|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 15:58:34 GMT
After going back through my "Worst Team in Florida" thread in the delightful Front Office Football : The College Years I got the college handegg bug back and decided to dig out my old code for Bowl Bound College Football - a game I didn't give a proper shake to, back in the day. I've decided to give Florida a miss though and go for something a little close to home: University of Connecticut Huskies Husky football is a relatively recent focus as they moved into Div I-A in 2004 after more than a hundred years in Div-II A. The school is better known for its basketball programs where the men won the national title as recently as 2011 and the women's team won back to back titles in 2009/2010 and went on a 69 game win streak along the way. The most famous Husky in the NFL right now is probably Indianapolis Halfback Donald Brown who is referred to in Connecticut as "God Damnit Donald" after he missed a pass block assignment in his rookie year and a wired-for-sound Peyton Manning had a few encouraging words for him. In the game I've set the start year to 2012 and the team are ranked 68th (out of 130-odd), by computer projections. In upcoming posts you'll see why the computer is clearly drunk. The school board want us to win a couple of games in-conference in the first year and "put on a good show" against arch-rivals Buffalo. They don't seem to care if we actually beat Buffalo, they just want us to look like we know what we're doing. Yay for low expectations!
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 16:00:00 GMT
College Records Overall Conference +------+-----------------------+-----------------+ Year | W L T | W L T +------+-----------------------+-----------------+ 2012 | 5 7 0 | 2 5 0 +------+-----------------------+-----------------+ 2013 | 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 +------+-----------------------+-----------------+ 2014 | 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 +------+-----------------------+-----------------+ TOTAL | 7 17 0 | 3 11 0 +------+-----------------------+-----------------+
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 16:07:12 GMT
2012 Schedule Team Schedule WEEK OPPONENT SCORE 1 Texas Christian 2 East Carolina 3 OPEN 4 at Rutgers* 5 at Army 6 OPEN 7 Pittsburgh* 8 Syracuse* 9 at Louisville* 10 at South Florida* 11 at Cincinnati* 12 West Virginia* 13 OPEN 14 San Diego State 15 Buffalo
* Conference game
I picked Texas Christian, East Carolina and San Diego State as the games not set by my school in the hopes of getting someone in who might not destroy my collection of rubbish players and also finding people who'll come play in Connecticut to give us some more cash to spend next year.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 22:30:32 GMT
UConn Huskies 2012 Roster
Despite the low expectations of the school board, the first thing that I thought when I saw our roster was "these guys could get me fired, year 1."
Despite this I decided to be fairly aggressive with the red shirt options, designating any Freshman who had any potential, if there was another guy on the roster with the same current ability - so a 1.0/3.0 would get the redshirt if there was a 1.0/1.5 playing the same position. This made the year one firing more likely but gave us a bit more hope for the future.
Red Shirts QB Raymond Serrano 1.0/2.0 RB Eugene Hinton 2.0/3.5 WR Paul Hobson 1.0/3.0 OG Alvin Diaz 1.0/3.5 DE Michael Meade 1.0/3.0 ILB Vernon Small 1.0/3.0 FS Michael Clark 1.0/3.0
Overall ratings are out of 5.
OFFENCE Quarterbacks A wide selection here, varying somewhere between dreadful and awful. Denny Harris and Paul Mullins will be leading candidates, with fantastic ratings of 1.5/2 and 2/2 respectively. Harris has the better passing skills, but is dumb as a bag of hammers. Mullins is smarter, but rating a 4 and a 6 for passing ability and passing touch isn't reminding anyone of Tom Brady. Tom Selleck maybe. Because he has a mustache.
Runningbacks If UConn had a genetics department then they should get to work on melding together our two best runningbacks, as Giovanni Berry, (2.5/3), has good acceleration but no second gear and Michael Daniels, (3/3) has a decent top speed, but takes an hour to get there. Berry is a more natural runner, who'll occasionally make something out of nothing, so he'll get the start.
Wide Receivers Here we have our George Best moment, as we find our one truly talented player who'll spend his career surrounded by cack. That player is the Senior Robert Hanson who is fast, has a great work ethic and runs good routes. Hanson is my only "blue" player, (rated 4+), with a rating of 4/4.
He'll be paired with Will Brown, (2/3), who isn't considered a natural receiver, but is one of those who gets by, by having a non-stop engine and working very hard. He's a coach's dream. For coaches who don't like ability.
Pedro Edwards, (2.5/2.5), will start at Tight End and is another guy who gets by on work ethic and being made of out bullet proof titanium. He has a very mundane skill set, but works his arse off on every play.
