She's the Coach II - Furman Hits it Big?

[Butter]

This is a continuation of this thread, wherein my wife attempts to take Furman University to the big time in NCAA Football 2004.

To catch you up, we just won the national title in only our 4th season in I-A, beating Oklahoma (with the help of several in-game cheats). I told her we had to up the difficulty to keep me interested. She has caved to my 1 demand. We will play this season at an upper-level All-American setting, allowing 1 cheat per game.

With that, we're on to 2007, to see if we can guide Furman out of the depths of the SoCon, onto the greener pastures of a BCS conference.

[Butter]

2007 recruiting

We enter the recruiting season needing just 1 position filled, that of offensive guard. Nearly every position could use some depth, though, and our roster currently sits at just 47, so we can fill 8 spots. Likely, MB will just recruit as many good players as possible, and cut who she doesn't like at the end. We could also use an upgrade at punter and kicker, and the O- and D- lines can always use depth.

We end up recruiting 16 players, meaning we'll have to cut 8 current or new players.

Our class is rated #5 in the nation, far and away the best in the SoCon (Georgia Southern is 43rd). Here's a breakdown:

5 star recruits
-#6 DT Terrell Garrison - CA, 78
-#5 G Kevin Landry - AL, 77
-#1 P Howard Mitchell - GA, 73
-#2 G Stevie Gregory - SC, 79
-#3 FS Manny Smith - IL, 82
-#4 OLB Kareem Woodruff - CA, 78
-#4 K J.B. Mangum - FL, 78

4 star recruits
-#17 T Roland Copeland - OH, 75
-#14 WR Greg Fernandez - SC, 74
-#4 SS Gary Herbert - SC, 74
-#12 TE Micah Frye - FL, 72
-#10 SS Samuel Simms - AR, 75
-#39 HB Lamont Holland - FL, 77

3 star recruit
-#31 MLB Derek Rawls - FL, 68

2 star recruits
-#52 C Jerrell Moore - AL, 65
-#67 MLB Roderick Theodore - GA, 66

Out of this entire list, we end up cutting only Theodore, as he put us at 5 middle linebackers.

We also cut our current kicker and punter, our former 3rd string senior HB Carter, senior C Robinson, CB Jax Hutchins (6th on the depth chart), FB Hester (4th on the depth chart), and a scrub DT who was 5th on the depth chart.

No major losses.

[Butter]

2007 preseason

MB decides to try a murderous schedule in a continuous effort to improve the team's national profile. Plus, having 3 to 4 of the 10 worst teams in the nation in your 8 team conference doesn't help your BCS strength of schedule either.

We are rated #17 in the preseason polls, and a lead pipe cinch to take the conference.

2007 schedule (preseason rank in parentheses):
@ Tennessee (#5)
v. Oklahoma (#2, Fiesta Bowl rematch)
@ Miami (#4)
v. UCLA (#12)
@ Texas (#3)
v. Chattanooga
@ ETSU
@ The Citadel
@ Western Carolina
v. Appalachian St.
v. Wofford
v. Georgia Southern

We're playing 4 of the top 5 in the nation, and the top ranked team in the country we beat last year (Ohio St.).

HB Stephen Newman is rated the preseason favorite for the Heisman after his 1,937 yard performance from last year. He is also named to the preseason First Team All American squad, as are CB's Stanford Gray and Vincent Boyle.

Here are the preseason SoCon expectations:
1. Furman
2. The Citadel
3. Georgia Southern
4. Wofford
5. W. Carolina
6. Appalachian St.
7. Chattanooga
8. ETSU

The Citadel is the only other conference team with 3 star prestige. Georgia Southern is at 2 stars and everyone else at 1.

Not many of our new recruits are getting to start, so by and large we're fielding the same team as last year. So we're hoping for the same results. But we'll soon see.

We'll know how good we are soon enough, with that schedule. The difficulty has been raised, but has our talent level gone up too?

[Butter]

2007 season start
Game 1, #17
@ #5 Tennessee

An intimidating place to begin, but fitting of the national title defenders. Will the increased difficulty level make a difference? The hostility of the surroundings certainly won't help.

Tennessee does a fairly decent defensive job on us, but they are also unable to move the ball early on, and the 1st quarter ends scoreless.

