UCF v. USD, 9/4/10

The University of Central Florida Knights kicked their season off on a humid evening Saturday against the University of South Dakota.

UCF got on the board early, grinding out a second-possession, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off by a Johnathan Davis dive from the one yard line.

After the teams battled at midfield for much of the remaining quarter, UCF again punched into pay-dirt on a seven-yard run around the corner from Jamar Newsome, set up by a 31-yard reception by A.J. Guyton, one of eight passes caught for 127 yards in the game.

South Dakota opened up the second quarter with a Marcus Sims kick return that placed the Coyotes within striking distance. Three plays later USD running back Chris Gainous exploded through the line to put South Dakota on the board.

After a Nick Cattoi field goal, UCF forced another Coyote three-and-out to line up great field position, with Guyton catching his first touchdown pass of the game with a little over a minute remaining on the clock before the half.

The Coyotes came out stale again in the third period, another three-and-out allowed the Knights to attempt to grind out another solid drive, however resulting in a UCF punt. QB Calabrese completed his first nine passes of the game before throwing two incompletions on the drive.

A huge, 24-yard sack on the ensuing Coyote drive forced a punt out of their own end-zone, giving UCF great field position even after a muffed punt return. The Knights used the opportunity to free Brendan Kelly near the end zone to drive the score to 31-7, UCF.

South Dakota started the final quarter much like the previous ones, falling short on assembling a drive and punting from their own territory again. Starting from the Coyote 41, it was only 2 minutes before UCF entered the red-zone and scored on a six yard touchdown pass from backup-quarterback Jeff Godfrey, giving the Knights a 38-7 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the game.

Following another poor drive that stumbled after just four plays, South Dakota punted away only to watch Guyton continue to get open down the field, catching 2 more throws on the drive including a 27-yard completion on third down. UCF's drive faltered as they decided to go for the first down on fourth-and-three from the Coyote 27 to drain the clock, rather than kick a field goal; the attempt was un-successful, and the Knights turned the ball over on downs, their first turnover of the game. The Knights also continued fundamental football by only committing 3 penalties the entire game.

As the clock wound down, few fans were left in the stands with the rout in progress to see the Coyotes finally make a few good plays to reach the UCF red-zone for only the second time in the game, but were unable to score any more points as time ran out. UCF begins the season 1-0, the Coyotes falling to 0-1.

Game Notes:

— This was the first time UCF and USD have faced each other in history, UCF will play another team it has never played in week four at Kansas State.

— All 8 of UCF's drives made it into Coyote's territory.

— Junior A.J. Guyton set career highs in single-game receiving yards with 127, and receptions for a game with eight. He finished last season with 44 catches for 572 yards.

GAME BALL:

Receiver A.J. Guyton shredded the defense tonight, and seemed open over the middle almost all night. He was making life easy for quarterback Rob Calabrese and taking heat off the running game consistently.

Valencia Voice first collegiate publication on iPad

I am a bit late with this, but congratulations to the Valencia Voice student publication for being the first ever collegiate publication on the iPad! The team all banded together to get a iPad friendly app product working and ready for display a mere hour after the iPad was available to purchase. It took a lot of effort, but to be part of a groundbreaking outreach in student media was great. I look forward to continuing to be on the fore-front of student media and it's advancements!

Mass Effect 2 can't find it's place in Citadel Space

Commander Shepard is becoming something of an icon, a figure that stands out in the galaxy, one person that elicits hate or love from every species in space.

And he isn’t even real.

Mass Effect 2 was released last Tuesday, and I haven’t been able to put it down since it came in my home. The epic sequel to the first Mass Effect from Bio Ware delivered on many fronts, and failed on very few. Again you control the iconic Shepard, already a hero for the defeat he handed the Reapers in the first episode whilst also dispelling the geth and rogue Spectre Agent Saren. Perhaps the most interesting feature about ME2 is it’s ability (and highly recommended) feature allowing you to import your career from the original Mass Effect into the second installment, bringing your perks, a bonus for character level, and appearance with it. It also alters the way NPC’s interact with you and shapes the progression of the game greatly. In the first few hours of play I could already tell my decision to let the Council die so the Citadel could survive in the first game was not perceived well by some of the other alien races walking around.

If you played the first game, you probably crossed paths with the human supremacy group Cerberus, in fact, if you followed the way of the Paragon you most likely mowed down many of their associates in a few different missions; so you can imagine how you feel when Shepard wakes up on a Cerberus operating table after his body was uncovered following the wreck of the Normandy. You will have to learn to love Cerberus; they saved your life and now the association, along with their cryptic leader the Illusive Man (Voiced by Martin Sheen,) enlists your assistance to quell another brewing Reaper threat that the Council seems to be turning a blind eye to.

