Ohio State Dominant in Victory

Norman, OK - Following Ohio State's 60 and 70 point wins in weeks 1 and 2 against FCS schools, the team made a trip to Oklahoma to take on the #2 Sooners in what was billed to be a showdown between the nations best. That talk disappeared halfway through the first quarter as Ohio State gave the rest of the nation a reason to take notice.

The Buckeyes used 210 yards rushing and 3 scores from Heisman hopeful running back Chris Thomas and a ball hawking, lockdown defense that forced 2 turnovers en route to a 34-14 dismantling of the Sooners. Freshman quarterback Danny Graves threw for 225 yards in an impressive display of poise on the road as an 18 year old. Ohio State drove down the field in the first after holding Oklahoma to a 3 and out and picked up a field goal to go up 3-0. Less than a minute later Thomas walked into the endzone from 5 yards out following a fumble recover to make the score 10-0. The Buckeyes iced the game early in the third when Thomas broke off an 81 yard score to make it a 27-0 lead.

On a down note for the Buckeyes, Thomas bruised his shoulder early in the 4th and is expected to miss next weeks game in Columbus against Minnesota in the Big Ten opener for both squads. 'We couldn't have looked any better. Gave up a few late scores, but I'm incredibly proud of these guys. We came in to an extremely hostile environment against what many pundits referred to as the best team in the country and we were relentless. Not a perfect game by any stretch of the means, but as close as you can get 3 weeks into a season. I'm just sick for Chris (Thomas) however, it looks like it (shoulder) won't keep him out long, but one or two weeks for that kid is a lifetime for others. He works so hard and is so intense that he's pretty upset we have to hold him out. I know our backups are ready for the challenge however.' Aaron Jones commented after the game.

The Buckeyes head home next week to face the Gophers with a kickoff at 11am.

Buckeyes Cruise

Columbus, OH - The defending national champs and preseason #1 team in America wasted little time Saturday showing off their skills. The Buckeyes faced highly undermanned FCS MW and rolled to a 70-0 victory. Highly touted true Freshman QB D. Graves showed his skill by throwing for 346 yards and 6 touchdowns, albeit against a porous defense, it was still a good showing. Senior running back C. Thomas ran for 203 yards and 4 scores and added a 42 yard touchdown catch to cap his brilliant day. 'It was better than I expected today. You usually struggle in your first game to find a rhythm, regardless of who you play. It was a great tuneup, we have another game next week against a FCS school then hit the road to take on #2 Oklahoma, so needless to say these first two weeks are a great way to get our ducks in a row before the crunch begins.' said head coach Aaron Jones.

On the recruiting front, the Buckeyes have already inked 6 athletes for next season, highlighted by a trio of five star defensive prospects at SS, CB and DT. They also inked a trio of 4 star prospects at TE and 2 OLB's.

Gauntlet:Complete

Columbus, OH - The Ohio State Buckeyes arrived back to campus late last night after completing a perfect season with a 31-8 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the BCS Title Game. The Buckeyes dominated the game end to end led by Heisman winning running back Greg Matthews who ran for 3 scores and 188 yards. 'This was a special group. Outside of Greg and our loaded offensive line, there were alot of question marks heading into the season. i feel that our defense especially rose to the challenge and helped us get to this point.' said Jones after the win, his 6th National Title in as many years as a D1 coach.

The Buckeyes placed 8 players on the All-American list and an impressive 19 on the All-Big Ten team. 'We had a bunch of guys raise their level of play. Going forward, although we lose a lot of talent, what we're bringing back and bringing in will certainly raise the overall level of talent on this team. We may once again have the best running back in the country in Curt Thomas and our defense may be as talented as any I've had the pleasure to be around.' said Jones.

The future looks great for Ohio State who inked 9 five star players and 8 four stars. Among the stars are 2 five star quarterbacks. Senior running back Curt Thomas should pick up right where the departing Heisman winner Matthews left off. Thomas is a burner, he won't shake as many tackles as the uber talented Matthews did, but if he gets the corner, there are few at this level that have a chance to catch him.

Going forward, we'll provide game recaps for each of the Buckeyes games as they look to repeat as National Champions in a very tough Big Ten that placed 5 teams in the preseason top 15. Ohio State also has tough road games at 3rd ranked Oklahoma and at 12th ranked Oklahoma State.

Buckeyes Beat Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI - Following a first half that saw Ohio State tie the game on a field goal as time expired 3-3, the Buckeyes main man, running back Greg Matthews, showcased his talents in a big way. Matthews ripped off TD runs of 58 and 54 yards in the second half and added a 2 yard score in the 4th to seal the win for Ohio State, 30-15. 'It was a tense game, that's for sure,' said coach Jones, 'It may be the only game I've ever coached in where we were going to win the conference regardless of the outcome, but our fans would have been outraged with that result. We'd bring home a conference title, but a loss to that team would have put me on the hot seat.' he added.

Ohio State now turns their focus, and 11-0 record to similarly unbeaten and 11-0 Oklahoma in Norman. The Buckeys enter ranked #1 while Oklahoma currently stands at #3 with only unbeaten Notre Dame separating the teams. The winner is almost assuredly guaranteed a spot in the BCS Title game, more so for Ohio State who wraps up their regular season while Oklahoma will still have a Big 12 Title Game in store for them. 'Aside from a BCS Title game, this is as big as it gets. It's a playoff atmosphere for sure, win and you advance, lose and you're done, for a shot at the national title that is. The game at Michigan was an excellent tune up for us, it gave our guys confidence that we can in fact go on the road against a top team and win. I'm just a little concerned that Oklahoma's defense may be able to stop Greg(Matthews). With the state of our passing game, if he can't do his thing we may be in trouble. Just have to hold onto the ball, block and tackle well and we'll be ok.' said Jones.