The second quarter begins with a UT touchdown, thanks to a turnover deep in our own territory. But, we respond with possibly our only good, consistent drive of the game, as Newman pounds the ball and McMullen finishes things off with a 22 yard touchdown pass to Henry Fitzpatrick in the left corner of the end zone. UT does well on their 2 minute offense, and drives deep, but comes up about 40 yards short of anything, and it is 7-7 at the half.

The second half features Newman, Newman, and more Newman. Our first 2 possessions stall in the UT red zone, but we convert 2 FG's, and lead 13-7. The 4th quarter begins with UT QB Barry Rivero hitting a perfect sideline route from just inside the 40, and suddenly we're behind 14-13. Our next possession runs pretty well, but we stall and face 4th and 17 from the 49, and decide to punt. UT runs the clock, but good use of timeouts find us getting the ball back with 1:48 left at our own 38, but no timeouts.

One good pass on 3rd and 10 finds us weaving our way to the UT 42. Time is ticking away, and one sack later we're again facing 3rd and long. Luckily, McMullen finds Fitzpatrick again to the 25. MB decides to run a couple of times, and Newman finds good room to inside the 10. The clock is still running though...
26...
25...
MB thinks for a moment and decides to go for the TD, one more play. She hands to the fullback, who is stuffed. Now there are 17 seconds to go... and no timeouts. Now, I could have spiked it here. But instead, I assume we've got plenty of time to get everyone on the field and kick the game winner, and most importantly kick it with no time for them to come up with a miracle.

12...
11...

Now, I'm holding the hurry button, but it seems not to affect anything. Now, I'm panicking. I can't really do anything now that the play has been called.

6...
5...

Hurry up and step off your angle, douchebag!!!

Hurry!
HURRY!
2...
*pressing A furiously*
1...

The snap is down, the aim is rushed, but OK... the kick is...




GOOD!

Win, 16-14
Record: 1-0

Stats
Rushing
FU - 22/89, UT - 9/7
Newman - 20/94

Passing
McMullen - 9/21, 138 yds., 1 TD/1 INT
UT Barry Rivero - 10/21, 126 yds., 1 TD/1 INT
Fitzpatrick - 2 rec./39 yards

Other
Time of possession:
FU - 13:10, UT - 6:50
CB Jafar Mayes - 5 tackles
OLB Kareem Woodruff - 3 tackles, 1 sack
Freshman kicker J.B. Mangum - 3/3 FG, including 20 yard GW FG as time expired.


The new difficulty is challenging, but not unbeatable. Of course, UT is likely a bit overrated. They usually are.

[mrsimperless]

Wow, nice win!

I bet your interest will be there the rest of the season after that one.

[Butter]

Yeah, that was a pretty good game.

I forgot to mention 2 things about it... it got a great game score (of only 304, somehow).

And the cheat we used was "Super Bullet", which improved your QB's accuracy. Judging from the stats, our WR's had no problems dropping lots of balls even thrown directly at them.

That was an awesome game, and it did increase my interest a good bit. MB would've lynched me in the back yard on my own oak tree if the kick hadn't gone off in time though.

[Butter]

Game 2, #9
v. #2 Oklahoma

The Sooners are thinking bad, bad thoughts before this one. We embarrassed them in last year's national title game, and had just moved into the top 10. We were an easy target. MB hoped that the "1st and 5" cheat, which requires your offense to pick up just 5 yards for a first down would be plenty to keep the ball away from Oklahoma's improved offense.

OU's first drive is 3-and-out. So far, so good.

Our first drive penetrates to the Sooner 15. [Mr. Burns] Excellent. [/Mr. Burns]

Then Newman fumbles on a simple HB dive on 3rd and short. Then we proceed to totally and completely implode.

The halftime score is 17-0. The final is worse.

Not even the last minute emergency cheat of "Take Your Time" (providing unlimited timeouts) could help us. It did prolong the 4th quarter. But our offense was just off-balance all day long. Sooners were coming from everywhere.

