NCAA 13 Coaching Dynasty: O.C. of UMASS

[Poli]

My time getting to know Cam Cameron, Jim Harbaugh, and Anthony Crooks finally paid off.

When UMASS let go of Coach Kevin Morris last year, they hired Notre Dame offensive coordinator Charley Molnar. Molnar and I met a few years back at the Arizona Football Coaches Association football clinic. Must have been, I don't know, 2007. Anyhow, I must have made an impression. Molnar admitted I wasn't his first choice. Coach said his first choice was Mike Kruczek. We he turned down the offer, he called me.

Thus begins my career as an offensive coordinator.

[Poli]

Default sliders
All American unless a top 25. In that case it goes to Heisman
All games coached. Not controlling a player
Recruiting at Heisman level
6 min qtrs. may adjust this based on stats of team later

[Poli]

I sign a 3 year contract with the following goals:

Win 8 games in one season.

7+ passing TD in one season.

1000+ passing yards in each season.

2000+ total offensive yards in one season

500+ rushing yards each season

1000+ rushing yards in one season

Win 4 games in one season

2000+ total offensive yards each season

[Poli]

Spring practice and summer drills help me with the depth chart.

QB1: #10 Kellen Pagel. I love Pagel immediately. No reason other than he's better than the other two and he's the son of Cleveland Brown Mike Pagel. He won't run the option for me but he's the most accurate guy I have.

Matthew Quinn and Brandon Hill serve as backups. Hill is my speed option and he doesn't have much. Mike Wegzyn is practice team fodder.

[Poli]

Michigan transfer Michael Cox enters the season as the clear starter at running back. His backups, Alan Williams and Jordan Broadnax are talented. We will look to get Broadnax the ball on passing downs.

True freshman Joseph Jones isn't ready for D-1 football and will be redshirted. Jamal Wilson is practice squad material.

[Poli]

We have just one fullback, and it's doubtful he sees much time in the spread offense. Chris Burns is a former RB from Pitt. He got in the doghouse with the last staff. We asked him to move to fullback with guys at tailback way ahead of him on the depth chart.

[BYU 14]

LOL, thanks for the shout out Ah, yes 2007 Arizona Football Coaches Association was a good one, especially the free Beer they always give us Friday! You still have the shirt?

[Poli]

We have 9 players in at receiver in our spread offense. A couple are even talented somewhat.

SO Marken Michel has the best hands and will start. Senior Chase Danska and Soph Brian Dowling are Wes Welker types. Danska has the better hands and Dowling the better speed.

Senior Andre Hill has good hands and could see the field more than Dowling.

The rest of the crop fail to impress me. The best is redshirt freshman Elgin Long. He will see time for certain next season and provides us a chance to develop a pipeline to Texas.

The other four are true freshmen destined for practice squads and redshirt: Rodney Mills, Derreck Beck, Bernard Davis, and Tajae Sharpe.

[Poli]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

LOL, thanks for the shout out Ah, yes 2007 Arizona Football Coaches Association was a good one, especially the free Beer they always give us Friday! You still have the shirt?

Wearing it now.

[Poli]

Four men in at tight end.

Junior Rob Blanchflower looks the part. 6-4, 250. He's our best option.

Sophs Dan Foesel and Brandon Howard provide depth. Foesel could see time as a second end. He's talented enough.

Bless John McGrath. He'll make a fine coach some day.

[Poli]

Offensive line starters:
LT: Senior Nick Speller 6'5", 334
LG: Senior Malcolm Speller, 6'4", 300
C: Senior Quinton Sales, 6'2", 290
RG: Senior Stephane Milhim, 6'5", 315
RT: Junior Anthony Dima, 6'7", 302

Subs:
LT Jr Vincent Westcarr
LG Sr John Moran
C So Anddy Moas (that's how he spells it)
RG Fr Matthew Sparks
RT So Ryan Young
RT Fr Michael Boland (will redshirt)

[Poli]

I'm the offensive coordinator. Screw defense and the kicking game.

