Idaho Vandals

[kujjaquaq]

Bowl Eligible

 

We beat Nev to become bowl eligible for the first time in 12 years. Now with a CPU ranking of 40 will I get an invite?

[kujjaquaq]

Idaho vs SJSU

 

Idaho was an 8 point underdog and on the road, but wasn't intimidated. SJSU allowed ID to set the tone of the game and go down the field to open the game with a TD. On the first drive QB Bavaro hit WR Grace for a 30 yard hook route. Then Prioleau ran outside for a 14 sweep. Then RB Zellner made a lb miss to gain another 14 yards. Then Bavaro found WR Stewart for a 6 yard td (7-0).

 

Now before the game I looked at SJSU's stats and noticed that they ran more attempts per game than they threw so I made it an emphasis to stop the run more and it paid off. Also my Yellow CB Ciciuru was injured and ID was forced to play a rookie (E.J. Shockley). Thankfully, Shockley held up his own and was able to make several stops in the game. ID forces SJSU to punt after getting a first down and ID goes back to work.

 

ID drives down the field mainly on the legs of Zellner but has to punt and forces SJSU to start from their own 14 yard line. SJSU then drove down the field and scored a td. They got a big screen play of 45 yards because my OLB Sweeney allowed it.

 

ID then goes 3 and out and SJSU has to do the same. ID gets to start their next drive from their own 40 and take advantage of the field position. After 2 solid 10+ yard runs from Prioleau and Washington. Bavaro was able to hit our fb Whittington on a 17 yard hook route to allow a short screen to the hb for a td to make it 14-7. But I had a penalty on the play and was forced back 5 yards but I eventually got it into the endzone hitting my Freshman WR3 Grace for a TD.

 

SJSU then gets the ball but has to punt after getting one first down and ID takes advantage of the field position again. This time they got a 20 yard pass from Bavaro to out TE running a post route whenever the defense was expecting run and their CB missed the tackle which I'm sure helped some too. After a few more plays and a nice run by Washington ID was made a 37 yard fg to take a 17-7 lead.

 

SJSU then gets the ball and fumbles on their 4th play of the drive and

with only 1 min. left in the half ID drives down the field but misses a 47 yard fg and takes their 10 point lead into the locker room

 

Coaches notes-I was surprised but even though I was out manned on paper the game never felt like I couldn't win.

 

SJSU opened the 3rd qtr with a three and out and ID answered with their own 3 and out.SJSU then drives down the field due to the short field and was forced with a 4th and 1. SJSU misses the FG and ID starts on the twenty.

 

ID got a big 17 yard run from Prioleau then Bavaro took over hitting Cooke for two 10+ yard passes. Next, he hit our TE Henry Henry for a 38 yard post pattern. SJSU's ILB allowed the big play which was huge and allowed ID to take a comfortable lead 24-7 with 6:13 left in the 3rd qtr.

 

SJSU and ID trade punts on the next two possessions. SJSU has a short field starting on their own 48 yard line and on a second down run run RT for 48 yards but LB Hobbs forces and recovers a fumble and ID starts on their own 4 yard line. ID couldn't do much with the short field and punted it only 24 yards and SJSU was in business to start the 4th qtr. But, after getting to the 5 yard line SJSU was choose to kick a fg with 14 min. left instead of going for a TD and score at that point was 24-10. But SJSU's qb got injured on the play and wouldn't return for the rest of the game.

 

With around 13 minutes left and starting from their own 14 with a two TD lead, ID knew that they needed at least 3 points to ice the game and Bavaro went to work again. First play,Bavaro makes a great pass to Cooke for 46 yards. After a couple of runs, Bavaro hits Cooke again on a 34 yard corner pass. For some reason the LB was covering him and that was a huge mismatch for us. Too bad I had no idea the LB was covering him but oh well. ID is at the 2 with 11 minutes left. Bavaro hits the TE on a post route to take a game clinching 31-10 lead.

 

This was a huge win for Idaho. SJSU was expected to be the 2nd best team in the conference and their prestige is 41. It was reported that in Moscow, ID the students were partying in the streets and shooting off potato guns in celebrating this big win.