The game was moved from an 11am kick to an 8pm kick on ABC's Game of the Week to showcase not only perhaps the biggest game of the year to date, but also the top two players in the Heisman race, the Buckeyes' running back Greg Matthews and the Sooners' quarterback Kenny Smith.

Midseason Recap

Sitting at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference things are looking good for the Ohio State Buckeyes to date. The Buckeyes took care of business to date as to be expected, but some daunting challenges lie in wait the final five weeks of the season. The Buckeyes travel to 7th ranked Penn State this coming weekend followed by home dates against Wisconsin (4-3) and Illinois (3-4) before traveling to 5th ranked Michigan (6-1) and 3rd ranked Oklahoma (8-0). 'We have to be better in the second half if we want to get to where we want to be.' said head man Aaron Jones. Offensive leaders for the Buckeyes to date are Senior quarterback Jared Gary who is 72-143 on the season for 963 yards with 9 td's and 3 picks. Junior receiver Tim Brown has only 12 catches but 249 yards and 4 td's. The main man is senior running back and Heisman frontrunner Greg Matthews who has 1,055 yards and an amazing 16 td's on the season. Part of the reason for Matthews jaw dropping numbers has been the downright pathetic play from the quarterback position. Incoming freshman quarterback Dave Jackson has Buckeyes fans drooling for the first time since Terrelle Pryor first suited up for Ohio State. Despite Gary's flaws, he is the 4th rated qb in the Big Ten. Matthews is second in the conference in rushing yards but has 10 more touchdowns than anyone else and his 8.3 ypc is best in the NCAA.

Defensively the Buckeyes are headlined by sophomore strong safety Ronnie Love who has 3 picks on the season, 2 of which he took the distance. Sophomore d-end Chance Robinson leads the team in sacks with 4.

As a team, the Buckeyes post the 3rd highest scoring offense at 36.7 ppg and the 3rd best defense, highlighted by their stout rush defense which has surrendered an NCAA best 257 yards. Ohio State is also +8 in turnover differential, good for 5th in the country.

It'll be an interesting second half to the campaign, in 5 weeks we'll know just where this version of the Buckeyes stand with 3 of their next 5 against top 10 teams, all on the road.

24 Point 4th Dooms Spartans

Columbus, OH - For nearly 3 and a half quarters last night in Columbus it looked like college football was bracing for an epic upset as the Michigan State Spartans 2-3(2-1) held a 14-7 lead over second ranked Ohio State 6-0(3-0). The final 2:49 of the game however saw just what kind of fireworks the Buckeyes possess this season. Following a 24 yard field goal by Rob Patterson to narrow the gap to 14-10, Ohio State turned it on. Heisman hopeful running back Greg Matthews had a 60 yard TD run followed 40 seconds later by a 16 yard run followed 10 seconds later by a scoop and score by Rob Sanders, and just like that, in the span of less than 2 minutes, the Buckeyes went from down 14-10 to up 31-14. 'We had them, no questions, they were on the ropes, but their talent eventually shined through. It was a disheartening yet magical 2 minutes there.' said Michigan State's head coach.

The Buckeyes were an embarrassment for the first 3 quarters, some for the entire game like starting quarterback Jared Gray who completed only 2 passes the entire night. Both were long gains however as he did have 102 yards passing, the big one being a 78 yard score to Tim Brown at the end of the first half. Greg Matthews was bottled up for all but one minute of the game. He finished with 122 yards and 2 scores on 11 carries, 76 of those yards coming on his two scores. 'It was ugly. We should be sitting at 6-1, no question about it. Greg saved us, if he's not the best player in the country I don't know who is...he's the most talented player I've coached in my lifetime.' said Jones.

The Buckeyes, who improved to 7-0(4-0) with the win travel to Happy Valley next weekend to face a formidable challenge in the seventh ranked Nittany Lions 6-1(4-1). On the recruiting front for Ohio State, the Buckeyes currently have the #1 rated class according to Scout.com with 8 five star commits, 4 four stars and 2 3 stars. Headlining the class to date is quarterback Dave Jackson, a 6'1" pocket passer from Texas, widely considered to be the best quarterback in the incoming class. Ohio State has 4 top 10 rated recruits according to the ESPN150 and 9 players overall on the list. 'We're looking really good for next season, I'm proud of what we've done so far, The Ohio State University is back on the national radar in these kids homes.' commented Jones.

A Quick Thanks

I wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that has subscribed to the site. We're approaching 400 page views and 20 subscribers to date. I'm just glad that there is some interest out there for this type of site. Continue to send feedback, either in the comments section or shoot me an email at alj7279@yahoo.com. Also, send in some info on your own dynasties so we can share the successes of everyone. I'll have a post later tonight on my Ohio State season, things are looking good so far in Columbus, I even had my return to Minnesota for the first time since leaving there for Alabama. Again, thanks everyone, continue to spread the word.