[Poli]

I'm given the title of recruiting coordinator... So I have to account for defense somewhat.

Our team needs: OLB, C, G, FB, MLB.

I find only five players have UMASS in their top 10 before the season starts. I make it my mission to bring them all to campus.

3 star WR Brian Davis, NH, 55 overall, 67 SPARQ
2 star DE Jason Horton, MD, 49, 55
2 star CB Anthony Cleveland, CT, 55, 59
1 star WR Vincent Brown, VT, 48, 48
1 star OLB Jordan Marks, FL, 47, 45

I begin searching our pipeline states for centers that migh help us. I choose to chase:

JUCO JR 1 star Nick Randolph, FL, 59, 40
2 star Terrance Merrill, FL, 51, 50

I do the same for guards:
2 star James Randall, PA, 51, 50
JUCO JR 2 star Clint Evans, PA, 69, 50

Fullbacks:
1 star Matt Daniels, MA, 51, 49
1 star Brian Anderson, FL, 45, 49

Outside linebacker:
2 star Jamar Hollins, PA, 59, 56

Middle linebackers:
2 star Terrell Houston, MD, 55, 56
JUCO JR 2 star Corey Anderson, FL, 64, 56

That covers our needs.

I look to athletes to fill 3 other spots on our board:

JUCO JR 2 star Kelly Long, MD, 68, 59
3 star Greg Beck, FL, 61, 67
3 star Brad Richardson, NJ, 62, 67

Finally, I'm serious about tunneling into Texas.

Ath 3 star Seth Daniels, TX, 61, 64
Ath 3 star Keith Brown, TX, 66, 63
QB 2 star Kevin Richard, TX, 55, 57

[Poli]

As a staff we spend an hour watching film on each of the 20 recruits. 19 appeared to be what we expected or better. The one last recruit just a shade under what we expected.

5 surprise us: QB Richard, MLB Houston, Gs Evans and Randall, and C Merrill. I worry we won't get any of the linemen.

[Poli]

Off to HS football practice at Carlyle IL. I'm out of town working on their HVAC controls and the head coach offered to let me come out and watch.

Who am I to play a game when I can watch the real thing?

[Poli]

I spend the offseason working with our ace, double tight look. I convince the coach to let me ditch the play action and counter runs. I prefer the quick hitters for runs and 3 step drop passing. I figure I'll spend each game week tuning up a formation to my liking.

A look at our schedule, and it's not kind to the 61 overall UMASS Minutemen, playing their first season of FBS football.

Week 1 @ UCONN (rivalry game)
Week 2 vs Indiana
Week 3 @ #9 Michigan
Week 4 @ Miami (OH) (conference)
Week 5 vs Ohio (conf)
Week 6 @ Western Michigan (conf)
Week 7 open
Week 8 vs Bowling Green (conf)
Week 9 @ Vanderbilt
Week 10 @ Northern Illinois (conf)
Week 11 @ Akron (conf)
Week 12 vs Buffalo (conf)
Week 13 vs Central Michigan (conf)
Week 14 Conference Championship Week


With that, we're done scrimmaging. It's time for UCONN.

[Poli]

Besides practice throughout the week, I pick up the phones and text like crazy to try and get the recruits to talk to me. To my surprise, all 20 have me listed in their top 10 to start the year off. The first 5 have us #1. The rest have us somewhere from 2nd to 6th. Nelson is the only one to have us lower (7th). The goal is to talk to every recruit for 30 minutes. If any commit, the # 1 guy gets the extra time. Should we get our #1 prospect for a full hour, we'll add time to the #2 prospect, and so forth. I'll offer all 20 a scholarship today.

WR Brian Davis is a 3 star and our #1 target. We spend an hour evaluating him further. We decide he's more like a 59 (+4). I offer a scholarship and hope that he commits since we're #1 on his list, but no deal.

CB Anthony Cleveland looks to be a 57 overall (+2).

WR Vincent Brown does commit. He's not fully scouted yet, but already appears to be a 54 (+6).