]

Next up NMSU ID is a 4 point favorite. I hope we don't have a let down game but I think it might be...We'll have to wait and see.

[kujjaquaq]

2018 Wk 10 ID at NMSU (ID 4pt favorite)

 

The gamblers in Vegas thought this would be a close one and it wound being closer on the field than the score indicated.

 

The game started with both teams feeling each other out in front of the 18,000 screaming NMSU fans that chose to come out and see the game in the light rain. Both teams traded drives back and forth mixing up run and pass. ID's coach was surprised to see NMSU pass as often as they did. ID was picking a lot of run early but realized after their first three first downs that they weren't relying on the run as much as in previous games and quickly went to more norm coverages and that seemed to help some. Anyways, ID was able to score first with a 39 yard fg. ID takes a 3-0 lead.

 

On the ensuing kickoff my K(Mr. Hart), for the second time this season, thinks he is a tough guy and gets hit with a unnecessary roughness penalty. NMSU starts on the 49 yard line. Their QB runs for 18 yards then hits their wr on a hook play a 31 yard TD My ILB Metcalf allowed the big play and its 3-7.

 

ID then starts to work. Zellner runs two time for 8 yards each time. Then a run by my 4th RB Houston and he fumbles. Of course NMSU picks it up and has the ball on ID's 45 yard line.

 

NMSU was held to a 3-10 and then their QB hits a wr for 36 yards. This was a crushing blow for our defense after thinking they had them stopped. From the 5 yard line their QB was able to hit another wr for a 3-14 lead.

 

ID again goes back to work mixing up run and pass. Bavaro hit WR Cooke on a 50 yard out pass thanks to a big play allowed by their ILB. Unfortunately, ID was only able to get the ball to the 20 yard line and had to kick a fg to make it 6-14.

 

NMSU then gets a first down and then fumbles the football and ID thought they were in business with a short field but on the second play RB Zellner fumbles it right back to NMSU.

 

NMSU was then able to drive down the field thanks to a big run by their RB and a little help by my out of position CB Jackson. NMSU was forced to kick a fg and the score is 17-6.

 

ID gets the ball with about 3:30 left and Bavaro gets to work. He throws several 6-10 yard completions mixed in with some runs to get ID to a 4th and 2 from the 11 with 19 seconds left. Coach decides to kick the fg even though he wanted to go for it and...K Hart missed it. NMSU takes a knee and happily goes into the locker room at the half up 17-6.

 

ID gets the ball to start the 3rd qtr and on the first play Bavaro hits a streaking Cooke off of a play action pass for a nice 64 yard gain. After an 8 yard pass to the TE ID couldn't do anything on second or third down and was forced with a 4-2 from the 8. Coach decides to kick a fg because he feels he has the better team and that its only a matter of time before it begins to show up on the scoreboard. Kick is up and...missed.

 

NMSU then hits a long 56 yard pass play and after a few more plays hits a 34 yard fg to make it 20-6.

 

ID punted and NMSU drives down the field again to make it 23-6.

 

With a little over 3 minutes left in the 3rd qtr ID felt like this game was starting to get away from them.

 

After a few drives ID was able score a TD to Cooke to make it 23-13 with 11 minutes left.

 

NMSU goes three and out and ID gets the ball only to have Zellner fumble the ball to NMSU. NMSU was able to turn the short field into a fg to make it 26-13 with 4 minutes left.

 

ID starts to drive again but this time Bavaro fumbles the ball on a sack and NMSU recovers and by this point the game was over.

 

ID losses a disappointing game 26-13.

 

Coach thought this could be a "trap" game after their big win against SJSU and it turned out to be so. NMSU was a good team and unfortunately the turnovers and the injuries that ID suffered in the game(two OL went down including our stud C) hurt us as well. We can only hope that he'll be able to play in the finale in two weeks against arch rival UTST.

 

A look ahead UTST is a 10 point underdog playing at Idaho and UTST is 1-10 while ID is 7-4.

