Southwestern St. Gunslingers (NCAA 07)

[JETS393]

Utah State Caught In Point-Shaving Scandal
Thrown out of DI Football

Yesterday afternoon, the entire world of college sports was in shock when NCAA President Myles Brand called for a news conference, revealing that the Utah State University football team has been involved in a point-shaving scandal. The president revealed that this had been going on for some time; at least 2 full seasons.

Brand gave very few specific details but it is believed that not only players, but coaches were involved. Also, there is even speculation that the university's Athletic Director and even School President were aware of the point-shaving, yet did nothing to bring a stop to it.

According to inside sources, the Utah State football team will be kicked out of Division I football and the Western Athletic Conference. At this point, it is unknown whether the WAC will replace the Aggies (possibly with one of the current DI Independent teams) or if they will just start the season with one less team.

Currently there are no credible rumors as to what the next step is, but more information will be reported as soon as possible.

[JETS393]

Southwestern State University to replace Utah State

It has been revealed today by WAC Commissioner Karl Benson that the team that will replace the Utah State Aggies will be the Southwestern State Gunslingers. Southwestern State arrives in Division IA football after winning three consecutive DI-AA championships.

Southwestern State is a relatively small college, located in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Their head coach is a former college football player, Danny Vaughn, who started 4 years at Eastern Michigan University and owns many school records, such as Receptions, Receiving Yards, and Touchdowns. Vaughn was surprised and delighted when he heard that his team was a top candidate to enter the WAC. "I had obviously heard about that Utah State story, but it never even crossed my mind that they would be replaced by a DI-AA team, let alone my team. Then I got a call from the AD, saying he just got off the phone with the WAC commissioner, and asked if I would be interested in moving up to the big show, and I obviously accepted."

Originally, the WAC was planning to continue the season without Utah State, but as many teams had already finalized their schedules, and some non-conference games would have to be rescheduled, it would not have worked.

"When I told the players, they were actually much happier than I thought they would be. I figured at least a few of my players wouldn't be happy about facing much tougher competition, but I got no complaints. I told them that we definitely can not expect the successes we've had in the recent pass, and that in all likelihood, we would be lucky to win a few games. They just didn't care, they got their chance to play with the big boys", said Vaughn.

Vaughn is correct, this Southwestern State team will definitely not have as much success as they have had. Many of the players from the 3 consecutive championship teams are now gone, including last year's leading rusher and receiver, and almost half of the starters on defense. That being said, this is an incredibly young team, so while this season might not be something they will be able to brag about, the future does look a little brighter. Just a little though.

[JETS393]

2007 Gunslingers Season Preview

Offense
Coach Danny Vaughn's offenses in the past have slightly weighed more towards the passing game. Being a former receiver himself, Vaughn feels he can better command a passing offense than one that is run-heavy, but there are reasons other than personal preference as well. "I'm going to be honest, at this point our offensive line simply is not skilled enough, and our running game will suffer from it," said Vaughn. Obviously a poor offensive line will affect the quarterback as well, which is why Vaughn has said it is very important that they work on quick releases and three step drops with his quarterbacks.

The Gunslingers backfield is filled with uncertainty. The starting quarterback position is currently being fought for by Alex Jack and Jonathan Francis. Both are redshirt seniors, and Jack has shown slightly better field vision, and will likely win the starting job.

Running back is an even bigger question. There are 4 players trying to come out at the top of the depth chart, and there is no clear answer who will get it. Three sophomores (Kenneth Phillips, Matt Kirk, and Joey Wright) and junior Keith Ryan all want the majority of carries, but they can't all get it.

Junior Larry Wagner and sophomore Mike Freeman are both playmakers at wide receiver and possibly the two most talented players on the offense. However, the team only has 4 wide receivers, and after Wagner and Freeman there is a drop off in talent.

Defense
The defensive line has a few talented young players. Left end TJ Allen and tackle Chris Schneider are both skillful players and both are sophomores. The rest of the line is not as impressive after those two, though.

The linebacking corps, however, is one of the highlights of this team. There are three players capable of handling the middle linebacker position, but junior Mike Huggins appears to have the starting spot. Outside linebacker is also very deep position.

