Smooth Pancakes' Coaching Carousel Career

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Five





Game Notes

--- Going into the first week of league play is definitely not the best thing after giving away the game like we did last week against Louisville. North Texas as our first opponent wasn’t making things any better. Despite the fact they were entering with an 0-3 record, just like Louisville had, and the facts that they ranked 118th in the nation in total offense, 102nd in rushing, and 117th in passing, we still had a very uneasy feeling about this game. It might have been partly due to the game being on their home field. Or maybe it was from those spicy burritos that they team captains decided on for the team pre-game meal rather than something simple. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

The first drive for the Mean Green was far from mean. They lasted three plays before punting the ball away. While our offensive drive nearly stalled in three plays as well, Darrian Mallary was able to pick up the new set of downs for us on 3rd and 1, and then one play later gave us a huge boost as he was able to turn the outside corner and scamper down the field for a 36 yard gain down to the North Texas 23 yard line. Credit also goes to Jake Medlock for seeing the heavy pressure to the left side, and switching the play from its original run to the left, and making it a run to the undermanned right side. Unfortunately, that would be the highlight play of the drive, as we would get as close as the 5 yard line before having to settle for a field goal. In response, North Texas may have the 117th ranked passing offense in the nation, but they sure as hell didn’t show it in their second drive, burning our defense on passes of 9, 11, 25, and 24 yards, ending with a 2 yard touchdown pass to take the lead.

Our second offense drive, we were able to getting things moving consistently until we got down to the North Texas 32 yard line, where a holding penalty on 2nd down pushed us back outside the 40 and killed any and all momentum we had. Jack Griffin would try a 52 yard field goal, but never had a chance of making it, as it fell easily 5 yards short of the uprights. North Texas once again showed that their offensive rankings were nothing but bull, and quickly bitch slapped our defense down the field with passes, bringing a merciful end to the first quarter along the way. Another three and out, and our offense was once again coming back off the field. North Texas once again passed all over our offense, and would have had another touchdown if not for a sack for a loss of 8 yards that forced them to kick merely a field goal. Our next offensive drive, choosing to stick to the ground, since our passing game sucked more than a $2 hooker, we made it all the way down to the North Texas 48 yard line before trying a pass on 3rd and 8. Of course, it was promptly intercepted. What else is new. North Texas drove down to our 30 yard line before stalling out and settling for a 47 yard field goal.

Finally our offense finally got their asses in gear and did something, as Mallary was able to escape the pressure on a pitch play, managing to get outside the tackles and sprinted 54 yards down the field, breaking four tackles along the way before finally being caught from behind at the North Texas 26 yard line. An extremely lucky pass (there is no skill on this offense, only luck) on 3rd and 10 went for a 25 yard gain, getting us down to the 1 yard line. Of course, 1 yard was almost too much for this offense to even obtain, needing three plays to finally get the ball into the end zone from a single godforsaken yard out. North Texas would try to respond, but would get no farther than midfield before the clock ran out and we entered halftime.

Start of the second half, our offense came out ready to stop rolling over like a bunch of corpses, quickly getting a first down in two plays to get us out to our 45 yard line, before Mallary was again called on to take the ball on the ground. This time, he was able to break five tackles as he took it up the middle, juked out the safety, and was able to race the rest of the way to the end zone for a 55 yard touchdown run to pull us back within 3 points. Then things finally started to go our way, as Jonathan Cyprien was able to strip the ball loose on the next Mean Green drive and recover it for us, giving us the ball right back on the North Texas 38 yard line. Of course, that would be too easy for us. Leave it to good old Medlock to say F U to our offense, throwing another interception four plays later on the North Texas 6 yard line. Thankfully our defense actually did their job for a chance, and allowed only 4 yards before forcing a North Texas punt.

This time we were able to actually do something, as Medlock decided to throw to one of our own players for a change, and we were able to eventually make our way down to the North Texas 1 yard line once again. And thankfully Mallary was able to actually get that one yard on a single play this time, rather than needing three plays like the last time. Somehow, things continued to actually go our way, as the North Texas halfback proceeded to fumble the ball on 1st down of their next drive, giving us the ball back on their 17 yard line, and putting us in great shape to extend on our new 4 point lead. We were able to find the end zone again four plays later as Medlock was able to find Junior Mertile in the back of the end zone for a 4 yard touchdown pass to bring our lead up to 11 points. North Texas was able to get deep into our territory on their next drive, thanks in part to a 30 yard pass on 3rd down, but our defense eventually forced three straight incomplete passes from our 14 yard line, forcing the Mean Green to kick a 31 yard field goal.

