Coach Choate Moves Up to Division I-A

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[b][u]Week Eleven[/b][/u] Last week was Felipe Osika's week, and I have a feeling that someone will come up big this week as well. We're in Ruston against the Pirates of East Carolina, who have won three of their last four games after dropping their first three. They've played close with Boston College, Ohio State and Marshall, so we're expecting a pretty good game. They're led to the field by senior QB Derrell Grimm, but he's been spotty all season long. Senior Francis Sadowski is their leading rusher, but he's not a big threat since their O-line is swiss cheese. Marquise Kelly and Amos Swink are Grimm's best targets, but will he have enough time to get the ball to them? Defensively, their linebackers are pretty good, but the rest is par or sub par. Despite that, this defense is better than the sum of it's parts, as it's ranked in the top 15 in defense in the nation. [u]First Quarter[/u] We force a punt at their 36 on the opening drive, and we take over at our own 25. We drive down the field, but stall out at the Pirate 9, where Moe Upshaw, back in the kicker's seat after a bad week of practice by Cleo Darche, kicks it through from 27. 3 and out after a good kick return, but Terrance Swartz turns field position back to our favor by returning it out to our 29 after taking it at the 12. we drive on down again, but Browning Hipp gets picked off at the ECU 12, tossing an opportunity down the tubes. [i]Tech 3, ECU 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We hold after a single first down, and we drive down the field again. Yet again, we get held, this time after an unnecessary roughness call makes it 2nd and goal at the 25, and we settle for a 35 yard Upshaw field goal. Another good defensive showing after another single first down, and we get the ball at our 17. 3 and out before a good kick by Angulo keeps field position about the same in the game. We hold 3 and out and get good field position as Terrance Swartz takes it to our 42, but we're forced to punt again, but this time pinning ECU deep. We move it down to the Pirate 25 with only seconds remaining, and Moe Upshaw comes through again with a 43 yard field goal this time as the half ends. [i]Tech 9, ECU 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] A good return on the kickoff by Calvin Babers sets us up at the ECU 45, and we move the ball just enough for Moe Upshaw to kick his 4th field goal of the day from 46. I'm beginning to get worried about this one because our offense is staggering. Good return after 3 and out by ECU, and tack on another 15 yards for unneccessary roughness. We can't move the ball again, and we opt for the 51 yard field goal, since Upshaw has been doing well, and he rewards us with his longest career field goal! Another 3 and out for ECU, and we march straight down the field before J.T. Kilroy is stood up at the line on 4th and 1 at the ECU 4, killing another drive. [i]Tech 15, ECU 0[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] The Pirates march on us all the way to our 20, but we stiffen up and force a field goal. We head down the field again, but can't get past the Pirate 40 this time, and we punt it down to the ECU 14. We drive to the ECU 3 this time, but we add the points to make it a true 3 score game. Our first defensive turnover of the game comes with 2 minutes left as Montrae Martinez picks off Grimm's pass and takes it back to the Pirate 47, but once again we come up with 3 and out, and Ickey Angulo puts it at the 4. Following play, Waine Mix takes Derrell Grimm in the end zone to add 2 more points to the board, and we ice the game with 2 kneel downs. [i]Tech 20, ECU 3[/i] We're extremely lucky that East Carolina is completely inept on offense and that we completely dominated them on defense. Moe Upshaw provided the boost we needed today with 6 field goals, and Waine Mix just added the icing. Still and all, if we don't play any better than this down the stretch, we might find ourselves overmatched in whatever bowl game we play in. It's pretty much a lock now for us in the west of Conference USA, but it looks like we'll play UAB in the conference championship for the big bowl berth. [b]Total Yards 374-147 Passing 197-89 Rushing 177-58 TOP 39:29-20:35[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] B. Hipp 25-39 197 yards, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Kilroy 39-152 A. Armour 9-17 J. Massey 4-12 [u]Receiving[/u] J. Kilroy 7-60 E. Ledbetter 6-44 T. Swartz 3-35 F. Osika 4-25 A. Armour 2-24 N. Shedd 2-5 J. Massey 1-4

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[b][u]Week Twelve[/b][/u] Our last conference game of the regular season, and we've already clinched the Conference USA regular season championship. We'll be facing the in the conference championship game either Alabama Birmingham if they beat East Carolina this week, or Memphis if East Carolina wins, as they own the tiebreaker. We face the Knights of Central Florida. Last time the Bulldogs faced the Knights, a big, strong armed senior named Daunte Culpepper led the Knights in a romp of our team. This year, a not so big, not so strong armed senior named Scooter Munoz leads the anemic Knights to the field, with sophomore Gregg Graham as his feature back. Wide outs Ralph Stith and Ryan Stemrick are his main go-to guys, but Munoz just doesn't have a strong enough arm to get it to them. On defense, they've got some good players, and their secondary is good as well. Their only weakness I see is their linebackers. [u]First Quarter[/u] UCF ball to start the game, and Munoz gets picked on the 3rd play of the game by Calvin Babers, who takes it down to the UCF 14. J.T. Kilroy runs 4 times and puts it in from a yard out to give us the lead. Ensuing kickoff, it's a fumble, and we recover! 2 plays later, it's 14-0 after Browning Hipp hits Felipe Osika for a 13 yard touchdown! Big run by Graham for 18 yards, but Waine Mix causes a fumble on the next play on the backup RB, and it's our ball at the UCF 38. We can't get going, 3 and out, and Ickey Angulo pins UCF at their 4. 3 and out for UCF, and it's our ball at their 48. Again, we falter, and this time we try for a fake punt to the up man, but Tremain Sawyer comes up inches short. Great punt by the UCF punter, and it's our ball at our own 1. We get almost all the way out to midfield before stalling, and we punt it into the end zone to end the quarter. [i]Tech 14, UCF 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] They move into our territory, but a 15 yard tripping penalty and a 13 yard sack by Artrell Spearman puts them back in their territory. Our ball at our own 23, and we drive into UCF territory before Moe Upshaw misses from 41 yards. Huge after the catch gain by Ryan Stemrick after a short pass by Munoz, but they miss a field goal. 3 and out for us, then 3 and out for them. We get to the UCF 44, but time runs out in the half. [i]Tech 14, UCF 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We do the same thing UCF did on the opening kickoff, as Browning Hipp gets picked off on the 3rd play. Another missed field goal, and my feelings towards Moe Upshaw seem a bit harsh. We get one first down, but have to punt it away. UCF takes advantage this time, as they march down the field and put 7 on the board to close to within a touchdown. 53 yard kickoff return to the UCF 39, but we go 3 and out yet again. It's another 3 and out for UCF, and the day is over for Browning Hipp, as he's been ineffective most of the game, and Orlando Traynham comes in, as far as this game goes, it doesn't mean a lot to either of us. Kilroy fumbles, and it's UCF ball to end the quarter. [i]Tech 14, UCF 7[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] 2 plays into the quarter, Munoz gets picked off, and Lum Johns takes it 73 yards to the house! UCF moves into our territory, but another turnover, this time a fumble gives us back the ball. We drive down the field, and Moe Upshaw hits this one from 32 yards out. Munoz drives them down the field, but another Lum Johns interception with 3 minutes left seals the game, as we pound it down the field. [i]Tech 24, UCF 7[/i] I'm glad this stretch run is over, because I'm now convinced that our guys are just plain tired. We've got two weeks off before we play Arkansas to end the season in Fayetteville, and our guys can rest and heal up, as they're all extremely give out. We did what we had to do to win, but our offense just plain sucked today. If not for 4 interceptions and the 2 fumbles, we would have lost today. UCF's terrible offense outgained us, and we only had 83 total yards passing. We'll see though how we stack up against the big boys when we play Arkansas in 3 weeks. [b]Total Yards 264-272 Passing 83-149 Rushing 181-123 TOP 32:19-27:41[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] B. Hipp 8-15 57 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT O. Traynham 5-6 26 yards [u]Rushing[/u] J. Kilroy 39-134, 1 TD A. Armour 4-37 J. Massey 3-17 T. Sawyer 1-4 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 4-36 J. Kilroy 5-29 F. Osika 2-16, 1 TD A. Armour 2-2

