Season 3 (2014)

[heznfire]

TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Champions

National Champions: South Carolina

ACC Champions: Maryland (24-7)
ACC Atlantic: Maryland
ACC Coastal: North Carolina

Pac-12 Champions: California (30-17)
Pac-12 North: California
Pac-12 South: UCLA

SEC Champions: South Carolina (55-0 [SIM - Technical Issues])
SEC East: South Carolina
SEC West: Missouri

Team Records

ACC

Maryland: 11-3 (9-0)
North Carolina: 12-2 (8-1)
Pittsburgh: 8-5 (6-2)
NC State: 3-9 (2-6)

Pac-12

California: 13-1 (9-0)
UCLA: 8-6 (6-3)
Utah: 9-4 (6-2)
Washington: 8-5 (6-2)

SEC

South Carolina: 14-0 (9-0)
Tennessee: 11-2 (7-1)
Missouri: 10-4 (6-3)
Texas A&M: 10-3 (6-2)

Bowl Games

BCS: Texas at South Carolina - (South Carolina, 59-38)
Fiesta: Tennessee at Utah - (Tennessee, 28-20)
Orange: Maryland at Nevada - (Maryland, 35-28)
Sugar: Notre Dame at North Carolina - (Notre Dame, 40-21 [SIM])
Rose: Wisconsin at California - (California, 38-24)
Capital One: Texas A&M at Michigan - (Texas A&M, 27-24)
Outback: Missouri at Illinois - (Missouri, 35-31)
Alamo: TCU at Washington - (TCU, 43-23)
Champs: Rutgers at Pittsburgh - (Pittsburgh, 59-42)
Holiday: Iowa State at UCLA - (UCLA, 56-21)

Conference Challenge

SEC: 9-3
Pac-12: 5-7
ACC: 4-8

SEC wins 2014 Conference Challenge by a four-game margin.


INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES

National Award Winners

Heisman
South Carolina QB Ryan Smith

Maxwell
South Carolina QB Ryan Smith

Walter Camp
South Carolina WR Shaq Roland

Bednarik
South Carolina DE Sharrod Hart

Nagurski
South Carolina DE Sharrod Hart

O'Brien
Oklahoma QB Blake Bell

Walker
Texas RB Johnathan Gray

Biletnikoff
South Carolina WR Shaq Roland

Mackey
Texas A&M TE Connor Washington

Outland
South Carolina T Mike Matulis

Rimington
Texas C Dominic Espinosa

Lombardi
South Carolina DE Sharrod Hart

Best LB
South Carolina OLB Devonte Holloman

Thorpe
California SS Jason Hayford

Groza
Wisconsin K Kyle French

Guy
South Carolina P Patrick Fish

Best Returner
South Carolina RB Nick Johnson


NCAA First-Team All-Americans

QB: Ryan Smith (South Carolina)
RB: Johnathan Gray (Texas)
RB: Giovani Bernard (North Carolina)
WR: Shaq Roland (South Carolina)
WR: Rashad Hayward (UCLA)
TE: Connor Washington (Texas A&M)
C: Dominic Espinosa (Texas)
G: A.J. Cann (South Carolina)
G: Kyle Costigan (Wisconsin)
T: Mike Matulis (South Carolina)
T: Josh Cochrain (Texas)

DE: Sharrod Hart (South Carolina)
DE: Jadeveon Clowney (South Carolina)
DT: Aaron Webb (California)
DT: Phillip Dukes (South Carolina)
OLB: Eric Striker (Oklahoma)
MLB: John Timu (Washington)
OLB: Devonte Holloman (South Carolina)
CB: Chaz Elder (South Carolina)
CB: Robert Woods (California)
FS: John Martin (South Carolina)
SS: Jason Hayford (California)

K: Kyle French (Wisconsin)
P: Patrick Fish (South Carolina)
RET: Nick Johnson (South Carolina)

NCAA Second-Team All-Americans

QB: Blake Bell (Oklahoma)
RB: Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin)
RB: George Atkinson III (Notre Dame)
WR: Jason Croom (Tennessee)
WR: Daniel Spencer (Houston)
TE: Darrell Baptist (Middle Tennessee State)
C: Kyle Harris (South Carolina)
G: Alejandro Crosthwaite (California)
G: Joe Harris (South Carolina)
T: Kaleb Johnson (Rutgers)
T: Rob Havenstein (Wisconsin)

