Week 1: BYU at Georgia Tech
My prior dive into this type of simulation occurred on Playstation 3 in a version titled NCAA 2013. I’m now playing a game called Football Coach on Steam. But the two games might as well be the same because the same way I lost back then is the same way I lose now. We lead 23 to 7 entering the 4th quarter. We lose 24 to 23. Unbelievable.
My most hyped player, sophomore TE Welsey Gilbert, who we hoped was on the Dennis Pitta track is injured game 1. The diagnosis is not yet confirmed. We're off to a rough start.
On the bright side we set 22 BYU football records in this game. Just kidding – since this is the first game of the system’s history, every single stat is a "new record". And thus Rafael Wagner with 266 passing yards and one touchdown now holds the best passing game in BYU history.
Elsewhere in the world my podmate #25 ranked Arizona gets smacked 30 to 3 by Louisville and Texas loses to Washington in their first SEC contest.
I’m neck and neck with Alabama for a JUCO offensive lineman by the name of Kenny Farley. How am I fighting with the bluest of bloods? Kenny is from Richmond, Utah and cares a bit about the home town life.
Junior WR Noah Cochran -- a dynamic receiver alongside Grant Barry and Grayson Davis -- has ribs snapped and is out for the season. See ya in 2023 I guess. Freshman Kaleb Foster is the next man up.
Week 2: BYU (0-1) vs Colorado (0-1)
Like me, Colorado lost to an ACC foe in their first game of the season. Deion in virtual reality remains as ever present a TV attraction as he did in the swan song season of the Pac 12. But they got spanked, 33 to 5, and they’re at my house. The crowd is likely to be off their rocker for our first showdown versus the Buffs in ages. On paper I’m a strong favorite, 14.5 points even. I’m not sure I’d bet on us to cover but I like us to win.
Well, perhaps I should have more confidence? Deion limps out of Provo with a 56 to 19 defeat. I’d like to say that the crowd was uproarious throughout but the game claims we had attendance of only 49,600. Is general conference held in September in this universe?
The score was actually only 21 to 16 in our favor at halftime, but whoa did we learn our lesson from a poor second half last week. This time in the second half we outscore our enemy 35 to 3 for a blowout. We gain … 35 first downs?? Did the real life 2023 BYU team do that over an entire season?
As you’d expect in a blowout 7 receivers catch passes and 4 running backs get carries. Backup QB Randy Delossantos even gets in for a few minutes. Utah loses this weekend too so all in all it would have been a perfect weekend were it not for one major injury - starting corner Braxton Rivas is gonna be out for about half the season with a leg injury. Lovely. I'm glad this game continues the tradition of NCAA 2013 of only injuring my best players.
Big time OL recruit Kenny Farley attended the game and came away impressed. I currently hold a slim lead over Nick Saban for him. I need o-lineman! I need an early recruiting win like this!
Week 3: BYU (1-1) vs Texas Tech (1-1)
This week we’ll focus on stopping Tech’s running game; they’re 16th overall at just under 200 yards per game. It’s nice to be at home again and it’s nice-ish (perhaps worrying?) to be favored, this time by a surprisingly large 9 points. We have a load of recruits visiting this week, one 5-star, and four 4-stars. Hopefully more fans turn out to show them what LaVell's stadium can do when fully operational. My offense vs the Tech defense is supposed to be an even matchup, but our defense is favored versus their offense. Before I click simulate I scroll down to the injury report and find Tech has been hit bad. Their senior QB is out with a concussion. Ah, so perhaps that is the reason I’m favored so much.
And yet at halftime it’s barely a 7-0 game in Provo’s favor. The game starts with an astonishing six consecutive three-and-outs to put the fans (and my visiting recruits) to sleep. Starting QB Rafael Wagner fumbled in the red zone to take points off the board, while Tech’s quarterback did the same. The lone score comes on a Wagner to Grant Barry 33-yard TD pass. All totaled there are 14 punts in the first half. I rush for 29 yards on 18 attempts, while Tech goes 20 carries for 64 yards. Combined we average 2.4 yards per carry. Miserable stuff all around.
In the 3rd quarter Wagner fumbles again and Tech capitalizes with a TD to even the score at 7. Maybe that wakes us up because we don’t punt again all game, instead scoring touchdowns on 3 of our last 4 possessions to win handily 28-10. Just like that we’re 2-0 in conference play! We see an increase in fans of about 10K, with 58,400 in attendance, reaching a level 6 in crowd noise (described by the game as raucous. The max level is 12, though the max for a stadium of my size and caliber is a 9).
Ultimately Wagner plays an ok game, mixing nice passing stats (331 yards, 2 TDs, 9 yards per attempt) with three turnovers (the two fumbles, plus one pick). Tech stubbornly stuck with the run all game, and to their credit basically reached their average of 191 yards rushing, though it took 48 attempts to do so and really killed all chances of them keeping up with our offense. I guess that’s the fate you encounter when you’re starting QB is injured. If there’s anything to complain about on our end it’s that senior WR Grant Barry only converted 2 of his 7 targets into catches and TE Wesley Giblert was held without a catch. Maybe that will slow his NFL aspirations.
Week 4: BYU (2-1) at Cincinnati (1-2)
I don’t really know how NIL works in this game but I drop about a 15th of my budget on my top rated receiver and instantly regret it. My positions of need are Offensive line and linebacker aren’t they? I’m getting swayed by sexy recruits like I'm Lincoln Riley.
I also already have a young stud at receiver. Freshman Kaleb Foster has hopped off the bench in relief of Noah Cochran and is currently ranked the 7th best freshman in the country. Meanwhile across the pod ASU QB Riley John is 7th in early Heisman voting. That's concerning.
During practice I receive news that our third best lineman, Mario Cody has a leg contusion that will knock him out of the lineup for a month. We have a couple of juniors in the 7th and 8th range of the depth chart who are unhappy with their playing time; perhaps this will make them smile, because it sure doesn't make me.
Our second best DL Riley Zamora is banged up and is a game-time decision, but given Cincinnati is a stinky 0-3 I think I can afford to rest him. In general, my attitude for this game is it should be a breeze. On the defensive line I move senior Braydon Wise down from 5th on the depth chart to 8th to clear space for a couple of younsgters with higher potential (Dale Nakamura and Devin Middleton). Despite being better than Cinci in the main 8 statistical categories, Vegas only favors us by 2. Is Cinci’s stadium a tough one to win in?
