Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Contrary to the scoreboard, it was actually a hard fought victory. We couldn't contain the run well at all. But we did force two 4th downs which resulted in field goals on Howard's first two drives. That gave us the advantage of eventually going up 28-21 at halftime with the ball to start the 3rd quarter. Scoring on that next drive put us up by 14, and it was just what we needed to finally stop Howard's offense. Their 63 rated offense did rush for more than 100 yards on us, though.
Armani Rogers did well in his college debut as a starter, passing for 280 yards, 2 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and running for 87 yards. Wide receiver Devonte Boyd caught both of those touchdown passes. But the player of the game was running back Lexington Thomas, who scored a school record 5 touchdowns. (Yes, stats are going to favor running backs since they won't get tired, but I'd rather deal with inflated stats and Heisman rankings every year so I can have this level of competition.)
It's good to get this first win of "my head coaching career" under my belt so soon, but I know it was just an FCS school. I'll need to figure out how to stop the run a lot better if I want to win enough games to salvage my job. And next week, we play Ohio State in the Horseshoe. They will most likely put on a running clinic for our defense. I guess the only thing to do is score as much as possible and not get embarrassed too badly.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
UNLV Rebels
This is how I'm going to blog this dynasty going forward. Kind of like a first-person point of view of how I want to run this program with mental notes and what not. I think this will keep me personally more interested in writing about my dynasty and less a chore of copying down stats. I like that it's a different approach. I'm simply not in the same league as the awesome dynasty reporters in the forums, so why not do something new, right? Ok, here we go.
Having the advantage of already playing with this roster and seeing how things shake out, I'll admit that I will manage this team with a bit of 20/20 hindsight. I'm going to redshirt certain players that I know will help me down the line, and also because depth will be more about injury than fatigue. I'll need to use what I've learned about this team to set things up for the long haul. You might notice that this is kind of like cheating, but if you've ever played a dynasty with Fatigue OFF, you'll know that you need every advantage you can get. So call me Bill Belichick for all I care, lol.
Offense
Redshirt freshman quarterback Armani Rogers will still lead this squad, as he possesses 80 SPD, 89 THP, and 80 THA. He's built like someone who can make the NFL draft if he progresses well in a couple years (hint hint), so I'm going to need to find his replacement in this year's recruiting.
Junior halfback Lexington Thomas will carry the load unless he gets injured (the no Fatigue setting will give him so many more reps). So I've decided to redshirt the backup halfback, sophomore Charles Williams, as he looks poised to take over when Thomas graduates.
I run a lot of Trio passing sets, so I'm relying on three good receivers. Senior Devonte Boyd is a good #1 so I have no complaints there. He will be joined by sophomores Brandon Presley and Mekhi Stevenson. There is a decent reserve of backup receivers, notably sophomore Darren Woods Jr., but I will eventually need to recruit better talent at wideout going forward.
The offensive line is not the most impressive, but I have a strength at the center position. Junior Zack Singer is the bright spot this year, and Sid Acosta will take his place upon graduation. Like I said, the rest of the line is suspect at best, so I'm going to need to recruit heavy at guard and tackle.
Defense
I'm running a 4-2-5 this year. I've tried both the 4-2-5 and 3-3-5, and while I like the diversity in coverage of the 3-3-5, I'm personally not as good at getting pressure with my linebackers as some people are. So I'm looking to build a dominant four man front. I want strong run stoppers at the DT positions, and pure pass rushers at the ends. I want the best hybrid SS/LBs I can find to man the SS positions, and I want pure coverage corners. I want a good run stuffer at MLB and a coverage or balanced guy at OLB. And I want a coverage safety.
Starting with the defensive line, I've inherited a lot of pass rushers. At this time I can only play my best men, so I will try to get the best talent without giving up too much of my philosophy. Seniors Mike Hughes Jr. and Jason Fao are the best all-around DTs so they will start. I will be recruiting aggressively at DT right off the bat. At the ends, I'm going with Antonio Zepeda and Nick Dehdashtian. I will also be recruiting pass rushers at this spot fairly early.