[kujjaquaq]

Rivalry Week UTST ID is Favored by 10

 

This was a rough game and one that I don't want to think about. We lost this game and we have no one to blame but ourselves. We focused on the run and three times we mixed it up with passes and for the first three big gains that we had 30+ yards they were all called back due to penalties. Add in 2 fumbles and an int by Bavaro and we just couldn't quite overcome our shortcomings we lost 19-10. It was a shame because we had such a wonderful season and this game left a sour taste in our mouths. I can only hope that 7-5 is enough to go bowling my CPU rating is 52 but my team's prestige is 26.

[kujjaquaq]

ID's First Bowl

 

ID was happy to announce that they were invited to the South Louisiana Bowl against Colorado. ID was 24 point underdogs against a 5-6 Colorado team. There were 71,000 fans in the Superdome to watch this game as ID got clobbered 40-6. The game started promising as ID intercepted CO's second pass attempt. ID got two first downs then got a 38 yard pass gain only to fumble the ball. CO quickly drove down the field for a TD. Then ID was stopped on its next 5 drives while CO was able to score TD's and FGs to make it a huge lead by the end of the 1st qtr. I have to admit I simmed the rest from there. My oranges with some yellows and reds couldn't hang with CO's greens and blues. Oh well it was a moral victory getting to a bowl game and we'll have to see if we can improve on our 7-6 record next year.

[kujjaquaq]

Off Season Comments

 

In shocking news Fresno State (67 prestige) has left the WAC for the PAC 10. The WAC gladly welcomes Oregon (43 prestige) into the conference.

 

I'd prestige went up from 26 to 29 points.

 

ID got $160,000 increased to their budget.

 

FIU (26) offer me a job and I declined.

 

Our Def. Coordinator is now the Head coach of SMU he will surely be missed. We had the 8 ranked def last year.

[kujjaquaq]

Update

 

Just to let everyone know. This dynasty hasn't been vacated. I've been swamped with work and doubt I get a chance to play till after Easter.

[Rubber Ducky]

This thread is really cool. I'm actually a sportscaster in Spokane and have done play-by-play for a couple of Vandal broadcasts on TV. Good luck!

[kujjaquaq]

I'm back

 

Now that Easter break is here, I plan on finishing the recruiting this week. I'm going to try to play this game for about an hour each week. Thank you to all that have enjoyed reading my learning experience playing this game and hopefully Idaho can continue their recent success.

[kujjaquaq]

2019 commits

 

This wasn't my best class. My last save was right before recruiting ended. Apparently, I didn't give any pitches at all and that hurt this class. I still feel that my recruiting strategy works but this class doesn't show that as much oh well here they are

 

DE GReg Doleman 3 star 57 rank pos.

QB(A) Jason Wellman 3 star 90 rank pos.

OT Jack Strachan 3 star 71 rank pos.

OG Doug Wehrli 2 star 115 rank pos.

 

I had 3 other 1 star recruits that I didn't even try to recruit they just came on board. Oh well, the highlight of this class, in my opinion, is the qb he has good instincts and I think with his threat to run the ball I'll be able to get some good yardage with him. Also the DE should help out our defense. According to the game we had the 114 ranked recruiting class. Which as I've stated before it doesn't always show the same star level as the commit list does and I trust the commit list more than the ranking. On to training and I'll try to do a preview in the upcoming days.

[kujjaquaq]

<p>2019 Season Preview</p><p> </p><p>

I've decided that I'm ready to continue after a long lay off. Having a toddler and being a teacher have taken my time away but I'm going to pace myself and play this dynasty from its last save.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Idaho is coming off of their first ever bowl appearance and expectations are running high. I feel like this is the best team I've ever had at ID and I'm expecting to return for another bowl this year with hopefully a 8-4 record (losses to Boise, Oregon (newest member of WAC), San Jose, and LA Tech) If we take care of business with the other games this can be another magical year. Only time will tell and with my luck I've just jinxed my season and I'll end up 4-8. </p><p> </p><p>

Offense</p><p>

Returning for his senior year is star qb Bravaro returning for his senior year.J. Wellman is the future qb and he will be red shirting this year. RB C. Prioleau 3/4 star is coming back and hopefully will be able to run the ball some. WR Magini, Grace, and Scott all are 2 or 3 star wr and hopefully they will be able to catch and run with the ball some this year. D.Rice is our big OT that we plan to run behind a ton this year. Our OL is a concern especially G. I'm hoping that a lot of three step quick drops will help compensate this. </p><p> </p><p>