Offensive Line Charles Jackson is our only "green" player, (rated >3 <4), on offence, rating 3.5/4. He's a good pass blocker, with a high work ethic who isn't terribly smooth or strong, but relies on watching tape to know what his opponents are likely to do.
At Guard we'll start Wayne Camacho and John Ruiz, (both 2.5/3). As appears to be a recurring theme for the Huskies, neither has great raw talent, but instead get by on work ethic.
Tackle features our third best Offensive player in the shape of Richard Thompson, (3/3), who is disciplined and intelligent and is solid at pass blocking, which is what we'll need a lot of from our Left Tackle. He's considered an injury risk though, which isn't great.
The other Tackle is a black hole of talent and will be filled, in the loosest sense, by Darrell Lindsay. Lindsay is intelligent and works hard blah blah blah. His actual ability is almost entirely missing though.
DEFENCE Defensive Line We'll be playing a 3-4, not because we have two big defensive ends and an immovable nose tackle, but because we have four half-decent linebackers and only two and a half half-decent linemen.
At End we'll start Michael Cooper, (2.5/3), who has high work ethic and, oh, you've heard this one. For example, his work ethic is nine, out of ten, and his actual pass rush move rating is 5. His point of attack rating is 6, while his endurance is 9.
The other end is Stephen Williams, (2/2), who doesn't have ability or work ethic!
On the Nose we'll play Mack Miller, (1/3), who's dumb, unfit, poorly disciplined and low skill. But he's better than the other guys we have!
Linebackers Thomas Anderson, (3/3), is our best defensive player. He's a good tackler who can also play coverage and he's intelligent too. Sadly he's poorly conditioned and will need to spend too much time off the field for my liking.
Joseph Hurley, (2.5/2.5), is decent at roughly the same things - he's essentially a poor man's Thomas Anderson - but he's really struggling academically and it wouldn't surprise me if he's suspended the first time the NCAA ask him to add two numbers together.
At the outside backer positions, we'll start Joseph Shull, (2.5/3), on the weak side, for his slightly above average pass rush skills, but he's a bit of a glass cannon, liable to explode into a fine mist of blood and cartilage the first time he makes a tackle.
The strong side will be George "Great" Scott, who's slow and doesn't tackle well, but you know the whole intelligence and work ethic thing...
Secondary Starting corners will be Robert Engle, (2/3.5), and whoever hasn't annoyed me recently as practically every other corner on the roster is a 1.0/1.5 special. They're also largely dumb as rocks, so I'll play whoever isn't academically suspended that week.
Strong Safety will be a mixture of Joe Boyce, (2/2.5), and Raymond Peters, (2/2.5). Boyce is better in coverage, but is also graduating this year, so we'll be using downhill-run-stuffer Peters a bunch to see if he improves with playing time and can be the clear starter next year.
Free Safety will be another of the black hole positions, as we try to fill it with Glenn Middleton, (1/2), who has terrible skills and the sort of disturbing smile that suggests he'll have a future as a clown for children's parties. Will Moon, (1/1.5), is purely an emergency replacement and punt returner.
----
I need a lot of help.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 23:04:50 GMT
Texas Christian - 33 UConn - 16 Texas Christian 10 10 0 13 33 UConn 10 6 0 0 16 Things started so well, as we led 10-0 and 16-13, but then the team forgot to show up for the second half as five different players had a fumble after the break. Renschler Field was only half full for our first game, a fact that can't be completely attributed to the rain, and some of those fans began to leave as TCU Quarterback Pete Miller threw long touchdowns at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth. Miller only completed 7 of 23 attempts, but threw for 158 yards - better than 20 yards a completion - and three touchdowns. Husky QB Denny Harris looked good in response, completing 10 of 13 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked three times in the second half. Superstar Receiver Robert Hanson caught five passes for 133 yards and a touchdown, but also fumbled the ball at the end of a 32 yard reception that would have put the Huskies in scoring position when they only trailed 16-27. NotesReceiver Will Brown dropped two passes, ran the wrong route twice, fumbled on an end around and caught three passes... for nine yards. Inside Linebacker Thomas Anderson had eight tackles, a stuff and two passes defenced. Free Safety Glenn Middleton missed five tackles. Out of five.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 23:28:11 GMT
East Carolina - 10 UConn - 24 East Carolina 3 0 0 7 10 UConn 0 0 14 10 24 Maybe we're not so bad after all. We're better than Pirates, at least. We start off slowly, compared to last week, before Frank Williams chucks a 34 yard scoring pass to Tight End Danny Upton in what is the first career touchdown for both players. Of course, the ball went about one yard in the air, as it was a Tight End screen that the Pirates totally misplayed, as Carolina Linebacker played the wrong coverage and then missed a tackle. Our second touchdown came on a one yard plunge by Fullback Matthew Bell, after Williams kept the drive alive with a peach of a 28 yard sideline fade to Robert Hanson on 3rd and 17. Receiver William Brown completed the scoring with a team-record 82 yard punt return. NotesBack Michael Daniels gained 70 yards on 10 carries for his second straight week with seven yards per carry. Linebacker Thomas Anderson added nine tackles this week, with three stuffs and a pass defenced. After missing five tackles out of five last week, this week Safety Glenn Middleton made four tackles out of five. But made up for it by blowing coverage thee times.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 9, 2012 23:51:59 GMT