Our offense would again find success on the ground on our next drive. Clearly the rushing game would be the only reason we would have a chance of winning today. Throughout a drive that saw the third quarter end and the fourth quarter begin, we went on a 12 play drive that consisted on 10 rushes, ending in Mallary punching it in from 2 yards out. A pair of sacks for a combined loss of 10 yards would erase any good a 14 yard pass would do, and North Texas was forced to punt in only three plays on their ensuing drive, giving us the ball back. Or so we thought, until our stupid punt returner fumbled the ball and gave North Texas just fantastic field position at our own damn 32 yard line. Nothing like a freaking 40 yard gain thanks to a fumbled punt. Somehow our defense would actually manage to force them to turn the ball over on downs, finally actually giving us the ball back with just over 6 minutes left and a 15 point lead. We would get as far as the 40 yard line before sending the punt team back onto the field.

The response from North Texas was easily guessable. Passing and more passing. Their drive last 7 plays and covered 76 yards, and all of that on a whole three completed passes. 4 incomplete passes, and completed passes of 26 yards, 28 yards, and 22 yards (for a TD) were all that their drive consisted of. Our defense seriously is worth jack against the pass. And of course, they converted the two-point conversion attempt to pull within 7 with 2:16 left to play. Of course, go figure, we proceed to go three and out and give the ball back with 1:44 left to play. Thankfully our defense decided to actually step up for a chance, as Emmanuel Souarin intercepted a North Texas pass at the 26 yard line and returned it back for a touchdown to give us a 14 point lead again with 1:33 left to play. North Texas was able to get out as far as their 37 yard line before they turned the ball over on downs as they gained a mere two yards in four plays after their last first down.

After North Texas decided to call their only remaining time out with 33 seconds left to play as I tried to run down the clock, I decided to say screw it and tried to put it in the end zone one last time. Unfortunately we would get only as close as the 2 yard line before throwing three straight incomplete passes. We would walk away from the drive with a victory nonetheless as Griffin would tack on a 19 yard field goal as time expired. With the win, we improve to 3-2 on the year, 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. North Texas falls to 0-4 for the season and 0-1 in the Sun Belt.

Up next for the Golden Panthers, we return home to take on Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers enter the game 0-6 on the season, 0-3 in Sun Belt Conference play. Western Kentucky opened their year with a 38-3 loss at #3 Alabama, then lost at Kentucky 34-7, followed by a 42-7 loss at Hawaii. They opened up conference play with a 31-13 loss to Middle Tennessee State, a 24-17 loss to Louisiana-Monroe, before getting shut out 37-0 at Florida Atlantic.

Final Score
48, 31



Stat(s) of the Game:
FIU Offense – Medlock sucks, the running game was god this game.

FIU Defense – No comment.

FIU Kicking – Made some field goals but his kicking range sucks.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	3	7	21	17	48
	7	13	3	8	31

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:23		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 21 yard field goal	3-0
3:07		Touchdown	W. Taylor, 2 yard pass from R. Dodge (Z. Olen kick)	7-3
Second Quarter
7:57		Touchdown	B. Byrd, 4 yard run (Z. Olen kick)	14-3
5:48		Field Goal	Z.Olen, 18 yard field goal	17-3
2:43		Field Goal	Z. Olen, 47 yard field goal	20-3
0:55		Touchdown	J. Harden, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	20-3
Third Quarter
8:01		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 55 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	20-17
5:24		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	24-20
4:01		Touchdown	J. Mertile, 4 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	31-20
2:20		Field Goal	Z. Olen, 31 yard field goal	31-23
Fourth Quarter
7:44		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 2 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	38-23
2:16		Touchdown	D. Carey, 22 yard pass from R. Dodge (2-point conversion)	38-31
1:33		Touchdown	E. Souarin, returned interception 25 yards (J. Griffin kick)	45-31
0:00		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 19 yard field goal	48-31

Game Stats

Florida International	Stat	North Texas
48	Score	31
19	First Downs	20
519	Total Offense	471
39-258-4	Rushes - Yards - TD	33-139-1
16-35-1	Comp - Att - TD	22-50-2
261	Passing Yards	332
0	Times Sacked	3
7-15 (46%)	3rd Down Conv	11-21 (52%)
1-1 (100%)	4th Down Conv	2-4 (50%)
0-0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	1-1 (100%)
8-4-2 (75%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	4-2-2 (100%)
3	Turnovers	3
1	Fumbles Losts	2
2	Intercepted	1
7	Punt Return Yards	19
108	Kick Return Yards	76
634	Total Yards	566
3 - 46.7	Punts - Average	3 - 44.3
2 - 15	Penalties	2 - 10
20:56	Time of Possession	15:04

Florida International Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	500+ rushing yards in each season	2/3 Passed
	Win 8 games in one season	3
	2000+ total offensive yards in each season	2/3 Passed
	7+ passing TD in one season
	10+ points per game in each season	33 PPG
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

63%

[SmoothPancakes]

Thoughts on the game, nothing really to say. The defense sucks, Medlock sucks. The only reason I won that game was the rushing game.