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[b][u]Week 12 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Oklahoma 3. Oregon 4. Washington 5. Miami 6. Ohio State 7. Michigan 8. California 9. Minnesota 10. Penn State [b][u]Week 12 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Oklahoma 3. Oregon 4. Michigan 5. Texas 6. Minnesota 7. Miami 8. Washington 9. Oregon State 10. Penn State Once again, we're snubbed in the polls, and we're the only remaining undefeated team! I'd be jumping up and down if I didn't know that we hadn't played a pretty weak schedule this season.

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[b][u]Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen[/u][/b] We take off a week from anything other than a few walkthroughs to begin preparing for Arkansas. The guys begin to perk up about halfway through the week, and I know that it was just how many games they had played in such a short time, as we played eight straight games in conference between breaks. Arkansas is having an off year this season, as they're 4-6 after losing to LSU in week 12. In good news, it looks like J.T. Kilroy will be invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony, and Browning Hipp is in the race for the Davey O'Brien award.

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[b][u]Week Fifteen[/b][/u] We've locked up a spot in the Conference USA championship game against Alabama Birmingham, and this game is nigh on meaningless unless we hit the polls this week and sneak into an upper tier bowl game. The Arkansas Razorbacks have fallen on real hard times the past few years, but they could end up with their best record in five seasons if they win here today. Redshirt freshman Dallas Hope is their starting quarterback, and Senior Kenyon Hock is a top notch target for him, with some other guys filling in around him. Another redshirt freshman, Glen Hartings is his main back, and he's solid. On defense Onome Olander is a beast in the inside of the defense, and he's surrounded by solid players all around. [u]First Quarter[/u] 3 and out for Arkansas as they begin with the ball first, and a good punt is nearly coompletely negated by a 36 yard return by Terrance Swartz to the Arkansas 38. We get into the redzone, but stall out and Moe Upshaw converts from 37 to give us the lead. 3 and out again by Arkansas, and we march into Razorback territory. We get hit with an unnecessary roughness though on a 3rd down play and get taken out of field goal range, so Ickey Angulo pins them at their own 5. A pair of first downs for Arkansas gets them out of trouble, but we hold and force another punt to our 39. [i]Tech 3, ARK 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We get into Arkansas territory again and stall, and this time Moe Upshaw hits his career long of 52 yards to put us up 6-0. 18 yard return on a punt after another Arkansas 3 and out sets us up at the Arkansas 48. Another field goal for Upshaw, this one from 38, and it's looking like the East Carolina game all over again. Hope goes deep for a pass, and Waine Mix comes from behind off the defensive line and strips it away, where Maugaula Geredine picks it up and takes it to the house for 6! Ensuing kickoff, we force another fumble, and this time we take over at the Arkansas 14! 3 plays later, Browning Hipp swings it out to J.T. Kilroy, and our Heisman candidate takes it 8 yards in for the score! We force another punt, this one terribly short, and we take over near midfield. We take advantage of the great field position, and after Browning Hipp took a hard shot that should have been a roughing the passer penalty, Orlando Trynham hooks up with Terrance Swartz for a 9 yard touchdown pass! We force another punt with less than a minute to go, and Terrance Swartz takes it into Arkansas territory to their 37 before being stopped. We burn our last time out, and Moe Upshaw misses from 47 to end the half. [i]Tech 30, ARK 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We drive down the field, and Browning Hipp tries to come back in, but I take him out again for Traynham, as we've still got the conference title game and a bowl game ahead of us. Jashon Massey fumbles, and we turn it over at their 30. It's a lucky break for Arkansas, as they finally put together a good drive, and Hartings takes it in from 2 yards out to finally put Arkansas on the board. Bad return by Babers only to our 14, but a good run by J.T. Kilroy is followed up by a 75 yard touchdown strike by Traynham to Ernest Ledbetter! Nothing doing for the Razorbacks this drive, and it's another good return by Swartz for 18 yards up to our 48. We go quickly 3 and out, but the Angulo punt is fumbled by Kenyon Hock for Arkansas, and Maugaula Geredine picks up his second fumble recovery of the game! [i]Tech 37, ARK 7[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We once again barely get into the red zone, and Moe Upshaw hits from 37 yards to give us 40 points for the first time in the season since our first game at Louisiana Monroe. Nothing doing for Arkansas after a good kickoff return, and Orlando Traynham gets picked and returned to the house. Luckily, it was pass interference that allowed it, so we've got the ball back. We can't get any more going, and Ickey Angulo punts it to their 7. Hope gets picked on the following play, and it's our ball at the Arkansas 15. 2 plays later though, Traynham has his pass batted at the line, and lineman Onome Olander takes it 96 yards for the touchdown. Imagine my guys getting yelled at for letting a defensive tackle take a ball 96 yards down the field for a score, and then about quadruple that, because that's what I handed out to them. We get into Arkansas territory again, but Moe Upshaw misses from 51 this time around. I really can't complain about his performance today, as he's come through for us when it mattered. Arkansas gets to midfield before Montrae Martinez steps in front of a deep ball from Hope, and Martinez returns the favor to Arkansas by taking it 68 yards for the score! Arkansas gets the ball back and takes it to midfield, but we hold on 4th and long with a minute left, and we run the clock out to finish the regular season with a perfect 11-0 record! [i]Tech 47, ARK 14[/i] Our guys played a whole lot better today than they had the past two games. Obviously the rest paid off, because we put up our biggest numbers offensively for the season as far as points go. I'm concerned that Browning Hipp won't be ready for the Conference USA title game now, But Orlando Traynham did a fine job in relief, minus the batted pass that went for a score. [b]Total Yards 371-213 Passing 224-133 Rushing 147-80 TOP 35:52-24:19[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] B. Hipp 14-24 114 yards, 1 TD O. Traynham 8-14, 110 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Kilroy 24-109 J. Massey 4-10 D. Anderson 3-9 A. Armour 5-8 E. Ledbetter 2-9 O. Traynham 1-3 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 4-91, 1 TD J. Kilroy 5-46- 1 TD N. Shedd 3-24 T. Swartz 3-23, 1 TD A. Armour 4-21 R. Tarkenton 2-13 J. Massey 1-6

