Iron Dragon's Tulane Green Wave Dynasty

AROUND THE NCAA WEEK 14 & POINTLESS WEEK 15


Week 14


C-USA Update

OOC week.. Rutgers beats Houston 34-20

UCF, USM handle ULM/ULL

Marshall loses to Iowa State

UAB upsets Sun Belt's 2nd place FAU

UTEP beats crappier Utah State


NCAA Update

> #7 'Bama beats #6 aTm 24-17

> Notre Dame locks up national title spot with 59-10 creaming of Texas Tech

> Crapply Cup Upset: Washington State knocks off #9 Washington

> 2-8 Navy def. 5-5 Army 30-13

> Civil War: Oregon State def. Oregon for the right to be 8-4

> On the right track.. Idaho gets 8th win, beats Arkansas State


- Tulane not really punished for loss to LSU, takes minor drop in polls, keeps BCS bowl dreams alive, only slips four spots to #7. And we're actually only .001 out of 6th. Not too shabby.

-- Current Bowl Projection: Orange Bowl (Nooo!!!) vs #8 Georgia Tech (vs #15 NC State)


Week 15 (Useless Week)


The games this week..

#10 Cal 30, Cincy 24

Navy 23, SJSU 6

Nevada 31, #22 Iowa 17

Hawai'i 27, WSU 19


> Somehow the BYE week spreads us to a .004 deficit behind #6 Virginia Tech.

> National Title Scenarios:

- #1 LSU vs #2 Notre Dame

- #2 Notre Dame vs #3 Ohio State (if LSU loses to #5 Florida, who they already killed once)


UP NEXT: C-USA Title Game Preview vs UCF (9-3).. at home in New Orleans


OTHER TITLE GAMES


ACC: #15 NC State vs #8 Georgia Tech

SEC: #5 Florida vs #1 LSU

Big XII: #24 Colorado vs #12 aTm

MAC: Western Michigan vs Buffalo

Report: Wyoming's top target is Tulane offensive coordinator James Theodore Wallenstein


LARAMIE, WYOMING -- Wyoming's moved on with Dave Christensen, and now looks for a new head coach. Reports from Laramie say that their top target is Tulane offensive coordinator J.T. Wallenstein (his second mention in this thread!), who has ties to the Rocky Mountain area, just like Ron Draggo.


Wallenstein, who has guided the #1 rushing offense this year, and about every year, along with coaching pretty darn good wide recievers and has coached some pretty good QB's too. Tulane's offense has been high scoring and very well coached under J.T.


Wallenstein, who is from Wyoming, could return home and trade in his Green Wave clothes for the Brown and Gold of Wyoming. Wallenstein could be the man to turn around Wyoming's 112th ranked offense, and their nation's worst scoring offense. Wyoming scored an entire 17 TD's on offense this year. Wyoming had the NCAA's 5th worst red zone offense in 2011. Wyoming also turned the ball away 25 times on offense in their 1-11 season.


Wyoming has also punted an NCAA-high 231 times in the last two years and their failure has been due to the lack of offense.


Is Wallenstein the next Wyoming head coach?

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Quick notes: Ponder back from injury; will start against UCF for C-USA title


NEW ORLEANS -- It's quick notes time!!


Good to go


Junior QB D.J. Ponder will be back after suffering a broken finger against Tulsa and will start against UCF for the C-USA title. Joe Kemp played OK in his relief against LSU but obviously Ponder's running and sack-avoiding abilities were missed as the Green Wave QBs got taken down five times and threw 2 INTs.


Ponder broke a finger on his throwing hand, otherwise, he may have never sat out a game. Ponder attempted to throw with a broken finger but obviously things weren't just right and throwing with his left hand wasn't as good either. Ponder during practice this week 'looked like normal' according to coach Ron Draggo.


Distraction?


Maybe Wyoming could have waited to start to talk to J.T. Wallenstein until after the C-USA title, and some of the offensive players aren't liking the news that he's in talks with home-state Wyoming.


Players were wishing that the Cowboys had waited until after the C-USA title to talk, and then they could have chatted it up the entire time up until Tulane's bowl game. It is unsure what Wallenstein wants to do, but the offer may be too good to pass up for the Wyoming-native.


Tulane only a field goal favorite against UCF


Obviously the line-makers payed attention to Tulane's lack of offense and the fact that UCF has found it's groove and the lines from Vegas show Tulane as a 3-point favorite, with the over/under line at 62.


LSU sits as 20-point favorite for SEC title, and yes, they're playing the #5 team in the nation


Vegas opened lines for the SEC title as 14 points, but this week, it's jumped to 20 points and it may still be a sure bet to take LSU by more than 20 in this one. They thumped Florida 51-17 earlier in the season, so why wouldn't they do it again?

