Season almanac

Wilkinson141

Season Almanac

In Wilkinson, a program can arise that seems on its way to becoming an unstoppable dynasty, winning back to back NCs, stringing together an impressive streak of victories, only to fade back into the pack just at the moment all the doubters finally get on the bandwagon. It’s for that reason that predicting a National Championship is often as clear as peering into a bowling ball. Preseason favorites included the big 4 top rated Guess teams Penn State, Alabama, Oklahoma, and USC. And the fact Oklahoma faced both Alabama and Penn State in OOC meant that at least one, maybe two of those teams would take a hit before conference play. The next tier included schools with outside shots such as Troy State, the other elites, maybe a Big East school, though they never make it through conference play without getting banged up (ahem).

The stories of 141. The Big Orange Turnaround. At the end of season 140, the most recent dynasty apparent was the Nebraska Cornhuskers, under coach Jasonfreeman. The Huskers racked up back to back undefeated seasons in 138 and 139, capped with a NC in 139. The Huskers dropped back slightly in 140, with a #13 (12-2) finish, but were still considered among favorites to win it all in 141. That is, until coach JF unexpectedly left to take over the recently vacant Tennessee Volunteers, a program with only one top 25 finish in the last six seasons. Leaving the Cornhuskers to their own fate, coach JF engineered a seemingly immediate turnaround for the Vols, winning the first 12 games of the season, falling only to a surging Florida Gators 27-41 in their final regular season contest. The loss meant the Volunteers lost their shot at their first SEC title since s124, and also saw the Volunteers drop out of any National Championship game talk. The Vols went on to accept a bid to the Outback Bowl, where they faced C-USA champion Houston, and held off an end game comeback attempt from the Cougars to take the game 32-29. All said, going from unranked in 140 to being a dark horse NC contender in 141 is a remarkable turnaround, and UT fans are decidedly obnoxious about their favorite team once again. The Vols finished 13-1 and ranked #12.

