Smooth Pancakes' Coaching Carousel Career

[SmoothPancakes]

Woot! #5 baby! We might suck in real life, but in fantasy NCAA, we're still loved.


Good win against your old team. Finally got the running game going some, which is good to see. Game is boring when you have to throw the ball 60+ times.

Yep, you guys are in good position early in the season. We'll have to see if they can hold on.

As for our running game, Price and Fox are good backups and will do pretty decent on their own, but losing my 1st string HB, 90 OVR total beast Kiel Fletcher for 12 weeks because of a broken fibula are going to hurt. Three games into the season, and I've barely been able to enjoy Fletcher. He got injured in game one with a ? and got knocked out for the entire game, and then goes down midway through this game and lost for at least the regular season. At least he's only a junior so there is still next year. I just wish we had medical redshirts back in the game now.

Holy Game Reports, Batman! Nicely done, Smooth.

I appreciate it Jeff. More game reports to come as I try to knock these out over the next few weeks.

[SmoothPancakes]

I'm gonna try a repeat of last night. I still hope to by home by 11pm, if not earlier (I was able to tear the hell out of here at 9:30 and home by 10:15 last night), and will attempt to get Utah played.

Only difference is I never had a chance to grab a quick hour or two of sleep this afternoon, and I was so tired by the time I posted the FIU game last night that I never bothered doing week 5 of recruiting, I just turned the 360 off and called it a night.

So I've still gotta get recruiting knocked out before playing Utah. How long that recruiting takes, and how tired I am when I get done with recruiting, will decide whether I play Utah tonight after I get home from work or sometime tomorrow afternoon.

[jaymo76]

Smooth... take care of Utah! My SunDevils need payback

[SmoothPancakes]

Smooth... take care of Utah! My SunDevils need payback

After seeing what happened to the Sun Devils, no promises. Oklahoma I still attribute to sliders that need working on, luck, and "just one of those games". Utah, after that whooping of ASU, as me going in without my star HB, it might not be pretty for me.

[SmoothPancakes]

Who's got some lube?

I'm not even out of the damn first quarter yet.

[morsdraconis]

Yikes!

[SmoothPancakes]

It's not pretty when you give up almost 40 points in one half. Though, thanks to pulling every single trick play out of my ass that I can, with 5 minutes left in the third, I can say, for the moment at least, that I have somehow managed to fight back to within 13 points.

[SmoothPancakes]

Ugh.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Four





Game Notes

--- With barely a chance to catch our breath and get ready for the next game, it was right back onto the road, this time visiting Salt Lake City and the Utes of Utah. Utah entered the game with a matching 3-0 record, fresh off a 49-25 shellacking of Arizona State. With margins of victory of 35, 41 and 24, our offense was going to have to come out crapping thunder if they were going to keep up with the Utah offense. The true test was going to be our passing game, as Utah entered with the #1 passing defense in the country, allowing only 75 yards per game through the air. Likewise, could our passing defense, ranked #116 in the nation slow down the #16 ranked Utah passing attack? We would soon find out. We won the coin toss and elected to kick, putting our defense out to face their first test.

After a 20 yard kickoff return out to the 18, it was clear our defense was going to be challenged the entire day. James Mills got the drive started with a 5 yard rush, before Todd Meeks hit Joseph Franklin for a 6 yard pass and a first down at the Utah 30. Mills took over again, breaking runs of 6 and 10 yards to get a first down at the Utah 46. The next play saw the first score of the game, as Mills broke loose on an end tackle rush and took it 54 yards to the house to give Utah a 7-0 lead with 7:37 left in the first quarter. Our first drive was starting from the 25 after a touchback on the kickoff. Brandon Price got us moving with rushes of 5 and 6 yards to get us out to our 37, before a pitch play on first down as blown up for a 5 yard loss. An incomplete pass left us with third and 15, before Brandon Booth hit Sean Parks for a 16 yard gain, needling the ball between three defenders to keep the drive alive at our 48. Price could only manage one yard on the first down rush, followed by a three yard pass to Roy Smith to leave us with third and 5. Booth’s third down pass hit Carlos Anderson in the hands but it was dropped, bringing out the punt team at the Utah 47.

Carlos Wilcox did a great job on the punt, kicking it 34 yards down to the Utah 12, where it went unreturned, putting the job back on the shoulders of our defense. Our defense was clearly outmatched, as Meeks hit Mills for a 14 yard gain and a first down at the 24. After an incomplete pass, Meeks hit Christian Snyder for a 9 yard gain, followed by a 22 yard pass to Clint Dixon to get the Utes to our 42 yard line. Meeks kept it going in the air, hitting Norris Penn for 14 yards and a first down at our 28. Mills picked up 6 yards on the ground on first down, before hauling in a 20 yard pass from Meeks to set up first and goal at our two yard line. Mills would do the honors for the second time today, taking it in for the two yard touchdown, giving Utah a 14-0 lead with 3:23 to play in the first quarter. Our second drive of the game got started with some promise, as Booth hit Chad Fisher for an 8 yard gain, leaving us with just two short yards for a first down. The next play would see the drive end however as a mis-run route by one of the receivers resulted in the ball being thrown directly into the waiting hands of Caleb Holmes, who was tackled for only a two yard gain on the INT return. With the interception, Utah was set up in great position for another strike, starting their drive on our 38 yard line. Meeks wasted little time, as he hit Snyder for a 18 yard gain, before connecting with Snyder again, this time for a 27 yard touchdown pass, giving Utah a 21-0 lead with 2:25 left in the quarter. Trying to find some life on offense, we went immediately to the air, though the first down pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. On second down though, Fisher was able to beat his man up the left sideline and get behind the secondary, hauling in a perfect pass over his shoulder and just out of the reach of safety, for a 37 yard gain and first down at the Utah 31. We would finally find some success on the next play, as some screw-up by the defense left Price completely uncovered on the line, allowing him to haul in the pass and out race the nearest defender for the 31 yard touchdown, making it 21-7 with 1:45 to play in the quarter.

That clearly displeased Utah, as we still could not catch a break, as Snyder took the kickoff return 102 yards to the house with 1:18 left. One slight positive note out of it was that the extra point was no good, limiting Utah to only a 27-7 lead. Booth seemed to have finally found his rhythm on offense, hitting Fisher for a 33 yard gain on the first play of the drive, pushing us out to the Utah 42 yard line with 1:04 left. Keeping to the air, Booth connected with Anderson for a 16 yard gain and another first down, at the Utah 26. After an incomplete pass, Booth hit Andrews for a 3 yard gain, but an incomplete pass intended for Nicholas Roberts left us with fourth and 7. The 40 yard field goal attempt by Alphonso Pratt was no good, falling just short of the cross bar, giving Utah the ball back at their 23 with 5 seconds left in the quarter. A 6 yard rush by Mills would bring the quarter to an end, Utah leading 27-7.

After an incomplete pass to open the second quarter, Meeks hit Mills for an 8 yard gain, giving a first down at their 36. Meek threw another incomplete pass, before he found Franklin for a 15 yard gain and first down at our 48. Mills went to the ground the next play, managing only one yard, but followed it up with rushes of 7 and 9 yards to get the first down at our 31. Mills broke another run, this time for 8 yards, but two incomplete passes by Meeks would leave the Utes with fourth and two from our 23 yard line. The 40 yard field goal attempt by Dominic Smith was no good, and we regained possession still down by only 20 with 7:10 left in the half. Nothing would come of the drive however as three straight incomplete passes would leave us stranded at our 23 yard line and the punt team coming out. Starting at their 33 yard line, Meeks kept the ball on first down, gaining 5 yards on the ground, followed by a one yard rush from Mills, leaving Utah with third and four. Mills would get the first down on the next play, managing 5 yards on the ground to get the Utes to their 44 yard line. A three yard rush by Mills was followed with a 9 yard pass to Franklin and another first down at our 45. After throwing away the first down pass, Meeks hit Mills for a 24 yard gain to get to our 21, before our defense was flagged with a personal foul, the penalty going for 9 yards in net gain, giving Utah first down at our 12 yard line. The Utes suffered a momentary setback as Mills was tackled for a loss of four yards, but on the next play, Meeks would hit Snyder for a 16 yard touchdown pass and give Utah a 34-7 lead with 5:04 left in the first half.

Refusing to go quietly, Booth hit Anderson on an out route on first down, who then, thanks to some timely up-field blocking, raced his pursuers up the left sideline before finally being knocked out of bounds at the Utah 33 yard line, a 42 yard gain in all. After going so pass heavy, we were able to catch the Utah defense off-guard, as Price rumbled ahead on first down for a 9 yard gain. Attempting to go for the first down on the ground, the Utah defense came out stacking the box, forcing Booth to check off to a pass play. It was all for naught however as Booth was sacked for a 6 yard loss before he could get the ball out. Facing third and 7 from Utah 30, Booth was able to hit Price for a 29 yard gain, keeping the drive alive and setting us up with first and goal from the one yard line. Fox would do the honors on the next play, plunging in for the one yard touchdown rush, making it 34-14 with 3:29 left to go in the half. Starting on their 22 yard line, Meeks had some trouble on first down, being forced to throw the pass away, but came back on second down, hitting Markell Townes for a 27 yard gain and a first down at the Utah 49. Meeks hit Townes again, this time only for one yard, before Mills picked up 5 yards on the ground. Meeks was forced to throw away his pass on third and four, and for the first time today, Utah’s punt team was called to the field. The 44 yard punt went unreturned, leaving us starting on our 1 yard line with 2:22 to go before halftime.

