Smooth Pancakes' Coaching Carousel Career

[SmoothPancakes]

Alright, I hope to god I'll actually be able to get Rice played tonight.

Spent the last 5 hours dealing with getting Christmas decorations down from the attic, putting up the tree, going through every damn string of lights and changing out the dead bulbs (which of course had a different base than the baggie full of spare bulbs, which meant change out bases on every single dead bulb, 45 in all), get all the damn lights on the tree, only to plug them in and have the second string from the top not even fucking light up after checking it just 10 minute before. Another half hour and checking bulb by bulb along the entire string to finally find the goddamn bulb that was fucking up the whole string.

Rice better be ready to get bitchslapped, because I have a mountain of frustrations from those goddamn lights that I have ready to take out on the Owls and rip them a new asshole.

[SmoothPancakes]

Firing up the 360 right now. Time to take out my fury from those damned Christmas lights on the Owls.

[jaymo76]

Rice better be ready to get bitchslapped, because I have a mountain of frustrations from those goddamn lights that I have ready to take out on the Owls and rip them a new asshole.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Seven





Game Notes

--- Entering the home stretch of our four game stretch at home, it wasn't going to get any easier, as we welcomed one of our rivals, the Rice Owls to town. The Owls enter the game at 4-2 on the season, 2-2 in conference action. If the Owls had any hopes of winning the West Division, they had to win this game, as a loss would put them three back and all but eliminate them from the division title. We, meanwhile, were holding onto a one game lead over UTEP for first place in the division, as well, we had 16 recruits visiting today’s game, with hopes of signing at least a handful to a scholarship after today’s game. A win would certainly go a much farther way in making that happen than a loss would. Rice won the coin toss and elected to kick to start the game.

Starting on our 24 yard line, it was the running game that got us moving, as Brandon Price broke off a pair of rushes for 10 yards each, giving us first down at the 45. The defense would break through on the next play, taking down Price for a two yard loss and sending us into the air. Brandon Booth would find Sean Fox for a 7 yard gain to set up third and four at midfield, before a 15 yard pass to Sean Parks gave us first down at the Rice 34. Another failed run by Price, for a loss of one yard, would bring back the passing attack. Price was able to beat his guy off the line and haul in a pass from Booth, getting down inside the Rice 5 yard line, but Price would be stripped of the ball from behind, the fumble recovered by Jamaal Harper, who returned it 7 yards to give the Rice Owls their first takeaway of the day and possession on their 10 yard line with 6:37 to play in the first quarter. The first drive for Rice got started a bit rough, as Lamar Everett was tackled for a two yard loss, before recovering and picking up 5 yards on the ground on second down. The Owls would convert third and 7 with a 26 yard pass from Lamar Evans to Issac Hart, giving Rice first down at their 40 yard line. Evans would get wrapped up for a four yard loss while trying to scramble, and an incomplete pass would leave Rice with third and 14. Our defense would fail again, as Evans found Matt Newman for a 26 yard gain and first down at our 40. Two incomplete passes brought about another third down, and again, the Rice Owls kept their drive alive as Evans hit Jamaal Wilkinson for 14 yards and a new set of downs at our 26. Everett picked up 9 yards on the ground on first down, before two incomplete passes would finally bring about Rice’s first fourth down of the game. The Owls would choose to go for it instead of attempting a 34 yard field goal, but Evans’ pass intended for Wilkinson was knocked incomplete, and we took over on our 17 yard line.

After a 5 yard rush by Price, Fox hauled in a pass from Booth, and thanks to a fail attempt by the defender to intercept the pass, was able to continue down field for a 24 yard gain and first down at the 46. Passing on first down, Booth found Carlos Anderson along the left hash for a 16 yard gain and first down at the Rice 37. After a gain of only two yards by Price, Parks got us a new set of downs, hauling in a 12 yard pass from Booth to get us to the Rice 23. After a three yard pass to Fox, Booth found John Andrews for a 12 yard gain and first and goal at the Rice 8 yard line. Price never had a chance on first down, as the linebacker blitz left Price trapped in the backfield for a one yard loss. A pass on second and goal would see us get on the scoreboard, as Booth hit Chad Fisher crossing just behind a defender for the 9 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 1:28 left in the quarter. After a touchback on the kickoff, Everett picked up 5 yards on the ground, before Evans hit Donald Thompson for a 14 yard gain and first down at the 41. An 18 yard pass to Everett on the next play gave the Owls first down at our 40. Everett would get taken down in the backfield for a three yard loss on the first down rush, before Evans would pick up 5 yards on a scramble, leaving Rice with third and 8 at our 39. An incomplete pass on third down would force Rice to punt. The punt sailed out of the end zone for a touchback, our offense taking over on the 20 with two seconds left in the first quarter. A pass attempt on first down was broken up, nearly intercepted, and that was the end of the first quarter, as we continued holding onto a 7-0 lead.

Two more incomplete passes to start the second quarter, and our drive ended exactly where it started. The 40 yard punt was caught on a fair catch and Rice took over at their 39. Everett started the Owls offense moving with rushes of 5 and 6 yards, but a holding penalty on first down from midfield pushed Rice back to almost where they started the drive. Evans hit Jon Dean for an 8 yard gain on first and 20, but Everett would be tackled for a four yard loss on the next play, leaving Rice with third and 16 from their 44. A dropped pass on the next play would force Rice to punt, officially gaining only 6 yards on the drive after the penalty. Price returned the 42 yard punt for 6 yards and our offense took over on our 19 yard line. One play would be all that was needed to find the end zone, as a blitz by the defense was exposed by our offensive line, who opened a massive gap for Price, and one juke was all that was needed for Price to take it 81 yards to the house, giving us a 14-0 lead with 7:24 left in the half. Starting on their 23, Everett picked up 5 yards on the ground for Rice, before Evans was able to get four on second down, leaving the Owls with third and one. A 9 yard rush by Everett would get the job done, giving the Owls a new set of downs at their 41. The drive would go downhill from there, as Evans was tackled for a three yard loss, followed by an incomplete pass, leaving Rice with third and 13 at their 38. The drive would crash on the next play, as Marcus Owens intercepted Evans, returning it 5 yards to our 41 yard line to set up our offense with great field position.

Going back to the ground game, Price picked up 8 yards on first down to get us the 49. A 5 yard rush by Price, and we had a first down at the Rice 46. Keeping it going on the ground, Price picked up 5 yards before Fox got 4 yards on the next play, leaving us with third and one at the Rice 36. Price would keep the drive going forward, finding the hole and getting a gain of 7 to give us first down at the 29 yard line. After a three yard gain by Price, Booth caught the defense snoozing, hitting Parks for a 13 yard gain on a slant route and a first down at the 13 yard line. Price was able to only gain two yards on the first down rush, before doing the honors himself, hauling in a 12 yard touchdown pass from Booth to give us a 21-0 lead with 2:54 left in the first half. Starting on their 27, Rice got moving quickly, as Evans hit Adam Ryan for a 12 yard gain. After a dropped pass on first down, Evans found Hart for 20 yards and a first down at our 41. Evans would pick up three yards on the ground before he found Ryan again, this time for 8 yards and a first down at our 30. After a thrown away pass, the offense was tagged with holding, pushing them back to our 40 yard line. An incomplete pass left the Owls stuck with third and 20, before Evans hit Newman for a 17 yard gain and fourth and three at our 23. Grant Mosley would get the Owls on the board, kicking the 40 yard field goal to make it 21-3.

After the 17 yard kickoff return by Parks, our offense headed out, starting on our 17 yard line with one minute to play in the half. Three straight incomplete passes, and we were forced to punt with 49 seconds left on the clock. The 48 yard punt was returned by Everett for 12 yards, leaving the Owls with 41 seconds to play and starting on their 47 yard line. Going to the air on first down, Evans hit Ryan for a 17 yard gain and first down at our 37. A timeout froze the clock with 35 seconds left. Three incomplete passes would leave Rice with 23 seconds on the clock. The fourth down pass attempt was batted down at the line and Rice turned the ball over on our 37 with 16 seconds to go. The offense went out and a kneel down by Booth would bring the second quarter to an end, our lead holding at 21-3 as we headed to the half.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Rice would immediately close the gap to start the second half, as Evans hit Ryan in stride, who then outran our secondary for a 75 yard touchdown to cut our lead to 21-10 with 8:35 left in the quarter. A 27 yard return by Parks gave our offense the ball at our 26. Keeping it on the ground, Price was able to only gain four yards before being brought down by the safety. After an incomplete pass on second down, Booth found Fox through the air, but it would only go for a gain of 5 yards, forcing us to punt on fourth and one from our 35. A fair catch on the 39 yard punt started Rice at their 25. Evans hit Ryan for an 8 yard gain on first down, before a three yard rush by Evans gave the Owls a new set of downs. The drive would stall out on the 35 yard line after two incomplete passes and a loss of one yard by Everett left Rice with fourth and 11. A four yard return by Price on the 48 yard punt gave our offense the ball on our 21 yard line. Trying to keep it going on the ground, the first down rush attempt went nowhere, as a late blitzing safety caught Price at the line for no gain. After an incomplete pass to leave us with third and 10, Price snuck out of the backfield and caught a pass from Booth, beating the nearest defender down the sideline before being knocked out of bounds for a 22 yard gain and first down at the 43. After an incomplete pass on first down, Anderson would keep the drive moving, hauling in a 15 yard pass from Booth for a first down at the Rice 42. The drive would screech to a halt on the next play, as a pass intended for Parks was intercepted by Roger Phillips, who was immediately brought down at the Rice 38 for only a one yard return. Everett was tackled for a loss of one yard on first down, before picking up three yards on the ground on the next play. Rice converted third and 8 as Evans hit Everett for a 10 yard gain and first down at the 49. An 11 yard pass to Hart put the Owls at our 39 yard line with another first down. After a 7 yard rush by Everett, Evans picked up the first down himself, taking it three yards on the ground down to our 29 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Evans hit Newman for an 18 yard gain and first down at our 11. Our defense would push the Owls back, as Evans was sacked on first down for a 7 yard loss, and an incomplete pass left Rice with third and 17 at our 18 yard line. A pass to Thompson would only gain 8 yards, down to our 10, and the Owls would be forced to kick the 27 yard field goal to make it 21-13 with 3:06 left in the third quarter.

A touchback on the kickoff gave us the ball at our 25. A 7 yard pass to Anderson left us with second and three, before Fox caught a pass for a four yard gain and first down at our 36. After an incomplete pass on first down, A mismatch would lead to the end zone as Price caught a pass from Booth in a two on one situation, got a block by Parks and took it 64 yards to the house for the 28-13 lead with 2:05 left. Starting on their 21 after the kickoff, a pass attempt by the Owls was knocked incomplete, before Evans found Dean for a 19 yard gain and first down at their 40. Everett would pick up 8 yards on the ground on the next play, before being tackled for a loss of two to leave Rice with third and four from the 45. A dropped pass would bring out the punt team. A 19 yard return by Price on the 43 yard punt gave our offense the ball at our 31 yard line. Starting the drive on the ground, Price picked up 6 yards on the first down rush, followed with a gain of 5 by Fox to give us another first at the 42. Continuing on the ground, Price picked up four yards. The final seconds of the quarter would tick off and the third quarter would come to an end, our lead standing at 28-13 with one quarter to go.