[SmoothPancakes]

In the top 25 this week, #1 LSU escapes Florida 17-9. #23 Utah gets a huge upset as they knock off #2 Oregon 59-40. The game of the week goes to #4 Michigan State, as they had #7 Wisconsin their first loss, 21-14. #6 Texas A&M avoids an upset by Kansas as the Aggies win 31-24. #12 Auburn loses for the first time this year, as Arkansas gets the win 23-10, and #19 Virginia Tech needed overtime to beat #21 NC State 34-28.

[morsdraconis]

Man, as cool as it is to be able to be the OC or DC, there is nothing more frustrating than watching a truly inept side of the ball flounder while not being able to do anything about it.

[SmoothPancakes]

Man, as cool as it is to be able to be the OC or DC, there is nothing more frustrating than watching a truly inept side of the ball flounder while not being able to do anything about it.

My thoughts exactly. I know for a fact my defense is going to screw my season over. There's no doubt about it. If I had to go through all that just to beat 0-4 North Texas, who had the 118th worst total offense, 102nd worst rushing offense, and 117th worst passing offense coming into the game, there is no doubt I'm going to get abused by teams that actually have offenses worth a damn as I get further into league play.

[morsdraconis]

My thoughts exactly. I know for a fact my defense is going to screw my season over. There's no doubt about it. If I had to go through all that just to beat 0-4 North Texas, who had the 118th worst total offense, 102nd worst rushing offense, and 117th worst passing offense coming into the game, there is no doubt I'm going to get abused by teams that actually have offenses worth a damn as I get further into league play.

Time to run the ball down their throats and run the clock out as much as possible. Shorten the game and, hopefully, put more pressure on them to score quickly resulting in them making more mistakes.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Six





Game Notes

--- After a crazy game last week against North Texas, we were back in the safety of our home stadium, as Western Kentucky came stumbling into town with an 0-6 record. We were looking to improve to 4-2 on the year and improve to 2-0 in the Sun Belt. This was also our chance to get a huge boost in momentum for our season before undefeated Troy came to town next week. It was a partly cloudy nighttime sky as the lights came on for the first time in the past two seasons. Western Kentucky lost the coin toss, we elected to kick, hoping our defense would set the tone for the game early.

The defense would do exactly that, as they allowed only 7 yards on a rush before forcing the Hilltoppers to punt. Or so we thought. Leave it to the defense to get whistled for an offside penalty on 4th and 3. Finally they actually stopped the Western Kentucky offense in the next set of downs, and actually didn’t get penalized on 4th and 2. We got the ball on our 24 yard line and quickly proceeded to drive down the field. Eight plays later, we found the end zone for the first time of the day, as Darrian Mallary drove into the end zone from 3 yards out. Our defense pretty much about screwed our lead, but they finally shut them down on our 31 yard line after 12 straight plays went for at least a 3 yard gain or more. The Hilltoppers would attempt a 48 yard field goal, but would miss it wide right. We however would gain one first down before going three and out and would punt the ball right back. They would drive right down the throats of our defense, surprise surprise, thanks to passes of 14, 19, and 24 yards, to tie things up.

We would get as far down the field as the Western Kentucky 3 yard line, before their defense stopped us four straight plays in a row, because the game’s “I’m going to cheat the hell out of you” engine decided that I am not going to be allowed to win this game. Thankfully, being backed up clear on their 2 yard line, the defense never let them getting any farther out than the 7 yard line before they were forced to punt right before the end of the first quarter. This time we would find the end zone again on our offensive drive, thanks in part to starting on our own 46 yard line after the punt from deep in WKU territory. We got down to the Hilltoppers 10 yard line in 7 players, before Jake Medlock connecting with Mallary in the end zone for a 10 yard touchdown pass. Our defense was more than ready to hold tough for a change, as they stopped Western Kentucky just barely inches short of a first down, forcing another WKU punt. While it took a lot of effort and multiple third down conversions, we were able to drive down the field once again, and Medlock was able to connect with Mallary through the air once again, this time for a 15 yard touchdown pass.

Our defense let Western Kentucky constantly advance the ball as far as our 47 yard line, before they finally shut down the Hilltopper offense and forced another put with 2 minutes left to play in the half. It took a lot of risk and effort, but we were able to drive down into the Western Kentucky red zone before Mallary punched it in from 1 yard out with 30 seconds left to play in the 1st half. Western Kentucky would only get two plays off before the clock ran out. Even better, besides having a 21 point halftime lead, we were getting the ball right back to start the third quarter.

Starting on our 20 yard line, we quickly drove right down the field, only facing a single 3rd down along the way, as our running game was finally beginning to work and we could stop going through the air every play to actually gain first downs. 11 plays later, Mallary was finding the end zone yet again as he plowed through the line on 3rd and goal from the 2 yard line to put us up 35-7. Western Kentucky, their backs completely broken, quickly went three and out, and our offensive switched to 100% clock killing mode with 3:20 left to play in the third quarter. We would advance the ball all the way down to the Western Kentucky 7 yard line before time finally ran out on the third quarter.