Heading into the air on first down, Booth was able to hit Price, who broke loose from two tackles for a 31 yard gain, setting us up at our 32. After two incomplete passes left us in dire circumstances, Booth found Anderson on an out route, who managed to get just across the first down line before being tackled, officially going for an 11 yard gain and a first down at our 43. After another two incomplete passes, Booth found Fox along the right sideline on third down for a 38 yard gain, giving us first down at the Utah 18 with 1:37 to play. Booth found Andrews on first down for an 8 yard gain to the Utah 10 yard line, but two incomplete passes left us with fourth and two, and the field goal team coming out. Pratt finally was able to connect, drilling it through the middle for a 27 yard field goal and closing the gap to 34-17 with 58 seconds to go. Starting on their 25, Utah wasted no time in moving the ball, as Meeks hit Mills for a 21 yard gain before finding Matt Jolly for 12 yards and a first down at our 41. After an incomplete pass, Meeks hit Townes for 18 yards and a first down at our 23 yard line, throwing the ball away to stop the clock with 10 seconds. An incomplete pass on second down left Utah with just 5 seconds left to work. Opting for the safe points, Smith drilled the 40 yard field goal to give Utah a 37-17 lead with one second left. A touchback on the kickoff and that was the end of the half.

Starting off on our 17 yard line, after an incomplete pass on first down, Booth was able to find Price for a 29 yard gain, advancing our drive out to the 46 yard line. Continuing to abandon the run game, Booth threw another incomplete pass, throwing too far ahead of the receiver, before coming back on second down to hit Roberts over the middle for a 24 yard gain, giving us first down at the Utah 31. Booth kept the drive moving, finding Conner Jefferson for an 8 yard pickup, before, catching the defense sleeping, Price was able to gain 8 yards on the ground to give us first down at the Utah 15. A screen pass on first down only picked up three yards, but a play call by Utah to blitz the corner on the next play allowed Andrews to get open for an 8 yard gain and give us first and goal at the Utah four yard line. A three yard rush by Price got the ball to the one yard line, before a rush for no gain on the next play left us with third and goal at the one. Heading up to the line of scrimmage with another crack on the ground planned, Booth checked out to a pass play, getting the ball off just before being hit, finding Donny Jordan along the back edge of the end zone, who was able to jump and grab the pass and get his feet down just inches in bounds for the one yard touchdown pass, making it 37-24 with 5:39 to play in the third quarter.

Starting on their 26 yard line, the Utes offense picked right up where they left off in the first half, as Mills broke a 12 yard run to get to the 38 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Mills took over again, picking up gains of four and 9 yards to give Utah a first down at midfield. Our defense quickly aided with consecutive penalties, getting tagged for a 9 yard personal foul penalty, before then getting hit with a 15 yard pass interference penalty, giving Utah a fresh set of downs at our 21 yard line. Meeks was able to pick up three yards on a first down scramble, before getting a new set of downs with a 12 yard pass to Mills, setting up first and goal at our 5 yard line. The Utes would find the end zone again on the next play as Franklin hauled in the 5 yard touchdown pass, giving Utah a 44-24 lead with 3:48 left in the quarter. Starting on our 25, we decided to throw a curveball at Utah, hitting the ground running, as Price picked up gains of 6 and 7 yards for a first down at our 38, before Fox rushed for four more yards, setting up a play action pass to Fox, who gained 10 yards on the play, giving us first down at the Utah 48. A 5 yard rush by Price set up Smith with a 6 yard pass and another first down at the Utah 37. With the Utah defense completely disorganized, we rushed to the line no-huddle, taking advantage of the unsettled defense, where Booth found Price unguarded, who was able to beat the secondary and haul in a lob pass for a 37 yard touchdown, getting us back in the game. The extra point shrank Utah’s lead to 44-31 with 1:25 to play. It was suddenly looking up as the Utah offense failed to get moving. Mills was able to pick up 5 yards on first down, but two incomplete passes left the offense stranded with fourth and 5 at their 28 yard line.

The 46 yard punt was returned 11 yards by Price, setting up shop at our 36 yard line. After only a one yard gain by Price on first down, Andrews hauled in a 9 yard pass from Booth to keep our drive moving forward at our 46. The first down pass was nearly intercepted, but fell incomplete. Utah’s defense got the job done on the next play, as Holmes picked off Booth for the second time today, returning it 11 yards to our 47 yard line as the clock hit zero. The third quarter came to an end on an extremely sour note, Utah holding on to their lead, 44-31.

Utah wasted no time in going for the deathblow, as Mills broke a pair of 5 yard runs, before Meeks hit Snyder for 11 yards and another first down, up to our 26 yard line. After being tackled for a loss of four yards on first down, Meeks found Franklin for a 20 yard gain, giving Utah first and goal at our 10 yard line. The Utes would need only one more play, as Meeks hit Franklin again, the 10 yard touchdown pass making it 51-31 with 7:40 to play. Starting on our 28 yard line after the kickoff return, it was all Anderson on this drive, as he got us started with a 14 yard pass from Booth, giving us first down at the 42 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Anderson got behind the coverage, hauled in a pass from Booth, broke two tackles and took it 56 yards, all the way down to the Utah two yard line before being caught from behind and tackled. Parks would get the job done on the next play, hauling in the two yard touchdown pass from Booth on a slant route, closing the gap to 51-38 with 6:57 to play.

Starting on their 21 yard line, it was obvious that Utah was not going to allow us to get any closer than 13 points the remainder of the game. Mills broke a 7 yard run to start the drive, and after an incomplete pass, broke another run, this time for 6 yards to give Utah a first down at their 34. After a 12 yard personal foul penalty against our defense to give Utah the ball at their 46, Meeks hit Townes for 10 yards and then dropped a pass into Franklin’s hands for a 24 yard gain and a first down at our 21 yard line. Mills picked up gains on the ground of 9 and 5 yards to give Utah first and goal at our 7 yard line. Mills would do the honors on the next play, rumbling in from 7 yards out to put Utah up 58-38 with 5:02 left in the game. Starting on our 25, after an incomplete pass on first down, Booth was able to find Anderson for a 13 yard gain, before coming back the next play to Anderson for a 14 yard gain, moving our drive out to the Utah 48 yard line. Another incomplete pass on first down, and Booth was able to find Fisher for a 39 yard pass after Fisher beat his man off the line. That pass also put Booth into the record books, as he broke the Tulsa single game passing yards record, surpassing the old record of 552 yards, set by Billy Guy Anderson against Colorado State back in 1965. With that pass, we were left with first and goal at the Utah 9 yard line. Anderson would get the job done, as he broke through three defenders to get open over the middle, hauling in the pass from Booth in the middle of the end zone for the 9 yard touchdown, making it 58-44 with 4:05 left in the game.

Starting on their 19, Utah was trying to answer, while our defense was trying to keep some honor and hold the Utes under 60. Meeks immediately hit Jolly for a 12 yard gain, before keeping the ball himself and picking up three on the ground. A 5 yard run by Mills left Utah with third and two at their 38 yard line, before a pass intended for Jolly was broken up, forcing Utah to punt for the third time today. The 47 yard punt was returned 7 yards by Price, leaving us on our 21 yard line with 2:51 to play. After a pair of incomplete passes, Booth was able to hit Anderson for a 15 yard gain to keep our drive alive, moving us out to the 36 yard line. Two more incomplete passes, and it was Anderson our savior again, as a mix-up by the defense allowed him to get open along the right hash and haul in a pass for a 34 yard gain down to the 30. Another pass, this time to Thompson went for a 17 yard gain, and we had first down at the Utah 13 with 2:05 left to play. A rifled pass to Fox on first down and it was a 13 yard touchdown to pull us with 6 points, 58-52 with 1:52 left to play in the game. We went for the onside kick but Utah recovered, taking over at our 47 yard line. It was looking dire as Mills broke off runs of 6 and four yards, giving Utah a first down at our 37. Another 5 yard run by Mills was countered as Mills was tackled for a loss of one on second down. Meeks attempted to rush but could only gain two yards, leaving Utah with fourth and four and us with no timeouts remaining. Smith kicked a 41 yard field goal to give Utah a 61-52 lead, and with only 54 seconds left, that was pretty much the dagger to the heart.

A 21 yard kickoff return by Price got us out to the 18 yard line and left our offense with just 43 seconds to play. The drive started as poorly as possible, as Booth was sacked for a 9 yard loss, forcing us to the line with the clock ticking away. Less than 30 seconds remained by the time we were able to snap, but the pass wound up incomplete and left us with third and 19 with only 25 seconds to go. Another incomplete pass on third down left us facing fourth and 19 and 20 seconds remaining. Booth’s pass on the hail mary carried too long and well out of the reach for the closest receiver, falling harmlessly to the ground and turning the ball over on downs with 15 seconds to play. Taking over on our 9 yard line, Meeks kneeled the ball one time and that was the ballgame as the clock ran out. Despite a furious second half comeback and every attempt to close the gap that Utah kept extending, time ended up our biggest enemy today. Utah prevails, improving to 4-0 with a 61-52 win, while we drop to 3-1.

With the loss, we drop to 3-1 on the season, still 1-0 in C-USA play. Utah improves to 4-0 for the year, remain 1-0 in Pac-12 play. Next up, it's back home (finally) to take on Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech enters the game 2-3 for the year, 0-1 in C-USA play, and one a two game winning streak. They opened the season with a 53-21 loss at #1 LSU, lost at Arizona State 35-14, lost at Rice 31-10, before finally getting a home win over Northwestern, 35-25 and a road win at San Jose State, 37-13.

Final Score
61, 52


Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – Another all pass day. Booth set a new school record for most passing yards in a game with 667. His 6 touchdowns came one shy of the school record. Our passing game was once again all-inclusive, as 11 different players caught at least one reception during the game. 8 receivers had at least double digit reception yards, and two players (Anderson and Price) reached 100+ receiving yards for the game.

- Tulsa Defense – Completely worthless today. Got ripped a new one both on the ground and in the air. Never once sacked the QB nor forced a single turnover. May as well have not been on the field at all.

