College Football Board game update

[FearlessF]

Of these 470 top ten teams, 1973 Nebraska is the only one in the fossil record to hold teams to fewer yards per pass attempt than run attempt.  Incredible.  
The average QB against the Huskers that year went 4 for 13 (29.6%) for 44 yards.  
If you think this was simply the times, the team ranked one spot above Nebraska was a 10-0-1 Michigan team that allowed 6.1 yards per pass.  On average, a QB's line vs the Wolverines was 10-20 for 120 yds.  

Big difference - all-time great pass defense.

Monte Kiffin Defensive coordinator
Tom Osborne's first game as head coach was vs the #10 UCLA Bruins in 73.  Of course the Bruins were running the wishbone.
2nd game was vs #14 NC St.  Wolfpack's passing line?  3 of 16 for 16 yards and a pick
non-con foes Wisconsin and Minnesota didn't fair much better passing
obviously, the old Big 8 wasn't full of passing offenses.
Colorado was the only team to top 100 yards passing at 105
in the Cotton Bowl vs the SWC champ Longhorns.  The Horns completed 7 of 17 passes for 90 yards and 2 picks.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Thank you.
Yes, the bone years were lean on pass attempts and acumen, but the average yards per attempt were still within a half yard of today's game.  I calculated the average of the top 10 teams in '71, '81, '91, '01, and '11, and it incrimentally goes up, with a slight downturn in '11.  All the additional attempts, with the influence of Bill Walsh, I assume, has led to a sharp decrease in yards per completion.
That's why you had TEs and WRs like Keith Jackson for OU averaging 27 yards per catch - they didn't catch it often, but when they did, it was such a change-up, it went for big yards.  
It's remarkable how stable yards per attempt has been.  It really works out so that you could play a game between '74 OU and '04 USC and have it play out like an actual, feasible game.

[FearlessF]

David Humm was an above average QB back in 73 running Osborne's pro style offense - played in the NFL

completed just 54% of his passes, but his 114 completions went for 1601 yards - 14 yards per catch

[OrangeAfroMan]

Both the #1s on these lists were by far the best.  The gap between '73 Nebraska's pass D and #2 was the same as the gap between #2 and someone in the teens.
Same with '93 Arizona's run D.  

[CWSooner]

Of these 470 top ten teams, 1973 Nebraska is the only one in the fossil record to hold teams to fewer yards per pass attempt than run attempt.  Incredible.  
The average QB against the Huskers that year went 4 for 13 (29.6%) for 44 yards.  
If you think this was simply the times, the team ranked one spot above Nebraska was a 10-0-1 Michigan team that allowed 6.1 yards per pass.  On average, a QB's line vs the Wolverines was 10-20 for 120 yds.  

Big difference - all-time great pass defense.

The Big 8 at that time was max-run/little-pass.  And it wasn't just that Big 8 teams didn't pass much.  They didn't pass well either.  That has to account for much of that remarkable stat.

OU beat the Huskers 27-0 in Norman that year, but only went 3-10-1 for 51 yards passing.

BTW, Nebraska had a great defense that year.  Period.

[FearlessF]

yup, Barry's first team was held under 27 twice that season

[OrangeAfroMan]

David Humm was an above average QB back in 73 running Osborne's pro style offense - played in the NFL

completed just 54% of his passes, but his 114 completions went for 1601 yards - 14 yards per catch

That's another thing I've learned - Nebraska wasn't option in the early-mid 70s.  Were they using wingbacks with Johnny Rodgers before then?  Some kind of veer?  Why pass so much in the mid-70s?

[FearlessF]

well, it wasn't footballs flying every down.  For example in 78 the huskers completed 134 passes of 229, but had 752 rushing attempts

and the Huskers went 98-20-4 in the 70s

it was the inability to beat the derned Sooners in late November weather.  Osborne was 1-8 vs Switzer from 73-1980

1980, Osborne started running the QB, it really took off when he out-recruited Switzer for Dallas QB Turner Gill. Soph Gill took the reigns after a slow start in 1981 and the Huskers beat the Sooners in 81, 82, and 83.