And we all know what happens when the offense isn't clicking. MB gets grouchy. Not just your standard issue grouchy. But REALLY grouchy. Moaning after every incompletion. Writhing in agony with every turnover. Grousing about our (read: my) inability to complete anything, or find any running holes. It gets on my nerves, but then, I wasn't real happy with our performance either. We sucked big time in this one. And we deserved to lose.

OU gets their revenge, and likely knocks us out of title contention already.

Stats
Rushing
OU - 27/182, FU 31/84
Newman - 26/94
OU HB Jason Babcock - 18/149, 3 TD

Passing
OU QB Roderick Hansen - 9/21, 127 yds., 1 TD/1 INT
McMullen - 7/22, 115 yds., 3 INT

We had 6 turnovers to Oklahoma's 1. Our only TD came already behind 24-0 with about 2 minutes to go. To say they let us have it is close to the truth.

Loss, 31-6
Record: 1-1

The loss stung MB so bad that we've now gone 2 straight nights without so much as mentioning XBox. This weekend is bound to change that.

I can tell you one thing for certain, though. If we lose a couple more out of these 5 killer games she scheduled, the natives are going to get SERIOUSLY restless about lowering that AI difficulty, or loosening the "cheat" restrictions.

And I don't know how I feel about it. I'll probably cave, for at least one season anyway.

I better suck it up and start getting some production out of our offense. If we had a QB with speed, I think our offense would open up a lot more, though. That's going to be a definite priority this offseason.

[Butter]

Game 3, #18
@ #4 Miami (1-0)

We decide to stick Miami again with the Butter Fingers cheat. Hoping that fumbles aplenty would come our way. Typical Miami weather, as it was hot and rainy, which would only improve the effectiveness of the cheat.

We struggled a good bit to fight Miami's defense, but their offense kept giving us so many chances close, that it was inevitable that we'd turn the tide of the game. We were down 7-0 early, but Newman had TD runs of 6 and 12 in the second quarter as we entered the half up 14-7.

The opening kickoff of the second half provided some lightning, as Ben Greer took it right and gained some good blocking to go 74 yards inside the Miami 25. A FG made it 17-7, and a Newman 3 yd TD plunge after another 'Cane fumble made it a comfortable 24-7 with 2:30 to play in the 3rd.

UM's next play was an 84 yard run from the fullback. Their fullback has some good speed, but mostly they caught us in an outside blitz with a dime package, and a couple nice broken tackles left us grasping at air.

UM couldn't move the ball much after that, though, and following another fumble that UM was able to fall in inside their own 5, we blitzed the strong side CB and got a safety with 1:23 to play to stamp this one in the book.

Stats
Rushing
FU - 29/91, UM - 14/90
Newman - 28/91, 3 TD
UM FB Jerome Upton - 1/84, 1 TD

Passing
UM QB #16 - 6/18, 136 yds., 1 TD
McMullen - 4/18, 34 yards, 1 INT

Other
Sacks: FU 4, UM 0
3rd downs: FU 2/13, UM 1/6
Fumbles/lost: FU 1/0, UM 8/6
SS Khary Hedgecock - 5 tackles, 1 sack

Win, 26-14
Record: 2-1

A big, cheat-aided win to keep us in the BCS hunt.

[Butter]

Game 4, #9
v. #10 UCLA (3-0)

Another game of the week comes to Paladinville, as the Bruins bring their tough D to Greenville. We play "The Glove" cheat, making INT's more likely.

McMullen struggles mightily again today. Sadly, we lack a decent backup to step in, but he is just awful against these big time schools. His passes are largely errant, and with the smaller margin of error that comes with facing big time D's, you've got a recipe for disaster every time he drops back in the pocket.

Yet at the same time, you can't exclusively run the ball, especially with our mediocre-to-good O-line. It's tough to not run the ball, but when you find yourself 3rd and 8 every time after two straight Counter/Lead/Dive plays have failed, it's hard to stick with that gameplan.

UCLA did a good job on both sides of the ball today. The game was tied at 7 at halftime, and at 14 after a UCLA score midway through the 4th quarter.

But again, it was Ben Greer stepping up and getting a 75 yard KO return for us in the waning minutes. We were able to essentially run the clock out and kick a sub-30 yard field goal as the clock expired (after a time out this time... lesson learned).