Cornerback Jeremy Thomas is probably the best player on this defense, and already became Defensive Captain, even though he is only a sophomore. Senior Nick McDaniel will handle the other side of the field. Free safety Jeffrey Smith joins them in the secondary.

Overview
This is a very young team (only 8 seniors on the entire roster), so even though we can't expect much from this season, the future looks like it could be a bit brighter.

[JETS393]

2007 Schedule

Week 1 - at Wyoming L 7-38
Week 2 - at Arkansas L 10-62
Week 3 - Utah L 6-49
Week 4 - at BYU L 24-42
Week 5 - Idaho L 7-56
Week 6 - Fresno State
Week 7 - at San Jose State
Week 8 - at Louisiana Tech
Week 9 - BYE
Week 10 - Hawaii
Week 11 - at Nevada
Week 12 - at Boise State
Week 13 - New Mexico State

Red - Must Win
Teal - Possible Upset
Orange - Toughest Game

[JETS393]

Head Coach - Danny Vaughn

Career Record: 0-5
Winning Seasons: 0
Longest Win Streak: 0
Record vs. Top 25: 0-0
Bowl Record: 0-0
Conference Titles: 0
National Titles: 0

[darjarbinx]

Woot! Viva la Gunslingers!

[JETS393]

Um, don't worry, this will get started...at some point

[JETS393]

Gunslingers Lose NCAA Debut, Starting Quarterback

Note: I going to be writing this a little differently. Instead of your run of the mill, page long story about the game, I will just point out what I thought was important. No offense to everyone that does write that way (aka everyone), but I hate spending 5 minutes reading about how you beat UL-Lafayette 66-0, and I hate much more having to write a story like that.

Team.....1....2....3....4....F
SW St....0....7....0....0....7
Wyo.......7...14..10...7...38

Bullet Points (get it? bullets...gunslingers. It's witty and you know it.)

-Southwestern St. loses its first game in DI-A history, and it really wasn't that close either.

-Wyoming jumped out to a 21-0 lead early. Their QB #7 (yes, I'm too lazy to look up the real names) threw 3 touchdown passes, a 68 yarder in the first quarter to HB #2, and two to WR #8.

-First touchdown in team history is a two yard pass from Alex Jack to Mike Freeman. Gunslingers are down 21-7 at halftime.

-Wyoming gets a field goal and 2 more touchdowns, including another to WR #8. Wyoming shuts out the Gunslingers offense in the second half and wins 38-7.

-Wyoming outgains Gunslingers 436 to 273 in total offense. Cowboys rush 26 times for 158 yards, while Gunslingers get 54 on 21 carries.

-Quarterback Alex Jack gets selfish and runs the ball 13 times for 34 yards. No one else on Gunslingers gets more than 3 carries. What really happened there is it turns out the offense was set to 'Option Run' in Coach Options. oops.

-While overexerting himself with all those runs, Jack tears his pectoral and will be out for 7 weeks. Jonathan Francis will take over as starting quarterback.

-Wyoming has a few standout games on offense. QB #7 was 15 for 29 for 239 and 3 touchdowns passing and 1 rushing. HB #2 had 68 yards on 9 carries and 3 receptions for 86 yards, including that 68 yard touchdown catch. WR #8 takes the cake though, with 8 receptions for 107 yards and 3 touchdowns.

-Southwestern St. on the other hand had Mike Freeman with 7 receptions for 34 yards and the only touchdown, and Brooks (I forgot to write down his first name) gained 128 yards on only 4 catches.

-The Gunslingers defense was lead by middle linebacker Mike Huggins, with 7 tackles, 1 sack, and 2 forced fumbles.

Players of the Game
WYO - WR #8 - 8 Receptions, 107 Yards, 3 Touchdowns
SW St. - Mike Huggins - 7 Tackles, 1 Sack, 2 Forced Fumbles

[USN]

I was just wondering what type of school you created? ...like academic, cupcake

[JETS393]

Oh right, its Academic, with the Balanced Pass playbook

[JETS393]

McFadden leads Razorbacks to easy victory

Team.....1....2....3....4.....F
SW St....3....7....0....0....10
Ark.......17...24...7...14...62

Bullet Points (Yes, I'm aware of the irony of calling it 'Bullet Points' when I'm not using actual bullet points)

-Well after about 5 minutes the score was tied at 3-3, and then everything kind of went downhill from there. Got outscored 59-7 after that point. That's never good.

