Never Retreat, Never Surrender | A Texas Longhorns Dynasty

[St. Francisco]

NEVER RETREAT, NEVER SURRENDER
-A TEXAS LONGHORNS DYNASTY-

I'm not one for big introductions, but I'll just give a few quick notes on the dynasty. In keeping with my tradition, all games will be simmed. No games will be re-simmed to give a more favorable result. Recruiting difficulty will be set to Heisman. I don't have a set of rules that I follow, but I try to keep it as realistic as possible. I won't cut any players so I can't over-recruit, and the majority of my prospects will come from Texas, pipeline states, or bordering states. Any players who attempt to transfer or graduate early will NOT be convinced to stay.

Feel free to post.

Requirements for teams moving up to BCS conferences:

-Winning record for three straight years.

-Prestige level of four stars or higher.

-Finish ranked at the end of the season the year before they move up.

-Win their conference title the year before they move up.

-Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis if a team meets most but not all of these requirements.


Recruiting Rules:

-A maximum of three Sparq 100 players from states not listed as pipeline or bordering states may be recruited each season. These players cannot be replaced by a similar player if they are removed from the recruiting board. They must also list Texas as one of their top three choices to qualify being placed on the recruiting board.

-Players of similar skill will be given preference in the following order: from the state of Texas, from a pipeline state (Louisiana, Florida), from a bordering state (Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico), and from a southern state (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia). Players from states not listed here may only be added to the board if they meet the rules of being a Sparq 100 player (see above), or if they are the only player interested in the team at that position.

-All players added to the recruiting board must have an interest in signing with the team. The only exception to this rule is that the team will be allowed to add one player from Texas if he is a top ten athlete and it is a position of need, or the #1 athlete in the country if it is a position of need.

-Over recruiting is not allowed under any circumstances.

-If a player has decided to declare early and is projected to be drafted in the first three rounds, he may not be persuaded to stay under any circumstances. Players projected to be drafted from rounds four to seven may be persuaded to stay if they are going to be a starter for the next season.

-Players who have decided to transfer may not be persuaded to stay unless they are going to be a starter for the next season.

[St. Francisco]

MACK BROWN STEPS DOWN AS TEXAS HEAD COACH
Shocking reports coming out of Austin today as Mack Brown has announced that he is stepping down as the head coach for the Longhorns, effectively immediately. While no reasons were specified, it is widely speculated that personal health issues could be the primary cause. Brown will remain on the staff in an unannounced role, but it will likely center around scouting and recruiting.


MAJOR APPLEWHITE NAMED INTERIM HEAD COACH
Shortly following Brown's departure, the Longhorns named co-offensive coordinator and Texas alumni Major Applewhite as the interim head coach for the 2012 season.


NCAA ANNOUNCES NEW RULE FOR BCS CONFERENCES
A new regulatory rule passed down today will require all BCS conferences to have at least twelve teams, and hold an annual conference championship game to retain their automatic qualifier status.

[St. Francisco]

SEC BECOMES NATION'S FIRST SUPER CONFERENCE
The rollercoaster ride that has become conference re-alignment in college football continued to chug along today, with the announcement that the SEC has become the nation's first "super conference" of sixteen teams. Former ACC teams North Carolina and NC State will join newcomers Missouri and Texas A&M.

PAC FOLLOWS SUIT, DROPS ONE AND ADDS FIVE
Aiming to keep pace with the newly-expanded SEC, the PAC-16 announced a host of new teams today. Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State, BYU, and Colorado State have all been added to the nation's second super conference, while Washington State has been removed due to "sub-par performance in football over the last several years".

MOUNTAIN WEST MERGES WITH WAC, ADDS WASHINGTON ST.
After losing a host of teams to the expanding PAC-16, and seeing Hawai'i and Air Force announce plans to operate as independents, the Mountain West was left with just four members. Looking to stay alive, the conference has come to an agreement with the WAC to absorb the remaining four members of that conference, adding San Jose State, Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State. The conference also announced that Washington State, recently ousted in the PAC-16 expansion, will join the conference in 2012. The move also signals the end of the WAC as a football conference.

[St. Francisco]

CLEMSON, FLORIDA ST. JOIN BIG XII CONFERENCE
Looking to retain their automatic qualifier status under the recently-announced new regulations handed down by the NCAA, the Big XII announced the addition of former ACC schools Florida State and Clemson today. The conference also announced that their annual championship game will be held at Cowboys Stadium.