UConn - 23 Rutgers - 9 Conference Game UConn 10 3 3 7 23 Rutgers 0 3 6 0 9
A field goal clinic top and tailed by touchdown runs from Michael Daniels gives us an easy win in our first conference game and improves our record to 2-1. The win was a nice tonic for a terrible week in which starting Quarterback Denny Harris was suspended by the NCAA for failing to keep his GPA above 2.0 - C grades and about 50% on tests. As a result we start Frank Williams, who plays much like his Formula 1 namesake and Paul Mullins who plays like someone who's rated 1/1. Which he is. Despite Daniel's touchdowns, the ball and our team is carried by Giovanni Berry who bangs away for 124 yards on 19 carries and, as expected, by Wideout Robert Hanson with 144 yards on five catches. NotesLinebacker Thomas Anderson only managed six tackles, but added a sack, a stuff and an interception. The lack of our starting QB shines through as four of our receivers are dinged with running bad routes, thanks to a lack of familiarity with Williams and Mullins. Safety Glenn Middleton continues to improve, making four of four tackles! But still got caught in the wrong place twice.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 10, 2012 3:55:00 GMT
UConn - 18 Army - 23 UConn 6 3 3 6 18 Army 0 14 9 0 23
So there is absolutely guaranteed no way at all ever that I can lose to Army, unless they bring out the actual Army, with tanks for goalline defence and attack helicopters as wide receivers. Well, bugger. I outgained Army by 437 yards to 172, had two runningbacks break 100 yards rushing, gave up only seven first downs and lost, thanks to a fumble return for a touchdown, a punt return touchdown and an offence that couldn't turn yards into touchdowns until two minutes remained in the fourth quarter. UConn kicker Robert Hunter had a career day, booting four of four field goals, but this included kicks of 23 and 25 yards as the Husky offence failed to punch the ball in from inside the ten yard line. Fortunately we have a rest week next week and it's also a testing week - we might get back starting QB Denny Harris, if he can score a whopping 50% on his academic eligibility test. NotesLinebacker Thomas Anderson continues his monster season with 10 tackles here, two sacks a stuff and a hurry. Robert Hanson continued to be uncoverable, despite playing with terrible Quarterbacks, as he caught 8 passes for 132 yards and our only touchdown.
|
|
|
Post by elth on Sept 10, 2012 13:54:51 GMT
Looked like you were gaining yards pretty easy, maybe you should have started going for it on 4th down.
Anyway, thus far I'm impressed by how good you are and disappointed by how good you are.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 10, 2012 14:22:38 GMT
Yeah, we're not terrible when we play handpicked opposition at home and the Army.
In related news, you'll like the next few installments.
|
|
|
Post by Moo on Sept 10, 2012 15:04:47 GMT
*claps hands*
I like the smell of mediocrity in the morning. I'm hoping I smell something worse.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 11, 2012 3:36:06 GMT
Pittsburgh - 48 UConn - 12 Conference Game Pittsburgh 14 13 14 7 48 UConn 3 3 0 6 12 Our second conference game and our second chance to see how we measure up against what will be our yearly rivals and it's fair to say that it does not go well. Pittsburgh is the home of the Universe's best every Quarterback, Dan Marino, and current incumbent Rosendo Alvarez brought back memories of Danny as he completed 20 of 32 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, on our side Denny Harris finally finished his sums homework and was academically cleared to play again and didn't exactly come back with a bang, completing 10 of 21 passes for 122 yards and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown as Pitt ran out to a 27-6 lead at the half and a 48-6 lead before Robert Hunter booted two fourth quarter field goals. The result drops us to 2-3 and 1-1 in the conference. NotesReceiver Robert Hanson caught six passes for 85 yards. Thomas Anderson led the team in tackles again with seven.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 11, 2012 3:54:56 GMT
Syracuse (#6) - 44 UConn - 5 Conference Game Syracuse 17 17 7 3 44 UConn 0 0 5 0 5 I don't recall saying "well that could have been worse" after the Pittsburgh game, but seven-and-oh Syracuse certainly showed me what I've got to look forward to in the Big East with an absolute drubbing. The game got off to a spectacular start as Syracuse ran back the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and then ran out to 34-0 and 41-2 leads as Quarterback Jeffrey Hoover, (rated 5/5 thank you very much), completed 19 of 26 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns, comparing nicely to our Quarterback Paul Mullins who completed zero out of five passes with two interceptions. :moop: Even super receiver Robert Hanson had a slow day, catching six passes for 43 yards. We celebrate after the game by finding out that starting Runningback Michael Daniels is suspended with immediate effect for falling below the required 2.0 grade point average and starting Guard Wayne Camacho has suffered a slipped disc. Next week we have a conference game against Louisville, in Louisville and they're 13 point favourites. NotesThomas Anderson was roughly the only player who did anything, as he registered six tackles, two sacks, including the two-point safety that finally got us on the scoreboard, and two passes defended. Glenn "Missed Tackle" Middleton recorded his first career interception, which I'm going to guess is like the football version of a sympathy shag.