Senior and defensive captain Brian Keyes will start at MLB, and Gabe McCoy will be right next to him in this 4-2-5 at OLB. At the SS positions, I will have junior Dalton Baker and senior Robert Jackson. Jackson normally plays cornerback, but he's the best qualified to step up into this "spur" position with his tackling and block shedding ability than the others on this team. I will be recruiting heavily for this position immediately as well.
Darius Mouton will be the one to watch at cornerback this season. The rest of the defensive backs will be fighting for starting spots.
Special Teams
Freshman Daniel Gutierrez is our kicker, but he's inexperienced. So junior Evan Pantels will be handling both punting and kicking duties. As of now, Ty'Jason Roberts will be the kick and punt returner. As far as kick coverage, our lack of depth shows most here. I'm expecting some big kickoff returns by opponents.
Overall
I'm just hoping to get close to .500 this season. I think we will be fine on offense, but we will no doubt get gashed by the run until we get some real run stoppers on this team. The important thing for this season is that we will build the foundation for this program to have future success in winning the Mountain West.
Monday, September 18, 2017
1) I tried doing the Fatigue OFF in main menu/Fatigue ON in dynasty mode trick for a couple of games; that didn't work. I blew out superior opponents and the CPU still fell off completely in the second half. So fatigue fully OFF in dynasty it is from here on out.
2) To combat an overly powerful CPU run game, I lowered CPU Run Blocking to 40 for one game, and then 45 for a few games. Neither of which could beat my defense, so I had to go back to pure default for the rest of the season.
My results: I went 11-2, the two losses were against better or equally rated teams when I had default sliders and Fatigue OFF. When I used any variation other than those settings, I either won decisively or just plain blew out my opponents. The other games that I played with default sliders and Fatigue OFF were close wins. I didn't make it to the MWC championship, but I did win the Poinsettia Bowl against a 7-5 SMU team. I even started another season and had lost three games before I knew my research was complete.
So I decided that since this was finally going to be the challenge I wanted, I should start over and build this program from the ground up, yet again. Honestly, it made no sense to come into UNLV and win a MWC championship the first year, compete for the title the second year, and seemingly drop off the third year with an increasingly higher rated team. The good news for me is, I don't need house rules. I always hated holding back just to make it a challenge. I'm also going to be more aggressive in recruiting and retaining potential transfers. I can actually see what I can do in all aspects with this level of difficulty.
I probably won't report on games the way I was doing anymore. I'll probably just give updates here and there on how it's going, and maybe jot down some recruiting notes so I can keep track of how this team has progressed. But that's what it's all about, doing what makes this game the most fun for us.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
So I went back to the drawing board known as the sliders forum, searching for a ratings based experience. I would like to build my team up to a powerhouse and THEN we can talk Championship. I came across an interesting title: Not Another NCAA 14 Slider Thread by jbrew. And I'm thankful that I opened it because he pointed out that fatigue played a much bigger factor in competition than it should. The proof was in the experimentation for everyone that tried, so I gave it a try, continuing to use the OS community sliders but with fatigue turned OFF.
Now, the first two games I tried this are actually the MWC championship game and then the subsequent Las Vegas Bowl using my beloved UNLV Rebels. So I'm not going to post the reports for those games in my regular format. Quite frankly, I needed to see some competition here or else I was going to quit reporting altogether.
I beat New Mexico 35-17. The competition seemed a little better, but I was still stopping the Lobos' running attack for the most part. I did see that they weren't letting up in the second half like they normally do, but my team was just hitting on all cylinders. Our teams are rated similarly, so I've got no problems with that.
The second game, however, was a different story. Here's where it really started to show. My bowl game was against Oregon, long since removed from the high flying Chip Kelly/Mark Helfrich glory days, but still rated more than 10 points over UNLV. And they ran all over me. True to jbrew's word, they never let up and seemed to run even stronger in the second half. I was blown out 34-3, and it would've been worse if I didn't milk the last 4 minutes off the clock on my last possession to just get it over with. Seriously, this was the first game that I can even remember where I just gave up so that they wouldn't score more. That's all the proof I needed.
So now that losses could become a regular thing, perhaps dynasty reporting could become interesting again. So I will continue the reports for now. I will, however set my penalties and A.I. sliders back to default at least to start the next season to bring some balance back.