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[b][u]Week 15 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Oklahoma 3. Miami 4. Michigan 5. Oregon 6. Oregon State 7. Minnesota 8. Penn State 9. Florida 10. Washington [b][u]Week 15 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Oklahoma 3. Michigan 4. Minnesota 5. Oregon State 6. Texas 7. Miami 8. Oregon 9. Penn State 10. Michigan State It's about time, as we finally crack the top 25, but only in the coaches poll. We're ranked 24th in the nation according to the coaches, and if you count up the votes and continue past 25 for the media poll, we'd be ranked 28th. We're looking to improve that as we play Alabama Birmingham in the Conference USA championship game next week!

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[b][u]Conference USA Championship Game[/b][/u] Here we are, our first season in Conference USA, and we're playing in the championship game. We're facing the University of Alabama Birmingham Blazers, and we beat them earlier in the season. Redshirt freshman QB Warren Palmer brings this team to the line, and he's got some good guy around him. Senior RB Ryan Chamberlain and wide receivers Ruben Szalay and Bethel Hostetler will be his go to guys, but their O-Line leaves something to be desired. On defense, they have no all around top players, but everyone is solid. [u]First Quarter[/u] UAB takes the opening kickoff and moves up close to midfield, but we force a punt, down to our 13. We follow up and drive into Blazer territory, but Browning Hipp gets sacked, taking us out of field goal range, and Ickey Angulo puts the punt on the UAB 6. They change field position well, taking it on out to their own 37, and a huge punt puts us at our 6. A big play to Noah Shedd takes us into UAB territory, but a false start and a holding call makes it 3rd and 20, and Moe Upshaw kicks the field goal from 44. [i]Tech 3, UAB 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] 86 yard kickoff return to open the quarter down to our 16, and Palmer delivers with a 10 yard touchdown strike. We answer right back with a sustained drive, and J.T. Kilroy takes it in from 4 yards out for the go-ahead touchdown. UAB gets back to midfield, but we force a punt and it goes into the end zone. We get UAB territory, and Browning Hipp comes up lame after tripping, and it looks like he reinjured his ankle from the Arkansas game last week. We're forced to punt, and this time Ickey Angulo can't pin them and it's a touchback. 3 and out, and we get the ball back on our own 40 with a minute left. Traynham comes through with a 41 yard screen to Kilroy, and on 3rd and 2 he hits Ernest Ledbetter with a 5 yard touchdown pass! UAB takes a knee after the kickoff and we head into the locker room. [i]Tech 17, UAB 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We take the opening kickoff all the way down to the UAB 17, but stall there and take a 35 yard Moe Upshaw field goal. One first down for UAB, and Terrance Swartz returns the 41 yard punt 15 yards out to our 33. Next play, J.T. Kilroy bounces inside, outside, side to side, and finally breaks free up the field for a 67 yard touchdown run, his longest of the year! UAB answers back, but we hold them on 3rd and long and a 42 yard field goal. We start driving backd own the field and get to the UAB 39 as the quarter ends. [i]Tech 27, UAB 10[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We stall out at the 30, and Moe Upshaw misses from 48 yards. UAB fires back with a 43 yard field goal after a 25 yard run and a 15 yard pass puts them in position. UAB gets the ball back after a 3 and out by us, but Palmer is picked off by Anquan Easy, and he takes it 36 yards down to the UAB 27. We can't capitalize any further as Moe Upshaw connects for yet another field goal. Another UAB drive, and another punt as we take over at our 27. We can't get moving and punt it away to the UAB 21. Two plays later, Palmer gets picked off by Montrae Martinex, and he takes it down to the 2. Kilroy pounds it in on the 3rd try, and only a few seconds remain as we're going bowling! [i]Tech 37, UAB 13[/i] I get the Gatorade shower, and this time, we know we're heading to the Liberty Bowl, where we're going to play our archrival, and a team we beat earlier in the season, the 9-2 Louisiana Monroe Indians. We truly dominated this game from whistle to whistle, and even though Browning Hipp had to leave early, we had a nice day passing and a great day running. [b]Total Yards 458-208 Passing 243-116 Rushing 215-92 TOP 37:02-22:58[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] B. Hipp 12-14 152 yards O. Traynham 11-14, 91 yards, 1 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Kilroy 39-167, 3 TD A. Armour 7-27 J. Massey 3-19 E. Ledbetter 1-7 [u]Receiving[/u] T. Swartz 6-62 N. Shedd 1-49 J. Massey 2-43 E. Ledbetter 6-36, 1 TD J. Kilroy 5-24 A. Armour 2-23 R. Tarkenton 1-6

