SEASON ONE

Xtrapott proves skill is what matters in earning the right to be called DaONE
by BDawg35, SPORTS WRITER

Who is DaONE? Xtrapott is DaONE!

By emerging from a pack that originally included 117 owners, DaONE proved something huge in the process.

While others have moaned and groaned that it’s impossible to beat the top-rated teams in NCAA 2004, Xtrapott quietly went about his business and toppled two of the heavyweight teams with his humble Iowa Hawkeyes en route to the championship and a perfect 11-0 season.

Xtrapott toppled the supposedly unbeatable Miami Hurricanes of Coach Canes 31-17 in the championship game in the Sugar Bowl. Iowa earned a berth in the championship game with a last-second 34-31 victory over another team loaded with high-OVR players, the Ohio State Buckeyes of Coach BigG.

The road to the title of DaONE was a nonstop thrill ride for Xtrapott, who beat Mad Sci’s UGA Dawgs 28-21 in double overtime in the first-round game, Mcstl25’s Missouri Tigers 30-7 in the second round, TDaug’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish 27-24 in double overtime in the Elite 8.

"What a season," Xtrapott said. "Who would have ever thought we would be crowned DaONE national champ? This is what it’s all about, taking a group of kids that weren’t even picked to win their conference, much less the national championship. It’s a dream come true. I can finally relax. The season is over and I’ll enjoy this one for a long time."

Iowa took down Miami with a patient ball-control attack and a tough defense.

The Hawkeyes didn’t have a single turnover, outgained the Hurricanes 132-21 on the ground and held a 13:53 to 10:07 edge in time of possession.

Bob Sanders (Iowa Strong Safety) returned an INT 74-yards for a TD, helping seal the victory against Miami in DaONE's National Championship Game

Iowa was nursing a 7-3 lead late in the first half when the Hawkeyes broke open the game with two touchdowns in the final 11 seconds of the second quarter. A 1-yard run by fullback Edgar Cervantes with 11 seconds left in the half put Iowa ahead 14-3. There was only one turnover in the game, but it was critical, as Bob Sanders picked off a Hail Mary and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the second quarter, giving Iowa a 21-3 halftime advantage.

But there was still one more half to play, so the Hawkeyes couldn’t get too comfortable in the halftime pause menu.

Folks in Iowa City started celebrating, though, when the Hawkeyes went up 28-3 on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Chandler to Maurice Brown with 3:52 left in the third quarter.

Miami cut the deficit to 28-10 on a 1-yard run by fullback Quadtrine Hill with 1:43 left in the third. A 36-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding put Iowa up 31-10 with 3:37 left in the game and Miami finished the scoring on a 35-yard pass from Brock Berlin to Sinorice Moss with 1:21 to go.

"It was truly a good game plan by Xtrapott," Canes said. "He had great playcalling and he had stick control that caused Miami’s speedy defenders to overpursue. He converted a huge third-and-long for a big gainer, putting him in scoring range right before halftime. That was the nail in the coffin that the ‘Canes could never recover from."

Iowa’s defense did a masterful job on Miami halfback Frank Gore, holding him to 21 yards on 10 carries. Gore came into the game with 676 yards on 70 carries for a 9.7-yard average gain.

"His defense shut down Gore, who in my opinion was the frontrunner for the mythical Heisman Trophy," Canes said.

Now, all the Heisman hype may be directed at Iowa running back Fred Russell. Russell put up huge numbers while leading his team to a championship, the two determining factors in the minds of many Heisman voters.

Fred Russell (Iowa RB), one of DaONE's top Heisman candidates, gained over 1,500 yards this season

Russell carried 232 times for 1,519 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, gaining 6.5 yards per carry. Against one of the toughest defenses in NCAA 2004, Russell picked up 125 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

The championship game was almost anticlimactic compared to some of the gut-wrenching victories Xtrapott pulled out during the playoffs.

Playing the king himself in the first round, Xtrapott eliminated Mad Sci’s UGA Dawg’s on a 3-yard run in double overtime by Cervantes. An interception by Sean Considine on Georgia’s possession sealed the victory. Iowa forced overtime by scoring with 20 seconds left.

After blowing out Missouri by 23 points in the second round, the Hawkeyes found their championship hopes in limbo in the Elite 8. The Hawkeyes scored 10 points in the final 1:52 of regulation time against Notre Dame to force overtime, as Nathan Chandler threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Ed Hinkel with 1:52 left and Kaeding kicked a 21-yard field goal to tie it with four seconds to go. In the second overtime, Iowa won on a 40-yard field goal by Kaeding.

