Dream League Days 8-9: Joe Burrow is MVP again as postseason looms

Days 8-9 recap
Nathaniel closed out his dominant season with two more wins, as his offense continues to hum along with no issues. Cal is rolling into the postseason with a 3-1 mark in his previous four games, as he boosted his winning streak to three games with a 45-27 thumping of Andrew. That kept Cal alive for the top seed, but Nathaniel ended those hopes by ending Andrew’s comeback attempt, winning 30-20. Three field goals from Rodrigo Blankenship and another great performance from Joe Burrow were enough to clinch the first seed. The season finale between Nathaniel and Cal had little on the line, but Nathaniel wasn’t going to halt his momentum. He built up a 31-0 lead, on a pair of touchdowns each from AJ Dillon and Colby Parkinson. He held on to win 31-15 with relative ease. And thus, our Dream League regular season ended, and the postseason stage looms bright. 

We are into the Dream League Playoffs! It’s been a wild ride, and the season will culminate this weekend with the crowning of a champion. The overwhelming favorite will be top-seeded Nathaniel Lapoint, who is 7-1 and the clear best team in the league at this moment. He is 6-0 with League MVP Joe Burrow under center, and his offense has been nearly unstoppable. It doesn’t help that he has the 2019 Georgia Defense, the best defense in program history, along with Rodrigo Blankenship, who has been nearly automatic in the kicking game.

Cal, the preseason favorite, can’t be discounted yet, as he was the only team to take down Nathaniel, and despite a 4-4 record, he has an extremely talented roster. Powered by Jonathan Taylor, who finished second in the League MVP race, along with Trevor Lawrence, Cal is not out of it by any stretch, but he will have to win a home playoff game first. 

Andrew, who won the NCAA College Basketball Dream League with ease, piling up a 9-3 record, has had no such success in the NCAA Football league. After a seemingly convincing 40-21 win to open his season, Andrew went on to lose seven straight contests. He decided to pick the LSU championship defense, but the Tigers, when faced with Dream League offenses, have completely wilted. Andrew did push Nathaniel to the brink twice, coming within a possession in the fourth quarter in his last two games, but to even get to the championship, he’ll have to take down Cal on the road. Be sure to stay tuned for the playoffs.

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Dream League Days 4-5: Joe Burrow dominates, Nathaniel rolls

We are halfway through the Dream League season, and a clear favorite has emerged. Nobody has touched Nathaniel’s air-raid offense yet, as Joe Burrow has been absolutely dominant, and Nathaniel’s bevy of playmakers are getting things done. Meanwhile, the Georgia defense, which was the best in program history in 2019, is coming up big. It’s hard to engage in a shootout with the Georgia defense, and it’s hard to limit Joe Burrow, but Nathaniel is forcing his opponents to figure out how to do just so. 

Day 4 saw Cal pick up his first victory. The preseason favorite struggled in his first two games, but he put on a dominant performance, thrashing Andrew’s 2Peaters 34-7. Justin Jefferson caught six passes for 134 yards, Jonathan Taylor churned out 110 yards on the ground, and Cal’s Ohio State defense intercepted Jalen Hurts twice in the statement victory. 

However, Day 5 belonged to Nathaniel, who took on both Cal and Andrew on the day. Nathaniel improved to an impressive 4-0, including 2-0 on the road. He started the day out with a road victory, 34-21 over Andrew. Andrew kept pace in the first half, but he was unable to score until garbage time of the second half, as Nathaniel broke off a 20-0 run, with Burrow throwing for 309 yards. 

In his second contest of the game, the game was over almost before it started. On the strength of an incredible 31-point second quarter, Nathaniel bullied Cal out of town, taking his fourth straight win to start the year. Burrow tossed five touchdowns and 447 yards, with Jerry Jeudy snaring two of Burrow’s TD passes, while Richard Laconte Jr. of the Georgia defense intercepted Trevor Lawrence two times. Rodrigo Blankenship also kicked three field goals, improving to 7-8 in four games, and Nathaniel rolled, 58-28. Andrew and Cal will play tomorrow for sole possession of second place.