As The Carousel Turns While the brass-ring story of the offseason was the Huskers-Volunteers coaching change, several other interesting coaching changes marked a decidedly more active offseason. The spurned Nebraska Cornhuskers replaced coach JF by hiring away lsusaint from mid-major Memphis. Over the last six seasons with the Tigers, coach LSU had an .844 winning percentage, including an undefeated 139 with a #4 finish and a Rose Bowl win. With coach JF, the architect of the programs resurgence, out of the picture, Husker fans were uncertain about how coach LSU would handle the jump to the Big12. The critics got their chance to get loud early, when the Huskers dropped their opening Big12 game 22-27 to Texas A&M, and began to trumpet prognostications of doom. The reports of the program’s demise were greatly exaggerated, however. Husker Nation began to relax and excitement returned and grew as coach LSU guided the team to wins over Oklahoma, Colorado and Missouri, taking the program back to the conference championship game, bringing home the Big12 CC with a 37-33 victory over Texas. Nebraska would go on to face Pac10 champion USC in the Orange bowl, getting outpaced by the Trojans 28-52, but the Big12 trophy lost none of it’s shine for Husker fans. The Huskers finish 13-2 and ranked #5 — somehow still ahead of USC at #6. Further east, C-USA defending champions Memphis in turn scooped up former Big12 coach Hypnotoad, recently fired from Missouri. The upriver Tigers faced a lot of criticism from pundits for the move, and the mid-river Tigers (LSU being the downriver version) came out with what they felt was a coup in the wake of the departure of coach lsusaint. Though the Memphis Tigers would drop their season opener to Penn State 33-63, the Tigers then ripped off twelve straight wins, dominated their C-USA competition, and coasted right back to the conference championship game, continuing the ongoing Houston-Memphis battle for C-USA dominance. Though the Tigers lost 24-29, the game was close all the way until the last play. Memphis then faced West Virginia (9-5) in the Silicon Valley Bowl, going up on the Mountaineers 35-13 in the 3rd Q before falling to a furious WVU comeback (fueled in part by a fumble on the Memphis 8). Though the 35-45 loss tempered fan exuberance, for the most part Memphis boosters ended the season with a 12-3 season to look back on, with plenty of fertilizer for sprouting grandiose predictions for 142. Meanwhile, boosters of the upriver Tigers of Missouri, having efficated the ouster of coach Hypnotoad, grew a little more nervous as the coaching search began, and pressure built the administration to justify the coaching gamble. The Tigers ultimately agreed to terms with coach Deenhorvie, who had likewise been forced out of Tennessee after twenty-one seasons. There were mixed feelings in Missouri, as they replaced a coach who was fired for only having one top25 finish in the last six seasons with a coach who had just been fired by another program for only having one top25 finish in the last six seasons. With pressure on from the get-go, coach DH could only settle down and get to work. OOC play saw fans still uneasy after two losses in the first five, 17-45 to Rutgers and 28-49 to DePaul (more on these teams later). However, in his first Big12 challenge, coach DH won the fans over completely with a huge win over #1 Oklahoma, who seemed on their way to a NC after wins over Penn State, Alabama and Notre Dame. While the game was in play all the way until deep into the 4th, a final score of Missouri 41, Oklahoma 24 marked the beginning of the deenhorvie era for Missouri fans. The Tigers proceeded to roll off seven straight Big12 wins before losing a three OT thriller 31-37 to eventual Big12 champions Nebraska, and would best MAC champion Ohio for the 2nd time of the season, winning the Gator Bowl 46-20 — ending the season 11-3 and ranked #13. Out on the west coast, hitman1979 stepped down from coaching Stanford after 23 seasons. The winningest coach in Cardinal history, with 231 wins, a .715 winning %, coach hitman had recently been under pressure for underperforming, but stepped down on his own terms after one last season where he finished 11-3, finished #21, and mollified his critics. The Cardinal was hard pressed to find a replacement, many coaches being dismayed by the recruiting challenges of the west coast. In the end, the administration was able to convince journeyman coach vikesrule69 to leave DIAA Texas Southern, where he’d won four DIAA NCs in 8 seasons. Despite coming off his worst season at TSU in 140 (an 8-6 finish), the administration felt confident they had the right coach for the job, and coach VR proved their confidences right. In his first Cardinal game, coach VR led Stanford to a victory over Notre Dame, with 24 unanswered 4thQ points for a dominant 52-27 win. (Sidenote: While Notre Dame, who had finished #7 in 140, would go on to finish 4-9, many pundits were convinced this opening game loss was at least in part responsible for coach cfbfan18 checking