DE: Mario Edwards (Florida State)
DE: Ryan Phillis (Indiana)
DT: Danny O'Brien (Tennessee)
DT: Alex Walker (Maryland)
MLB: Lorne Goree (Maryland)
OLB: Gabriel Woullard (East Carolina)
OLB: Javiere Mitchell (Auburn)
CB: Deion Bonner (Tennessee)
CB: Cadarious Sanders (South Carolina)
FS: Adam Carter (Pittsburgh)
SS: Brison Williams (South Carolina)

K: Nick Jordan (Texas)
P: Will Hagerup (Michigan)
RET: Jordan Payton (UCLA)

[deadrabbits23]

2014 Maryland Terrapins -- 11-3 (9-0)

2014 ACC Champions
2014 Orange Bowl Champions
Final Ranking: #2 in media poll/ #3 in coaches poll
---------------------------------------------------------
Season

After two straight ACC Championships and Orange Bowl Championships, Maryland had their sights set on the national Championship this season. Maryland had some setbacks early in their season in their non-conference schedule. Losing games to Utah(home), Missouri(away), and South Carolina(away).

But the team did not crumble or lose hope. They rebounded to go undefeated in the ACC, beating Florida State to go to the ACC championship game. Maryland played an undefeated North Carolina team in the ACC championship game. Maryland played lights out, to win the ACC for the third straight season.

Maryland just missed out on being selected for the BCS Championship game. Finishing 3rd in the BCS rankings, .002 behind Texas. Maryland went on to the Orange Bowl to face Nevada. Maryland won the Orange Bowl for the third straight season.

The offense relied on some Freshman QBs this season, Corbett and Sparks. The future is bright for these two young QBs. Senior Running back Justus Pickett had a great season and finally had a healthy season after being injured most of the time the past two seasons. Sophmore running back Wes Brown also got alot of carries and is looking to be an impact player next season. Junior wideout Stefon Diggs, had a monster season. He is now living up to the hype of being a high round draft pick. Maryland fans are hoping he comes back for one more season. Senior Wide receiver Marcus Leak played a big part in Maryland's offense the past three seasons. He had a great career at Maryland and will be hard to replace. Freshman wideout Fagan also had a good season. Will play a big role in the offense next season.

Maryland returned most of their starters on defense. The defense was led by 7 senior starters MLB Goree, SS Robinson, DE Bowers, DT Walker, DT Kilgo, CB Johnson, and DE Monroe. These players will be hard to replace next season. Maryland fans are hoping Junior OLB Twine and FS Clark stay another year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Season Stats Final stats

QB Corbett 2763 yds 26 TDs 17 INTs
QB Sparks 364 yds 5 TDs / 624 rush yds 2 TDs
RB Pickett 1300 yds 16 TDs
RB Brown 688 yds 11 TDs
WR Leak 750 yds 9 TDs
WR Diggs 1278 yds 14 TDs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awards

DT Alex Walker (2nd team AA) / (1st team ACC)
MLB Lorne Goree (2nd team AA) / (1st team ACC)
RB Justus Pickett (1st team ACC)
WR Stefon Diggs (1st team ACC)
SS Matt Robinson (1st team ACC)
DT Darius Kilgo(2nd team ACC)
DE Keith Bowers (2nd team ACC)
OLB Alex Twine (2nd team ACC)
FS Undray Clark (2nd team ACC)
P Nathan Renfro (2nd team ACC)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2015 Outlook

Maryland loses at least 7 starters on defense next season. Maryland will be switching to a Multiple D(3-4 base) due a surplus of LB depth. Possibility of having 6 Senior 80+ OVR linebackers. Maryland previously ran this defense in the 2012 season. Hopefully the scheme change goes smoothly...

On offense Maryland is looking to rely on Senior Stefon Diggs to be a gamechanger. Junior Wes Brown will be the main man at running back. The now Sophmore quarterbacks are looking to improve this season. Maryland is looking to win the ACC for the fourth straight season.