The second down rush by Price would only gain one yard, and our offense was left with third and 5 from our 47 yard line. Fox kept our driving going, catching a pass from Booth for a 12 yard gain and a first down at the Rice 41. Returning to the ground, Price never had a chance, being brought down by the linebacker for a one yard loss. We would gain 5 free yards, as the defense was flagged for encroachment on the next play, leaving us with second and 6. After an incomplete pass on the second down pass, Booth found Fox again, this time for 15 yards over the middle and a first down at the Rice 22. Trying our luck once again on the ground, Price picked up three yards on the first down rush, followed by a gain of 5 to leave us with third and two at the 14. Price would get us the first down, rumbling ahead for a 5 yard gain to give us first and goal at the Rice 8. A two yard rush by Fox was followed with a gain of two by Price, to set up third and goal at the four yard line. Parks would extend our lead, hauling in the four yard touchdown pass, the pass from Booth perfectly splitting two defenders bracketing Parks, and our lead opened up to 35-13 with 5:14 to play. Starting on their 22 yard line, Rice quickly went backwards, as the Owls got tagged for false start, pushing them back to their 17. Two incomplete passes was followed with a 5 yard rush by Everett and the Owls were forced to punt on fourth and 10 from their 22. A fair catch on the 49 yard punt gave us possession on our 28 yard line with 4:36 to play.

The first down rush attempt by Price was able to gain only one yard, before Booth found Anderson for a 21 gain to midfield with 3:59 to play. Price never had a chance on the next play, getting swarmed in the backfield for a two yard loss and second and 12 at our 48. Roy Smith hauled in a 7 yard pass from Booth on the following play, to give our offense third and 5 with 2:53 remaining. A 12 yard pass to Anderson gave us a new set of downs at the Rice 33 with 2:39 to go. A 15 yard rush by Price gave us first down at the Rice 18 yard line and hammered the final nail in Rice’s coffin with only 2:07 left to play. Price kept pounding it on the ground, picking up 8 yards to leave us with second and two at the 10 yard line and 1:24 to play. A new set of downs wouldn’t be necessary, as Price hit the hole sprinting and took it 10 yards untouched up the middle for the touchdown, the defense never having a chance to stop him. With the touchdown, it made our lead 42-13 with 1:04 left to play in the game. A 25 yard kickoff return left Rice on their 29 yard line to start their drive. After a 7 yard rush by Everett, Evans was tackled for a two yard loss, leaving Rice facing third and 5 at their 34 with 42 seconds remaining. Evans was sacked on the next play for a 9 yard loss and Rice was left facing fourth and 14 from their 25 with only 37 second to go. The Rice punt sailed 42 yards, Price calling fair catch, and our offense trotted out to our 33 yard line with 26 seconds left on the clock, Casey Bishop only needing to kneel the ball once to end the game.

With the win, we improve to 6-1 on the season, 4-0 in C-USA play and become bowl eligible. Rice drops to 4-3, 2-3 in C-USA action, the Owls all but eliminated from contention for the West Division title. Next up, it's the end of our four game home stretch, as we entertain East Carolina. The Pirates enter the game at 5-2, 2-1 in C-USA action. ECU started their season with a 52-6 loss at San Diego State, then handed Central Florida it's only loss of the season, 27-21. The Pirates then downed Southern Miss 40-10, before losing two straight to South Florida 38-13 and at UTEP 38-17. ECU rebounded with two wins, 28-16 against Hawaii and 20-6 against UAB leading into our game.

Final Score
42, 13



Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – A successful day by Booth, throwing for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns. Brandon Price had another breakout day, rushing for 196 yards on 29 carries, his longest rush being the 81 yard touchdown in the second quarter, and ending the day with two rushing touchdowns. Another good day for the receiving corps, 7 different sets of hands hauling in at least one pass today, five different receivers ending the day with double digit yards, and three different people scoring touchdowns.

- Tulsa Defense – An outstanding day from the defense. There was cause for concern early on when Rice kept converting third down after third down, the defense settled down, held the Owls to only 13 points and held the #44 rushing offense in the nation to only 69 yards on the ground.

- Tulsa Kicking – Pratt had another easy day, attempting no field goals, while going 6-6 in PATs.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	0	3	10	0	13
	7	14	7	14	42

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
1:28		Touchdown	C. Fisher, 9 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	7-0
Second Quarter
7:24		Touchdown	B. Price, 81 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	14-0
2:54		Touchdown	B. Price, 12 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	21-0
1:14		Field Goal	G. Mosley, 39 yard field goal	21-3
Third Quarter
8:35		Touchdown	A. Ryan, 75 yard pass from L. Evans (G. Mosley kick)	21-10
3:09		Field Goal	G. Mosley, 26 yard field goal	21-13
2:05		Touchdown	B. Price, 64 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	28-13
Fourth Quarter
5:14		Touchdown	S. Parks, 4 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	35-13
1:04		Touchdown	B. Price, 10 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	42-13

Game Stats

Rice	Stat	Tulsa
13	Score	42
17	First Downs	20
393	Total Offense	545
26 - 69 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	35 - 234 - 2
18 - 43 - 1	Comp - Att - TD	22 - 34 - 4
324	Passing Yards	311
2	Times Sacked	0
5 - 16 (31%)	3rd Down Conversion	8 - 11 (72%)
0 - 2 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
5 - 0 - 1 (20%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	4 - 4 - 0 (100%)
1	Turnovers	2
0	Fumbles Lost	1
1	Intercepted	1
12	Punt Return Yards	29
108	Kick Return Yards	67
513	Total Yards	641
6 – 44.0	Punts - Average	3 - 43.0
4 - 30	Penalties	1 - 15
13:55	Time of Possession	22:05

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season	6
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	42
	7+ rushing TD in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in each season	1/2 Passed
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

86%

[SmoothPancakes]

Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, it took a 13-0 second half advantage for #2 USC to comeback and outlast Colorado, 22-14. Goodbye TCU. Texas Tech knocks off the #3 Horned Frogs 38-28, knocking TCU from the ranks of the unbeaten. Leading only 17-14 at halftime, #5 Alabama pulls away in the second half, defeating #18 Tennessee 30-14. In the game of the week, #7 Michigan dismantles #15 Michigan State, 49-25. #8 Oregon has a field day with Sparky, as the Ducks down Arizona State, 38-3.

Florida takes down #11 South Carolina 24-14. It took a touchdown with 1:46 to play, but #13 North Carolina stays undefeated, holding on to beat Duke 23-20. A horrible week for Buckeye fans, as #14 Ohio State gets absolutely abused by 4-3 Purdue, 42-18. #16 Texas whips #20 Baylor 37-10. Miami pulls within one game of .500 as they upset #21 Florida State, 42-33. The Mountaineers made a game of it, but in the end #23 Kansas State prevails 41-30 to knock West Virginia to 2-4 after a 2-0 start. Overtime is unfriendly to #22 Washington, as Arizona knocks off the Huskies 34-31 in OT. Also in overtime, #25 Iowa holds off Penn State, 23-17.

For our readers, souljahbill, Southern Miss falls back under .500, losing 42-28 to Marshall, dropping to 3-4 (1-2). Jaymo, as mentioned in the Top 25 recap, Arizona State drops to 3-3 (1-3 in Pac-12 play) with a 38-3 whooping at the hands of #8 Oregon. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 3-3 (1-1 in the Sun Belt) with a 38-10 win over Texas State. Iowa State improves to 2-5 (1-3) with a 21-14 win over Oklahoma State.

On a C-USA note, it looks like a potential rematch in the making for the CCG. Florida International improves to 6-2 (5-1) with a 44-14 shellacking of Louisiana Tech, though East Carolina still has a chance, sitting at 5-2 (2-1), though East Carolina plays me next week. And I now have breathing room at the top of the West Division, as Tulane picks up their first conference win, 24-14 over UTEP, knocking the Miners to 6-2 (2-2), giving me a two game lead over UTEP and a three game lead over Rice halfway through my conference schedule.

Looking at undefeated teams left, with #6 TCU losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 5. #2 USC (7-0), #3 Georgia (8-0), #4 Rutgers (7-0), #13 North Carolina (7-0), #19 Fresno State (5-0), are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 8.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 9 teams still looking for their first win: Akron (0-7), Central Michigan (0-7), Idaho (0-5), Kentucky (0-8), Memphis (0-7), Minnesota (0-7), San Jose State (0-7), UMass (0-8), and UNLV (0-7).

Teams getting their first wins this week were: Ball State (24-17 over 0-7 Central Michigan) and Washington State (20-13 over 0-7 San Jose State).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia (getting 36 first place votes) and USC (22 votes) remain #1 and #2, Rutgers (2 votes) climbs one to #3, Alabama and Arkansas both climb one to #4 and #5, Michigan, Oregon and LSU all climb one to #6, #7 and #8. North Carolina is up four to #9 (and getting one first place vote), and Wisconsin remains #10. With their loss to Texas Tech, TCU drops eight to #11, Fresno State on a bye week jumps six to #13, despite their loss to Michigan, Michigan State only drops one to #16. Texas Tech, fresh off their upset of previously #3 TCU, enters the poll this week at #17. South Carolina, after losing to Florida, drops seven to #18. Kansas State jumps four to #19, Auburn, on a bye week, jumps four to #20. Iowa jumps four to #21, Tennessee drops four to #22, Ohio State drops nine to #23, Florida enters the poll this week at #24, and Baylor drops five to #25. Dropping out were Florida State (from #21) and Washington (from #22). On a side note, Tulsa is once again receiving votes, 36 votes to be precise, good enough for #31.

In the Media Poll, the top two remain the same, USC (receiving 39 first place votes) and Georgia (22 votes) both remain #1 and #2, Rutgers (3 votes) climbs one to #3, Alabama and Arkansas both up one to #4 and #5. Oregon and Michigan both go up one to #6 and #7. North Carolina jumps three to #8 (receiving one first place vote), LSU climbs one to #9 and Notre Dame, on a bye week, drops one to #10. TCU drops eight to #11. Texas climbs three to #13, Texas Tech make an incredible leap in the media poll, from unranked to #14. Fresno State, on a bye week, jumps six to #15. Michigan State drops three to #17. Kansas State climbs six to #18, Iowa goes up six to #19, South Carolina drops five to #20. Tennessee drops three to #21, Auburn enters the poll at #22, Ohio State plummets ten to #23. Florida and Oklahoma both also enter the poll this week, at #24 and #25. Dropping out were Baylor (from #20), Florida State (from #21), Washington (from #22), and Virginia Tech (from #24). As with the Coaches poll, Tulsa is receiving votes in the Media poll, getting 180 votes, good enough for #28.

[SmoothPancakes]

Holy Upsets! I'm playing the East Carolina game right now, they just went to their first studio update for the game, HOLY CRAP! This was not a kind day to the Top 25.

[SmoothPancakes]

Damn! I just audibly went "oh shit!" on a pass I just completed. This ECU game's gonna have some highlights being posted with it, at least sure as hell that video, regardless of whether I win or lose. That was the most beautiful pass I have thrown in my time with NCAA '13.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Eight





Game Notes

--- The final game of our homestretch, our team was riding high, having taken care of business against our two of our main rivals. Thanks to UTEP’s loss the previous week, we had a two game lead for first place in the West Division. Now it was time to expand that lead, as we welcomed East Carolina to Tulsa. The Pirates came in with a 5-2 record, 2-1 in the conference, trying to chase FIU for the East Division lead. It would be a tough battle for ECU, who entered the game with the #87 offense, #123 rushing offense, #96 defense, #106 rushing defense and #63 passing defense. Only positives for the Pirates was their #15 passing offense, and the fact that our passing defense was worse than theirs, ranking #123 in the nation. After busting out our special all yellows for the Rice game (part due to it being a rivalry game, and part due to 16 recruits being in attendance, we chose to stick with our standard home uniforms for the Pirates. ECU won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A 19 yard return on the kickoff got our offense started at the 23 for our first drive of the day. Hitting the Pirates in the mouth with the running game, Price got us moving with runs of 5 and 8 yards, before being brought down for a loss of one yard. A pass from Brandon Booth to Sean Fox gained 7 yards, followed by another strike to Fox going for 9 yards and a first down at midfield. After Carlos Anderson hauled in a pass for an 8 yard pick up, Price got the first down with a 5 yard rush down to the ECU 37. After Fox was wrapped up for a loss of one yard, Booth found Sean Parks for a 13 yard gain along the right hash and a first down at the 25. Two more rushes by Price, for 8 and three yards, gave us a new set of downs at the ECU 14. After an incomplete pass, Booth was sacked for a loss of 8 yards, leaving us with third and 18 from the 22. Booth found Nicholas Roberts for a 17 yard gain, but we were forced to settle for the field goal on fourth and one at the ECU 5. The 22 yard kick from Alphonso Pratt was good and we had a 3-0 lead with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter.

