dang. I guess there will be no resting of starters yet. A 38 yard field goal capitalizes a 61 yard drive, which Reese ran for 43 yards. 17-7 with three to go in the half. The Rebels answer back with a 49 yard field goal of their own. 17-10 with a minute to play in the half. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] Nothing much happened until 8 minutse to play in the 3rd where Ephraim knocked in a 38 yard field goal. 20-10. UNLV comes back with a 40 yard field goal. 20-13. We can't seem to stop them when we score. At least we keep a touchdown lead. A 3rd and 23 by us is converted until Kennedy fumbled into the Rebels hands. This is what we didn't need. We were able to hold them to a 30 yard field goal as the 3rd quarter nears the end. 20-16. [b]4th Quarter[/b] I'm no loner comfortable with our lead, so we need to go down the field and get some points. We're unable to get anything going on our drive. Punted away, 57 yards to the 23 for UNLV, 13 minutes to go. Wow. A bomb of a pass was caught by UNLV only to be fumbled on our 10 yard line giving us the ball back after a 70 yard pass play. Ouch for the Rebz. We go down the field smoothly, getting some impressive runs from Reese to allows us to get to the 2 yard line after gaining a few on 3rd and Goal. We kick a field goal and... get our lead back to 7 again. 23-16, eight minutes remaining. DE Mel Tonnemaker comes up with his first interception of his career, and returns it 10 yards to the UNLV 28 yard line. First and Ten to go! 6 minutes to play. We try to stab the Rebels in the heart with a play action pass into the end zone... We complete the pass, but only for 28 yards, to the 4 yard line. 1st and Goal. Dickie Reese takes a pitch to the left side for six yards out for the TD on 2nd and Goal. Just what the doctor ordered. 30-16! Five minutes to go. We're on our way to a 7-2 record. 30-16 is the final. We move to 7-2! 22/34, 344 yards for Garay, 2 TDs, no picks either. Pretty impressive showing. Reese though comes up real big, 25 carries, 158 yards, 2 TDs(1 receiving) which earned him the Player of the Game! Congrats, bud. Triplett, and Tonnemaker both had two sacks! Triplett and Tonnemaker lead the team with 7 sacks on the season with Clark on their rears with six.

[mauboy]