Defense</p><p>

I feel that this can be a strength of our unit this year. </p><p>

Our DL has two yellow (Glick DT, and Ballman DE) which are looking to lead the charge. LB are fill with browns and one yellow 3/4 star OLB J.Brown. DB 4 yellows 2 cb, and 2 fs and several brown/orange players.</p>

[Theheel]

Best of luck Coach and glad you are back with the Vandals for another go

[kujjaquaq]

<p>Week 1 ID @ ECU <--- My Alma Mater +5</p><p> </p><p>

Our first week with our new team has us going into ECU and trying to beat a Pirate team that is well...just not very good. We are expected to win by 5 and I'm hoping to light them up we'll see...</p><p> </p><p>

ECU gets the ball first and on their second play they get picked off by my SS and ID has the ball on their own 20. After getting a first down Bravaro throws a pick and ECU then has to punt after a nice run on first down. ID gets starts the drive from their own 15. ID goes three and out and then ECU starts from the 50. ID gets caught in a blitz on first down and the SE houses it (ECU 7, ID 0). After both teams fail on their next possesion. ID is able to sustain a drive and kick a 30 yard field goal to close out the first qtr (ECU 7, ID 3). On ECU's first throw they get picked off again by my SS and ID gets to open the qtr from their 7 yard line. ID gets stopped and then stops ECU. ID starts from their own 30 with about 10 min. left and then drives slowly down the field mixing up the run and the pass and settles for a 30 yard fg (ECU 7, ID 6). After getting a first down ECU then throws an int to my mlb. ID starts the drive on their own 45 with 5:11 on the clock in the first half. Sadly ID doesn't do much with the ball and ECU then takes the ball down the field 80 yards in 6 plays thanks to two streak plays( ECU 14-ID 6). Sadly this one doesn't go well for ID. and the game gets out of hand and ID losses 27-9.</p><p> </p><p>

Our lack of redzone success and getting burnt on a few blitzes hurt us.</p>

[kujjaquaq]

<p>Ouch! This Just Isn't Our Year</p><p> </p><p>

Week 2 @ Toledo</p><p> </p><p>

We trade scores till halftime and then we take a 7 point lead going into the fourth qtr. Then our season goes down hill and we give up 20 unanswered points to lose 23-36. I played this game over the weekend and just didn't want to write up the report till now but I remember having several big plays called back due to OL penalties. I did get beat twice by Toledo when I was using cover 2. They picked the perfect play (all seam routes) and I got toasted twice in like 5 min. of game play. This game is tough which is why I continue to play it but it really ticked me off.</p><p> </p><p>

Week 4 Nevada @ ID</p><p>

We played pretty well in this one Bravaro threw for over 400 yards and a TD, but the 10 penalties and the 2 missed fgs cost us this game. Sadly Nevada didn't beat us ID beat ourselves. </p><p> </p><p>

Week 5 ID @ Hawaii</p><p>

Hawaii was the doormat of the WAC for the past few years and ID was hoping to get their first win but it just wasn't meant to be. The game was close till the forth when HI pulled away. Our -2 turnovers didn't help and again it seemed our penalties happened at the wrong time. We wound up getting blown out by HI 43-14. But it was close till the fourth qtr.</p>

[kujjaquaq]

<p>ID Plan For the Next Few Years</p><p> </p><p>

Having played this game for 5 years off and on I've been baffled at times by the play calling. I once thought it was just a fancy game of paper, rock, scissors.Trying to call short passes whenever my opponent was in DZ, Medium passes whenever my opponent was in SZ, etc... But thanks to listening to Steve Logan, former ECU HC, on the radio I'd decided I would research pass coverages and figure out what routes I should be running to beat the different types of coverages I'm seeing. Despite me losing, I feel like this has been a success. I know that I read on a post in the General Discussion that even though the perfect play might be called if the players don't execute it right or you don't have enough talent it doesn't matter if it was the perfect play it might not work. I'm thinking that might have something to do with my lack of wins. Overall I feel that I'm beginning to understand this game and play calling a lot better. I'm in the process of grouping the defensive plays into coverage categories rather than by formation/short,medium,deep. I think this will help me figure out what the opponent likes to call against me and allow me to try to guess which play will give me the best chance to succeed. </p><p> </p><p>