Answer: looks like it. At the end of the third quarter I’m down 10 points, 34 to 24. Cinci’s QB Alan Bell is having the game of his career: 20 of 23 passing, 262 yards, 1 TD. He’s chipped in 17 yards on the ground with a TD there as well. Wagner has been no slouch, but we’ve turned too many drives into FGs.
We face an early 3rd and long in the fourth quarter when Wagner finds freshman sensation Kaleb Foster for a 53-yard score. Bam! We’re right back in this thing. With 6 minutes left in the game I face my first troubling coaching decision. We’re at midfield. We’re down 3. It’s 4th and four. We’ve forced two punts in the quarter, our defense is playing well. In theory we’d get decent field position off the punt. What do we do?
For me it’s dice rolling time. I call for a pass and Wagner completes it to who else, Kaleb Foster, for 6 yards. We live. A few more completions move us to the 31-yard line where Foster is once again targeted. And ... he fumbles! Cinci recovers! Hopefully this generates a tremendous learning opportunity for the freshman because it generates a loss for us.
I'm skipping details because I'm salty. We actually end up tying the game with 53 seconds remaining thanks to some runs that caught Cinci's prevent defense off guard. But Cinci returns the ensuing kick to the 40, then throws a 30 yard pass on their first play, and kicks a game-winning 43-yard field goal on their next. Final score, Cinci 37, BYU 34.
Rafael Wagner throws for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns and no one will remember it.
In recruiting news, Utah has offered a WR recruit I like named Joe Riley (Fayette, Utah) a $231K NIL deal. Ever heard of The Price is Right, Utes? I offer 232K.
Who is the better player? TE Rowan Heard who is rated 68 overall with D+ potential? Or TE Aydin Lowe who is a 2-star, rated 56 overall (yikes) but has A potential? I’d much prefer to land TE Wilson Mccormick who is the nation’s #8 recruit. But to do so I’ll need to make up a lot of ground on USC and I'm not optimistic. I need TE reinforcements because early intel suggest TE Wesley Gilbert is leaning towards throwing his name into the draft after this year. That would be almost unheard of by BYU standards, where the earliest people have left is after their junior season.
I’m recruiting too many offensive lineman. I cut loose Drake Bryant, a 5-star out of Nevada. Jaden Boone, son of the Remember the Titans coach, is also a casualty. I cut Jace Barksdale from consideration, fully aware that his uncle Avon from the TV show The Wire is likely to put a hit out on me for doing so. Hey Mr. Holmoe, how good is BYU's security detail?
Oscar Mckoy probably should get cut, but what can I say, I like the name and the A+ potential, even if tied to a 60 overall rating. After all is said and done I still have 7 lineman on the big board.
Week 5: BYU (2-2) vs #22 Ole Miss (3-1)
An unusual out of conference game in week 5 presents us a chance to notch a top-25 win. On the bright side the paper matchup favors us, as does Vegas, who is giving us 6.5 points despite last week’s woofy performance against Cinci. But Ole Miss has beaten Texas, South Carolina, and Kentucky, with their one loss coming against the #1 team in the country, Ohio State.
We’re in a precarious part of the season. We face Ole Miss this week and rival Utah (also currently in the top-25) next week. There’s a scenario where we find ourselves at 2-4 through the halfway point. There’s also a scenario where we’re 4-2, leading our pod, and ranked.
I decide to tweak the game plan a little this week, with an intent to rush the ball more effectively. Hopefully this catches Ole Miss by surprise and allows us to gouge their conservative, nickel defense.
I hit sim and immediately we have good news. The crowd is behind us – 69,400 in attendance for a top-25 SEC team isn’t a huge surprise I guess – and they let their presence be known. The bad news is the turnover problem of last week is following us. Rafael Wagner tosses a pick and Roger Henderson fumbles on our side of the field, resulting in immediate points for Ole Miss. Still, we’re in at halftime, tied 13 to 13.
We’ve certainly tried to enforce the run but it’s not going anywhere. 23 rushes for only 76 yards. Will we wear them down in the second half? Altitude gods, help us!
Each team scores TDs in the third resulting in a 20-20 deadlock starting the 4th. We miss a 50-yard FG try to start the fourth. They hit a 33-yard try to go up 23 to 20. An 11-play drive for BYU stalls at the 10 yard line and we settle for a tying field goal. The kick is … good! All tied! Two minutes and 26 seconds left. Maybe we should have chewed more clock on that drive.
The stadium is rocking as we kickoff. Hopefully we don’t allow a killer return like we did last week. Ole Miss does well to get to the 30 but throws two incompletions to start the drive. With 2:04 left in the game this is the biggest third down up to this point. We call for a nickel blitz and the pass falls incomplete! We start a potential game winning drive on our own 34. Much like last week we catch the defense by surprise in a pass situation by running and Tyler Huff gains 13. Two quick incompletions leave us at 3rd and 10 with 1:16 left. We try to surprise the Rebels with another run on third and 10 – thinking about possibly going for it if it leads to a 4th and short – but no dice. The Rebels stuff it and the crowd boos. Our punt lands at the 14-yard line and Ole Miss goes nowhere. It’s overtime. I can't shake the ghost of NCAA 2013, where overtime was my constant companion.
Ole Miss gets the ball and faces the ROC side of the field. The stadium is shaking. Ole Miss scores a TD in three plays. Extra point is good. I ask my staff for a Dr. Pepper. We do the Rebels one better, scoring in two plays. Unheralded TE Evan Toussaint catches the Wagner 25-yard pass. I think about going for two but not yet. We head to second OT.
We fumble. Oh no.
Rafael Wagner throws for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns and no one will remember it.
In recruiting news, Utah has offered a WR recruit I like named Joe Riley (Fayette, Utah) a $231K NIL deal. Ever heard of The Price is Right, Utes? I offer 232K.