The start of the fourth quarter, and Mallary again was unable to put it in on the ground, so we finally took to the air on 3rd and goal, where Medlock was once again able to connect with Mallary to put us up by 35 points with 8 minutes left in the game. A pair of 27 yard passes, and Western Kentucky was able to at least find some life on offense, getting as close as our 12 yard line, before a tackle for a loss and a 7 yard sack would push them out to 4th and 20, and they would have to settle for a 39 yard field goal. Our second team offense would drive the ball down as far as the Western Kentucky 22 yard line before settling for a 39 yard field goal with 3 minutes left to play. Our defense would hold the Hilltoppers to a three and out, and we would get the ball back with 2:35 left to play in the game. We ended up going three and out as well on offense, giving Western Kentucky the ball back with a little over a minute left to play. They would get the ball as far as our 33 yard line before time ran out and the game came to an end under the Miami night sky.

With the win, we improve to 4-2 on the season, 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. With the loss, Western Kentucky drops to 0-7 for the year, 0-4 in Sun Belt action. Up next for the Golden Panthers, the Trojans of Troy come to town, bringing a 5-1 record, 1-1 in Sun Belt play. Looking at Troy’s season so far, they opened up the year with w 54-24 win at UAB, a 36-14 win over McNeese State, a 48-21 victory over Navy, a 14-12 upset at Tennessee, a 44-14 shellacking at home against Middle Tennessee State, before being knocked off in a huge surprise loss at Florida Atlantic, 37-17.

Final Score
45, 10



Stat(s) of the Game:
- FIU Offense – 565 yards of total offense. Passed heavy when they shut down the running game, cranked the running game up to full speed in the 2nd half.

- FIU Defense – Actually, finally did decent for a change. Held WKU to 296 yards of offense, and didn’t really screw up big time for the most part.

- FIU Running Back Darrian Mallary – Directly involved in all 6 touchdowns the offense scored, 3 receiving, 3 rushing. By far the best game he’ll ever play in his career.

- Both Teams – A turnover free game.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	0	0	3	10
	7	21	7	10	45

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
6:32		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 3 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	7-0
0:54		Touchdown	N. Baisch, 2 yard run (J. Lane kick)	TIED 7-7
Second Quarter
6:42		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 10 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	14-7
4:02		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 15 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	21-7
0:29		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	28-7
Third Quarter
4:10		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 2 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	35-7
Fourth Quarter
8:15		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 5 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	42-7
4:52		Field Goal	J. Lane, 38 yard field goal	42-10
3:05		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 38 yard field goal	45-10

Game Stats

Western Kentucky	Stat	Florida International
10	Score	45
16	First Downs	22
296	Total Offense	565
36-114-1	Rushes - Yards - TD	35-163-3
13-32-0	Comp - Att - TD	18-30-3
182	Passing Yards	402
1	Times Sacked	0
9-18 (50%)	3rd Down Conv	5-9 (55%)
0-0 (0%)	4th Down Conv	0-1 (0%)
0-0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0-0 (0%)
3-1-1 (66%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	8-6-0 (75%)
0	Turnovers	0
0	Fumbles Losts	0
0	Intercepted	0
0	Punt Return Yards	24
122	Kick Return Yards	20
418	Total Yards	609
6 – 44.7	Punts - Average	2 - 41.0
1 - 1	Penalties	3 - 15
14:12	Time of Possession	21:48

Florida International Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	500+ rushing yards in each season	2/3 Passed
	Win 8 games in one season	4
	2000+ total offensive yards in each season	2/3 Passed
	7+ passing TD in one season
	10+ points per game in each season	35 PPG
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

63%

[SmoothPancakes]

That. Felt. Good. I needed that. After the crap I put up with from this game in the North Texas contest, I needed to just go out and stomp a team. Unfortunately for Western Kentucky, they were the team that the schedule gave me to do exactly that to. No matte which route I went on offense, as soon as I found a rhythm, Western Kentucky couldn't stop me. They shut me down on the ground early, so I destroyed them through the air. They started playing the pass after halftime, and my running backs went to town on them. This is going to be a game I'm going to remember for a long time, just because of the destruction and frustration I was able to rain upon my opponent, rather than the other way around.

As for the conference, well, what wonders have occurred. Going into this season, who in their right minds would have thought that after 8 weeks of play, Florida Atlantic and Florida International would be in a two team tie for first place in the conference with 2-0 records. Florida Atlantic got a huge upset over previously undefeated Troy, 37-17, to knock them down to 5-1 for the year and move the Florida schools solely into first place. It's a shame I don't play Florida Atlantic until week 14. I highly doubt either of us will still be undefeated in the Sun Belt. What a game that would have been if we had been able to play while still undefeated in the conference. Talk about a dream game for TV, at least regionally.