Stats
Rushing
UCLA - 17/34, FU - 24/75
UCLA HB Keon Costa - 9/28, 1 TD
Newman - 17/90, 1 TD

Passing
UCLA QB Shaud Cramer - 11/17, 147 yds., 1 INT
McMullen - 4/13, 60 yds., 1 INT
FU WR L. Smalley - 2 rec./42 yds.
UCLA WR Aaron Smith - 6/112

CB Stanford Gray - 4 tackles, 2 sacks
FS Manny Smith - 5 tackles, 1 INT

Win, 17-14
Record: 3-1

So far, so good. Losing just one so far is impressive. Now, we've got just one more before we enter the relative ease of conference play.

[Butter]

Game 5, #8
@ #4 Texas (3-0)

The best cheat we had left in the arsenal right now is Instant Freplay, which allows for 5 downs instead of 4.

This was an amazing game to play. Texas' first offensive play was a streak pass for 60+ yards. The next play was a corner route perfectly placed between two defenders for a 7-0 lead. You can just imagine the MB grumbling taking place.

But lo, what's that? Is that the sound of Newman breaking out of his 4 straight games without 100 yards slump? I think it is, as the first offensive play we run is a Shotgun HB draw that Newman breaks for 67 yards and a touchdown. 7-7 game, after just 30 seconds.

Things finally settle down, and we trade FG's, and head to the locker rooms tied at 10. No big Greer kickoff return in store today, but no matter as our offense finally seems to be functioning well, and Newman is finding his blocks. He tires out after 5 straight runs on 1 drive, but backup HB Timi Rodriguez is there to clean up, punching in from 6 yards and a 17-10 Furman lead with just seconds left in the 3rd.

Texas' offense is up to the challenge, and skillful QB John Jackson guides them on a nice game-tying drive, finished off with a 9 yard TD pass into the middle of a soft zone.

Luckily, our running game grinds another long drive out, and we kick a FG with about 20 seconds left to win it. 3 games decided by a FG in our favor with under half a minute to play. Nothing beats livin' on the edge. We are easily a couple of fumbles or INT's away from 1-4.

Stats
Rushing
FU - 29/177, UT - 10/1
Newman - 24/171, 1 TD
Rodriguez - 4/18, 1 TD

Passing
McMullen - 4/13, 65 yards
UT QB John Jackson - 10/17, 234 yds., 2 TD/1 INT
UT WR Hayden Larsen - 2 rec./118 yards
Newman - 3 rec./42 yards

3rd downs: FU - 1/7, UT - 0/5
FS Manny Smith - 1 INT

Win, 17-14
Record: 4-1
GREAT GAME SCORE: 367

We finish off the non-conference schedule in the top 5. Have to like that, as hopefully the difficulty of those games will carry some weight in the BCS.

[Butter]

Game 6, #5
v. Chattanooga (2-3, #94)

My goodness, I've never been witness to such a massacre. It was unreal. We must just be that much better than the conference. This is not even the worst team in the conference, and we made them look like Cumberland College.

They threw us 6 INT's, 5 (yes, 5) of which were returned for scores. It was like playing a pee-wee team with the speed difference out there. I guess it's fairly realistic, but I guess this is what happens when you're playing a team whose talent level really hasn't risen above I-AA status.

It didn't help that their starting QB was knocked out in the first couple minutes. Newman had fallen in the Heisman race a bit, but this vaulted him right back into contention. At the end, we were calling timeouts just to try to get to 100. We threw a hail mary that was caught, but the WR was tackled 3 yards short of the goal line.

Stats
Rushing
UTC - 27/4, FU - 20/272
Newman - 19/241, 5 TD
Rodriguez - 1/31, 1 TD
UTC HB Jake Ewing - 10/40

Passing
McMullen - 10/14, 274 yds., 2 TD
UTC QB Lance Madison - 11/23, 173 yds., 6 INT
WR Henry Fitzpatrick - 4 rec./198 yds./2 TD

SS Khary Hedgecock - 11 tackles (most on special teams)
DT Pitts - 8 tackles, 4 sacks
CB Ben Greer - 2 INT returns for TD
FS Caldwell - 2 INT returns for TD

Win, 94-7
Record: 5-1, 1-0

Wow, now it's time to see how many yards Newman can pile up.