[OrangeAfroMan]

I'll be at the Arizona Game Fair today, with the Whoa Nellie game.  Hopefully I'll find some football fans to sit down and play.  It's at the Mesa Convention Center.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Played a full game with someone who took to the game and said he really enjoyed it.  He got out to a big lead, but I came back and won.  He was really impressed and said it felt like a real football game experience, especially at the end (it was a close game).  
He also provided some very good input and new ideas I hadn't thought of, so that was extremely helpful.


My new "Whoa Nellie" card was a success.  Previously, I was lacking fumbles and random long TDs in the game.  In researching how often those plays tend to happen, I created a card that has 2 binary dice rolls, with the player on defense deciding when to play it (must play it once per half):
When the card is played:
first roll = 50/50 chance of a fumble caused or a possible long TD
next roll = 50/50 chance of the fumble being recovered by the offense or defense
                 OR
              = 50/50 chance of the long TD happening or not
So it breaks down to when the card is played each half:  25% chance of a lost fumble, 25% chance of a long TD, and a 50% chance an neither.

It worked well for me, especially - I netted a long fumble return for a TD in the first half and a long TD run in the 2nd half.  In a game that can drag on a little with long, nickel-and-diming offensive drives, it really injects some uncertainty and excitement, while not tossing out the statistical validity out the window.  





I'm going to include more diverse defensive options.  Having rarely played a 2-player game, defense can get stale with only so many choices.  
He mentioned different sack likelihoods for long pass (7 step drop) and short pass (3 step drop), which is an easy addition and makes perfect sense.  I'll have to check my notes for other ideas.



Basically yesterday was a great day for the game improving going forward.  I'm going back today because a guy wanted to play it, but couldn't bc of timing yesterday.  He specifically wanted me to seek him out this morning.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Instead of taking the game to a game store and hoping someone will be bored enough to try it out (they don't tend to be sports fans), I need to ask a sports card shop owner if i can hang out and ask customers to play it there.  

[OrangeAfroMan]

So how does Kickstarter work?  
I don't want some money coming in and not have a precise plan with which to use it.  I've never been on the site or anything.  I just want to do this right, and I guess this is the most popular avenue for a new board game.


Any expertise out there?

[OrangeAfroMan]

Okay, well I'm not doing kickstarter, it wasnt what I thought it was.  And I'm not taking donor dollars and paying myself or anything like that.  Just going to avoid all that stuff.


Gamecrafter is a site that will create games from files you send them, but I'm only going to use them to create my game board.  The rest I'll just do myself.  There are hundreds of people wanting to buy the game, so that's good.  But I'm torn between quality vs price at the moment.  As I catalogue all the top 10 teams going back to 1971, I've been hemming and hawing about how to do this.


So a guy online gave me the idea of a demo of the game.  He had bought some sports game ($40+) and didn't really like it at all.  But he has no recourse now.  I'm really wanting to keep the price of my game down, as the main expense will be adding teams you want to play with as time goes by.  Like okay, I'm tired of these 4 teams, I want to buy 4 more, so I can play a dozen new matchups or an 8-team playoff, etc. 


I'm pleased with the game as I produce it, except for the game board itself.  There's no way for me to make it that doesn't look home-made.  So I was thinking I could charge something like $15 for a demo of the game, with the home-made game board and 2 teams instead of 4.  Then if the customer likes it, that $15 would go towards the ultimate, full price and they'd get the professional game board and additional 2 teams.  The full game is going to be around $40 or so, I don't see a way to decrease it.  Plus there's shipping that I'm looking into as well. 


Just an update.  I was given the go-head to include the forum website on the game box and/or components, so maybe it'll kick up some more fans here. 

[OrangeAfroMan]

It's a good thing when people are getting pissy about not being able to buy the game yet, right?