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[b][u]Liberty Bowl[/b][/u] It's our first ever trip to the Liberty Bowl, and in the past 5 years, we have won the Sugar Bowl, the Peach Bowl, and the MPC Computers Bowl and lost the MPC Computers Bowl once. It's going to be a test of our mettle as we square off against the number 10 offense and 15 defense in the nation in the University of Louisiana-Monroe Indians, where we're the 26th best offense and the number one defense in college football. Junior Cade Westbrook brings them to the line, and he put up over 3100 yards and 22 touchdowns for the year, and they have a trio of running backs that will see time in different situations today. Windrell Saturday and Basil Wire are his go to guys. On defense, they've got some good players, but I see us making mince meat of them again. [u]First Quarter[/u] Opening kickoff, and we force our fourth fumble on a kickoff, this time recovering at the ULM 7. 2 runs didn't net much, but Browning Hipp goes 4 yards to Ron Tarkenton for the score! 3 and out, and it's our ball at our 35 now. We drive it down the field, but stall out, where Moe Upshaw hits a 48 yard field goal. 41 yard gain to Windrell Saturday, and ULM answers right back with a toss to a backup receiver for a 12 yard touchdown. We can't get going this time, and Ickey Angulo punts it 57 yards to the ULM 9. [i]Tech 10, ULM 7[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] ULM drives it out to midfield, but we stiffen up and force a bad punt only to our 27, and we take over after the return at our 31. We take it into ULM territory, and J.T. Kilroy takes a gaping hole in the middle 39 yards for the score! ULM starts at midfield after a 15 yard spearing penalty, but we hold 3 and out. Nice punt to our 11, but Terrance Swartz brings it out to our 47 with a 36 yard return! Ernest Ledbetter catches a nice pass, but fumbles it at the ULM 37 to turn the ball over. It's our lucky day though as Westbrook goes longer than normal, and Saint Benson hauls in the pick and takes it 71 yards for the touchdown! A good kick return is negated by a 3 and out, then a 24 yard punt to our 31. We drive, and after a failed 3rd and 1, we take the asy 3 with little time left on the clock, and this is the score we head to halftime with. [i]Tech 27, ULM 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We get a good return back to our 41, and it's short work before Browning Hipp goes to Ernest Ledbetter for a 36 yard touchdown strike! ULM answers right back with a solid drive of their own, ending with a Westbrook to Saturday 3 yard touchdown grab. Another good return to our 34, but after a single first down, we punt it down to the ULM 14. Westbrook gets intercepted again, this time by Calvin Babers, who takes it 17 yards to the ULM 47. 3 and out after a holding penalty makes it 3rd and long, but we punt it to the ULM 6. [i]Tech 34, ULM 14[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] The pin works as Terrance Swartz takes a short punt 14 yards back to the ULM 31. We can't capitalize again as Browning Hipp gets picked again, and it's ULM ball at their 38. Another Calvin Babers interception of Wesbroobk, and it's our ball at our 26. We drive down the field and Jashon Massey scores from 13 yards out to put us up by even more and pretty much seal the game off. Punt again from ULM, and we drive for a 45 yard Upshaw field goal. A deep ball with 1 second falls errantly, and we've completed a 13-0 perfect season! [i]Tech 44, ULM 14[/i] The guys carry me off the field, much the same as when my Appalachian State team won the Division I-AA national championship. It's the second time I've come into a good situation and turned a team into an undefeated team. We played well, and for Browning Hipp and J.T. Kilroy, this one comes as their 3rd bowl appearance and 2nd bowl victory of their careers. I know we'll miss them, but now it's time to look towards the future and what it may hold for Louisiana Tech football [b]Total Yards 413-204 Passing 229-196 Rushing 184-108 TOP 34:13-25:47[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] B. Hipp 21-28 229 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Kilroy 35-162, 1 TD J. Massey 2-13, 1 TD A. Armour 5-9 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 7-106, 1 TD R. Tarkenton 6-50, 1 TD J. Kilroy 4-39 A. Armour 1-13 N. Shedd 2-13 T. Swartz 1-8

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[b][u]2010 Bowl Recap[/b][/u] [u]Bowl Week One[/u] Las Vegas Bowl - TCU 37, UCLA 30 Motor City Bowl - Bowling Green 20, Fresno State 6 [b]GMAC Bowl - Tulane 14, Ohio 12[/b] Poinsetta Bowl - Boston College 22, BYU 9 [b]Fort Worth Bowl - Colorado 36, Memphis 16[/b] [b]Hawaii Bowl - UAB 17, Hawaii 13[/b] New Orleans Bowl - Marshall 13, ULL 10 [b]Champs Sports Bowl - Georgia Tech 30, ECU 13[/b] [u]Bowl Week Two[/u] Peach Bowl - Virginia Tech 29, Tennessee 13 Holiday Bowl - Kansas State 41, California 31 Alamo Bowl - Missour 48, Ohio State 34 Sun Bowl - Oregon 31, Iowa 17 [b]Liberty Bowl - Louisiana Tech 44, ULM 14[/b] Independence Bowl - Nebraska 31, Washington 29 Houston Bowl - Texas 23, Clemson 17 Music City Bowl - Texas A&M 23, Florida 20 Emerald Bowl - Air Force 34, Stanford 20 MPC Computers Bowl - Boise State 45, North Carolina 31 Insight Bowl - Syracuse 23, Arizona 16 Meineke Car Care Bowl - South Florida 22, Florida State 19 [u]Bowl Week Three[/u] Capital One Bowl - Penn State 44, Alabama 26 Cotton Bowl Classic - Ole Miss 31, Texas Tech 10 Outback Bowl - Kentucky 27, Michigan State 24 Gator Bowl - Maryland 34, Pittsburgh 20 [u]Championship Bowl Week[/u] Sugar Bowl - Georgia 34, Minnesota 28 Orange Bowl - Miami 38, Michigan 22 Rose Bowl - Oregon State 31, West Virginia 16 Fiesta Bowl (National Championship) - Oklahoma 34, Wisconsin 16 [i]Bold denotes Conference USA in bowl games[/i]

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[u][b]Coach Choate's Thoughts on the Upcoming Season[/u][/b] Another year, and another championship! The upper echelons here at Tech were ecstatic over an undefeated season and Conference USA regular season and championship game titles, along with a Liberty Bowl drubbing of our I-20 rival, ULM. We lose Browning Hipp and J.T. Kilroy, but we've got some very able players to step into those roles, along with some transfers that we took in last season. Harper Davey, our defensive coordinator, decided that he wasn't being paid enough after leading us to the number one defense in the nation, and went to take a job somewhere else. I had already decided that he may not be the man for us, so I went out and got the defensive backs coach from Florida Atlantic, Colston Dilweg. Other than that, we're staying put, since we're paying Dilweg a ton of money. We're heading into this season with the top defense, and although we did lose some key guys on the line and a couple in the secondary. We've still got some good linebackers and defensive backs, so we should be able to force teams to run and then stack the box. Offensively, we'll be running much the same setup as last season, although with JoJuan Bernet coming off of a redshirt transfer season, we'll be stretching the field more often now.

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[b][u]Transfer Summary[/b][/u] It's a lot fewer transfers we're going after this season, but we're looking for specific players to fit our schemes. [u]Week One[/u] We lose our backup and future center in Montrell Flanagan to South Carolina. I'm hopping mad since he knew he was going to be at least a 2 year starter. On the flip side, defensive end Darwin Craft, a beast in human's skin, is coming here. He'll help out a lot the next three years on the D-Line. [u]Week Two[/u] A few extra offers out there this year than this time last year, but only one comes here as we steal another Arkansas Razorback in Monte McCoo, who went to high school with JoJuan Bernet. He's a tremendous inside runner who will again be a force for 3 years. [u]Week Three[/u] We land one more transfer in Ruben Matson from Alabama, an outside linebacker. He shows shades of Lawrence Taylor, and he rounds out a very nice transfer class for us this season. All the guys we land are going to be key players for us as we continue on our path to Conference USA greatness.

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[b][u]Weeks One thru Five of Recruiting[/b][/u] [u]Week One[/u] It's scouting week for us, so we spend most of our money on scouting and save some extra for the visits we have coming this week. We've got some good guys coming in for visits to start with, including a stud defensive end named Brody Bratzke out of California. He was a good friend of backup fullback Tremain Sawyer before Sawyer moved to Louisiana with his parents before his senior year in high school. [u]Week Two[/u] No signings this week, as I keep up par for the course on early signings, and it's all visits this week. We've got some good feelings on some really good kids this year. [u]Week Three[/u] We need a little help this week, as I'd like to land some guys early this season, but no such luck. Only one, a minor defensive lineman, signs elsewhere this week. [u]Week Four[/u] Still no signings, and some of our more highly touted guys sign elsewhere. Back to the drawing board as we hit the midpoint of the recruiting season with nobody added yet. [u]Week Five[/u] Four players head to Ruston this week, as we land FS Donnie Gurley, OT Barron Blair, FB Curt Parilli, and C Diron Kassulke. Gurley and Blair are legitimately good players, where Parilli and Kassulke are more of the roleplayers.