|
|
|
Post by coffers on Sept 11, 2012 8:49:12 GMT
This is what we came to see.
I think. :checkit:
|
|
|
Post by elth on Sept 11, 2012 9:40:23 GMT
13 point margin seems like it's a bit small, really. Is Vegas trapping?
|
|
|
Post by Moo on Sept 11, 2012 9:48:48 GMT
I sense a win streak on it's way. Go Huskies!
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 11, 2012 11:02:15 GMT
13 point margin seems like it's a bit small, really. Is Vegas trapping? Or tripping. I think it's because Louisville made the brilliant decision to open the season with four bye weeks, so no one really knows what they've got yet. Just that they're better than us. They have a Halfback who's a 4.5/5, for a start.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 11, 2012 12:12:56 GMT
UConn - 24 Louisville - 19Conference Game UConn 10 7 0 7 24 Louisville 0 14 3 3 19
In American Football desperation is spelled out with long passing and lots of blitzing and we go crazy for both here in an attempt to get our season and conference schedule back on track and move closer to the "some" wins the school board asked for. And it works! The blitz clearly unsettles Louisville Quarterback Ernest "Eddie" Murphy, who is sacked eight times and hurried on five more dropbacks, meaning the game devolves purely into "can UConn stop the rush?" The answer is "not always" as Louisville halfback Rubin Britt puts up 114 yards on 17 carries, but 57 of those come on one long touchdown run. When we do stop Britt and force Murphy to throw it all goes very poorly for the Cardinals and then our big play gameplan works nicely for us, as Denny Harris throws in touchdowns of 74 yards to Robert Hanson and 53 yards to Will Brown. Lousiville score a field goal to move within five points with nine minutes to play, but a fourth down sack ends one late Cardinal drive and their final chance is snuffed out when UConn Cornerback Robert Engle intercepts a Murphy pass in the end zone. NotesLinebacker Thomas Anderson continues his monster season with 9 tackles, two sacks and a pass defenced. With Michael Daniels academically suspended, Halfback Eric Moore gets his first chance and scores an eight yard touchdown but also fumbles twice.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 11, 2012 12:27:07 GMT
UConn - 3 South Florida - 14Conference Game UConn 0 3 0 0 3 Louisville 7 0 0 7 14
A return to normal service here, just to keep elth happy. In our game against Louisville our Punter injured himself on a bobbled snap in the fourth quarter and that didn't seem so important, as he's terrible, but I'm quickly shown what a truly awful punter looks like as walk on Ernie Moeller doinks nine punts for an average of twenty four yards handing field position to a team that we could have had a chance against. As a result, South Florida's two scoring drives only go 23 and 50 yards and the longer one was only 50 yards because they opened with offensive holding. Our "star" Quarterback shows the fickle nature of the long ball game as he completes a magnificent 9 of 25 attempts with three interceptions - the only plus? Those interceptions gave Florida worse field position than our punting did. Receiver Robert Hanson catches pretty much all the passes that were completed, finishing with 123 of our 197 net passing yards on six receptions. The two teams went an impressive 8-for-37 on third down. Up next, another conference game against the 7-3 Cincinnati Bearcats. Who are 22 point favourites. NotesLinebacker Thomas Anderson has a quiet day at the office with only six tackles, two stuffs and two passes defenced. Stellar Offensive Tackle Richard Thompson injured his Achilles in the first quarter and was replaced by Jerry Parrish, who missed three blocks and was called for three false starts. :moop:
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 12, 2012 1:23:01 GMT
UConn - 7 Cincinnati - 17Conference Game UConn 0 7 0 0 7 Louisville 7 0 0 10 17