Starting on their 27 after a 26 yard kickoff return, the Pirates moved up field quickly, as Jon Siegel found Amir Quinn for a 12 yard gain to get to their 39. A rush by Sam Williams was stopped for a two yard loss, before an incomplete pass left ECU with third and 12. The drive would end on the next play as Calvin Rogers intercepted a Siegel pass, giving us possession at the ECU 44 yard line. Price got our offense moving, breaking off rushes for gains of three, 6 and four yards to give us first down at the ECU 31. On the next play, our drive crashed to a halt as an apparently 6 yard gain by Price ended up as a fumble recovered by East Carolina. While ECU celebrating, the referees called for an official review, and after a lengthy wait, declared the call overturned, sparing us the turnover and returning possession to our offense, leaving us with second and four at the ECU 25. Tossing the fumble up as a fluke, we put the ball right back into the hands of Price. Another 6 yard gain and we had a first down at the 19 yard line. After a 6 yard rush by Fox, Price followed that up with yet another 6 yard rush, this time giving us first and goal at the ECU 7 yard line. Keeping the ungodly improbable string of 6 yard rushes going, Price set us up with second and goal at the one yard line. Fox would do the honors for us, taking it in from one yard out to extend our lead to 10-0 with 52 seconds left in the first quarter.

A 20 yard kickoff return found the Pirates starting on their 18. After a dropped pass on first down, Siegel hit Williams for a 24 yard gain and first down at the 42. Another pass, to Paul Hampton, was followed with a 6 yard rush by Williams and a first down at our 42 yard line, where the final seconds of the quarter would tick off the clock, our lead holding at 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The start of the second quarter was poor for ECU, as Siegel was tackled for a two yard loss, followed by a drop pass to leave the Pirates with third and 12. A second straight dropped pass, and the Pirates were forced to punt on fourth down at our 45 yard line. The 41 yard punt went unreturned and we were forced to begin our offensive drive at our own three yard line. Price would need just one play to give us plenty of breathing room, breaking a 12 yard run to give us first down at our 15. The defense started keying on our running game, as Price could only manage one yard on the next play before being swarmed by white jerseys. Going into the air on second down, Booth found John Andrews for an 11 yard gain and a first down at our 27. After a batted down pass on first down, Booth hit Anderson along the left sideline, who turned up field and managed a 13 yard gain before being brought down at the 40. Switching back to the run game, Price was able to find a hole and some up field blocking, to turn a potential loss of yards into a 7 yard gain. The next play, the Pirates would bring Price down for a loss of yards, as the nose tackle bust through the center and tackled Price for a loss of two yards to leave us with third and 5. Fox would keep our drive alive, hauling in a 7 yard pass from Booth and giving us first down at the ECU 48. After two incomplete passes, Anderson kept us alive, hauling in a pass from Booth and then steamrolling over the corner for a 17 yard gain before being tripped up at the ankles. Returning to the air, Chad Fisher would get us in the end zone on the next play, plucking the pass from Booth out of midair right behind the defender’s head and then jogging the final few yards for the 30 yard touchdown pass, opening our lead to 16-0, where it would stay after the extra point by Pratt was blocked, with 5:25 left in the first half.

Starting on their 26 after the kickoff, Siegel hit Jason Pickens for a 10 yard gain to set up second and inches, before finding Pickens for 8 yards to give ECU a first down at their 43 yard line. After a four yard rush by Williams, two dropped passes would bring the Pirates’ drive to an end at their 47, as the punt team came out on fourth and 6. The 49 yard punt went unreturned, and we once again found ourselves in the shadows of our goalposts, starting on our four yard line. The first down rush by Price only gained two yards, out to our 6. Going into the air, Booth found Parks over the middle for a 14 yard gain to give us first down at our 20 yard line and plenty of breathing room. After a three yard rush by Price, Fox picked up four yards to give us third and three. A 7 yard pass to Fisher gave us first down at the 35. A pass to Anderson on the out route went for 19 yards before being run out of bounds, advancing us down to the ECU 46. A 10 yard pass on the slant route to Fisher went for a gain of 10 and left us with second and inches, before Price picked up two on the ground to give us first down at the 34 yard line. A pair of three yard rushes by Fox and Price found us facing third and four, before a nearly completed pass to Andrews was jarred loose and incomplete, leaving us with fourth and 5 at the 29 yard line. The 46 yard field goal attempt by Pratt was no good, and ECU took over at their 29 with 51 seconds left in the first half.

After an incomplete pass, Siegel was sacked for a 10 yard loss, after which we called a timeout with 40 seconds left on the clock. A 6 yard rush by Williams would leave ECU with fourth and 14 on their 25 yard line with 37 seconds to play and the punt team coming out. The 45 yard punt went unreturned and we took over at our 30 yard line with 32 seconds to play and one timeout. After an incomplete pass on first down, Booth was sacked for a 10 yard loss, leaving us with third and 20 from our 20, and a East Carolina timeout froze the clock with 24 seconds. An incomplete pass on third down and it was our turn to punt with 20 seconds left to play. The 48 yard punt was caught on a fair catch, and the Pirates took over at their 31 yard line with 15 seconds left. A pass from Siegel to Alexander Grier went for a gain of 5 yards and ECU called their second timeout with 11 seconds to go. An incomplete pass left third and 5 and just 6 seconds to play. A final pass attempt was completed to Grier for a gain of 30 yards, but the clock expired during the play, and we headed to halftime up 16-0.

After a touchback on the kickoff, the Pirates started their drive with an incomplete pass, before being flagged for false start, pushing them back to their 20 and second and 15. ECU would get a first down on the next play when Siegel hit Grier for a 26 yard gain to get to their 46 yard line. Two dropped passes and a toss to Williams for a 9 yard gain left ECU facing fourth and one at our 45 yard line. The punt sailed 49 yards and went for a touchback, starting our drive on our 20 yard line. After two rushes for 7 and three yards by Price left us with third and inches, it was Fox converting for a first down, finding the hole by the right tackle and riding the asshole of his tight end who was blocking downfield, picking up an extra 10 yards before being tackled for a 13 yard gain and first down at the 43 yard line. After a two yard rush by Price, it was Parks getting us a first down, hauling in a pass along the right hash, right over the heads of four defenders, before turning up field for a 24 yard gain and a first down at the ECU 32 yard line. After an 8 yard off tackle rush, Price took the rock again, this time getting the first down with a 5 yard gain. It was a tense moment after that play, as Price was slow to get up, the trainers rushing out onto the field. Price would sit up on this own, but was pointing to his right arm, causing concern on the sideline. With Price out of action while be evaluated, that left Fox and redshirt freshman Roy Smith stepping into the top two slots in the running game. After a three yard rush by Fox, Booth dropped a pass in just over the outstretched arms of the middle linebacker and into the waiting hands of Smith, who picked up 12 yards and gave us first and goal at the four yard line. Fox would get three yards on the rush to set up second and goal from the one yard line. One play later, Fox would find the end zone, carrying it from one yard out behind the left tackle and giving us a 23-0 lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter. The ensuing kickoff went for a touchback. It was after the kickoff that the worst news so far this season came from the locker room. Brandon Price had suffered a torn shoulder muscle and would be done for the season. With Price permanently sidelined for the rest of the year and Kiel Fletcher out for another 7 weeks with a broken fibula, that was both of our 90 OVR running backs sitting on the sidelines for the remainder of the regular season, putting a massive dent into our running attack, leaving our third and fourth string running backs to lead the way for the rest of the season.

The Pirates offense came out firing, and firing accurately on this drive, as Siegel found Williams for a 14 yard gain, before hitting Quinn for a pickup of 27 yards to get a first down at our 35. A 5 yard pass to Grier, was followed with a gain of 11 yards on a pass to Hampton and the Pirates had first down at our 18. East Carolina would get on the scoreboard on the next play, as Siegel hit Grier for the 18 yard touchdown pass. The Pirates would go for a two-point conversion, but the pass to Williams was broken up, and the score would remain 23-6 with 3:35 left to go in the third quarter. It wouldn’t remain that for long however, as Fisher would receive the kickoff, and thanks to some timely blocking, take it 97 yards to the house of the touchdown, adding to our lead. A second missed extra point by Pratt, this time shanked wide left, would keep the score at 29-6 with 3:09 to play in the third. After the touchback on the kickoff, this time the Pirates would find no success at all on this drive, as two incomplete passes gave way to an 8 yard sack, and ECU was forced to punt on fourth and 18 from their 17 yard line. Parks called fair catch on the 41 yard punt and we began our drive at our 41 yard line. Realizing our much diminished running attack would not help in second and long, Booth went to the air, his pass to Fisher going for 11 yards to leave us with third and one at midfield. Taking our chances on the ground, Fox found a hole and was able to pick up 10 yards to give us a new set of downs at the ECU 40 yard line. Trying out luck once again on the ground, Fox didn’t let us down, gaining 14 yards on the rush, advancing our drive to the 27 yard line. Finding the hole blocked on the first down rush attempt, Smith bounced outside and was able to pick up 6 yards before being brought down nearly the right sideline. Fox gained one yard on the second down rush, leaving us with third and three, where we would let the final 10 seconds tick off, bringing the third quarter to an end, our lead holding at 29-6.

Remaining on the ground on third and three, Fox was just able to bounce off the left tackle and get across the line for a four yard gain before being swarmed at the 15 yard line. A play action pass on first down ended in disaster as the ECU line broke through untouched, and Booth was sacked for a 6 yard loss, pushing us out to the 22 yard line. After an incomplete pass left us with third and 16, it all went downhill for us, as Booth was picked off by Joel McDonald, who had nothing but green in front of him, taking it all the way for an 85 yard pick six, Anderson unable to catch up from behind. A successful two-point conversion on the rush by Siegel, and ECU closed the lead to 29-14 with 7:43 to play. An East Carolina holding penalty on the kickoff gave us improved field position, starting our drive at our 35 yard line. The Pirates suddenly having new life, Smith was swarmed in the backfield for a one yard loss on the first down rush attempt, never having a chance of getting back to the line of scrimmage. After a 19 yard pass to Anderson on the out route, we were knocked back yet again, as the defense broke through and sacked Booth before he could get the pass off, resulting in a 10 yard loss and second and 20 at our 42 yard line. Two incomplete passes later, and a drive that had lots of promise was suddenly ended with a 41 yard punt.

Starting on their 17 yard line, the Pirates would have a very short drive, as three straight incomplete passes, two of them dropped, would result in ECU punting without a single yard gained. A fair catch on the 49 yard punt gave us possession on our 34 yard line with 5:51 left in the game and a 15 point lead. After a 9 yard gain on the ground, Fox would get the first down with a three yard rush off the left tackle, and then some as Chaz Neal, right outside linebacker for the Pirates brought Fox down by his facemask. The 15 yard penalty gave us a first down at the ECU 39 yard line (as opposed to what would have been first down at our 46). Smith would keep us moving forward, picking up 10 yards and another first down on the ground to advance the ball to the ECU 28. A massive gap allowed for an 8 yard rush on first down by Fox, before being brought down for a loss of two yards on the second down rush attempt. We would not need the first down, as a heavy blitz by ECU allowed Ryan Strong to take the pass over the middle 23 yards to the house, not a single defender ever getting within 15 yards of him, to open up our lead to 36-14 with 3:20 left in the game. Starting on their 27 yard line, a dropped pass on first down gave way to a 5 yard pass to Hampton, leaving the Pirates with third and 5 at their 33. An incomplete pass would force the Pirates into a do or die fourth down conversion attempt. The pass intended for Hampton was knocked incomplete and we took over at the ECU 33 yard line with 2:41 left in the game.