-Gunslingers couldn't stop the big plays. A 47 yard pass, a 67 yard run, and a 46 yard pass all took place in a 10 minute span and all resulted in touchdowns.

-Gunslingers definitely couldn't stop Darren McFadden for that matter either. 28 carries for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns earned him player of the week honors in the SEC.

-Razorbacks had almost 300 more rushing yards than the Gunslingers, 333 to 39. That puts Southwestern St. at 93 total rushing yards over their first two games.

-Southwestern St.'s only touchdown came on a 3 yard run from quarterback Jonathan Francis.

-Speaking of Francis, his 13 for 27 effort with 158 touchdowns and 2 interceptions were below the teams expectations. Alex Jack will return in 6 weeks.

- Gunslingers leading rusher was junior Keith Ryan, who gained only 25 yards on 8 carries. The search for the main runningback in this offense continues.

-On a brighter note, Larry Wagner and Mike Freeman combined for a solid 210 yards recieving. Wagner, Freeman, and Mark Brooks now each have 100 yards on the season.

-Razorbacks receivers also had a good game. WR #85 had 89 yards on 5 catches with a TD and WR #28 caught 4 balls for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns. QB #11 (Who I believe is Casey Dick, but I'm not positive) went 15 for 25 and threw 3 touchdowns and 213 yards.


Players of the Game
Arkansas - Darren McFadden - 28 Carries, 267 Yards, 3 Touchdowns
Southwestern St. - Larry Wagner - 6 Receptions, 133 Yards, 22.2 Yards/Rec


Uh, eventually I'll start putting the WAC Standings here.

[JETS393]

Struggles continue for Southwestern St.

Team.....1....2....3....4.....F
Utah.....14...14...0...21...49
SW St....0....3....3....0.....6

Bullet Points

-Gunslingers are held without a touchdown for first time in school history. (That makes things sound a lot better than they have been). They have now been outscored 149-23 on the season.

-Utah's QB #3 had 4 total touchdowns in the first half, 3 passes and a 5 yard run, and added a fifth in the 4th quarter. He earns Offensive Player of the Week honors in the Mountain West.

-For the second straight game, Southwestern St. gives up over 300 yards rushing. HB #12 (148 yards on 17 carries), HB #10 (108 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns), and QB #3 (4 carries for 37 yards and 2 touchdowns) all averaged nearly 9 yards per carry.

-Meanwhile, the Gunslingers managed to acquire 1 rushing yard on 16 carries. That's right, 1 yard. Gunslingers have 94 rushing yards over 3 games, and no one on the team is averaging over 2.9 yards a carry.

-WR #16 caught 7 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. HB #10 added 43 yards and a touchdown threw the air, giving him over 150 total yards and 3 touchdowns on the day.

-Larry Wagner and Mike Freeman combined for 16 receptions, but neither averaged over 8 yards per catch. Gunslingers only had 117 receiving yards on the day despite 17 receptions, a 6.9 average. Wagner and Freeman are now 5th and 6th in the WAC in receptions, respectively.

-Linebacker Chris Allen had 12 tackles on the day and now leads the WAC in tackles, with 20.

-Southwestern St. was outgained 617 total offensive yards to 120.

-On a completely unrelated note, Fresno State's CB #17 has won all 3 WAC Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. (I just thought that was interesting)


Players of the Game
Utah - QB #3 - 19-32, 301 Passing Yards, 4 Carries, 37 Yards, 5 Total Touchdowns
Southwestern St. - Chris Allen - 12 Tackles


WAC Standings
Fresno State - 2-1 (1-0)
Boise State - 3-0
New Mexico St. - 2-1
Idaho - 1-2
Louisiana Tech - 0-1
Hawaii - 0-2
San Jose St. - 0-2
Southwestern St. - 0-3
Nevada - 0-3 (0-1)

[USN]

that's the hard thing when you create a school...you always get your butt handed to you

[JETS393]

Yeah, at most I'm gonna go 1-11 this season. But that's pretty much what I wanted, so I'm not complaining.