2011, C-USA Title Game

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UCF Knights (9-3, 6-2 C-USA, C-USA East Champions)

Date: Saturday, December 10th

Time: 5:00pm

Stadium: The Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

The Line: Tulane by 3

Coverage: ESPN

UCF's wins: at FIU (30-10), Marshall (41-7), at UTEP (40-11), at Southern Miss (34-33), at ECU (35-15), at UAB (34-7), SMU (47-7), Army (38-20), Louisiana-Monroe (38-0)
UCF's losses: at #9 Texas (21-38), Memphis (32-34), Tulsa (14-21)

Series History: 2-0 Tulane

Injuries:
HB Chris Rainey - Questionable
QB Joe Weatherford - Out
LT Nick Pieschel - Out

Analysis: UCF lost their starting QB and LT at the end of the year to injury, while Rainey's been out for awhile. Anyways, 91 OVR Weatherford can't go so 90 OVR QB Rob Clabrese will.. Clabrese is basically the same QB Weatherford is, a little faster, a little less awareness, and the same arm capabilities. 96 OVR transfer Chris Rainey may play.. if he does, he's fast as heck. If not, LaTravius Murray (89) will play, and he's got 1261 yards and 9 TD's this year. He's a power runner, unlike Rainey's "hope I get to the sidelines and sprint" style. Ronnie Weaver (87) is a capable backup. Out wide, they have Thearon Collier. He's fast and a better version of Jarmon Fortson. Collier has 85 rec, 1312 yards and 9 TDs this year. Oh my. Then they have A.J. Guyton and Dontravious Floyd. Then they have their big 6'7", 254lb TE.. who wears #78. Adam Nissley. He came into the year with 1 TD the previous year.. this year, he has 56 rec, 760 yards, 10 TDs, and 433 YAC. He's a tight end, and with all that YAC, he's good. He's not fast but he's big and hard to get down. Due to injury, UCF's line's worst starter drops from 88 to 83. Oh well. UCF's d-line is young but they are quick. Their linebackers are young, and quick, like 89 SPD and 93 ACC junior Jonathan Davis, who is all over the field. He does alot. UCF's secondary is very good. They have five guys either 86 or 87 OVR, and then a 84 at FS. They are all very good at covering and know how to catch and tip, like you'd expect. Their kicker, Nick Cattoi is a senior, and is 18/22 on the year, with 16 touchbacks on kickoffs, and he punts too. He boots 41.3 yards a punt, and his longest on the year is 72. He also has down 35 punts inside the 20. Oh my. Thearon Collier and Chris Rainey would be returning, but most likely it'll be Collier and Guyton. Thankfully Rainey isn't returning as he averages 35 yards a KR and 15 yards a punt return. That would be bad.


UCF ACTIVE STARTING LINEUP

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by souljahbill

That's a heart attack game right there. Did it get an ESPN Classic score?

---

I don't remember, I'd have to check NCAA '10. I'm pretty sure it did.

EDIT: That's all I'm posting for right now. Two games and some other things leading up to the C-USA title.

Man thats gotta hurt, after winning the game against Tulsa like that to get creamed by LSU.

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C-USA TITLE GAME: Well this sounds pretty familiar..

Tulane's MVP is unlikely and little-known "hero"


NEW ORLEANS -- It's C-USA title time as the 9-3 Golden Knights of UCF come rolling into the Big Easy, and coach Ron Draggo is 2-0 against Central Florida. This year, we get to see only Thearon Collier, no Chris Rainey today.. although that wasn't a big deal as his backup did fine, like he has all year.


1st Quarter... was the snoozing quarter. Clabrese got intercepted by Hallinsworth on the fifth play of the ballgame. The Tulane offense went to work and thanks to Stephen Barnett's 33 yard run, he set up Ponder's 11 yard TD pass to George Harrison, giving the Wave a 7-0 lead. UCF went three and out and Tulane started to drive. Devin Figaro caught a 19 yard pass and Harrison caught a 25 yarder, as Ponder ended the 1st quarter a perfect passer. He then ran it himself for five yards to start the second and then found Devin Figaro for a 35 yard score, an unlikely target. 14-0.


UCF finally woke up as Clabrese found Collier for a 49 yard score. We had ourselves a ballgame (or we thought so) now. Tulane's offense came out firing as Ponder hit Fortson for 34, then a mix of run and pass eventually led to Stephen Barnett's 7 yard draw TD run. 21-7. UCF went three and out. So did Tulane. Clabrese was INT'd by Nolen, who's still playing for Darryl Farley and doing an excellent job. Ponder hit Fortson for 37 right away, but then Tulane struggled to get anything and Ubekista hit a 30 yard field goal and it was a 24-7 Tulane lead at the break.


A week after everything went wrong, things were going perfectly right.. D.J. Ponder walked into the locker room with a 12-for-13 passing line, with 2 TDs.


UCF lost the opening toss, so we got it first in the second, and we drove again, but stalled and punted. UCF rode the Murray train down the field, and eventually Clabrese found Murray for a 41 yard TD. 24-14.


Tulane went three and out, and Collier returned Ubekista's punt fourty-five yards inside Tulane's 30. Uh oh.. Six plays later, little used FB Brendan Kelly scored for the Knights, his tenth ever carry and his first ever TD. 24-21. Tulane comes out running.. D.J. Banks on a sweep gets 22 yards, then D.J. Ponder scrambles when no one's open and no one's around and goes for a 42 yard gain, quite the run, something we really missed last week. Two plays later, the unlikely Devin Figaro is found for a 7 yard TD. 31-21. End of the third.


Murray train kept on rollin' into the fourth.. but UCF stalled as they lost Clabrese and their backup Slowik looked not too good throwing two off-target passes. Cattoi hit a 49 yard FG. 31-24. Tulane got their ground game going, Barnett picked up 26 on two runs, Richardson got 23, Barnett got ten more on two runs, then J.T. McDonald found the endzone for a 8 yard score. 38-24, 3:31 to go.. we're feeling good.


But here came UCF. And well, this sounds familar. They are down 2 TD's with 3:26 to play. Slowik goes 2-for-4 on the drive, but those two passes being a 22 yard pass and a 32 yard TD pass to Floyd. UCF was back in it and they were only down a score. This sounds too familar to our game against Tulsa. 38-31 Tulane. However, we drive down the field, UCF burns all of it's timeouts and we punt with 1:40 to go and the punt lands at UCF's four-yard line.