Who is the better player? TE Rowan Heard who is rated 68 overall with D+ potential? Or TE Aydin Lowe who is a 2-star, rated 56 overall (yikes) but has A potential? I’d much prefer to land TE Wilson Mccormick who is the nation’s #8 recruit. But to do so I’ll need to make up a lot of ground on USC and I'm not optimistic. I need TE reinforcements because early intel suggest TE Wesley Gilbert is leaning towards throwing his name into the draft after this year. That would be almost unheard of by BYU standards, where the earliest people have left is after their junior season.
I’m recruiting too many offensive lineman. I cut loose Drake Bryant, a 5-star out of Nevada. Jaden Boone, son of the Remember the Titans coach, is also a casualty. I cut Jace Barksdale from consideration, fully aware that his uncle Avon from the TV show The Wire is likely to put a hit out on me for doing so. Hey Mr. Holmoe, how good is BYU's security detail?
Oscar Mckoy probably should get cut, but what can I say, I like the name and the A+ potential, even if tied to a 60 overall rating. After all is said and done I still have 7 lineman on the big board.
Week 5: BYU (2-2) vs #22 Ole Miss (3-1)
An unusual out of conference game in week 5 presents us a chance to notch a top-25 win. On the bright side the paper matchup favors us, as does Vegas, who is giving us 6.5 points despite last week’s woofy performance against Cinci. But Ole Miss has beaten Texas, South Carolina, and Kentucky, with their one loss coming against the #1 team in the country, Ohio State.
We’re in a precarious part of the season. We face Ole Miss this week and rival Utah (also currently in the top-25) next week. There’s a scenario where we find ourselves at 2-4 through the halfway point. There’s also a scenario where we’re 4-2, leading our pod, and ranked.
I decide to tweak the game plan a little this week, with an intent to rush the ball more effectively. Hopefully this catches Ole Miss by surprise and allows us to gouge their conservative, nickel defense.
I hit sim and immediately we have good news. The crowd is behind us – 69,400 in attendance for a top-25 SEC team isn’t a huge surprise I guess – and they let their presence be known. The bad news is the turnover problem of last week is following us. Rafael Wagner tosses a pick and Roger Henderson fumbles on our side of the field, resulting in immediate points for Ole Miss. Still, we’re in at halftime, tied 13 to 13.
We’ve certainly tried to enforce the run but it’s not going anywhere. 23 rushes for only 76 yards. Will we wear them down in the second half? Altitude gods, help us!
Each team scores TDs in the third resulting in a 20-20 deadlock starting the 4th. We miss a 50-yard FG try to start the fourth. They hit a 33-yard try to go up 23 to 20. An 11-play drive for BYU stalls at the 10 yard line and we settle for a tying field goal. The kick is … good! All tied! Two minutes and 26 seconds left. Maybe we should have chewed more clock on that drive.
The stadium is rocking as we kickoff. Hopefully we don’t allow a killer return like we did last week. Ole Miss does well to get to the 30 but throws two incompletions to start the drive. With 2:04 left in the game this is the biggest third down up to this point. We call for a nickel blitz and the pass falls incomplete! We start a potential game winning drive on our own 34. Much like last week we catch the defense by surprise in a pass situation by running and Tyler Huff gains 13. Two quick incompletions leave us at 3rd and 10 with 1:16 left. We try to surprise the Rebels with another run on third and 10 – thinking about possibly going for it if it leads to a 4th and short – but no dice. The Rebels stuff it and the crowd boos. Our punt lands at the 14-yard line and Ole Miss goes nowhere. It’s overtime. I can't shake the ghost of NCAA 2013, where overtime was my constant companion.
Ole Miss gets the ball and faces the ROC side of the field. The stadium is shaking. Ole Miss scores a TD in three plays. Extra point is good. I ask my staff for a Dr. Pepper. We do the Rebels one better, scoring in two plays. Unheralded TE Evan Toussaint catches the Wagner 25-yard pass. I think about going for two but not yet. We head to second OT.
We fumble. Oh no.
Ole Miss fumbles! Yeehah.
We head to triple OT.
Has there been a 3OT game in LaVell’s stadium before? We start on defense and force a FG try where the game instantly confuses me by saying “Miss made field goal” as in Ole Miss made their field goal. After staring at the text for 10 seconds I finally realize that means their kick was good. Down three, our time is now. On first down third string RB Tyler Huff rushes for 18. Our offensive line has to quiet down the crowd it's going so nuts. From the 7-yard line we go pass and find Ronald Rahman Noodle for 3 yards. The next play is our 46th carry of the game and it crosses the goal line and the crowd rushes the field. Victory! BYU 36. Ole Miss 33.
Wagner completes passes to 11 receivers. Huff and Rahman grind their way to 103 yards on 28 carries, but they moved the ball on the Ole Miss defense when it counted. Roger Henderson may have dropped himself down a rung on the depth chart considering his 14 touches netted only 24 yards and two fumbles. I don’t consider it ideal to go into rivalry week with the Utes after playing three bonus quarters, but golly if this isn’t a tremendous shot in our arm.
Week 6: BYU (3-2) at #17 Utah (4-1)
We come out of a triple OT game relatively healthy. We welcome back senior WR Grant Barry to our receiving corps. Remember Corbin Kaufusi’s emotional “til the wheels” come off speech during the 2018 BYU-Utah game? That's playing in my head while Riley Zamora of the defensive line begs to get activated, despite still nursing an upper body injury. I oblige. Unfortunately I can’t do the same for Caden Daniels, our top rated corner when healthy. He got concussed in the Cinci game and I don’t think I can send him back in with head trauma. I don’t need anyone making a movie about me. Against my better judgement I keep Roger Henderson as our 2nd string RB. His speed attributes are just so superior to Rahman that I can’t justify benching him yet.
Maurice Morse is cut from my big board. This is a WR I invested in early, but he’s kept me in second for half a season now to the Utes. So help me if this guys makes any meaningful plays against us in future Holy Wars. I’d rather have Jorge “Saul” Goodman anyway, my third rated WR on my big board. Call me Bronco but that guy has loved BYU from day one. Tight End recruiting is rough this year. I’ve lowered my standards all the way to a 65-rated recruit, Xavier Hays, from clear across the country in New Hampshire. He has B- potential, so maybe over time he can turn into something.