- Tulsa Kicking – Only went 1-2 in field goals, missing a 40 yard attempt, but did at least go 7-7 in extra points.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	10	14	21	52
	27	10	7	17	61

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
7:37		Touchdown	J. Mills, 54 yard run (D. Smith kick)	7-0
3:23		Touchdown	J. Mills, 1 yard run (D. Smith kick)	14-0
2:25		Touchdown	C. Snyder, 31 yard pass from T. Meeks (D. Smith kick)	21-0
1:45		Touchdown	B. Price, 31 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	21-7
1:18		Touchdown	C. Snyder, returned kickoff 102 yards (missed kick)	27-7
Second Quarter
5:04		Touchdown	C. Snyder, 15 yard pass from T. Meeks (D. Smith kick)	34-7
3:29		Touchdown	S. Fox, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	34-14
1:01		Field Goal	A. Pratt, 27 yard field goal	34-17
0:05		Field Goal	D. Smith, 40 yard field goal	37-17
Third Quarter
5:39		Touchdown	D. Jordan, 1 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	37-24
3:48		Touchdown	J. Franklin, 5 yard pass from T. Meeks (D. Smith kick)	44-24
1:25		Touchdown	B. Price, 37 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	44-31
Fourth Quarter
7:40		Touchdown	J. Franklin, 9 yard pass from T. Meeks (D. Smith kick)	51-31
6:57		Touchdown	S. Parks, 2 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	51-38
5:02		Touchdown	J. Mills, 6 yard run (D. Smith kick)	58-38
4:05		Touchdown	C. Anderson, 9 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	58-45
1:52		Touchdown	S. Fox, 13 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	58-52
0:59		Field Goal	D. Smith, 47 yard field goal	61-52

Game Stats

Tulsa	Stat	Utah
52	Score	61
26	First Downs	29
703	Total Offense	608
16 - 36 - 1	Rushes - Yards - TD	39 - 229 - 3
35 - 65 - 6	Comp - Att - TD	26 - 43 - 4
667	Passing Yards	379
2	Times Sacked	0
7 - 12 (58%)	3rd Down Conversion	6 - 11 (54%)
0 - 1 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
7 - 5 - 1 (85%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	9 - 5 - 1 (66%)
2	Turnovers	0
0	Fumbles Lost	0
2	Intercepted	0
18	Punt Return Yards	3
108	Kick Return Yards	227
829	Total Yards	838
2 – 41.0	Punts - Average	3 - 46.0
8 - 73	Penalties	0 - 0
18:13	Time of Possession	17:47

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season	3
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	45
	7+ rushing TD in one season	4
	2400+ total offensive yards in one season	2274
	2400+ total offensive yards in each season	2274
	Win 4 games in one season	3
	2000+ total offensive yards in one season

Job Security Status

64%

[SmoothPancakes]

Well, taking a look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, after being tied 3-3 at halftime, #3 Georgia pulls out a 17-3 win over Tennessee. Mors, I'm sorry buddy. After being down 23-7 at halftime, the Mountaineers can't complete the comeback, as 3-1 Baylor knocks off #5 West Virginia 30-28, knocking WVU to 2-1. Still hope though as the season is young for WVU. Maybe they can manage to play their way back into the top 5. #6 Michigan State improves to 5-0 as they defeat #18 Ohio State (3-2), 28-12. #7 Wisconsin suffers it's first loss at the hands of #17 Nebraska, losing 30-24. #9 Arkansas knocks Texas A&M from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 41-28 win.

#15 Washington is now 4-0 after they beat #25 Stanford (who is a shocking 1-3), 31-17. #16 Texas is another unbeaten to suffer their first loss this week, as Oklahoma State picks up at 20-17 home win. #19 Notre Dame scores a touchdown with 50 seconds to play to pull a 39-34 win over BYU out of it's ass. Kansas State evens it's record at 2-2 as they beat #21 Virginia 34-24, knocking the Cavaliers to 3-1. And #22 Boise State just can't catch a break this year, dropping to 1-2 as they lose to 3-1 Temple, 16-13 in overtime.

So with #5 West Virginia, #7 Wisconsin, #16 Texas, #21 Virginia, Air Force, Houston, Louisville, Texas A&M, and Tulsa all losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 11. #1 LSU (5-0), #3 Georgia (5-0) #6 Michigan State (5-0), #8 TCU (3-0), #10 Rutgers (5-0), #15 Washington (4-0), Fresno State (3-0), North Carolina (4-0), USC (4-0), Utah (4-0) and UTEP (5-0) are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 5.

For our readers, Arizona State improves to 3-1 as they hold on to be Cal, 31-28. Southern Miss had the week off before heading to Central Florida next week. For community teams and requests, Iowa State falls to 1-3 as they lose to Texas Tech 40-21. Arkansas State gets whooped by Western Kentucky 41-21 to fall to 1-3 for the season.

With the new Top 25 polls, in the Coaches, LSU remains #1, USC #2, Georgia #3, Alabama #4, Michigan State moves up 1 to #5, TCU moves up two to #6, Arkasnas goes up two to #7, as does Rutgers to #8, Michigan to #9 and South Carolina to #10. Wisconsin dropped 6, falling from #7 to #13. West Virginia drops 10 from #5 to #15. With their win over previously #5 WVU, Baylor skyrockets from unranked to #18. Also new to the poll this week are Utah at #24 and Kansas State at #25. Virginia, Boise State and Stanford all fall out of the poll.

In the Media poll, it's USC who is #1, Georgia #2, LSU #3, Alabama #4, Michigan State up one to #5, Arkansas up three to #6, Washington up one to #7, TCU up two to #8, Nebraska up 11 to #9 (), and Michigan up two to #10. Wisconsin falls 7 from #7 to #14. West Virginia drops 11 from #5 to #16. Similar to the Coaches poll, Baylor leaps from unranked to #19. Only other new team this week in the Media poll is Utah at #25. Boise State and Virginia both fall out of the poll.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Five





Game Notes

--- Coming off our first loss of the season, it was time to get right back into it. It was back to the warm confines of home, but against a tough Louisiana Tech squad that was coming into the game 2-3, riding a two game winning streak. Already one game behind UTEP for first place in the C-USA West, we could not afford to lose now and fall behind even more. We won the coin toss and elected to kick, putting our defense out front to start the game.

Starting on their own 25, the Bulldogs immediately started making us regret that decision, as Jeremy Williams hit Derek Brewer for a 30 yard gain and a first down at our 45. After a thrown away pass, the offense was tagged for false start, but that was quickly neutralized when our defense got tagged right after for pass interference. With a new set of downs on our 36 yard line, Kelly’s pass attempt was knocked down, before Austin James was able to get 5 yards on the ground to set up third and 5. A dropped pass on third down left the Bulldogs with fourth and 5 from our 31. Stuck in no man’s land, the Bulldogs opted to go for it, but the pass was batted down and we gained possession on downs. Our drive started off promising as Brandon Price broke three straight runs of 6, 5 and 9 yards, to leave us with second and one at the LTU 48. But seeing heavy blitz, Brandon Booth checked off at the line to a pass, with the ensuing pass being picked off and returned 7 yards to the LTU 46 yard line, stopping our drive cold. The Bulldogs didn’t waste any time in moving the ball, as Williams hit Mark Thurman for a 9 yard gain. After an incomplete pass, a 9 yard throw to Michael Dixon has the Bulldogs with to our 37 yard line with a new set of downs. A 26 yard strike to Dixon and LTU was knocking on our door at our 11 yard line. After two failed runs by Williams, for losses of one and three yards, third and 15 would end in a success as Williams hit Brewer for the 15 yard touchdown pass and give Louisiana Tech a 7-0 with 5:33 left in the quarter.

After an incomplete pass on first down from our 25 yard line, Booth got some revenge for the prior interception, as he hit Price across the 40, who then broke three tackles and fought his way forward to the LTU 39 yard line for a 36 yard gain. After rushes of four yards by Fox and one yard by Price, we were left with third and 5, when Booth found John Andrews for an 8 yard gain and a first down at the 26. Sean Parks was able to get open on the next play and fought through a tackle for an 18 yard gain and first and goal at the 9 yard line, before coming back on the next play to rip a potential interception out of the hands of a defender and score the 9 yard touchdown pass, tying the game up at 7 points apiece. Starting at their 18 yard line, LTU went right back to the air, as Williams hit Dixon for 8 yards and then found Brewer for a 12 yard gain, getting first down at the 37 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Williams was twice forced to scramble, picking up gains of only four and 5 yards, leaving the Bulldogs with fourth and one from their 45 yard line. Price returned the 45 yard punt for only four yards and we took over on our 12 yard line. After a failed pitch play and an incomplete pass left us with third and 11, Booth was able to find Carlos Anderson for a 12 yard gain and a new set of downs. A four yard rush by Price was followed by a 6 yard rush by Fox, before Price broke another run for 5 yards to convert the third and inches play. On first down from our 38, another pitch play attempt ended in disaster, as Price was tackled for a four yard loss. The following incomplete pass left us facing third and 14 with only 11 seconds left in the quarter. Another incomplete pass that Booth just barely got rid of as he was being drilled, left us with fourth down and the punt team coming out with 8 seconds left. The 9 yard return on the 43 yard punt left Louisiana Tech starting on their 32 yard line, only one second on the clock. A holding penalty would end the quarter for the Bulldogs, pushing them back to their 22 yard line and first and 20, as the first quarter came to an end, still all tied up 7-7.