Tulane was confident. Slowik hit Floyd for 21. Then he spiked it. Nissley for 14. Collier for 28. Suddenly the dude who looked bad looked pretty damn good. Guyton for 6. Then Slowik hit Guyton at the 18, who cut it upfield for the 27 yard TD! Oh my.. :49 to go and UCF has tied it with the XP. 38-38.


And this is where we found the unlikely hero. An unlikely target. Cattoi kicked to Tulane's 12 yard line where Devin Figaro caught the kickoff and he ran, broke a tackle, broke Cattoi's tackle and he HAD SPACE! He was at the 50, the 40, the 30, the 20, the TENNNN, the five.. and brought down at the three yard line! Tulane was celebrating like it was 1998. They were ready to hope to have a huge drive and now all they had to do is get the ball in the middle of the field, call a timeout and kick the field goal. The unlikely hero, Devin Figaro had done it. Two TD catches and an 85 yard kick return set up Tinzen Ubekista's field goal try, basically an extra point. Eighteen yards.


The snap was good.

The hold was good.

The kick was gooooooddddddddddd.


#7 Tulane 41, UCF 38. Tulane survives UCF's comeback, wins it on a FG with :03 left. Next stop.. BCS. We hope. But we still had to kickoff. The squib was returned 33 yards, but that was thanks to holding, and that was the ballgame. Back to back C-USA titles. And maybe a BCS berth is coming. Can we stay at home, please?



FINAL SCORE: #7 Tulane 41, UCF 38


PLAYER STATS

D.J. Ponder: 19-for-22 passing, 230 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 65 rush yards

Barnett: 14 carries, 85 yards, TD | Richardson: 33 yards rush, 24 yards rec | McDonald: 10 yards rushing, TD

Devin Figaro: 5 catches, 70 yards, 2 TD, 125 kick return yards, set up GW FG with 84 yard kick return

George Harrison: 4 catches, 42 yards, TD

Jarmon Fortson: 3 catches, 82 yards

Emanuel Eluko: 6 tackles (TFL)

Brooks: 6 tackles | Black: 5 tackles

Harry CiGar: 4 tackles (2 TFL), Sack

Jason Nolen: 4 tackles, INT

Devin Williams: 2 tackles (TFL), Sack

Gregory Hallinsworth: 2 tackles, INT

Ubekista: 2/2 FG, 46.5 yards/punt


UCF: Slowik 7/11, 150 yards, 2 TD | Murray 25 carries, 132 yards | Collier 85 rec yards, TD, 140 return yards


NEXT UP: CCG wrap-up and are we going BCS bowling?

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CHAMPIONSHIP & END OF REGULAR SEASON WRAP-UP



ACC Championship: #8 Georgia Tech 38, #15 North Carolina State 14

>> Jaybo Shaw only threw the ball 13 times for Georgia Tech, but three of those throws were TDs. Heisman candidate Russell Wilson got hurt and left the game, before he left he went 4/7 for 30 yards and a TD.


SEC Championship: #1 LSU 38, #5 Florida 14

>> Not surprisingly, LSU walks through Florida. Jefferson threw for 338 yards and 2 TDs as LSU scored 31 points in the first half. The Gators were held to just 43 rushing yards on 39 carries.


Big XII Championship: #24 Colorado 28, #12 Texas A&M 18

>> Dan Hawkins finally gets it going for the Buffaloes as Tyler Hansen torched the Aggies for 292 yards passing and 4 TDs as Colorado will go BCS bowling.


MAC Championship: Buffalo 31, Western Michigan 17

>> Buffalo gets their 11th win thanks to 306 passing yards by their QB Dennison. Western Michigan falls to 7-6.


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LSU QB Jordan Jefferson wins Heisman


Jefferson's stats: 256/395, 3519 yards, 114 carries, 282 yards, 37 Total TDs


Jefferson beat out NY-invitees Terrelle Pryor from Ohio State and Jonathan Coleman from Boston College. Jefferson led the LSU tigers to a perfect 13-0 season and only threw 3 INT's all year.




________________________________________



Tulane's bowl fate..


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No home-field advantage for the Green Wave as they draw ACC champion #6 Georgia Tech on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 in Miami, Florida in the Orange Bowl. Tulane is the only non-BCS team to make a BCS bowl this year, in 2009, three teams made the BCS, and last year, TCU won the national title.



UP NEXT: Orange Bowl preview and maybe some sort of non-BCS bowl wrap-up, maybe not.

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Tulane offensive coordinator Wallenstein is next Wyoming football coach



LARAMIE, WYOMING -- This may be the least suprising coach hiring of all time. Wyoming has hired Tulane offensive coordinator James Theodore Wallenstein to be their next head football coach after Wyoming's miserable 1-11 season that's lone win was against FCS Portland State. Wallenstein is from Wyoming, so him returning to his home-state and taking a new job wasn't a huge suprise, but a bit of a blow to Tulane. Some question why'd he leave Tulane prior to their BCS bowl, as Wallenstein who has guided the offense to a 30-10 record under Ron Draggo in three years, is leaving the sudden success of Tulane.


"I want to build the Wyoming football program, I want to get people interested in Wyoming football. These guys need a change, and I'm here to help them to become successful.", said Wallenstein. Wyoming's athletic director was very happy that Wallenstein was coming to coach the Cowboys and looks for a bright future under Wallenstein's guidance.