Sloppy Win for Buckeyes

Blacksburg,VA - Following back to back blowouts against Central and Eastern Michigan, the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes had their first real test on the road last night at Virginia Tech. In the mud and rain, Ohio State squeezed out a 21-0 victory that saw the Buckeyes top two running backs go down to injury. Greg Mathews, the Buckeyes All-American and Heisman Hopeful running back ran for 52 yards and a score on 12 carries before pulling a hamstring early in the third. Junior Chris Thomas filled in for 26 yards on 8 carries and a score before he strained his back. Thankfully for Ohio State, third string back Riley Miller had 2 carries for 39 yards, none more important than a 30 yard touchdown with 2 minutes left to put the game on ice. 'We had a tough go of it today' said Buckeyes coach Aaron Jones, 'Greg went down early which really scared us. It's no secret that we need to drastically improve our passing game, and being on the road, especially in this stadium, you never want to have to change your gameplan up at half. We got lucky today, our defense was lights out, they won that game for us today.'

The Buckeyes stout defense racked up 4 sacks and intercepted a pass late while giving up only 101 yards and 4 first downs. 'The weather certainly helped to skew those numbers a bit, but wow, our guys on defense certainly came out flying.' said Jones.

Ohio State improves to 3-0 on the season while Virginia Tech drops to 3-1. The Buckeyes host Northwestern (2-1) next Saturday to open Big Ten play. Kickoff is set for 11am.

Jones Heads Back to Big Ten

Columbus, OH - SEC teams outside of Alabama cheered today and Big Ten teams outside of Columbus cowered in fear. The reason for such reaction? Aaron Jones has decided to not renew a contract to coach the Crimson Tide and instead turned his focus to attempt to restore order at The Ohio State University.

Jones, a young coach at 36 now and with only five seasons under his belt at the Division 1 level has already become a legend amongst the coaching fraternity having posted a 68-0 career record with 5 BCS Titles to his credit. He was a surprise hire at Minnesota to begin the 2010 season as a complete off the radar coach. He promptly shocked the college world by leading the Gophers to back-to-back national titles before bolting for the University of Alabama and their rich tradition and fertile recruiting ground. Jones put together 4 top rated recruiting classes at Bama and led the Tide to 3 consecutive national titles. 'Minnesota was a tough job. Their facilities and academics are top notch, but the lack of tradition and lack of a consistent solid recruiting base made things difficult. When Alabama came calling I felt it was the right time to make a move. They are an historically powerful team and with the high school talent in the southeast it made for a much easier job. We had top talent beating our door down, it freed up time for the staff to focus on solid gameplans.' said Jones.

The move to Ohio State will be a true test for Jones' talents. The Buckeyes have slipped in the last 5 seasons, losing to Michigan 4 years in a row which opened the door for a new hire as Jim Tressel was let go. Jones moves from an Alabama team that started 5 star recruits at nearly every position to a team that has struggled to finish in the top 40 in terms of recruiting classes for the past few seasons. Ohio State still has plenty of things going for it. Their history, academics, location, fan base, facilities and campus are all top notch. Combine those advantages with the ability of Jones to secure top talent and it's no wonder opposing coaches in the conference are a bit worried. 'He's done it in this conference with a bottom dweller, there's no reason to think for a minute that Ohio State won't be back on top, maybe even this season.' commented an opposing Big Ten coach.

'I've given my heart and soul to the University of Alabama and it exceptionally passionate fans. We had an amazing run the last three seasons. Upon reflection, I feel that there is little more I can accomplish at this school and have decided to take the position at Ohio State to present myself with new challenges. I look forward to rebuilding the Buckeye program and to take that school to heights it never dreamed possible and I wish the University of Alabama continued success. I have a feeling that the Crimson faithful have not seen the last of me. I can only hope that The Ohio State University and the University of Alabama have the chance to meet in the future. With the talent in Tuscaloosa, I'm sure that will be the case. Good luck and thank you all for a great ride.' said Jones of his departure.

A quick side note, the Jones hire has already paid off for Ohio State as he vaulted the Buckeyes' recruiting class into the top 10 for the first time since 2011 and has already inked a 5 star recruit for next season.

Banner Year Ends in Three-Peat

Glendale,AZ - The Crimson Tide finished off another perfect year last night in a 31-8 dismantling of the previously undefeated Miami Hurricanes. Bama scored on a 23 yard touchdown pass then promptly forced a fumble on the kickoff and 2 plays later when Doug Vaughn walked into the endzone from the five you could feel the Hurricane players and faithful deflating. Alabama, with an NCAA record 11 All-Americans on the field could not be stopped all night. 'They were big, they were strong and they were really fast. Everything you hear about their mystique and athleticism is true...best team I've seen in a long, long time.' commented Miami's head man following the loss.

Of course the attention now focuses to Aaron Jones as he is expected to make his decision on his coaching future by the end of the week. 'I love everything that we have going at Alabama...I just need a few days to reflect on where I am mentally and I should have an announcement by the end of the week. I'm not going to drag this decision out, I need to get to work, wherever that may be.' said Jones.

Was this the last game at Alabama for Jones? Time will tell, we'll have the news as it breaks.

Bama Rolls to Third Straight SEC Title

Tuscaloosa,AL - Alabama faced off against a surprise foe in the SEC Title Game last night in the South Carolina Gamecocks. As expected, the Tide ran straight through South Carolina en route to a 45-24 victory, good enough for their third straight SEC Title and third straight trip to the BCS Title Game. The Tide will face off against the ACC Champion in undefeated Miami.