Utah has been impressive: a win at then #19 Virginia Tech, a win at UCF, a home win vs TCU, and a competitive home loss vs #10 Oklahoma State. They also have a win against Texas, which came last week in … wait for it … triple overtime. We really are siblings, aren’t we? Their head coach in this universe is named Holden Lloyd – probably cause he teaches his defensive backs to hold, am I right? – and much like Kyle Whitt he is titled a “defensive genius” in this game. My offense ranks 10th in the country at 35.4 points per game and will be challenged in this showdown. Vegas likes the Utes by two. We are very evenly matched. My offensive talent is graded an 82; theirs 84. My defensive talent is graded 84; theirs 83.
Our western pod is the most challenging of the league so far. Each team is 2-1 in conference, Utah and ASU are ranked, and both the Cougars and the Wildcats are in the “others receiving votes” category. These games are a big deal. Let’s go.
The first quarter goes Utah’s way but we limit the damage. We stop one long Utah drive at the 8 for a field goal, and after a Wagner interception we stop Utah at the 1 for another field goal. We feel fortunate to be down only 6. The Ute crowd shows up at level 8, deafening, the highest level I’ve encountered on the road so far. My troops need a score to slow down the Ute fans before they start Mussing in the West concourse.
We open the second quarter with an 11-play drive that results in a Wagner to Erik Lynn touchdown and we go up 7 to 6. We force a Ute punt but then Utah hits us with their favorite play – a deflected pass that gets intercepted. Utah drives all the way to 3 yard line and once against we hold for a field goal. Thank goodness this Holden Lloyd fellow doesn’t have any balls. The half ends with Utah trying a long-bomb field goal, their fourth of the half, but it falls short. It’s an ugly 9 to 7 ballgame after two periods.
Wagner is having his worst game of the season. After back-to-back-to-back 300+ yard outings, he sits at 7/14 for 77 yards and two picks at halftime. Predictably, our running game is struggling: 13 carries, 39 yards. Utah has outgained us 192 yards to 110, they lead the turnover battle 2 to 0. We need to open the second half strong.
We don’t. We go six-and-out (is that a thing?) and Utah converts their 4th field goal, making it 12-7. We strike back with another 11-play drive, culminating in a Wagner to Waylon Newsome 5-yard TD pass. BYU leads 14-12! Wagner finally gets Grant Barry a little involved, targeting him three times on the drive and securing two completions for 16 yards.
Utah drives to our 32 and stalls. Their 6th field goal try of the game is a 49 yarder which is … no good!!! Alas, our next drive is a punt. Utah finally scores a TD, and we enter the 4th quarter down 19 to 14. We respond with the worst possible outcome: three incompletions. Utah drives the field for a TD and we’re in trouble; quick as that it’s 26 to 14. We need some good ol’ fashioned 4th quarter magic with 10 minutes remaining.
Did someone say magic? Kaden Parks has his best return of the year, taking the kickoff to the Utah 48. The next play Tyler Huff has his best rush of the year, running all the way to the Utah 1. We're on the goal line in two plays! On 1st down Wagner sneaks and is … stopped short. Wagner sneaks again and … is stopped short. We try Tyler Huff and he is … stopped short.
Holy smokes. 4th and goal from the one. I ask for one more QB sneak. Can it be the tush push version? Wagner plows forward and … is stopped short! Utah fans nearly rush the field with 7 minutes remaining. I am devastated. My team is in shock. Four tries from the one yard line and we failed. Utah gets a few first downs before punting to us with 5 minutes left. We face 4th and 5 from our own 10-yard line and convert. We drive to midfield with 3 minutes left. This drive is taking forever. We’ve ran 12 plays but somehow are still at midfield facing another fourth down. Wagner drops back … and is sacked. Utah ball. This game is over. Utah wins 26 to14.
Utah handily outplayed us, gaining 484 yards to our 310, but still the four unsuccessful runs from the 1 yard line will probably haunt me for the rest of my career. I’m the opposite of Pete Carroll. Ute DL Jaime Dalton sacked Wagner four times, setting the current in-game record. Jair Hammond, a linebacker we were battling Utah for, chooses to sign with the victors. Salt meet wound.
Poor Trey Xiong. All he wanted was to beat Utah; looks like he won’t be showering me with crypto riches this year.
Week 7 BYE
Thank you scheduling gods. We needed a week to recover physically and mentally. You better believe our goal line offense is a point of emphasis in practice. Meanwhile I unload recruiting pitches all over my offensive lineman targets. I want to have the type of lines that Grimes gave BYU during their successful 2006 to 2009 and 2020 to 2021 runs.
The biggest gift of the bye week is the recovery of two big names: CB Caden Daniels and his 92 rating return, and Riley Zamora is fully healthy.
Bad news – one of our top CB recruits signs with North Carolina. We come in second. Dang it Jair Nelson! I decide to “promote” Tyler Huff at RB. Technically he’s been #1 on the chart but we’ve split the reps about 40-40-20 between Huff, Henderson, and Rahman. Huff has been by far the most effective, and I want him taking 60% of snaps moving forward.
Utah handily outplayed us, gaining 484 yards to our 310, but still the four unsuccessful runs from the 1 yard line will probably haunt me for the rest of my career. I’m the opposite of Pete Carroll. Ute DL Jaime Dalton sacked Wagner four times, setting the current in-game record. Jair Hammond, a linebacker we were battling Utah for, chooses to sign with the victors. Salt meet wound.
Poor Trey Xiong. All he wanted was to beat Utah; looks like he won’t be showering me with crypto riches this year.
Week 7 BYE
Thank you scheduling gods. We needed a week to recover physically and mentally. You better believe our goal line offense is a point of emphasis in practice. Meanwhile I unload recruiting pitches all over my offensive lineman targets. I want to have the type of lines that Grimes gave BYU during their successful 2006 to 2009 and 2020 to 2021 runs.
The biggest gift of the bye week is the recovery of two big names: CB Caden Daniels and his 92 rating return, and Riley Zamora is fully healthy.
Bad news – one of our top CB recruits signs with North Carolina. We come in second. Dang it Jair Nelson! I decide to “promote” Tyler Huff at RB. Technically he’s been #1 on the chart but we’ve split the reps about 40-40-20 between Huff, Henderson, and Rahman. Huff has been by far the most effective, and I want him taking 60% of snaps moving forward.