Wallenstein has pieces to work with, just the lack of coaching seems to have killed Wyoming. And the lack of offense. However, Wallenstein has been a mastermind of offense at Tulane. He knows how to coach the offense. If Wyoming wants to win, they'll have to score alot more than they did this past season, only having 17 offensive TDs. This past season, Tulane averaged 5 TD's a game, with 36.7 PPG, and they had the #6 offense in the nation. Wyoming had the 116th offense in the nation.


It may take awhile, or not long at all.. but Wyoming has got themselves a pretty darn good head coach.

BOWL MANIA


It's bowl season..


BOWL RESULTS THROUGH ORANGE BOWL (excludes Orange Bowl and Title Game)


New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State 24, #18 Boise State 17

St. Petersburg Bowl: Florida Atlantic 30, Louisville 27 OT [FAU scored TD with :09 left to tie, won with TD in OT]

EagleBank Bowl: Utah 35, Arkansas State 0

R+L Carriers N.O. Bowl: Florida International 27, Memphis 13

MACCO Las Vegas Bowl: #21 TCU 35, Oregon State 30

Poinsettia Bowl: Air Force 24, Arizona 21 [10 wins for AF]

Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl: UCF 13, North Texas 10 [Cattoi 38 yd GW FG as time expired]

Emerald Bowl: Miami 29, Oregon 21

Meineke Car Care Bowl: North Carolina 41, BYU 0

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Indiana 32, Buffalo 16

Champs Sports Bowl: Clemson 45, Iowa 17

International Bowl: Cincy 34, EKU 14

PetroSun Independence Bowl: Nebraska 29, Rutgers 17

Papajohns.com Bowl: Fresno 17, NW 13

Roady's Huminatrian Bowl: USF 30, #25 Nevada 20

Texas Bowl: Texas Tech 44, Tulsa 30

GMAC Bowl: Southern Miss 35, WMU 0

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: #23 Washington 33, #13 Oklahoma 21

Armed Forced Bowl: Arizona State 23, SDSU 6

Brut Sun Bowl: #10 USC 47, Idaho 17 [who made this bowl matchup??]

Music City Bowl: #15 Maryland 33, Kentucky 7

Chick-fil-A Bowl: #20 NC State 27, Miss State 20

Insight Bowl: Illinois 43, Okie State 7

Outback Bowl: #11 Florida 40, Michigan 34

Gator Bowl: Florida State 40, PITT 3

Capital One Bowl: #12 Arky 45, #14 Penn State 30

Cotton Bowl: #16 UGA 40, #24 aTm 21

Liberty Bowl: West Virginia 13, Houston 7

Alamo Bowl: Wisconsin 14, #9 Texas 10

__________________________

BCS BOWLS


Rose Bowl: #4 Ohio State 49, #8 Cal 7

>> Pryor: 5 pass TD, rush TD

Fiesta Bowl: #5 Virginia Tech 26, #19 Colorado 23 OT

>> VT: Game-tying FG with :11 left, Evans 2yd TD in OT wins it

Sugar Bowl: Boston College 42, #3 Alabama 28

>> The Big East champions stun the no. 3 team in the land, BC trailed 28-10 in the third quarter after a 83 yard TD run by Trent Richardson, then BCS found life by scoring 32 points in the game's final 23 minutes capping off the game with a pick-six with 1:02 to play.



UP NEXT: Orange Bowl preview

2011 Orange Bowl


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#7 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2, 7-2 ACC - Champions) [ranked #1 earlier in season]


Date: Thursday, January 5th (2012)


Time: 8:00pm


Stadium: LandShark Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida


The Line: Georgia Tech by 6


Coverage: ESPN


Georgia Tech's wins: North Carolina (30-3), #5 V-Tech (26-7), Middle Tenn. State (42-17), #20 NC State[1st] (21-17), Michigan (37-10), Duke (30-21), Miami (23-18), Virginia (52-7), #16 Georgia (27-24), #25 Nevada (37-14), #20 NC State [2nd, CCG] (38-14)

Georgia Tech's losses: #17 Clemson (7-19), #15 Maryland (7-30)


Series History: First meeting


Injuries:

FR All-American RT Troy Beck - probable (33 pancakes, 0 SA!!!)


Analysis: In Georgia Tech's two losses this year, Tulane took notes. Both Maryland and Clemson shut down GT's run game and forced them to throw. And Shaw completed 39 percent of his passes, shutting down GT's offense. This is what Tulane needs to do. Slow down the run.


Jaybo Shaw can be a good passer.. he's not used much, but he's got 15 pass TDs on the year. We should be worried about his running abilities. We also need to worry about 99 OVR RB Roddy Jones and his friends 91 OVR Richard Wright, 90 OVR Jon Lockhart and 86 OVR Richard Watson. Those guys combined for more than 2300 yards rushing this year, and they are quick and are hard to bring down.


This isn't the first time Tulane has faced a flexbone attack, on week two they beat Navy 45-14, although Navy threw for 245 yards on just 11 completions, but besides that Tulane slowed down Navy to under 3 yards a carry. What they need to do is: score points, keep GT under 3-4 yards a carry, and stop the deep passing game, because Shaw probably will throw more PA bombs than short passes.


Georgia Tech's offensive line is good, it would look like that a freshman RT would slow down their line. Nope. He led the team in pancakes. He may not play. Georgia Tech's defense isn't their strong point but they are underrated and have done well this year, but Tulane might have to win a shootout. Georgia Tech has a freshman kicker who is 20/29 on the year, so he's pretty reliable if he's needed.