[Butter]

Game 7, #4
@ ETSU (1-4, #101)

ETSU does a much more respectable job than Chattanooga did, but it's still not close. They keep Newman from any 25 yard + runs, and as a result, our long drives all end in a rested Rodriguez getting the touchdown glory. Still, this performance vaults Newman to the #3 Heisman slot.

Stats
Rushing
FU - 29/190, ETSU - 18/(-7)
Newman - 19/147
Rodriguez - 9/52, 3 TD

Passing
McMullen - 8/16, 132 yds., 1 TD/1 INT
ETSU QB Walsh - 4/10, 82 yds., 1 INT
Newman - 3 rec./37 yds.

CB Vincent Boyle - 2 sacks
SS Khary Hedgecock - 6 tackles, 1 INT
FS Caldwell - 8 tackles, 3 TFL

Win, 38-7
Record: 6-1, 2-0

The first BCS Standings are out... very interesting:

1. Oklahoma - 3.76 (0 losses)
2. Ohio State - 6.98 (0)
3. Furman - 9.75 (1, 0.16 SoS meaning we're the 4th toughest schedule in the country so far)
4. Michigan - 10.06 (0)
5. Nebraska - 10.71 (1)
6. Arkansas - 15+ (1)
7. Miami (1)
8. TCU (0)

[tucker342]

94-7..... wow.... time to switch conferences

[Butter]

The rest of the season

Little doubt that we will destroy and crush all in our path. The question is, will anyone ahead of us lose?

Game 8:
#4 @ #43 The Citadel (4-1, 2-0)
Win, 24-14

Game 9:
#4 @ #112 Western Carolina (0-7, 0-3)
Win, 34-0

Game 10:
#4 v. #116 Appalachian St. (116, 2-6, 1-2)
Win, 28-3

Game 11:
#4 v. #60 Wofford (5-4, 4-0)
Win, 35-14

Game 12:
#4 v. #102 Georgia Southern (4-7, 3-3)
Win, 35-14


We run the table, predictably, and finish 11-1. Oklahoma also runs the table. Michigan gloriously loses to Ohio St. to drop behind us in the BCS. Arkansas has climbed the charts to park just behind us, at #3 in the BCS. We're #2 in the BCS, but only by 0.1 points.

Arkansas faces South Carolina, a team they previously beat by 25, in the SEC title game. Oklahoma faces Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.

I figure that Arkansas will pass us for #2 if they beat South Carolina, because their strength of schedule will improve. Also, they currently sit at #3, behind TCU in the standings. TCU is 4th in the BCS, with a bad SoS handicap, and a fairly low computer average. Arkansas would likely pass TCU in the media and coaches' polls with a win in the SEC championship.

Arkansas's HB is also notable, as he passes Newman in the Heisman, and finishes with over 2,200 yards. Newman's 1,740 are no match, and he finishes 4th in the Heisman, and 2nd in the Maxwell and Best RB awards, while garnering a First Team All-American spot.

Furman FS Manny Smith is also named to the Freshman All-American team thanks to his 32 tackles and 6 picks.

[Butter]

Indeed, Arkansas did leap us, as they cruised past USC in the SEC title game, 38-17. We finish a hard-to-take-but-deserved 3rd in the BCS behind the 2 best unbeaten teams in the country, Arkansas and Oklahoma, who face off in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship.

We finish about .45 points out of the national title. Alas.

The worst part is, we get trucked off to the Fiesta Bowl in the obvious role of the "least appealing" game in the BCS. Our opponent is 7-5 Maryland, who somehow manage to pull the ACC title out of their ass with a 6-2 mark in-conference, beating NC State on the final week. NC State goes to the Gator Bowl, but is still only 8-4.

Fiesta Bowl, #3
v. #29 Maryland (7-5, ACC champs.)

We use the precious "Cuffed" cheat here, which prevents INT's. Free of the worries of trying to get Newman the Heisman and throwing INT's (a big McMullen problem), MB takes to the air big-time during this game.

We absolutely annihilate the Terps, but our defense was just awful. After the first quarter, it was 21-14, Furman. The halftime score was 35-17, and both teams had already passed 200 yards passing.