OLB Jordan Marks is a run stopper and looks the part. We spend 40 more minutes to get a final decision of what we think of him. We rate him a 53, or +3.

DE Jason Horton doesn't commit either.

We don't expect any of the other recruits to give us a commitment at this time. I call them all, say hi, offer a scholarship, tell them about UMASS, and hang up.

Let's go beat UCONN.

[Poli]

We're picked to finish last in the MAC East.

No player is mentioned on the MAC 1st or 2nd teams.

Championship Contenders lists UMASS as team #121 out of 123.

[Poli]

The coaching staff decides a 4-3 is better suited for the team. Out go our needs for LBs. In comes a need for a DT. We'll attempt to pick one up next week since the Brown commitment frees up a spot on our board.

[Poli]

A night game is a great way to start the season! The rain won't help our no huddle spread offense, though. We call heads and lose the cointoss. UCONN elects to kickoff. We'll defend the west goal.

The kick return isn't great. Just to the 14. I call empty jet sweep. The speedster Dowling will get the first carry of the season. He loses a yard. A screen to Cox is completed for a loss of 4. Pagel does hit Michel for 9 yards on 3rd down, but we're way short of the first.

UCONN scores, highlighted by a 21 yard catch on 4th and 8. 7-0, UCONN

We take over on the 25. Pagel hits Cox on the screen for 2. Cox gets his first carry for 1, but drops the pass on 3rd and 7. He may have had the first. Dang it. Bring on the punt team.

UCONN gets another touchdown. The drive highlighted by two long completions on 3rd down. 14-0, UCONN

We take over on our 18. Pagel hits Blanchflower on a cross for 16, but he bruises his elbow and is helped off the field. Pagel is nearly picked off on the next pass, while Michel drops a pass after getting clocked and Cox can't make the 3rd and long grab, either. Punt team!

Defense holds on 3rd and short. We start the 2nd quarter on our 24 yard line.

[Poli]

We go double tight to start the second half...Cox for 6, then no gain. Pagel hits Danska for 4 and a first down. Cox gets 2 yards on 2 carries and Foesel catches a pass for 8, but is stopped short of the first down. Part me wants to go for it...but we punt.

UCONN moves the ball but is forced to punt. We take over on our 7 yard line. 3:08 on the clock

Cox carries 4 times for 17 yards, and we're forced in a 3rd and long. Even worse, Cox is essentially lost for the rest of the game with back spasms. Pagel finds Danska streaking behind the defense for 70 yards, though! He's caught from behind near the goalline. Pagel throws three passes into the endzone, but none find their mark. We make the field goal for 3. 14-3, UCONN

1:31 on the clock, UCONN is in a hurry to put more points on the board and they do in under a minute. 22 yard touchdown pass with 40 seconds left. 21-3, UCONN

We return the kick 30 yards to the 32. Williams makes a catch for 5 out of the backfield. We call timeout, and then get a bunch concept going to the wide side of the field. Pagel ignores it and looks deep to the short side for Danska and hits him! This time they don't catch Danska!! 21-10, UCONN

UCONN runs out the clock.

[Poli]

I'm surprised Pagel to Danska worked well there trailing. I was happy to finally get some yardage out of the running game. We'll try to do more of the same in the second half. We need to keep UCONN out of the endzone, though, and I have no control over that.

[Poli]

UCONN kills us by completing 3 passes on 3rd and long...2 for first downs and the 3rd is a screen that they end up scoring on. Dang it. 28-10, UCONN.

Taking over on our 20, Williams can't do anything on 2 carries, gaining just 3. Michel drops a pass that would have been short of the first, anyhow. Punting again.

This time we force UCONN into a 3 and out. We return the punt to our 36.

Pagel finds Danska open deep again, this time on a play designed to get the ball to Williams in the flat! 54 yards! Pagel can't hit an open Danska on a slant on first. He misses Blanchflower on a fade on 2nd. He's sacked on 3rd for a loss of 8. Coach elects to run another play rather than try a field goal. I call for a deep ball, but Pagel hits Blanchflower underneath for 8 to the 10 yard line. Way to go, Pagel.