A broken tackle and three failed ankle tackles by the secondary, and we would find the end zone in one play, as Fox took it straight up the middle on first down, toting the rock 33 yards to the house. A failed extra point by Pratt would keep our lead at 42-14 with 2:35 remaining. The Pirates next offensive drive was stuck at their 13 yard line after a 16 yard kickoff return out of the end zone by Grier. The drive looked similarly doomed to fail deep in their territory, as Siegel gained one yard on the ground, before an incomplete pass left the Pirates with third and 9. An 11 yard pass to Jon Walker would keep the Pirates moving at their 24 yard line. That would be all the farther they’d get, as three straight incomplete passes would bring out the punt team this time. The 47 yard punt was called for a fair catch by C. Jefferson and our offense came out for a victory lap at our 29 yard line with 1:45 to play. Three straight knees would leave us with fourth and 16, but it wouldn’t matter as the final 20 seconds would tick off without another snap taken, our 42-14 victory sealed.

With the win, we improve to 7-1 on the season, 5-0 in C-USA play, all but wrapping up the West Division title in Conference USA. With the loss, East Carolina drops to 5-3, 2-2 in C-USA action, the Pirates most likely knocked out of contention for the East Division title as FIU continues to run away with the division. Up next, we hit the road to North Texas. The Mean Green come in at 2-5, 2-3 in C-USA play. North Texas started the year with a 44-7 loss at Northwester, lost 39-33 in OT to Florida Atlantic, and 45-0 at Florida International. They won at UTSA 26-17, before losing 41-7 at Louisiana Tech and 24-20 to Louisiana-Lafayette. They got back in win column with a 31-28 win at Tulane, coming into their game with us.

Final Score
42, 14



Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – A great day by Booth. 270 yards passing and two touchdowns. He did have an interception, that was returned 85 yards for a touchdown, but we were well ahead by then and it was nothing more than some temporary, short lived motivation for the Pirates. Price was having a great day, with 118 yards on 26 carries before he got injured for the rest of the season in the third quarter. He will without a doubt be missed. Fox filled the hole as best he could, rushing for 112 yards on 19 carries and 3 rushing touchdowns, but he has a long way to go to consistently have the games that Price did. For receiving, 8 different receivers all touching the ball at least once, and for the first time, every single receiver who caught a pass ended the game with at least 11 yards or more.

- Tulsa Defense – A killer performance today. ECU already was entering with the second worst rushing offense in the country, our defense made them even worse, holding the Pirates to a measly 14 yards on 6 rushes. They still gave up huge passes, but actually managed to hold a team to under 300 yards passing, for quite possibly the first time all season.

- Tulsa Kicking – A piss poor job by Pratt today. 1-2 on field goal, hitting a 21 yard kick but missing from 46, and then going a pitiful 3-6 on PATs.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	0	0	6	8	14
	10	6	13	13	42

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
4:32		Field Goal	A. Pratt, 21 yard field goal	3-0
0:52		Touchdown	S. Fox, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	10-0
Second Quarter
5:25		Touchdown	C. Fisher, 30 yard pass from B. Booth (blocked kick)	16-0
Third Quarter
4:51		Touchdown	S. Fox, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	23-0
3:35		Touchdown	A. Grier, 18 yard pass from J. Siegel (2-pt conversion failed)	23-6
3:09		Touchdown	C. Fisher, returned kickoff 97 yards (missed kick)	29-6
Fourth Quarter
7:43		Touchdown	J. McDonald, returned interception 95 yards (2-pt conversion good)	29-14
3:20		Touchdown	R. Strong, 23 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	36-14
2:35		Touchdown	S. Fox, 33 yard run (missed kick)	42-14

Game Stats

East Carolina	Stat	Tulsa
14	Score	42
10	First Downs	28
238	Total Offense	475
6 - 14 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	55 - 205 - 3
16 - 40 - 1	Comp - Att - TD	19 - 30 - 2
224	Passing Yards	270
2	Times Sacked	4
2 - 11 (18%)	3rd Down Conversion	10 - 16 (62%)
0 - 1 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	3 - 3 (100%)
1 - 2 (50%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
3 - 1 - 0 (33%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	5 - 2 - 1 (60%)
1	Turnovers	1
0	Fumbles Lost	0
1	Intercepted	1
0	Punt Return Yards	0
107	Kick Return Yards	135
345	Total Yards	610
7 – 45.6	Punts - Average	2 - 45.0
3 - 25	Penalties	0 - 0
15:46	Time of Possession	20:14

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season	7
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	42
	7+ rushing TD in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in each season	1/2 Passed
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

86%

[SmoothPancakes]

Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, Holy Upsets! First off, #1 Georgia improved to 9-0, steamrolling #24 Florida 35-7. Now, onto business, Boise State, trying to get to a bowl game, improves their record to 3-4 as the Broncos knock off #3 Rutgers (and hand them their first loss), 35-14. #6 Michigan loses 23-18 at the hands of #15 Nebraska. Colorado outscores #7 Oregon 14-0 in the first quarter to upset the Ducks 35-31. #9 North Carolina suffers it's first loss, 30-27 at the hands of rival NC State in overtime. #16 Michigan State recovers from a pair of losses by knocking off #10 Wisconsin 27-12.

Oklahoma State hands #11 TCU it's second straight loss, 38-33. #12 Notre Dame survives a scare, outscoring West Virginia 24-10 in the second half, including the game winner with 1:05 left in the game, to hold on for the 38-34 win. It was a collapse by West Virginia, who led 21-0 after the first quarter. In double overtime, #17 Texas Tech outlasted #19 Kansas State 55-49. #18 South Carolina stuffed #22 Tennessee like a Thanksgiving turkey, 45-7. It was Texas A&M knocking off #20 Auburn 31-28. #23 Ohio State scores 21 fourth quarter points to hold off Penn State 38-24. And Iowa State knocks off #25 Baylor, 17-10 (ISU lead 17-0 going into the fourth quarter).

In all, 8 true upsets occurred today. The #3, #6, #7, #9, #10 and #11 teams all lost today, making it a very rough day for the Top 10 as half the teams go down in defeat.

For our readers, souljahbill, Southern Miss falls is back to 4-4 (2-2 in C-USA), demolishing 1-7 UTSA, 48-10. Jaymo, it was a hell of a battle, but Arizona State drops to 3-4 (1-4 in Pac-12) with a 42-35 loss to UCLA. Mors, as mentioned in the Top 25 recap, West Virginia blows a 21-0 first quarter lead, losing to #12 Notre Dame 38-34 after an Irish touchdown with 1:05 left to play. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 4-3 (2-1 in the Sun Belt) with a 31-19 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. Iowa State, as mentioned, knocks off #25 Baylor to improve to 3-5 (2-3). On a personal note, Navy sucks ass this year and has been eliminated from bowl contention, falling to 2-7 on the year with a 31-28 loss at Utah State. In bizarro world, Army beats Ball State 24-20 to improve to 6-2.

On a C-USA note, it continues to look like a potential rematch in the making for the CCG. Florida International had a bye week to remain at 6-2 (5-1). With the loss, East Carolina drops to 5-3 (2-2) and both teams play each other in week 10. Marshall (sitting at 3-2) and Southern Miss (at 2-2) both still have chances to catch up, but it would be extremely difficult roads for both. FIU has already beat Marshall, they play Southern Miss in week 11. I now have even more breathing room at the top of the West Division. UTEP was on a bye week, but my win opens my lead in the division to 2 1/2 games with only three games left to play for me and four to play for UTEP. Rice, at 2-3, is pretty much eliminated from consideration, as they sit three back and I hold the head to head tiebreaker.

Looking at undefeated teams left, with #3 Rutgers and #9 North Carolina losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 3. #1 Georgia (9-0), #2 USC (8-0), and #13 Fresno State (6-0), are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 8.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 8 teams still looking for their first win: Central Michigan (0-8), Idaho (0-6), Kentucky (0-9), Memphis (0-8), Minnesota (0-8), San Jose State (0-8), UMass (0-8), and UNLV (0-8).

Teams getting their first wins this week were: Akron (20-17 over 0-8 Central Michigan, which is now Central Michigan's second straight loss to a likewise winless opponent).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia (getting 41 first place votes) and USC (20 votes) remain #1 and #2, Alabama goes up one to #3, Arkansas up one to #4, and LSU up three to #5. Fresno State makes a seven spot jump to #6, Notre Dame rises five to #7, Nebraska jumps seven to #8, Michigan falls three to #9 and Michigan State jumps six to #10. Elsewhere, Texas climbs three to #11, Rutgers drops nine to #12, Texas Tech goes up four to #13, Wisconsin drops three to #13, South Carolina climbs three to #15, North Carolina drops seven to #16, Oregon falls ten to #17, TCU drops eight to #19, Ohio State climbs three to #20, Oklahoma enters the poll (while coming off a bye week) at #21, Purdue enters also at #22, Kansas State drops four to #23, Northern Illinois enters the poll this week at #24, and UCLA enters as well at #25. Dropping out were Auburn (from #20), Tennessee (from #22), Florida (from #24), and Baylor (from #25). And Tulsa is now up to #27 in the Coaches poll, receiving 148 votes.

In the Media Poll, the top two remain the same, USC (receiving 38 first place votes) and Georgia (24 votes) both remain #1 and #2, Alabama and Arkansas both climb one to #3 and #4, LSU jumps four to #5, Nebraska leaps ten to #6, Notre Dame rises three to #7, Fresno State climbs seven to #8, Texas is up four to #9 and Michigan drops three to #10. Elsewhere, Michigan State is up six to #11, Rutgers drops ten to #13, North Carolina falls six to #14, Oregon plummets nine to #15, Wisconsin drops four to #16, TCU free falls eight to #19. Ohio State is up three to #20, Oklahoma (on the bye week) is up four to #21, Kansas State drops four to #22, UCLA enters the poll this week at #23, Tulsa also enters the poll this week at #24, and Purdue makes their appearance in the poll this week at #25. Dropping out were Auburn (from #20), Tennessee (from #22) and Florida (from #24).

On a goddamnit note, I just looked at the Heisman Watch. Without realizing it, apparently Brandon Price had somehow worked his way onto the Heisman Watch list, getting up to third on the list, before going out with a season ending injury against ECU. So much for any chance he might have possibly had.

[SmoothPancakes]

Here's two videos of the 30 yard TD pass to Fisher, that in real time, made me go "oh shit!" out loud. Different angles and versions of the replay in the two videos.





And a couple pictures of the catch itself.





And finally a picture of the 24 yard pass to Parks right before we went up 23-0 in the third quarter, when Booth dropped the pass in right in between four defenders all next to Parks. (good luck doing shit like that on NCAA '12).

[SmoothPancakes]

So... I think it's safe to say that North Texas sucks at defending the run. I'm playing the NT game right now, I just hit the end of the first quarter, and I have yet to throw a single pass so far this game. My offense has been literally nothing but rushes so far. I'm half tempted to see how far I can willingly make it in the game before I'd be forced to actually have to start passing.

[SmoothPancakes]

Damn. Couldn't get to halftime. I made it all the way to 1:04 left in the first half, 29 rushes for my first half offense, before I had to throw my first pass on a third and 6 at my own 28. Naturally, it ended up getting dropped. May as well have just taken my chances on the ground.

