NCAA Football 11 Catch-All

firesloth wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
firesloth wrote:

Maybe he didn't like the coach...found him spiteful and vindictive, or something!

Maybe he wanted to be a pocket passer. I granted him that this season and he threw for over 800 yards in his third game.

Wait, I thought you said you weren't any good at this game...

I'm not. Still playing at the level below what we play in the leagues. I bump it up and the game gets MUCH harder IMO.

So, I just finished year 3 of my Louisville dynasty. I went undefeated through the regular season, winning the Big East. (Although, I had to come from behind in my last game, only beating Syracuse 22-21. Connecticut also gave me a hell of a game...very good defense.)

Unfortunately, Florida State and (guess who?) Alabama also went undefeated, so I didn't play for the championship. As the #3 ranked team, I played #7 Michigan (10-2) in the Sugar Bowl. I had to substitute my second stringers at the half, because the score was already 42-0. I ended up winning 55-10. The defense scored three TDs on its own, which would have won the game. This happened even though Michigan had higher ratings in all phases of the game.

It's funny how that little bit of human interaction can cause a good-but-not-great player become excellent. For example, I had a junior MLB with an overall rating of 80. However, I blitzed him a lot against 4-WR sets from a Dime package. He ended up with 8 sacks, three forced fumbles, a TD, and a very large number of tackles. He won the "Best LB of the Year" award. My 80-rated TE was an absolute beast (as are many TEs in this game because of the poor zone play by two-deep safeties). He ended up with 1300 yards receiving and 8 or 9 TDs and came in second place for the Mackey award. My LB and a sophomore DT ended up as 1st team All Americans since I controlled them a lot on defense. My moderately-good HB came in 7th in Heisman voting somehow. He only had about 1100 yards rushing, but had some good receiving numbers and scored a bunch of TDs.

Very satisfying year. Unfortunately I'm losing my star QB, my star RB, three good WRs, a good OLB, and some good offensive linemen. However, I'm now a 6-star prestige school and can recruit some 5* players to replace them! In the end I turned down coaching offers from Boise State and Michigan. I just couldn't see myself at Michigan, and I want the automatic qualifying for the BCS!!

In my new season I'm starting off ranked #21. Where's the love? I landed two 4* HBs in the last recruiting cycle, both rated around 74 overall, one very speedy and the other very powerful. I also landed a 3* WR with 99 overall speed...we'll see if he can catch. My LB corps is improved. My D-line will start two sophomores ends, a junior, and a freshman DT. All are respectable-but-not-great. That's fine...it worked out well last year!

Go Cards!

Stele wrote:

Go Cards!

Indeed!

I wish I weren't having so much fun with this game...it's getting in the way of playing other things!!

firesloth wrote:
Stele wrote:

Go Cards!

Indeed!

I wish I weren't having so much fun with this game...it's getting in the way of playing other things!!

I'm afraid to start it. I'm working on My Player for NBA 2k11, as well as the Jordan Challenges, and having a blast. I worry I'll get caught up in Cardinals season and never get back to the NBA.

firesloth wrote:
Stele wrote:

Go Cards!

Indeed!

I wish I weren't having so much fun with this game...it's getting in the way of playing other things!!

Honestly, I can see myself turning into *that* gamer who plays NCAA/Madden, Call of Duty/Battlefield/Halo if EA and 2k keep this up. The quality of sports games this year was incredible.

Honestly, I can see myself turning into *that* gamer who plays NCAA/Madden, Call of Duty/Battlefield/Halo if EA and 2k keep this up. The quality of sports games this year was incredible.

And Battlefield BC2 rocks!!

That's what I'm saying. Between BFBC2 and NCAA 11 that's been about 110 hours of my gaming time this year. 7 seasons of Oregon State dynasty * 13 games + about 50 hours+ of BFBC2.

Stele wrote:

Go Cards!

Stele, you'll be happy to hear that the Cards beat Oklahoma in the national championship game in year 4 of my dynasty! My junior HB had a monster season with 1750 yards or so. I had some real close Big East games leading up to the championship, with my last four wins coming only by a combined 20 or so points. Part of this was due to some major injuries: my stud TE out with a broken hand and my best LB out with a broken ankle.