Stop the run, and we might see a Tulane victory. If we don't, oh boy.


GEORGIA TECH STARTING LINEUP

Ah! I forgot something..


TULANE ALL-AMERICANS


1st team

rFR Anthony Patterson (C | 24 'cakes, 1 SA)



2nd team

Nobody


Freshman

rFR Dan Thomas (RB | 48 carries, 293 yards, 6 TD)

rFR Anthony Patterson (C)

FR Erik Madison (CB)

The WTF EA how is this guy a freshman AA award goes too.. John Ruffin, HB, LSU.. listed as the returner, and he had a whopping 0 returns all year! Congrats!


1st team C-USA

rJR D.J. Ponder (QB)

JR Stephen Barnett (RB)

rJR Jarmon Fortson (2nd WR)

SR Harris Howard (LG)

rFR Anthony Patterson (C)

JR Devin Williams (LE)

SR Emanuel Eluko (DT)

SO Gregory Hallinsworth (SS)


2nd team C-USA

SO Donny Richardson (RB) [We have the 1st AND 2nd team runningback??]

SO George Harrison (TE)

rJR Eric Jones (RT)

SO Harry CiGar (RE)

rSR Cedric Wilson (DT)

FR Erik Madison (CB)


Award Winners

Maxwell: Jordan Jefferson, QB, LSU

Bednarik: Dwayne Maddox, OLB, NCSU

O'Brien: Jordan Jefferson

Walker: Jermie Calhoun, Oklahoma

Best WR: Jonathan Coleman, BC [Fortson 7th]

Mackey: Matt Flowers, Boise State

Best OL: Kyle Hix, Texas

Rimington: Spencer Thompson, TCU [Patterson 2nd]

Lombardi: Chris Divincezo, Oregon [Williams 6th]

Best LB: Dwayne Maddox

Thorpe: Evan Kern, TCU

Groza: Blair Walsh, Georgia

Guy: Justin Tucker, Texas

Desmond Howard: Aaron Crawford, RB, TTU

Coach of the Year: Ron Draggo, Tulane

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Do we really need any more drama?

Game comes down to final play; do we bust the BCS?


MIAMI, FLORIDA -- The question on people's minds coming into the game is "is Tulane's offense going to be down without their coordinator" and "why is the lower ranked team favored by 6?", the second one's not important, but the first one is. Would Tulane's offense struggle with Wallenstein gone?


Anyways, we were here, in a BCS bowl, on national television, playing solo on Thursday night, no other games to contend with, people going to be tuning in from everywhere to watch this game. It was Orange Bowl time.


Those viewers probably yawned at the first quarter as GT kicked a 41 yard FG, D.J. Ponder threw a pick, and Tulane hit a 49 yard field goal. GT then started out the second quarter with a 52 yard field goal and led it 6-3. But here we came.. Ponder hit Banks for 21, then Duplessis broke free and had no one on him and picked up 35 on a reception, then Ponder found D.J. Banks for a 13 yard touchdown. Hey look, offense!


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Now Tulane was going to go up 10-6.. not like XPs are hard or anything, and Ubekista misses it. Wide right. Ugly XP.


With that past us, we stopped GT again, held them to another FG. Tied. 9-9. 51 yards this time. Then we would start to drive, into GT's 30 yard line. Then it was fourth and four. We decided to go for it. Pass to Harrison. Caught but inches short. Damn. Georgia Tech comes out passing on a fake pitch, and Shaw goes deep for Jones, who gets it but then is creamed by Brooks and Hallinsworth falls on the loose football and it's Green Wave football.


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We drove back down to GT's 25 where we stalled. We lined up for a 42 yard field goal with :12 left.. but ol' Draggo said, let's fake it. Ponder went to hold, and then he plain out stood up with the ball and fired to a wide open Donny Richardson for a 25 YARD TOUCHDOWN! Gotta get 'em anyway you can, I guess. 16-9 Tulane at the half.


Third quarter. Whole lotta nothing happened. Tulane missed a 43 yard field goal. Georgia Tech fumbled again. Then Tulane punted. Then Georgia Tech started to run down the field and the clock struck 0:00. To start the 4th, GT kicks a 35 yard FG. 16-12 in the very early fourth quarter.


Tulane's next drive was an interesting one. Barnett got three, then Ponder hit Harrison for 18, then Barnett got four. Incomplete. To Fortson for nine (his lone catch of the night!), 18 yards rushing by three different guys, a 4 yard pass to Figaro, 10 to Davis, then Barnett got four. Why is this drive interesting? It started with almost the entire 4th quarter. It ended with a 8 yard TD catch by D.J. Banks and 2:31 left on the clock. Tulane up 23-12. Now we have to stop Georgia Tech.


And on their second play, Jaybo Shaw finds Roddy Jones for a 66 yard TD due to a coverage slip-up. Not good. They'd go for two and not get it. 23-18. Then Georgia Tech with all three timeouts left, kicks an onside. And Tulane got it. Not a good move. Maybe it was. Tulane quickly had a 4th and two. Draggo thought back to the Ohio State game. "We're going for it.", and his offense ran back onto the field. Play action pass. Ponder throws... caught by D.J. BANKS! 24 yard gain! That could do it. It didn't though. We couldn't find the endzone to seal the victory as Stephen Barnett was brought down inside the one on third and goal. Ubekista hits a 17 yard FG. 26-18. :43 to go.