[JeffHCross]

3rd and 6? That's rushing distance for me

[SmoothPancakes]

3rd and 6? That's rushing distance for me

Yeah, but at my own 28, I didn't want to have be left punting deep in my territory. It was a three point game at the time, so I was going to do whatever it took to get that first down, which ended up not happening in the end.

Also, I'll have the game recap up in a bit, but for the love of god, what the hell is it with me and North Texas? Either I constantly play down to their level or they constantly play up to mine. This game had one of the most nerve-racking endings I have yet had in this dynasty.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Nine





Game Notes

--- Heading back onto the road for the first time since week 5, it was off to the south to take on the Mean Green of North Texas. Like Florida International, an old rivalry renewed in the Mean Green, as they followed me over from the Sun Belt. It is safe to say that North Texas is not very good, their only two wins coming by 9 points against a one win UTSA squad while being a three win Tulane team by only three. However, North Texas caused many a frustration during my time in Miami, and they are never to be taken for granted. We at least would have the statistically superior team, as the highest ranking for North Texas in any statistic is #90 in the nation for pass offense. #99 in rushing offense and #101 in total offense, with a #104 ranking in the country for points per game leaves a lot to be desire for the Mean Green offensive attack. The defense is even worse, ranking #108 in total defense, #101 in rush defense and #106 in pass defense. Taking into account the three games against the Mean Green while coaching at Miami, this game could go down to the wire, or with such disparity in the stats, it could be a 50 point blowout. Time would tell. Keeping our streak of futility alive, we lost the coin toss and North Texas elected to kick.

A touchback on the kickoff and we were off and running at our 25 yard line. Sean Fox got us started with a 7 yard rush on the ground, following it up with a four yard gain and our initial first down of the game. Fox kept the drive moving with a 9 yard rush on the next play to leave us with second and one at the 46 yard line. It’d be Roy Smith with the first huge play of the day, as a broken tackle from the middle linebacker at the line of scrimmage left the middle of the field wide open, Smith scampering for a 38 yard gain before being tripped up from behind, giving us first down at the North Texas 16 yard line. Smith would tote the rock again on the next play, picking up 10 yards to give us first and goal at the 5 yard line. Fox would find the end zone on the next play, carrying it in off the right tackle for the 6 yard touchdown rush and a 7-0 lead with 6:54 to go in the first quarter. The Mean Green did not take any pleasure in our stuffing it down their defense’s throat, as on the first play of their opening drive, James Mayfield found Mark Yates behind our secondary, who took it all the way untouched for the one play, 75 yard touchdown reception to tie the game up at 7-all with 6:29 to go. A 24 yard kickoff return by Parks got our next drive started at our 28. After a gain of only one yard on first down, Fox was able to break up the middle for an 8 yard gain to leave us with third and one at our 36. A one yard rush by Fox resulted in fourth and inches, coach Blankenship electing to go for it. Fox left no doubt on the conversion play as he busted through a tackle for a 10 yard gain and a first down at our 47. The next play would end in disaster as Fox would got stood up for what was only a one yard gain, but was then stripped while still fighting forward for yards. Derrick Powell recovered the fumble and the Mean Green had the ball at our 49 yard line.

North Texas went straight back to the air on first down, as Mayfield found Brian Crowder for a 36 yard gain and first down at our 13 yard line. Two incomplete passes was followed up with a three yard gain on a scramble by Mayfield, and our defense held tough, forcing North Texas to settle for a field goal attempt on fourth and 7 at our 10 yard line. The 27 yard field goal was good and North Texas took a 10-7 lead with 3:38 to go in the first quarter. A 24 yard return by Parks on the kickoff and we were back on the field at our 32 yard line. After a 7 yard rush on first down by Fox, he would manage to get us another first down, rolling off a tackle attempt and falling forward just across the marker for a three yard gain and a new set of downs at the 42 yard line. Continuing to stuff it down the throats of North Texas, forcing them to stop us on the ground, Fox picked up a pair of 5 yard gains to leave us with third and inches at the North Texas 48 yard line. A tackle that would have brought our drive to an end with a loss of one, instead turned into a three yard gain as Fox broke through the tackle attempt and got us the first down at the 45 yard line with 1:02 left in the quarter. A 10 yard rush by Smith and we were left with second and inches at the 35. The clock would end up running out before we could get the snap off, and the first quarter came to an end, North Texas leading 10-7, our offense consisting to this point entirely of the ground game, 17 rushes and not one single pass yet thrown.

The second quarter started with us regaining the lead. North Texas came out crowding the middle on the second and inches play. Fox took the handoff, bounced outside and had nothing but green in front of him all the way down the sideline for the 35 yard touchdown rush to give us a 14-10 lead with 8:54 left in the half. North Texas was left in a tricky spot, starting on their 12 yard line after the kickoff, but quickly moved the ball downfield. After a three yard rush by Yates, Mayfield found Paul Gray for a 5 yard pass and a four yard rush by Yates gave the Mean Green first down at their 24. A Mayfield pass to Tyrell Gorman went for 12 yards and another set of downs at their 36. Mayfield was sacked on the next play for a two yard loss, before picking up a gain of two on a second down scramble, to leave the Mean Green with third and 10. Mayfield would find Gray for a 24 yard pickup to convert the third down and advance to our 40 yard line. A four yard rush by Gray was followed with a 5 yard pass to Gorman to leave North Texas at our 31 with third and one. The defense would stop the drive on the next play, sacking Mayfield for an 8 yard loss to force a North Texas punt on fourth and 9 from our 39 yard line. The punt went 44 yards for a touchback and we were back in business on our 20 yard line.

Fox took the honors with rushes of four, 5 and three yards to give us a first down at the 33 yard line, before Smith was able to hit a wide open gap on the right side and haul ass for a 24 yard gain to the North Texas 43. A 10 yard rush by Fox, breaking three tackles along the way, gave us first down at the Mean Green 33 with 4:05 left in the half. North Texas seemingly stopped Fox for only a gain of three on the first down rush, by a facemask penalty against middle linebacker Darrell Harvey gave us 15 free yards and first down at the North Texas 15 yard line. Fox continued punishing North Texas, breaking two tackles in the backfield to avoid what would have been a loss of two yards, and picking up a gain of 11 yards to give us first and goal at the four yard line with 3:14 to play in the half. The first down rush by Smith went for only a one yard gain, before Fox punched it in for his third rushing touchdown of the game with the three yard rush, extending our lead to 21-10 with 2:12 left before halftime.

North Texas would find themselves punting in just three plays on their next drive, as a four yard rush by Yates was followed with two incomplete passes, and the Mean Green punted the ball away on fourth and 6 at their 29 yard line. A fair catch by Parks gave us possession at our 24 with 1:42 to play. A pair of two yard rushes by Fox would leave us facing third and 6 from our 28 and we would be forced to go to the air for the first time today. The pass from Brandon Booth was dropped by Parks as he tried to turn up field, bringing our drive to an end with 1:04 remaining. The 41 yard punt was returned 5 yards to the North Texas 35 with 58 seconds to play. The Mean Green went backwards on first down, tagged with a holding penalty. First and 20 resulted in an 8 yard pass from Mayfield to Gray to set up second and 12 at the 33 with 47 seconds to go. After a dropped pass, Mayfield found Gorman for a 22 yard gain and new life at our 45 yard line with 37 seconds remaining. Two incomplete passes would give way to a sack for a loss of 10 yards, and with fourth and 20 at their 45, North Texas would punt the ball away. A fair catch by Parks gave us possession at our 15 yard line with 17 seconds left to play. A kneel down by Booth would take us into halftime, holding on to our 21-10 lead.

Starting on the 25 yard line after the kick, Mayfield quickly got North Texas moving with a 13 yard pass to Perry Roberts, followed by rushes of 5 and three yards by Yates, before a three yard rush by Gray gave North Texas a first down at the 49 yard line. A 10 yard pass to Roberts left the Mean Green with second and inches, which Yates would convert with a 7 yard rush to our 34. After a four yard rush by Mayfield on first down, two incomplete passes would leave North Texas with fourth and 6 from our 30 yard line. The Mean Green would go for the fourth down conversion, but Mayfield would end up getting sacked for a 10 yard loss, turning the ball over on downs and starting our drive at our 40 yard line. This time North Texas was ready for our rushing game, as Fox was swarmed in the backfield on first down for a two yard loss. Going to the air on second down, Booth completed his first pass of the game, finding Smith over the middle, who fought his way forward for a gain of 22 and first down at the North Texas 39 yard line. A pass attempt to Carlos Anderson on the next play was picked off by Eric Miller, who returned it 25 yards to our 43 yard line, breaking three tackles along the way before finally being caught from behind by Parks to stop the potential, and likely, pick six. After an incomplete pass on first down, Mayfield hit Gorman for a 22 yard gain and first down at our 21. A 7 yard rush by Yates was followed with an 8 yard pass from Mayfield to Josh Waters and North Texas had first and goal at our 6 yard line. The Mean Green would score on the next play, as Mayfield hit Brandon Carroll with the 6 yard touchdown pass to make it 21-17 with 5:25 to play in the third quarter.

Starting on our 25 after the touchback, it was nothing but air this drive, as Booth hit Parks for a 16 yard gain to get to our 41. A three yard pass to Smith was followed by a pass in the flats to Fox, who would manage to pick up 30 yards thanks to downfield blocking from Parks, and a first down at the North Texas 26. That’s where our drive would end as three straight incomplete passes would bring out Alphonso Pratt to attempt the 43 yard field goal. The field goal attempt was no good and North Texas took over at their 26 with 4:09 left in the quarter. It would be a short drive for the Mean Green. After a three yard rush by Mayfield, he was able to hit Brian Joseph for a 5 yard gain. But an incomplete pass on third down would force a North Texas punt on fourth and one from the 35 yard line. A 13 yard return by Parks on the 40 yard punt gave us possession at our 38 yard line.

Going back to the ground game, Fox continued to razzle and dazzle on the ground, picking up 8 yards followed by a two yard rush to get the first down at midfield. Smith would tote the rock on the next carry, breaking it up between the right guard and tackle for a 19 yard gain to get us to the 31 yard line. After a one yard rush by Fox, a three yard rush by Smith left us with third and 6 at the North Texas 27. A 6 yard pass to Ryan Strong left us with fourth and inches at the 21 yard line. We would settle for the 38 yard field goal, which Pratt kicked straight down the middle, to give us a 24-17 lead with 1:20 left in the third quarter. A questionable kickoff return by Yates left North Texas beginning on their 14 yard line. After a two yard rush by Gray, Mayfield found Gorman for 16 yards over the middle and a first down at the 31 yard line. The offense would go backwards though, as a holding penalty on the next play left North Texas with first and 20 at their 21 yard line. An incomplete pass was followed with only a three yard gain on the scramble by Mayfield and North Texas found themselves facing third and 17. Our defense would get caught with their heads up their asses, as Mayfield connected with Crowder for a 25 yard pickup and first down at the 49 yard line. After a two yard pass to Joseph would see the final seconds expire and the third quarter come to an end, our lead sitting at 24-17.

Opening the fourth quarter, Mayfield found Gray along the right sideline for a 24 yard gain and another first down at our 25. The defense bit back, sacking Mayfield for a 6 yard loss on first down. An incomplete pass and a dropped pass would force fourth and 16 at our 31 yard line. The fourth down conversion would end up failing, as Mayfield’s pass to Roberts was completed, but Roberts was brought down by his defender for a gain of only 14 yards, turning the ball over on downs at our 17 yard line with 8:16 left in the game. After a gain of one yard by Fox, Booth would hit Anderson along the left sideline for an 8 yard gain to leave us with third and one at our 26. Fox would get caught at the line of scrimmage on the next play, only gaining one yard and we would be forced to punt on fourth and inches at our 27 yard line. A 7 yard return on the 47 yard punt gave North Texas possession at their 33 yard line. It was a poor start for the Mean Green, as Yates was tackled on first down for a loss of four yards, before gaining only three on the next play to set up third and 12 at the 31 yard line. A 5 yard pass from Mayfield to Gray would force North Texas to punt on fourth and 7 with 6:34 to go. The 49 yard punt was returned 9 yards by Parks and we resumed on offense at our 24 yard line. Another first down rush attempt by Fox once again went for only one yard, leaving us with second and 9. An 8 yard pass to Fisher on the slant route and we once again face third and one, this time from our 32 yard line. Putting our faith again in our run game, Fox would fail for a second straight drive to convert the third down, being hit from two directions for a one yard loss, leaving us punting on fourth and two at our 31 yard line with 5:08 remaining in the game.