I thought I was going to have another undefeated season in which I was on the outside looking in. I started out only ranked #21. With about three games left in the season I was ranked #4 behind Bama, Oklahoma, and Oregon. Oregon went down somewhere along the way, then Bama lost to Florida in the SEC championship, which set up the OU-UL match-up.

The title game itself was easier than my last few Big East games. I was up 21-0 at the half, since my defense decided to show up. I ended up winning 34-21.

I even got an achievement for being the only undefeated team left!

Finally tore myself awake from 2k11 to fire this up last night. Of course immediately I noticed QB #7 and all that stuff, so I went in search of rosters. This thread of course mentions Fairdale Kings (apparently from Louisville), for the 360. But you guys were no help for PS3 rosters.

Thankfully operation sports came through. There's a similar roster for PS3, with just name changes. buckeye02 on the roster share was all I had to do.

Messed around in practice for a while, since honestly it's been a few years since I've bought or played much Madden/NCAA. Trying to shake a little rust off before starting the dynasty. But should give it a go this weekend.

Finally tore myself awake from 2k11 to fire this up last night. Of course immediately I noticed QB #7 and all that stuff, so I went in search of rosters. This thread of course mentions Fairdale Kings (apparently from Louisville), for the 360. But you guys were no help for PS3 rosters.

Well, you should have conformed and gotten it on the 360!! You don't like playing with the rest of us?

So what's the difference between and offline and online dynasty? I know that I'm able to save replay highlights and stuff in my offline dynasty. But when I check on the EA Sports site I don't have any videos uploaded or anything like that. If you do an online dynasty, even if it's just you alone, you can use all the online features like replays and recruiting through the web site?

Makes me wonder if I should restart as online...

3 weeks in with the Cards. Won my opener against UK and replaced the FCS school with So. Miss., who should still be a "rival" for UL but isn't. Bumped our schedule up from B- to B at least. Beat them pretty easily. Now to the first real test at Oregon St.

I used to play NCAA a lot with guys in the dorms back when, but I never owned it and played dynasty myself. I have no freakin idea what I'm doing recruiting. Saw a few tips in this thread about keeping the board small, using your full 60 minutes, researching interests first, and so on. Friend of mine that plays every year gave me most of the same tips last night. I guess you don't really have a chance of getting guys who don't have you in their top 10 already to start with?

Really will need some help at G next year, with 2 seniors leaving, but looks like a lot of 3* guys is all I have to choose from. Didn't know if it was worth going after a 4* guy who's in the pipeline and seeing if I could sway him or if I should just stick to the guys that are already semi-interested. I guess that's the point of building up the program with wins and bowl games to get a higher star rating, but man it sucks looking at some of these great players and feeling like I don't have a shot in hell.

And what the hell do I do with "athletes"? I will also need a TE next year and one of the athletes that has me top 3 is like 6'3" 230, comparable to some of the TEs on the board. Do I have any way of knowing if I can play him at that position or what?

EDIT: Or how much of a hit do guys take switching positions? Can I recruit a T for G or DE/DT for the D-line?

Stele wrote:

Makes me wonder if I should restart as online...

I think the main difference you will see is the requirements of at least 20 minutes per sim session. So if you do your recruiting, play a game, sim, and then have a bye week, you can then do your recruiting but must wait 20 minutes from the last sim before you can go on to the next week. Personally, I see this as more of a problem in the offseason, where you can rapid fire through recruiting and the other screens if you have nothing to do.

Stele wrote:

Really will need some help at G next year, with 2 seniors leaving, but looks like a lot of 3* guys is all I have to choose from. Didn't know if it was worth going after a 4* guy who's in the pipeline and seeing if I could sway him or if I should just stick to the guys that are already semi-interested. I guess that's the point of building up the program with wins and bowl games to get a higher star rating, but man it sucks looking at some of these great players and feeling like I don't have a shot in hell.

I stick solely to players that have an interest in my team, if I'm not in their top ten then I do think the points are worth it to try to sway them. I've also been really successful in just recruiting 10 players at a time, devoting 60min a week to them tell they commit to me or elsewhere. I'll have more than 10 players on my 'list' at a time I'll only pursue the 10 I want the most though. When someone commits I'll go down my list and look to see if someone else fills a need and I'm not to far behind on them and then move them up to the Top 10. Don't worry about the stars, as you improve the team the higher star players will take notice.