Also, I've decided that I'm going to experiment and try to run a West Coast Offense for the next 12 years. My goal in recruiting will be to find a QB who has better than average pa,pt and instincts and int. My WR will need to have good Route Running (not sure if running/agility affect yac but I'll be looking at this before recruiting) and trying to find an OC that is good at developing QB and WR/TE. On defense I think I'm going to try to mainly be a man defense. Playing a lot of cover 1 and some cover 2. I'll be looking at the plays to decide what I'll need in terms of LBs. I'm hoping that this focus will help my team out but who knows.</p>

[kujjaquaq]

<p>Week 7 SJSU vs ID</p><p> </p><p>

ID was a big underdog in this one and despite being out manned we held our own against them. Bravaro threw for 388 yards 3 TD's and 1 int. We played well enough to win. Our defense just wasn't up to the task of stopping them.</p>

[kujjaquaq]

<p>week 8 ID @ Oregon 3-1</p><p> </p><p>

Oregon was a 10 point favorite and a new comer to the WAC and ID had hopes of just salvaging the season with a decent performance. The game started with ID.</p><p> </p><p>

OR started the game with the ball and drove down the field but do a penalty and a missed block they had to punt. ID had a three and out and OR got the ball at the 50. They mixed run and pass and got the ball to around the 20 till they were faced with a 4th down and they missed their fg. ID and OR trade drives and the OR begins to get some momentum. They drive it down the 15 yard line of ID. Then on a screen play SS Ashworth picks it off and takes it to the house! ID needed this boost and they began to felt like they could compete against OR. </p><p> </p><p>

The teams traded drives and then OR tried a fake punt. It didn't work and ID took advantage of the shorter field position and got a td to make it 14-0</p><p> </p><p>

OR answered with a td on their next drive thanks to a few mistakes by ID's defense being OOP. And the score at the half was 14-7. </p><p> </p><p>

OR started the third qtr and fumbled the ball after a few plays and ID was able to take that drive in for a td to make it 21-7 with about 10 min. left in the third qtr. </p><p> </p><p>

ID was hoping that the game would end right there and they tried to make a few more drives mixing in run and pass to chew up the clock and they wound up with the score being 21-16 with OR's ball on their own 20 with 1:22 to go with all of their time outs. ID chose to play mainly cover 2 man defense so I wouldn't get beat deep. And here is what happened...First throw was for 11 yards on an out route due to a missed tackle. Ball at the 33 with 1:14. Or hits an 11 yard screen to the TE. Ball at the 42 with 1 minute left. I'm just hoping that the time runs out because I expecting to give up a game winning td. OR had an incomplete pass and then...A 32 yard pass to their WR and OR's QB made a great pass. OR has the ball on the 26 with 40 seconds left. 1st down incomplete</p><p>

2nd down sack by ID </p><p>

3rd down incomplete </p><p>

4th down with 19 seconds left OR has an incomplete pass</p><p> </p><p>

ID was able to kneel on the ball and come out of Eugene with a victory. The play of the game was that screen that was housed by my SS. On the play I had Tman coverage and a spy. </p><p> </p><p>

Overall I felt like I was able to do just enough to beat OR but they were clearly the more talented team. I made it an effort to run the ball more this game and it seemed that as the game went on I had more success. I wound with 35 attempts for 91 yards. I know that around 6 of those were kneel down attempts. I'm excited about my first win of the season and I'm hoping it can carry over to the remaining games.</p>

[kujjaquaq]

<p>Week 9 NMSU @ ID</p><p> </p><p>

Id was a 1 point favorite and this game was a close one. NMSU wins by 6. Unfortunately ID fumbled once which lead to a TD by NMSU and that was the difference in this one.</p>

[Theheel]

Wow your dynasty must hate the Ducks (not that I am any different). Getting booted out of the Pac-10/12 and now losing in Eugene to Idaho. No wonder Phil Knight is sporting Alabama gear lol.