Now GT has to pass. Shaw to Watson for 6. Greco for 22. Jones for THIRTY-FIVE. Jones is at Tulane's 4. Oh my god. Georgia Tech ran down the field full-speed. They had no timeouts. Gotta spike it. They don't. They fake spike it. Shaw throws to Jones.. and it's a backwards pass that's dropped and kicked out of bounds for a 7 yard loss. Eight seconds to go.


Shaw in the flexbone.. he'll pass.. to Melton.. and JJ BLACK INTERCEPTS IT!! BALL--- not so quick, Melton goes into DB mode and knocks the ball away from Black. Tulane looks up at the scoreboard..


Tulane 26 - Georgia Tech 18

0:01


One second. One second. If GT makes it here, they gotta get two still, so it's not like they have an easy XP to make and we're going to OT if they find the endzone. Oh no. Not at all. They have to find the endzone twice.


And here it was. Once more, the flexbone. Obviously Paul Johnson doesn't have a true desperate passing formation. We know they aren't going to run it. They will throw.. everyone's covered good so Shaw will throw it up and hope someone comes down with it..












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.. and it may not be soccer but KRISTIFER RHYMES DEFLECTS IT (with his helmet sorta)!! TULANE WINS!! TULANE WINS!! Orange Bowl Champions!!!


FINAL SCORE: Tulane 26, Georgia Tech 18



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We busted the BCS like an orange. Hardy har har.


PLAYER STATS

D.J. Ponder (MVP); 20/26 passing, 253 yards, 3 TD, INT, 14 rush yards

Stephen Barnett: 29 carries, 77 yards

Donny Richardson: 10 rush yards, 25 yard TD rec

D.J. Banks: 4 rrec, 66 yards, 2 TD

George Harrison: 5 rec, 58 yards

Devin Figaro: 3 rec, 34 yards, 66 return yards

Gregory Hallinsworth: 11 tackles (TFL), FR

Cody Leford: 7 tackles (3 TFL)

JJ Black: 7 tackles, deflection

Jason Nolen: 7 tackles

Samuel Brooks: 6 tackles, deflection, 2 FF

Harry CiGar: 5 tackles

Kristifer Rhymes: 5 tackles, deflection

Cedric Wilson: 5 tackles (3 TFL), 2 sacks, FF, FR

Devin Williams: 3 TFL, Sack

Sammy Boudreaux: 3 tackles

Tinzen Ubeksita: 2/3 FG, 2/3 XP


TECH: Roddy Jones 56 rush yards, 126 rec yards, TD, 167 return yards | Vic Robinson 4/4 FG, long of 53


UP NEXT: How bad did LSU beat Notre Dame for the title? And how high are we ranked? Are we joining a new conference? It's the regular season wrap-up..

End of 2011 Report



NATIONAL TITLE GAME: #1 LSU 34, #2 Notre Dame 13


>> LSU ends their perfect season with another beatdown, creaming Notre Dame. Sadly enough, the final score is decieving, LSU led this game 34-0 with 10:22 left in the 3rd quarter. Needless to say, they coulda scored alot more. Jefferson went 23-for-33 with 289 yards and one TD. Moore ran for 71 yards and 3 TDs in for the injured Michael Ford. Brian Kelly's Irish to punt the ball ten times, and went a horrid 6-17 on 3rd down.


FINAL TOP 25

1. LSU(61)

2. Ohio State

3. Tulane

[something looks wrong here.. we beat #2 but lost to #1, but Ohio State majorly improved from week 3, so it's arguable they'd win a rematch]

4. Vick Tech

5. Notre Dame

6. Arkansas

7. Florida

8. USC

9. Alabama

10. Georgia Tech

11. Georgia

12. Cal

13. Maryland

14. Clemson

15. TCU

16. Washington

17. Texas

18. NC State

19. Boston College

20. Wisconsin

21. Florida State

22. Oklahoma

23. Penn State

24. Air Force

25. Boise State

Others Receiving Votes: West Virginia, Miami (FL), North Carolina, UCF, Buffalo, Colorado, Nebraska, Colorado State, Nevada


New Conference? Pfft.. Tulane still in C-USA for 2012 despite rumors


NEW ORLEANS -- New conference? Not yet. That's all I've got.

2011 Stats


Without further ado, let's get to the player stats..



Seniors in bold


PASSING


D.J. Ponder: 161.3 QBR, 194/303, 2662 yards, 27 TD, 9 INT

Joe Kemp: 148.3 QBR, 46/71, 581 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT


>> Ponder's play was very good this year, throwing 3 TDs for every INT.


RUSHING


Stephen Barnett: 221 carries, 1210 yards, 5.4 average, 11 TD

Donny Richardson: 117 carries, 645 yards, 5.5 average, 7 TD

D.J. Ponder: 100 carries, 331 yards, 3.3 average, 2 TD

Dan Thomas: 48 carries, 293 yards, 6.1 average, 6 TD

J.T. McDonald: 34 carries, 177 yards, 5.2 average, 2 TD

Antoine Duplessis: 15 carries, 77 yards, 5.1 average, TD


>> Barnett was in and out with injury, Richardson and Thomas stepped it up, Thomas was the surprise of the year. We'd like Ponder to be 100 carry, 600 yard season next year, instead of just 3.3 average.