Stele wrote:

And what the hell do I do with "athletes"? I will also need a TE next year and one of the athletes that has me top 3 is like 6'3" 230, comparable to some of the TEs on the board. Do I have any way of knowing if I can play him at that position or what?

Athletes can fill multiple positions, but normally fit one position better than others. Take a look at the screen that lists the athletes attributes, 6'3 230 could fit into a Rush end, LB or TE position. Look and check out his catch rating, if that has a fairly high grade he might be a pass catching TE, if his block attributes are higher he might be more of a blocking TE. If his defensive stats like tackle, man coverage, zone coverage are higher you are probably looking at a LB.

Stele wrote:

EDIT: Or how much of a hit do guys take switching positions? Can I recruit a T for G or DE/DT for the D-line?

Offensive lineman are pretty interchangeable within a couple of points when switching positions, DL a little less so but still doable depending on the base defense you run. Safeties to linebackers seem to be a pretty could flip as well this year. The one stat that takes a huge hit though on the flip is their awareness.

Good questions.

So what's the difference between and offline and online dynasty? I know that I'm able to save replay highlights and stuff in my offline dynasty. But when I check on the EA Sports site I don't have any videos uploaded or anything like that. If you do an online dynasty, even if it's just you alone, you can use all the online features like replays and recruiting through the web site?

The only real difference is the ability to use the web site. These videos will not appear on your general EA site, but within the site for this particular dynasty. Honestly, I quit using the Online Dynasty on my own, as I tired of the long waits after games and advancing weeks. Check out one of out GWJ2STAR threads. I have the league listed as public, so you can view our league, and even see the highlights from games even if you are not a member.

I have no freakin idea what I'm doing recruiting. Saw a few tips in this thread about keeping the board small, using your full 60 minutes, researching interests first, and so on. Friend of mine that plays every year gave me most of the same tips last night. I guess you don't really have a chance of getting guys who don't have you in their top 10 already to start with?

I was in pretty much the same boat, but have really come to like the system, and have some strategies I have developed. For one, I start in the ESPN 150, and find any players that have my school listed in their top ten. If they are in one of my pipeline states, even better. But these guys are still hard to recruit.

I do try to limit my searches to guys that have me in their top 10. Realize that most (all?) of your players will be 3 and 2 star recruits.

Personally, I do fill my board with all 36 slots. But I only concentrate on 10 guys at a time. I only move on when I have lost a guy, fallen so far behind I surrender, or get so far ahead I decide to begin cultivating new recruits.

I will spend all 60 minutes available for anyone I am targeting. I start off by trying to find out what the recruits interests are. You will want this info for when it comes time for him to visit. You will get to choose three activities, and based on his interests and your strengths, you will score anywhere from an A to an F that week. How you play that week will also affect the score. I use the change conversation, make a promise and scheduling a visits to avoid topics I rank low in. You are going to have to bite the bullet most of the time, but you can maximize your time spent this way.

And what the hell do I do with "athletes"? I will also need a TE next year and one of the athletes that has me top 3 is like 6'3" 230, comparable to some of the TEs on the board. Do I have any way of knowing if I can play him at that position or what?

These guy are a pain, but you it you need to figure out what they are. Hit the info button, and toggle over to their ratings. From that you can see if he has speed and tackling strengths or throwing and awareness. You are just getting a gauge on where he might play. I get why they do it, but I still hate the process.

Or how much of a hit do guys take switching positions? Can I recruit a T for G or DE/DT for the D-line?

This i pretty easy to find out. Just go into your depth chart and start plugging guys in. When you replace someone, you have access to the entire roster, and it is sorted in their rating at that position. And there is no rule. I had a DT that was rated in the low 60's, but is a mid 80's OL. But other DT are rated worse on the OL. The best place to mix and match is at QB, HB, and WR.

Also, at the beginning of each season, starting with season 2, you will get an opportunity to move guys into new positions. They will then develop in the areas critical to their position. So you can maximize a guy's growth by getting him there early in his career.