Williams would erase that penalty on the first play of the second quarter, as he hit Brewer for a 35 yard gain and first down at our 43 yard line. The next play would put Louisiana Tech back in the lead as Williams connected with Lamont Bellamy for a 43 yard touchdown pass, giving the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead with 8;27 left in the half. Starting on our 25 after the kickoff, Booth found Andrews on the first play for a 9 yard gain, setting up Price for a first down run. It was not meant to be however, as the Bulldogs stacked the box and caught Price for a one yard loss, leaving us with third and two from our 34. Fox kept the drive alive, hauling in an 8 yard pass from Booth, before Booth found Anderson along the left hash for a 19 yard gain, giving us first down at the LTU 39. An 8 yard pass to Anderson on first down was followed with an incomplete pass, leaving us facing yet another third down. Booth found Parks this time on a slant route, picking up 7 yards and a first down at the 24 yard line. A 9 yard pass to Fox advanced the ball to the LTU 14 and left us with second and one, when Fox was able to beat his defender on a turn and get open across the middle, hauling in the 14 yard touchdown pass to tie it back up at 14-all with 6:06 left in the half. The Bulldogs continued to enjoy first down success through the air, as Williams found Brewer for a 16 yard gain and a new set of downs at their 41 yard line. But three straight incomplete passes and the LTU would be forced to punt the ball away. The punt sailed 48 yards and was returned 12 yards by Price, setting our offense up to start at our 23 yard line.

We hit the ground running the drive, as Price reeled off runs of 8 and 12 yards to give us first down at the 43. An 11 yard rush by Fox gave us another first down at Louisiana Tech’s 45. Price gained another 6 yards on the ground, and then got two more to set up third and two from the LTU 37. The play action pass attempt was no good, as Booth got hit as he threw, leaving us with fourth and two. In essentially no man’s land where we were, coach elected to go for the fourth down conversion. Living and dying by the pass, Booth found Andrews for a 9 yard gain to get first down at the 28 yard line, and then hit Andrews once again, this time for 7 yards to leave us with second and three at the 22. We would return to the end zone on the next play, when Parks was able to beat the corner inside on the slant route. The corner went for the interception behind Parks’ back, but the completion was made, and Parks was able to run untouched into the end zone for the 22 yard touchdown pass thanks in part to the two errors made by the corner. The PAT extended our lead to 21-14 with 2:41 left in the first half. Starting on their 29 yard line, the Bulldogs seemed ready to march down the field once again, as Williams hit Thurman for a 7 yard gain. It was all downhill from there though, as Williams was sacked for a one yard loss on second down, followed by an incomplete pass, leaving the Bulldogs punting on fourth and four from their 35 yard line. The punt sailed 45 yards, Price calling fair catch at the end, leaving our offense starting on our 20 yard line with 1:56 left to play and all three timeouts.

After an 8 yard pass to Anderson left us with second and two, Booth was able to find Fox for 7 yards and a first down, stopping the clock at 1:10 left to play. Two straight incomplete passes left our drive in danger of stalling, but Price came through, hauling in a 26 yard pass over the head of a defender and a new set of downs at the LTU 39 yard line. The drive suffered a setback, as Booth was sacked for a 9 yard loss on the next play, pushing us out to the LTU 48 yard line and losing precious seconds. Two incomplete passes later, and we’d be forced to punt on fourth and 19 with 37 seconds left to play. The 44 yard punt went unreturned, and the Bulldogs were trapped on their own three yard line with 32 seconds remaining. Williams found Thurman for an 11 yard gain to get the drive started, but the clock would run out before the Bulldogs would run another play, and we’d head into halftime, holding a 21-14 lead over Louisiana Tech and getting the ball to start the second half.

Price brought the opening kickoff of the second half out 20 yards to the 26 yard line and we went back to work. Reestablishing our run game, Price ran amuck on the Bulldog defense for the first two plays, as he picked up gains of 15 and 11 yards, moving the ball to the LTU 48 yard line. An attempt at a play action pass was knocked incomplete and nearly intercepted. On the next play, a quick pass to Fox looked to be stopped for little if any yardage, but out came the dirty laundry, as Fox had been dragged down by his facemask. One accepted penalty and 15 yards later, we were looking at first down from the Bulldogs 29 yard line, instead of what would have likely been no better than third and 8. Keeping it going on the ground, Fox picked up 6 yards on first down, followed by a pair of two yard rushes by Price. The yardsticks did not come up in our favor, as we were left with fourth and short. Instead of kicking the points, coach told us to keep the offense on the field. Fox would convert the fourth down as he rushed ahead for three yards to the LTU 16. After Price was stopped at the line for no gain on first down, Booth found Parks through the air for a 12 yard gain and first and goal at the Bulldogs four yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Price was able to gain two yards on the ground, leaving us with third and goal from the two. Price could only manage one yard on third down, leaving us stuck on the one yard line and fourth down. Coach again said screw the field goal, he wanted seven, not three. This time we would punch it in, as Fox found a hole and drove through it for the one yard touchdown rush, extending our lead to 28-14 with 5:27 left in the third quarter.

Starting on their 26 and feeling the game slip away, the Bulldogs quickly moved down the field, as Williams hit Brewer for a 9 yard gain, then found Kevin Hall for 13 yards, and followed that up with a 19 yard pass to Bellamy, giving Louisiana Tech first down at our 33 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Williams found Bellamy again, for 5 yards, but the drive would stall out on the next play, as an incomplete pass left LTU with fourth and 5 from our 28 yard line. The Bulldogs walked away with at least some points, as Gene Mason drilled the 45 yard field goal to close the gap to 28-17 with 4 minutes remaining in the third. Coming out once again full speed ahead on the ground, Fox got us moving with rushes of 7 and 9 yards to give us first down on our 39. Price followed that up with a 13 yard rush and first down at the LTU 48. The Bulldogs defense finally keyed on our run game and stopped Price on the next play for only a one yard gain. Heading to the air on second and 9, Fox burned the defense with an 8 yard pass, leaving us third and two from the 40. Returning to the ground, Price was able to pick up three yards and a new set of downs at the 37. Continuing on the ground, Fox gained 6 yards on first down, before Price broke runs of three and 7 yards to get us a new set of downs at the 21 yard line. Heading back into the air turned out to be a mistake. While the defense was caught cheating run and Parks was able to haul in the pass and seemingly give us first and goal around the four yard line, Parks was lit up like a Christmas tree by the safety and lost control of the ball. Jerome Stewart recovered the fumble for the Bulldogs, managing one yard before being brought down. With the fumble, LTU took over on offense at their 6 yard line, 26 seconds left in the quarter. Williams got their offense moving, finding Dixon for a 13 yard gain, followed by a 15 yard pass to Brewer. The clock would run out before another snap and the third quarter would come to an end, stilling holding onto a 28-17 lead and the Bulldogs moving on offense, first down on their 34 yard line.

The fourth quarter would start atrociously for us, as what was started as a 12 yard pass, turned into 27 free yards for the Bulldogs thanks to a facemask penalty on our defense. An 18 yard pass from Williams to Chris Humphrey gave the ‘Dogs another first down at our 20. Williams gained one yard on the ground on first down, before he connected with Brewer for a 19 yard touchdown. A successful two point conversion pass from Williams to Thurman tightened the score to 28-25 with 8:21 left to play. We got the drive started quickly, as Booth was able to find Price, who juked away from a defender and gained 30 yards before being brought down, giving us first down at the LTU 45. After a pair of incomplete pass, both hurried by a hounding pass rush,, Booth was able to connect with Anderson, who beat his coverage with a well timed out route, and then thanks to up-field blocking from another receiver, was able to outrace the coverage untouched up the sideline all the way for the 45 yard touchdown. An extra point capped off the short drive and with 7:47 left in the game, we extended our lead to 35-25. Starting on their 28 yard line, the drive seemed to be gaining momentum, as Williams found Hall for a four yard pass before James gained 5 yards on the ground. The drive fell apart on the next play as Williams was sacked for an 8 yard loss, leaving the Bulldogs punting on fourth and 10.

A short punt, aided by a 15 yard personal foul on the Bulldogs, and we were taking over on our own 37. A loss of three yards by Fox left us in an early hole. Fox made up for those three yards and then some, hauling in a pass from Booth for an 11 yard gain, leaving us with third and two. Parks would get us the new set of downs, as he caught a pass for a 13 yard gain and got us to the LTU 42 yard line. Heading back to the ground to try and burn off some clock, Price kept us moving, reeling off runs of 6 and 7 yards to get us another first down at the 29 yard line with 5:25 left to play. After rushes of 5 and one yards by Fox left us with third and four from the 23, Roy Smith hauled in a pass for 6 yards for the first down to the LTU 17. We got some additional help on the play, as the defense was hit with an 8 yard facemask penalty, giving us first and goal at the 9 yard line. It was back to the end zone on the next play, as Booth hit Chad Fisher in the corner of the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown pass, opening our lead even further, to 41-25 with 3:47 to play in the game.

Starting on their 23 yard line, it went from bad to worse for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, as Brewer hauled in a 46 yard pass, but fumbled the ball as he turned to run up field, the fumbled recovered by Marcus Owens, giving us back possession of the ball at the 50 yard line, essentially all but ending any chance of a comeback for Louisiana Tech. Determined to either score a touchdown and put the game entirely out of reach, or keep LTU from touching the ball anymore this game, Price went to town on the Bulldogs defense, breaking rushes of 13 and 11 yards to give us first down at the 26 yard line. Another two rushes by Price of 8 and one yards left us with third and one on the 17 yard line. Price would keep us moving, as he broke up the middle for a 9 yard gain, giving us first and goal at the LTU 8 yard line with 1:08 left to play. A 7 yard rush by Fox, and we were left with second and goal at the one yard line, 40 seconds left to play. I must admit, I agonized for a few minutes over doing the honorable thing and letting the clock run out without snapping it again, or saying fuck it and punching it in from one yard out and run up the score. I ultimately did line up, Fox ready to bust up the gut for the touchdown, but in the end I let the final seconds tick off, the game clock a half of a second ahead of the play clock, and with that, we celebrated our hard fought 42-25 win over a tough Louisiana Tech squad.