ACC ADDS SOUTH FLORIDA, CENTRAL FLORIDA
After losing four teams to the expansions in the SEC and Big XII, the ACC welcomed two more teams in addition to former Big East schools Pittsburgh and Syracuse, who were already scheduled to join the conference. Former C-USA school UCF, and former Big East school USF will join fellow in-state school Miami.

NOTRE DAME JOINS SIX OTHERS IN NEW-LOOK BIG EAST
With just five members remaining, the Big East has been teetering on the edge of non-existence for a while now. But that's all changed after the latest round of conference alignment. Former C-USA schools Houston, SMU, and Memphis were already scheduled to join the conference in 2013, but will just be moved up by one year. They will be joined by fellow C-USA schools ECU, Southern Miss, and Tulsa. But the biggest announcement came when long-time independent Notre Dame announced that they would join the conference, injecting new life into what is routinely viewed as the weakest BCS conference. The Big East also announced that their annual championship game will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

BIG TEN AVOIDS CONFERENCE CAROUSEL, RE-ALIGNS DIVISIONS
Nearly every conference has undergone a dramatic transformation this offseason, but the Big Ten has managed to avoid all of that, retaining all twelve original members. The conference did however announce a slight modification to their division alignment, and a change of names to the Great Lakes and Great Plains divisions.

[St. Francisco]

C-USA ADDS FOUR TEAMS FOR 2012
After losing half of their conference to the expanding Big East, the C-USA announced the additions of former WAC school Louisiana Tech, and former Sun Belt schools FIU, North Texas, and Western Kentucky.

NEW FBS TEXAS SCHOOLS JOIN SUN BELT
Seeking a home after the collapse of the WAC, FBS newcomers Texas State and UTSA announced their plans to play in the Sun Belt conference in 2012.

HEADLINED BY MILITARY SCHOOLS, NEC BECOMES NEWEST FBS CONFERENCE
The destruction of the WAC has left an open opportunity for any schools looking to form together for a brand-new conference. With that in mind, it was announced today that Army, Navy, and Air Force would be the flagship schools of the newly-formed Northeast Conference (NEC). Shortly after the announcement, the conference also added former C-USA school Marshall, and former MAC schools Miami University, Ohio, UMass, and Buffalo to come up to eight teams for 2012.

MAC DOWN TO NINE SCHOOLS, NO NEW ADDITIONS PLANNED
The MAC lost four of their thirteen schools to the newly-formed Northeast Conference, which in turn also killed their annual conference championship game. The MAC did not announce any plans to expand past their nine teams in the near future.

[St. Francisco]

Hawai'i is the only independent school.

Ok, conference re-alignment done. I did my best to stay true to the current conference movements and rumors, while also lining teams up geographically, and felt like I did a pretty good job.

[St. Francisco]

CHAMPIONS BOWL TO ALTERNATE BETWEEN ARIZONA AND NEW ORLEANS
Recently, the Big XII and the SEC agreed that their champions will face off in an annual bowl game that has been dubbed the "Champions Bowl", under the condition that the teams are not playing in the national championship game. Now that annual contest has a site, as the two conferences announced a partnership with the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Under the agreement, the Champions Bowl will alternate between the two sites annually. In the year that one of the BCS bowls does not host the game, they will host two at-large teams.


BIG EAST, ACC AGREE TO PLAY IN DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL
Out of necessity more than anything, the Big East and ACC became the final two BCS conferences to announced a bowl partnership. The champions from each conference will now meet annually in the Discover Orange Bowl.


11TH HOUR DEAL RENEWS TEXAS RIVALRY
A new deal approved by Texas and Texas A&M shortly before the start of the regular season will ensure that the two teams will continue to play annually for the next ten years despite being in different conferences. The game will rotate annually, with the series starting in Austin in 2012.

[St. Francisco]

[St. Francisco]

DAVID ASH NAMED STARTER AT QUARTERBACK
True sophomore David Ash has been named the team's starter at quarterback over junior Case McCoy.


MALCOLM BROWN NAMED STARTER AT RUNNINGBACK
True sophomore Malcolm Brown has been named the team's starter at runningback, but true sophomore Joe Bergeron will see a healthy amount of carries as his backup.