Hope some of this helps. Feel free to ask more questions, as there are plenty of us that have already gone through what you are doing now. And there is no a lot of good explanations in the manual or online. a lot of it you just kind of have to figure out.

That's cool to know about new positions. I guess I should play around with the roster and see how the numbers go.

Sounds like both of you agree with sticking to the top 10 interest guys and not chasing others.

One specific situation in my UL dynasty, our punter is a senior, there is no backup so I have to get 1 next year. Now the only guys with me in the top 10 are a 2* and 2 1* guys. At least the 2* guy is in the pipeline. Now do I just settle for that 2* guy, I'm already #2 on his list, go ahead and lock him up? I guess 3* is the best ANY of the punters get (only 1 4* one comes up on search of all P), so a 2* guy isn't terrible. And my friend said I definitely want to fill a hole with a scholarship player because otherwise the walk-on replacement I get stuck with will be like a 40 rating.

I guess filling needs is priority, even if it happens to be a lesser guy than I want, rather than chasing higher prospects and not getting them.

The one big fat blemish on this game are the new kickers. Even the 1* guys are pretty awful. I had seniors at P and K on Kansas, and it is just been ugly this season, even though I recruited a kicker. The fix I think, will be for me to recruit one each each year, and then eventually just play the guy who has developed over the few years. This may not work well either.

EA claimed to have fixed this is a patch, but they so didn't.

Also it looks like I lost my top QB prospect. 6'7" guy that had UK, UL and ND top 3 and suddenly in week 3 switched to "commit" with UK. Is that it? He's gone? Sucks I wasted probably 90 minutes talking with him the first 2 weeks. Should I go ahead and offer scholarships to priority guys like that even if I'm not #1 on their list?

Is it never too early, especially for "needs" positions? I have 8 slots I have to fill, so I should go ahead and lock up something as early as possible right?

I can't believe I'm playing NCAA football instead of watching the NFL playoffs.

Stele wrote:

Also it looks like I lost my top QB prospect. 6'7" guy that had UK, UL and ND top 3 and suddenly in week 3 switched to "commit" with UK. Is that it? He's gone? Sucks I wasted probably 90 minutes talking with him the first 2 weeks. Should I go ahead and offer scholarships to priority guys like that even if I'm not #1 on their list?

Is it never too early, especially for "needs" positions? I have 8 slots I have to fill, so I should go ahead and lock up something as early as possible right?

I can't believe I'm playing NCAA football instead of watching the NFL playoffs. ;)

Get used to losing guys. That's why I fill my board up. that way, my second choice is there waiting for my call.

I've heard generally it is better to offer a scholarship straight op in your first call. Some like to wait until you can move him up to #1, becasue there is a shot at getting an instant commit from a guy that has you #1 on his lest. But I like the huge boost I get from making that offer.

Interestingly, when playing with others, it can signal your intent. So when you are competing for a guy, you might not want a rival to know you are calling. I'd like to to lure them into not using their full allotment. but once you offer, the jig is up. Same with scheduling a visit. But in solo play, this doesn't matter.

I'm having some fun duels with UTEP in our 2 star league.

Huh ran across another one. During week 4 bye after making my round of calls I though huh, let's make sure I didn't miss anything. Did another "top 5" search in my pipeline... and lo and behold, there's a 4* WR who has me 4th on his list.

So new guys get interested during the season? I know I didn't have any 4* guys a couple weeks ago, pipeline or not.

Guess that's a lesson for me to search before making my round of calls.

And I don't need a WR this year, but a 4* is a 4*, right? I should be all over it.

Also I found a "scrambler" QB prospect who has better passing strength and accuracy than the two "balanced" QBs I was previously recruiting. Weird, but cool. All around the same rank *-wise.

Just my 2 cents. I play an online dynasty. Main reason being that I could always switch it and invite in friends if I choose down the road. Plus I like the idea of an online backup of my game along with the ability to share highlights from my dynasty.

Stele wrote:

That's cool to know about new positions. I guess I should play around with the roster and see how the numbers go.

Sounds like both of you agree with sticking to the top 10 interest guys and not chasing others.