 

Keep it up coach, the success will come to the Vandals.

[kujjaquaq]

<p>Week 10 ID (1-6) @ Utah State (1-7)</p><p> </p><p>

I don't remember the spread of this game but I believe UTST was favored by 1. For those of you who have followed this from the beginning you'll know that I HATE this team. This is my rival on the game and they almost always beat me. Even when I have the better team they have found a way to beat me. Off of the top of my head I think I've only beaten them like 3 or 4 times in the history of this dynasty so there is definitely some bad blood between us. The weather was decent and the game got underway just as expected. Both teams made mistakes like penalties,dropped passes, missed blocks, that wound up stopping drives and causing them to punt. Then UTST on a 1st and 10 from their own 35 yard line with 9:02 left in the first qtr struck first blood. They threw a med pass curl route to their wr and my CB allowed the big play and their WR was seen high stepping for a 74 yard touchdown. I was in cover 2 man coverage and I was expecting my SS to help out but he must not have been fast enough to get there. OH well. </p><p> </p><p>

ID was discouraged but didn't deviate from the game plan of running the football and forcing my happy passing tendencies to be more balanced. </p><p> </p><p>

UTST and ID continue their routine of dropping passes, fumbling, getting INTs, missing blocks, and having penalties to force punts and with 5:34 left in the second qtr and ID getting the ball on their own 25 they start a drive. This drive was helped by 3 penalties by UTST on the drive but it only took ID about 2 min. and 6 plays to score a TD to tie the game up 7-7.</p><p> </p><p>

Both teams come fired up to start the 3rd qtr. Both coaches must have gave the same speech at halftime of not making mistakes because there were few mistakes made early in the 3rd qtr. Both teams were stopped on their opening drive. Then UTST was able to march down the field and were able to kick and make a 38 yard fg to take a 7-10 lead. </p><p> </p><p>

ID got the ball and was able to march down the field and match their fg to make it 10-10 with 3:21 left in the 3rd qtr. Sadly I, the coach, made a bone headed call that almost cost me. I declined a penalty that would have given me a first down but instead it made it 3-15 but I was able to gain the first down on the next play. I guess I need to read more closely. </p><p> </p><p>

UTST was stopped on their next drive and punted it to ID and my returner(GRACE) fumbled the punt. Thankfully my RB was there to recover it and on the next play. Coach must have chewed it out because on the next play GRACE caught the ball from a slant route and 51 yards later he scored the game leading TD to make it 17-10 ID. </p><p> </p><p>

UTST and ID continue their game plan of punting and making mistakes and this leads us to the big finish</p><p> </p><p>

ID has a 1-10 with 1:08 left and after three runs they have to punt so UTST has the ball at their own 25 with 37 seconds left and I believe no time outs. Can ID hold? I've learned from exprience that cover two MZ doesn't work for me so I decide to play a cover 3 thinking I can stop the deep pass. Well...</p><p> </p><p>

First play UTST 33 yard streak to their wr. UT has the ball on ID's 42 with 37 seconds left. This is plenty of time to score in this game and I quickly change my philosophy and decide to play man.</p><p> </p><p>

Second play UTST dumps it off to the FB and thanks to my OLB being in teh wrong place UTST gets 13 yards. They now have a first and 10 on ID's 29 with 23 seconds left. </p><p> </p><p>

Third play UTST gets sacked and fumbles but UTST's OL recovered</p><p> </p><p>

Fourth play incomplete pass</p><p> </p><p>

Fifth play final play of regulation...a 14 yard streak play thanks to a missed tackle by my best player but it wasn't enough and UTST runs out of time with the ball sitting on ID's 24 yard line. </p><p> </p><p>

ID wins 17-10 to become a 2-6 team. This was an ugly game but someone had to win it. 8 fumbles (only two lost one by each team), 14 penalties, 22 punts, and 4 ints. I'm going to count all of the bad plays by the players in the game log but looking back at it there were tons. Ugly game but a win is a win especially against that thorn in my side Rival.</p>

[kujjaquaq]

week 11 Buf (0-6) @ ID 2-6

 

ID was favored by 5 in this game and I was hoping to win this one easily since Buffalo is one of the worst teams in my NCAA game.