out (allegedly) and leaving his team to fend for itself for most of the season.) The Cardinal would head 8-0 into their game with USC, a game which Stanford stayed in until late into the 4thQ before eventually losing 38-47. This would be their only regular season loss, and Stanford would finish the season 12-2 and just outside the top25 after a hard fought 21-26 loss to 12-2 Maryland. Other New Hires Former Cincinnati and Syracuse head coach graham1958 took over Sun Belt Conference team Montana, after spending several seasons in DIAA. The Grizzlies had spent the last 3 seasons in SimAI land, going 7-32 over that span. In Coach G’s first season, the Grizzes improved to 6-7, scoring a big 27-17 win over slider4480’s North Texas Mean Green. In the WAC, journeyman coach jeff18 came back from DIAA, taking over a Sim Boise State team coming off back to back 1-12 seasons. Coach J upped the win total to 3-10, but still has a lot of work ahead of him to reshape the Broncos. HOW THE FAVORITES FARED Oklahoma! The Sooners came out of the gate swinging a big stick, knocking off Penn State 34-31, Alabama 33-23, and Notre Dame 48-10. Undefeated going into conference play, and having beaten at least two other teams with serious National Championship hopes, many media pundits were ready to go ahead and put the trophy in coach blitziscomin’s hands, whether he was ready to take it or not. Unfortunately for the Sooners they dropped their next two human games in Big12 play to conference newcomers deenhorvie of Missouri and lsusaint of Nebraska. While the Sooners were never steamrolled, fans and coach alike were disappointed, and a 10-3 regular season with a Humanitarian Bowl must have been a bitter pill after a dominant start. The Sooners would take the game 38-10 over Hawaii, finishing 11-3 and ranked #14— and anxious to move to 142. Alabama. Coach swags (sorry, awags, auto-correct has spoken) had taken the Crimson Tide to eight straight L5 bowls coming into 141. In that span, the Tide racked up seven SEC championships, two NCs and was never out of the top 8 in final season polls. Last season’s starting QB was back to lead the offense, a junior Heisman trophy hopeful, and the pass-heavy Tide looked well poised for another title run. Having set a challenging OOC, the Tide came out 4-1, routing West Virginia 76-17, and cruising past both Michigan (58-34) and Florida State (69-25). Their only loss was a close fought game to Oklahoma, and despite the loss, were still in the NC picture thanks to their SoS. They were finally knocked out of the NC picture with a close week nine loss to LSU, which saw the Tide give up thirteen unanswered 4thQ points, and have a last minute drive stall on the 7 yard line to lose 24-30. They rolled through the rest of the regular season to finish 11-2, with only a two or three big plays being the difference to keep them out of a NC shot. Despite a top10 ranking, the Tide received an L4 bid, with the consolation of getting to play against Coach Cjsweat’s 11-2 Colorado Buffaloes. The Tide finally got a comfortable lead on the Buffaloes in the 4thQ, going away with a 40-17 win, finishing the season 12-2 and ranked #8. Penn State. Coach nortonis’s s140 national champs were among the early favorites to repeat. Having 4 NC trophies in 7 seasons, the Nittany Lions have been among DIA’s best programs since coach N took over. Opening with wins over Memphis (69-33) and LSU (39-23), the Nittany Lions braced for game 3 showdown which had been billed by some as a regular season NC game. Penn State dropped the tough fought game 31-34. While the game was a blemish on their NC aspirations, a big 52-17 win over defending Big10 champs Wisconsin put the wind back in fans sails. It was a short lived celebration, however, as the Lions dropped their next game at Michigan 28-49, with the Wolverines going on a streak of 28 unanswered points from the 2nd to 4th quarters. The Lions then lost their next one at Minnesota in double overtime, after fighting back from a 21 point deficit in the 4thQ to force overtime. At 1-2 in Big10 play, it looked as if the Lions were out of realistic contention for the Big10 South division as well. However, after defeating Ohio State 52-31, and then having Notre Dame upset the Buckeyes 54-44, the Lions entered the last regular season game against Notre Dame with a shot at the South berth, and the reenergized Lions proceeded to rout the Fighting Irish 42-16, gaining a rematch in the CC game with Michigan. This time it was the Lions who ripped off the unanswered points, with 24 straight in the second half to build a 21 point lead with under three minutes to go. Final score Penn State 45, Michigan 31, and the Big10 CC trophy was back at University Park after a five season drought. The Lions got an Orange Bowl bid against SEC Florida, where they led the Gators from the first score, held off an early 4th Q comeback attempt from the Gators, then turned on the afterburners for 31 unanswered points to seal a huge 76-35 victory over the SEC runners-up and finish the season 12-3 and #11.