[SmoothPancakes]

As for the top 25, upsets and more upsets this week. There's going to be a new #2 for the second week in a row, as Michigan pulls off the upset rivalry victory, shutting out #2 Michigan State 10-0. #3 Alabama sees their perfect season ruined as Ole Miss gets a 28-24 upset win at home. In the game of the week, #4 Oklahoma State remains perfect with a 37-10 win over #5 Texas A&M, ruining the Aggies perfect season in the process. #7 Mississippi State barely edges out #14 South Carolina 19-17. #8 Oklahoma escapes an upset bid by Kansas, as the Sooners win 24-17. #12 Stanford held on to get the 24-14 win over #23 Washington. #13 Connecticut is no longer undefeated, courtesy of a 28-26 upset victory by Louisville. #16 Nebraska is no longer perfect in their Big 10 history, as #17 Ohio State hands the Huskers their first ever Big 10 loss, 31-26. #20 Utah picked up a top 25 win, edging out #24 Oregon State 27-24.

[SmoothPancakes]

Nice, advanced to week 9, checked out my recruiting. I snuck in and stole a OLB who had soft committed to Troy last week, and got him to hard commit to me this week. Also got a OLB to hard commit as well this week, bringing my recruiting class up to 6 players so far. I did lose one player, a QB to Florida Atlantic, but as Medlock is a Junior and my other two QBs are a Freshman (RS) and a Freshman, I'll be good for QB until at least the off-season, if not until regular season recruiting next year.

[morsdraconis]

Great win man. It definitely feels good to beat the shit out of someone.

[SmoothPancakes]

Thanks. While the Bowling Green was an easy win, that was pretty much just because they sucked. This game, this was a win I wanted and I wanted it to be by as much as possible. I was out for blood and out with a vengeance after that North Texas game. Western Kentucky just drew the short stick when it came to schedules.

I at least have hope now. After seeing what our offense can do when pushed, combined with Florida Atlantic's easy upset of previously unbeaten Troy, I have hope of actually contending with and maybe beating Troy now.

[morsdraconis]

Confidence is what it's all about man. Without it, you're destined to fail.

[SmoothPancakes]

Well, with Jake Medlock under center, he doesn't exactly fill me with inspiration or confidence. I never have any idea what kind of game I'm going to get from him. Some games he plays like he's Steve Young in the pocket. Other games, he plays like he's Reggie Ball. I never have any clue what he's going to play like until I get in-game.

[SmoothPancakes]

Just about to start up my game against Troy.

First, here's the (slightly after) mid-season Hot Seat update. The percentage change is the difference between the percentages I had listed in my week 2 update and now.

Coach	Position	Team	Job Security	% Change	2012 Record	2011 Record
Dana Holgorsen	Head Coach		11%	+1%	1-4	5-7
Dabo Swinney	Head Coach		12%	0%	6-0	4-8
Larry Porter	Head Coach		20%	0%	0-7	1-11
Butch Davis	Head Coach		20%	+1%	4-2	5-7
Paul Wulff	Head Coach		21%	+1%	1-6	2-10
Bronco Mendenhall	Head Coach		25%	+4%	2-5	5-7
Will Muschamp	Head Coach		27%	-2%	2-5	6-7
Dennis Erickson	Head Coach		28%	+1%	3-4	4-8
Other Notables
Mark Richt	Head Coach		35%	+2%	7-0	5-7
Mack Brown	Head Coach		36%	0%	3-4	(7-6)
Charlie Strong	Head Coach		39%	+7%	2-3	5-7
Jeff Tedford	Head Coach		42%	-4%	3-4	5-7
Joe Paterno	Head Coach		44%	-1%	6-1	8-5
Derek Dooley	Head Coach		44%	+2%	2-4	6-7
Lane Kiffin	Head Coach		45%	-1%	5-2	9-4

[morsdraconis]

Poor Holgorsen.

[SmoothPancakes]

Yeah, I thought they were going to get it on track this year after that win over Florida State. But then they lost by double digits to North Carolina, got whooped by TCU, lost by 10 to Clemson and in the game I just simulated before playing my Troy game, they lost to fellow (before simming the game) 1-4 Syracuse 34-31 to drop to 1-5 on the year. Still have toss up games against UConn, Louisville, Cincinnati, USF and Rutgers (along with a trip to Pittsburgh) so they have a chance to at least match their 5-7 record from last year.

Looking at Holgorsen's contract, he was screwed no matter what after last season. He has 4 failed goals right now:

Win 6 games every season ()
Finish each season ranked in the BCS Top 75 ()
Finish 6th or better in the conference each season ()
Make it to a bowl game each season ()

Unfortunately, he's not going to make up any ground. Of his 8 pending goals, only 1 is a 4 green arrow goal, he has 2 2 green arrow goals, and 5 1 green arrow goals. And he's pretty much screwed on those goals even as they have no chance of meeting the goals this season, and he's probably destined to be fired before the third season on his contract.