The second half, our defense calms down and forces some turnovers, and McMullen goes absolutely nutso. In his last game as a Paladin, he shows what we've perhaps been missing out on. Or maybe since we couldn't throw any picks, I just felt freer to let it fly.

Either way, it was a great end to some nice careers, as we're losing a lot of seniors after this year.

Stats
Rushing
Furman - 14/102, UMd. - 19/33
Newman - 14/102, 3 TD
UM FB Roman Ridgeway - 7/33

Passing
McMullen - 12/20, 408 yds., 5 TD/0 INT
UM QB Tim Colbert - 21/33, 365 yds., 3 TD/2 INT
Newman - 5 rec., 124 yards
WR Zeke Ewing - 2 rec., 87 yds., 1 TD
WR Greg Fernandez - 2 red., 130 yards, 2 TD

Other
T Whitley - 6 panckaes
CB Ben Greer and CB Vincent Boyle - 1 INT each
SS Khary Hedgecock - 8 tackles

Win, 69-27
Finish 12-1, ranked #2

Oklahoma beats Arkansas 24-14 to win the national championship.

Final Top 10
1. Oklahoma
2. Furman
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. Arkansas
6. Michigan
7. Southern Miss.
8. Louisville
9. USC
10. Nebraska

Final Sun Belt standings
1. Furman, 12-1/7-0
2. Wofford, 6-7/5-2
3. The Citadel, 9-4/5-2 (New Orleans Bowl champs., beat Cincy 34-31)
4. Chattanooga, 6-6/4-3
5. Georgia Southern, 4-8/4-3
6. Western Carolina, 2-10/2-5
7. East Tenn. St., 2-10/1-6
8. Appalachian St., 2-10/1-6

[Butter]

2007 Final Stats(departing seniors in red)

Passing
QB Eric McMullen - 133.3 passer rating, 103/227, 1,876 yds., 17 TD/7 INT

Rushing
HB Stephen Newman - 273 rush, 1,740 yds., 22 TD, 6.3 ypc, 67L
HB Timi Rodriguez - 41 rush, 282 yds., 7 TD, 6.8 ypc, 76L

Receiving
Newman - 32 rec., 450 yds., 1 TD, 14.0 ypc, 49L
WR Levi Smalley - 20 rec., 269 yds., 4 TD, 13.4 ypc, 33L
WR Greg Fernandez - 14 rec., 363 yds., 3 TD, 25.9 ypc, 69L
WR Henry Fitzpatrick - 12 rec., 354 yds., 3 TD, 29.5 ypc, 80L
TE Micah Frye - 9 rec., 116 yds., 3 TD, 12.8 ypc, 20L

Blocking
T Levi Whitley - 26 pancakes (p/c), 1 sack allowed (sa)
T Roland Copeland - 21 p/c, 1 sa
G Kevin Landry - 17 p/c, 2 sa
C Chris McNeil - 17 p/c, 1 sa
G Stevie Gregory - 13 p/c, 2 sa

Defense
SS Khary Hedgecock - 51 tkl., 2 TFL, 2 INT
SS Antwaun Caldwell - 47 tkl., 7 TFL, 1 sk., 5 INT, 3 def. TD
OLB Kareen Woodruff - 36 tkl., 7 TFL, 5 sk.
MLB Kwame Sterling - 34 tkl., 7 TFL, 2 sk., 1 INT
FS Manny Smith - 32 tkl., 6 INT
CB Ben Greer - 29 tkl., 6 INT
CB Stanford Gray - 22 tkl., 7 sk., 3 INT
DT Michael Pitts - 27 tkl., 12 sk.

Special teams
K J.P. Mangum - 18/22 FG, 47 long, 55/55 XP, 84 kickoffs, 0 T'backs
P Howard Mitchell - 31 punts, 45.4 avg., 70 long, 12 inside 20, 38.2 net, 5 T'backs
CB Stanford Gray - 20 kick returns, 23.1 ypr, 42L --- 37 punt returns, 15.5 ypr, 45L
CB Ben Greer - 6 kick returns, 21.5 ypr, 75L

[Butter]

2007 postseason

With the second straight top-2 season, we garner an offer from Michigan for their head coaching position. I immediately say "No effin' way!" Being a lifelong Buckeye fan, there's no way I would stick with the dynasty if she went there, unless it was turned into an anti-dynasty. Surprisingly enough, Michigan just finished 6th, at 12-1 and has 6 star prestige.

