NCAA Football 06: Forever

I’ve talked before about formative experiences. Those things that happen when you’re younger tend to stick with you more because you have very little to compare them to. Everything is bigger, more expansive, and frankly, a little more magical when you’re a kid. So you can imagine, one September day in 2005 when my brother brought home a copy of NCAA Football 2006, I was immediately awestruck by it, for whatever reason. Maybe because I was gaining some curiosity about sports and wanting to know more about them. This game, along with NCAA March Madness 2005, taught me more about sports (particularly at the college level) than watching them ever could. I learned about statistics, yards, averages, and touchdowns, and what is considered a “good” game or season statistically for a player. I learned about geography, where certain schools are located, what stadiums they played in, and what conferences they’re in and how they fit together geographically (something that doesn’t apply too much anymore, 16 years after its release). And most importantly, I learned about mascots! I love college mascots!

When I was younger, I was a fan of the Washington Huskies, and to this day I still am, despite the rocky start under new head coach Jimmy Lake (UPDATE 11/23: Former Head Coach Jimmy Lake) . But, compared to the team’s recent successes, including a Rose Bowl berth in 2019, and a College Football Playoff berth in 2017, during the 2005 season, they were awful! So awful in fact that they only won a grand total of 2 games (against Idaho and Arizona), though upon research, we were a better team than we showed, losing to Air Force by 3 points, UCLA by 4 points, and Oregon State by 8 points. However, those are offset by losses to Oregon and USC by 24 and 27 points, respectively. Those two wins then, were welcome surprises! One moment in particular stands out, probably one of the most beautiful throws I’ve ever seen by a quarterback. Just before halftime in the Arizona game, quarterback Isaiah Stanback dropped back and absolutely launched a ball which found Craig Chambers in the endzone:

That set the tone for the second half and we ended up winning 38-10, pitching a shutout in the third and fourth quarters. Although we lost a close Apple Cup to Washington State on a last second touchdown, leaving 6 year old me utterly inconsolable, that play and that season sticks out to me as the wondrous awakening to the world of college football.

NCAA 06 also has a lot to offer in terms of customization. One can customize rosters, create players and max out their stats, and even create their own school. I have taken the liberty of creating one of my own. Say hello to your Gamespace University Giants!

Initially an academic school, after I tried to run a dynasty with the roster, I found it too difficult, so I switched to a balanced roster, good on offense and defense but not great at either, yet. Our best initial player was our punter! We also initially are an independent school, unbound by conference scheduling and able to set our own schedule. While that is not preferable for the BCS system (as it was at the time), if schools like Boise State can make a splash, so can we!

Our first marquee win was this one, a win against then #21 Iowa State. Our offense carried the day, as quarterback Justin Pendleton, backing up our injured starter Brian Webb, put together a gem of a game. We however, had a record of 2-6 going into our final four games. We needed to win our final four games to have a shot at the Bowl Games, and we did just that. However, the Bowl games eluded our grasp, and we were snubbed of a spot. 6-6 isn’t too bad of a record for a team in their first year though. The majority of that was due to our offense, in both scheme and personnel. As people who play video game football know, if you have a weapon, you keep going to him, and he’ll most often carry you to big plays and points which should lead to wins. Our big play threat was receiver Kyle Garrett, who racked up big yards on plenty of targets. But our ground attack was no slouch either, with tailback Edward Wallace having 2 straight 1,000 yard seasons, in both of his seasons as the starter. We had built a solid foundation, one that had potential for growth and “gelling” as it were. But we had to build up some more! And you do that by recruiting!
Recruiting is one of my favorite aspects of these older games. It’s nowhere near as involved as something like NCAA Football 14, but that doesn’t mean it’s any easier, no sir! Basically, in season, you allocate 100 points to a group of 15 prospects of your choosing, and as people drop off the list (and they will, either they drop your school from consideration or commit somewhere else) you have to reallocate those points to the recruits that stick around. And fortunately for our small program, we got our first marquee guy. Meet Lucas Randolph:

Yep, that’s right. 5 stars! He was a scary quick receiver with equally as good hands. That 4.16 40 yard dash would be good enough for anybody in the country, but he chose us! And we would use him immediately, as he, Brian Webb and Kyle Garrett, helped propel the Giants to a 9-2 record, and a bowl berth against Florida State. Unfortunately, it didn’t go to well. In a year which saw the humble program take down 2 top 10 foes, in the end, Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles proved too much for me and my offense.

Turnovers came back to haunt us, truthfully. If we’re being honest here, we were good enough to beat them, but their defense was on another level, as Brian Webb (controlled by me) made mistake after mistake, throwing 5 interceptions. The ground game couldn’t get going, also my fault. And the less said about the defense, the better. Mea Maxima Culpa. The next season was rather forgettable, but we managed to secure an easy bowl win against Cincinnati, and Brian Webb and Edward Wallace left, as they were both seniors, leaving Kyle Garrett the only original player left. He and Randolph would make for the best receiver combo since Randy Moss and Cris Carter. But we brought in another receiver, Garrett Mansfield, who was identical to Randolph, and he worked incredibly in the slot.