While the emotions are high on campus, the outlook is growing grim at the University Offices as the future of head coach Aaron Jones is still up in the air. Jones turned down extension offers from Alabama in each of the past two seasons. What makes the outlook even more ominous is that Jones has been more than outspoken about his desire to build multiple programs into national powerhouses. Whether Jones leaves or not, the future talent at Bama looks strong as all major media outlets have reported that barring an unforeseen set of circumstances the Tide will land their fourth straight top rated recruiting class.

Bama Inks 6 After Huge Win

Tuscaloosa,AL - Following Alabama's impressive 52-7 defeat of #15 South Carolina on Saturday head man Aaron Jones announced the signing of 6 athletes for next years squad. Alabama controlled the game from beginning to end against the Gamecocks, outgaining them 391 to an astounding 152. The stars came to play again, Demetrius Fowler threw another 3 td's and Vaughn ran for 104 yards and 2 scores. Perhaps more incredibly, the Tide's D stepped up again and for the 4th game in a row had a defensive touchdown, this one a 27 yard pick six from CB #10.

Jones commented after the game about the game and freshly inked recruits. 'We played unbelievably well today against a very strong opponent. I couldn't be more proud of our guys, they are really starting to come together. On the recruiting front, we did sign 6 players today. We signed 3 star punter Andrew Carey from Texas, 4 star corner Xavier Mangum from Georgia, 4 star corner Richard Tillman from Alabama and 5 stars in defensive end Lance Williams from Louisiana, linebacker Mark Hardy from Georgia and linebacker Shawn Wheatley from South Carolina. We're obviously very please to have these guys jump on board and to do it so early is truly a testament to the strength of our great institution here at Alabama.'

Martin Knows Best

College Station, TX - Texas A&M is 8 games in and still undefeated. Coach Martin is looking like a genius after last years recruiting, there were a ton of people who criticized his recruiting last year because he focused a lot on defensive players and wasn't trying to improve his offensive line or even find a replacement for his senior QB. After the first 4 games, America now knows why he did that, the Aggies shut out the first four teams they came up against including two top 25 teams. After 8 games the Aggies have only allowed an astonishing 17 points. 10 weeks into the 2012 season Coach Martin has once again focused a lot on defense but has put a little bit more effort into recruiting his first 5 star QB and 4 star RB to help improve his offense. After 8 games the Aggies offense has been a dominant force so we sat down with running backs #33 and #32 to see how they have each racked up over a 1000 yards rushing. RB #33 said "The offensive line has to be the biggest reason we have both been able to reach the 1000 yard mark". Right now the Aggies are ranked #3 after being jumped after week 8, the Aggies are looking to get back into the top 2 by season end so they can once again play for the national title.

Redemption

Fayetteville,AK- The Razorbacks happened to catch the Alabama Crimson Tide at the wrong time. Coming off a sloppy victory against Arizona, Alabama was on their 'A' game in a decisive beating of the hapless Razorbacks 62-9 last night. Arkansas took the opening kickoff and promptly moved the ball well until CB#10 picked off a pass and took it 69 yards down the right sidelines to paydirt to put the Tide up 7-0...they never looked back from there. Demetrius Fowler was back on track throwing for 205 yards and 3 scores on 12 of 15 passing. Doug Vaughn solidified his position as the feature back by running for 134 yards on only 14 carries including a pair of touchdowns. Junior Tommy Hawk had a good game with 2 receiving touchdowns and 4 catches for 69 yards total. Fowler again showed his patience by hitting 7 different receivers on the afternoon. It appears as if the strength of this Alabama edition will be their defense as they once again had a defensive touchdown, their third in three games. Alabama outgained the Razorbacks 403-238 and forced 3 turnovers as opposed to 1. 'To win on the road in this league you have to win the turnover battle, bottom line. If you can win that category you set yourself up to have a chance at the end. Today, we were fortunate enough to have some playmakers step up and do their thing...trust me, it was not as easy as it looked. Arkansas is a talented team, our guys just happened to come up with the big plays when we needed it.' stated Aaron Jones following the game.

Up next for the Tide 3-0(2-0) is easily their toughest challenge to date as undefeated and 15th ranked South Carolina 4-0(2-0) makes the trip to Tuscaloosa. 'They are real tough this season. They took out a powerful Georgia team with relative ease. I can't say it enough, we have to play flawless ball on Saturday to walk away with a win.' Jones said of the Gamecocks.

On the recruiting front, this game represents a big opportunity for Alabama as they have 8 highly recruited high school seniors on campus for the game. Among the visitors will be Xavier Mangum, a hard hitting 4-star cornerback from Georgia who has given a verbal commitment to the Tide.

A Win is a Win

Tuscaloosa,AL- The Alabama Crimson Tide improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 27-9 win over the visiting Arizona Wildcats...somehow. Junior quarterback Demetrius Fowler followed up a strong showing against Ole Miss with a horrendous performance against what was believed to be a far inferior Wildcat defense. Fowler was 5-19 for a measly 96 yards, throwing for a score and a pick. Thankfully for the Tide running back Doug Vaughn and the defense saved the day. Vaughn ran for 135 yards and a score on 22 carries highlighted by a 57 yard TD run in the second quarter to put Bama up 7-3. The defense again scored a touchdown on a 37 yard pick six and set up another score with a fumble recovery deep in Arizona's side of the field. 'Boy was it ugly. I usually don't care how we win as long as we win, but this was a terrible display of football today. I wouldn't rank us anywhere near the top 25 after that display. We'd have struggled to beat a local high school team today.' said a furious coach Jones following the game.