Yeah. Within reason there's some flexibility there. One year I got a great QB recruiting class (I'm in 2018 of my Oregon State dynasty). One of the QBs was extremely fast and athletic and I took and moved him to WR. It was the best decision I made. I could run the ball on fly sweeps with him. I could pass with him in certain situations. It was a lot of fun. ATHs suck overall, but sometimes you can find guys who can slip easily between TE and FB or QB and WR.

Oh yeah what about visits? I've got 5-6 guys that were ready for visits, so I went ahead and scheduled them all for Memphis. I figure rivalry game that I should be able to win was the best option.

Is there a limit to how many guys can visit on the same day or anything? Or how much time I can spend on them when they do visit?

I think my friend said that I could choose topics to pitch on the visit or something, and since I've been asking questions I feel like I have some decent stuff for most of the guys I've invited.

Redhwk wrote:
Stele wrote:

EDIT: Or how much of a hit do guys take switching positions? Can I recruit a T for G or DE/DT for the D-line?

Offensive lineman are pretty interchangeable within a couple of points when switching positions, DL a little less so but still doable depending on the base defense you run. Safeties to linebackers seem to be a pretty could flip as well this year. The one stat that takes a huge hit though on the flip is their awareness.

Saw a list at a recruiting guide (in the 3rd part).

LB –> Bonus: DE, DT
T –> Bonus: Center, Penalty: guard
DE –> penalty: MLB,OLB, DT
DT –> penalty: DE
CB –> penalty: FS, SS
FS –> penalty: CB,OLB,MLB,DE,DT,SS
HB –> Penalty: WR, FB
FB –> Penalty: TE,OL

So especially for the bonuses up top, that's interesting to know. Find a big enough LB and move him to the line and he gets better?

EDIT: And another question that's probably more of a "feel" thing, but when do you give up on a guy? Say I'm still 2nd or 3rd on a guy's list, but I'm 600 points behind first place. Any shot of making that up if the AI school is really going after them too? I know that you can get a few hundred in one call and stuff. Maybe more on a visit? (I'll find out soon next in-game week) But how much ground can you really make up? Would time better be spent on a slightly lesser guy that you're only 40 points down on and have a better shot at getting? You guys have a number you stop at?

Finally got my first commit. A G, which I desperately needed, in week 9. He insta-committed on the phone without even visiting.

Got two other soft commits as well in positions of need.

Team 6-1 as well, thanks to lucky comeback win at home vs cincinnati, got onside kick with 2 min left and scored with 21 sec left to win by 4. Loss was on the road oregon st. Expect to lose to Pitt & WVU though, schedule getting tougher.

Man I guess no one is posting since everyone has the day off?

I spent my hours finishing up the first season in dynasty the last couple of days.

With a surprise upset over #3 WVU who was undefeated when they came to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, my team took the lead in the Big East and got ranked #21. Sadly even after finishing out the season at 10-2 (6-1), we lost the tiebreaker with Pittsburgh 8-5 (6-1) by virtue of our loss at Pitt in week 8. So I went from a projected Fiesta Bowl matchup to the GMAC bowl against Northern frickin Illinois. I destroyed them 31-0.

It's possible I might have to turn the gameplay up at some point off Varsity. But again I hadn't played in years and figured I needed all the help I could get.

Finished bowl season 11-2, ranked #13 in both polls. Undefeated Oklahoma beat Miami in the BCS Championship, while TCU handled Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl to remain undefeated and end up #2 in the polls. Alabama's week 2 OT loss to Penn St somehow kept them out of the title game, despite an undefeated SEC record and winning the SEC Championship game over S. Carolina. They handled USC in the Sugar Bowl though. And sadly, Boise St's undefeated season ended in the Orange Bowl against 11-2 Ohio St. (lost to Miami and Wisconsin). Lastly, 11-1 (8-0) #4 Wisconsin beat USC 11-2 (8-1) in the Rose Bowl. Pretty good games, but we had 4 undefeated teams starting bowl season so really could use a playoff.

