[failed] Shooting Blanks at New Mexico State (TCY)

[bbgunn]

(This is a restart of a dynasty I attempted earlier using a character named Sam Saskatoon. This time, however, I will not use any special character. It will be just me and my dynasty. So here goes…)

I read in a recent article that New Mexico State University’s football team has not been to a bowl game in 40-plus years, the longest such streak in Division I FBS. Now that’s futility! So I thought, “Why not help them out?”

Thus begins my latest TCY dynasty.

I’m going to ease into this dynasty, presenting everything in a barebones format. Of course, depending on how long this lasts, everything is subject to change, and if there is some feature you would like included, please let me know.

Some notes on how I’m running this dynasty:
- I will use the run and shoot offense. The defense will likely be a 4-3, as we want to concentrate on stopping the run.
- I take care of recruiting, the offensive game plan, and hiring/firing assistants. My assistants take care of everything else.
- I’ll only recruit prospects with a test score over 1000.
- Initially, I’ll only recruit prospects within a 600-mile radius of Las Cruces, New Mexico, where NMSU is located. If we win at least 8 games in a season, I’ll increase it by 50 miles. If we win a conference championship, 100 miles. If we win the national championship, 250 miles.
- The Solecismic Eight will be in Alaska.
- Game setting will be on All-star (the most difficult level)

[bbgunn]

START
2004 SEASON

(I'll include posts like this indicating the start of a season, in order to make it easier to find when scrolling.)

[bbgunn]

A QUICK LOOK AT THE STAFF

Syndicate Coordinator
Sammy Merriday, 41
Terrific at soliciting donations, and pretty good at academic eligibility. Lousy at syndicate investigation, but we are going to run a clean program here. A keeper.

Offensive Coordinator
Jake Hicks, 32
Decent at injury avoidance, and fair at playcalling, but terrible at congeniality and rehabilitation. On the development side, good with QB, decent with OL, fair with RB, poor with K, and lousy with WR. In addition, he has five years experience with the T-formation. We may not get along here. Hicks is young, but if we have a bad season he may be the first to go.

Defensive Coordinator
Kirk McCormick, 44
Excellent at injury avoidance and rehabilitation. Decent at playcalling, but poor at congeniality. On the development side, decent at LB, but poor at DL and lousy at DB. Might have to keep an eye on him.

Due to our recruiting radius, the following may be our two most important scouts:
South West Scout
Howard DiCosmo, 67
Excellent at DB, pretty good at OL, good at RB and WR, decent at DL and LB, poor at K and terrible at QB. If not for the QB rating, DiCosmo would be a fabulous member of our staff. We’ll see how things go.

Deep South Scout
Graham Montgomery, 66
Terrific at DL, excellent at OL and DB, very good at QB, pretty good at WR, lousy at RB, terrible at K and LB. Probably can’t expect more than this at scout at New Mexico State... at least not yet.

[bbgunn]

ROSTER

Let’s look at the 2004 projected starting lineups. Positions are listed first, followed by player name, year, current rating and potential rating (as scouted by Howard DiCosmo, our South West Scout):

OFFENSE (Run-and-shoot formation)
QB Josh Sanderson (So, 28/28)
RB Earl Stinemetz (Jr, 23/45)
WR Devin Giles (Fr, 24/66)
WR Jim Garrett (Fr, 22/31)
WR Charlie Thornhill (Sr, 19/20)
WR Jerald Worley (So, 17/17)
LT Richard Monroe (Sr, 22/22)
LG Dixon Ramos (Sr, 44/44)
C Lee Dahnke (So, 25/47)
RG Clyde Szilter (Jr, 26/26)
RT Kirk Felder (Jr, 19/19)

Our offense is not great, but we do have some talent here. It’s hard to tell how good Josh Sanderson is, thanks to the scout’s terrible ability at scouting QBs. However, Sanderson will have a couple of (potential) weapons around him. Devin Giles has the ability to become a huge playmaker for the offense. Our halfback, Stinemetz, will keep defenses off guard when we do decide to run. The left guard, Dixon Ramos, is our best offensive player right now; expect a lot of plays to be run from the left side.

DEFENSE (4-3 formation)
LE Andre Lynn (Sr, 21/32)
LT Juan Goodfellow (So, 12/33)
RT J.J. Clark (Sr, 15/32)
RE Bennie Engebretson (Jr, 30/30)
LOLB Ralph Knight (So, 8/32)
MLB Marlon Wilson (Sr, 40/40)
ROLB Jamal Cochrane (So, 16/16)
LCB Dexter Scarborough (So, 23/28)
RCB Jack Tobias (Jr, 18/31)
FS Norbert Rivera (Sr, 23/29)
SS Moe Shannon (Sr, 23/23)

How can I put this nicely… our defense sucks. There is nobody here with a potential rating over 40. We are not going to do much on the defensive side of the ball.

SPECIAL TEAMS
P Brenden Castillo (Sr, 34/34)
K Ellis Jorgenson (Sr, 47/47)
PR Moe Shannon (S)
KR Jerald Worley (WR)

[bbgunn]

2004 SCHEDULE

(The Aggies play in the Sun Belt Conference in TCY. Sun Belt games have an * next to the team name. 2004 was a transitional year in the Sun Belt Conference, so the conference schedule is limited to only five games this season.)

Week 2: @Arkansas
Week 3: @California
Week 4: Troy*
Week 5: New Mexico
Week 6: @UTEP
Week 7: Louisiana-Lafayette*
Week 8: @Anchorage
Week 9: @North Texas*
Week 10: Navy
Week 11: Middle Tennessee St.*
Week 13: @Utah St.*

Our yearly rivalry game is with New Mexico.