With the win, we improve to 4-1 on the season, 2-0 in C-USA play. Louisiana Tech drops to 2-4, 0-2 in C-USA action. Up next, we enter the middle of our four game home swing with the first of two very tough games, as we entertain one of our rivals, 6-0 UTEP. The Miners enter the contest undefeated, but coming off a slew of wins of which they only faced three teams with winning records. They started off beating Army 45-14, then outlasted Marshall in overtime, 33-27. Next they beat a (at the time) winless New Mexico State team at home 27-13, before beating an also winless Akron squad in the confines of home, 20-10. Another home game, against a tougher East Carolina team saw a 38-17 UTEP win, before hitting the road and getting a 29-0 win at winless UNLV. Two currently winless teams, a 1-5 New Mexico State (just got their first win in week 6), a 3-2 Army, a 3-2 Marshall and 4-2 ECU make up 6-0 UTEP's schedule to date. Not only will next week's game decide bragging right in this rivalry, it will also decide the front runner for the West Division in Conference USA, as both UTEP and us are tied at the top at 2-0.

Final Score
42, 25



Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – Another great day from Booth. I'm loving that this guy is only a Junior and already 90 OVR, to go along with my two 90 OVR beasts of Junior running backs, Kiel Fletcher (unfortunately injured until bowl season) and Brandon Booth. Even Sean Fox, my third string HB, 83 OVR has been tearing it up in Fletcher's absence. 388 yards and 5 TDs from Booth, 167 yards on 32 carries for Price, 62 yards and a TD on 13 carries for Fox. Receiving was more limited this time around, only 7 different people catching at least one pass. 5 people had double digit receiving yards for the game, all of them 33 yards or more. Parks was the leader, with 96 yards and 2 TDs on 7 receptions. There was a two way tie for second, as Anderson has 92 yards and a TD on 5 receptions and Price had 92 yards on four receptions.

- Tulsa Defense – A MUCH better job this game from the defense. Only 15 yards rushing allowed all game (though with only 7 rushes, LTU clearly could not have cared less about their running game) and while 375 yards passing is still a lot, after those first two touchdowns by the Bulldogs, limited LTU to only 8 points the rest of the game.

- Tulsa Kicking – Another good day for Pratt. No field goal attempts today, but 6-6 on PATs is always nice.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	7	3	8	25
	7	14	7	14	42

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:33		Touchdown	D. Brewer, 14 yard pass from J. Williams (G. Mason kick)	7-0
3:34		Touchdown	S. Parks, 9 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	TIED 7-7
Second Quarter
8:27		Touchdown	L. Bellamy, 33 yard pass from J. Williams (G. Mason kick)	14-7
6:06		Touchdown	S. Fox, 14 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	TIED 14-14
2:41		Touchdown	S. Parks, 22 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	21-14
Third Quarter
5:27		Touchdown	S. Fox, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	28-14
4:03		Field Goal	G. Mason, 44 yard field goal	28-17
Fourth Quarter
8:21		Touchdown	D. Brewer, 19 yard pass from J. Williams (2-pt conversion good)	28-25
7:47		Touchdown	C. Anderson, 45 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	35-25
3:47		Touchdown	C. Fisher, 9 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	42-25

Game Stats

Louisiana Tech	Stat	Tulsa
25	Score	42
12	First Downs	30
390	Total Offense	608
7 - 15 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	46 - 220 - 1
23 - 36 - 3	Comp - Att - TD	28 - 43 - 5
375	Passing Yards	388
1	Times Sacked	2
2 - 8 (25%)	3rd Down Conversion	12 - 17 (70%)
0 - 1 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	3 - 3 (100%)
1 - 1 (100%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
6 - 2 - 0 (33%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	6 - 4 - 0 (66%)
1	Turnovers	2
1	Fumbles Lost	1
0	Intercepted	1
9	Punt Return Yards	16
116	Kick Return Yards	41
515	Total Yards	665
4 – 47.3	Punts - Average	2 - 44.0
6 - 65	Penalties	2 - 30
14:33	Time of Possession	21:27

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season	4
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	44
	7+ rushing TD in one season	5
	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

78%

[SmoothPancakes]

Time for another looks around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, a 13-0 1st quarter lead for #1 LSU ends up being enough to hold off the Florida Gators, as the Tigers win 26-17. I must say, for the first time in my life, thank you to #2 USC, who got some revenge for me, handing #24 Utah their first loss, 31-28. In the game of the week, #3 Georgia holds on to beat #10 South Carolina 24-12. #7 Arkansas easily handles #20 Auburn, 41-24. It's a rough season for #11 Oklahoma, who after losing to me in overtime, now falls to 2-2 after getting beat by Texas Tech 27-24 on a 40 yard field goal with 30 seconds to play.

Another unbeaten falls, as 15 fourth quarter points are not enough to help #16 Washington avoid falling to #12 Oregon 27-24. #13 Wisconsin needs overtime to pull a 37-31 win over 3-3 Illinois out of their ass. #14 Nebraska suffers it's second loss as they fall at #21 Ohio State, 27-7. It's all starting to go down the shitter now for West Virginia, as a 21-7 first quarter lead is enough for #22 Texas to knock off the #15 Mountaineers, 41-31, and one team still undefeated, surprisingly not in the Top 25, knocks off a Top 25 team, as North Carolina improves to 5-0, beating #19 Virginia Tech 24-9.

For our readers, souljahbill, it's not looking good. UCF reams Southern Miss a new one, 24-7 and Southern Miss drops their third straight to fall to 2-3 for the year. Jaymo, Arizona State had an off week, they hit the road in week 7 to take on 2-3 Colorado. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 2-3 as they beat San Diego State 21-16. Iowa State drops to 1-4 as they get walloped by TCU 49-21. On a personal note, Navy drops to 2-4 and is out of the running for the Commander-in-Chief's trophy is they lose at Air Force, 28-23.

Looking at undefeated teams left, with #15 Washington and Utah both losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 9. #1 LSU (6-0), #2 USC (5-0), #3 Georgia (6-0) #5 Michigan State (6-0), #6 TCU (4-0), #8 Rutgers (6-0), Fresno State (3-0), North Carolina (5-0), and UTEP (6-0) are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 6.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 13 teams still looking for their first win: Akron (0-5), Ball State (0-5), Central Michigan (0-6), Idaho (0-4), Kentucky (0-6), Memphis (0-5), Minnesota (0-5), San Jose State (0-5), Troy (0-5), UMass (0-6), UNLV (0-6), UTSA (0-5), and Washington State (0-5).

Teams getting their first wins this week were: New Mexico State (30-24 in OT over 0-4 Idaho), North Texas (26-17 over 0-5 UTSA), and UL Monroe (27-24 in OT over 1-5 MTSU).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, LSU remains #1, Georgia jumps USC into #2, USC drops to #3, Michigan State and TCU both jump up one over Alabama, to #4 and #5. Alabama, on a bye week last week, tumbles two to #6. Rutgers moves up one to #7, Arkansas drops one to #8, Michigan stayed at #9 and Oregon jumps two to #10. Losing by 12 to Georgia did not hurt South Carolina on bit, the Gamecocks drop only two, from #10 to #12. Washington's close loss to Oregon dropped them only two, to #18. Nebraska dropped 5 to #19, Oklahoma tumbled the most, dropping 9 to #20. West Virginia dropped 6 to #21. Auburn fell 5 to #25. Two new teams entered this week. Fresh off their upset over previously #19 Virginia Tech, North Carolina leaps from unranked all the way to #17. Fresno State also enters this week at #24. Dropping out were Virginia Tech (from #19) and Utah (from #24).

In the Media Poll, the top three remain the same, USC #1, Georgia #2 and LSU #3. Michigan and TCU also both jump Alabama, Michigan State up one to #4, TCU up three to #5, Alabama drops two to #6 on their bye week. To accommodate TCU, Arkansas also dropped one to #7. Rutgers jumps 5 to #8, Oregon jumps 8 to #9 and Michigan stayed stuck at #10. Ohio State ties Oregon for biggest jump, moving up 8 to #12, as did North Carolina, going up 8 to #15. Washington dropped 7 to #14. South Carolina dropped four to #16, Nebraska fell 8 to #17. West Virginia fell 5 to #21 while Oklahoma dropped 7 to #22 and Virginia Tech tumbled 5 to #23. New to the poll this week are Kansas State at #24 and Clemson at #25. Falling out of the poll are Auburn (from #20) and Utah (from #24)

[SmoothPancakes]

Damn, I've gotten into my rhythm and am on a roll. Already gotten through two games tonight, and am firing up the UTEP game right now. Where the hell was this back in August when I was trying to get going? I remember having the damn 360 freeze on my right in the middle of recruiting, and as I was over half way through (had something like 20 of 35 recruits done) when it froze, I had no desire to start over that day and went to something else. Other games (NHL, FIFA, AC3 and Halo 4) came out, work picked up, and here this baby laid dormant for over three months. I would have been golden to knock out a couple games back then, get to the middle of the season and want to keep going game after game to see how everything was going to play out over the final weeks.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Six





Game Notes

--- And so here started our two week stretch that would all but decide the Western Division winner. UTEP (6-0, 2-0) this week, Rice (4-1, 2-1) next week, us being the only three teams with a realistic shot at winning the division. Also adding to the pressure, both UTEP and Rice being rivals to Tulsa, so playing back to back rivalry games will also be sure to drain us as we move forward. With 4-2 East Carolina waiting directly after UTEP and Rice, wins now would be desired before running into ECU in two weeks and a non-conference road trip to 4-2 Colorado State two weeks after that. UTEP won the coin toss and elected to kick, putting our offense to the test to start.