The 40 yard punt ended in a fair catch and North Texas on the clock at their 27 yard line. This time Mayfield got the drive moving with a 13 yard pass to Roberts to get to their 40. A 6 yard rush by Yates as followed with a pass to Yates for no gain, leaving North Texas with third and four. Mayfield would get the first down himself, picking up four yards on the ground to get to midfield. Yates was tackled for a loss of two yards on first down, before a three yard gain by Mayfield left third and 9, which North Texas converted with a 32 yard pass from Mayfield to Crowder, setting up first down at our 16 yard line. A four yard rush by Yates gave way to a 10 yard pass from Mayfield to Gray, and the Mean Green had first and goal at our three yard line. A loss of two yards by Yates, and no gain by Mayfield, and the Mean Green were suddenly facing third and goal at our 5 yard line. A four yard rush by Andy Norman would set up fourth and goal just inches away from the goal line. Our defense would make the biggest stop of the entire game, tackling Yates for a loss of one yard, forcing the turnover on downs, giving our offense the ball at our 2 yard line with 2:20 left in the game.

Starting inside the end zone, Fox was able to pick up 8 yards on the first down rush to get out to our 10 yard line, North Texas calling their first timeout to freeze the clock at 2:16. A four yard rush by Fox gave us a new set of downs at our 14 yard line. A second timeout by North Texas stopped the clock with 2:13 remaining. Fox picked up 7 yards on first down and North Texas called their third and final timeout to halt time with 2:10 remaining in the game. A rush by Fox for no gain left us with third and three at our 21. Failing to get the defense to jump offside, Booth kept the drive alive with a ballsy pass to Anderson for 9 yards, giving us first down at the 30 yard line. A four yard rush by Fox would take us under a minute to play. Calling off the dogs, one kneel by Booth was all that was needed to run out the rest of the clock, and we held on for the extremely hard fought 24-17 win over the Mean Green.

With the win, we improve to 8-1 on the year, 6-0 in C-USA action, North Texas drops to 2-6, 2-3 in C-USA play. My win officially knocks Rice out of division contention, the Owls three games back with only two left for both of us. Up next, it's my final home game and non-conference game of the season, as we welcome in Colorado State, the Rams entering at 5-4, 3-2 in the Mountain West. The Rams opened their year with a 29-24 win against Colorado, before losing 30-28 to West Virginia. They then picked up a three streak, winning 27-9 at San Jose State, 35-23 at Utah State and 28-13 at Air Force, before losing 37-7 to #6 Fresno State. A 23-17 overtime win at Wake Forest was followed with a 38-7 loss against Hawaii and a 35-31 loss at Wyoming. The Rams enter the game 1-3 at home, but 4-1 on the road, their first road loss being to Wyoming the week before they fly to Tulsa. This could be one hell of a battle.

Final Score
24, 17


Stat(s) of the Game:
Tulsa Offense – A quiet day by Booth, only 101 yards on 13 pass attempts, though that was a by-product of our offense we ran today. Our running backs, double trouble for North Texas. Fox ending the day with 186 yards on 37 carries and three touchdowns (all three of our touchdowns today), and Smith with 106 yards on 7 carries today. Receivers, also a quiet day, only 6 receivers touched the ball today, only four of them gaining double digit receiving yards, the highest being 30 yards.

Tulsa Defense – Gave up some big plays, but made the plays when it counted, including the HUGE fourth and goal stand at the one foot line, forcing the turnover on downs and preserving our victory with only minutes left to play. A round of beers is sure as hell being bought tonight for that defense.

Tulsa Kicking – 1-2 in field goals today, hitting a 38 yards, but missing from 43 yards. Pratt did go 3-3 in PATs this time.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	14	3	0	24
	10	0	7	0	17

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
6:54		Touchdown	S. Fox, 6 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	7-0
6:29		Touchdown	M. Yates, 75 yard pass from J. Mayfield (C. Thomas kick)	TIED 7-7
3:41		Field Goal	C. Thomas, 26 yard field goal	10-7
Second Quarter
8:54		Touchdown	S. Fox, 35 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	14-10
2:12		Touchdown	S. Fox, 3 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	21-10
Third Quarter
5:25		Touchdown	B. Carroll, 5 yard pass from J. Mayfield (C. Thomas kick)	21-17
1:24		Field Goal	A. Pratt, 38 yard field goal	24-17
Fourth Quarter

Game Stats

Tulsa	Stat	North Texas
24	Score	17
18	First Downs	17
389	Total Offense	465
46 - 288 - 3	Rushes - Yards - TD	26 - 73 - 0
8 - 13 - 0	Comp - Att - TD	24 - 38 - 2
101	Passing Yards	392
0	Times Sacked	5
3 - 9 (33%)	3rd Down Conversion	7 - 16 (43%)
1 - 1 (100%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 3 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
2 - 2 - 0 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	6 - 1 - 1 (33%)
2	Turnovers	0
1	Fumbles Lost	0
1	Intercepted	0
22	Punt Return Yards	12
48	Kick Return Yards	29
459	Total Yards	506
3 – 43.3	Punts - Average	5 - 43.0
1 - 15	Penalties	3 - 35
22:43	Time of Possession	13:17

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	40
	7+ rushing TD in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in each season	1/2 Passed
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

94%

[SmoothPancakes]

Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, a much quieter week this time around. The Game of the Week goes to #5 LSU, who improves to 8-1 courtesy of a fourth quarter touchdown and a 20-13 win over #3 Alabama. The Tide drops to 7-2 and are eliminated from the national title picture with the loss. #2 USC withstands their toughest test, ripping #17 Oregon a new one, 49-14. The Upset of the Week goes to 3-7 Navy, who knocks off #4 Arkansas 21-20 to drop the Razorbacks to 7-2. #8 Nebraska holds off a comeback bid by #10 Michigan State to win 31-21. #9 Michigan has some trouble early on, but eventually pulls away to defeat winless Minnesota 38-21.

#13 Texas Tech upsets #11 Texas 24-10. #12 Rutgers needs 14 points in the fourth quarter to hold off winless Memphis 45-31. BYU scores 11 unanswered points in the fourth quarter (the game winning field goal with 5 seconds left) to knock off #16 North Carolina 31-28 and send the Tar Heels to their second straight defeat. #20 Ohio State scores 14 points in the fourth quarter to hold off a tough Illinois squad, 31-21. In a shocker, UMass breaks their 0-8 start and gets their first win of the year, 34-21 over #24 Northern Illinois. Arizona gets their third win with a 26-23 win in overtime over #25 UCLA, handing the Bruins their second loss of the year and first loss in the Pac-12.

For our readers, souljahbill, Southern Miss drops below .500 again, losing to UAB 21-17 to drop to 4-5 (2-3 C-USA). Jaymo, the downslide continues, as Oregon State beat Arizona State 55-35, dropping the Sun Devils to 3-5 (1-5 in Pac-12 play). Mors, sorry buddy, West Virginia continues their free fall too, losing their 6th in a row and falling to 0-5 in the Big 12 in a 48-7 whooping from #19 TCU. For community teams and other teams of interest, Iowa State gets whooped by #21 Oklahoma 59-17 to drop to 3-6 (2-4), and Arkansas State wins #4 in a row, beating Florida Atlantic 31-14 to improve to 5-3 (3-1 in Sun Belt)

On a C-USA note, only UTEP has a chance now of catching me. Tulsa and Rice both won this week, so Rice remains three games back at 3-3, with both of us only having two conference games to go. So the Owls are knocked out of the division race. UTEP still technically has a chance, sitting at 7-2 (3-2), but the best they could do is tie for the division title, as I hold the head to head tiebreaker. So we will officially be the West Division representative in the C-USA Championship Game. And the Conference Championship Game will be a rematch, as Florida International improves to 7-2 (6-1) with a 27-17 win over East Carolina, who drops to 5-4 (2-3). With only one conference game left for FIU, The worse they can do is 6-2. Marshall, sitting at 5-4 (3-2) can still tie for the division title, but FIU beat Marshall head to head, 24-17, back in week 7, giving the Golden Panthers the tiebreaker over Marshall and officially making the Conference-USA Championship Game a rematch of the early season battle between Florida International and Tulsa, a win in Miami by the Golden Hurricanes, 27-14.

Looking at undefeated teams left, no new teams lost this week this week, keeping our number of undefeated teams left at 3. #1 Georgia (10-0), #2 USC (9-0), and #6 Fresno State (7-0), are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 10.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 5 teams still looking for their first win: Central Michigan (0-9), Memphis (0-9), Minnesota (0-9), San Jose State (0-8), and UNLV (0-8).

Teams getting their first wins this week were: Idaho (37-21 over FCS MW), Kentucky (26-0 over 3-6 Vanderbilt) and UMass (34-21 over 7-3 #24 Northern Illinois).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia (getting 33 first place votes) and USC (27 votes) remain #1 and #2, LSU goes up two to #3, Fresno State (1 vote) climbs two to #4, Nebraska moves up three to #5, Notre Dame up one to #6, Michigan up two to #7, Alabama drops five to #8, Texas Tech rises four to #9 and Rutgers jumps two to #10. Elsewhere, Wisconsin, on a bye week, climbs three to #11, South Carolina also moves up three to #12, Texas drops two to #13, Iowa jumps four to #14, Michigan State falls five to #15, TCU, Ohio State and Oklahoma all go up three to #16, #17 and #18. Arkansas plummets fifteen to #19, Oregon drops five to #22, Auburn enters the poll at #23, Tulsa enters the poll at #24, and Florida State enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were North Carolina (from #16), Northern Illinois (from #24) and UCLA (from #25).

In the Media Poll, the top two remain the same, USC (receiving 38 first place votes) and Georgia (22 votes) both remain #1 and #2, LSU climbs two to #3, Fresno State (5 votes) jumps four to #4, Nebraska and Notre Dame both go up one to #5 and #6. Texas Tech jumps five to #7, Alabama falls five to #8, Michigan climbs one to #9 and Rutgers goes up three to #10. Elsewhere, Wisconsin, on the bye week, climbs five to #11, Texas falls three to #12, South Carolina, Iowa and TCU all jump four to #13, #14 and #15. Michigan State falls five to #16, Ohio State and Oklahoma both jump three to #17 and #18. Arkansas plummets fifteen to #19. Oregon drops seven to #22, Tulsa climbs one to #23, Florida State enters the poll at #24 and Utah enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were North Carolina (from #16) and UCLA (from #25).

That's gotta hurt for North Carolina. Undefeated and ranked #9 (Coaches) and #8 (Media) two weeks ago, and now two straight losses and unranked in both polls two weeks later. Ouch.

The BCS rankings fall: #1 Georgia, #2 USC, #3 LSU, #4 Fresno State, #5 Nebraska, #6 Notre Dame, #7 Alabama, #8 Michigan, #9 Texas Tech and #10 Rutgers.