His pending goals are: Finish a season ranked in the BCS Top 25, Win 10 games in one season, Sign 1 4-star, or better, prospect(s) each regular season (none so far this season), sign a Top 50 recruiting Class each regular season, Win 8 games in one season, Beat a rival opponent each season, Sign 5 3-star, or better, prospect(s) each regular season (only 1 signed so far), and Grade 'B' or higher on 10 campus visits in one season.

And in fact, it looks like he might be dropping back down to 10% approval rating next week, as he's currently getting hit with a penalty for losing to a lower ranked team (Syracuse) this week.

[SmoothPancakes]

Troy results coming up shortly. As well, some interesting results in the Top 25 this week.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Seven





Game Notes

--- Coming off on a huge positive upswing after that whooping we put on Western Kentucky last week, it was time to try and keep that momentum going as our toughest test of the season lay ahead of us. Troy was coming to town this week, bringing along their 5-1 record and 1-1 Sun Belt Conference record. We came into the game at 4-2 on the year, but most importantly, 2-0 and tied with Florida Atlantic for first place in the Sun Belt. In addition to a game that could possibly propel our program to new heights, we had two recruits in attendance for this game, DE Anthony Smith, the #11 DE in the entire country, who had announced that he was soft committing to Auburn earlier this week, and TE Aaron Clark, who announced that he was soft committing to our team. Special for this game, we decided to break out the alternate uniforms and don the black jerseys. It was a bright and sunny day, so weather would have no effect on the outcome. Troy won the coin toss and elected to kick.

Our defense immediately announced their intentions to win today, as Darrian Mallary was able to find the corner and pick up an immediate 1st down with a 13 yard rush on the first offensive play of the game. Two plays later, and Jeremiah Harden hauled in a 20 yard pass to get our offense out to midfield. A couple more big runs by Mallary, and we were quickly inside the Troy 20 red zone. Unfortunately, shoddy blocking on first and goal a couple plays later ruined our drive, as we would not get closer than the Troy 6 yard line and had to settle for a 23 yard field goal. Troy was able to quickly get their offense up to speed, moving the ball out to my 40 yard line before our defense forced an incomplete pass on 3rd and 7. Apparently that was not good enough for Troy, as they completed a 21 yard pass on 4th down, and would score the go-ahead touchdown two plays later. We would answer 8 plays later, as Jake Medlock was able to drop a pass in over the coverage to Jacob Younger in the back corner of the end zone for a 27 yard touchdown pass.

Troy’s offense would go three and out, followed by a shanked punt that gave us the ball back on Troy’s 46 yard line. Leave it to Medlock to screw things up, completely overthrowing the receiver on 1st down, and DIRECTLY into the hands of one of the Troy cornerbacks, who returned the interception 24 yards down to our 37 yard line. Despite a 24 yard pass on 1st down, our defense finally stopped them on our 8 yard line, forcing them to settle for a 25 yard field goal to tie the game up. Our offense started driving the ball down the field on our next drive, getting as far as the Troy 3 yard line before time ran out and the first quarter came to an end.

The start of the second quarter saw us begin on the Troy 4 yard line after a rush for a loss of 1 yard on the previous play. We would only need one play in the second quarter to find the end zone, as Medlock was able to needle a 4 yard pass through the coverage to Junior Mertile for a touchdown. Things would quickly fall apart for Troy, who got a single first down before our defense intercepted a pass, giving us the ball back on the Troy 30 yard line. A couple Mallary rushes later found us at the Troy 6 yard line, but our offense unfortunately failed again, and we would end the drive with another 23 yard field goal. This time the Troy offense would keep the ball, needing only 6 plays to cover 80 yards and close the game back to within 3 points. A couple big rushes and a huge pass that went 45 yards after a pair of broken tackles, and we found the end zone again as Mallary punched the ball in from one yard out to extend our lead back to 10 with 4 minutes left in the half.

Troy only needed two minutes to respond, as they quickly drove down the field, helped thanks in part to a 15 yard facemask penalty on our defense, but their offense fizzled out at our four yard line, where they would end with 21 yard field goal to pull back within 7. Needing to score before halftime, since Troy would get the ball back to start the third quarter, our offense got a huge boost by the Troy defense thanks to a defensive pass interference penalty that quickly advanced us out to midfield with 1:30 left to play. A couple passes and a few failed rushes later, and Medlock, one 3rd and goal, was able to connect with Harden in the end zone for a 5 yard touchdown pass. Again, we had to credit the Troy defense for their help, as the Troy defender had gotten a hand on the pass, but instead of swatting it down, he tried to go for the interception. He missed, the ball bounced off his arms, and right into the waiting hands of Harden to give us the touchdown right before halftime. Troy would settle for that first half result, as they simply ran out the remaining 20 seconds and headed for the locker room.

