The second guest contribution for the STAT BOX STORIES BOWL BLITZ INVITATIONAL is here as Eric Veneziano plays the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl between the San Diego State Aztecs and Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. This is Eric’s third contibution to STAT BOX STORIES; if you would like to join in on this project as we try to get entries for every Bowl Game from this college football season, visit the forum game list at The Gaming Tailgate to see which games are still available to sign up for.
Today’s entry for STAT BOX STORIES I will playing another game in the BOWL BLITZ INVITATIONAL as we wrap up the first weekend of bowl games. We will be heading to New Orleans to recreate the New Orleans Bowl and match up San Diego State from the Mountain West and Louisiana-Lafayette from the Sun Belt. With ULL having a significant ratings disadvantage in NCAA Football 12 I took control of the Ragin’ Cajuns to try and bring home my first victory in the BOWL BLITZ.
I won the toss and decided to take the kick off and try and put the Aztecs in the hole early. ULL runs a spread offense and I was able to move the ball early but my drive stalled just outside of their 30 yard line. With a little too much distance to try and field goal I decided to go for it on 4th down. I was stuffed on an inside run and the commentators made sure I knew it was a bad decision. Luckily my defense was able to hold the Aztecs in check and the 1st quarter ended with a 0-0 tie with the Aztecs driving.
It didn’t take long for the Aztecs to get on the board in the 2nd quarter as they scored 7 seconds in on a 6 yard TD run by their halfback. I took the ensuing kickoff and marched down the field on a good mix of short passes and runs but the drive stalled in the redzone and I had to settle for a 24 yard field goal to make the score 7-3. After a quick 3 and out by my defense I got the ball back and put together another good drive and this time found the endzone on a 2 yard run by my halfback with 3:59 left. We both traded some decent drives the rest of the way out but the half ended 10-7 ULL.
The 3rd quarter went by the same pattern as the 1st. Both teams putting together decent drives that either stalled or resulted in turnovers.
San Diego State came out in the 4th quarter and wanted to take control of the game. Putting together an 81 yard drive and scoring on a 40 yard TD pass they took the lead 14-10 with 4:23 left in the game.
The ULL faithful were a little nervous as I went 3 and out on the next drive, but the defense stepped up and held the Aztecs to a 3 and out as well. My punt returner bobbled the kick but was able to recover at the 6 yard line. 94 yards, 2:47 left in the game and needing a touchdown to win was what it is all about. My offense methodically drove down the field using short to midrange passes, mixed with some runs and put us in the redzone. The big play coming on a 4th and 8 where my QB stepped up and delivered a strike to my wide receiver on a corner route.
I was able to move the ball to the 2 yard line and took the last of my timeouts. My first play from the 2 my tight end dropped a wide open touchdown in the end zone with about :10 left. With no timeouts left I needed to call a pass play and picked a crossing pattern with my slot and tight end.
Upon the snap my slot receiver got jammed and the MLB dropped taking away the tight end. I rolled right and that wideout was covered too, but there seemed to be some room to run so I tucked it. With my QBs 68 speed he was able to duck inside the pylon with 4 seconds left on the clock and secure the victory.
What a great way to finish a game……game winning drive, driving 90+ yards on 15 plays in 2:40, ending with a slow QB scampering into the endzone.
Statistically the defenses seemed to control the game again as San Diego State’s HB did rush for 109 yards and 1 TD and my QB did throw for 272 yards but had 0 TDs and 2 Ints.
Eric has definitely gotten us off to a good start for STAT BOX STORIES BOWL BLITZ INVITATIONAL, with two stories contributed in this opening weekend. Be sure to return to the site tomorrow for the usual recap of the week that was along with a look ahead at the week to come as this project to create entries for all of the Bowl Games for this college football season continues!
Guest Author Bio:
Eric Veneziano (PS3 ID: psuexv) is a long time gamer dating back to Double Dribble, NES Playaction Football and Baseball Stars and can actually go back to the Atari 2600 and Homerun and Super Challenge Football (love the unique names). He currently spends his time playing NCAA Football, Tiger Woods and NHL, having stepped away from Madden for awhile. He claims not to say many interesting things, but he is on Twitter at @psuexv.
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