The next season was backup Ernest Malone’s first at the helm as a starter, and we needed to recruit fresh talent at quarterback to back him up, as quarterback depth was a question going into the season. We ended up finding the highest ranked recruit in program history, quarterback Joel Battle, from Los Angeles, a 5 star. That, in combination with our 4 star quarterback Cedric Bennet, an athletic scrambler with a year of experience under his belt, made for a lethal one two punch. Battle was thrust into action almost immediately, as injury to Ernest Malone kept him sidelined for much of the year. He showed the raw arm talent almost immediately, uncorking long, vertical touchdown passes to receivers on fly routes. Take one early season one against #3 Texas. We were at our own 30 yard line or thereabouts, and this guy just reels back and fires to Gavin Mansfield, that he catches at Texas’ 30 yard line. The air yardage was staggering. Despite defeating 3 top 10 teams in the first four weeks (#3 Tennessee, #1 Iowa and #9 Texas) we ultimately fell short in the national championship game. Our offense couldn’t keep pace with Oklahoma’s, and our defense flailed in attempts at stopping them. This failure was due to the playcalling, and the fact that our personnel (namely the defensive backs, and linebackers) are less than stellar. But we hit the recruiting trail really hard, and got 2 really good defensive backs, some good linebackers, and 2 really good tailbacks. This development prompted a change in the playbook. With mobile quarterback Cedric Bennet still in our stable of quarterbacks, we may implement a triple option formation, such as the Wishbone. We already have him playing QB in the Pro split back formation (an old school West Coast Offense staple that I absolutely love), that necessitates a mobile quarterback that can throw on the run, and run the option, so it’s natural to assume he’ll fit right into this new formation. But, apart from joining the WAC, which I felt would give us more prestige, we’re still the same team, trying to improve our defense, while our offense remains nigh unstoppable when they get going. Recruiting defense was a top priority, and we continued hit after hit on defensive backs. Add those solid recruits in to an already established defensive core, and with development and time, we’d have a contender on our hands. And contend we did. Battle, despite being injured for most of the season, had a fantastic junior campaign, as did Gavin Mansfield, who suffered an injury late in the season, and wouldn’t be back until the bowl game. Which bowl game, you ask? Well:

That’s right. 3 seasons after our last appearance, we were back in the National Championship! And against a foreign (to us at least) UCLA Bruins team. With Battle and Gavin Mansfield finally healthy, it was time to put up or shut up and go out and win the football game! With a masterful performance from Battle and Mansfield on the offensive side of the ball, and a terrifying performance by our defense (in which we pressured their quarterback relentlessly and got 2 turnovers out of it), we did it!

With a 42-21 victory over the Bruins, we were champs, only 5 years into our program’s existence. An extension was a no-brainer! I want to build a dynasty to not only rival Saban, but Army’s Blaik and Notre Dame’s Rockne! Recruiting is the best way to do that, along with player development. So that’s what we’ll do, we’ll take on and beat all comers! Then we’ll go out and get the best players so we can do it all again. That’s Gamespace Football!

And now that we’re at the end of it, or thereabouts, it’s time to give out the Giant Awards! The Giant Awards are awarded to the players that best exemplify Gamespace Football. High-powered, gambling offense and suffocating defense are essential qualities to Gamespace football! Punting? Not in my vocabulary! Unless you’re Tim Anthony, our punter who won the Best Punter award, get out of my office with your punting! It’s an act of surrender and if you do it, you’re saying “I don’t believe in my offense enough to gain yards”. That’s a coward’s way of thinking! Now, here are the awards:

Joel Battle came into our program as a physical specimen, with the power and arm strength to immediately become a threat. He needed time to develop the accuracy, and that would come; he started the majority of our games his Freshman Year. Sophomore year he was excellent! Junior year he was even better, but he got hurt, leaving our backup to start the majority of the year. Senior year looks to be a good one, as he is now a 99 overall, the highest overall possible for a player in this game! He’s an absolute gunslinger, with the accuracy to boot. He should be a Heisman contender and pretty high draft pick (which, I have the option to import into Madden 06 if I so choose), if everything breaks his way. He is the greatest quarterback to ever wear a Giants uniform, and the numbers bear that out! Well done Joel. We did it!