Cal 34 Andrew 7
Nathaniel 34 Andrew 21 (Box Score Unavailable)
Nathaniel 58 Cal 28 

Standings

Nathaniel (4-0)
Andrew (1-3)
Cal (1-3)

Dream League Days 2-3: Benching Joe Burrow for Lynn Bowden?

After Andrew defeated Cal in the opening contest with relative ease, it was time for Nathaniel to get into the action, and he took his squad, loaded with SEC East talent into action against Andrew on Day 2.

Featuring an air-raid attack led by Joe Burrow, Nathaniel’s offense was nearly unstoppable, particularly in the second half. Burrow went 26-39 for 393 yards, tossing four touchdowns. 1st-round draft pick Clyde Edwards-Hillaire caught a pair of 1-yard scores and rushed for another, as Nathaniel outscored Andrew 21-3 in the third quarter and hung on for a nail-biting 41-35 victory. J.K. Dobbins paced Andrew’s offense with a whopping 221 rushing yards, averaging nearly ten yards per pop.

Box Score: https://www.whatifsports.com/ncaafb/boxscore.asp?GameID=11871786&nomenu=1

Day 3 featured some highly interesting strategy between Nathaniel and Cal. After watching Burrow torch Andrew, Cal used his homefield advantage to set the weather, a feature available on our simulation, to 35 degrees with wind and pouring rain. Nathaniel’s response? He benched Burrow for Kentucky’s jack-of-all trades Lynn Bowden, also choosing the heavy run play style.

Cal was highly critical of the decision, commenting “I’m trying to think of a scenario that this is a close game, but I can’t”

Nathaniel was confident in his bold decision, saying “I’m going to make Cal have nightmares about Lynn Bowden tonight”.

Although the play style didn’t fit Nathaniel’s offense nearly as well, he had a strength in Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, who kicked three field goals – two in the fourth quarter – to edge out Cal, who managed just a single touchdown on the day. Bowden put together a solid performance, but it was Edwards-Hillaire that was the main feature of Nathaniel’s offense, churning out 132 yards in the gritty 9-7 victory.

Box Score: https://www.whatifsports.com/ncaafb/boxscore.asp?GameID=11874668&nomenu=1

STANDINGS
Nathaniel (2-0)
Andrew (1-1)
Cal (0-2)

Dream League Day 1: J.K. Dobbins dominates

The lack of live sports has dragged on, and the nearest end in sight is a May 17 NASCAR race. I’m so desperate, I might just watch it. But until then, we have restarted our Dream League Series. It’s the second part after If you read the preview, you know about the teams, and maybe you picked a favorite. There’s plenty of trash talk to go around, but for now let’s get to the results of Day 1. You can read how the game went down, or you can just scroll to the bottom for the result and standings.

The match-up featured the league favorite, Cal, traveling to Andrew’s 2-peaters, Andrew plays his home games at the real Death Valley, in Clemson, so beating him on the road will be a tough task. In this league, the home team also gets to set the weather for the simulation, allowing for adjustments to fit their play style. How did this one play out? Find out below.

The Game

Andrew’s offense was led by Jalen Hurts and the running back tandem of JK Dobbins and Travis Etienne. He used LSU’s championship defense to counter Cal’s offense, led by the Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Taylor in the backfield, with Trevor Lawrence calling the shots under center. Ohio State was Cal’s defense of choice.

After Cal jumped out to a 14-3 lead on the strength of a punt return and Taylor touchdown run, Degeorge ended the half on a 23-0 run in the final 1:40. Etienne punched one in, then Andrew’s squad sacked Lawrence for a safety, then Hurts launched two long touchdown passes to cap off quick drives sandwiched around Cal’s 3-and-out to take a 26-14 lead into halftime.