So there you have it. The Rebels finish the first season of the O'Bannion era 12-2 with a much more "challenging schedule" to look forward to next season, lol. Now that UNLV won't be "sneaking up" on anyone next year, we will see how O'Bannion handles the adversity.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Las Vegas, NV -- Keeping the momentum rolling, UNLV stunned a better San Diego State Aztecs team. In a game sure to see some great offense, the Aztecs were stopped from displaying their balanced but effective attack. Both teams could only muster a field goal on their opening drives. And then the rest of the first half went silent until the Rebels scored another field goal in the final seconds before halftime.
Keeping the clamps on the defense, UNLV stopped San Diego State's drive in the third quarter and answered with the first touchdown of the game. It was a pass from quarterback Armani Rogers to Darren Woods Jr. This proved to break the game open as the Rebels found the end zone again, this time on a touchdown run from Charles Williams. The Aztecs finally found the end zone, but it was too late. UNLV ran out the clock and are heading to the Mountain West Conference Championship. They will have a rematch with New Mexico, whom they beat early in the season.
Colorado Springs, CO -- The Rebels continue their quest for a conference championship as they got past Air Force. But it was close, and Rebels quarterback Armani Rogers almost dug a hole they couldn't get out of early, as he threw an 85 yard pick six on the opening drive. Rogers bounced back, though, scoring on the next drive with a touchdown pass to Kendall Keys. The game stayed close, as the score at halftime was 14-10.
In the third quarter, Air Force scored to go ahead. But UNLV would have the upper hand and score in the fourth, putting the game away.
It's going to be interesting to see if this team can win like this against a much better San Diego State team.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
It's obvious that UNLV has won eight straight games and they've only lost once which was to a Power 5 opponent. They have proven that they can win the close ones, so it could be said that they're battle tested. But the last three games have been won by a touchdown or less against three mediocre programs. What's more, they haven't faced any really good opponents this year. San Diego State, in my opinion, will be the first real challenge.
The thing that concerns me most is the productive absence of wideout Devonte Boyd. He is without a doubt the most talented player on this team and his numbers don't show it. Does head coach Sean O'Bannion know how to utilize this talent in the best way possible? I know it's nitpicking considering the record, but I just hope we don't see this team come up short due to not maximizing this team to its full potential.
I predict the Rebels will squeak by Air Force, but lose to San Diego State and miss the conference championship game. Still, there is a lot to build on in the future.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Las Vegas, NV -- It wasn't pretty, but it was a win for the Rebels as they defeated Utah State mostly without quarterback Armani Rogers. He went out in the first quarter after he conducted an opening drive that gave them a touchdown. From there, Kurt Palandech took over and handled his own.
Both teams were very stubborn in defense, especially in the second half. In fact, no points were scored in the second or third quarters. The game was tied with less than two minutes left in the first half, but UNLV pulled through with a drive which found Mekhi Stevenson making big plays. Charles Williams ran the ball in with 16 seconds left before halftime. From there, it was a defensive struggle. But luckily, the Rebels had scored last and it sealed the victory.
Las Vegas, NV -- It was a defensive struggle, but UNLV did what it took to leave Sam Boyd Stadium with a win Saturday night and improve their record to 8-1. Down 10-7 at the half, the Rebels shut down any more threats from San Jose State. Rebels halfback Lexington Thomas left the game with a broken sternum and will miss up to 9 weeks. But Charles Williams, like he has done all season, filled in well and helped defeat the Spartans. He had 93 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Wide receiver Mekhi Stevenson seems to be coming on strong as of late. He caught the game winning touchdown from quarterback Armani Rogers.
"He's finding ways to get open all over the field", said Rebels head coach Sean O'Bannion. "And he's making some catches in traffic that have been amazing."
The story of the game, though, was defensive tackle Mike Hughes Jr.'s performance. He had 9 tackles and 3 sacks. This put UNLV in position to win more than anything else. For a head coach who was known for his offensive prowess before coming to UNLV, O'Bannion has really surprised us with this team's defensive play.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Reno, NV -- The Rebels needed to dig out of a 10-0 hole early, but they accomplished that on the way to a victory over their rival Nevada. UNLV quarterback Armani Rogers threw for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns. A 4th quarter interception made this game closer as Nevada brought the game within 3. However, the running of Lexington Thomas made sure Nevada wouldn't get the ball back.