Week 8: BYU (3-3) at Kansas State (1-5)
We head to the lesser Manhattan with a 3-3 record. Man I wish we had that Cinci game back. 4-2 just goes down the throat much easier. Kansas State stinks, they’re 1-5. But on closer inspection, three of their losses are to top-25 teams. Hmm. They don’t have a single player rated above 90 on offense or defense. And at a ranking of 77, this has to be the worst quarterback we’ve faced this year. Even the Texas Tech QB room was rated an 80, despite missing their starter to concussions. All that said, the oddsmakers have us as meager 2.5 point favorites. It could be a shootout. We’re 20th in points per game; KSU is 29th.
The fan turnout is embarrassing; KSU only gets 36K in the stands. My predictions of a high scoring affair are off at halftime. We lead 9 to 6 in another ugly one. 6 field goals are kicked in the half; five are true, with our kicker Damon Brooks missing from 45 as the second quarter expired. Disappointing.
Brooks misses again in the third and we’re tied up 9-9 until Wagner hits TE Gilbert for a TD to give us the lead. There’s no fourth quarter drama this time. We score 10 more and take home a comfortable 26 to 9 road win. Wagner goes for 412 yards passing, with Gilbert recording his best game of the season with 95 yards and a TD. Roger Henderson has his best game of the season as well (the quasi-demotion helped?). He only gets 11 carries but exceeds the 5 yards per carry mark for the first time, turning those 11 touches into 62 yards and a score. Our passing game is so good right now.
On the recruiting road I may have found a DL gem in Walker Young. He started at a 67 rating but after some scouting spit polish he shows up as a 70 with A potential. I may be way, way too late but his primary offers are Charlotte, Wake Forest, and App State. I gotta have a chance. I ask him how he feels about the Honor Code and he doesn’t care about College Life at all! My type of guy! He considers school prestige, stadium atmosphere, and facilities as his most valued attributes and I am better than his peer schools in each attribute. Let’s get ‘em.
On the recruiting road I may have found a DL gem in Walker Young. He started at a 67 rating but after some scouting spit polish he shows up as a 70 with A potential. I may be way, way too late but his primary offers are Charlotte, Wake Forest, and App State. I gotta have a chance. I ask him how he feels about the Honor Code and he doesn’t care about College Life at all! My type of guy! He considers school prestige, stadium atmosphere, and facilities as his most valued attributes and I am better than his peer schools in each attribute. Let’s get ‘em.
Week 9: BYU (4-3) vs Washington State (6-1)
Who would’ve thought we’d see a Big 12 MWC showdown and that it would be BYU in the Big and Wazzu in the MWC? Weird times afoot. This game is gonna be hard. Washington State is 6-1 and will have the chip on their shoulder for being left behind during the great realignment. And yet ... their 6-1 record might not be as good as it looks? They hold wins over Buffalo, New Mexico, SDSU, Louisiana, and Cal. They lost 28-10 against Nevada. Yikes, Nevada. Just hearing that name sends shivers down my spine. For the unaware, Nevada tormented me during my prior run as BYU’s head coach, ultimately being the team that got me fired during my first stint. I hate them. I think the fact that this is a home game will serve us well.
This is the type of game where in real life if BYU was in Wazzu’s shoes I wouldn't just hope to win; I'd expect to win. The MWC conference leader should beat a mid Big-12 team. But that's what my old, naïve heart used to tell me.
Wazzu’s defense has been elite, only allowing 14 points per game this season (5th in the country) and only 93 yards rushing (3rd in the country). This doesn’t look to be the week I get the ground game going lol. I direct our OC that we’re going from pass first this week to pass heavy. This lowers our effective playcalling level from 8.3 to 7.3. Hmm. Wonder if I’ll regret that.
It’s a great fan turnout – 68,300 for a non-conference game – and uh, we give them a first half show to remember. Wazzu’s first points of the game come on a field goal with 4 seconds left in the half. That cut our lead from 34 to zero to 34 to 3. Yeah, we're whooping. We pick off Wazzu’s Jaden Howell three times and Rafael Wagner has a first half to remember, passing for three TDs (two to Grant Barry, one to an unknown Brodie Buckner) and rushing for another. Even when we run we find success. Tyler Huff is averaging 7 per carry at the half, while Roger Henderson is averaging 8. We’re over 100 yards rushing in the first half alone.
We start chewing clock beginning in the third quarter and coast to a 48 to 6 shellacking. Backup QB Randy Delossantos checks in during the third quarter and heaves a pair of touchdowns. Great experience for the youngster in our first blowout minutes of the whole year. A tight end and a wide receiver I’ve never heard of (TE Alexander Beck, WR Keaton McLaurin) catch the Delossantos TDs. 15 players in total catch passes – I wonder when we’ll threaten that record again, if ever. 561 yards on offense is our best output of the season. Holding Wazzu to 249 yards is our best defensive shakedown of the season. We are riding high as we come to a huge conference game against ASU.
The bad news is that after the game 4-star lineman Melvin Mccoy signs with Michigan. Cougarboard ain’t gonna love it. Melvin was from Woods Cross, Utah, so chalk this up as another close-to-home recruiting failure. I’m yet to sign a recruit this season. Should I be concerned?
Most of my recruiting big swings have faltered. I’ve wasted tons of points to come in second in a variety of battles. But finally with one elite recruit I’ve made some ground. Linebacker Martin Hendrix of Virginia is the 32nd best player in the country, and I have a 7 point lead for him over Notre Dame. How small a lead is 7 you may wonder? On a given week my best pitch gains me about 300 to 400 points. For ace recruiters I see their best pitches in the 600 point range. A campus visit can net as high as a 1,000 points. So yeah, it’s the smallest lead ever, but man I want a big win.
Week 10: BYU (5-3) at Arizona State (6-2)
Utah leads our pod but has two tough games remaining on the schedule: at #6 Baylor and at 6-2 ASU. We have a much easier end of season path, facing ASU sure, but also Houston, West Virginia, and Arizona, and those last three are all .500 or under. We are on the periphery of the top-25, ranked 31st.
Some pre-game notes (good edition): we welcome Mario Cody back to the offensive line this week.
Some pre-game notes (bad editions): LB Martin Hendrix has swung back to Notre Dame following an official visit to their campus.