The road gets much tougher for the Crimson Tide 2-0(1-0) after today as they travel to SEC foe Arkansas 1-1(0-0)next Saturday. Arkansas beat Air Force in week 1 and lost to #25 Texas A&M 31-12 last week. 'It'll be tough for sure. It's never easy to go on the road in this conference and pick up a win. If we play at all like last week, we'll be in for a long day and our guys will be in for a long week of practice.' stated Jones.

VideoGameDynasties Podcast #3

Third podcast is up and running. Lower audio quality but FAR faster download times. Click here to download and enjoy!!

NCAA 11 Spectacular

Just went in and simmed an entire season of NCAA 11 to see how EA's version matches up against pundits from across the country and ultimately, how they stack up come January. Below is a hodgepodge of the results to include: conference winners, big bowl matchups, award winners, interesting facts etc. I'll also have a podcast up later today to break down a little more in depth how this turned out. Okay, here we go.

ACC Atlantic - Florida State 10-3(7-2)
ACC Coastal - Georgia Tech 12-1(8-2)

Interesting that Florida State beat Ga. Tech 41-38 in the ACC Title Game.

Big 12 North - Nebraska 9-4(5-4)
Big 12 South - Oklahoma 12-1(8-1)

Oklahoma destroyed Nebraska in the Big 12 Title Game 45-13

Big East - West Virginia 11-0(7-0)

Big Ten - Ohio State 12-0(8-0)

Pac 10 - Washington 10-2(8-1)

SEC East - Georgia 9-4(6-3)
SEC West - Alabama 13-0(9-0)

Bama rolled Georgia 48-6 in SEC Title Game

The Top 10 looked like this leading into the bowls:

1. Ohio State 12-0
2. Alabama 13-0
3. West Virginia 11-0
4. Boise State 11-0
5. TCU 11-1
6. Iowa 11-1
7. Oklahoma 12-1
8. Ga. Tech 12-1
9. Oregon 10-2 interesting that Wash. was PAC-10 Champ
10.Utah 11-1

The Heisman went to Greg McElroy from Alabama.

Now to the Bowls:

Las Vegas Bowl - 6-6 Oregon State knocked off #10 and 11-1 Utah 20-13

Brut Sun Bowl - 8-4 USC took care of 8-4 Miami 26-19

Big Ten looked good as Wisconsin (8-3) took out Georgia (9-4) 26-15 in the Outback Bowl and Michigan (7-5) downed Florida (7-5) 20-10 in the Gator Bowl.

Now the biggies

Rose Bowl - Washington (10-2) took out West Virginia (11-0) 31-13

Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma (12-1) took care of Ga. Tech (12-1) 30-25

Orange Bowl - Florida State (11-2) took out TCU (11-1) 36-34

Sugar Bowl - Boise State (11-0) destroyed Iowa (11-1) 26-3

BCS Title - Ohio State (12-0) ripped apart Alabama (13-0) 38-10

A quick recap of BCS Conferences Bowl Records

ACC 3-3
Big East 2-2
Big Ten 6-1
Big 12 3-6
SEC 3-6
Pac-10 5-0

That does it for the 2011 Spectacular...check out the podcast for a more in depth look at the simulated season in comparison to preseason predictions from numerous sources.

Bama Rolls

Tuscaloosa,AL- Alabama got off on the right foot in 2014 by shredding conference foe Ole Miss 44-7 in the season opener. The Tide started slow, leading 3-0 after the first quarter, but blew the game wide open in the second on the strength of 2 TD passes and a fumble return for a TD to take a commanding 24-0 lead at the half. The second half was no better for the Rebels as Alabama got 2 more touchdown passes and a pair of field goals to go up 44-0 early in the 4th. Ole Miss put together their only real offense late in the game to avoid being shut out.

Junior Demetrius Fowler went 20-25 with 266 yards and 4 TD passes to lead the way for Alabama offensively. Doug Vaughn struggled to get anything going on the ground running 18 times on the day for a paltry 52 yards. Redshirt Freshman Melvin Freeman picked up 26 yards on 8 carries. Fowler did a great job spreading the ball around as 4 different receivers caught a touchdown and 7 different receivers overall had at least a catch.

'We started a touch slow, but that's to be expected in the first game of the season, guys are a little bit uptight to get the new year rolling. I felt we really played well in the middle quarters. It was a great victory overall. Opening up with a conference game is rare and to come out on top will hopefully set the tone for the entire season. I think the guys today learned that when they play together, limit mistakes and execute the gameplan they can be quite special. I'm looking forward to Arizona heading here next week. It'll be a great test against another BCS conference team to gauge where we stand.' commented Aaron Jones after the game.

Alabama 1-0(1-0) hosts the Arizona Wildcats 1-0(0-0) next Saturday. Arizona defeated FCS SE 41-3 in their opener. Gametime is set for 11:00 am. On a side note, despite the victory, Michigan dethroned Alabama from the #1 spot for the first time in over a full calendar year on the heels of their 45-17 rout of then #4 Notre Dame.