Start of the third quarter, Troy was more than ready to get that touchdown back, as they needed only 8 plays to move the ball 79 yards to pull the game back within 7 points. Troy’s defense once again gave us help as their middle linebacker was flagged for a facemask penalty, giving us 15 free yards after a rush that had only gained us 3. Unfortunately, the defense apparently did not like that, as three plays later, Mallary fumbled the ball, to which the defender returned it back to our 40 yard line. Or so we all thought. Coach Cristobal challenged the play, and in the end it was overturned, as it was determined the ground had caused the fumble, and the fumble had occurred after the runner was already down, so our offense caught a huge break and retained possession. Unfortunately, we would only get two more plays before an incomplete pass on 3rd down would bring our drive to an end. But, we walked away with points in the end as Jack Griffin was able to just barely sneak a 51 yard field goal over the crossbar to build our lead back to 10.

Troy would try to respond, managing to advance the ball out to midfield before a sack would set their drive back, and they would fail to recover, punting the ball away in the end. Starting at our own 20 after the touchback, we started going exclusively on the ground, forcing Troy to have to stop our run game if they wanted the ball back. A couple plays into the drive, Mallary was able to break through the defense for a 22 yard gain, getting us down to the Troy 43 yard line, as time ran out and the third quarter ended.

The start of the fourth quarter saw more of the same as we forced Troy to have to stop our ground game to get possession back. We were able to get as close as the Troy 13 yard line, chewing 3:30 off the fourth quarter clock before the Trojans finally shut our offense down. Griffin came on the field and kicked a 30 yard field goal to give us a 13 point lead with 5:38 left to play. Troy’s offense however never got a chance to respond, as Terrance Taylor intercepted a pass on 2nd and 5, giving us the ball right back on the Troy 29 yard line. We were able to rush the ball down to the Troy 10 yard line, chewing another 2:30 off the clock before we were forced to settle for another field goal. Griffin was able to connect on the 27 yard attempt, giving us a 16 point lead with 2:01 left to play in the game.

Troy was ultimately able to drive down the field and score a touchdown on their ensuing drive, thanks in part to a 15 yard pass interference penalty and an offside penalty by our defense that gave them 20 free yards, but a 10 yard loss on a sack kept their offense on the field a few plays longer, using up more time before they were able to find the end zone with a 9 yard touchdown pass with only 37 seconds left in the game. They were able to convert the 2-point conversion, closing the gap to 8 points. Unfortunately for them, our hands team recovered the onside kick, and there would be no miracle comeback today. Two plays later, and our biggest victory of the year was in the books.

With the win, we improve to 5-2 on the year, an astounding 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference play, and thanks to Florida Atlantic’s loss to North Texas this week, we take over sole possession of 1st place. Troy falls to 5-2 on the year, 1-2 in Sun Belt action. Up next for the Golden Panthers, we go back on the road for a two game stretch, opening with Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks come into the game with a 2-4 record, 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Looking at their season so far, Louisiana-Monroe opened the year with a 34-26 loss at Florida State and a 45-13 loss at Baylor. They found the winning column in their next game as they beat UNLV 24-9 and got a 24-17 win at Western Kentucky. They followed up those wins with a 21-16 loss to Arkansas State and lost this week to Utah State, 31-21.

Final Score
43, 35



Stat(s) of the Game:
- FIU Offense – Passing is God against Troy. They cannot stop the pass. Medlock did pretty good today despite two interceptions. And the receivers were actually hauling in balls for a change instead of constantly dropping them. Also had a hell of a drive that started in the third quarter and went into the fourth quarter, that ended up taking over 6 minutes off the clock and kept Troy’s offense from being able to do anything.

- FIU Defense – Once again, actually did decent. Despite giving up 35 points and 436 yards of offense, they were able to slow down and hold Troy back enough throughout the game that we were able to gain a lead most of the contest, forcing Troy to have to play from behind rather than the other way around

- FIU Kicker Jack Griffin – A perfect 5 for 5 in field goals for the day, his longest a 51 yarder.