I make the mistake of looking at our depth chart and realize that 4 of our top 7 guys have missed time this year. Much like my prior coaching experience, I can’t catch a break with where my injuries land.
The big question for this week is if I stick with the pass happy offense, or dial it back down to more balance. It was so effective last week I decide to stick with pass happy and see what happens.
ASU has the superior record at 6-2, but it’s a bit paper tigerish – hence the Vegas line only favors them by one. We win the toss and kick. We capitalize immediately with an interception and a touchdown pass to Grant Barry. After a slow start Barry is having a great latter half of the season. We catch a break with another turnover, this time a fumble in the second quarter. We immediately turn it into a touchdown to Kaden Parks. ASU misses a 50-yard and a 60-yard field goal and we enter the half leading 20 to 10. There are worries though. ASU outgained us 200 to 180 in yardage and drove the field multiple times before settling for field goals, much like in the Utah game. Is Bronco “bend but don’t break” hiding on my sidelines somewhere?
Wagner is picked off on the first play of the third quarter and I think, “uh oh hold on.” But instead of ASU starting a comeback, they miss their third field goal, a 48-yarder this time. Stubborn much, Mr ASU coach? We score. ASU misses their fourth field goal, a 51-yard try. We score. The 4th quarter is casual as we put a bow on a 34 to 17 win.
Wagner's stat line: 293 yards, 4 TDs. He could be setting himself up for a whale of a senior season. How was he only rated an 81 coming into this year?
Week 11: #25 BYU (6-3) at Houston (2-7)
You read that right, we’re ranked baby! Now please don’t let Houston, at 2-7 on the season, be a trap game like Cinci was.
At halftime it feels like it may be. We’re tied at 17 a piece. We’ve been playing catch up the whole game and haven’t led once. This is the least interested crowd we’ve played in front of all season (22,500 wow) and maybe that’s adding to the overall lethargy. But c’mon, we’re ranked! Let’s play like it!
Houston outscores us 3-0 in the third and so it’s 20-17 as we begin the fourth. I phone our offensive coordinator and tell him we’re not running the ball once this quarter. And so our first drive of the quarter goes pass-pass-pass-pass-passing touchdown. Boom. But Houston responds with a 46-yard touchdown pass and with 10 minutes remaining it’s 27 to 24 for the other Cougars. We’re in danger.
We go three and out, botch a punt, and Houston hits a 32-yard pass and is immediately in the red zone. Two plays later they score again. 34-24, Houston. Wow, we are getting gouged. 7 minutes 39 seconds left. Moments later we face 4th and 3 at our own 49. Do or die time ... and we do! Conversion is good!
We are driving but it takes forever. From 2nd and 2 on the goal line our OC calls for a QB sneak. I have a seizure. Does he not remember the Utah game? "Warn me first," I yell into the headset. We score to make it 34-31 (another scoreline with emotional scars) but now the defense needs to do what it has not been able to do once in the second half.
4:38 left. Houston passes for 10. Houston passes for 20. We're getting plowed. We force a 3rd and 3 with 2:24 and the ball on our 33. What do you call? We played a sink drop zone and Houston converts. With 57 seconds left it’s 3rd and 5 and we hold them. The field goal is good and so Rafael Wagner has a hero opportunity in front of him. We’re down 37 to 31 with 44 seconds remaining. But it's not meant to be this day; nobody is living right on or off the field in this team. We don't even get in hail mary territory. Houston wins.
I’m a bit speechless about that fourth quarter. At least we don’t need to pay attention to Utah anymore – we’re firmly out of the race for our pod, let alone the conference. It’s nice to pretend to ignore Utah who is having a monster season and just upset #9 Baylor on Gameday. Collectively Utah and Boise State are making me look bad. They’re a combined 19-1 and are ranked 5th and 6th respectively in the country.
Time to focus on recruiting. I only get 10 scouting actions a week and I need to increase that hastily to find some gems. I’ve swung at big recruits and am going to lose. Notre Dame in particular is gonna sideswipe me for a couple of key offensive line pieces. One such gem is a LB named Gustavo Bates.
Like real life BYU, our team has a glaring weakness – we can’t pressure opposing QBs. We are 86th in the country averaging 1.6 sacks per game. And by the way, may I interest in you some additional ranch on your salad? Starting RB Tyler Huff won’t be back this season – he’s got a major upper body injury.
Overall this season has felt very BYU 2005ish. Good quarterback who is racking up stats with a strong receiver corps and an elite tight end, and yet no ability to win close games.
We do get our first signing of our career – Oscar Mckoy out of Salt Lake is a 60 rated offensive lineman with a sparkling A+ potential. But a 60?? Is this the caliber of recruit I can reel in?
Elsewhere in recruiting Xavier Hayes is the TE nobody wants. I believe I’m his only offer. At 65 overall and B- potential, I'm hopeful for the future but he won't be a day one contributor.
Week 12 BYU (6-4) vs #22 West Virginia (6-4)
What a bizarre season for the Mountain people. They’re 6-4, same as us, but they’ve won three in row including an upset over #7 Oklahoma State and a 58 to 3 nuking of Oregon State. They have three 5-star recruits on their team – that’s impressive. They are solid on defense, weak at passing, elite at rushing. Obviously stopping the run becomes the week’s focus.
One question before we kickoff: is home field advantage worth like 10 points in this game? We’re favored by seven and I’m shocked. With Tyler Huff out, really?
We have a full house of recruits visiting this game, but I’m significantly behind on the majority of them. That takes a little pressure off.
We get 70,000 fans out for a cold, November night, with a four loss team. Cougar Nation, I salute thee. How do we have 70,000 you ask, given our stadium size? I know not.
Why are we so good at home? I also know not.
At halftime we hold a dominating 21 to 3 lead. Somehow Tyler Huff gets a carry for a touchdown? I thought I deactivated him? Did he pull a McMahon and refuse my coaching command? We miss a chipee that would have made it 24 to 3 as the half ends. Wagner has 253 passing yards at halftime. The second half is almost a duplicate of the first. We score 21 again, they score 7, and it’s a comprehensive 42 to 13 beating. Our mercurial season continues.
One of the visiting recruits was a highly touted WR named Ezekiel Carr and he loved his visit to BYU, rating it above his Penn State and Texas experiences! At a 75 overall rating, direct out of high school, he would immediately become my best recruit to date.