2014 Season Preview

Tuscaloosa,AL- Alabama enters the 2014 season as the 2 time defending SEC and BCS Champions. The Tide completed back-to-back undefeated seasons and defeated Michigan in back-to-back BCS Title Games. 2014 looks to have no fewer expectations than years past as the Tide have a host of letterwinners returning and a string of 3 straight top ranked recruiting classes.

Junior Demetrius Fowler (6'2", 214) is the man in charge at the QB position. He has seen limited action the last two seasons but was a highly touted recruit. At running back the Tide boast a trio of burners in Doug Vaughn, Melvin Freeman and Eric Mack who should all vie for time with Vaughn being the favorite to be the feature back. The strength of the Tide this season remains their receiving corp and offensive line. Aaron Colvin, Anthony Bryant and Tommy Hawk are 3 of the best receivers in the entire country and the fact that they are on the field together makes Bama an explosive offense. The O-Line reloaded again this year and feature 5 preseason all-SEC performers. The young but exceptionally talented defense is led by preseason All-American selections in Junior linebacker Doug Maxey and Junior defensive end Chad Roland. Freshman Jermaine Smith takes over the kicking duties and as the highest rated kicking recruit it appears as if Bama will once again excel in the kicking game.

One key difference for the Tide this season in comparison to the previous two is the strength of the SEC. Aside from the top ranked Tide, the SEC boasts fellow top ten teams in LSU, Georgia and Florida. Just behind the cream of the crop are top 25 picks in Auburn and Tennessee. 'This season certainly is shaping up to be a much more difficult run than years past' said Jones. 'with a host of teams littered throughout the top 25 and a team that has a larger mix of underclassmen than previous iterations, we're in for a real fight. Whoever comes out on top of this conference will certainly have earned it.'

Despite the incredible talent of the SEC teams, Alabama has a rather favorable schedule. They do have 2 tough road games at Tennessee and at LSU. Aside from that, their road games are Arkansas, Kentucky and Georgia Tech, all talented teams to be sure, but none should truly give Alabama a run for their money. Alabama's nonconference schedule features home dates with Pac-10 member Arizona and Big-12 North member Iowa State.

With the number of players back with experience, a rather favorable schedule and a bunch of 5 star prospects ready to take the field, we expect Alabama to finish the regular season undefeated for the third straight season and to match up against Florida for a repeat of last seasons defensive minded conference title game. We expect Alabama to still be just a touch better than the Gators and to meet Michigan for a third straight season in the BCS Title Game. Although the Wolverines appear to have closed the talent gap this season, we expect the experience of head man Aaron Jones and his talented Tide to once again roll the Wolverines.

Heads Up

Ok, so I'm an idiot. I've recorded the first 2 podcasts in like crazy amazing high quality mode. Although they sound great, they take up a lot of space and take forever to upload and download. Going forward I'm scaling from 32bit to 16bit so although the sound quality may dip the faster speeds will outweigh that. Thanks for listening and reading to date.

Podcast Time

Here is the second episode of the Video Game Dynasties podcast. Enjoy and good luck with your dynasties.

Texas A&M Brings Home Title

College Station,TX - Cinderella's shoes do indeed fit. The Texas A&M Aggies completed a dream season that ended with the school's first ever BCS National Title. A&M was heavily criticized at the start of the season for bringing in a virtual nobody in head coach Shane Martin to lead the Aggies. Martin had limited coaching experience and was considered to be a sign that the University was in a full on rebuilding stretch and wanted to keep their coaches' salaries low. 5 months later as the college football world tries to gather themselves from the staggering and unexpected season that A&M had provided, everything suddenly looks bright on campus. Texas A&M, considered by many to be a 3rd place finisher in the Big 12 South at best had just completed an amazing run through one of college footballs toughest conferences and had laid waste to one of college footballs historically great teams in Alabama to bring the BCS Title to College Station. 'What a season. I had told the guys back in August that if we just believed in each other and could wade through all the negativity surrounding the team that we could have a very special season.' said head man Shane Martin. 'When I said special, to be honest, this type of run never truly crossed my mind. I'm speechless at the moment.'

A&M thwarted all the supposed experts as they ran through the Big 12 South undefeated with only Texas able to stay within 3 scores of the Aggies and their out of nowhere bullish defense. They were led by DE #99 who led the nation in sacks with 21 on his way to multiple post season awards. Most of the experts undoubtedly grinned a bit when the Aggies drew Alabama in the title game in which the Tide were favored by double digits. After a 3-0 Bama lead at the end of one it looked like A&M was in for a fight...that all changed in a matter of minutes in the second quarter however as the pressure began to overwhelm the suddenly undermanned Crimson Tide. Alabama threw 2 pick sixes en route to being thoroughly decimated by the relentless Aggie pressure. 'We got off to a little bit of a slow start tonight, but as always, our never quit defense stepped it up and assured that our magical run was not quite near its' end.' commented Martin.

Going into 2011 the Aggies appear quite strong. They return more than half of their starters from last season. Combine that with a top 20 recruiting class and it comes as no surprise that many preseason polls have them rated as the number 6 team headed into the season. Head man Shane Martin signed a six year extension at the beginning of this season, assuring College Station that they will be a force for the remainder of the decade. When asked about rumors circulating that both LSU and USC had offered him a position in the offseason, Martin responded, 'This is neither the time or place to discuss such matters. I did have some suitors during the offseason, but I never wavered in my commitment to this great University.'