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[b][u]Weeks Six thru Ten of Recruiting[/b][/u] [u]Week Six[/u] Here's our big week that we got in week 5 last year, as we land DT Laurence Boydston, RB Linzy Dockery, TE's Hanik Ferguson and Rip Marconi, and the big one, DE Brody Bratzke, Tremain Sawyer's friend from California! With Bratzke, Boydston and transfer Darwin Craft, we have a solid core for our defensive line for the next 3 years. Dockery will be an impact running back, and the two tight ends will be serviceable, but not much more. [u]Week Seven[/u] Five more solid recruits this week, headlined by DT Chuck Pritchard, SS Vilnis Humprhies, along with another DT Vaughan Cerqua, OG Tre Fitzgerald, and ILB Nicky Berlin. [u]Week Eight[/u] Two more signings this week, with CB Shane Fenny and RB Ross Sherman coming into the fold. Both will probably be redshirts this season and contribute a lot through their careers. 16 players have signed with us now, and we're at our quota. [u]Week Nine[/u] Of course, no signings this week, as we're out of scholarships. We are pursuing a few guys that may come in to Ruston as walk-ons. [u]Week Ten[/u] Nobody took our bait this week. Check back again. [b][u]National Signing Day[/u][/b] Since our scholarships were all taken up by Week 8, we get none of the late signings, but I'm more than happy with our recruits. Of the 16, 6 were rated as 4 star recruits and 6 as 3 star recruits, and we even snatched a couple away from LSU in our in state battle. Very nice all around, and I'll be glad to see our recruiting class ranking head way up from the 57th it was last year. But alas, it was 58th, so we dropped one. I'm happy though

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the offense[/B] [/U] After last season with Browning Hipp and J.T. Kilroy, I got a bit spoiled with how well the offense clicked. This year should be pretty solid though, as we had some guys that had breakthrough spring practices [U]Quarterback[/U] Stacy Kadela, one of our National Signing Day hits last season, comes in as the starter, with Errict Crecion as his primary backup. [I]Starter - Stacy Kadela, 2.5/3.0[/I] [U]Running Back[/U] Junior Jashon Massey, after last seasons 200 yard year, will be our starter, with Curley Dial his main backup. True freshman Linzy Dockery will be 3 deep, with Desmond Anderson rounding out the depth chart. [I]Starter - Jashon Massey, 4.0/4.0[/I] [U]Fullback[/U] Abdual Armour is the returning starter, with Tremain Sawyer and true freshman Curt Parilli fighting for backup rights. [I]Starter - Abdual Armour, 2.5/4.0[/I] [U]Wide Receiver[/U] Ernest Ledbetter returns as a senior as a starter, opposite of last year's transfer JoJuan Bernet. Terrance Swartz, Felipe Osika, and Jake McGraw will all see playing time behind them. [I]Starters - Ernest Ledbetter, 3.0/3.5 / JoJuan Bernet 3.0/4.0[/I] [U]Tight End[/U] Sophomores Martin Shields and Kris Blades will be our main tight ends, with true freshman Rip Marconi as our goalline third. [I]Starter - Martin Shields, 2.5/4.0[/I] [U]Offensive Line[/U] We've got a good line this year, but not nearly as deep as last season. Joe Heller and transfer Shockmain Merriweather will be opening up big holes on the left side

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the defense[/B] [/U] The number one defense in the nation in 2010, we lost some good players, but have replaced them with more than adequate. We don't have to be the best, we just have to be better than the other guys. [U]Defensive End[/U] Senior Kory Mauti and junior Donovan Simon return as the starters, with Clayton Paige and Tra Wonsley as their backups [I]Starters - Kory Mauti 3.5/4.5 / Donovan Simon 2.5/3.5[/I] [U]Defensive Tackle[/U] Not as deep here, and we don't return any starters. Junior Laurence Boydston and sophomore Teag Bannan are the starters, with true freshmen Vaughan Cerqua and Chuck Pritchard deep. [I]Starters - Laurence Boydston 3.5/4.5 / Teag Bannan 2.5/4.0[/I] [U]Outside Linebacker[/U] Senior Dean Huard and sophomore Gordon Erlandson start here, with sophomores Nyle Tinker and Thad Mili rounding them out. [I]Starters - Rabih Rathman 3.0/4.0 / Dean Huard 3.0/4/0[/I] [U]Inside Linebacker[/U] We move from a 4-3 to a 4-4 this year to cover up some of our depth issues in the defensive backfield. To that end, senior Mosi Cloud and junior Luke Myles, the starter from last year, get the nod, with redshirt freshman Denero Masters and true freshman Nicky Berlin as backups. [I]Starters - Luke Myles 3.0/4.0 / Mosi Cloud 3.0/4.0[/I] [U]Cornerback[/U] Junior Lum Johns returns as the interception leader for us from last year, and he's flanked by redshirt freshma.n Kenoy Alderman. Jim Horner and Royce Pinder go deep for us [I]Starters - Lum Johns 3.0/4.0 / Kenoy Alderman 2.5/3.5[/I] [U]Safety[/U] Senior Saint Benson returns at free safety, and he'll rotate in and out on the 4-4 defense with Montrae Martinez, who was the primary backup there last season. True freshman Ken-Yon Rome backs up at free safety, where Jace Kern and Vilnis Humphries are deep for strong saftety. [I]Starters - Saint Benson 3.5/4.5 / Montrae Martinez 3.0/4.5[/i]

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the special teams[/B] [/U] Good strides this off season for almost everybody, as Moe Upshaw showed a lot of improvement, as did Ickey Angulo. Terrance Swartz deteriorated a bit on his punt returning as I had him more moving towards his receiving. [I]Starters Kicker - Moe Upshaw 4.0/4.0 Punter - Ickey Angulo 3.0/3.0 Kick Returners - Jake McGraw (91) and Jashon Massey (74) Punt Returner - Terrance Swartz (89)[/I]

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[b][u]Scheduling[/b][/u] Well, I was wrong last year, as thanks to a clause in our contract I didn't see, if we didn't make a BCS game, we had to return to Arkansas this season as well as last year. Well, we'll just beat them in front of their home crowd. We decided on a 12 game schedule this year, as we play at Arizona State in week 2 after playing in Fayetteville the week before, then we close the season at home versus Temple (our cupcake), and then at Texas Tech. At least we have an open week during our conference run. Week Opponent 1 at Arkansas 2 at Arizona State 3 OPEN 4 at Rice 5 UTEP 6 at Central Florida 7 Houston 8 Southern Miss 9 at Tulane 10 OPEN 11 Tulsa 12 at Alabama Birmingham 13 OPEN 14 Temple 15 at Arkansas