A game that was in the balance for a lot longer than it should have been considering the number of injuries we had and the disparity of talent. Once again it was our pass rush and blitz tendencies that kept us in the hunt as we brought down Cincinnati Quarterback Dennis Cole six times and hurried him twice more. Halfback Clarence Hall opened the scoring for the Bearcats, but was answered by Giovanni Berry inside the two minute warning before halftime and the teams then remained tied until just four minutes remained. The big moment came for us in the first quarter though, as Quarterback Denny Harris hit star Robert Hanson on a simple three yard quick out and the receiver collapsed to the field holding his knee. It was diagnosed as an MCL Sprain and there's a chance that was the last down Hanson will play for the Huskies. The result dropped us to a 3-6 record, with the computer ranking us the 88th best team in the land - twenty places down from our pre-season ranking. We have no conference games left, so I have to hope that two conference wins will be enough for the board. I have a feeling I'm going to be relying on a very good performance against rivals Buffalo in the final game to keep my head above water. NotesLinebacker Thomas Anderson did not lead the defence for roughly the first time this year, as George "Great" Scott notched ten tackles, a sack, a hurry and two stuffs. Reserve Offensive Tackle Jerry Parrish had another super day, with a sack allowed, a missed block, a false start and two holds
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 12, 2012 1:48:24 GMT
West Virginia - 24 UConn - 16 West Virginia 7 7 3 7 24 UConn 0 6 0 10 16
Why does their logo look much bigger than ours? How are we supposed to compete with a team whose logo is much bigger than ours? Without Robert Hanson we just are not going to put out much offence, even with Michael Daniels back from academic suspension. Our only touchdown comes with eight minutes left in the game when backup backup receiver Reggie "R" Kelly caught a three yard pass from Denny Harris. This is a debacle. NotesGlen Middleton continued his unbroken streak of games with at least one fuck up. So that's nice. If we were a horse they'd shoot us. Do they shoot Huskies?
|
|
|
Post by Moo on Sept 12, 2012 7:25:09 GMT
I think they feed them to other huskies, Stu.
To be fair, you expected a bit of a struggle though. KUTGW!
|
|
|
Post by elth on Sept 12, 2012 11:16:31 GMT
Those interceptions gave Florida worse field position than our punting did. Arm punts :humb:
|
|
|
Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Sept 12, 2012 12:20:00 GMT
So we've lost three in a row and six of seven and my job security may rest on a good performance against Buffalo. But at least there's recruiting to keep my spirits up, right?
Not in this game.
Recruiting in BBCF is handled very differently to in TCY where it's something you do every week while playing out your season. In BBCF there's a discrete period at the end of the season in which you turn into Harry Redknapp, trying to sign as many players as you can in just a few weeks.
Not only that, but I recall from my last effort in this game that recruiting is much more realistic - there'll be no TCY-style poaching of the top prospects in the country, unless he's from Connecticut and only wants to go to school in the state. In which case we win by being the only game in town.
Outside of that you will occasionally get a recruit contact you during the season, asking to come see your school. At which point the potential player's interest in your school is multiplied either positively or negatively by your result in the game they come to watch.
So you can imagine how that's gone for me this year.
Right now, the recruit with the highest interest, (rated from red = none, orange, yellow, green, blue), is the "blue" Wide Receiver W. Wallace... Yes, "W" - my scouting doesn't even allow me to see their first names at this point.
Wallace is the 664th rated recruit in the country and something like 45th among Wideouts. He's caught 40 passes for 722 yards and 7 touchdowns for his High School team and is listed with an "(A)", which means he's athletic enough to play other positions, as you can see from his 5 interceptions.
When you drop from "blue" to "green" interest recruits you find the highest-ranked recruit with any genuine interest in my school - Receiver "E. Porter."
Porter is ranked 575th in the country and plays in New Jersey which is a slightly higher level than Wallace, but has similar numbers, with 713 yards on 49 catches with 7 touchdowns.
Third most interested is the giant Guard C. Morales, (six foot eight and three hundred and ten pounds at 17 years old...), who plays in New York.
The highest ranked Quarterback with any interest in Connecticut is 906th in the country and is the only Quarterback of note coming out of Connecticut this year. Clearly I need to throw my money less at scouting and more at player development, so I can try to make a silk purse out of these sow's ears.
|
|
|
Post by elth on Sept 12, 2012 13:20:14 GMT
Well it wouldn't be fun if good players wanted to play for you.
|
|