[ziff72]

2014 Missouri Tigers 10-4(6-2)

2014 SEC West Champs
2014 Outback Bowl Champs

Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The year started rough with a beat down in Cal. They recovered from that beatdown to reel off mulitple victories highlighted by 2 user victories. First they took out UCLA with a daring 4th and 1 conversion in the final seconds and then the ACC champs Maryland in a cat and mouse duel that finally went to Missouri. That got Missouri nationally ranked and gave then the inside track for the SEC West crown until a rainy night in Starkville when Miss St dismantled Missouri. That bad loss for Mizzou lingered all year as their ranking never recovered. When they met Texas A&M for the SEC West crown they were not feeling too confident. The Colombia crowd spurred Mizzou to a comeback victory as they scored 2 td's in the 4th to get it to OT. The 2OT victory was the biggest in school history. An Outback Bowl win capped off a 10 win season.

The team was lead by WR stud Dorial Green Beckham. He caught the majority of the teams balls and helped out on the ground. The 4 star stud QB Jeremy Carter started as a true freshmen and lead the team in rushing, but he shared time with Sophmore Matty Mauk who helped out the passing game.

Stats
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passing
----------------------------------------------
Carter 44.6% 1115yds 8td 14 int
Mauk 75.9% 1022yds 6td 0 int

Rushing
------------------------------------------------
Carter 869yds 12td....14 Fumbles!?!?!
Murphy 741yds 3td
DGB 262yds 2td

Receiving
---------------------------------------------------
DGB 1306yds 10td
McCauley 197 1 TD......May need to spread things around


Awards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

K A. Baggett (1st team SEC)
WR DGB (2nd Team SEC)
LB D. Ruise (2nd Team SEC) Lead nation in TFL's and got fucked out of the LB of the Year

2015 Outlook
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QB play will be improved, OL will be improved, RB will be steady, TE will improve and then none of that matters if we can't get DGB to return.

On defense DT will be an area of concern, The DE and LB's will be improved and the star CB and SS will return into a leadership role as Juniors. The d will not be elite but they should be improved. Mizzou has improved every year and now it gets tough as the SEC will be gunnning for them.

[beef1857]

2014 Tennessee Volunteers 11-2 (7-1)
2014 Fiesta Bowl Champs
Final ranking: #5 Media Poll, #5 Coaches Poll

Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As has been the theme lately, the Vols came into the season with hopes of winning the SEC and a national championship. Those dreams took a slight setback as for the second year in a row, the Vols lost a heartbreaker to an ACC team. Last year it was a last second loss to Maryland; this year it was a close 35-34 loss to North Carolina. Needless to say, I learned some coaching lessons during that game.

The Vols knew they could still win the SEC, however, and the de facto SEC East championship game is the annual matchup between Tennessee and South Carolina. For the third regular season game in a row, the Gamecocks came away with the W. The Vols did a good job of not letting the season go into a tailspin once their SEC dreams were dashed, winning the rest of their games on their way to a BCS bowl bid.

It speaks to the expectations of the program when a BCS bowl is a letdown, but that's exactly what the Fiesta Bowl was to the Orange and White. Until next season, they'll have to be happy just to have a trophy in the case in Knoxville.



Stats
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathan Peterman finished the season 143/210 (68.1%) for 3064 yards, 35 TDs, and 13 INTs. The sophomore returns next season looking to build on his success and lead a powerful offense.

RB It was running back by committee for the Vols this season, as former Heisman Trophy winner Marlin Lane couldn't show why he had won the prestigious award. Sophomore Davante Bourque and freshman Johnnie Wright did show promise towards the end of the season and look to build on their success in 2015.

As usual, the Volunteers boasted several good WRs, although this season there was no NFL-caliber target through the air. Juniors Jason Croom and Drae Bowles each finished with over 1,000 yards receiving with 1,250 and 1,018 yards respectively. Together they hauled in 30 TDs, but what kept them from really being elite were their combined 18 drops (I'm looking at you, Bowles, since you had 13 of those). In fact, Bowles had as many drops as he had TDs!

