Part 1 of (2 or 3). A couple of quick housekeeping items. First, in order to get in more subs, I changed my controller settings to 45 for sub out, and 85 for sub in, but this seems to have little effect. I changed the game to All American, 6-minute quarters. I have decided to follow any recommended discipline recommendations, but I am going to track each player; three strikes and they are out. I am not going to put up with crap at my schools.
This was one of the best NCAA Football games I have played in recent memory, and absolutely the best I have played with the 2007 version. I hope the new settings are going to be golden.
This game earned the #1 ESPN Classic rating (622 pts). North Texas was two by two touchdowns at the start of the 4th quarter, but battled back, finally pulling even with 14 seconds left. SMU won the toss in OT, and elected to go on defense. North Texas drove on two rushing TDs to take their first led of the game since their opening drive of the 1st quarter. SMU’s offense was stopped on four consecutive plays, earning North Texas a hard fought victory.
- (#101) SMU (0-1) 35 – (#52) North Texas (1-0) 42 OT
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT | Final
SMU 14 14 7 0 0 | 35
North Texas 14 7 0 14 7 | 42
I did not plan to go into tons of detail with my three dynasties this year, but this game was so fun, so even, that I have to post the goodness for all to read.
SMU North Texas
Score 35 42
1st Downs 20 23
Total Offense 462 499
Rushes-Yards 35-144 25-206
Comp Att TD 16-28-3 15-25-0
Passing Yards 318 293
Sacked 4 0
3rd Down Conv 9-14 (64%) 2-6 (33%)
4th Down Conv 1-2 (50%) 2-2 (100%)
2 point Conv 0-0 (0%) 0-0 (0%)
Red Zone Conv 2-2-0 (100%) 6-5 (83%)
Turnovers 0 2
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Int 0 2
PR Yards 10 6
KR Yards 151 123
Total Yards 623 628
Punts-Avg 3-43.0 2-36.5
Penalties-Yds 0-0 0-0
T.O.P. 13:47 10:13
There are a lot of discussion points here, but I am only going to mention two. First, my goal is to always win the T.O.P. battle; SMU played me incredible tough in this regard, as their impact HB ran all over me. Second, I averaged 2 yds/punt return, which absolutely sucks. I have not figured out what I can do to make this better.
Key Contributors:
North Texas QB #7 15-25 293 yds, 2 INT, long pass of 39 yds HB #20 21-173 6 TDs WR #81 7 recs 190 yds SMU QB #16 16-28 318 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INT, long pass of 72 yds HB #8 24-112 yds, 2 TDs * 2 WRs had 100 yards receiving
This was the most fun I have had with a video game in a long time. I was constantly battling against momentum, which is too easily given to visiting teams, but I finally managed to stop SMU on consecutive possessions, which gave me an opportunity to pull even. The two defensive stops where key to the win, because SMU did not turn over the ball the entire game.
I doubt I will go into this level of detail for future chronicles (don’t hold your breath, but you never know), but this one was just too good not to share.
Just a thought… To increase your subs, you’d want to RAISE your "sub out," not lower it. I believe "45" means that the computer won’t sub out until a player is at 45% fatigue.
I think that’s how it works…