Iowa won a battle of 9-0 teams with Ohio State in the semifinals, as Kaeding nailed a 40-yard field goal with two seconds left for the game-winner.

Xtrapott said he’s 50-50 about whether to keep Iowa or upgrade to a higher-ranked team. Canes made no bones about the fact he wants to keep his beloved Hurricanes, the team he runs with not because of the team ratings but because he roots for them in real life.

"I want it said that this should put to rest the B.S. about ‘super power team,’" Canes said. "Good practice and a solid game plan is what makes a team super and Iowa was just that."

Contratulations to XtraPott, he is DaONE!

This first season was a battle of attrition not for the faint of heart. Many of the 117 ballers that started the fierce journey fell by the wayside, unable to weather the storm. A core of steadfast, elite ballers remained, however, and made a blood oath to fight to da very end. Thirty-two ballers made the playoffs and the battles ensued. Many games went down to the wire. From the many, XtraPott has emerged as the UNDISPUTED UNDEFEATED champion of our first season.

X's path through the playoffs was not an easy one:

Round one: X over MadSci (Georgia) 28-21 (Double-overtime)
Sweet 16: X over MCSTL25 (Missouri) 30-7
Elite 8: X over TDAUG (NotreDame) 27-24 (Double-overtime)
Final 4: X over BigG (Ohio State) 34-31
Champtionship: X over Canes (Miami) 31-17

In both double-overtimes, the X-Man came from behind in the final minutes to tie the score. Not many people game him a chance against Ohio State and Miami, but X proved them wrong, and shocked many of us. He is truly...DaONE!

Checkout the playoff bracket (designed by BironM) at LeagueDaddy. Season II is up ahead, and promises to be better than the first.

Can the X-man repeat? Destiny awaits...

Top ranked BYU (Mosski) battled second ranked Air Force (AfroMan) in a battle of the unbeaten. Relive this epic battle by viewing a 5-minute hightlight of the game here (week6-gotw2.wmv).

GPaul (gee pee) has put together what he calls Da Heisman Watch--a report on the top Heisman candidates in DaONE League. Click on DaHeisman button to the left and check it out.

DaONE league is an online NCAA league hosted my MaddenMatrix.COM. We are a group of str8 ballers who love the game. We are more of a family than a group of players separated geographically by time and space. If you'd like to join our league, register at the DaONE forums and post in our Waitlist Forum.

I'll be doing a weekly article, starting this week, taking a look at a few games for the upcoming week that bear watching. Whether they be huge rivalry games, giant versus giant killer, ranked team matchups, etc., I'll spotlight three or four good games that the casual fan is gonna want to monitor.

A lot of guys know by now that I'm a Michigan man ... bleed maize and blue, actually. I'm still bleeding over Iowa. Anyway, I do admittedly favor the Big Ten. However, I'm going to make a concerted effort to be unbiased here.

Having said all of this, three of the four games featured this week involve Big Ten teams. I think anyone, even Big Ten rivals, would admit that the conference just really got all the big games this week. Rest assured though, that in future weeks this won't necessarily be the case.

Fresno State at Oklahoma
This is one of those giant vs. giant killer games. Fresno State, although not undefeated, has already taken Tennessee down. The team's one loss was a heartbreaker to Oregon State by four points. The team has shown a willingness to abandon the run in an attempt to get huge plays with the pass game. This team goes three deep when it comes to game-breaking receivers, the top two being among the best in the league in terms of yardage and touchdowns early on. The Fresno State quarterback has shown an extreme talent for spreading out the ball, but has been known to make the occasional bad decision. Oklahoma, on the other hand, has only played one contest ... a lopsided win against North Texas. The team played as expected, the renowned Sooner defense dictating everything on the field, allowing a pitiful negative-one yard rushing. What was noteworthy about the performance though, was the offense's lack of a passing game. It could be argued that Oklahoma just didn't need the pass this week, but six total completions is a bit worrisome.

Oklahoma is certain to have its hands full in this game. It's likely not going to have a problem totally taking the running game out of the equation, but it's not Fresno State's strategy anyway. The Sooner secondary is about to get the test of the early season, as this Bulldog passing attack comes to play ... ask the Volunteers. The only thing that will keep Fresno State from knocking down another giant, is the fact that this Oklahoma offense is going to be too much for this outmanned defense to handle.