UCONN runs twice to end the 3rd quarter.

[Poli]

UCONN does get a first and is forced to punt. Down 18, I'm tempted to try and gain some yards on the ground and concede the loss. Instead, I'll fight for another score.

We take over after the return at our 35.

We call bunch spot with empty personnel, the play that Danska scored on earlier. This time it's intercepted at midfield.

UCONN isn't too interested in running out the clock, but we do eventually force a punt. It goes into the endzone for a touchback.

Pagel hits Andre Hill for 8 across the middle, then Michel across the middle for 15. He tries for Danska deep but overthrows it. Hill breaks free on a smash concept and takes it 51 yards to the 6. Incomplete to Michel on the slant on 1st down, he finds Michel on the fade for the score on 2nd. We go for two and Pagel hits Michel on the slant, but Michel didn't get into the endzone! 28-16, UCONN

2:36 left in the game.

We don't recover the onside kick. UCONN begins killing the clock. Unfortunately, we can't stop the run and they pick up first down after first down.

Final, UCONN 28, UMASS 16.

[Poli]

Positives in the game, for sure. Pagel to Danska was absolutely lethal.

Pagel finished 15 of 28, 314 yards. 2 TD, 1 INT.

Cox had 9 carries for 25 yards. Williams had 2 for 3. Dowling had the jet sweep for a loss of 1.

Danska had 4 receptions for 190 and a score. Michel was 3 for 30 and a score. Cox caught 2 screens for a total loss of 2. Hill had 2 for 59. Blanchflower had 2 for 24, Williams had 1 for 5 and Foesel had 1 for 8.

[Poli]

Seth Daniels commits to Houston. We probably didn't stand much of a shot with that kid out of Texas, anyhow. Still, with recruiting two new defensive tackles, I'll try to nab one in the pipeline and another in the state of Texas.

[Poli]

We add:

DT JUCO JR 2 star Josh Jamison, MA, 70 overall, SPARQ 50
DT 1 star Jayson Cooper. The kid can bench a truck. TX, 50 overall, 40 SPARQ.

[Poli]

Besides the four (WR Davis, CB Cleveland, OLB Marks, and DE Horton) that were interested in us in the preseason, a number of prospects declared we were their #1 choice at the moment.

Those were
G Randall
FB Daniels
FB Anderson
Ath Beck
Ath Richardson
QB Richard

None of those, however, were willing to give a pledge this week.

Outside of losing Daniels, the other 18 either kept the same interest or increased. Two of the prospects have us 5th, but the rest have us 4th or better.

The two DTs, of course, don't have us listed, yet. Hopefully that changes next week. They don't have an offer from a school to date.

[Poli]

Other MAC scores

Ball State 55, Eastern Michigan 14
Central Michigan 23 FCS Midwest 20
UCF 56, Akron 12
Kent St 38, FCS Southeast 7
Illinois 33, Western Michigan 7
Georgia 34, Buffalo 6

Miami, OH 31 Ohio St 28

Penn St 31, Ohio 28
Florida 27, Bowling Green 0
Arizona 51, Toledo 48 OT
Iowa 41, Northern Illinois 10

[Poli]

Can't sleep. Baby on my mind...two hours before I go in. Might as well tune up the playbook for the week. This week's formation tune goes to Big Twins. I tried going no huddle as much as possible last week against UCONN, probably to my detriment. When I do, I try to switch the formation. Unlike the CPU, I try to use formations that the base personnel would use.

So, if I started out double tight, our current playbook formations allow for three different formations. I try to rotate between the three as I choose my plays.

Next up: Indiana at home.

[Poli]

Indiana calls heads before this day game gets started. They lose the toss. We'll elect to kick.

STUDIO UPDATE:
UCF 27, OHIO ST 24

Ohio State and Urban Meyer are 0-2!

3 & out by the defense to start this game. We return the punt to the 37, but a hold pushes us back to our 27.