THE CONFERENCE CHAMPS Some of them, anyhow. LSU came into the season relatively overlooked in NC talk, and projected to finish 2nd in the SEC west behind Bamalama. OOC play didn’t raise the program’s profile, either, going 3-2 with a 23-39 loss to Penn State, and a 26-31 loss to Temple. Their only win against a human team in OOC play being a 59-19 rout of mid-major Houston, and critics were able to settle in their armchairs, reasonably confident their prognostications were wise and true. In conference play, however, the coach mpmershon’s Tigers began to pick up win after win. The run began with a 31-10 over South Carolina, then in week 8 squeaked by Vanderbilt, needing a 49yd FG with seven seconds remaining to overcome the perennial underdog. After struggling against Vandy, few expected the Tigers to turn around defeat conference favorite Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Down 17-24 at the beginning of the 4th, the Tigers ground out 13 unanswered points, taking the lead with nine minutes to go, and fending off a game ending drive which saw the Tide drive down to the seven yard line with 40 seconds to go. Four incompletions later, LSU took over possession for a final kneel down and a 30-24 victory. The Tigers continued their comeback ways against Arkansas, down 0-21 to the Hogs in the second quarter, clawing back to take the lead late in the 3rd and put a strangle hold on it for a 38-28 win. After finishing out the SEC schedule undefeated, LSU headed into the CC game an underdog to potter444’s Florida Gators, who were 12-1, ranked #2, and had an NC game berth in their eyes. The Tigers shocked Vegas by expanding on a 10-3 halftime lead with a dominant second half, running up 34 unanswered points, and taking home a 41-10 SEC CC game win. In their Sugar Bowl berth against ACC champion Florida State, the Tigers would cap off the season with a thrilling last-second TD following an FSU fumble to take the game, 34-31, and finish the season 13-2 and ranked #4. Troy State. In 5 seasons under coach Mcbethbr, the Trojans have transformed from Sun Belt doormat to National Champion contenders. The 140 Fiesta Bowl featured an undefeated Troy State taking on an undefeated ACC Champ Maryland. Both programs 14-0 and passed over by the NC committee, the game was billed by supporters as the “Real NC Game”, which Troy State went on to win, finishing 15-0 with a #2 ranking, behind a one loss Penn State. Trojan fans screamed bias, critics pointed at a weak OOC and regular season schedule, Trojan fans pointed at a victory over a previously undefeated power5 conference champ. Entering 141, most Troy State fans considered the team the real national champs. Supporters were impressed and enamored by the program’s rocketing turnaround, and detractors pointing at a weak once again weak non-conference schedule, with not one human power5 team on the schedule. For some, this meant NC exclusion was a foregone conclusion. For Troy State, it meant if the power5 favorites beat each other up enough, there might be an opening to the NC game. Troy State coach mcbethbr has declared he’d stay in Troy until the REAL real NC trophy was his. The Trojans ripped through their OOC, and didn’t encounter real resistance until game seven against Sun Belt rival Navy, who also went into the game 6-0. The Trojans outlasted the Midshipmen 55-48, and Troy State proceeded to rip through the Sun Belt until reaching the CC and a rematch with Navy. This time, things would be exactly the same, with Troy State winning 55-48. The Trojans landed their second L5 bowl in a row with an undefeated regular season, still on the outside of the NC picture. Last season the Sun Belt champs took on and defeated ACC champ Maryland. This season, they landed a Rose Bowl bid against Big10 runner-up Michigan. Criticized by many for playing a weak schedule and being unproven, the Trojans hung close at the half, down only 13-17. QB Alan Tatum would go on a tear in the 2nd half, completing 17 of 22 attempts for 201 yds and 3 TDs. The Trojans would take a 27-17 lead into the 4th. Michigan closed to 27-24 with just under four minutes remaining, and get the ball back with a chance to win with 2:31 to play, but the Trojan defense held, giving the offense an easy 16 yard drive to take a 34-24 lead that would hold. With a win like that over an elite team, one has to wonder what would have happened if the Trojans had been a little more daring in their OOC scheduling. As it is, back to back 15-0 seasons with #2 finishes (and a 31 game winning streak) is nothing to shake a stick at for an elite, much less a mid-major. The schedule looks a little bit tougher next season. Maybe not enough to satisfy soft-schedule critics, but maybe enough to finally get them in the title game if they can repeat the last two seasons. Florida State. 