We started our first offensive drive from our 21 yard line after a 19 yard return by Sean Parks. Choosing to start our attack on the ground, Brandon Price got the dirty work done early, gaining 9 yards on his first carry, and then getting just enough to get the first down on second and one. A two yard rush by Price set up John Andrews to haul in an 11 yard pass from Brandon Booth to give us first down at the 43 yard line. Price picked up 10 yards on the next carry, being marked down just short, leaving us with second and inches. A blitz all by the Miners defense helped our offensive line open up a gaping hole, through which Price pounded it 47 yard yards to the house for the touchdown. The extra point put us up 7-0 with 7:15 left in the quarter. Starting on their 23 yard line, Doug Prater got four yards on the ground, before an incomplete pass left the Miners with third and 6. Proving that they could score long touchdowns just as easily as we could, Stephen Jones hit Derek Harvey for a 73 yard touchdown pass and just like that, it was 7-7 with 6:29 still left in the quarter. Parks got us well set up on the next drive as he brought the kickoff return out to the 33 yard line. Price got us moving again on the ground, with gains of 6 and two yards, before Booth converted the third down with a 13 yard pass to Roy Smith. Two more rushes by Price for 6 and four yards gave us first down at the UTEP 34. Sean Fox was able to get four yards on first down, before two incomplete passes left us with fourth and 6. The 47 yard field goal attempt by Alphonso Pratt was no good and UTEP took over on their 30, 4:18 left in the first.

Our defense got the job done this time around, as Jones hit Mike Griffin for a 5 yard gain, before the defense took down Prater for a two yard loss. Prater could only manage 5 yards on the pass from Jones before the Miners were forced to punt on fourth and two from their 39. A fair catch on the 50 yard punt left us stuck on our 11 yard line. One play would be all that would be needed, as the defense brought all the linebackers on a blitz, leaving Price wide open, hauling in the pass from Booth and outracing both safeties for the 89 yard touchdown. One extra point later, and it was 14-7 with 3:22 left. Despite a 25 yard kickoff return out to their 32 yard line, UTEP would go nowhere but backwards this drive as Prater was tackled for a three yard loss before the defense got to Jones, sacking him for a loss of 5 yards. A thrown away pass on third down left UTEP punting on fourth and 18 from their 25. A 46 yard punt was returned 10 yards by Price and we took over at our 38 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Booth hit Andrews for a 9 yard gain, leaving us with third and one. Price was just able to get the first down, carrying a defender on his back and he fell forward for a two yard gain to our 49 yard line. A 6 yard rush by Price on first down was followed up with a 16 yard pass to Smith, giving us a new set of downs on the UTEP 29. Parks got in on the action, hauling in a 20 yard pass and juking his way by a defender before being brought down for a 20 yard gain, giving us first and goal at the 9 yard line. A first down pass to Andrews gained three yards, before a pass intended for Parks fell incomplete, leaving us with third and goal at the UTEP 7. Anderson would get the job done, grabbing a Booth pass between two defenders just inside the end zone for the 7 yard touchdown, giving us a 21-7 lead with 38 seconds to play in the quarter.

UTEP begin to find signs of life again, starting on their 25 yard line. Prater got the drive started with a two yard gain, before Jones hit Spencer Alford for an 8 yard pickup. Prater would convert the third and inches with a 7 yard rush to the 41 yard line. Another rush by Prater went for 6 yards to leave UTEP with second and four as the final seconds of the quarter ticked off the clock, our lead secure for the time being at 21-7.

The start of the second quarter found UTEP picking up another first down as Prater continued pounding the ball, this time for a gain of 7 to our 45 yard line. Another rush by Prater went for 8 yards, then Jones converted for another first down, picking up three yards on the ground to get to our 34. Prater picked up another 7 yards, before our defense finally bit back, sacking Jones for a 6 yard loss and leaving UTEP with third and 9 at our 33. A pass from Jones to Prater only managed to pick up two yards, and UTEP was left with fourth and 7 at our 31. The 48 yard field goal attempt sailed wide left and we took over on our 31 yard line with 7:32 to play in the half. Price continued to punish an overmatched rushing defense, breaking through the line thanks to outstanding blocking, before breaking a tackle and racing the safety toward the sideline, finally being tackled for a 32 yard gain to the UTEP 37. A three yard rush by Price was followed with a gain of only two on a pass from Booth to Smith. An incomplete pass on third down, intended for Parks, left us with fourth and 5 at the UTEP 32. Pratt finally came through, hitting the 49 yard field goal to give us a 24-7 lead with 6:17 to play. UTEP once again got their legs back under them on offense, as Jones hit Danny Henley for a 13 yard gain to get to their 38 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, John Hansen picked up 7 yards on the ground, before hauling in a 21 yard pass from Jones to convert third down and advance to our 34 yard line. A two yard rush by Prater was followed by an incomplete pass and another Prater rush, this time only for a gain of three yards. UTEP was left with fourth and 5 from our 28 yard line. The offense got flagged for false start, pushing them out to our 33, and making their field goal attempt 50 yards instead of 45. That false start proved to be the difference, as the 50 yard kick came up just short, hitting the ground just in front of the crossbar. Our offense took over possession at our 33 with 4:45 to play in the half.

After a two yard gain on the ground by Price, Booth hit Andrews for 6 yards to leave us with third and two. An 11 yard strike to Chad Fisher gave us first down at the UTEP 48. Another rush by Price managed only one yard, before Anderson was able to haul in a pass over the corner’s head for a 14 yard gain and first down at the UTEP 34. Booth hit Smith for four yards on first down to get us to the 30. A pass intended for Fisher was caught around the UTEP 15 yard line, but Fisher dropped it as he was being tackled to the ground. Another incomplete pass, this time batted down at the line, left us with fourth and 6 at the 30 yard line. Pratt’s attempt from 47 yards this time ended up no good, and UTEP took over on their 30 with 2:38 to play. The Miners would find nothing going on offense as Jones threw three straight incomplete passes, bringing the punt team out. The 49 yard punt was caught on a fair catch, giving us possession at our 21 with 2:15 left before halftime. Anderson got us moving quickly, catching a 13 yard pass from Booth to give us first down at our 34 yard line. After two incomplete passes, Booth was able to find Anderson again, this time just barely making it across the first down line before being tackled at our 45. Fisher advanced us into UTEP territory as he hauled in a pass from Booth and then fought his way through the secondary before being tackled at the 31 yard line for a 24 yard gain. Price would do the honors on the next play, getting a pass from Booth, two great downfield blocks, and then beat the safety to the pylon, scoring the 31 yard touchdown to give us a 31-7 lead with 1:28 to play in the half.

Jones was able to complete a pass to Henley for 5 yards to start UTEP’s next drive, before throwing an incomplete pass to leave the Miners with third and 5. Paul Denman got open on the next play, hauling in a 20 yard pass from Jones to get to midfield with 1:06 left. A pass to Hansen for 17 yards was followed with a shot to Griffin for 26 and UTEP had first and goal at our 7 with 47 seconds to go. After an incomplete pass, Prater rushed the ball forward 7 yards to our one yard line, leaving UTEP with third and goal with 36 seconds remaining. Jones would hit Henley on the next play for the one yard touchdown. UTEP went for a two-point conversion attempt, but Prater was stopped for no gain, leaving the score 31-13 with 24 seconds to go. A 25 yard kickoff return by Price left us with 12 seconds on the clock at our 26 yard line. Moving quickly, Booth hit Fisher for a 34 yard gain over the middle after Fisher beat his man on an in route, getting us to the UTEP 40 and 7 seconds to go. A quick timeout and a regrouping, and Booth was able to find Anderson along the sideline for a 10 yard gain and a first down at the UTEP 30. Another timeout left three seconds to go and the field goal team coming out. The 47 yard field goal attempt was no good and we headed into halftime with a 31-13 lead.

Starting at their 28, UTEP got moving quickly on their drive to open the second half. Jones hit Hansen for an 11 yard gain to get to the 39. The next play was a minor setback as Jones was sacked for a three yard loss. A second down pass to Henley went for 5 yards, followed by another pass to Henley for a gain of 11 to get the first down at our 48. After a dropped pass on first down, Jones found Henley again, this time for 14 yards and the Miners had first down at our 34. Prater took the ball forward for three yards, followed by a 12 yard strike to Alford for another set of downs. An 11 yard pass to Hansen and UTEP had first and goal at our 8 yard line. The defense pushed UTEP back, sacking Jones for a 9 yard loss and leaving the Miners with second and goal at our 17. A rush attempt by Prater went nowhere, being tackled for a three yard loss, pushing the Miners even farther back, to third and goal at our 20. A pass attempt on third down was knocked incomplete and what looked like a sure touchdown turned into a 37 yard field goal attempt. The kick was botched, sailed wide right and 7 surefire points turned into zero as we took over on our 20 yard line, 6:12 left in the quarter. Price got us started with a 6 yard gain, before being tackled for a loss of one on second down. The news got worse as word was passed down that Anderson had suffered a dislocated shoulder and would be out for at least one quarter, leaving a hole in our receiving corps as one of our biggest yard gainers wouldn’t be back in. Facing third and 5, Booth found Fisher along the left sideline for a 20 yard gain to keep our drive alive. After a rush for no gain by Price, Booth hit Conner Jefferson for four yards to get us to the 49 yard line. A pass to Price on third down went for a loss of two yards and we were forced to punt on fourth and 8.