Apparently Week 11 is still too early to get bowl projections, so no idea where and who I might play.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Ten

#24



Game Notes

--- How fast a season goes. Here it was already, our final non-conference game of the season and our final home game of the year as 5-4 Colorado State came to town. The last chance for the fans to say goodbye to our 19 seniors on their home field: HB Sean Fox, FB John Andrews, WR Sean Parks, WR Carlos Anderson, LT John Holt, RT Curt McDonald, C Everett Brantley, DT Clinton Davis, DT Chip Oliver, DT Terrell Smith, LE George Smith, RE Brian White, LOLB Cornelius Morgan, CB Calvin Rogers, CB Aaron McDonald, CB Jason Hall, CB Eric White, FS James Russ, and SS Marcus Owens. Our streak of coin toss futility continued as the Rams won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A 19 yard return by Sean Parks got our offense started at our 17 yard line. Sean Fox was only able to pick up on yard on the first down rush, as Colorado State brought the house, blitzing 9 players on the play. After an incomplete pass, Carlos Anderson kept our drive alive, hauling in a 14 yard pass from Brandon Booth to give us first down at the 33 yard line. A 14 yard pass to Parks was followed with an 11 yard gain on the ground by Fox (thanks to another jailhouse blitz by Colorado State) and we had first down at the Rams 42. After a four yard rush by Fox, Roy Smith was able to gain three yards to leave us with third and two from the 35. Fox would keep the drive moving, picking up a gain of 7 on the third down rush. The Colorado State defense got to Fox on the next play, bringing him down in the backfield for a loss of two yards. After an incomplete pass on second down, a pass from Booth to Chad Fisher went for only a 5 yard gain, and on fourth and 7 from the 25 yard line, we were forced to attempt a field goal. The 41 yard kick from Alphonso Pratt was good and we had a 3-0 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter.

After a touchback on the kickoff, it was a rough start for the Rams, as they quickly found themselves facing third down after two incomplete passes. Jay Webb would keep the driving moving with a 23 yard pass to Chase Frazier for a first down at the 48 yard line. Another pass, 13 yards to Dustin Thompson, and the Rams had a first down at our 39. After an incomplete pass on first down, Matt Ingram picked up a gain of four on the ground, to set up third and 6. The Rams would not only convert the third down, but find themselves with first and goal at our 6 yard line after a 29 yard strike to Travis Walker. The defense fought back, tackling Ingram for losses of three and two yards, to leave Colorado State with third and goal from the 11 yard line. A 7 yard pass from Webb to Josh Thompson and the Rams were left with fourth and goal at our four. The 21 yard field goal from Dwight Jones was good and we were all knotted up at 3-3 with 3:32 to play in the quarter.

Taking over on our 25 yard line after the kickoff, it was back to the air to try and land the first blow of the game. A pair of 15 yard passes to Anderson, and we had a first down at the CSU 45 yard line. After coming out of the huddle planning run, Booth checked off at the line of scrimmage as Colorado State cheated forward and showed they were bringing the house again. The pass that Booth called an audible to proved ineffective, as Booth’s pass sailed well wide of the receiver’s reach and we were left with second and 10. A second down pass to Fisher picked up 8 yards and Fox would convert for the first down with a three yard rush to get us to the 35 yard line. A first down rush attempt by Fox was again disastrous, as Fox never had a chance, being brought down almost immediately after the handoff for a one yard loss. Anderson would just barely keep the driving going, hauling in a pass from Booth and turn up field just enough to get the first down with a 12 yard gain. A first down pass attempt sailed incomplete as the corner jammed Parks at the line, causing Booth’s pass to sail into nothing but empty grass. We’d find the end zone on the next play, as a smash play would find Fox wide open running towards the pylon, hauling in the pass and racing his coverage to the corner for the 23 yard touchdown pass, giving us a 10-3 lead with one minute left in the quarter. We received some bad news after the play, Anderson had suffered a back spasm. We decided to hold him out for a bit to avoid risk of re-injury.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Ingram picked up 7 yards on a first down rush for CSU, but that would be the only positive of the drive, as two incomplete passes brought out the punt team on fourth and three from the 32 yard line. Parks called for a fair catch on the 47 yard punt, and we began on our drive on our 20 yard line with 27 seconds to play in the quarter. The Rams defense again was more than ready for our run gain, as Fox was swarmed immediately after taking the handoff, being brought down for a one yard loss. We would let the final 13 seconds tick off and bring the first quarter to an end, our lead holding at 10-3.

Start of the second quarter, and a Booth pass intended for Parks was knocked incomplete, leaving us with third and 11 in the young moments of the quarter. Allowing Anderson to return to the field at the start of the second quarter paid off instantly, as he hauled in a pass from Booth for a 19 yard gain and a first down at the 38 yard line. After a three yard pass to Fisher, we came out in a five wide to spread out the defense. Fox was able to beat his defender off the line, getting a step ahead of him. Booth’s pass to Fox dropped perfectly in over the head of defender and hit Fox mid-stride right in the hands. Fox then raced his pursuers down the field before being caught from behind at the two yard line, a 57 yard gain. Parks would extend our lead on the next play, hauling in the two yard touchdown pass from Booth to make it 17-3 with 8:04 left in the half. Colorado State’s next drive started off its poorest yet, as Webb was sacked for a 7 yard loss, to leave CSU with second and 17. An 8 yard rush by Ingram made up the lost yards, but an incomplete pass on third down would force the Rams to punt on fourth and 9 from their 26 yard line. The 41 yard punt was returned 7 yards by Parks to start our drive at our 40 yard line. Trying our chances on the ground again, this time it paid off as Fox rode the holes as they opened up, all the way to the CSU 44 yard line for a 16 yard gain. The middle linebacker blitz through untouched on the next play, missing Fox on the tackle but managing to trip him up for only a two yard gain. Fox would get the first down on the next play, twisting and stumbling his way forward for a gain of 8 to give us first down at the 34 yard line. The middle linebacker again put our offensive line to shame, blitzing through untouched and tackling Fox for no gain. Booth attempted to hit Parks on a second down slant route, but the outside linebacker, Clint Martin, jumped in front of the play, intercepting it and gaining two yards before being brought down at the 31 yard line.

As had been the case, the Rams’ offensive drive started poorly, as the offense got tagged for holding on first down. A 7 yard rush by Ingram made it second and 13, before two incomplete passes would bring the drive to an end at the 27 yard line. A 46 yard punt was returned three yards by Parks, starting us at our 30 yard line for our next drive. Thanks to the fullback picking up the blitzing middle linebacker, and downfield block from the tight end, Fox broke the first down rush for 10 yards to get us to the 40. After a gain of 5 on first down, the middle linebacker made it through untouched yet again, and Fox was wrapped up for no gain, leaving us with third and 5 at the 45 yard line. A third down pass to Ryan Strong would go for 5 yards, leaving us with fourth and inches at midfield. Coach Blankenship told us to finish the job, and Fox would take it up the middle for a four yard gain and first down at the CSU 46 yard line. A first down rush by Smith was only able to gain one yard, as the defense again brought the house, clearly ready after what we had done against North Texas. After an incomplete pass, Booth hit Anderson along the right sideline on third and 9 for a 15 yard gain and first down at the 30 yard line. Fisher would put us back on the board on the next play, as Booth’s pass dropped in over the heads of both safeties, Fisher yanking the ball out from behind his body of the air and taking it 30 yards for the touchdown. The extra point made it 24-3 with 2:10 left in the half.

Colorado State continued to have failures on first down at the beginning of a new drive, as Webb was sacked for a 7 yard loss to leave the Rams with second and 17 at their 18 yard line. A three yard rush by Ingram left third and 14, but Webb would find Walker with the third down pass for a gain of 30 yards and first down at our 49 yard line. Another pass, 12 yards to Frazier was tacked on with an extra two yards after a penalty on the defense. After two incomplete passes, Webb found Ingram for an 18 yard gain and the Rams had first down at our 18 yard line. A 7 yard rush by Ingram got the Rams down to our 11, but the drive would come crashing down. On second and three, Ingram had fought down to our 7 yard line, enough for the first down, but the defense stripped the ball loose, Brian White falling on top of it to recover the fumble and give our offense the ball on our 6 yard line with 59 seconds left in the half. Three straight incomplete passes, and we were forced to punt with 47 seconds on the clock. Ingram called fair catch on the 47 yard punt and the Rams were left starting on their 47 yard line with 42 seconds left. A 5 yard pass to Frazier, and incomplete pass and a three yard rush by Webb left the Rams with fourth and one at our 45 yard line and 20 seconds to play. The Rams would decide to just let the clock run out and head to the locker room, our lead sitting at 24-3 at the half.

After a touchback on the kickoff to open the second half, it was a quick three and out for the Rams, as three straight incomplete passes would bring out the punt team yet again. A 43 yard punt was returned for 14 yards by Parks, and our offense took over at our 46 yard line. A total failure of blocking allowed two linebackers to come in untouched and bring down Fox for a two yard loss. An 8 yard pass to Fisher left us with third and three, which Fox would convert with an 8 yard rush to the CSU 38 yard line. The sideline and crowd suddenly grew concerned when Fox was slow getting up, grabbing his arm in pain.

Continuing the drive while waiting on word from the trainers, Smith was able to avoid a loss after breaking a tackle and gain four yards on the first down play. Smith kept it going, avoiding another loss as he rolled off of a tackle attempt and gained three yards to leave us with third and two at the 31 yard line. Smith would keep his streak going, breaking another tackle and managing to pick up three yards to get us a first down at the 27 yard line. Checking off of a first down run, Booth found Nicholas Roberts for 10 yards over the middle and a first down at the CSU 16 yard line. Smith would set us up with first and goal, after breaking runs of 6 and 7 yards to set us up at the two yard line. It was after the 7 yard rush that word came from the locker room. Our plague of injures at halfback had struck again. Fox was diagnosed with a dislocated elbow, putting him on the sideline for 10 weeks. That now made our first, second and third string halfbacks all on the injury list, as Kiel Fletcher was still sidelined for another 5 weeks with a broken fibula, and Brandon Price had been lost for the season two weeks ago with a torn shoulder muscle. Our new starter at halfback for the rest of the season, 66 OVR redshirt freshman Roy Smith.

Smith would take advantage of the situation, scoring his first touchdown of the season, taking it in off the left tackle for the two yard rush to open our lead to 31-3 with 5:11 left in the quarter. Colorado State would finally visit the end zone for the first time today, as Imgram took the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for the touchdown, closing the lead to 31-10 with 4:43 to play. A 19 yard kickoff return by Fisher and we were starting on our 25 yard line. A two yard gain by Smith and we had second and 8. Chucking up a pass intended for Parks, Booth ended up throwing his second interception of the day, with Martin pulling down his second INT for the game, returning it 6 yards to give Colorado State the ball at our 29 yard line. The Rams would find the end zone on the next play, as Webb hit Thompson for the 29 yard touchdown pass and suddenly our lead had shrunk to 31-17 in a minute and half, with 3:54 remaining in the quarter. A 21 yard kickoff return by Parks and we began our new drive on the 27. Going to the air to try and restore Booth’s confidence, the first down pass attempt was nearly intercepted, knocked away incomplete, before Booth hit Anderson up the left sideline for a 15 yard gain and first down at the 42 yard line. After a four yard run on first down, Smith was stood up for no gain and we found ourselves facing third and 6 at our 46 yard line. Going to the air, the pass intended for Parks was batted down as the defender dove between Parks and the ball and we were forced to punt. The 43 yard punt was returned 12 yards by Ingram and the Rams offense came on to start at their 22 yard line with 2:25 left in the third.

It would be a short lived drive, as Ingram was tackled for a three yard loss, followed by an incomplete pass, before Ingram would manage to gain 5 yards on third down, though it would not be enough, the Rams forced to punt on fourth and 8 form their 24 yard line. Parks called for a fair catch on the 50 yard punt and we took over on offense at our 25. Our offensive line continued to have no answer for the CSU linebackers, as Smith was quickly brought down for a two yard loss on the first down rush attempt. Anderson would keep the drive moving, hauling in a pass over the middle and fighting forward for a gain of 15 yards and a first down at the 38 yard line. Attempting to throw off the CSU defense, a first down WR screen went belly up, as Fisher was tackled for a three yard loss. The second down pass attempt would end up incomplete as Booth was hit as he threw. The third down pass was nearly picked off, but batted down incomplete, and our punt team came out on fourth and 13 with 5 seconds left in the quarter. Ingram called fair catch on the 41 yard punt, and that would bring the third quarter to a close, our lead sitting at 31-17.