I like recruiting speed. Because as the old axiom goes, “you can’t coach speed”! You can however, coach route running, and Gavin Mansfield had to work a little bit on the fundamentals of being a receiver, but once he did, he was our go to guy! Combined with Battle’s arm strength, Mansfield’s sheer speed made him an almost impossible cover for opposing defenses. That connection often proved fruitful, as he was a guy who could catch the long bombs, or run after the catch on the shorter throws. That’s the kind of utility all great receivers have! Mansfield got hurt late in his senior season, and derailed his Heisman campaign in the process, but he was a key part of the national championship victory, racking up an impressive number of catches and yards. It really showed how integral he was to the entirety of the program. Good teams need good playmakers and in most cases, that’s the receiver’s role to fill! Just look at Randy Moss’s 2007 season with New England! The previous season, with the then Oakland Raiders, he had 3 touchdowns. He got traded for a fourth round pick, teamed up with Tom Brady and exploded, hauling in a record 23 receiving touchdowns! I think the Battle-Mansfield connection was similar to that both in terms of numbers put up and the magnitude for our program. It brought us a lot of touchdowns, and therefore a lot of wins, and a lot of wins means more national attention, and national attention means title shots! So thank you, Gavin, for putting Gamespace in the national conversation and into the math of the BCS formula!

Greg Groover represents Gamespace’s first big get on the defensive side of the ball, and he quickly evolved into the heart and soul of the defense. It’s often said that it’s the linebacker’s job to be the quarterback of the defense, and for the longest time, Greg Groover was the defensive anchor, the lone bright spot on a linebacking corps full of scrubs! But the defense evolved as he did, and they grew and got better, to where we are now, which is actually competent, even good! Great if everything’s working right. And it’s all thanks to Mr. Groover!

We’ve talked about a lot of things, and most of that is about football, so let’s set that aside for a second. This game was the big bang for me in regards to football. It was my gateway to learning more about the sport. Pretty soon I was digesting football books, watching NFL Network’s “Film Sessions” and old NFL Films highlights, watching and learning about the past professional and collegiate greats (2 things: Washington having to share that National Title in 1991 was highway robbery on the part of Miami, and Mario Bailey was robbed by Desmond Howard of the Heisman that year!) I started watching pro football at just the right time, as Seattle in 2005 was the best team they had put together up to that point (since surpassed by the 2013 squad). It was a fun time and it made me a lifelong fan! But it’s more than that.

Thanks to this game, I was awoken to the sport of football. I have witnessed fantastic things since then. I was present at the 100th Apple Cup, a bitter rivalry contested between Washington and Washington State. I grew up watching Jake Locker put up impressive offensive numbers week in and week out. I was there for the 0-12 season and the ouster of Tyrone Willingham! I got to witness the opening game at the remodeled Husky Stadium, in which the Huskies thrashed then 19th ranked Boise State, as my brother taunted the throngs of Bronco fans leaving at the end of the third quarter. I was there for the rebuild under Sarkisian and the subsequent ascent under Petersen. I was watching the Pac 12 championship in 2016 on TV and that’s one of only about 4 games I can remember that the atmosphere was like one giant party! Sure the Dawgs got obliterated by Alabama in the College Football Playoff a few weeks later, but for a few brief, fleeting moments, we were up 7-0 on the best team in college football! In 2018, they had won the Pac 12 again, this time the playoff was out of the question. But, by virtue of the ties the Rose Bowl had with the Pac 12 and Big 10 since its inception, they were guaranteed a spot in the Rose Bowl. My parents went to 2 of the 3 Rose Bowls Washington attended in the 1990s, and wanted to go back, so the entire family took a trip to sunny Southern California to go to Disneyland, and more importantly, the Granddaddy of Them All, the Rose Bowl!
A few things about Pasadena: I assumed, since it is close to Los Angeles (about 11 miles) it would only be a short drive. I forgot Disneyland was located in Anaheim, so as a result, it ended up being an hour and a half drive. The stadium is as magical in person as it looks on TV:

Taken before kick, I think

What’s so special about this game in particular is the fact that it is so pastoral, so traditional, that it carries more weight to people! A Rose Bowl Berth guarantees your name, and your school’s name, be entered into legend. It almost exists outside of time. It’s almost always temperate, and sunny, perfect conditions for a good football game! And by the fourth quarter, the sky is darkened and the air is chilled, the only indicators outside of game action that time is still moving:

Washington ended up losing this game to Ohio State 28-23. But a blistering 20 point 4th quarter comeback by the Huskies made me fill up with that gleeful, childlike optimism that had eroded since the game kicked off. I was going insane, and it felt like we were going to win. But alas, we ran out of time! Still, that’s why I love football, anything can happen on these 120 yards between endzones! And the game kept me glued to my seat, even though we were probably going to lose. It speaks to the enduring power of sports that this happens. Countless other people who had been to the 104 other Rose Bowls experienced these same emotions that I did, some in the same seat as me. I think there’s some beauty in that. Win or lose, I got to go to the place nestled between the San Gabriel Mountains, to look upon the hallowed ground where Mario Bailey struck the Heisman pose, where Vince Young vanquished the USC monster, and where Alabama legitimized Southern college football in the 20s and where countless other great players have played that’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. But that was the apex of my love of football. The originator was NCAA Football 06. I have spent more hours with this game than any other video game in my life, and I can honestly say that I hope I hold onto my copy forever. Because it changed me forever, and I continue to play it 16 years after its release. I love this game, I loved it when I was a kid and I will love it forever!