4:38 left. Houston passes for 10. Houston passes for 20. We're getting plowed. We force a 3rd and 3 with 2:24 and the ball on our 33. What do you call? We played a sink drop zone and Houston converts. With 57 seconds left it’s 3rd and 5 and we hold them. The field goal is good and so Rafael Wagner has a hero opportunity in front of him. We’re down 37 to 31 with 44 seconds remaining. But it's not meant to be this day; nobody is living right on or off the field in this team. We don't even get in hail mary territory. Houston wins.
I’m a bit speechless about that fourth quarter. At least we don’t need to pay attention to Utah anymore – we’re firmly out of the race for our pod, let alone the conference. It’s nice to pretend to ignore Utah who is having a monster season and just upset #9 Baylor on Gameday. Collectively Utah and Boise State are making me look bad. They’re a combined 19-1 and are ranked 5th and 6th respectively in the country.
Time to focus on recruiting. I only get 10 scouting actions a week and I need to increase that hastily to find some gems. I’ve swung at big recruits and am going to lose. Notre Dame in particular is gonna sideswipe me for a couple of key offensive line pieces. One such gem is a LB named Gustavo Bates.
Like real life BYU, our team has a glaring weakness – we can’t pressure opposing QBs. We are 86th in the country averaging 1.6 sacks per game. And by the way, may I interest in you some additional ranch on your salad? Starting RB Tyler Huff won’t be back this season – he’s got a major upper body injury.
Overall this season has felt very BYU 2005ish. Good quarterback who is racking up stats with a strong receiver corps and an elite tight end, and yet no ability to win close games.
We do get our first signing of our career – Oscar Mckoy out of Salt Lake is a 60 rated offensive lineman with a sparkling A+ potential. But a 60?? Is this the caliber of recruit I can reel in?
Elsewhere in recruiting Xavier Hayes is the TE nobody wants. I believe I’m his only offer. At 65 overall and B- potential, I'm hopeful for the future but he won't be a day one contributor.
Week 12 BYU (6-4) vs #22 West Virginia (6-4)
What a bizarre season for the Mountain people. They’re 6-4, same as us, but they’ve won three in row including an upset over #7 Oklahoma State and a 58 to 3 nuking of Oregon State. They have three 5-star recruits on their team – that’s impressive. They are solid on defense, weak at passing, elite at rushing. Obviously stopping the run becomes the week’s focus.
One question before we kickoff: is home field advantage worth like 10 points in this game? We’re favored by seven and I’m shocked. With Tyler Huff out, really?
We have a full house of recruits visiting this game, but I’m significantly behind on the majority of them. That takes a little pressure off.
We get 70,000 fans out for a cold, November night, with a four loss team. Cougar Nation, I salute thee. How do we have 70,000 you ask, given our stadium size? I know not.
Why are we so good at home? I also know not.
At halftime we hold a dominating 21 to 3 lead. Somehow Tyler Huff gets a carry for a touchdown? I thought I deactivated him? Did he pull a McMahon and refuse my coaching command? We miss a chipee that would have made it 24 to 3 as the half ends. Wagner has 253 passing yards at halftime. The second half is almost a duplicate of the first. We score 21 again, they score 7, and it’s a comprehensive 42 to 13 beating. Our mercurial season continues.
One of the visiting recruits was a highly touted WR named Ezekiel Carr and he loved his visit to BYU, rating it above his Penn State and Texas experiences! At a 75 overall rating, direct out of high school, he would immediately become my best recruit to date.
As I peruse the stats I notice that Wagner is 6th in the country in passing yards - nice. I also see CB Caden Daniels is the 6th fastest player in college football, at a speed rating of 114. So ratings can go over 100 in this game … interesting.
Week 12 BYU (7-4) vs Arizona (3-8)
The finale of my inaugural season is a pod game against the Wildcats. 'Zona is almost last in the country in passing yard defense, so Wagner and I are salivating. At 7-4 I’ve met my season expectations (win 7 games), I’m firmly out of the conference crown picture, so really the only thing on the line is donor Cristian Go’s request that I hold teams under 21 points per game (an ambitious request). Through 11 games I’m holding foes to exactly that number. Let’s see what game 12 brings. We’re heavy favorites because apparently in LaVell Edwards Stadium we are superheroes.
Perhaps I jinxed us. We trail 10 to 7 at halftime. Only 59K fans are in the stadium, suggesting a few fans may be studying for finals. It’s just been a very blah game, with two turnovers from Wagner, and one failed fourth down conversion. Both teams are scoreless in the third. Arizona scores a TD to open the 4th. How exactly do we go from scoring 42 against West Virginia to barely capable of moving the ball against Arizona?
Finally with 6 minutes left in the fourth we connect on a long 59-yard pass to Grant Barry. We score two plays later to make it 17 to 14 for the Wildcats. 5:43 left. Defense, we need ya.
Arizona’s first play is a 19-yard run. Woof. But we hold them to a punt and get the ball back with 4:16 to go. We go 13 plays and kick a tying field goal. 17 all. 1:49 left.
Arizona goes three and out. Wagner gets us to midfield but his hail mary is intercepted and we’re off to overtime once more.
Arizona gets the ball to start. It is absolutely freezing as ESPN put us on at the typical 8:30 PM slot and we’re past midnight now. But the only ones whose blood has turned to ice is our defense. Our first play is a sack. The second, an interception. Yes!! One 35-yard field goal later and we win 20 to 17. Victory plus donor money!
I have $3 million extra to play with. For now it goes to bolstering some NIL deals, especially for LB and CB. We turn our eyes to bowl season.
#22 BYU (8-4) vs Ole Miss (8-4) in the TaxAct Texas Bowl
I face Ole Miss in the Tax Bowl and if the name Ole Miss sounds familiar, well perhaps you’ll recall we dueled into triple OT earlier in the year. I’m not thrilled about a bowl rematch, but so be it.
Christmas madness descends upon me as I splash a 2.1MM NIL deal on a safety I’ve been chasing all year named Reese Mann. He’s rated a 71 with A- potential. I think he could be the real deal, and I’m incentivized to spend because 1) his other top team is the Utes and 2) I cashed another joyous donor check thanks to having JR LB Landon Gardner make the all Big 12 first team (more on that later).