Already you’re hooked, I can tell. The game did get a bit more difficult as far as the play goes, the firefights are much more intense and ME2 relies heavily on squad combat, almost forcing you to place your team strategically before the fighting starts if you wish to survive. The graphics are better, your controlled character runs faster, and there is much more story to sift through and people to talk to; there better be, the game takes up two discs.

All in all, it is a great game. The user interfaces and upgrading procedures have been all but been killed off, and this is where my complaint list begins. Fans of the RPG aspect of the first game will be sorely disappointed, as the point allocation system for your character has been severely cut back. Also limited, the weapon customization and allocation itself; all your troops use the same gun and you have to find it in the world to upgrade to it. No more finding the right gun, armor or upgrade in the universe by looting, keeping your stash and selling back the trash. In fact, there is no more recovery of goods, period. You don’t have a backpack, and can’t switch weapons unless there is a load-out crate nearby; it almost seems as though by trying to simplify the game, Bio Ware horribly limited the uniqueness of what made ME1 great to begin with. Customization has been revoked in a game where customization is key. (They do allow you to change the color of your armor now, however.)

In the two years that Shepard was missing in action, the universe realized it would be a good time to take a step backwards in technology and go back to using clips of ammo in weapons, making you have to reload often. Frequently I found myself having to use a gun I shouldn’t be simply because you run out of ammo during every fight. There are also no more ambushes or nearly as much exploring. You’re either fighting an epic, repetitious battle or you’re talking to someone in a hallway.

This game could have been amazing. It could have broken boundaries. It could have been one of the greatest games ever made, and that may even be an understatement. Taking the time to make so many improvements, yet at the same time destroying what made the game great is quite disappointing. Its incredibly hard to give this game a rating for that reason; if it was the first game in a series it would be a solid 9, no questions asked (and if you have read my other reviews, that is beyond amazing.) But failing to deliver on what made the franchise great in large quantities has crushed this game.

In memory of the original Mass Effect, I am all but forced to drop this game down quite a bit, I would say around a seven. Imagine Elder Scrolls, or Knights of the Old Republic (another Bio Ware creation) without treasure chests or enemy drops. Great advances were made with this title, but it came with too great a cost. I’m not mad at you, Bio Ware; just very disappointed.

Miami V. Wisconsin; Harris can't keep the Badgers off his back

Orlando, Fla. -- When the Wisconsin flag-carrying parachuter botched his landing before the opening kick, the Badgers hoped things would only get better.
Then they had to kick the ball to Miami.
Sam Shields ran the opening kickoff back to the house on a designed kick reverse, only to have it called back to the Wisconsin 16 for an illegal block in the back. The next play from scrimmage and 23 seconds was all it took for Graig Cooper to get the Hurricanes on the board, rushing to the right sideline for six.

Luckily, this would be pretty much the end of the Badgers' bad luck.
After a few punts, Wisconsin tailback John Clay gave the Badgers hope as he rushed left end for a touchdown from three yards out to tie the game at 7-7, with 7:12 left in the first; the quarter would come to an end at that score.
With the swirling winds possibly affecting the coaches' decisions to kick a field goal, the Miami defense forced a turnover on downs in their own territory, but were forced to punt it away after two sacks and a botched snap.
After a Miami punt, Clay took the first play from scrimmage 51 yards to the Miami 12, where three plays later he scored from the Miami three yard line once again for his second tour of Orlando Pay Dirt of the night, 14-7 Badgers.
After a quick Miami punt, Wisconsin led a balanced attack down the field with the clock winding down, and with 18 seconds left before the half, Wisconsin kicker Phillip Welch scored on a 37 yard field goal to put the men in red up 17-7 at halftime. After a very quiet third quarter, Miami recovered a fumble as the Badgers drove into the red zone 50 seconds into the fourth, but again Miami was forced to punt after pressure from the Wisconsin D-line continued to pester Miami QB Jacory Harris. After another Welch field goal, Miami took control and headed an 80 yard touchdown drive, taking less than two minutes off the clock. Miami controlled the ball again with 1:20 left in the game thanks to a brilliant onside kick recovery, but Harris came up empty as the Badgers forced him into a sack and three incompletions to win the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl, 20-14. The game set a few records, including longest kick return in Miami bowl history, and a venue record 56,747 in attendance. John Clay finished with over 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns despite missing much of the third quarter and finished as the MVP of the game.