RECEIVING


Jarmon Fortson: 61 catches, 1023 yards, 16.7 avg, 10 TD

D.J. Banks: 42 catches, 634 yards, 15.0 avg, 7 TD

George Harrison: 40 catches, 455 yards, 11.3 avg, 4 TD

Devin Figaro: 25 catches, 349 yards, 13.9 avg, 2 TD

Antoine Duplessis: 19 catches, 130 yards, 6.8 avg

Donny Richardson: 15 catches, 165 yards, 11 avg, 3 TD

Chandler Davis: 13 catches, 188 yards, 14.4 avg

Stephen Barnett: 13 catches, 99 yards, 7.6 avg, TD

Brock Sanders: 9 catches, 149 yards, 16.5 avg, TD

Taylor Echols: 5 catches, 19 yards, 3.8 avg, 2 TD

[McDonald 1 TD, Sullen 1 TD, DT SR Eluko 1 TD]


BLOCKING


Anthony Patterson: 24 PC, 1 SA

Harris Howard: 23 PC, 4 SA

Eric Jones: 22 PC, 4 SA

Lawrence Abrams: 20 PC, 6 SA

Joey Ray: 13 PC, 5 SA

D.J. Banks: 12 PC

George Harrison: 11 PC, 1 SA

Brock Sanders: 10 PC

Antonine Duplessis: 10 PC


DEFENSIVE


Cody Leford: 75 tackles, 8 TFL, Sack, INT, 5 PD, 4 FF, FR

Gregory Hallinsworth: 68 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INT, 6 PD, FF, 2 FR

Devin Williams: 56 tackles, 23 TFL, 15 sacks, INT, 2 PD, FF, Def TD

Erik Madison: 55 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack, INT, PD

Darryl Farley: 53 tackles, 5 TFL, Sack, INT, 6 PD, 2 FF, FR

Kristifer Rhymes: 52 tackles, 15 TFL, 3 sacks, INT, 5 PD, FF, TD

JJ Black: 52 tackles, 3 TFL, Sack, INT, 6 PD

Cedric Wilson: 51 tackles, 18 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 PD, FF, FR

Emanuel Eluko: 47 tackles, 14 TFL, 5 sacks, PD

Harry CiGar: 47 tackles, 18 TFL, 5 sacks, 2 INT

Sammy Boudreaux: 33 tackles, INT, 9 PD

Jason Nolen: 28 tackles, TFL, 2 INT

Shakiel Smith: 24 tackles, TFL, 3 PD

Jordan Garrett: 20 tackles, INT

[Garrett + Smith: mainly special teams]

Samuel Brooks: 19 tackles, 3 PD, 2 FF (missed most of the year)

Josh Smith: 3 sacks


SPECIAL TEAMS


Tinzen Ubeksita: 19/27 FG, 59/62 XP, one blocked, long of 58 on FGs | 35 punts, 1555 yards, 44.4 average, 10 inside 20, 8 TB


Jordan Sullen: 25 KR, 487 yards, 47 PR, 258 yards

Devin Figaro: 24 KR, 553 yards


>> We'd like to get a return TD someday. We need some speed on returns and Van Hooser will be back next year, too.


UP NEXT: Who's leaving/transferring etc.

Senior Sendoff, Junior Departures etc.


RB Stephen Barnett and DE Devin Williams headed for NFL Draft; Fortson staying


Runningback Stephen Barnett is headed for the NFL along with sack-master Devin Williams. Barnett has 35 total TD's in three seasons with the Green Wave and has two 1200+ yard rushing seasons. Devin Williams also declared. He has 53 TFLs and 30 sacks in three years, along with the game-winning TD against Tulsa on a pick-six this past season. Williams has had 27 sacks in the past two seasons.


Goodbye to..


QB Joe Kemp: 83 OVR, four career starts, 11 pass TD, 5 INT in career


JR RB Stephen Barnett: 81 OVR, 666 career carries, 3642 yards, 31 rush TD in three years, started two, missed part of 2011 with injury



RB J.T. McDonald: 80 OVR, 660 career yards and 6 career TDs, two recieving TDs


FB Antoine Duplessis: 75 OVR, never had a carry for more than 11 yards, 9 career TDs, 5 came last year, only one in 2011


WR Chandler Davis: 79 OVR, 15 rec, 188 yards, no career TDs


WR Taylor Echols: 78 OVR, 7 rec, 60 yards, 2 career TDs, all in 2011


LG Harris Howard: 85 OVR .. 55 career pancakes, 10 SA


RG Joey Ray: 81 OVR .. 28 career pancakes, 11 SA


JR LE Devin Williams: 80 OVR .. 30 career sacks


LE Josh Smith: 68 OVR ... 3 career sacks


DT Emanuel Eluko: 81 OVR ... had big year in 2011, 14 TFLs and 5 sacks


DT Cedric Wilson: 76 OVR ... finished out season with great performance in Orange Bowl.


MLB Jeremy Minor: 74 OVR ... special teams guy, 28 career tackles


And that's it for Tulane..

______________________________________

NOTABLE TRANSFERS

DeShaun Sands, 85 OVR RB from Kansas to UTEP

Jamie Taylor, 77 OVR MLB from Clemson to Memphis

RaShaun Barbour, 81 OVR SS from Florida to UAB


NOTABLE PLAYERS GOING PRO

EJ Manuel, QB, Florida State, 93 OVR

Alex Dennison, QB, Buffalo, 89 OVR

Bryce Brown, RB, Iowa, 93 OVR (One-and-done after transfering)

Enrique Davis, RB, Indiana, 94 OVR (Same for you)

Jamaal Berry, RB, Ohio State, 92 OVR

Jonathan Coleman, WR, BC, 85 OVR

Chris Toliver, WR, LSU, 92 OVR

Chase Clement, DE, LSU, 97 OVR

Kevin Minter, MLB, LSU, 90 OVR

Brandon Watts, MLB, GT, 88 OVR

Ronnie Thornton, OLB, USM, 85 OVR

Ron Brooks, DB, LSU, 91 OVR

[LSU with four early entries, bad for LSU, good for everyone else..]


