NCAA '07 Experiences

It's difficult switching from team to team for two reasons: 1) The playbooks and 2) The team chemistry.

When I started with Georgia Tech after I went through some drills and became a four-star prospect, I decided to attend Georgia Tech as a halfback, because I knew while steady at quarterback and receiver, they didn't have a great tailback. After a few games, I began to feel comfortable with the playbook. I knew which formations had which plays, what plays usually panned out for my team, and what plays I should stay away from. I got to the point where I knew what play I was going to pick on 2nd and 3rd down before I picked the play for 1st down.

But then, I decided I wanted to start a dynasty, so I chose to fiddle around with West Virginia. Not only is their offensive gameplan completely different than the Yellow Jackets', but their defensive set-up is as well. Georgia Tech had a 4-3 defensive set-up. West Virginia had a 3-3-5. I got the hang of the offense pretty quickly, but it was the 3-3-5 defense I struggled with. I even thought about switching to the 4-3, but eventually became comfortable with the 3-3-5. They started getting too good, so I decided I wanted a challenge and picked the #119 (dead-last) pre-season rated team on the game, Temple.

Temple went winless a year ago, again, have a different offensive gameplan than the first two teams I tinkered with and they run a 3-4 defense. Three teams and three different defensive set-ups. The fun part about Temple is the fact that they're independent and unlike in games past when you had around four set games for the season that you couldn't adjust, you can construct your entire 12 game schedule this time around. In year one, I played a bunch of very average (at best) teams in the Northeast, because I thought that could play to my advantage come recruiting season. I went 13-0 and still finished 20th in the country. But, to the pollsters credit, I didn't play too high quality of competition. The in-season recruiting went better than I expected. After I picked the guys to recruit, I immediately had second thoughts and felt I should've gone for the 3-star talent as opposed to the 4 and 5-star guys, because who wants to come to a school like Temple with the prestige of only 1-star? To my surprise, more than I expected. In-season, I landed four guys, three 4-star caliber and one 5-star. At the end of the year, a quarterback (76 overall rating. My quarterback that season was at 68.) out of Louisville transferred. The only problem with that is the fact he's a junior and has to sit out his transfer year, so I'll only get him for his senior season. While I recruited eight 2-star guys, I landed seven 3-star players, five 4-star caliber players, and one 5-star guy. My class was rated #20, which was, like I mentioned, my final rating for the season. In year number two, I decided to diversify my opponents a bit, in terms of location. I mainly concentrated on the Northeast in year one. I included teams from the Southeast, West, and Texas in year two, along with including Pittsburgh as an inter-state battle. I'm 7-0 thus far and outside of an early scare by Utah, I've rolled through the schedule. I may have to toughen the schedule up significantly next year, especially considering I'm 7-0 and only rated in the top 30-35, not much better than last year at this time. In-season recruiting is going similarly to last year. A fullback and a middle linebacker are very interested. There are seven guys still left that I'm recruiting, but I'm thinking I'll only a maximum of four (five at the very most) will accept coming to Temple. Because the secondary is so slow and I'm playing the 3-4 (my third different defensive set-up in as many teams), I've finally learned how to handle my defense on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, that means a lot of zone, because my guys can't keep up with speedsters if they're going man-to-man.

I browsed the team rosters and sought the worst team on the game and I found them. If anyone out there wants an extreme challenge, switch Division I-AA Prairie View A&M to Division I-A and start a dynasty with them. Their best player (I kid you not) is rated at 56! They'll be my next project, but I'm going to attempt to enjoy this Temple dynasty for a little while longer before I'm ready to lose games with A&M, because there's no way, unless I schedule the biggest cupcakes in Division I-A, that I won't lose games with them. Even if I do schedule cupcakes, they'll all be better than my team.