At Sun Belt media day, the coaches picked us to finish third in the conference in 2004. North Texas was a near unanimous choice to win it all, while the next three teams finished closely in voting. Middle Tennessee was second, followed by us and Utah State, the “other” Aggies in the Sun Belt. Rounding out the conference predictions, from fifth to ninth, are Troy, Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Louisiana-Monroe.

[bbgunn]

INITIAL GAME PLANNING

Although we run a Run and Shoot offense, we are not going to just pass-pass-pass. We want to use the pass to set up the run and stretch the defense. With that in mind, I set up the run percentages like this, in order from short yardage to long yardage (this probably will not make sense unless you own TCY):

1st Down: 70-40-40-30
2nd Down: 50-30-30-20
3rd Down: 70-20-20-15
4th Down: 50-15-15-15

I set the run-inside-the-20-yard-line tendency to 20, and I set up pass distance attempt percentages at numbers proportional to my starting quarterback's ratings (which are all low, by the way). Everything else I left up to my assistants.

I'm not even sure if this is going to work, but it should be a good start for now.

[Izulde]

Nice! going against the Hogs for your first game.

[bbgunn]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Nice! going against the Hogs for your first game.

Yep, should be a good game... for the Hogs. I have a feeling they are going to blow us out. Thanks for following along!

[bbgunn]

RECRUITING

When I recruit, I use what I call a four-year rotating plan. Basically, it looks like this for a run-and-shoot offense:

YR1: QB, WR, WR, C, G, T, DE, DT, ILB, OLB, CB, S (Walk on: TE, P)
YR2: QB, RB, WR, C, G, T, DE, DT, ILB, OLB, CB, S (Walk on: FB, K)
YR3: QB, WR, WR, C, G, T, DE, DT, ILB, OLB, CB, S (Walk on: RB, TE, P)
YR4: QB, RB, WR, C, G, T, DE, DT, ILB, OLB, CB, S (Walk on: FB, K)

So, in Year 1, I recruit a quarterback, two wide receivers, a center, and so on. Following this plan assures that I will always have enough players at a position, and that they will be somewhat evenly divided between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen. In 2004, I will be recruiting the positions listed at YR1.

[bbgunn]

WEEK 1
Nothing but recruiting.

Next up:
New Mexico State (0-0) at Arkansas (0-0)(-13)

[bbgunn]

WEEK 2
Arkansas 59, New Mexico State 7
We went into a packed SEC stadium, and we were beat down. We were actually competitive with the pass, only being outgained 294-222. But in terms of rushing, they ran for 194 yards. Us? -8. In total yardage, we were outgained 488-214. We had 16 third down plays, and only converted on three of them.

QB Josh Sanderson went 6-of-14 for 128 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions before being pulled in the middle of the second quarter after throwing an interception that an Arkansas player returned 56 yards for a score. Backup QB Conrad Rigney (Fr, 11/20) didn’t do much better, going 12-28 with 94 yards, no TDs and no interceptions.

NMSU Leaders
Passing
See game notes above.
Rushing
RB Earl Stinemetz – 7 rush, 11 yds
Receiving
WR Jim Garrett – 5 catches, 50 yds
WR Charlie Thornhill – 3 catches, 72 yds
WR Jerald Worley – 3 catches, 47 yds, 1 TD
Defense
ILB Marlon Wilson – 6 tackles, 2 assists

Injuries (Starters only)
NEW: CB Jack Tobias (probable, deep thigh bruise, 1 week)

Next up
New Mexico State (0-1) at California (1-0)(-12)

Recruiting
Visits
none
Commitments
None

[bbgunn]

2004 WEEK 3
California 72, New Mexico State 7
Another beatdown by another national powerhouse, this time from the Pac-10. Our quarterbacks threw 5 interceptions combined. The only highlight for us was an 84-yard touchdown pass from Josh Sanderson to Jim Garrett. The pass itself went 72 yards!?! By the way, in two games our potentially dominant freshman wide receiver, Devin Giles, has been nonexistent on the field.

NMSU Leaders
Passing
QB Josh Sanderson – 7-19, 150 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
QB Conrad Rigney – 4-12, 36 yds, 2 INT
Rushing
RB Troy Munger (backup) – 5 rush, 23 yds
RB Richard Newman (backup) – 4 rush, 30 yds
Receiving
WR Charlie Thornhill – 3 catches, 55 yds
WR Jim Garrett – 1 catch, 84 yds, 1 TD.
Defense
S Norbert Rivera – 7 tackles, 2 assists

Injuries (Starters only)
NEW: none
CONTINUING: CB Jack Tobias (probable, deep thigh bruise, 1 week)

Next up
Troy (0-2) at New Mexico State (0-2)(-4)
The first Sun Belt game of the year for us. Finally, a game in which we should be competitive.

Recruiting
Visits
none
Commitments
none

[bbgunn]

This is getting irritating. Another computer problem eats up my TCY files, this time at work.

I installed the game on a computer at work and started up this dynasty during some free time. Then I turned off the computer, went to lunch, came back, turned on the computer, and presto! My installation and save files had completely disappeared.

I just installed the game again and tested it by restarting the computer. Sure enough, the computer wiped clean any files having to do with TCY. I guess the computer network at work is set up so that any files put on the computer without admin rights are wiped clean every time the computer is shut down.

This is a big problem because, believe it or not, I have more time for playing TCY and posting TCY dynasties at work than I do at home. If I can't do it at work, then I can't do a dynasty, simple as that. I wish I could run TCY on a USB drive or something. Oh well.

Anyway, my apologies.