9-5 and ranked #16 going into bowls, the ACC champ took on perhaps the toughest OOC schedule, with three elites, and two Big10 powers. The Seminoles came out 1-4, bruised but battle tested. The Noles went 8-1 in their remaining ACC contests, their only loss a 37-48 game to Boston College. They defeated Miami for the second time in the season in the CC, and earned a Sugar Bowl bid against SEC champ LSU. A Seminole fumble at FSU 30 with just 42 seconds to play would set up LSU with the game winning TD with one second to play, giving the Tigers the Sugar Bowl victory. While finishing 9-6 and #17 may not knock your socks off, give credit to coach badaxe and the Noles for both playing likely the toughest schedule in Wilk, and for not throwing in the towel when things were at the worst. ALSO OF NOTE Florida. Though they lost big in the SEC championship, this team was only a game away from making the NC game. Amazing how one game can turn a team from NC contender to footnote. Coach potter444 and the Gators played a challenging OOC schedule and came out 4-1, then rolled through the SEC until LSU. The Gators tested their mettle against Big10 champ Penn State in the Orange Bowl, and stayed close until the 4th Q, when a UF fumble and big plays from Penn State would contribute to a snowballing 76-35 victory for the Nittany Lions. The Gator QBs were also stymied by the Lions D, completing only 28.9% of 45 pass attempts. After LSU kept the Gators to 36.5% of 52 attempts in the previous game, Florida should be heading into the off-season with a clear focus on the drawing board. The Gators would finish the season 12-3 and ranked #7. Michigan. Another Power5 almost-ran, and a similar story to Florida’s: Knocking on the door of the NC game, only to get knocked off the porch. Fans were exuberant about the regular season 49-28 win over the coach that abandoned them (Penn State’s nortonis), but when it came to doing it twice in one season in the CC game, the Wolverines fell short 31-45. A consolation prize of a third straight L5 bowl for coach lyonzfan37 and the Wolverines isn’t too bad, but it likely doesn’t take away the what-ifs. Their Rose Bowl game against Troy State has the added story of Michigan bearing the burden of having to prove the only undefeated D1 school in Wilk didn’t deserve a shot at the trophy. Despite a game that went down to the last minute(s), the Wolverines came up just short, 23-34, their QBs held to their lowest completion percentage of the season at 43.1% (of 51 pass attempts). The Wolverines would finish the season 12-3 and ranked #10, making it their third straight season in the top10. Temple. As QB William Howard, so goes Temple. The Heisman candidate threw for 5000 yards, and the only games the Owls lost were his worst two, a merely average showing in a 25-34 loss to Marquette, and a humbling game where Howard only completed 39.7% of passes in a 19-52 loss to Rutgers. Nonetheless, a great season for Howard, putting up great numbers in wins against the rest of the Big East, as well as vs SEC runner up Florida and SEC champ LSU. Coach huskerfan111’s Owls would accept an L4 bid to the Cotton Bowl, where they faced Pac-10 power Cal. QB Howard would play his last game in Temple Red, throwing for 370 yards and 2 TDs in a 47-21 bowl win, and the Owls would finish 12-2 with their first top10 finish in fifty seasons, finishing at #9. Colorado. In his seven seasons heading up the Buffalo herd, coach cjsweat has kept the program dangerous and competitive. Going into 141, with the coaching turnover at north schools Missouri and Nebraska, the Buffaloes were seen as serious contenders for the division. The flames were fanned as the season unfolded, with the Buffs rolling over a good Washington program, and then dominating a loaded Boston College program 37-12, getting revenge for the last season’s loss. Another dominant win over Texas Tech, the Buffaloes were 7-0 as Big12 heavyweight Texas rolled into town. The Buffaloes kept the game from getting away, controlled the clock, and down by six with 2:29 to play, would drive sixty-five yards in two minutes to take a 17-16 lead and the win. The Buffs would go on to finish 11-3, with hard fought losses to Nebraska and Missouri which didn’t get away from Colorado until the 4thQ. The Buffaloes would face SEC power Alabama in the Peach bowl. Colorado would be unable to break a stout Tide defense, losing 17-40 in a game where the Tide controlled the ball for nearly 38 of the game’s 60 minutes. Despite the loss, another good season for Colorado, finishing 11-3 and ranked #18. ON THE RISE Ohio University brought home it’s 3rd straight MAC championship, and 2nd under coach PhilFlumer98. Their only regular season loss was a 0-16 struggle against Big12 Missouri, where the punters on both teams got plenty of work. Only 4 human opponents factored into their 13-1 record going into bowls, with a loss to their only Power5 human opponent. The Bobcats drew a rematch with Mizzou in the Gator Bowl, looking to even the score. Regardless of the outcome, Ohio will finish the season ranked higher than the Buckeyes, a feather in the green hats. THE YEAR OF THE BEAST Probably the biggest story of the season is the way things finally came together for the Big East. Due to the quality and quantity of coaches in the conference, the BEast has long been considered a likely source of dominant schools and the likely recipient of more bowl money than any other conference. Just gobs and gobs of bowl money. The financial scheme, however, had yet to really pay out like many expected.