Thanks to Shane for providing us with some details of his dynasty. Looking forward to hearing more.

Podcast

Here is the first ever VideoGameDynasties podcast!! A quick 10 minute episode to get a feel for how the recording is going to sound and how easy it will be for all of you to access. Just click the title of the post and download the .wav file. Should be able to open it with whatever player is your default. Had some feedback that it works and sounds great.

Three-Peat?

Tuscaloosa,AL - It was a big day for Alabama fans today. The University announced that head coach Aaron Jones was in fact returning for another season. Jones had the following to say, 'I am in fact returning for the 2014 season. I turned down a 6 year extension, it's not out of the realm of possibility that I would reconsider at the end of this season, it was just not the right time to pull the trigger on that kind of deal. Also, the multiple reports this offseason were in fact true, I was offered and in fact interviewed for the open positions at Texas and Michigan. After weighing all of my options, I did decide that Tuscaloosa was still the best spot for me to be. I also want to take this time to announce that we have concluded our recruiting for the season and have again landed the number one class according to Scout.com and ESPN.com.'

Alabama is once again the preseason number one team in the country, no real surprise considering they are coming off of back-to-back national titles and three straight top rated recruiting classes. Although they have a bit of a dip in overall talent, projecting out to have a meager 5 first round draft picks as opposed to 2 seasons ago when they had a dozen. This team is however loaded with young talent. There are a handful of upperclassmen slated to start the season, the rest of the depth chart is littered with exceptionally talented freshmen and sophomores. 'I feel that although we may be a bit weaker overall than years past, the future of the Alabama program has perhaps never been brighter. We have freshman and sophomores on this team that will struggle to see the field in their career here that have NFL talent. It's a nice problem to have, I can assure you of that.' said Jones.

The SEC is on the upswing this season following a few years of placing only 3 teams in the final top 25 polls. Bama, LSU, Auburn, Florida and Georgia are all ranked in the top 15 with Ole Miss and Tennessee just outside of the top 25. 'The conference has certainly jumped in talent over the last few years. We'll have to bring our absolute best gameplan each Saturday in order to survive the gauntlet that awaits us.' Jones commented at the SEC media day.

Alabama puts their 2 year unbeaten streak on the line against SEC foe Ole Miss to open the season and have tough road games at Auburn and at LSU. 'We look forward to the challenge. We've been at the top for two years now and I'm sure the rest of the SEC are licking their chops to get a crack at us. We'll be ready.'

Items of Note

I stepped the difficulty up this past season from whatever the default is to All-American. It made quite a difference. It was much more fun to have games come down to the wire as opposed to destroying teams by 28+ each Saturday.

Just a housekeeping note here. I had 8 All-Americans at Bama in 2014 and 17 All-SEC performers. I think the numbers were 9 and 21 in 2013 respectively. At Minnesota I believe I had 1 All-American in 2012 and 8 All-Big Ten performers. At Minnesota in 2011 I had 1 and 4 respectively. Wanted to note those numbers here so I can recall them in the future.

Bama Does It Again

Pasadena,CA- The Alabama Crimson Tide took home their second consecutive National Title last night in a runaway against the Michigan Wolverines. Alabama turned the ball over 3 times yet managed to run away from the undermanned Wolverines in the second half to win 35-13, capping their second consecutive undefeated season. Head man Aaron Jones ran his mythical record to 4 straight undefeated seasons and 4 straight BCS National Titles, 2 at Minnesota and now 2 more at Alabama. 'We played uncharacteristically sloppy tonight in the first half, but the perseverance of these fine young men shined through. We were without our stud in the backfield (HB #42, a First Team All-American who broke his collarbone in the SEC Title Game against Florida) but Justin Fraser stepped it up big time.'

Fraser had 220 yards rushing for the Tide who used multiple big plays in the second half to run and hide from the Wolverines. Alabama turned the ball over 3 times in the first half, 2 fumbles near the goal line and an interception deep in their own territory that set up a TD for Michigan who took a 13-7 lead going into the half. Alabama came out firing in the second half as their defense forced 3 and outs and the offense scored 3 times from 60+ yards. The quick strikes stunned the Wolverines and their fans. 'They are fast. We played a few teams during the year that had good athletes in Ohio State and Notre Dame, but these kids are on a totally different level' commented Michigan head man Rich Rodriguez. He later added, 'I thought with the turnovers in the first half that we had a good chance to stay with them. I don't know what Jones said to them in the locker room at the half but they certainly stepped up their game in the second half. Hats off to them, this is two years in a row that I felt like we had an extremely strong team only to have Bama blow our doors off. We have alot of work to do to catch them.'

Up next for Alabama will be securing what is looking like the 3rd straight season of having the #1 rated recruiting class, and perhaps more importantly, securing Jones long term. Although he's only been in the business for 4 seasons, his M.O. has been to build a title team and bolt. 'I don't think anyone can say with 100% certainty that they are staying, but I don't feel there is a better place to be than Tuscaloosa at the moment' said Jones when asked after the game concerning his future. He added, 'I'm going to enjoy this one. This was special, we had a handful of close games during the season and I want to take a few days to unwind before I hit the recruiting trail. We look to be in great shape for next season, lots of talent coming in and lots of talent coming back. However, LSU, Auburn and Florida all have drastically closed the gap on us and I intend to try to widen that if I can.'