UTEP would have to earn points this drive after a 47 yard punt that went unreturned left the Miners on their own 6 yard line. Jones got UTEP moving with a 12 yard pass to Hansen to make it out to their 18. After a thrown away pass, Jones hit Hansen again, this time for 11 yards and UTEP had a first down at their 29. A dropped pass on first down would quickly bring the drive to an end as Jones would only manage a two yard rush on second down, before a pass to Victor Gibson went for only a gain of two, leaving UTEP punting on fourth and 6 from their 33. The 49 yard punt was returned for only a gain of 5 yards by Price and we took over at our 22 yard line. Price got us rolling with a 7 yard rush, before being stood up for a loss of one to leave us with third and four. Booth would convert the third down with a 15 yard pass to Parks, who grabbed the ball out of the air just inches ahead of the corner. Another 7 yard rush by Price was followed by a rush by Fox, who was swarmed for no gain. Another third down conversion was fail horribly, as Booth’s pass attempt was off the mark, getting intercepted by Deandre Bennett, who took it 22 yards down to our 30 yard line before finally being brought down. UTEP didn’t take long to capitalize, as Jones hit Griffin for a 13 yard gain to get to our 18. Rushes by Prater for 6 and four yard gains left UTEP with third and one at our 8 yard line, when Jones found Griffin again for the 8 yard touchdown pass, closing our lead to 31-20 with 28 seconds to play in the third quarter. A 24 yard kickoff return by Price set us up at our 31, 17 seconds left when our offense took the field. Price would pick-up 9 yards on the first down rush, leaving us with second and one as the clock hit zero and the third quarter came to an end, holding on to our 11 point lead.

Price got us a new set of downs with another 9 yard run to start the final quarter and we had a new set of downs at midfield. Keeping it going on the ground, Price picked up gains of four and 9 yards, giving us another first down at the UTEP 36. Fox gained four yards on first down, followed by a 5 yard gain from Price. Fox gained two yards on third down, but it was marked short, leaving us with fourth and inches at the UTEP 26. Putting the ball and the fate of our drive in the hands of Fox, he was able to break through a gap for 5 yards and another first down at the 21. Price picked up consecutive three yards gains, before only managing a two yard gain on third and four, leaving us stranded at the UTEP 13 yard line with fourth and one. The 30 yard field goal from Pratt pushed our lead out to 34-20 with 5:11 left in the game, chewing up over four minutes and change off the clock. Hansen got UTEP moving on their next drive, gaining 12 yards on the ground to get the Miners to their 37. An incomplete pass on first down was followed with a two yard rush by Jones and UTEP was left facing third and 8. A 5 yard rush by Jones wouldn’t be enough, and the Miners would be forced to punt.

Price called fair catch on the 47 yard punt, and we took over at our 10 yard line with 4:11 left in the game and a 14 point lead. Price got us an immediate new set of downs, gaining 11 yards on first down to get us out to the 21. A 7 yard rush by Price was followed with a three yard gain by Fox, who broke a tackle to avoid the loss, and we were left with third and inches with 2:52 left to play. The defense came out apparently thinking pass as Price took up a huge hole for a 6 yard gain and a first down. A 10 yard gain by Price on the next play, and UTEP called their first timeout with 2:08 left to play. Price was blown up in the backfield for a loss of one yard on the next play, and a second UTEP timeout froze the clock at 2:05. Fox hauled in a pass from Booth on the second down play and was able to gain 7 yards, leaving us with third and three when UTEP called their third and final timeout with 2:01 left to play. The third down pass intended for Parks was knocked incomplete and we were forced to punt from the UTEP 47 with 1:57 to play. The punt sailed 42 yards and went unreturned, trapping UTEP at their 5 yard line and 1:52 left on the clock.

Jones scrambled for a one yard gain on first down, before an incomplete pass stopped the clock and left UTEP with third and 9 from their 6. The Miners breathed new life on the next play as Hansen hauled in a 21 yard pass for a first down at the 26 with 1:35 remaining. The first down pass attempt fell incomplete, before Jones hit Griffin for a 13yard gain and first down at the 39 with 1:18 to go. UTEP’s hope crumbled on the next play as Jones was sacked for a one yard loss, causing many valuable seconds to be wasted. A 5 yard false start penalty on the offense further eroded their chances of a comeback. An incomplete pass on the next play left UTEP third and 16 from their 34 with 57 seconds on the clock. The defense sacked Jones for a two yard loss, leaving UTEP with fourth and 18 on their 32 and no way to stop the running clock. The Miners managed to keep they drive miraculously alive, as Jones hit Alford for a 25 yard gain, getting them to our 43 yard line. A spiked ball stopped the clock with 32 seconds left to go. The offense was pushed back once again as Jones was sacked for a 10 yard loss this time, knocking Jones out of the game with a bruised sternum, forcing icy cold backup, junior Reggie Robinson to come in the final 30 seconds. Robinson proved a bit of good luck, as he hit Griffin for 13 yards, but it still left UTEP with fourth and 7 at our 40 yard line and only 20 seconds to go. Robinson’s fourth down pass intended for Griffin fell incomplete and with 9 seconds left, our offense trotted out for victory formation. A kneel down by Booth and our 34-20 victory over the rival Miners was complete, and with it, sole possession of first place in the West division.

With the win, we improve to 5-1 on the season, 3-0 in C-USA play. UTEP drops to 6-1, 2-1 in C-USA action. We take over first place in the West Division. Next up, the Rice Owls. Rice enters the game coming off a shocking loss, losing to previously winless UTSA. With that result, Rice comes in at 4-2, 2-2 in C-USA play.

Final Score
34, 20



Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – Another great day from Booth. 374 yards and 3 touchdowns. Although UTEP did score off that interception, it ultimately did not hurt us. Another beastly day for Price as the running game took center stage today, ending the game with 230 yards and touchdown on 34 carries. Price also added 153 yards receiving and two more touchdowns on 6 receptions to that. Another day of sharing the rock, 8 different receivers all touching the ball at least once, 6 receivers getting into double digit yards, the lowest being 29. And Price the lone triple digit receiver.

- Tulsa Defense – Had some bang your head moments but ultimately played well today. Still pathetic when it comes to forcing turnovers, but thankfully the offense has limited their losses so it hasn't been as problematic.

- Tulsa Kicking – A rather poor day for Pratt, going 2-4 in field goals, hitting from 49 and 30 yards, but missing two kicks from 47 yards out. He did at least go 4-4 on extra points.



Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	6	7	0	20
	21	10	0	3	34

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
7:15		Touchdown	B. Price, 47 yard run (A. Pratt kick)	7-0
6:29		Touchdown	D. Harvey, 82 yard pass from S. Jones (T. Johnson kick)	TIED 7-7
3:22		Touchdown	B. Price, 89 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	14-7
0:38		Touchdown	C. Anderson, 7 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	21-7
Second Quarter
6:20		Field Goal	A. Pratt, 49 yard field goal	24-7
1:28		Touchdown	B. Price, 31 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick)	31-7
0:24		Touchdown	D. Henley, 1 yard pass from S. Jones (2 pt conversion failed)	31-13
Third Quarter
0:28		Touchdown	M. Griffin, 7 yard pass from S. Jones (T. Johnson kick)	31-20
Fourth Quarter
5:14		Field Goal	A. Pratt, 30 yard field goal	34-20

Game Stats

UTEP	Stat	Tulsa
20	Score	34
20	First Downs	23
467	Total Offense	620
23 - 90 - 0	Rushes - Yards - TD	41 - 246 - 1
27 - 46 - 3	Comp - Att - TD	24 - 35 - 3
377	Passing Yards	374
7	Times Sacked	0
8 - 18 (44%)	3rd Down Conversion	8 - 16 (50%)
1 - 2 50%)	4th Down Conversion	1 - 1 (100%)
0 - 1 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
6 - 2 - 0 (33%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	4 - 1 - 1 (50%)
0	Turnovers	1
0	Fumbles Lost	0
0	Intercepted	1
0	Punt Return Yards	15
66	Kick Return Yards	101
533	Total Yards	736
5 – 49.2	Punts - Average	2 - 44.5
2 - 10	Penalties	1 - 10
14:01	Time of Possession	21:59

Tulsa Contract Goals Update

Fail Impact	Goal	Progress	Pass Impact
	Win 8 games in one season	5
	13+ passing TD in one season
	14+ points per game in each season	43
	7+ rushing TD in one season	6
	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

78%

[SmoothPancakes]

Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, the mighty have fallen! 4-2 Tennessee scores a touchdown with 1:31 left to play and the Volunteers knock off #1 LSU, 34-30 in Neyland Stadium. In a battle, #3 USC holds off #18 Washington 45-35. Following LSU, #4 Michigan State falls at the hands of Iowa, 30-27 and two spots in the top 5 are suddenly open for the grabbing. #5 TCU, leading 17-13 at halftime, pulls away from #15 Baylor in the second half to win 42-13.

#11 Wisconsin continues to pull games out of their ass, beating Purdue in overtime, 28-22. It took a 10 point fourth quarter, but #12 South Carolina holds on to beat Mississippi State 24-17. In the game of the week, #13 Notre Dame scores 14 points in the fourth quarter to beat a 2-4 Stanford squad, 31-20. It took the Buckeyes everything they had, but #14 Ohio State holds off 1-5 Indiana to win 20-14 over the Hoosiers.

The Red River Shootout is burnt orange this year, as #16 Texas drops #20 Oklahoma to a shocking 2-3, the Longhorns running roughshod over the Sooners 38-17 (it was 17-17 at halftime). #17 North Carolina holds off Miami 24-17. It took everything they could for #19 Nebraska to hold off upset-minded Navy, 31-28, and #21 West Virginia loses their third straight, getting asswhooped by Texas Tech 56-24 (sorry mors ).

For our readers, souljahbill, Southern Miss finally breaks their three game losing streak, pulling even to .500 for the year (and 1-1 in conference) with a 31-23 win over Tulane. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 3-2 (1-2 in Pac-12 play) with a 17-13 loss to Colorado. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State had a bye week. Iowa State drops to 1-5 as they lose to #23 Kansas State 28-14.

Looking at undefeated teams left, with #1 LSU, #4 Michigan State, and UTEP losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 6. #2 USC (6-0), #3 Georgia (7-0), #6 TCU (5-0), #8 Rutgers (6-0), #17 North Carolina (6-0), #24 Fresno State (5-0), are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 6.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 11 teams still looking for their first win: Akron (0-6), Ball State (0-6), Central Michigan (0-6), Idaho (0-5), Kentucky (0-7), Memphis (0-6), Minnesota (0-6), San Jose State (0-6), UMass (0-7), UNLV (0-7), and Washington State (0-6).

