Simulation #2 for the 2010 College Football Season
My second simulation is complete on NCAA Football 2011. Compared to the first one, there were some things that went better and some things that went worse. As for a couple things that went better, how about a win over Missouri!!! That's right, Illinois won this game 37-32. Also, the Illini beat Northern Illinois (who ended up ranked #20 at the end of the season with a 12-2 record) 31-24, and they beat Fresno State at the end of the year 21-10. Add an easy win over Southern, and you got yourself a perfect 4-0 non-conference schedule.
Now the bad news. Despite the impressive non-conference play, the Illini only muster up one win in the conference, finish 5-7, and don't make a bowl game. Their only conference win was at home against Purdue 24-10. This means the Illini lost games to Indiana, Minnesota, and Northwestern. If they find a way to get a victory in one of those games, maybe we're talking bowl here. Instead, it's a last place finish for our Illini. Let's see how the simulation broke down.
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| BIG TEN STANDINGS | |||||
| CONFERENCE | OVERALL | ||||
| TEAM | W | L | W | L | |
| #3 Ohio State | 7 | 1 | 12 | 1 | |
| #9 Wisconsin | 7 | 1 | 10 | 2 | |
| #10 Iowa | 6 | 2 | 11 | 2 | |
| #17 MichiState | 6 | 2 | 11 | 2 | |
| Michigan | 4 | 4 | 9 | 4 | |
| Penn State | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | |
| Northwestern | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | |
| Purdue | 2 | 6 | 4 | 8 | |
| Indiana | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |
| Minnesota | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 | |
| Illinois | 1 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
ILLINI STATISTICS
QB Nathan Sheelhaase (Fr.) - 133/282 passings, 1552 yards, 9 TD, 9 INT
117 rushes, 275 yards, 2 TD
HB Mikel Leshoure (Jr.) - 307 rushes, 891 yards, 2.9 ypc, 10 TD, 4 Fumbles
WR Jarred Fayson (Sr.) - 39 rec, 413 yards, 10.5 ypr, 3 TD, 4 drops
MLB Nate Bussey (Sr.) - 80 tackles, 14 FL, 2.5 sacks
K Derek Dimke (Jr.) - 18/25 Field Goals, 24/24 PATs
BIG TEN STATISTICS
TOP 5 QUARTERBACKS
Terrelle Pryor OSU (Jr.) - 225/333 passing, 2977 yards, 29 TD, 3 INT
Scott Tolzien WIS (Sr.) - 224/336 passing, 2967, 26 TD, 8 INT
Ricki Stanzi IOW (Sr.) - 231/413 passing, 2995 yards, 27 TD, 11 INT
Kevin Newsome PSU (So.) - 200/365 passing, 2781, 23 TD, 12 INT
Kirk Cousins MSU (Jr.) - 238/441 passing, 2845 yards, 24 TD, 13 INT
TOP 5 RUNNING BACKS
Brandon Saine OSU (Sr.) - 354 rushes, 1293 yards, 3.6 ypc, 15 TD (Doak Walker RB Award)
Arby Fields NW (So.) - 329 rushes, 1181 yards, 3.5 ypc, 6 TD
Adam Robinson IOW (So.) - 249 rushes, 1094 yards, 4.3 ypc, 14 TD
Evan Royster PSU (Sr.) - 261 rushes, 1073 yards, 4.1 ypc, 10 TD
TOP 5 RECEIVERS
WR Darrell Johnson IOW (Sr.) - 76 rec, 1015 yards, 13.3 ypr, 6 TD
TE Allen Reisner IOW (Sr.) - 73 rec, 935 yards, 12.8 ypr, 9 TD
WR Nick Toon WIS (Jr.) - 64 rec, 845 yards, 13.2 ypr, 6 TD
WR Devier Posey OSU (Jr.) - 64 rec, 862 yards, 13.4 ypr, 11 TD
WR Dane Sanzenbacher OSU (Sr.) - 62 Rec, 952 yards, 15.3 ypc, 7 TD
TOP 5 DEFENDERS
OLB Tyler Replogle IND (Sr.) - 90 tackles, 16 FL, 3.0 sacks, 1 INT, 1 FF, 2 FR
MLB Greg Jones MSU (Sr.) - 94 tackles, 16 FL, 4.5 sacks, 3 INT, 11 PD, 2 FF, 1 FR
LE Ryan Van Bergen MICH (Jr.) - 74 tackles, 23 FL, 6.5 sacks, 2 FF
OLB Quentin Davie NW (Sr.) - 94 tackles, 15 FL, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT, 7 PD,3 FF, 1 FR
OLB Joe Holland PUR (Jr.) - 94 tackles, 12 FL, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT, 12 PD, 2 FF, 1FR
BIG TEN IN BOWL GAMES
Big Ten goes 4-4 in bowl games
Little Caesars Bowl - #20 Northern Illinois 27 Indiana 10
Texas Bowl – Texas A&M 24 Northwestern 22
Insight Bowl - #15 Texas 27 Penn State 14
Outback Bowl - #17 Michigan State 33 Tennessee 10
Gator Bowl – Michigan 27 Auburn 21
Capital One Bowl – #10 Iowa 35 Arkansas 32
Rose Bowl – #3 Ohio State 28 #5 Boise State 17
Sugar Bowl - #2 Alabama 40 #9 Wisconsin 29
National Championship Game - #1 Stanford 41 #4 West Virginia 17
The Fighting Harbaugh's are your national champion!!!
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I don't think the Big Ten will get eight teams into bowl games. That just seems like too many. Once again though, it was a strong showing for the conference, with four different teams winning at least 10 games, and Michigan at 9. Even though it was a better record for Illinois, you got to wonder how things might have been if they could have gotten another win or two in the conference. Don't know if 6-6 would have got them a bowl game, but having two wins against ranked teams outside of conference play wouldn't hurt their chances (#20 NIU and #23 Mizzou).
Some other shocking things about this simulation: Of course Stanford over West Virginia is a bit of a surprise, even though both teams could be pretty good this year, but that good? The top 25 has some interesting teams in it at the end. #6 Georgia Tech, #7 Nevada (how about that one?), #20 Northern Illinois, and #24 Colorado State. This might turn out to be a pretty crazy season.
Let me know what you guys think. I always enjoy hearing from you. What do you think of this simulation. Does it by chance give you a bit more optimism for the upcoming season? What did you think if Sheelhaase's numbers? Pretty accurate? Let me hear you Illini Nation.
Look for another simulation next week as we continue to count down opening week on September 4th.
I-L-L...
The writing has been on the wall since Zook was @ Florida. Great recruiter but horrible as a head coach. Unfortunately the AD didn't do his homework cause the Illini faithful are now suffering from this blunder. Hopefully the season doesn't turn out so bad and the young guys get better as the year goes on, but after the season is over Zook is gone and a real COACH is brought in to revive life back into Champaign.
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