- Both Teams – Both FIU and Troy went a perfect 100% in the red zone for the contest. Troy gained points all four times in our red zone, we gained points all seven trips into their red zone.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	10	10	7	8	35
	10	24	3	6	43

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:49		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 23 yard field goal	3-0
3:35		Touchdown	J. Johnson, 2 yard pass from C. Robinson (J. Evans kick)	7-3
2:24		Touchdown	J. Younger, 27 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	10-3
0:54		Field Goal	J. Evans, 24 yard field goal	TIED 10-10
Second Quarter
8:57		Touchdown	J. Mertile, 4 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	17-10
6:53		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 23 yard field goal	20-10
5:23		Touchdown	E. Thomas, 36 yard pass from C. Robinson (J. Evans kick)	20-17
3:56		Touchdown	D. Mallary, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick)	27-17
2:09		Field Goal	J. Evans, 20 yard field goal	27-20
0:24		Touchdown	J. Harden, 5 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick)	34-20
Third Quarter
6:59		Touchdown	E. Thomas, 33 yard pass from S. Southward (J. Evans kick)	34-27
4:49		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 51 yard field goal	37-27
Fourth Quarter
5:41		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 29 yard field goal	40-27
2:04		Field Goal	J. Griffin, 27 yard field goal	43-27
0:37		Touchdown	E. Thomas, 8 yard pass from C. Robinson (2-point conversion)	43-35

Game Stats

Troy	Stat	Florida International
35	Score	43
22	First Downs	21
436	Total Offense	519
20 - 70 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	32 - 87 - 1
29 - 44 - 4	Comp - Att - TD	32 - 51 - 3
366	Passing Yards	432
2	Times Sacked	1
8 - 13 (61%)	3rd Down Conversion	4 - 9 (44%)
1 - 1 (100%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
1 - 1 (100%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
4 - 2 - 2 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	7 - 3 - 4 (100%)
2	Turnovers	1
0	Fumbles Losts	0
2	Intercepted	1
0	Punt Return Yards	8
88	Kick Return Yards	92
524	Total Yards	619
2 – 44.5	Punts - Average	0 - 0.0
1 - 15	Penalties	6 - 46
13:26	Time of Possession	25:38

Florida International Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	500+ rushing yards in each season	2/3 Passed
	Win 8 games in one season	5
	2000+ total offensive yards in each season	2/3 Passed
	7+ passing TD in one season
	10+ points per game in each season	36 PPG
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season
	Win 4 games in one season
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season
Bonus Goal
	Beat a higher ranked team

Job Security Status

65%

[SmoothPancakes]

Wow, what a game this was. I honestly am speechless. Much like I play last year, I was just trying to make sure I stayed score for score or at least close in contention with Troy. Instead it was us with the lead and Troy who was forced to play catch-up all game. I will say one thing, I had the perfect practice before this game. That was because I played Troy already once today, when I played them this morning in the TGT Coach Mode OD. I won that game 52-49 behind an offensive strategy of pass, pass, pass some more, continue passing, pass even more, and pass couple more times just for good measure.

In the OD game, I had rushed less than 10 times all game, and had -15 rushing yards at one point, at the start of the 4th quarter. After the success I had against Troy playing with Coach Mode controls, I decided to do the same thing here. And what do you know, it worked. So here's my advice for anyone playing Troy within the first couple years of their dynasty, when rosters are still similar to the default rosters, pass! Troy sucks against the pass. So if anyone schedules Troy in their dynasties, give the passing game a go, because it will work. You might have some stalled drives, a bunch of incomplete passes and whatnot, but it will work, especially if you try to stretch the field and are willing to throw deep.

As for this game, despite 2 interceptions by Medlock, wow, what more could I have asked for? A perfect 100% in the Troy red zone. 432 yards passing. Not a single punt. That is just incredible. I have never played a game of NCAA, over all editions of the game, and had a game like that. Even better, my defense actually did a pretty good job. While they gave up some big plays (and gave Troy dozens of free yards thanks to penalties), they were able to stop just enough of Troy's drives to keep us on top all game and keep Troy trying to play catch-up, which led to some bad, and ill timed, mistakes for Troy.

Even more shocking, despite how well the offense did this game, is the fact that we're 3-0 in the Sun Belt and have sole possession of 1st place thanks to Florida Atlantic's 31-7 loss to North Texas this week. However, our wins were against 2-4 North Texas, 0-8 Western Kentucky, and the upset of 5-2 Troy. We still have tough games against Arkansas State (who whooped me last year), Florida Atlantic (who beat me as well last year, while also being a better team this year) and Louisiana-Lafayette (who may be 1-5 this year, but gave me all sorts of problems last year). And how convenient that those are our final three games of the entire season. So things are going to get very interesting here towards the end. I just hope I haven't used up all the skill and luck of my offense and our defense in these last few games.

As for my recruits, Aaron Clark hard committed this week after an A- visit. Anthony Smith graded his visit a B+, and is still soft committed to Auburn, but I have closed the lead to less than 1 point behind Auburn. 3 weeks ago, I was 300 points behind the Tigers. Last week I was 80 points behind. This week I am only 1 point behind. If I can have another monster week of recruiting towards Smith, I may be able to actually jump Auburn, especially since they haven't even offered him a scholarship and haven't so much as bothered to schedule a visit date yet with him. Their lack of interest, besides having him on their board and spending a couple minutes per week, have played massively in my favor.