Teams getting their first wins this week were: Troy (21-14 over 1-5 Western Kentucky), UTSA (21-16 over 4-2 Rice).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia becomes the #1, USC moves up one to #2, TCU jumps two to #3, Rutgers climbs three to #4, Alabama can only go up one to #5, Arkansas jumps two to #6, Michigan also rises two to #7, Oregon climbs two as well to #8. LSU drops 8 to #9 and Wisconsin climbs one to #10. North Carolina jumped four to #13, Michigan State dropped 11 to #15, Tennessee shoots from unranked to #18 fresh off their upset of #1 LSU. Fresno State climbs five to #19, Baylor drops five to #20, Washington drops four to #22 and Iowa enters the poll at #25. Dropping out were Oklahoma (from #20) and West Virginia (from #21).

In the Media Poll, the top three remain the same, USC and Georgia both remain #1 and #2, TCU climbs two to #3, Rutgers (while on a bye week) climbs four to #4, Alabama jumps one to #5, Arkansas goes up one to #6, Oregon up two to #7, Michigan and Notre Dame both also move up two to #8 and #9 and LSU drops 7 spots to #10. North Carolina jumped four to #11, Michigan State fell 10 to #14, Texas jumped three to #16, like the Coaches Poll, Tennessee jumps from unranked to #18 with their upset of #1 LSU, Washington drops five to #19, Fresno State enters the poll this week at #21, Baylor drops four to #22 and Iowa enters the poll at #25. Dropping out were West Virginia (from #21), Oklahoma (from #22), and Clemson (from #25).

[SmoothPancakes]

As we are now to Week 8, over halfway through the season, lets take a glance at conference standings.

In the ACC, Florida State leads the Atlantic Division with a 4-1 record, but Clemson is right behind at 3-1 and NC State lagging back at 2-2. Coastal Division leader is North Carolina at 4-0, but Virginia Tech is right behind at 4-1. Next closest is Pitt and Duke at 2-2. The Big 12, it's a tie at 3-0 between TCU and Texas Tech, with Oklahoma State 2-0, Texas and Kansas State both 2-1 and Baylor 1-1. Big East, UCF holds the top spot in the American Division with a 4-0 mark, with Rutgers behind at 2-0 and Cincinnati trailing at 1-1. In the National Division, SMU leads the way with a 2-0 mark, and Louisville and USF both at 1-1.

Big Ten, Leaders Division is a tie between Ohio State and Wisconsin, both at 2-1, with Penn State right behind at 1-1. Legends Division, Michigan and Iowa are both tied at the top with 2-0 records, Michigan State and Northwestern both right behind at 2-1 and Nebraska trailing at 1-1. Conference USA, FIU holds the lead in the East Division with a 4-1 conference record, with ECU and Southern Miss both trailing at 1-1 and Marshall behind at 2-2. In the West Division, it's Tulsa out in front with a 3-0 record, UTEP one back at 2-1, Rice trailing at 2-2 and North Texas at 1-2. Independents, Notre Dame is top dog with a 6-1 record, next Army at 4-2, BYU and Navy both in the rear at 2-5. In the MAC, East Division leader is a tie between Bowling Green and Ohio at 3-0, with Miami U at 2-1. The Western Division is Northern Illinois' right now with a 3-0 mark, trailed by Toledo at 3-1 and Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan both at 2-1.

The Mountain West is currently lead by Nevada at 2-0 with Fresno State right behind at 1-0 and Colorado State at 3-1, Utah State at 2-1 and Air Force at 1-1. The Pac-12, North Division is headed up by Oregon at 3-0, with Oregon State behind at 2-1. South Division is gonna cause a war as USC and UCLA both are tied at 4-0, with Colorado behind at 2-1. The SEC, East Division is lead by Georgia at 5-0, with South Carolina behind at 5-1 and Florida trailing at 3-2. West Division finds Arkansas in the drivers seat with a 4-1 mark, LSU and Alabama both behind at 3-1. The Sun Belt, UL Lafayette and UL Monroe both share the lead at 2-0, Florida Atlantic back at 2-1, Troy and Western Kentucky both at 1-1 and Arkansas State at 0-1. And in the WAC, Wyoming and New Mexico both are 1-0, New Mexico State sitting at 1-1 and Idaho at 0-2.

[morsdraconis]

Damn you fantasy WVU, you fuckin' suck just as much as real life WVU does.

Nice wins after the tough loss. Looks like you're finally getting the running game momentum going.

[SmoothPancakes]

Damn you fantasy WVU, you fuckin' suck just as much as real life WVU does.

Nice wins after the tough loss. Looks like you're finally getting the running game momentum going.

Yeah, they were looking good, and have just completely faceplanted since their 2-0 start.

Thanks man. I've changed some things around, coming out pounding it down my opponent's throat on the first drive and make them respect the run, then throw in some passes to keep the defense guessing. Passing has also opened up over the last couple games. Utah was an abnormal game, since when you have 11 different receivers touch the ball at least one, you can probably expect to win. Utah did do one good thing for me. After getting down 34-7, they made me really go deep in my playbook to find something to beat their defense. For the first couple games, I had used, at most, the top third or half of my shotgun passing playbook and that was it. Utah forced me to go deep into the latter half of my shotgun playbook and pull out some plays that I had never used before (much less seen while in the middle of a game). So that really helped me against Louisiana Tech and UTEP, going through my entire shotgun playbook and really, truly opening up my passing game.

I don't know if I'm gonna play Rice tonight or not. I originally had to work tonight but someone made a mistake when they made the basketball schedules back in the summer, so I now have the night off. However, I just got back inside an hour ago from burying a pet that I had for somewhere around 15-18 years. So I'm not sure I really feel up to playing a game (NCAA or any other game for that matter) tonight. If I don't feel up for it tonight, it'll probably be Saturday afternoon/evening before I play again, with work all day tomorrow, basketball tomorrow night and my morning show Saturday morning.

[morsdraconis]

Yeah, they were looking good, and have just completely faceplanted since their 2-0 start.

Thanks man. I've changed some things around, coming out pounding it down my opponent's throat on the first drive and make them respect the run, then throw in some passes to keep the defense guessing. Passing has also opened up over the last couple games. Utah was an abnormal game, since when you have 11 different receivers touch the ball at least one, you can probably expect to win. Utah did do one good thing for me. After getting down 34-7, they made me really go deep in my playbook to find something to beat their defense. For the first couple games, I had used, at most, the top third or half of my shotgun passing playbook and that was it. Utah forced me to go deep into the latter half of my shotgun playbook and pull out some plays that I had never used before (much less seen while in the middle of a game). So that really helped me against Louisiana Tech and UTEP, going through my entire shotgun playbook and really, truly opening up my passing game.

Yeah, that's something I really missed about '12. With the custom playbook, I was basically putting exactly what I wanted in my offense no matter where I went instead of forcing myself to use the playbook of the team that I went to and, because of that, forcing myself to use plays and formations that I didn't normally use.

[jaymo76]

As we are now to Week 8, over halfway through the season, lets take a glance at conference standings.

In the ACC, Florida State leads the Atlantic Division with a 4-1 record, but Clemson is right behind at 3-1 and NC State lagging back at 2-2. Coastal Division leader is North Carolina at 4-0, but Virginia Tech is right behind at 4-1. Next closest is Pitt and Duke at 2-2. The Big 12, it's a tie at 3-0 between TCU and Texas Tech, with Oklahoma State 2-0, Texas and Kansas State both 2-1 and Baylor 1-1. Big East, UCF holds the top spot in the American Division with a 4-0 mark, with Rutgers behind at 2-0 and Cincinnati trailing at 1-1. In the National Division, SMU leads the way with a 2-0 mark, and Louisville and USF both at 1-1.

Big Ten, Leaders Division is a tie between Ohio State and Wisconsin, both at 2-1, with Penn State right behind at 1-1. Legends Division, Michigan and Iowa are both tied at the top with 2-0 records, Michigan State and Northwestern both right behind at 2-1 and Nebraska trailing at 1-1. Conference USA, FIU holds the lead in the East Division with a 4-1 conference record, with ECU and Southern Miss both trailing at 1-1 and Marshall behind at 2-2. In the West Division, it's Tulsa out in front with a 3-0 record, UTEP one back at 2-1, Rice trailing at 2-2 and North Texas at 1-2. Independents, Notre Dame is top dog with a 6-1 record, next Army at 4-2, BYU and Navy both in the rear at 2-5. In the MAC, East Division leader is a tie between Bowling Green and Ohio at 3-0, with Miami U at 2-1. The Western Division is Northern Illinois' right now with a 3-0 mark, trailed by Toledo at 3-1 and Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan both at 2-1.

The Mountain West is currently lead by Nevada at 2-0 with Fresno State right behind at 1-0 and Colorado State at 3-1, Utah State at 2-1 and Air Force at 1-1. The Pac-12, North Division is headed up by Oregon at 3-0, with Oregon State behind at 2-1. South Division is gonna cause a war as USC and UCLA both are tied at 4-0, with Colorado behind at 2-1. The SEC, East Division is lead by Georgia at 5-0, with South Carolina behind at 5-1 and Florida trailing at 3-2. West Division finds Arkansas in the drivers seat with a 4-1 mark, LSU and Alabama both behind at 3-1. The Sun Belt, UL Lafayette and UL Monroe both share the lead at 2-0, Florida Atlantic back at 2-1, Troy and Western Kentucky both at 1-1 and Arkansas State at 0-1. And in the WAC, Wyoming and New Mexico both are 1-0, New Mexico State sitting at 1-1 and Idaho at 0-2.

Still holding out hope that Arizona St can recover and make a run for the conference title...