Thanks for reading.

[USN]

idk, the Vandals might surprise you

[JETS393]

Gunslingers Go 0-4 in Non-Conference Play

Southwestern St. Gunslingers (0-4) at BYU Cougars (1-3)

Team.....1....2....3....4.....F
SW St....0...10...0...14....24
BYU......21...7...14...0.....42

Bullet Points

-John Beck shows what makes him one of the bigger pro quarterback prospects, throwing 6 touchdowns and 350 yards.

-Gunslingers open up for their highest scoring game of the season so far. Their 24 points more than doubles their season total.

-All of BYU's points came from Beck touchdown passes. WR #85 averaged over 20 yards per reception on 6 catches and had one touchdown. WR #31 only had 36 yards but caught two touchdown passes.

-Gunslingers quarterback Jonathan Francis had his best game of the season so far, with 286 yards and 3 touchdowns while going 25-37. Francis has now improved to a 105.6 QB Rating and his 57% completion percentage is 4th in the WAC.

-Kenneth Phillips started the game at runningback and performed reasonably well over every other back so far, but still not good enough. Phillips had 11 carries for 41 yards, as well as a receiving touchdown. 4 different players have now lead the team in yards, a different player each game so far.

-Larry Wagner continues to impress, this time with 10 receptions for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wagner is now second in both receptions and yards in the WAC, behind Boise State's WR #1 in both categories.

-Chris Allen and Mike Huggins are 1st and 3rd in the WAC in tackles, respectively.

-(In case you didn't notice, I don't feel like writing a lot right now)


Players of the Game
Southwestern St. - Larry Wagner - 10 Recpetions, 147 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
BYU - John Beck - 25-35, 350 Yards, 6 Touchdown Passes


WAC Standings
Boise State - 4-0 (1-0)
Fresno State - 2-1 (1-0)
New Mexico St. - 2-1
San Jose State - 1-2
Idaho - 1-3
Louisiana Tech - 0-2
Southwestern St. - 0-4
Hawaii - 0-3 (0-1)
Nevada - 0-4 (0-1)

[JETS393]

Idaho Apparently Not As Weak As They Seem

Team.....1....2....3....4.....F
Idaho.....7...28...14...7...56
SW St....7....0....0....0.....6

Idaho (2-3) at Southwestern St. (0-5)

Bullet Points

-In what was supposed to be one of Southwestern St.'s easier games (In fact, Coach Vaughn declared it their 'must win' game), Idaho showed that they were no pushover, with a 56-7 victory, including 35 points in the first half alone.

-Gunslingers got the first points of the game on a 10 yard Francis to Wagner touchdown pass. They were held scoreless for the rest of the game.

-Idaho's QB #8 threw 3 touchdown passes in 24 attempts and also ran one in. Backup QB #11 was 2 for 2 with a touchdown.

-One of the main reasons that Southwestern St. was never in the game was the turnovers. Gunslingers had 7 turnovers, while Idaho did not turn the ball over once.

-After his best game of the season, Jonathan Francis had his worst. He was 17-31 with 227 yards, but threw 6 interceptions.

-HB # 44 and HB #32 each had 10 carries and combined for over 160 yards. HB #44 had 2 touchdowns on the day.

-Kenneth Phillips had the first above-average running game this season. 52 yards on 9 carries gave him a 5.8 average.

-WR #19 had 95 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns for the Vandals. Larry Wagner continues to impress, with 7 receptions, 98 yards, and the Gunslingers only touchdown.

-Next week Southwestern St. faces Fresno State, but after that go to San Jose State and Louisiana Tech. They have an outside chance of winning these two games, but after this game, who knows.


Players of the Game
Idaho - QB #8 - 13-24, 212 Yards, 4 Total Touchdowns
Southwestern St. - Kenneth Phillips - 9 Carries, 52 Yards


WAC Standings
Boise State - 5-0 (1-0)
Fresno State - 3-1 (1-0)
Idaho - 2-3 (1-0)
New Mexico St. - 2-2
San Jose State - 1-3
Louisiana Tech - 0-3
Hawaii - 0-3 (0-1)
Nevada - 0-5 (0-1)
Southwestern St. - 0-5 (0-1)