UNLV is now 7-1 and bowl eligible. Head coach Sean O'Bannion has definitely upgraded this program. Hopefully his recruiting is on par with the current product on the field. That would make this football team a relevant point of conversation in Las Vegas for once.
Fresno, CA -- The Bulldogs' offense put up zero points on UNLV's new and effective 3-3-5 defense Saturday night. The only points Fresno State could muster were from a kickoff return in the first quarter.
"We still have a lot to improve on special teams", said Rebels head coach Sean O'Bannion. "We need to be better on kickoff coverage. But our other phases are getting better and that's huge."
UNLV did pretty much all of their damage on the ground, led by quarterback Armani Rogers who had 75 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. It was all they needed as the Bulldogs had no answer for their defense.
Friday, August 11, 2017
| Mountain West (Mountain) Conference Standings - Updated: Oct 15, 2017 | ||||||
| TEAM | REC | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STRK |
| Boise State | 4-2 | .660 | 3-0 | 188 | 141 | |
| Colorado State | 1-4 | .200 | 1-0 | 86 | 138 | |
| Air Force | 4-3 | .570 | 3-2 | 196 | 208 | |
| New Mexico | 3-3 | .500 | 1-1 | 146 | 127 | |
| Utah State | 4-3 | .570 | 1-2 | 199 | 165 | |
| Wyoming | 2-4 | .330 | 0-2 | 165 | 207 | |
| Mountain West (West) Conference Standings - Updated: Oct 15, 2017 | ||||||
| TEAM | REC | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STRK |
| San Diego State | 5-1 | .830 | 2-0 | 192 | 84 | |
| UNLV | 5-1 | .830 | 2-0 | 176 | 121 | |
| Nevada | 3-2 | .600 | 1-2 | 111 | 129 | |
| San Jose State | 3-4 | .420 | 1-2 | 175 | 230 | |
| Hawaii | 1-5 | .160 | 1-3 | 105 | 179 | |
| Fresno State | 1-4 | .200 | 0-2 | 85 | 124 | |
| UNLV Rebels Recruiting - 2017 | ||||||
| NAME | POS | CLASS | HOMETOWN | HT | WT | CALIBER |
| Terrance Foster | DE | HS | Santa Maria, CA | 6'4" | 252 |  |
| Frank Smith | DT | HS | Citrus Heights, CA | 6'1" | 283 | |
| Shaun Fox | DT | HS | Sierra Vista, AZ | 6'3" | 289 | |
| Renaldo Nicholson | FS | HS | Pico Rivera, CA | 5'11" | 186 | |
| Clarence Fowlkes | SS | HS | Rockwall, TX | 6'0" | 182 | |
| Earl Williams | FB | HS | Camarillo, CA | 5'10" | 237 |  |
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Las Vegas, NV -- The Rebel defense came up big and Hawaii had no answer for it. Meanwhile, Charles Williams had 3 rushing touchdowns for 122 yards and 1 receiving touchdown in a run-heavy attack. But that's not as surprising as the defensive performance.
"We're really finding our groove on the defensive side of the ball", said Rebels head coach Sean O'Bannion. "It won't always go this well, but we have something to work with for sure."
If these defensive performances continue, O'Bannion will look like he was right about the switch all along.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Albuquerque, NM -- Whatever hiccups the UNLV Rebels had the previous week against Western Illinois were worked out in New Mexico. It didn't start out great for UNLV, though, as they went down 14-0 early thanks to the running of Lobos quarterback Lamar Jordan II. Shaking off the jitters, Rebels quarterback Armani Rogers got into a rhythm and found wide receiver Devonte Boyd in the end zone with a 19 yard pass. Before halftime, the UNLV scored two more touchdowns and New Mexico could only muster a field goal.
Up now 21-17, UNLV gave up another field goal to get the game within one point. But the Rebels would answer with another touchdown. With every Lobo possession that resulted in points, UNLV always responded with a touchdown until they eventually pulled away to have a comfortable lead. New Mexico couldn't stop the running of Lexington Thomas, Charles Williams, and Rogers, and they would fall to the Rebels in the end.
"We're seeing a lot of things start to come together", said Rebels head coach Sean O'Bannion. "There is a lot to look forward to this season."
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