PS3 National Heisman Sliders Challenge Dynasty - Official Thread

[deadlyCane]

Hurricanes Triumph over the Pitt Panthers in a 31-19 Gator Bowl

Jacksonville, Florida – The Miami Hurricanes closed out the 2010 college football season with an excited victory over former Big East foe Pittsburgh Panthers. A strong contingent of virtual ‘Canes fans made the 6-hour drive from South Florida to North Florida. For at least this weekend Jacksonville was South Florida. The energetic support by the ‘Canes fans lead Miami to an impressive first drive of the game. The Robert Marve lead Miami offense cut through the Pitt defense with an array of laser like precision passing and jitterbug like runs through holes created by the bullish offensive line. Graig Cooper, the Hurricanes’ impact senior running back capped the drive with a 19 yard dash.

Coach JCA’s Pitt offense attempted an early answer driving down the field all the into the Miami redzone. The drive met disaster when rarely used redshirt freshman cornerback Dustin McCullar stepped in front a pass in the endzone to terminate the drive. That play would foreshadow most of how this game would be played. The Hurricanes defense played solid against a very good mix of play calling by coach JCA. The defense from Miami stopped Panther star running back LeSean McCoy every time he tried to run.

“There was no space whatsoever,” said McCoy. “That defense was faster than anything we’ve seen in all season. I would see a little light, bounced to it and BAM, in a split second three or four Miami guys were sitting on my face,” explained McCoy. Miami's defense held McCoy to around 20 rushing yards, much lower than his 119 per game average.

Pitt QB Bostick didn’t fair much better as he was sacked 7 times by the Miami defense. “I told my boys, let’s have meetings at the quarterback,” a jubilant defensive end Allen Bailey said.

The Panthers defense had a few tricks up their sleeves themselves. They put Pittsburgh on the scoreboard by backing Miami up close to their endzone. Then on a play sent a well-timed blitz after Robert Marve. The Miami quarterback ended the play with his face mask imprinted in the Alltell Stadium turf conceding a 2-point Pittsburgh score. Then next drive the Panther defense slammed him into the turf around mid-field. This time he needed help to get back up and spent the rest of the game with the training staff, never to be seen on the field again. That meant backup Cannon Smith had to be called upon to play quality minutes for the first time in his career. He filled in admirably.

Pitt’s offense finally solved the Miami defense with a 40 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Baldwin. The pass engineered by quarterback Bostick was tossed into one-on-one coverage and Baldwin went up against cornerback Brandon Harris and out-leapt him to come down with the pill and race to the endzone to basically close the half with a 9-7 Pittsburgh lead.

After making some half-time adjustments, coach RuFF NeXX’s team controlled the third quarter with a 25-yard field goal from All-American kicker Matt Bosher, followed by a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cannon Smith. The touchdown was setup by a muffed punt by the Panthers deep in their territory. Miami’s freshman all-american cornerback Caleb Smith picked up the fumble around the Panthers 18 yard line.

The fourth quarter was a game of table tennis on the gridiron. After an opening Pitt field goal, Miami shocked the Pitt defense with a 78-yard touchdown strike. Pitt got back in it with an impressive drive of their own that concluded with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Wright. The scoreboard now read Miami 24, Pittsburgh 19. Then Pitt in the closing minutes put together an impressive last ditch effort drive with some masterful passing. The ‘Canes bend but don’t break defense tightened at some key moments, none bigger than the final Pitt pass. With 16 seconds to go on 3rd down the Panther QB dropped back and threw downfield in single coverage. Caleb Smith was on the coverage and stepped in front of the intended receiver to snatch the ball out the air for an 85-yard interception return for a TD. The stadium felt like it was crumbling under the pressure of the jumping Miami fans as the speedster Smith sprinted to the endzone clear of any Panther defenders. His score gave Miami a 31-19 lead with 2 ticks left on the clock. That would be good enough for a Miami victory.

This game could’ve gone the other way with Pittsburgh out-gaining Miami in just about every statistical category. The difference was Pitt couldn’t get a running game going and they didn’t execute when it mattered. Not often will you see a team win like Miami did after going 0-7 on 3rd down conversions. The untimely turnovers just did Pitt in.

Coach RuFF NeXX had this to say after the game, “you know it’s about time we come out on the other end of a game like that. It seems like those Florida State games are like that but we’re the ones not executing and making awful redzone turnovers and turnovers deep in our zone. It’s a great way to head into the off-season. Definitely something we can build on for next season.”