As for awards... Case Keenum won the Heisman from Houston. The only thing I was even in the running for was the Groza award for kickers. And I'm not sure why I lost, my guy only missed 3 kicks, while all the ones in front of me missed 5 or 6 each. And my kicker's long was 52, the top two guys were 54. I even had more XP kicks than the winner. Boise St's kicker should be the most pissed, he had double the XP kicks of the winner and missed less FGs as well. Oh well.

I did manage one 2nd Team All-American in LE Gregg Scruggs, who led the team with 10 sacks. And I had a WR Harris and FS Dorsey make Freshman All-Americans. Had 6 1st team All-Big East players, and 4 2nd teamers.

Also managed to sign 11 3* players so far, and have all my "needs" filled except Punter. I have 3 more soft commits heading into the offseason. Still chasing the one 4* WR that was interested, although he's soft committed to Purdue, I'm still hoping to steal him away.

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011. Go Cards!

Finally figured out how to do highlights. Even though I had uploaded them, when I was on EASports.com I had my default EA profile selected so they never showed up. Changed that to my PS3 profile and voila, highlights! Put together a couple reels of my closer games in 2010.

UL defeats rival UK 21-14 in a 4th quarter comeback featuring a 2-point conversion and a forced fumble!

UL survives at Syracuse, 26-20 mostly thanks to a 4th down stop with 0:17 left.

Also started off 2011 with a bang, before playing a game. Week 1 recruiting. 2 DE graduating this year with 4 Freshmen behind them. 4* DE from KY had me #1, so I took a gamble on the 60 minute call and offered scholarship 1st... instant commit!

Now I have lots of minutes for those other 4* guys.

Nice! I had a lot of fun playing UL in my dynasty. I've moved on to Northern Illinois to get used to the playbook for our online dynasty using 2* prestige schools. I'm in my fourth year, ranked #21.

I was ranked #24 at the end of the third year. That was clearly a rebuilding year, as most of the player stats were in the 60s, and all my ratings (offense, defense, overall) were Ds of some sort. I went 12-2 (including MAC championship win and bowl game loss) and won coach of the year.

Get this, though -- even though I won national coach of the year, my Coach Prestige rating didn't budge from a C during recruiting the next year.

One of the fun things has been developing a new personal rivalry with Central Michigan. They were ranked in the top 25 and undefeated last year when I knocked them off in a close game. Now we're both in the top 25 headed into a last-game-of-the-year battle. Plus we're competing on the recruiting front. Fun.

Stele, explain to me why you're not playing this on the 360? Do you not like us, or do you not have said red-ringing machine?

Thanks for breaking up my streak of posts.

firesloth wrote:

Stele, explain to me why you're not playing this on the 360? Do you not like us, or do you not have said red-ringing machine?

No, no 360. And also one of my best friends who buys NCAA Football every year the last decade I've known him always had it on PS2 and more recently PS3. So I assumed I would be playing with him. Although mostly he's just been coaching me about recruiting and plays in my offline dynasty. I'm sure if we faced up he would kick my ass, like he always used to in the dorms back in college.

So I was setting my schedule for 2011 and looking for a decent home game around week 6 to invite recruits to. I scheduled Notre Dame. Now that I'm in week 4 of my season and getting visit requests, I noticed I must have hit right/left and accidentally set the ND game to away instead of home. So I don't have another home game until week 10, and only 5 on the year.

But, after reading so much about recruiting and knowing that there's a chance 1 guy that has you #1 will insta-commit every week, I've gotten 3 4* guys in the first 3 weeks. Great start so far. I just hope the delayed visits don't screw me up too much. It's really nice to have some idea what I'm doing, and know how the offseason works with position changes and cuts and so on, having gone through it once. I have a huge need with 3 CBs graduating this year, but I do have a SS who transfered and is sitting out who could be moved. But knowing that I can recruit CB, FS, SS or some ATH and probably move them makes things easier. And getting 3 guys signed already gives me loads of time to pursue others. Even though I have 25 scholarships, I only have 14 seniors graduating this year. So I'm going to try to push for as many 4* guys as possible, even if I don't have needs, knowing that I can probably cut some of the 3* guys I got last year if I have to. Can't over-recruit right? It's just a game, I'm not breaking some kid's heart cutting his scholarship.