Cox gains 5 on 2 carries up the middle, but Pagel nearly hits a Hoosier rather than Blanchflower. We punt it back.

This time Indiana takes two plays to score...wide open man down the left sideline. 7-0, Indiana.

We return the kick to the 24. A steady dose of Cox early provides a first down but he goes down with a slight shoulder injury. Pagel finds Michel on a slant for 15. After an incomplete, he finds Danska for no gain on a screen and Mills open in a quads look for 25. It's now a scoring opportunity, but Pagel takes a sack and then throws an interception. Bummer...it was looking good for us, too.

Indiana scores after a few plays with the tight end just breaking about 10 tackles in order to do so. 14-0, Indiana.

We return the kick to the 36. Williams carries the ball for 30 yards on 5 carries, but we're forced into a 3rd and 8. Pagel finds an open Michel, but he can't hold on as the defense hits him before he can secure the catch. We punt it into the endzone.

Indiana gets two plays off, both QB scrambles before the end of the 1st quarter.

[Poli]

We force a punt to start the 2nd quarter. We return the kick to the 38. On their last play, Indiana's QB, Roberson, was injured. He's expected to miss the next 3 weeks.

Cox gets 26 on 4 carries before leaving with another injury, this time a bruised sternum. Not sure if he'll be back today. Williams loses a yard on his first carry but gains 14 on his next. After a holding call, he gains 16 more on 2 carries. Pagel finds Dowling on 3rd and 8 for 8, but he's inches short. We rush up to call a play but with empty personnel we decide to call time out and let the kicker give us 3. He sinks the 25 yarder. 14-3, Indiana. 1:50 on the clock.

Indiana moves to midfield but two sacks in a row force them into 3rd and 26. An incomplete pass and they're punting to us with 56 seconds on the clock from their 34.

We return it to our 35. GO GO NO HUDDLE. Pagel finds Dowling on a cross for 6. Dowling gets out of bounds. We call another crossing pattern, but Pagel is sacked and we're forced to call our 2nd time out. We go to our empty bunch pass, with Danska streaking on the weak side. This play is a coach's dream. Pagel finds Danska again, this time all alone! He goes into the endzone, untouched! 66 yards! 14-10, Indiana

Indiana takes over with 28 seconds on the clock at their 29. They get to midfield. The Hail Mary falls incomplete in the endzone.

[Poli]

I'm pleased with the running game, even if we're getting away from our spread concept. Maybe we can even take the lead with the first possession of the 3rd quarter. Injuring Roberson helps our chances of pulling an upset here, I believe.

[Poli]

The second half kick is returned to the 30. The Hoosier defense is ready, though. Williams gains a yard on two carries. Pagel can't find Michel open on the cross. We punt it away.

Indiana completes a pass to a wide open receiver behind the defense. 21-10, Indiana.

After the return, we're on our 26. Pagel hits Danska on the cross for 9, but misses on his pass to Long. 3rd and short, we give to Williams for 2 and the first. Given our personnel, we keep it on the ground, Williams gaining 6 on the next two plays. Pagel can't find anyone open and throws to Williams on the outlet, but he's taken down for a loss of 2. Punt team goes in.

Indiana's RB fumbles the ball. We pick it up for a scoop and score! 21-17, Indiana

Indiana drives down the field on the ensuing drive, but Coffman throws an interception at the 30 and it's returned to our 36.

Pagel hits Andre Hill on a cross for 8...but Hill is injured. We bring in the running game and Williams gives us 5 on two carries before leaving for an injury. Broadnax gets a no gain on his first carry of the season. 3rd and long, Pagel find Michel on a cross but we're stopped short. Enter the punt team. It goes into the endzone.

Here comes the 4th quarter.

[Poli]

Indiana scores on two plays, tearing out my heart in the process. 28-17, Indiana

We return the kick to our 26. Pagel tries for Danska on the slant but misses. He finds Hill on a cross for 13 and then again on a deep ball for 62 and a score! Indiana picks off the 2 point conversion and returns it for the score! UGH! 30-23, Indiana

Indiana is forced into a 3 and out! We return the kick to the Indiana 49!