Game Stats:

2010 Gator Bowl Stats - #23 Pittsburgh 9-3 (JCA3) vs #13 Miami 11-2 (RuFF_NeXX									

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	FNL			
Pitt	0	9	0	10	0	19			
Mia	7	0	10	14	0	31			

			Pitt		Mia			1QTR	
Score			19		31			6:14	"TD Mia: Cooper, 19 yd run"
First Downs		14		3			2QTR	
Total Offense		304		156			2:23	Saftey Mia
Rushes -yards - TD	26-5-0					0:23	"TD Pitt: Baldwin, 40 yd pass from Bostick"
Comp - Att - TD		25-35-2		14-18-1			3QTR	
Passing Yards		299		141			3:56	"FG Mia: Bosher, 25 yd FG"
3rd Down Conv		11-19 (57%)	0-7 (0%)		1:52	TD Mia: Ca. Smith 1yd Run
4th Down Conv		0-0 (0%)	0-0 (0%)		4QTR	
Red Zone - TD - FG	5-1-1 (40%)	3-2-1 (10%)		7:52	FG Pitt: Harper 31 yd FG
TO			4		1			7:08	TD Mia: Byrd 78 yd pass from Ca. Smith
Fumbles Lost		1		0			4:05	TD Pitt: Wright 7 yd pass from Bostick
Intercepted		3		1			0:02	"TD Mia; Cal Smith, ret int 85 yds"
TOP			19:00		13:04

EDITORS NOTE:
Individual statistics were unavailable because this game recap was done after the advance. Usually they are available after an advance but weren’t this time for some reason. Individual stats referenced in this recap may not be accurate.

[deadlyCane]

We've advanced to the National Championship game. Games of Interest:

- #2 Boise State 12-0 (cpu) at Auburn 13-0 (golfer26) {Who did you think would be here? Vegas has Auburn as a 16.5 favorite, will they cover?}

Rollins thanks for letting me know about the game with USF. Sorry you guys couldn't get it in.

I want to publicly thank JC for making great efforts to get our game in. I had a busy weekend and wouldn't have been able to play if he didn't jump through hoops to make it happen. He's a good sportsman as well.

Jim has until 9:30 PM Wednesday to play the NC game. I suspect he'll be done before then. We'll be advancing the first chance I get as soon as he is done the NC game. Jim, please post here when you are done. Good luck.

As usual the off-season advance schedule will be once per day at 9:30 PM from Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday will be twice per day at 12:30 PM and 9:30 PM. All times are Eastern. Remember, communicate if you have any difficulties and I'll see whether I can accommodate.

EDIT: A while back someone asked if we had a vote on moving to 7-min quarters. I apologize for keep forgetting to address this. We won't have a vote. I'm assuming everyone is good for 7-min unless at least ONE person objects. If a SINGLE person objects I'll keep us on 8-min quarters. I just thought it might give you guys some time to get squeeze in some other games like MLB the Show.

[jeremyolds2]

DeadlyCanes,
Rollins and I were playing a great game until it brought up a message that said" You have lost connection to your opponent, end game". This happened on both ends yet our internet was fine. It had to have been on EA servers. We were in the third quarter tied at 21 when he threw a screen pass to reed around 35 yard line of USF. It was a great game that was back and forth to that point. I took a pic of the screen on my phone and will try to upload it. I have never seen that message before.

[deadlyCane]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeremyolds2

DeadlyCanes, Rollins and I were playing a great game until it brought up a message that said" You have lost connection to your opponent, end game". This happened on both ends yet our internet was fine. It had to have been on EA servers. We were in the third quarter tied at 21 when he threw a screen pass to reed around 35 yard line of USF. It was a great game that was back and forth to that point. I took a pic of the screen on my phone and will try to upload it. I have never seen that message before.

Awe man, that's gotta hurt. Sounds like it was going to be an epic game. Playing against rollins keeps you on your toes. He's pretty cerebral. As one former user described, not flashy yet productive. Playing against him has helped my game A LOT.

[jeremyolds2]

To asnwer your question, i work for the Midland RockHounds, double A minor league affiliate for the Oakland A's. I am an AGM and director for group sales.

In other news, looks like Robert Marve is headed out to lubbock for a visit. I knew that he had a bad attitude in Miami DC, but this guy was also the Florida Player of the Year and broke all of the Golden Boy's(Tebow) records. Obviously he has some talent, but was Miami too much of a distraction for him? I figure you would have some insight on this qb.