 

Buffalo wins the toss and elects to receive. They throw a screen on their first play and fumble it and ID recovers. ID kicks a FG to make it 0-3.

 

Buf then has a three and out and ID returns the punt almost to Buf's line scrimmage. ID hit our stud Rb for a 33 yard screen play when Buf was playing dime man coverage. 0-10

 

Buf is stopped on their next drive after a few first downs. ID starts from their own 2 yard line. ID dinks and dunks it down the field but misses a 42 yard fg.

 

Buf begins to drive and on ID's 22 yard line they get picked off by ID. ID begins to drive and they fumble. Buf then drives down the field and on the 6 yard line they throw a pick in the endzone! ID goes right down the field and kicks a fg to make it 0-13.

 

This is the score for most of the game near the end both teams trade fgs to make the final 3-16.

 

I felt like I dominated this game against them. My man coverage gave them fits the whole game and my front four was able to get pressure on the QB. My defense set up my offense beautifully on a few possessions. My special teams gave me some big punts and a few good returns. Looking back at the box score most plays that netted negative yards was because of my OL missing blocks or my WR running the wrong routes. Id my team didn't shoot themselves in the foot on several drives I might have won this game by 30! Overall I was proud of my teams performance and myself for mixing up run and pass to help my team win this game. If we win out, unlikely, we are bowl eligible.

[kujjaquaq]

Recruiting Class

 

Rank Pos Name Stars Wt (Reg) (Pos) Type Cur Pot

1051 OG(A)Charlie Johnston 3 273 195 62 Finesse 1 3.5

1456 FB Amos Parker 2 227 273 49 Blocking FB 1 3

1634 TE(A) Kwame Schlereth 2 217 313 87 Blocking TE 1 2.5

1792 DT Joe Angulo 2 280 351 83 Balanced 1 2.5

1827 QB(A) Bobby Williams 2 196 348 152 Mobile QB 1 2.5

2169 FS Ken Owen 1 177 414 87 B safety 1 2.5

2786 P Greg McDonald 1 181 535 36 Balanced 1 3

2804 QB(A) Bob Pearson 1 193 539 251 West Coast QB 1 2

3338 K Isaac Rainer 1 183 641 78 Accuracy 1 1.5

[kujjaquaq]

Reaction

 

Overall, a disappointing class, but oh well. I'm planning on moving some of their positions around esp. the qb's to rb. I'm going to run a balanced attack from now on. I feel I can implement most of the west coast offense while running the football some too.

 

I played the rest of the games for the season a while back and don't remember them. Overall I went 4-8 and finished 8th in the conference with a D+ as my overall grade. I'm hoping that this year will be better. I have played this game off and on since my last post. I'm still trying to figure out this game and what type of player I need to run a system.

[kujjaquaq]

2020 A Clear Vision

 

Coaches thoughts.

 

I know I've been away from this dynasty for awhile but I haven't been ignoring this game. I've done some random seasons and some practice seasons trying to figure out my style of play and then recruiting to it.

 

My heart wants to do an option team but I can't seem to get it to work. I was able to get an old ID team from the past with Lipscomb to do well with it but I had to throw the ball 20-30 times a game and that just isn't realistic in my opinion. Plus I wasn't able to just run option all the time I had to mix it up and run a lot of wishbone rt and stuff like that. One thing I did find was that aggression is very important to the option's success. I want to add that I don't think this is wrong just not what I want to do as a play caller of an option team.

 

Anyways, I've decided to try to run a balanced attack from now on. I feel that I can run the ball well if I get big,fat,strong OL. I'm surprised how much weight matters in this game but it does esp for OL and RB. I plan on trying to run the ball a lot but I have to have a decent short/middle passing game to keep the teams honest.