Bama Completes Perfect Season

Tuscaloosa, AL- Following the end of the 2012 season the Crimson Tide program seemed to be in complete disarray. Head Coach Nick Saban bolted for another shot at the NFL, the recruiting class was in complete limbo following his departure and a disappointing loss to Kentucky in the SEC Title Game and a rash of their top juniors had strongly hinted at leaving to play on Sundays. Flash forward a year and the future of Alabama looks as bright as ever thanks to some chips falling in the right places at the right times. First, Aaron Jones bolted from Minnesota to Tuscaloosa following back-to-back national titles, bringing his unique talents as an offensive mastermind and a recruiting genius. Jones made an immediate impact as he convinced top Bama players to return to make a run for the title. He also secured one of the best recruiting classes in recent history, ensuring that Alabama's future looks quite bright.

With the hiring, players staying and the top notch recruiting class, Alabama entered the 2013 season ranked #1 and the clear cut favorites to take home the BCS title. They did not disappoint all season, laying waste to the SEC by an average victory margin of over 28 points. Only Tennessee stayed within 2 touchdowns against the Tide all season, losing 28-14 in Knoxville. Alabama rolled to a 56-10 victory in the SEC Title game and secured a spot in the BCS Title Game against Michigan. It was clear minutes into the game that Bama was just too strong for the Wolverines as they cruised to a 28-14 victory, capping off a 14-0 season. 'It was a great performance by these young men all season.' said Jones. 'They had a bullseye on their back from spring practice through the BCS Title Game. This is my third national title and I can definitively say that this was the most talented team I have ever been around. We had 9 All-Americans and 20 All-SEC performers...I don't think you will ever see such a dominant team, especially in the highly competitive SEC. We just happened to have talent dripping at all positions and caught the rest of the conference in a down year. They'll all be back soon enough, we have to start getting ready for next season on the flight home if we want to stay on top. We've had a great class so far with 7 five star prospects already committing, but we need to do more. Auburn and LSU are on our heels for some prospects.'

Can Bama keep the magic in Tuscaloosa? Looking forward to 2014, even with a powerhouse recruiting class, they appear to be a touch weaker than this season, although as Jones said, the 2013 version may go down as an all time great team. There appear to be at least 10 first round picks from that roster and a host of underclassmen that may easily double that number in the coming years.

Jones Bolts For Alabama

Minneapolis,MN- The Aaron Jones era has come to a close at the University of Minnesota. Jones made it official yesterday at a press conference, he's headed to the University of Alabama to replace Nick Saban who has decided to try his hand in the NFL again. 'While I'm deeply saddened to be leaving my alum in Minnesota, the position at Alabama represents the next step in my career...a step that I am not comfortable passing up.'

Jones was hired as an unknown just two short years ago. He was a 2001 graduate of the University and upon the firing of Tim Brewster the University decided to take a chance on the rookie coach, and boy did it pay off. Jones led what many saw as an undermanned, undermatched team to consecutive undefeated seasons, both ending with Big Ten and BCS Titles. The Conference Titles were the first for the Gophers since 1967 and the BCS Titles were the first in the schools history. 'I am forever indebted to Minnesota. They took a chance on me when nobody else would and for that I am grateful beyond words. Of course all the accolades were nice, but what I'm going to truly miss is the young men that I had the good fortune of being able to lead for two seasons. It's a great group of young men in Minneapolis and I wish them luck going forward, but now it's time to turn my attention to Alabama to ensure I can get a nice class in place.'

Jones did not leave the cupboard bare for the next coach to come through. He had brought in two decently rated recruiting classes that include a number of 4 star prospects. One of the beliefs as to why Jones decided to make the jump was in the ability to recruit top notch classes. He's known as a recruiting genius for his two classes at Minnesota who, shall we say, has some difficulty keeping up with the Ohio States and Floridas of the world. While they drastically upgraded their athletic facilities over the championship runs, they still fell wildly short in other areas.

While we'll sadly miss Jones here in Minneapolis, we do genuinely wish him the best in Tuscaloosa. According to multiple sources, he's fitting in quite well already as Scout.com has verified that the Crimson Tide have already landed 4 five star prospects and have a dozen or so 4 star players ready to commit. It's been a great run Gopher fans, we can only hope that the replacement to Jones can keep the train on the tracks long enough to be competitive for another few seasons.

Welcome to Video Game Dynasties

Welcome all to Video Game Dynasties. The purpose of this site is to chronicle dynasty mode happenings throughout various sports video game titles, both my own and user submitted. I invite all of you to send information and story write-ups of your own dynasties to me at alj7279@yahoo.com so that I can chronicle all the happenings in various dynasties. This site will tend to follow the release schedule of games i.e. now that NCAA Football 11 is released the primary focus of this site will trend accordingly. With Madden 11 releasing in a month, stories will trend in that direction followed by NHL 11, NBA2K11 etc. The more info you can send the better, I'm talking standings, recruiting reports, injury news, previews of upcoming games, insider info on potential new job offers, free agent signings etc. Also, put your own spin in things, I'll lead the way with my examples, please feel free to jump in and let's turn this thing into a dynasty junkies' dreams!!