Cal closed within 26-21, but two long touchdown runs by JK Dobbins iced the game for Andrew, who thumped the league favorites 40-21 to start the season off strong. Dobbins killed the game

Player of the Game: J.K. Dobbins – 22 carries, 143 yards

LEAGUE STANDINGS

Andrew Degeorge 1-0

Nathaniel Lapoint 0-0

Cal Christoforo 0-1

College Kids Talking College Sports Dream League Day 3: Results, Stats, and Leaderboard

In Day 3 of the College Kids Talking College Sports Dream League, Nathaniel’s Mid-Majors rebounded from a winless day 2 to win both contests in day 3, squeaking out a 116-113 win over Cal’s Sunrise on the road and holding off Andrew’s Anteaters in a 139-130 offensive showcase. Andrew took down Cal 116-100 in the other game, maintaining their grip on first place. Jordan Nwora and Markus Howard had big days to help out Nathaniel’s resurgence.

Andrew sits at 4-2, while Nathaniel leapfrogged Cal into second place at 3-3, and Cal is a game further behind at 2-4 heading into the final day of regular season action. Below is each team’s stats and the leaderboard for four major categories.

NDL

Player (Minutes Played)	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Jordan Nwora (165)	97	51	6
Vernon Carey (154)	94	53	6
Markus Howard (137)	120	21	16
Anthony Lamb (134)	108	43	21
Kameron Langley (127)	54	20	43
Jermaine Marrow (114)	64	9	17
Kira Lewis (89)	52	13	14
Jhivvan Jackson (108)	74	29	10
Killian Tillie (71)	30	17	5
Xavier Tillman (89)	36	51	10
Tre Jones (9)	1	1	2
Zavier Simpson (2)	0	1	1

Andrew

Player (Minutes Played)	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Payton Pritchard (174)	94	33	35
Luka Garza (151)	139	54	15
Devon Dotson (168)	117	15	42
Devin Vassell (122)	56	29	14
Udoka Azubuike (126)	84	57	4
Jalen Smith (89)	38	34	6
Ayo Dosunmu (133)	59	20	28
Isaac Okoro (79)	26	9	12
Jordan Ford (24)	12	1	2
Daniel Oturu (19)	9	7	0
Yoeli Childs (101)	91	48	5
Saddiq Bey (14)	0	3	1

Cal

Player (Minutes Played)	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Obi Toppin (204)	118	73	18
John Mooney (196)	81	96	12
Cole Anthony (150)	93	23	15
Myles Powell (152)	90	28	23
Cassius Winston (164)	75	11	27
Malachi Flynn (129)	70	28	31
Anthony Edwards (103)	78	21	8
Jared Butler (22)	10	4	2
Elijah Hughes (63)	51	11	7
Michael Devoe (4)	0	0	0
Cassius Stanley (4)	0	0	1
Tyler Hagedorn (9)	7	2	1

LEADERBOARD

Points

Player	Points
Luka Garza (Andrew’s Anteaters)	139
Markus Howard (Nathaniel’s Mid-Majors)	120
Obi Toppin (Cal’s Sunrise)	118

Rebounds

Player	Rebounds
John Mooney (Cal’s Sunrise)	96
Obi Toppin (Cal’s Sunrise)	73
Udoka Azubuike (Andrew’s Anteaters)	57

Assists

Player	Assists
Kameron Langley  (Nathaniel’s Mid-Majors)	43
Devon Dotson (Andrew’s Anteaters)	42
Payton Pritchard (Andrew’s Anteaters)	35

Efficiency Rating

Player	Efficiency Rating
Yoeli Childs (Andrew’s Anteaters)	1.43
Luka Garza (Andrew’s Anteaters)	1.38
Anthony Lamb (Nathaniel’s Mid-Majors)	1.28
Markus Howard (tied) (Nathaniel’s Mid-Majors)	1.15
Udoka Azubuike (tied) (Andrew’s Anteaters)	1.15