Starting the fourth quarter on their 24 yard line, it was another three and out for Colorado State, as Ingram was brought down for a three yard loss, before a 6 yard gain by Ingram and an incomplete pass left the Rams stranded with fourth and 7 at their 27 yard line. Parks returned the 41 yard punt for a gain of 17 yards and we began our drive with our best field position yet, on our 48 yard line. After a 5 yard rush by Smith on first down, a completely blown block by our fullback resulted in Smith being brought down for a loss of 5 yards on the second down pitch play. Anderson was able to break loose from his defender on third down, breaking outside and hauling in a pass from Booth for a 13 yard gain and first down at the 39 yard line to keep our drive breathing. Another failure by the offensive line, and Smith was brought down for a loss of two yards. A second down pass attempt to Parks was nearly intercepted, and we were left with third and 12. Another nearly intercepted pass and we were forced to punt from the 41 yard line with 6:11 to play in the game. The punt sailed 47 yards, going out for a touchback and giving CSU the ball at the 20. Throwing out some trick plays from their playbook to start the drive, the Rams caught our defense sleeping, as a halfback pass from Ingram to Walker went for a gain of 15 yards and a first down at the 35 yard line. After two incomplete passes, Webb found Walker for a 10 yard gain to leave the Rams with fourth and inches at the 45 yard line. Ingram would keep the drive moving, converting fourth down with an 8 yard rush to our 48. Webb went back to the air on first down, finding D. Thompson for a gain of 15 and a first down at our 33 yard line. A three yard rush by Ingram was followed by a gain of 8 yards, and the Rams had first down at our 22 yard line. Webb would hit J. Thompson on first down for a 9 yard pickup, before finding D. Thompson over the middle for the 13 yard touchdown pass to make it 31-24 with 4:09 left in the game.

A 20 yard kickoff return by Fisher left us starting on our own 19, the clock now reading 3:58 to play. A pair of rushes by Smith went for gains of three and two yards to leave us facing third and 5. Strong would keep our drive alive, hauling in a pass over the blitzing defense and gaining 12 yards to give us first down at the 36 yard line, the clock down to 2:30 left to play. Smith would pick up a gain of 8 on the first down carry before a time out by Colorado State stopped the clock at 1:58 to play. Smith would gain one yard on the second down carry, as the Rams called their second timeout to stop the clock with 1:56 left. Living and dying by the run game, Smith was able to fight forward, gaining 6 yards to get us to the CSU 49 yard line with 1:52 to play, Colorado State calling their third and final timeout in desperation. The Rams were not about to give up, tackling Smith on first down for a loss of one yard, before a 7 yard gain made it third and three with 56 seconds to play. Running the clock down to 28 seconds before we snapped the ball, Smith would gain two yards to leave us with fourth and one at the 40. For some reason, Coach Blankenship chose to punt, the ball going out for a touchback and the Rams getting the ball at their 20 yard line with 5 seconds to play. The desperation heave on the final play of the game went to D. Thompson, who managed to gain 36 yards before being brought down by two defenders to end the game, our win preserved, 31-24.

With the win, we send out seniors out in style in their final home game, and improve our record on the year to 9-1, 6-0 in C-USA action. With the loss, Colorado State drops to 5-5, 3-2 in Mountain West play. Next up, it's on the road to UTSA, who enters the game 2-8 on the year, 2-5 in C-USA play. The Roadrunners opened the year 0-5, losing 37-10 at #13 Iowa, 46-22 at Marshall, 56-7 at Indiana, 20-13 at UAB and 26-17 against North Texas. UTSA finally got in the win column with a 21-16 win at Rice. Three more losses, 59-13 at Army, 48-10 to Southern Miss and 45-21 to UTEP set the Roadrunners up for win #2, 28-26 at Tulane heading into their game with us.

Final Score
#24 31, 24



Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – Another good day passing for Booth, throwing up 309 yards and two touchdown passes, though the two interceptions hurt us big time and nearly cost us the game. Talk about shit luck. We lose our star HB Fletcher early in the season, then we lose our new second string HB Price in our seventh game of the year, and now we lose our third string HB, Fox, in our ninth game. Price is done for the year, Fox is most likely done unless he somehow gets back before the bowl game. Fletcher will be back in time for our bowl game. Here's hoping our fourth string HB, Smith, can keep our run game afloat until then, as we have no one on the depth chart behind him. Only six receivers touched the ball today, all of them getting double digit receiving yards.

- Tulsa Defense – A tale of two halves for the defense. Absolutely dominated the Rams in the first half, allowing nothing, then started giving up some big plays in the second half. Booth through two interceptions surely did not help though.

- Tulsa Kicking – Pratt finally got back to perfection today, hitting his only field goal attempt, fom 41 yards out, and going 4-4 on PATs.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	3	0	14	7	24
	10	14	7	0	31

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:32		Field Goal	A. Pratt, 41 yard field goal	3-0
3:35		Field Goal	D. Jones, 20 yard field goal	TIED 3-3
1:00		Touchdown	S. Fox, 23 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	10-3
Second Quarter
8:04		Touchdown	S. Parks, 2 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	17-3
2:10		Touchdown	C. Fisher, 30 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	24-3
Third Quarter
5:11		Touchdown	R. Smith, 2 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	31-3
4:43		Touchdown	M. Ingram, returned kickoff 101 yards (D. Jones kick)	31-10
3:54		Touchdown	D. Thompson, 29 yard pass from J. Webb (D. Jones kick)	31-17
Fourth Quarter
4:09		Touchdown	D. Thompson, 13 yard pass from J. Webb (D. Jones kick)	31-24

Game Stats

Colorado State	Stat	Tulsa
24	Score	31
11	First Downs	24
326	Total Offense	442
17 - 62 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	41 - 133 - 1
15 - 33 - 2	Comp - Att - TD	22 - 40 - 3
264	Passing Yards	309
2	Times Sacked	0
4 - 13 (30%)	3rd Down Conversion	11 - 18 (61%)
1 - 1 (100%)	4th Down Conversion	1 - 1 (100%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
3 - 1 - 1 (66%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	3 - 2 - 0 (66%)
1	Turnovers	2
1	Fumbles Lost	0
0	Intercepted	2
12	Punt Return Yards	41
101	Kick Return Yards	79
439	Total Yards	562
6 – 45.3	Punts - Average	5 - 42.6
1 - 10	Penalties	1 - 2
13:38	Time of Possession	22:22

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	39
	7+ rushing TD in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	2400+ total offensive yards in each season	1/2 Passed
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

94%

[SmoothPancakes]

Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, #1 Georgia steamrolls #23 Auburn 42-7. There will be a new #3 next week as Mississippi State rolls in and knocks off #3 LSU in Death Valley, 31-24, LSU's 14 point fourth quarter comeback coming up short. The battle for first place in the Mountain West goes to #4 Fresno State, who holds off Nevada 31-24. #8 Alabama fights back from down 20-6 at halftime and needs overtime to survive a scare from Texas A&M, 26-23. #10 Rutgers holds on for a 31-21 win over UCF in a showdown for positioning at the top of the Big East. #14 Iowa remains undefeated in the Big Ten with a 38-13 win over #20 Purdue, and #16 TCU takes down #21 Kansas State 24-13.

For our readers, souljahbill, Southern Miss drops below even farther below .500, losing to Florida International 24-10 to drop to 4-6 (2-4 C-USA). Jaymo, the downslide continues still, as Arizona State falls to #2 USC 41-24, dropping the Sun Devils to 3-6 (1-6 in Pac-12 play). Mors, sorry buddy, West Virginia has been eliminated from bowl contention, losing their 7th straight game to Oklahoma State, 52-27 to drop to 2-7 (0-6 in the Big 12). For community teams and other teams of interest, Iowa State gets beat by #13 Texas, 34-10 to drop to 3-7 (2-5), and Arkansas State picks up their fifth win a row, beating Louisiana-Monroe 28-7 to improve to 6-3 (4-1 in Sun Belt)

On a C-USA note, the battle of my final two opponents goes to the Roadrunners, as UTSA improves to 2-8 for the year behind a 28-26 edging of 3-7 Tulane. And Rice gets an impressive 34-25 win over 4-5 Boise State to improve to 7-3. Florida International's 24-10 win over Southern Miss secures their spot in the C-USA Championship Game and wraps up the East Division title outright for the Golden Panthers. UTEP beat North Texas this week, 23-16 to improve to 8-2 (4-2), so UTEP still has a chance to sharing the West Division title, but due to our head to head win over the Miners, the C-USA CCG is still secured and all set between the Golden Hurricanes and the Golden Panthers.

Looking at undefeated teams left, no new teams lost this week this week, keeping our number of undefeated teams left at 3. #1 Georgia (11-0), #2 USC (10-0), and #4 Fresno State (8-0), are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 11.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 3 teams still looking for their first win: Central Michigan (0-10), Memphis (0-10), and UNLV (0-9).

Teams getting their first wins this week were: Minnesota (22-21 over 4-6 Illinois, the Gophers outscoring the Illini 19-0 from the final seconds of the second quarter on) and San Jose State (24-9 over 3-6 Hawaii).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia (getting 33 first place votes) and USC (27 votes) remain #1 and #2, Fresno State (1 vote) moves up one to #3. Nebraska and Notre Dame jump one to #4 and #5. Michigan, Alabama and Texas Tech all go up one to #6, #7 and #8. Rutgers climbs one to #9 and Wisconsin moves up one to #10. Also climbing one were South Carolina, Texas, Iowa and Michigan State to #11, #12, #13 and #14. LSU drops twelve spots to #15 after their loss to Mississippi State. Oregon jumps two to #20, Tulsa jumps three to #21, Florida State rises three to #25, Washington enters the poll at #23, Virginia Tech enters the poll at #24 and Clemson enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Purdue (from #20), Kansas State (from #21) and Auburn (from #23).

In the Media Poll, the top two remain the same, USC (receiving 37 first place votes) and Georgia (27 votes) both remain #1 and #2, Fresno State (1 vote) jumps one to #3, Nebraska and Notre Dame both climb one to #4 and #5. Alabama jumps two to #6, Texas Tech remains stuck at #7, Michigan, Rutgers and Wisconsin all climb one to #8, #9 and #10. Texas, South Carolina, Iowa and TCU all climb one to #11, #12, #13 and #14. LSU drops twelve to #15. Oregon jumps two to #20, Tulsa climbs two to #21, Florida State moves up two to #22. Virginia Tech enters the poll at #23, Washington enters the poll at #24 and Clemson enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Purdue (from #20), Kansas State (from #21) and Utah (from #25)

Poor North Carolina. Undefeated and ranked #9 (Coaches) and #8 (Media) three weeks ago, and now three straight losses to NC State, BYU and Georgia Tech to fall to 7-3 for the year.

The BCS rankings fall: #1 Georgia, #2 USC, #3 Fresno State, #4 Nebraska, #5 Notre Dame, #6 Alabama, #7 Michigan, #8 Texas Tech, #9 Rutgers and #10 South Carolina.

Apparently Week 12 is still too early to get bowl projections, as they refuse to show up, so I still have no idea where and who I might play.

[souljahbill]

sucks!
Guess the game is realistic after all.

[SmoothPancakes]

sucks!
Guess the game is realistic after all.

Yep, not a nice year for the readers. Southern Miss, Arizona State and West Virginia all having horrible years (after starting off the season good).