Loving this game. Torn between playing actual games and getting back to recruiting each week. Really enjoy both parts, but the recruiting is especially fun for me since it's new, I've never done the dynasty thing before.

Loving this game. Torn between playing actual games and getting back to recruiting each week. Really enjoy both parts, but the recruiting is especially fun for me since it's new, I've never done the dynasty thing before.

I've been there. I've played one more game in a night, just to see how the recruiting works out the next week!

Well, too bad you don't have an Xbox. All the cool kids are getting them...

Wow, I do NOT need to turn up the difficulty. Just when I thought things were easy, it turns out Memphis, Marshall, and UK must just suck.

Survived 34-28 at home to #14 Florida State. A late rally cut my lead to 6 with 2:06 remaining, but I recovered the onside and ran out the clock.

Then the aforementioned game @ND. After a furious 27-21 first half, ND blanked me 14-0 in the 3rd. At 6:30 I scored to make it 32-34, but missed the 2-PT try after a ridiculous false start penalty backed me up 5. Defense held though, and I finally scored the go ahead TD with 0:26 left to win 39-35.

And then we opened conference play at Cincinnati, with their stupid no-huddle offense. I spent most of the game winded, even calling 2-3 timeouts on defense. The AI pulled some ridiculous plays out of its ass to make this game close. :X Not the least of which was a 72 yard fumble return in the first, as well as a couple back and forth interceptions in the 3rd. Although they missed 2 PATs in the 3rd, so I was only down 26-20 going into the 4th. I scored to take the lead by 1 with 6 min left in the 4th, on the first play after my starting QB got injured. Yeah, my backup QB came in, with squiggly lines not being able to read patterns on 3rd and 6, and threw a strike to the TE across the middle! Then after an INT, I scored again with 2:45 to go up 8. But they proceeded to march down the field and get the 2PT with 0:46 left. Sadly I would have had a completion in range for a last second 50yd FG or so, but my WR just dropped the ball. Wide open, all alone, toeing the sideline, and just drops it with 3 seconds left. So we go to overtime! I lost the coin toss, they played defense and after 1st and goal, I had to settle for a FG. I got two stuffs on their rushing attempts and then a big sack on 3rd down to back them up, and 4th down was incomplete, whew! 37-34.

#12 Cards 6-0(1-0), and the next game I'm going to #15 West Virginia.

So I squeaked by undefeated in season 2. I'm tweaking some settings but still not going up to all-american probably.

Aside from the FSU, ND, and Cin games already mentioned, I had a few other close calls on the way to 12-0 and non-championship game BCS appearance.

34-21 at WVU. Without a late fumble when I was up 27-21, it could have turned out differently. I think this was the game my 2nd string QB got knocked out to injury for 6 weeks also. After the game I had to un-redshirt my freshman QB and played the last 4 regular season games with him, relying heaving on running.

28-25 at USF. They had a ridiculous 99yd run on the last play of the 3rd quarter, after I called run-mid on the coverage too. A late score with 4:18 gave me the final margin.

20-14 vs SU, again with the close games. I intercepted them with 1:00 left in the 4th on the 10 yard line, as they were driving to score what would have won the game for them.

And finally the Sugar Bowl game against Va Tech. Even though I had my starting QB back from injury, it was ugly. They scored a 48yd rushing TD in the 1st, when like 5 of my guys had a gang-tackle and their RB suddenly breaks free. Then they had a pick 6 to start the 3rd, and I was down 10 at that point. Two INTs for me in the 4th are the only thing that saved me.

The great season bumped me up to 5* school status though, and improved my recruiting substantially in the first couple weeks of 2012 that I have started tonight. But losing my senior kicker and replacing him with the RS Fr 2* guy that I picked up has been really disappointing. Even turning up the user kickoff power to 100 I still can only kick to about the 8yd line with a 100% strong kick and no wind.

Oh and I got screwed on season awards. Led the nation in rushing with Victor Anderson at 1779 yards, 30 ahead of Navy RB and 200 ahead of Oregon's RB, and with more TDs (25) than either. But Oregon got both of the awards for RBs and I was 2nd. Also led the nation in sacks at 9.5 with my Senior DE, tied with 2 other guys, one of them got the best lineman award.

Maybe next year...