Pagel finds Dowling down the sideline for the 49 yard score! 30-30!

Indiana drives down and finds a guy down the sideline, 37-30, Indiana

3:16 on the clock. We return it to the 31. Pagel misses to Danska on the out. He takes a sack and finds Dowling wide open on a smash concept. 77 yards untouched for the score. 37-37.

3 and out by Indiana. We take the punt back to the 50. 1:55 on the clock.

Pagel hits Blanchflower over the middle for 9. We don't rush to the line this time. Instead we go goalline personnel and run Cox for 1. We keep them in after the 1st and get 3 more on the next two plays. Pagel then finds Michel on a cross for 23...putting us in field goal range.

We run Cox for no gain and he leaves with his 3rd injury. Williams gains 5. Time running out, Pagel and I miscommunicate. I am trying to tell him to run one more time, he throws a play action pass incomplete with 3 seconds on the clock.

Thank goodness it wasn't intercepted.

The kicker, Levengood, is in for a 33 yard attempt. He nails it for the win.

40-37, UMASS

[Poli]

Stats:

Pagel, 16 of 25, 377 yds, 4TD 1 INT

Williams 16-75yds
Cox 13-48
Broadnax 1-1
Michel 1-3

Dowling 4-140 2 TD
Michel 3-47
Danska 3-75 1 TD
Hill 3-83 1 TD
Blanchflower 1-9
Williams 1-(-2)
Mills 1-25

[Poli]

Deep balls sure seem way too easy to complete. Hopefully the patch that's due in August (or so I heard from eaglesfan27) will fix some of that. I hate watching my secondary allow a guy to get 15 yards behind them...and I'm sure they hate to see Danska and Dowling do the same.

I'm tempted to call deep passes on every play as it is.

With Michigan up next and moving to Heisman for the skill level, I'm sure I'll be brought back to earth. If the game's out of hand in the 2nd half, I plan on running the clock and subbing the starters out for the 4th.

[Poli]

Recruiting update before football practice this evening at Carlyle.

No kids were moved enough by the upset of Indiana to decide to commit at this time. The next morning I'm on the phone and a few wouldn't mind visiting, but no one commits. I even hear news that some kids are hearing offers from other schools.

Part of why I chose the ones I did was I hoped that they wouldn't attract major schools. Thankfully, of the ones offered, none are major powers.

OLB Marks downgraded me to 2nd behind newly offered Buffalo. It's a bit of a surprise given he's not that big on wanting immediate playing time. We're neck and neck at this point with them.

C Randolph now lists us as the team to beat.

C Merrill agreed to visit in a few weeks, but warned me that we're way behind his new #1 school, UCF. What's not to like about UCF? They just BEAT OHIO STATE. Merrill's from Florida. I got about no chance with this stud at this point.

OLB Hollins agreed to visit that weekend as well. I'm told Ohio's offered him and they're also quite a bit ahead of us at this point.

A few kids did bump us up their lists. The two DTs did list UMASS in their top 10. Cooper has us 9th, Jamison 6th.

[Poli]

Fortune has smiled upon us, sort of. QB Denard Robinson of Michigan is sitting this week out with a sprained wrist. Their 2nd string running back is also sitting this week out with a minor injury.

So maybe we don't get 50 hung on us.

Championship Contenders has us ranked 101 now. Hey, improvement!

More editing of the playbook through the week. We throw some stuff in and out of our Ace Twin TE Flex and goalline packages.

[Poli]

We enter The Big House to face #13 Michigan. No Denard, no problem.

Okay, so they're A+ overall and we're D. No problem, right?

We call heads and lose the toss. They elect to kick. We'll defend the west (goal to our left).

[Poli]

We take the kick out of the endzone to the 23.