[b]Week 12 vs 5-3 TCU[/b] - Aztecs faves by 3 We're a little healthier this week, but we lose our starting CB to grades. Sid Williams will sit out until the bowl game, sadly. We should be okay though in the secondary without him. We're also delegating Adamson to backup duties as he's without a sack this season as he's started most of the season injured. We're definitely looking a little better defensively with Tatum back from injury, fully healed. Dantzler will also be starting on the DL over Adamson. Things should go a little better this game! Let's git r dun. [b]1st Quarter[/b] Ouch, 3rd and 3 at mid field is taken 51 yards on a pass for TCU as they get on the baord quickly. 7-0. Ephraim misses a 28 yard field goal!!! Arrgh, I should have gone for it on 4th and 2 now... hindsight! Our defense needs to stop them this time down. The rest of the quarter goes scoreless. [b]2nd Quarter[/b] We come up just short to make it 4th and 3 at the TCU 46, we punt with 13 minutes left in the half. Touchback. Argh. Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt. With three minutes to play after an interception, we weren't able to do much with it but was able to get three points on a 46 yard field goal by Ephraim. 7-3. Pfft. Damn. 14-3 as TCU gets a TD as the half comes to an end. 11 yard TD pass on 3rd and 9. [b]3rd Quarter[/b] Great start to the 2nd half for us as we fumble the ball on the kick return. TCU ball on our 18 yard line right off the bat. We can pretty much call it a game if they get a touchdown. Thankfully we hold them to three. 17-3. Whew. Aww, man.. 1st and goal on the three yard line. Incomplete on the first play. 2nd and Goal, pass complete for 1 yard gain. 3rd and Goal, pass complete for 1 yard. Now it's fourth and Goal. We go for it with a run to the outside with Reese annnnnd...STUFFED for no gain. 1st down for TCU on their 1 yard line. They managed to convert 3rd and 6 on the 5 to keep the drive going. On a QB keeper no less. But we do stop them on the next set of downs to get the ball back on our 35 yard line after a 50 yard boot. We punt it after one first down to the TCU 23 yard line. 5 minutes to go in the 3rd. We need to make something happen. A big defensive play would be nice. Speak of the devil, we intercept the next pass. WHOA, major bug! Unless of course the quarterback can throw it 60 yards. We didn't return the interception for any yards and now we have the ball on our 19 yard line. It went from their 23 to our 19. 57 yard difference. I guess it could happen on a slant. Two first downs later we punt it 56 yards to the 3 yard line of TCU. We need to make a big stop here and get excellent field position. Two minutes to play in the 3rd quarter now. At the end of the 3rd quarter we get the punt and return it 7 yards to the TCU 41 yard line after a shanked punt. Here we go! This is it. [b]4th Quarter[/b] Ooh, snap. Interception returned 16 yards and now it's TCU ball at mid field just like that. Nothing happens for them though. A 19 yard touchdown is called back on an ineligible receiver downfield! AAAH! It ended up not mattering as Garay connected with Brinker for a touchdown. 17-10 with 9 minutes to play in the ball game. We're really killing these guys, but they made the big plays early on. We're outgaining them 418 to 248. Ugh. LB JOHNNY WONSLEY comes up with a pick and returns it 16 yards to the TCU 30 yard line. 3rd and Long for TCU caused them to force something and it cost them. It would have been 3 and out otherwise. Oooh, boy. 3rd and 15 pass play for 14 yards brings up 4th and 1. We got for it on the TCU 21 yard line. We're going to run it outside with Reese who's having a decent game on the ground...DANG. Nothing gained. Wowza. 7 minutes to play. I'm getting sick. 3 and out, our defense continues to play awesome defense. I should have kicked a field goal and known that the defense would stop them. A 44 yard punt is rendered nearly useless as Houston returns it 37 yards to the TCU 33 yard line. Let's do it now!!!!! YES! A 21 yard gain on 3rd and 8 brings us to the 11 yard line. WHEW. Still 4 minutes to play. Lets get it in now! 1st Down!!! We gained 5 yards on the 3rd and 5. 1st and Goal...... JEEZ what to do! W HAT TO DO! GARAY TO ROCHE, TOUCHDOWN!!! We only needed one play to get the touchdown. Our short game wasn't helping at all in crunch time so we went to the air and it worked. 17-17! 2:39 to play. Eek. Lets get another big stop on defense. 1st and 10 for TCU, on their 11 yard line after a short return! Yummy. They run for the first two plays, four yards each, bringing up a big 3rd down and two yards to go.... Do they go to the air or keep it on the ground with 1:51 to go? On the ground they go, 5 more yards. I had to play a neutral defense so they don't beat me deep. I'm shakin' here. Oooh, man. We get beat deep despite pass defense. 50 yard gain to our 32 yard line. *huff* *huff* 1:20 to go. LARRY CLARK COMES AROUND THE CORNER AND NAILS QB PRIOLEAU and forces a fumble! Picked up by Tonnemaker! Aztec ball, 1:07 to go, SDSU 36 yard line. We can't force anything. Keep it short. Call timeouts. Let the leg of Ephraim win this one. Wee freakin' haw. Here we go. 1st and 10 after a defensive holding on our 46 yard line. Keeping it short still. A 17 yard completion on 3rd and 10 brings us to the TCU 37 yard line! We're in Ephraim's range, we just need to get a few more extra yards...27 seconds to go, 2 timeouts we have. 7 more yards, this time to Kennedy. 30 yard line. One more play before the field goal try. Incomplete pass. 3rd and 3, 13 seconds to go. Here comes Ephraim and his monster leg. 48 yard field goal. The snap is good....the kick is up.... and... ITS GOOD!!!!!!!!!! 20-17! 5 seconds to play! And the kickoff is held to nothing and that is the ball game!! WWWWOW! What a comeback and win! WWOOOHOOOOOOOO!!! 8-2 on the season! That beats our previous record of six by two games now. We still have two more games to go. One against a good Air Force team and a bad Duke team. We still have a chance at the conference title if Utah can lose their last game to TCU! That will be a huge game. Air Force is in 3rd with a 5-2 conference record and a 6-4 overall record. Today's Game heroes: Garay - 34 of 69!! 398 yards, 2 tds and 1 INT. Reese - 17 carries, 81 yards Roche 7 catches, 119 yards and 1 TD Tomich 8 catches, 95 yards LB Tatum is welcomed back with three big stuffs on the defensive side. DE Clark takes the sack lead back with two sacks on the day. He's got 8 now and Tonnemaker/Triplett have 7 each. We outgained TCU 489-308. Not too shabby! :) Wow. Can you tell I'm excited! :)

[mauboy]

[b]Season Notes[/b] I'm surprised I wasn't listed as one of the coaches that have a shot at the Coach of the Year Award. Oh, well. Had Ephraim not missed so many field goals down the stretch, he would have likely been announced as a possibly Steel Kicker Finalist. Tomich left off the finalist list for Best Hands Award. Ah, well. He wasn't having the greatest season, but still solid. Dwight Garay is announced on the finalist list for GOLDEN ARM AWARD. NICE! He is indeed having a great season. 2906 Yards, 19 TDS, 7 INTS, 57.3% completion. Not as good as some of the other guys listed, but Garay still has two games to show himself off, one against a real bad Duke(1-9) team. We're now ranked 31st in the GDCS. Utah is now ranked 8th in the GDCS! Nice. Impressive back to back seasons for them at this point. We're also receiving more votes in the Media Polls, both of which after another win it'd probably be enough to get into the top 25. :) :) :)