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[b][u]Preseason Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Michigan 3. Purdue 4. Georgia 5. USC 6. Ohio State 7. Oregon State 8. Texas 9. Oklahoma 10. Miami [b][u]Preseason Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Michigan 3. Purdue 4. Georgia 5. Oregon State 6. USC 7. Ohio State 8. Texas 9. Washington 10. Oklahoma

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[b][u]Week One[/b][/u] It's our season opener in Fayetteville, Arkansas, against the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Hogs are a 2 point favorite, but after that hidden clause in our contract last season made this game here, I'm furious. We're going to beat these guys here in Fayetteville. Sophomore Dallas Hope brings this team to the line, and he's pretty good. Sophomore Glen Hartings is their number one back, and C.J. Boston and Teddy Gold are their main receivers. On defense, they're much improved over last season, so we'll have our hands full trying to score points. [u]First Quarter[/u] Arkansas starts with the ball first, and they take a sustained drive inside our 10, but our defense holds up and we force a 25 yard field goal. Stacy Kadela gets picked off after a good pickup on our first play of the season, and it's Arkansas ball at their 41. We force a 3 and out, and it's our ball at our 31. We can't get much going, and we have to punt it away. Angulo hits a short punt, and Arkansas has it at their own 37. A bad punt by Arkansas, and a good return by Lum Johns to the Arkansas 46. Kadela gets knocked down hard after a draw, but on the next play, Ericct Crecion comes in and completes a 17 yard screen to Jashon Massey for a touchdown! Arkansas gets the ball back as the quarter ends. [i]Tech 7, ARK 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We force another punt, and we drive down the field before stalling, and Moe Upshaw hits a 46 yard field goal. A good kickoff return puts Arkansas in good position, but we hold them up again, this time inside the 20 for another field goal. We drive down the field with a good pass-run mix before Linzy Dockery takes it in from 4 yards out to give us a 17-6 lead. Another good kick return goes for naught as we force a 3 and out, but it's our ball at our own 4. We can't get anything going before the half runs out and take a modest lead into the locker room. [i]Tech 17, ARK 6[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Stacy Kadela comes back in after a series out and drives us down the field before we stall at the 17 and settle for a 35 yard field goal. Two big pass plays set up for a 40 yard pass to a backup wide out for a score, and Arkansas pulls to within a touchdown. We get into Razorback territory before Kadela gets picked again, and this time it's taken up to the Arkansas 46. We force a punt, and it's our ball after a short punt at our own 14. We get close to midfield before having to punt, and it's another bad punt only to the Arkansas 22. They run a couple of plays to end the quarter. [i]Tech 20, ARK 13[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We force a bad pass that Kory Mauti tips into the air and picks off, and it's our ball at the Arkansas 36 now! We get down to the Arkansas 19, and JoJuan Bernet catches a pass for a touchdown against the team he transferred to us from! 3 and out, and it's our ball at our 28. Nothing doing for us though, and we punt it right back. 3rd consecutive drive that one of us goes 3 and out, and it's our ball at our 20. We get into Arkansas territory, and it's another terrible punt from Ickey Angulo for 23 yards, and it's returned 17 to the Arkansas 37. Arkansas drives it to our 4, but we force the turnover on downs to end the game! [i]Tech 27, ARK 13[/i] Nice defensive showing for us, and a good offensive day as well in hostile territory. We put up good numbers, and although Stacy Kadela got intercepted twice, he did get shaken up that kept him from another as Errict Crecion got that one. I was expecting more yardage from Jashon Massey, but he did have over 100 yards total offense. [b]Total Yards 433-294 Passing 285-210 Rushing 148-84 TOP 33:06-26:54[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 21-31 261 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT E. Crecion 2-2 24 yards, 1 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 25-86 A. Armour 6-25 E. Ledbetter 1-25 L. Dockery 4-16, 1 TD J. Bernet 1-0 S. Kadela 2-(-2) [u]Receiving[/u] F. Osika 7-102 J. Bernet 8-73, 1 TD M. Shields 3-58 E. Ledbetter 3-29 J. Massey 2-23, 1 TD

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[b][u]Week Two[/b][/u] We come off a big win in Fayetteville last week, and now we head to Arizona for a big matchup with Arizona State. The Sun Devils are coming off a 17-10 heartbreaker against Clemson, and I'm sure they want retribution on somebody. They're favored by 6 over us, but after the way Clemson's defense shut them down, I don't see it being by that much, even though they are ranked 25th in the nation. Sophomore Lenvil Barlow leads them on the field, with Robaire Olivo just as good or better than Jashon Massey on our side as their top running back. Harry Givins and Ja'Waren Ohalete are his top receivers. On defense, they have a solid front line and good linebackers, so we'll probably be passing much of the game. [u]First Quarter[/u] Arizona State starts with the ball first, and they march right down the field on our defense before Olivo takes it in from 2 yards out for the score. We get the ball back after a kickoff out of bounds, and a 2 yard run is followed by JoJuan Bernet catching a 10 yard out and eluding the defense all the way into the end zone for the score! A quick first down, and we hold the Sun Devils to punt. We drive from around our 20 to midfield were we stall and punt it into the end zone. They move up to their 43 before we force a bad punt and a face mask penalty to set us up again at our own 40. Nothing going for us though, as we punt it into the end zone again for another touchback. [i]Tech 7, ASU 7[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] They move the ball on a methodical drie down to our 18, but we hold and force the field goal. We drive into Sun Devil territory before a 3rd and 7 pass to Terrance Swartz streaking across the middle breaks loose for a 41 yard touchdown! ASU drives to midfield, but Teag Bannan jars the ball loose and Donovan Sirmon picks it up at the ASU 45! Nothing for us though, and we punt it through the end zone. They don't go far for a 3 and out, and another poor punt and an 11 yard return sets us up at the ASU 44. We drive it inside the ASU 10 before Stacy Kadela hits Terrance Swartz for a 6 yard score, his second of the game! ASU gets the ball back, but they can't get it going, and that's the score we head to the half with. [i]Tech 21, ASU 10[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We move the ball some but stall out near midfield, and Ickey Angulo punts it away. ASU moves the ball well, and they drive it inside our 1 before Dean Huard hits Olivo behind the line and we force another field goal. 3 and out, and ASU sets back up at their 26. We help them out with a roughing the passer penalty on a 17 yard pass, and we can't keep them out this time. They get a 2 point conversion to tie the game back up as we head to the final quarter. [i]Tech 21, ASU 21[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Another 3 and out, and we punt it away yet again. Our offense is getting stagnant now. We force a punt, and Jashon Massey frees up on first down for 9. That gives us license to strike, and we do as Kadela hooks up with Ledbetter again for a 70 yard score to give us back the lead! We hold on defense and get the ball back at our 31 after a 17 yard Terrance Swartz punt return. We pound it our down the field with only 2 passes, but Moe Upshaw has shades of last season as his kick is blocked! They run it 59 yards down the field before we catch up and stop them. A big sack on 2nd down takes ASU out of field goal range, so they punt and it hits the end zone. We move the chains once and Kadela goes back to Bernet for another score, but it gets called back on a hold. Another hold the next play for the same player, center Odell Diana, and I'm hopping mad as it's our ball now at our 10 instead of the 30. WE have to punt it away, and Ickey Angulo goes 51 yards on the kick to the ASU 33 after the return. They get to our 41 and Barlow attempts a final heave, but Lum Johns knocks it down to preserve the win! [i]Tech 28, ASU 21[/i] Not our best day defensively by a long shot, as we only outgained the Sun Devils by 2 yards. They had 6 more first downs than we did, and 53 more rushing yards, but in the end, our passing game made the difference. Our defense needs to step it up in rush D, or we could have a thin time of it in conference play. [b]Total Yards 414-412 Passing 294-239 Rushing 120-173 TOP 27:00=22:09[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 18-25 294 yards, 4 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 27-101 A. Armour 3-13 L. Dockery 3-8 S. Kadela 1-0 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 6-110, 1 TD J. Bernet 4-75, 1 TD T. Swartz 3-52, 2 TD J. Massey 2-28 L. Dockery 2-19 A. Armour 1-10