Then comes this...

[size=large]Furman has been extended an invitation to replace Vanderbilt in the SEC beginning with the 2008 season.[/size]

Woo-hoo!

2 dynasties, 2 success stories! MB accepts pretty quickly, and while I always thought we'd get into the ACC if anything, figuring they'd be dying to get rid of Duke's football program, we'll take this for sure!

Sort of ironic, in a way, since our dynasty last year was all about leading Vanderbilt to the national title (which we never successfully achieved, bolting for Clemson after leading Vandy to a loss in the NC game vs. Oklahoma).

So, with that, we're off to the SEC to try and conquer the East and become a true national power!

[ShagVT]

The SEC? Wow - great job!

[Butter]

2008 preseason

We're losing our top QB, RB's, and CB's. We need at least 1 QB (though really 2, with just 1 on the roster), 2 HB's, and 2 CB's.

Everything else is optional.

We do pretty well, getting our needs knocked out pretty early, and hedging our bets a LOT at QB, recruiting 4.

5 star recruits
-#10 CB Derrick Samuels, FL - 79 (#72 overall player)
-#9 QB Jahmal Walker, FL - 75 (#87 overall player) (CUT)
-#7 CB Benji Glover, FL - 77 (#62)
-#8 CB Damon Watts, TN - 79 (#65)
-#2 QB Roland Matthews, NY - 78 (#20)

4 star recruits
-#13 HB Lamar Haynes, NC - 78
-#41 HB Chad McMahon, NC - 73
-#12 QB Cris Cruz, FL - 76
-#19 CB Eric Landrum, OH - 76 (CUT)
-#8 MLB Jermelle Smith, OH - 73
-#17 C Ronnie Blanton, PA - 72
-#42 FS Darrell Craig, NC - 72
-#19 QB Jeff Hines, FL - 77
-#37 DE Lamarr Donley, AL - 71 (CUT)
-#18 MLB Floyd Carswell, NC - 72

Looks like Matthews is going to end up being the starter at QB. Hines is close in speed, while Cruz has 90's in both THP (throw power) and THA (accuracy). They're all very good, but Matthews has a 76 speed, what we've been looking for so that MB can run her beloved Shotgun QB draw effectively. Jahmal Walker might have developed, but his speed was just above 60, and that usually never goes up, so we kept the quality speed and throwing guys.

SEC Recruiting Rankings
1. Furman (#7 overall)
2. Florida (14)
3. Auburn (18)
4. Arkansas (29)
5. South Carolina (35)
6. Tennessee (36)
7. Alabama (41)
8. Georgia (42)
9. Mississippi State (43)
10. LSU (60)
11. Kentucky (99)
12. Ole Miss (109)

We've moved up to 4 stars of prestige in the offseason, and our schedule ranks 5 stars... not as killer a pre-conference slate as last year, but our in-conference schedule is much MUCH tougher.

Preseason Top 10
1. Oklahoma
2. Miami
3. Ohio St.
4. Michigan
5. Arkansas
6. Furman
7. Texas
8. Tennessee
9. Southern Cal.
10. Southern Miss.

Preseason SEC Rankings
East
1. Furman
2. Tennessee
3. Florida
4. South Carolina
5. Georgia
6. Kentucky

West
1. Arkansas
2. Auburn
3. Alabama
4. Mississippi St.
5. LSU
6. Ole Miss


Furman's 2008 schedule (underline denotes conf. games)
v. Michigan
@ Ole Miss
@ Auburn
v. Virginia Tech
@ Louisville
v. Mississippi St.
@ North Carolina St.
@ Georgia
v. South Carolina
v. Florida
@ Kentucky
v. Tennessee

[mrsimperless]

I'm confused, you cut your 5-star QB?

[Butter]

Yeah, one of them anyway. We had 5 QB's on the depth chart, and he was the slowest and lowest rated among the 4 freshmen. Hey, it wasn't me anyway... blame Mrs. Butter! Potential, shmotential, says she.