We touted this because the generation I grew up in thrived on video games, be it Madden or Bill Walsh College Football (which morphed into NCAA Football) or Halo. Part of the fun of all of this is predicting these sorts of things and we're going to follow the season along in NCAA using a simulated Notre Dame game each week. Curious to see how all of it pans out and how close to real life it is. In an effort to keep things realistic with time, we have this simulated at 5 minute quarters, which is the default setting for NCAA.
The Preseason Heisman list:
Brady Quinn, QB, Sr., ND
Adrian Peterson, RB, Jr., Oklahoma
Troy Smith, QB, Sr., Ohio State
Chris Leak, QB, Sr., Florida
Brian Brohm, QB, Jr., Louisville
Quinn and Tom Zbikowski were first-team preseason All-Americans and Jeff Samardzija a second-team pick.
Week 1 @ Georgia Tech: Both Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit picked Notre Dame to win the game in their pregame show -- it'll be interesting to see if both do Saturday. The first play of the simulated season was a Quinn pass over the middle to wide receiver Rhema McKnight. The Irish, behind a 73-yard touchdown pass from Quinn to Samardzija, jumped out to a 17-7 halftime lead. Georgia Tech's touchdown was a Reggie Ball pass to Calvin Johnson for 23 yards through Ambrose Wooden and Tom Zbikowski.
The second half saw more passing from Quinn and a Quinn-to-David Grimes 8-yard touchdown pass to give the Irish a 27-14 lead and an eventual 27-21 win in Atlanta, moving Notre Dame past its first obstacle for the national title.
Key Stats from the game:
ND: Passing: Brady Quinn 17-23, 240 yards, 3 TDs. Rushing: Darius Walker 9 carries, 53 yards. Receiving: David Grimes 4 catches, 45 yards, 1 TD; Jeff Samardzija 4 catches, 103 yards, 1 TD; Darius Walker 1 catch, 7 yards, 1 TD.
Defense: Terrail Lambert 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Tom Zbikowski 5 tackles, FF; Travis Thomas 3 tackles, FF; Derek Landri 2 TFL, 1 sack.
Kicking: Ryan Burkhart (yes, we know he's not the guy but Carl Gioia was unavailable) 2-2 FGs.
Also, Notre Dame's line didn't allow a single sack.
GT: Passing: Reggie Ball 21-30, 266 yards, 2 TDs. Rushing: Tashard Choice 10 carries, 48 yards; Reggie Ball 3 carries, 21 yards, 1 TD. Receiving: Calvin Johnson 7 catches, 133 yards, 1 TD.
Defense: Phillip Wheeler 8 tackles, 1 TFL.
After Week 1, here are some keys nationally that stood out:
Upset of the week: Akron 13, Penn State 7
Top 5: 1. Ohio State, 2. Texas, 3. Notre Dame, 4. USC, 5. LSU
Heisman Top 5: Brady Quinn, Adrian Peterson, Troy Smith, Chris Leak, USC defensive end Jeff Schweiger.
Major injuries: Miami QB Kyle Wright out two weeks; LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell out seven weeks; Penn State defensive end Jim Shaw out for ND game.
We'll do this every Thursday at some point for continuity's sake.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette
Michael,
What version of NCAA are you using?
Can you tell me more about it? For example, do they pronounce the names?
I've been thinking of buying one for years.
Posted by: bob drake | September 01, 2006 at 12:25 AM