And finally, Iron Dragon's third annual WTF why did you go pro award goes too.. Xavier Stinson, RB, Florida Atlantic, 81 OVR & Andru Pulu, LB, Washington, 80 OVR


UP NEXT: The off-season

That's what I've got for now. Three seasons down.. currently 3/4ths done with season six.

Tulane offensive assistant promoted to offensive coordinator


NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA -- Don't worry Tulane fans, the 2011 Orange Bowl champions won't be changing their offense in 2012, as they promoted offensive assistant and WR coach Aaron Shubar to offensive coordinator. Shubar was a great friend to Wallenstein and basically agreed with everything Wallenstein wanted to do with the offense.


Shubar was the interim offensive coordinator for the Orange Bowl and under his reigns, Tulane scored 26 points against a quick Georgia Tech defense. Shubar doesn't plan on making any major changes, but does want to work on a pistol and a 5 wide formation for the upcoming. Tulane lined up in one pistol play in the Orange Bowl, going for a 7 yard run, which was taken by former runningback Stephen Barnett, who declared for the NFL earlier this month.

Breaking News: Tulane nabs #1 overall player away from LSU day before signing day



NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA -- Easily the biggest commitment of all-time, or should I say commitments from Louisiana are coming to New Orelans this spring.


Tulane pulled in two five-stars away who seemed like they were headed to LSU, but Tulane pushed doubt into their minds and they have commited to Tulane. This put a major slap on the face to LSU's recruiting class, which would have been a top five recruiting class if they had pulled in the #1 overall player and the #17 overall player, instead it shoots up Tulane's mid-40s ranked class into the lower top 20, and knocks LSU's down to 14th.


"The rivalry is not just about a game, it's about winning recruiting in the state of Louisiana.", said coach Ron Draggo.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/m...ANNERnew-1.png

A look at Tulane's 17th ranked overall recruiting class


Tulane's recruiting class this year is easily the best in school history, full of talent, and starting to get big recruits from Louisiana and Texas.


POSITION-BY-POSITION


(no ratings yet, sorry!)


:r3star: QB - Jamal Burns - 6'1", 191lbs - Big arm, OK accuracy, decent speed

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


:r4star: RB - O.J. Clarke - 6'0", 227lbs - Alot of power, and a plenty of speed and good hands. This guy could be huge in a few years.

>> Most likely will: Be the no. 2 RB and see alot of time.


:r3star: RB - Mike Marquardt - 5'11", 196lbs - Taken away from Baton Rouge (yay!), major power-back, great hands, great strength.

>> Most likely will: Redshirt



:r2star: FB - Blake Walters - 6'1", 247lbs - Speedy FB, great hands, great strength.

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


:r4star: WR - J.D. Williams - 6'2", 171lbs - Good speed, good hands, excellent jumper, elusive

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


:r2star: TE - Harry Fleming - 6'5", 248lbs - Decent speed, good hands, terible catch in traffic, bad awareness, good strength, great blocker

>> Most likely will: Redshirt or be cut


:r3star: G - Scott Rogers - 6'4", 275lbs - Good run blocking, OK pass blocking

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


:r3star: RE - Stephen Harris - 6'5", 204lbs - Decent speed, excellent strength, tackling, hit power and moves.

>> Most likely will: Start


:r2star: RE - Dwayne Horne - 6'3", 250lbs - Great speed, OK everything else

>> Most likely will: Backup Harris


:r2star: DT - Jared McCoy - 6'0", 287lbs - Good speed, great tackling

>> Most likely will: Redshirt or be cut


:r5star: Nation's #1 player MLB - Terrance Carr - 6'6", 229lbs - Excellent speed, great tackling, excellent coverage, great hands, great moves.. he's the number one player, he's going to be a star.

>> Most likely will: Play in 4 LB situations, sub in sometimes for linebackers, see good playing time


:r3star: MLB - Brandon Lewis - 6'2", 238lbs - OK speed, OK tacking, good block shedding

>> Most likely will: Redshirt or be cut


:r5star: That other 5-star.. OLB JUCO-JR Kyle Dickson - See Carr, he's good because he's a five-star guy.

>> Most likely will: Redshirt, yes I'm serious


:r3star: OLB - Ray Kerr - 6'3", 222lbs - Great speed, great tackling

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


:r4star: DB - Corey Bratton - 6'0", 179lbs - Great acceleration, great man coverage, great agility

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


:r3star: SS - Scott Barrett - 6'1", 185lbs - Good speed, great tackling, great pursuit and hit power.

>> Most likely will: Redshirt


ATHLETES

:r3star: JUCO-JR Brandon Palmer - 6'1", 176lbs: will play WR, most likely will redshirt, maybe not

:r3star: Wade Brooks - 6'2", 188lbs: will play DB, most likely will redshirt


And that's the class. most of these guys don't seem that they will be making an impact this year, as most will redshirt, but these guys could be big down the road.

__________________________

POSITION CHANGES

SO Michael Landry - RG to LG

JR Harry CiGar - RE to LE

rFR Derek Lawson - MLB to DT


CUTS

rJR DB Detlrick Strozier

rSO DB Mike Jacobs

rFR C Rashaad Harris

rFR OLB Mark Jackson

rSR SS Ian Harson

FR TE Harry Fleming (42 CIT, blech!)


UP NEXT: 2012 Pre-Season stuff