I face Ole Miss in the Tax Bowl and if the name Ole Miss sounds familiar, well perhaps you’ll recall we dueled into triple OT earlier in the year. I’m not thrilled about a bowl rematch, but so be it.
Christmas madness descends upon me as I splash a 2.1MM NIL deal on a safety I’ve been chasing all year named Reese Mann. He’s rated a 71 with A- potential. I think he could be the real deal, and I’m incentivized to spend because 1) his other top team is the Utes and 2) I cashed another joyous donor check thanks to having JR LB Landon Gardner make the all Big 12 first team (more on that later).
Ole Miss’s best player is RB Garrett Chang. 2nd team SEC, over 1,300 combined scrimmage yards, with 8 TDs to boot. Against us earlier in the year he had the worst game of his career: 17 carries, 27 yards, 3 fumbles. I have to assume he’ll be coming for revenge. Does it make anyone else nervous when we play anywhere besides LaVell Edwards?
The first half is a solid, competitive affair which we lead 17 to 14. Chang hits us up for 64 yards on 10 carries in the first half. What he does in the second will determine the outcome of the game.
We have a few fans who traveled to Texas for this one (the game suggests the crowd level is in our favor, but at level 1, it’s the lowest I’ve seen all year, described as negligible). Unfortunately the third quarter belongs to Ole Miss. Wesley Gilbert fumbles, Kaleb Foster fumbles, and Ole Miss converts both into TDs. 28 to 17 as we enter the fourth. Where is our offense?
They show up in the fourth to make it 23 to 28, but a common theme this year has been our defense folding in the late game. Such is the case again. Ole Miss scores 10 more before this thing is through and they take the TaxAct Bowl 38 to 30. There goes my top-25 season.
I’m astonished to see Rafael Wagner threw for 407 yards. Grant Barry goes out with an absolute bang, hauling in 12 catches for 266 yards, which sneaks him with three whole extra yards past Jay Miller in 1973 for the BYU single game record. Tyler Huff in his first game back was horrible, netting 35 yards on 15 carries.
The winter season is off to a great start when Ezekiel Carr signs with us. He could be a speed merchant. I go way over budget on NIL (again!), investing $1.8MM on a CB named Hunter Jacques, and it works! Now let's hope he's good?
Playoffs, Award Season
Here are your conference championship matchups:
The most interesting conference championship result is that Boise is upset by SDSU and just like in 2010 their perfect season is ruined at the last minute. But this aint 2010 – it’s the era of the 12-team playoff, which while in real life I’m against, here in video game land is fun. In a too-true-to-real-life moment, Alabama fails to make the SEC championship but secures an at-large bid of course.
The first year of the 12-team playoff is bananas. The top 4 conference champs receive byes; that would be FSU, Florida, USC, and Utah (barf) who sadly beat Oklahoma State. The initial rounds pit Boise vs Auburn, Clemson vs Alabama (wow!), SDSU vs Penn State, and Ohio State vs Army (maybe the only stinker of the bunch).
The results are chalk: Auburn beats Boise, Bama beats Clemson, Penn beats SDSU, and OSU beats Army. In the next round I enjoy every minute of Alabama’s 35 to 13 win over Utah, while USC stomps Penn State and Florida defeats Ohio State.
In the semis Alabama beats FSU and Florida dusts USC meaning it will be an all-SEC showdown for the title game. That showdown belongs to ... Alabama. From at-large to champion. What a special underdog story for Nick Saban and co.
Lawrence Dorsey of Florida State wins the Heisman, passing for 4,745 yards, 39 TDs, and rushing for 252 and 8 TDs (contrast with Wagner who threw for 3,917/31). The crazy thing is FSU’s #1 WR came in second. Wagner is 7th, quite respectable.
During award season we don’t win anything national, but we grab a handful of Big 12 accolades:Jr QB Rafael Wagner, 2nd team
Sr WR Grant Barry, 1st team
So TE Wesley Gilbert, 2nd team (this one shocked me – his numbers all season were a bit pedestrian 34/426/2)
Jr LB Landon Gardner, 1st team (his number give me poor man Kyle Van Noy vibes: 11 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 FF, 2 int, 4 PBUs)
Sr S Dawson Browning, 1st team
Hunter McLeod, the head coach of New Mexico State, takes home coach of the year honors thanks to a 9-3 Aggie season. That’s more wins in one season than they had in the 2010s. (I don’t know if that’s true but it seems possible)
Remember that Dalton guy from Utah who sacked us four times in the rivalry game? He’s first team all American at DL and Big 12 DPOY. USC places two RBs on the first team offense.
The game lied to me! Upon deeper inspection I find freshman WR Kaleb Foster made the freshman all-American 1st team. So does OL Marcus Barnett– who? Yeah, I had the same reaction. He’s a freshman who only gave up one sack and played in all 12 games this season. Randy Delossantos is named to the 2nd team freshman all-American squad which is just silly; he only threw 27 passes on the year, gaining 197 yards. Did literally no other freshman QBs play this year?
Strangely, for as well as Wagner played all season, my defense finishes the year ranked 23rd in the country while our offense only finishes 41st. That’s what you get when you can’t run the ball for snot.
Having struck out on various RBs, I turn my attention to an unloved 2-star by the name of Micah Holt (Steve Holt’s!! brother of Arrested Development fame??).
I had been in the lead for JUCO OL Carl Munson, grandson of the dude from Up, but he was ultimately swayed by his weekend visit to Arizona State who upset #7 Utah 27 to 24. Carl, I don’t even blame you. I get warm and fuzzy feelings when the Utes lose too.
Ultimately we finish the year with an 8-5 record. Decent, but unsatisfying, especially in light of Utah and Boise's success. I wish I had one of the Cinci/Houston games back.
We turn our eyes now to 2023.
I had been in the lead for JUCO OL Carl Munson, grandson of the dude from Up, but he was ultimately swayed by his weekend visit to Arizona State who upset #7 Utah 27 to 24. Carl, I don’t even blame you. I get warm and fuzzy feelings when the Utes lose too.
Ultimately we finish the year with an 8-5 record. Decent, but unsatisfying, especially in light of Utah and Boise's success. I wish I had one of the Cinci/Houston games back.
We turn our eyes now to 2023.
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