We grind and grind and grind. We rotate between double tight sets and run dives, zones, and powers to both sides of the field...draining the clock as we go. An offsides penalty helps, Burns getting us a tough yard on 4th and inches helped as well. Finally, they slow down the running game and force a 3rd and 9. Pagel hits Dowling for a first but he drops it as he gets hit. Punt team in. Cox has 4 carries for 10, Williams 2 for 8. Michel take a jet sweep for a loss of a yard. Burns with his yard as well.

We kill 5 of the 6 minutes of the 1st quarter.

Michigan gets across midfield as the first quarter ends.

[Poli]

Michigan moves down the field efficiently to our 10. We hold for a field goal. 3-0, Michigan

3:20 left in the half

We'll run some passes this series and drain the clock when we can. No huddle is out unless we have it under a minute I'm guessing.

Touchback on the kickoff. We take over on the 25.
Pagel to Danska for 9
To Michel for 8.
To Dowling for 17.
to Danska for 7.
to Dowling for 13.
to Dowling for 6.
to Long for 4 and a first down at the Michigan 6 yard line.
Incomplete in the endzone to Danska on the slant.
Cox loses a yard on the dive up the middle.
Michel makes a diving catch in the endzone for the score!! 7-3, UMASS

9 seconds in the half. They take 3 seconds off on the return. Michigan runs a draw and calls a timeout. Hail Mary. Complete. Touchdown, Michigan. 10-7, Michigan

[Poli]

#*$&(*&@$#

Stupid passing game. Nearly all of their receivers were behind the defense. Hey, it's a ball game I should be losing by 20 at the half.

I'll take it.

[Poli]

Taking so long as I got an important personal call...and I'll have to talk to my wife and Davin here soon as well.

[Poli]

Michigan turns the ball over on their first series of the second half...a fumble by Roundtree that wasn't a fumble. I don't bother looking at the replay until later to confirm it. They would have had to punt anyhow...but I wouldn't have the short field to work with.

Our ball on the Michigan 11. I run a quick dive on offense to keep the ball on offense (and admittedly, I checked to see if it was a fumble...it wasn't in all honesty). Cox carried for no gain on the first, 4 on the second. Pagel throws a pass into the endzone on a crossing pattern that's nearly picked off. We will certainly take the 3 to tie. 10-10

[Poli]

Oops, didn't mean to post that yet.

Oh well.

Roundtree is hot. He returns the kick to our 46. Michigan has the ball in great field position. Gardner eventually gets them into the endzone, 17-10, Michigan

We return the kick to the 22. Cox carries 3 times for 16 yards and Williams gets 1 for 4. Sets us up for a 3rd and 4 on our 42 as the 3rd quarter comes to an end.

[Poli]

Pagel finds Danska over the middle for 7 and the first. We get back to the running game and it is good to us. Cox for 15 on 3 carries. Williams for 15 on one. Michigan figures it out and drops Williams for a loss of 3 on consecutive carries. 3rd and very long and we convert on a deep cross. Dowling for 22! We're inside the 10, but we can't score (Cox for 3 on 2, Michel a 1 yard catch on FL DRIVE). I'd like to go for it on 4th down, but the coach sends in the kicking team. 17-13, Michigan

2:05 left. I seriously think that's the wrong call.

It was. Michigan kills us on the ground. They win the game with it.

[Poli]

Wish I had the option to go for it on 4th and goal. Dang. Hey, we were supposed to lose anyhow. Close game. I'll take it.

BS Hail Mary and all.

[Poli]

Pagel 11 of 14, 101 yards, 1 TD.

Cox 15-46
Williams 6-21
Michel 1-(-1)
Burns 1-1

Dowling 4-58
Michel 3-16 1TD
Danska 3-23
Long 1-4

Ball control at it's best. We had it over 3 quarters worth of the game.

[Poli]

Recruiting doesn't yield much data for us...no new commits and C Merrill is now a soft commit to UCF.

We are 1st now on MLB Anderson's list...so that's good news.

Miami (OH) next. 2-1 on the season, they took down Ohio State and narrowly lost to Boise State last week.

Back to All American as they're not ranked to my knowledge. I'll check beforehand just to make sure.