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[b][u]Week 3 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Michigan 3. Texas 4. Georgia 5. Purdue 6. Auburn 7. USC 8. Ohio State 9. Miami 10. Oregon State [b][u]Week 3 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Michigan 3. Texas 4. Oregon State 5. Georgia 6. Purdue 7. Auburn 8. USC 9. Oklahoma 10. Miami We're not active this week, but we got our first votes in the polls this week! We look forward to cracking the top 25 sooner than we did last season.

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[b][u]Week Four[/b][/u] Week four is here, and so is Conference USA play, as we head down to Houston to face Rice. We're 2-0 and looking like we're on the rise, and Rice is 0-3. Sophomore Clayton Conley has gotten better since he was a true freshman last year, and he'll only continue to get better. True freshman Stoney Josiah is his main back, and Stoney Sape and Cotton Rowe are his main targets. On defense, they're adequate, but only that, with no stand outs anywhere on the field. [u]First Quarter[/u] It's not a good start for us defensively as Kenoy Alderman gets hit with 2 holding penalties, and Rice marches down the field for a touchdown as I stand slack jawed at our poor defensive presence on the field. We get into Rice territory, but we have to punt. First play, and Sape catches a 45 yard pass, while I'm hopping mad on the sideline. We finally hold them at our own 1 with a 2 yard loss by Mosi Cloud to force the field goal, and we're suddenly down by two scores. Aaron Hebron comes out after Stacy Kadela tweaks his knee, and he drives us to midfield as the quarter expires. [i]Rice 10, Tech 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] Stacy Kadela comes back in the game after retaping his knee, and he proceeds to continue the drive, which ends in his hitting JoJuan Bernet for a 4 yard touchdown! Another big pass from Conley sets Rice up in our territory, but they miss the field goal. 3 and out, and we punt it away. We hold them to their first 3 and out of the game, and we get the ball back at our own 32. Nothing doing for us, and it's a big 55 yard punt from Ickey Angulo to the Rice 5. We hold after a single first down, and we drive down the field and kick a field goal as time expires in the half to tie it up. [i]Tech 10, Rice 10[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We drive the opening kickoff into Rice territory before stalling at the 30, and Moe Upshaw gives us our first lead of the game with the 47 yard field goal. That's more like it now! Conley takes his troops down the field again though, and they kick a 24 yard field goal to tie it back up. 3 and out, and we punt again, Nothing doing for Rice either, as we force a punt. Yet another 3 and out, and that'll end a bland 3rd quarter. [i]Tech 13, Rice 13[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We drive down the field, and thanks to a roughing the passer penalty, we get inside the red zone. We get inside the 10 before Jashon Massey gets in the end zone for the first time this year to put us up by 7. We hold 3 and out, but another tweaking of Stacy Kadela's knee takes him out long enough for Errict Crecion to toss an interception. Luckily for us, Montrae Martinez comes through for us with a pick of Conley to set us back up almost where we started. We pound it out down the field before Massey picks up his second rushing touchdown of the day from a yard out to put us up by 14. Conley makes one last gasp down the field as they move along, but Lum Johns picks him off on the last play of the game to seal our victory! [i]Tech 27, Rice 13[/i] Where to begin on this one? Our defense played well after the first drive, but our offense needed a kick start. I gave them that at the half, and they rewarded me with a field goal before Massey took the reins on his own shoulders and found the end zone. This is a game we should have won by 25 in my own estimation, although we only missed the oddsmakers by a single point. We have to play better if we want to keep winning. [b]Total Yards 396-353 Passing 264-264 Rushing 132-89 TOP 31:41-28:19[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 22-29, 210 yards, 1 TD A. Hebron 5-6, 54 yards E. Crecion 0-1, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 28-107, 2 TD L. Dockery 6-31 A. Armour 3-7 S. Kadela 1-5 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 8-102 J. Bernet 7-70, 1 TD F. Osika 4-44 J. Massey 7-41 L. Dockery 1-7