Defensively, AJ Johnson showed why he was selected as a captain, collecting 45 tackles, 15 TFLs, 4 sacks, 2 INTs, and 3 fumble recoveries. Danny O'Brien (remember me, Michigan fans?) solidified his spot as starting NT with 26 tackles, including 14 TFLs, and 7 sacks. The real stud of the defense was Deion Bonner, though, as the junior finished the season with 10 interceptions--averaging nearly an INT per game.


Awards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason Croom, second team all-American; first team all-SEC
Danny O'Brien, second team all-American; first team all-SEC
Deion Bonner, second team all-American; first team all-SEC
Phil Odom, freshman all-American
Dedrick Ramsey, freshman all-American, second team all-SEC

AJ Johnson, first team all-SEC
Nathan Peterman, second team all-SEC
Drae Bowles, second team all-SEC
Christian Harris, second team all-SEC
Curt Maggitt, second team all-SEC
Brian Randolph, second team all-SEC



While the Vols lose some of their best players, some youngsters have seen plenty of game action and are ready to step up and compete. Tennessee is also bringing in its best recruiting class yet, and there looks to be a few contributors there as well. The Vols might take a slight step back next season, but they'll start several sophomores--look for this team to be competitive in 2015, and a true contender in 2016.

[camkp]

2014 California Golden Bears 13-1(9-0)

2014 Pac-12 North Champs
2014 Rose Bowl Champs

Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Golden Bears were carried (maybe too much) by sophomore QB Joe Grigsby. He was in the Heisman race all season until a late season injury held him out for two weeks. RB Paul Scott contributed to the ground game and a committee of 3 WR's tried to replace the stats of first round NFL draft pick Keenan Allen from last season. Cal started the season of great with a wins over Mizzou, Notre Dame, Utah and UCLA. They cruised through the middle of the season and escaped a close 17-14 game over Washington and their triple option. In the showdown of the season against South Carolina, Cal imploded and got destroyed in Columbia knocking Cal out of the national title race.


Stats (excluding bowl game)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QB (So) Joe Grigsby 142-207 (69% completion) 2597 yards 31:12 TD:INT. 142 rushing attempts for 1100 yards and 16 TD
RB (So) Paul Scott 177 attempts 806 yards 7 TD
WR (Jr) Bryce Treggs 46 rec. 1097 yards 9 TD
WR (So) Cedric Dozier 37 rec. 779 yards 9 TD
SS (So) Jason Hayford 43 tackles 9 INTS 1 TD
CB (So) Robert Woods 24 tackles 10 INTS 1 TD
MLB (Sr) Chris McCain 49 tackles 12 TFL 2 sacks 1 INT


Awards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QB (So) Joe Grigsby - 2nd place Heisman, first team all Pac-12
LG (Sr) Alejandro Crosthwaite - 2nd team All American, 1st team all Pac-12
DT (So) Aaron Webb - 1st team All American and Pac-12
CB (So) Robert Woods -1st team All American and Pac-12
SS (So) Jason Hayford - 1st team All American and Pac-12, Thorpe (Best DB) Award
P (So) Cole Leininger - 1st team All Pac-12
RE (Jr) Todd Barr - 1st team All Pac-12
RB (So) Paul Scott - 2nd team All Pac-12
WR (Jr) Bryce Treggs - 2nd team All Pac-12
RG (So) Mike White - 2nd team All Pac-12
C (Sr) Chris Adcock - 2nd team All Pac-12
LE (Jr) Brennan Scarlett - 2nd team All Pac-12
TE (Fr) Mark Gibson - Freshman All American
CB (Fr) Jeremy Thomas - Freshman All American


2015 Outlook
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offense - Cal loses only 3 starters on offense who should be replaced by equal or better players next season. Overall the O-line should be better and all my skill position players return. Joe Grigsby will be in the Heisman conversation once again barring injury and my WR core should improve to help him out.

Defense - The defense loses 4 starters but should replace them decently. The secondary should move from a major weakness 3 years ago to a strength this season as I return two All Americans. My D-line should be improved as 2 highly rated recruits look to step in next season.

Overall - Cal looks to replicate its strong season last year. This team has been building for 2015 and 2016 as the high rated recruiting classes look to pay off as they are now Jrs and Soph's. After 3 straight Pac-12 and Rose Bowl Championships, the Golden Bears have their sights set on a national championship next year.