SHIPLEY AND GOODWIN TO LEAD WIDE RECEIVERS
True sophomore Jaxon Shipley and senior Marquise Goodwin have been named the team's starters at wide receiver. Junior Mike Davis will play slot, while true sophomore Miles Onyegbule and senior DeSean Hales will see playing time in four and five wide receiver sets.


D.J. GRANT NAMED STARTER AT TIGHT END
Senior D.J. Grant has been named the team's starter at tight end, while backup Barrett Matthews will see playing time in two tight end sets.


DORSEY AND MOORE NAMED STARTERS AT DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Juniors Ashton Dorsey and Brandon Moore have been named the team's starters at defensive tackle. True sophomore Desmond Jackson will be the team's primary backup at the position.

[St. Francisco]

2012 TEAM DEPTH CHART

[St. Francisco]

2012 PRESEASON PREVIEW

[St. Francisco]

BIG XII RULES PRESEASON POLLS
The Big XII scored an early (albeit meaningless) victory with the release of the annual preseason polls, as eight teams from the conference were ranked in the top 25. The SEC came in 2nd with six teams, followed by the Big Ten with five teams, the PAC-16 with four teams, and the ACC and Big East with one team each. No team from a non-BCS conference was ranked.


LSU'S DEATH VALLEY IS TOUGHEST PLACE TO PLAY
The annual ranking of college football's most hostile stadiums have been released, with LSU's Tiger Stadium taking the top spot. LSU also has the nation's longest current home win streak at 18 games. DKR - Texas Memorial Stadium came in 14th, with a grade of B+, an average attendance of 100,119, and a current home record of 470-122-14.

[St. Francisco]

WEEK ONE





#22 TEXAS LONGHORNS (0-0, 0-0)
VS.
UCF KNIGHTS (0-0, 0-0)


TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: TEXAS AVOIDS UPSET
THE #22 LONGHORNS ESCAPED FLORIDA WITH A 20-17 OT VICTORY IN WEEK ONE

In a week one game meant to flex the team's muscles, the Texas Longhorns found themselves in a real dog fight with one of the ACC's newest members, the UCF Knights. A 10-3 halftime lead turned into a 17-10 fourth quarter deficit before David Ash threw his second TD pass of the day to tie the score at 17 with eight minutes left to play. In overtime, a stout Texas defense held the Knights scoreless, and true freshman kicker Nick Jordan hit the game-winning 37-yard field goal. Texas was prolific on the offensive side of the ball, racking up 493 yards of total offense, but three picks and two fumbles nearly cost them the game. In his first game of 2012, true sophomore David Ash displayed his raw talent and inexperience, completing 23 of 44 passes (52%) for 373 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Player of the game honors went to true sophomore Jaxon Shipley, who had seven catches for 101 yards. Also noteworthy was the performance of backup runningback Joe Bergeron, who rushed for 67 yards off 13 carries, and also caught three balls for 72 yards and a score.

#22 Texas Longhorns at UCF Knights
Aug 25, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
#22 Texas Longhorns (1-0, 0-0)	7	3	0	7	3	20
UCF Knights (0-1, 0-0)	0	3	7	7	0	17

Team Stats Comparison
	TEX	UCF
Total Offense	493	328
Rushing Yards	120	168
Passing Yards	373	160
First Downs	23	21
Punt Return Yards	21	33
Kick Return Yards	74	63
Total Yards	588	424
Turnovers	5	0
3rd Down Converstion	4-11 (36%)	4-18 (22%)
4th Down Conversion	0-1 (0%)	2-3 (66%)
2-Point Conversion	0-0 (0%)	0-0 (0%)
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-2-1 (100%)	2-1-1 (100%)
Penalties	11-95	11-60
Posession Time	31:50	28:10

[St. Francisco]

So, trying out a new reporting style that will cut down on the amount of work I do, and allow me to get through more seasons in the long run. The more important games in the season will still get the full-blown treatment like I usually do, but games like this will just get a recap. I'll also just be doing a quarterly around the league report with the top 25 polls instead of every week.

[cf24]

That was a close game! Can't be getting upset in the first week, let alone by UCF haha. Although, UCF ALWAYS puts up a good fight in every edition of this game. Every game of mine against them ends up being my favorite game of the season.

Sidenote: I like the way you did your Depth Chart and All-Americans list. Much cleaner looking than how I did mine haha. I guess that comes with experience though..seeing as how you've been doing this since 2003 and this is my first try lol.