[jimuna26]

i plan on playing my game when i get home from work this afternoon; will post results on here when i get done.

[jeremyolds2]

Rollins-
Congrats on your Orange Bowl victory. The sim score was closer than I expected but it kind of reflected the game we were playing. Congrats and will see you in the future.

[bdawkins20]

DeadlyCane, let me know when you need me to save the dynasty as a backup file. I cannot recall when in the offseason process I do that.

Jeremy, regarding your loss of connection, that happened to Robbiedizzle and I too. Granted I was getting torched in the game. Your job sounds like it has the potential to be enjoyable.

Boise State in the championship game....if only I had come through in that game.

I must say although Madden and NCAA have not lived up to the hype on the Playstation 3 and XBOX360, I am already anticipating the release of both. Although I will play MLB the Show 09 with my son.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the NFL draft?
As a Philadelphia Eagles fan I have no idea which direction they will go in. Will Michael Crabtree be another Mike Williams?

[jeremyolds2]

[quote=bdawkins20;2039451217]DeadlyCane, let me know when you need me to save the dynasty as a backup file. I cannot recall when in the offseason process I do that.

Jeremy, regarding your loss of connection, that happened to Robbiedizzle and I too. Granted I was getting torched in the game. Your job sounds like it has the potential to be enjoyable.

Boise State in the championship game....if only I had come through in that game.

I must say although Madden and NCAA have not lived up to the hype on the Playstation 3 and XBOX360, I am already anticipating the release of both. Although I will play MLB the Show 09 with my son.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the NFL draft?
As a Philadelphia Eagles fan I have no idea which direction they will go in. Will Michael Crabtree be another Mike Williams?[/quote]
Crabtree will be NOT be another Mike Williams because:
1. Better agility and lateral movement
2. Top WR two years in a row
3. Did not sit around for a year and lose reps like Mike Williams
4. Crabtree snatches ball out of air instead of waiting on it

[deadlyCane]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeremyolds2

To asnwer your question, i work for the Midland RockHounds, double A minor league affiliate for the Oakland A's. I am an AGM and director for group sales. In other news, looks like Robert Marve is headed out to lubbock for a visit. I knew that he had a bad attitude in Miami DC, but this guy was also the Florida Player of the Year and broke all of the Golden Boy's(Tebow) records. Obviously he has some talent, but was Miami too much of a distraction for him? I figure you would have some insight on this qb.

Thanks, that sounds like an interesting job. I would love a job working in sports.

Robert Marve is plenty talented. From a far away fan like myself who doesn't know him personally but follow him on TV and in print media, it seems like his problem is mostly mental. On the field he showed he could play the game of football at the highest level. He was without a doubt the better of the two quarterbacks at the start of last year and was the best of the three we had the year before. Towards the end of this past season I thought he was regressing. He went from a player that was making good decisions his first 3 or so games to a player that started making one or two questionable bonehead decisions a game. At first I thought it might have been coaching but then I noticed that Jacory Harris was progressing. Marve was given every opportunity to succeed at the U. I suspect he was given more attention from the coaches than Harris. At the time I even went as far as saying to friends that the situation was unfair to Harris. After seeing Harris progress throughout the season I started thinking it can't be coaching or just coaching.

Looking back Marve has had his share of off-field problems. The first public one was the episode when he broke someone's car mirror outside a nightclub. That lead to his suspension for the opening game of the season even though it was an incident that occurred the previous year. Then towards the end of the year we started learning about missed practices and rumors circulating that the school was going to put him on academic probation. A reporter even wrote that his father confirmed these rumors whereas the school was trying to squash them. This was about the time we started hearing about him wanting a transfer. Prior to that it was Harris who those rumors were linked to.

The rumors about Marve could have been false but they are believable since Shannon tries to keep things in-house and often protects his players wrong-doings from the public's curiousity. Many coaches do this by saying a kid is being punished for violating team rules but not actually stating what the violation was. If you mess up like that you are going to fall into Shannon's doghouse and have a hard time finding the door out of it. That's a big difference between him and soft uncle fester Coker.

Basically, I still think Marve is very talented and has a lot of upside. He may just be the type of player that needs to spend more time thinking about his football responsibilities and less thinking about other stuff. He needs to learn to follow basic rules as well.

I think a team that runs a spread-type offense would be the best use of his talents. I see Rich Rod at Michigan going after a failed point guard when an available guy like Marve is perfect for his system. Maybe his assessment of Marve is the same as mine. It makes me wonder why he is having trouble finding a team.