Until this season. Number of bowl teams per conference: Big East 10 ACC 8 SEC 8 Big12 7 Big10 6 Pac10 6 C-USA 4 MAC 4 SunBelt 4 WAC 4

For the record, the BigEast brought in $78k in bowl money per team. While it perhaps tempers things a bit that the conferences with the most geographic overlap are close behind at 8 each, the extra cash may give elites like Penn State, Tennessee and Boston College a reason to tread with care. And what’s more ALL BIG EAST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, ALL THE TIME Rutgers, coached by z32fanatic, and DePaul coached by dukelegend meet for a second time after #5 DePaul defeated #1 Rutgers 59-45. At the same time, #2 Florida lost the SEC championship game, #3 Michigan lost the Big10 championship game, and #4 Troy State, despite winning and going 15-0, only played other mid-major humans and didn’t have enough weight in their schedule to jump to #2. DePaul leapfrogged the above teams to finish the regular season in the 2 spot, right behind a still#1 Rutgers. Both teams followed the BigEast Formula For Financial Success Now program in OOC scheduling, putting together a middle weight OOC to increase the odds of wins before entering a brutal conference schedule. DePaul racked up big wins over UCLA, Central Michigan and Missouri and headed into BigEast play 5-0. DePaul regular season

at Arkansas St W 80-14 (Sim) at Lousiana Tech W 62-3 (Sim) vs UCLA W 59-10 at CMU W 53-7 at Missouri W 49-28 vs UConn W 44-27 vs Pitt W 63-7 at WVU L 28-57 at Louisville W 31-30 vs USF W 51-20 at Marquette W 27-24 vs Cincinnati W 70-35 at CSU W 58-10 (Sim) CC game at Rutgers W 59-45

The only loss of the regular season came against “anywhere, anytime” West Virginia and coach thegruntboy, which saw the Demon Deacons give up a 28-16 half-time lead when the Mountaineers offense caught fire for 41 second half points. After that loss, DePaul dropped back into a crowded pack chasing #1 Rutgers for NC game position. It was only on the tumultuous CC game day, with the top three teams losing (the top team losing thanks to DePaul) that the Demon Deacons suddenly came out on top of the shuffle. Rutgers regular season

at Miami (OH) W 90-0 (sim) vs Missouri W 45-17 vs North TX W 100-13 at UNLV W 59-6 vs Toledo W 90-3 (sim) at USF W 83-17 vs Louisville W 27-17 vs Marquette W 50-7 vs UConn W 52-37 at WVU W 62-27 vs Temple W 52-19 at Pitt W 71-3 at Syracuse W 33-17 CC game vs DePaul L 45-59

The Scarlet Knights bombed opponents into submission throughout the season, with their lowest passing yardage coming against UConn at 358 through the air, and capping against WVU for 678 yards. Rutgers QBs would combine for 8,112 yards passing, 89 TDs and 1 Int. THE BIG EAST TROPHY Despite still combining for 518 yards in the Big East title game, Rutgers found the game get away from them as the defense allowed DePaul 638 total yards, and the Demon Deacons used their run game to control the ball for 39:17, keeping the high powered Rutgers offense off the field. The BEast trophy would go into Deacon hands, but Rutgers would remain at the top of the NC game list for a re-match. ROUND 2… FIGHT! In the Game That Mattered More, the Scarlet Knight defense would step up for redemption, holding DePaul QB Jeffrey Harris to only 10 of 25 for 109 yards in the air, and the Demon Deacons to 185 first half yards. The Rutgers offense, meanwhile, found a way to turn up the heat, racking up 358 first half yards, all through the air. Rutgers would take a 24-14 lead into halftime, with a game going much more their way. In the 2nd half, DePaul QB Harris finally found his groove, completing 15 of 24 for 253 second half yards, including a huge 69 yarder to RB Eddie Ruiz with just over two minutes remaining, to keep the Demon Deacons in striking distance. Unfortunately for DePaul, though the defense was able to slow the Rutgers pass game a little, it wasn’t enough. DePaul fought back to bring the game to 27-31 early in the 4th, and again to 33-38 with 2:20 remaining but could not keep the Scarlet Knights from getting the first downs to run out the clock. The DePaul Demon Deacons and coach dukelegend would finish an incredible season 13-2 and ranked #3. Rutgers coach z32fanatic would go on to take the rematch 38-33, finish 14-1 and National Champions. Apologies on typos, or for leaving your team out, if I did. I spent way too much time on this as it is! Congrats on the season, and as always, good luck next season to all. -AC