 

My new rs Fr QB Wellman according to my scouts (I don't pay them much so I'm sure this is off and I don't edit the players in this dynasty so I have no idea his accurate rating but he is a 62 for accuracy, 58 passing touch, and 32 arm strength. Instincts is a 57 and intelligence is a 67. I feel like I can make the middle and short throws but I'm not sure if I can stretch the defense down the field and unfortunately my back up qb's have no arm strength either.

 

My RB Priolou is the perfect outside runner for me. He has 68 speed, running, and instincts. He has 28 endurance and durability so I can only rely on him for specific situations. I was able to get two QB's that were one star recruits and move them to rb. They both had 4.5 40s and weighed 200 pounds. B.Williams will be redshirted this year but he is already a 2.5/3.0 and B.Pearson 1.0/2.5 was the other. I feel that I can pound the ball inside some with him and Priolou and my other backs but I won't have the depth needed to run the way I plan on in the upcoming years.

 

My fbs are decent and I feel that they will be used in the running game. I'm curious to see if my 52 acc fb can help me by picking up some yards. I'll find out as the game goes on.

 

I have two stud wr's Maringini and Grace. RR 68ish, speed and hands lower 60. They will be the focal point of my offense. I know speed is important for those streak plays and agility is important for yac and both of these guys can help me out.

 

My TE and OL is pretty good. 3 yellows and 2 oranges. Since I didn't realize how important weight is only 2 are over 300 and the others are 280. Their strength is around 50. I'm not sure my team is ready to pound it between the tackles yet but my goal is to build a team that I can do that.

 

On defense just like offense we have all orange and yellow starters. My DL is back and Doleman with his 11 sacks is back for his sophomore season and I'm looking forward to seeing if he can improve on those numbers. My green DT Hudson is ready to play for me. I believe he was a transfer but I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to read my old posts to find out for sure.

 

My LB core is decent but we lack speed 4 year starter Grabowski will again be important as well as our yellow second year starter Brown who is a blitzing OLB. Our CB are not very good this year. I have two that I think can cover and then I have NOTHING. So I hope they don't get injured or suspended because I'll be in trouble. McDondald and Ashworth my two yellow safeties will be back again to play as Juniors so they should help out with my CBs.

 

I knew Kickoffs were a problem and I recruited rainer to fill that gap and his 69 KOL will be a welcome addition to our team. I'm hoping that GRace's 90 pr can help us with some field positions battles too.

 

I'm expected to finish 5th in the conference and my prestige is 28. Based on past experience I think I'll have a hard time again this year but I'm looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can call a better game plan than I did last year.

[kujjaquaq]

Week 1 ECU (ID is 13 pt favorite)

 

ECU wins the toss and Rainer earns his scholarship already as ECU starts on their own 14. ECU got a few first downs then they called for a holding penalty and on a second and long their QB got sacked by DE Turner who then picked up the fumble and ran it in for a TD 7-0.

 

ECU starts their next drive and on their first play their RB gets tatooed by Grabowski and he causes a fumble and who else Turner picks it up and scores another TD.

 

Turner 14-ECU 0. The teams trade possessions and then ID starts to drive. Two first downs running with Pearson following his FB. Then on a 2-6 RB Thomas is wide open on a blown coverage and he scoots for a TD and its now 21-0. ECU then tries to answer back a long drive of their own, but they get picked off at ID's 20 yard line by Ashworth.

 

ECU gets stopped on their drive and ID is able to pound it with Pearson but he eventually gets fatigued and as I switch him my drive stalls.

 

ECU has to start on their own 3 yard line and they try to throw a medium pass but I was ready for it and called man coverage (up till now they were running every time on first down) and they get picked off by my CB James and he returns it to the house. ID 28 ECU 0.

 

at the end of the first half ID 35-ECU 0. I was able to run on them again some and then chose a double te play action pass to my te chaclzki to make it 35-0 but ECU drive with 58 seconds left in the half to make it 35-3.

 

Final score ID 42-ECU 10 and ID had 233 rushing yards and Pearson had 13 attempts for 102 yards for a 7 something ypc. My fullback opened up a lot of holes for him and my defense was on it in this one. I hope this is the just the beginning of a memorable season. Atleast it was better than last year when I lost to them.