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[b][u]Week Five[/b][/u] We're 3-0 to start the season, and although we had a weak showing last week, we're still undefeated. We didn't get as many votes in the polls this time around as last, so we need to put together a solid showing here against UTEP. Last year, we only squeaked by them with a 16-14 win, so here we go again, this year as a 27 point favorite. Their quarterback is 5th year senior Sylvester Sutherland, who helped lead them against us last year, and Marlin LeMaster is back and better than he was then. Dokie Nece is his main go-to guy again this year. On defense, they're pretty weak and beaten up, so hopefully our offense will come alive in this one and not let it be as close as last year. [u]First Quarter[/u] We hold UTEP to 3 and out on their opening drive, and it's time for our offense to take the field. It's a good drive from the 50 after a short punt by UTEP, and Stacy Kadela goes 4 for 4 before giving the ball to Jashon Massey at the 2 for a touchdown! We pick the pass off on their next offensive play at their 43, and we're in business again! Nothing doing for us though, as we go 3 and out to punt it away. We hold 3 and out, but we have to punt ourselves after a single first down. UTEP moves the ball to our side of midfield, but we hold on a 4th and 2 to end the first quarter. [i]Tech 7,UTEP 0 [/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] First play of the 2nd quarter, and Massey rumbles through the line for a 56 yard touchdown, his longest run of the year! 2nd play of the next drive, and Sutherland hits Nece for a 9 yard gain, but he gets held up until Kory Mauti lays him out and causes a fumble! Mosi Cloud picks it up, and takes it 28 yards to the house! We hold UTEP agaian, and it's back to offense at our 33. We drive it down the field thanks to good running from Massey and nice passes from Kadela to a 4th and goal at the the one. We go for it and get held up, so it's UTEP ball at our 2. Next play, we sack Sutherland in the end zone, so it's our ball again. We get into UTEP territory, but a holding penalty takes us back and we're forced to punt. UTEP takes the ball into our territory with little time, and we force a long field goal try that goes wide left. [i]Tech 23, UTEP 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We start with pretty good field position, position made better after a 19 yard run by Massey. Another shorter run of 3, and Massey pops free on a play action and catches a perfectly thrown ball from Kadela for a 37 yard touchdown! 3 and out for UTEP, and we take over at our 41. We move the ball down the field with some good runs from Massey before he takes a toss sweep 26 yards into the end zone for his 3rd rushing touchdown of the day! Marlin LeMaster takes it on himself to run the ball down the field before we stop them and force a field goal, their first points of the game. Massey moves us up to midfield, but Abdual Armour, the fullback, bobbles a handoff and we turn the ball over at midfield. Our ball right back though, as Saint Benson picks it off and returns it 23 yards back to where we started from. We take the gift on down the field before Kadela hooks up with JoJuan Bernet for a 10 yard touchdown strike to end the quarter. [i]Tech 44, UTEP 3[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We take over at our own 2 after we hold 3 and out against UTEP, and Massey and Armour pound the ball out before a play action fake holds up the defense and Felipe Osika springs free for a gain of 57. It's pound it out again until we get in the red zone and Kadela goes to Ernest Ledbetter for 13 and the touchdown. Good return for UTEP, but it's all for naught as Sutherland gets picked again. We can't do much with it, so we punt it back away. 3 and out for UTEP, and we get the ball back with 2 minutes on the clock. We put in the 2nd string, and they reward us with a drive for a field goal that leaves 40 seconds on the clock. UTEP has nothing going, and we get a 4th interception on the game with 13 seconds left, and we finish off the clock for the win. [i]Tech 54, UTEP 3[/i] It was all Bulldogs today as we manhandled the Miners. Jashon Massey had his first career 200 yard rushing game with 3 touchdowns, and Stacy Kadela had a good game though the air with almost 300 yards. Our defense held nicely most of the game, so all around, I'm happy with our victory today. [b]Total Yards 559-194 Passing 288-126 Rushing 271-68 TOP 36:38-23:22[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 20-27 287 yards, 3 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 30-206, 3 TD L. Dockery 6-31 A. Armour 9-28 S. Kadela 1-6 C. Dial 2-5 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 7-70, 1 TD J. Bernet 5-68, 1 TD F. Osika 2-67 J. Massey 4-60, 1 TD A. Armour 1-12 M. Shields 2-11

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[b][u]Week Six[/b][/u] 4-0, and we have the longest active winning streak in college football right now! We're heading into visit the Knights of Central Florida in another Conference USA game. This could be a good matchup for us, as we're favored by 28 points. Winston Croom leads this team onto the field, and he's pretty good. Junior Gregg Graham is his his top back, and Ryan Stemrick sits opposite Quinn Ferguson as his main receiving targets. On defense, they've got a few good players, but others who aren't so good. We should have a good day offensively. [u]First Quarter[/u] UCF has the ball to begin with, and we force 3 and out. We drive down the field, but stall out after two straight holding calls, and Moe Upshaw misses from 48. UCF takes the ball down the field and gets inside our red zone, but we stiffen up and force the field goal. 3 and out for us, and UCF gets the ball back as the quarter expires. [i]UCF 3, Tech 0 [/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] UCF moves the ball into scoring position, and they put in from 4 yards out, leaving us shaking our heads as we fall down by 10 again. We drive to midfield, but stall again and punt to the UCF 5. They move a few yards, but we hold them. Another 3 and out for us, and this is the Rice game all over again. We hold again after a fake punt, and it's our ball at our the UCF 44. We punt yet again, and it's UCF ball at their own 3. They can't get anything going, and it's our first half of scoreless ball since I've been at Tech. [i]UCF 10, Tech 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We drive the opening kickoff down the field again, and this time we score, as Moe Upshaw kicks a field goal to cut it to a one touchdown lead. 3 and out for UCF, and we get the ball back at our own 45. Moe Upshaw misses a field goal from 40 yards, but it was offsides, which was barely enough to give us the first down! We take that gift down to the 5 yard line where JoJuan Bernet catches it for a touchdown to tie the game! We hold another 3 and out, and we take over at our own 22 this time around. We drive it down to the 14 as the quarter ends. [i]Tech 10, UCF 10[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Our patience pays off big as we take 3 plays from the 14 to put it in the end zone with a 4 yard Jashon Massey run. It's a shanked kick by Cleo Darche on the kickoff, and a 10 yard gain on the first play puts them at midfield. Unfortunately for Croom, he gets picked off by Gordon Erlandson, who has a clear path 63 yards for the touchdown! We hold them 3 and out, and the punt is a nice, low driving kick that Terrance Swartz picks out of the air and returns it 86 yards for the touchdown! All of a sudden, we find some scoring from somewhere other than our offense, which has been stagnant today. We hold for another 3 and out, and we get the ball back at our 27. We drive down the field with only one pass play on 3rd down that falls incomplete, and we kick the 43 yard field goal. Another 3 and out, and our defense has kicked in now. Unfortunately, our offense sputters again, as Kadela gets picked off and returned for a touchdown. Luckily, there's only 2 minutes left as we pick up the onside kick at midfield. We grind it out and end the game. [i]Tech 34, UCF 18[/i] Not what I wanted, and certainly not what the oddmakers expected, but we did okay today. Our offense certainly staggered around like drunk kids, but I can understand since we had a breakout game last week, and they felt they could continue on like they did then. Our defense stood tall again, but we have to stop teams from scoring early and get our own scoring on the board first. [b]Total Yards 382-192 Passing 209-123 Rushing 173-69 TOP 35:33-24:27[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 24-32, 209 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 25-123, 1 TD L. Dockery 10-26 A. Armour 5-20 C. Dial 2-5 S. Kadela 2-9 [u]Receiving[/u] J. Bernet 6-58, 1 TD T. Swartz 6-43 E. Ledbetter 5-41 J. Massey 3-36 M. Shields 1-14 L. Dockery 1-13 F. Osika 1-2 C. Dial 1-2

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week 6 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. Wisconsin 2. Michigan 3. Miami 4. Texas 5. USC 6. Auburn 7. Purdue 8. Georgia 9. Oregon State 10. Michigan State [b][u]Week 6 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. Georgia 2. Wisconsin 3. Texas 4. USC 5. Michigan 6. Minnesota 7. Michigan State 8. Miami 9. Oregon State 10. Auburn We're gathering steam even with the weak showing here against UCF. Hopefully we'll continue to get better and impress the sportswriters.