Line: Oklahoma by 7

Iowa at Iowa State
RIVALRY GAME! This one's gonna be a war. Neither team has given up much on the ground. Neither team has really been tested yet this season. Matter of fact, Iowa's seven points against are the only points scored on either team, the Cyclones securing two early shutouts. Iowa's offense, if keeping to the script, is going to go right at you via the Fred Russell ground attack. This strategy could both help and hurt the Hawkeyes’ chances. Of course, Iowa State's ability to stuff the run is discouraging, but a big factor in the Cyclones’ two huge wins were turnovers. Don't figure on Russell turning the ball over much, and very few passes mean very few interceptions by the Hawkeye offense.

The Cyclones have themselves assembled one of the most efficient offensive attacks in the league thus far. The first game was won via huge plays in the passing game. The second was won with 153 ground yards. Turnovers for both games combined? Zero. Iowa just can't really know what to expect from these guys, forcing them to prepare for everything. The result in this game could easily go either way. As good as Iowa is going to be this season, look for the homefield advantage to kick in here.

Line: Iowa State by 6

North Carolina State at Ohio State
This a game featuring two highly touted, highly ranked teams ... one a bit more than the other, but the second perfectly willing to knock someone down a notch or two. This is Ohio State's second big matchup to start the year, the first being a game against the Washington Huskies. Washington definitely held its own against the champs, but the Ohio State defense held one of the top rushers in the league to only 14 yards. Once a team, any team, accomplishes this kind of ground domination, it throws the opposing offense way off, and it becomes much easier to defend that team. Case in point: Four Washington turnovers. The team only completed eight passes on the day, but when you've got a player that rushes for 186 yards and two touchdowns against a very good Washington defense, who needs to pass anyway?

North Carolina State has shown in its only game that it can definitely hold its own defensively. T.A. McLendon produced 180 yards and three touchdowns by himself, while the pass game was highlighted by Jerricho Cotchery gaining 153 yards and one score of his own. It's an entirely different story on the defensive side, however.

Against South Florida, the team allowed over 300 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Against Ohio State, this kind of effort just isn't gonna cut it. There is one factor that may end up playing a part in deciding this game. The Buckeyes are already on the team's second coach this season, and there is no guarantee things will run as smoothly with a different guy wearing the headset. On paper though, this Ohio State team is gonna be hard to beat under any circumstances.

Line: Ohio State by 10

Notre Dame at Michigan

Maurice Stovall and his Notre Dame teammates have a huge matchup with Michigan.

Here's the big one. This rivalry goes back decades upon decades. Both teams are undefeated. Both run balanced offenses. Both own capable defenses. There are differences, though. In terms of early tests, the edge has got to go to Notre Dame, having already beaten a good Washington State squad in an epic battle for the ages. The Wolverines have achieved two easy victories, but both were against lesser teams. Notre Dame likes to use its running attack to set up its potent, spread-the-ball-around pass attack. Once the run attack is shut down, as in the Washington State game, the holes for the receivers become less available, but the team wields talented wideouts ... the best capable of getting open on about anyone.

Michigan's offense is almost exactly the same, looking to spread the ball around the field whenever possible and using the run game to set it all up. Just like the Irish, the Michigan receivers can make lesser secondaries look silly. As mentioned, the team hasn't been tested, but this defense has shown an ability to handle most everything thrown at them, giving up a total of 404 yards and two touchdowns in two games. This game will come down to which coach can call the right plays at the right times, and which quarterback can make the least mistakes. My position with the Michigan team ethically prevents me from picking a winner in this matchup, so this one is going down as being even.

Line: Even

With summer upon us, the days seem to get a little longer and the roars a little louder. You can hear the sounds from miles away. Where is that coming from? Well, from the thousands of DaONE college football fans, coaches and players alike screaming with complete joy. Finally, a new 64-team playoff will crown the REAL national champ.

The 12 conference champs get automatic entry along with the rest of the DaONE Top 25. The rest of the field will then be picked by a ranking system that includes stats, quality wins, strength of schedule and overall performance. Get in the playoff field, go on a six-game winning streak and you’re the new DaONE national champ.

“This gives the mid-majors and smaller schools a chance to compete on a national level,” DaONE’s assistant playoff director said.

Of course, winning the national title won’t be an easy thing to do with top-quality teams and coaches throughout the league.

The top programs in the country will no doubt be very well represented in the national playoff. Teams like Miami, Oklahoma and Ohio State will now have to go through a demanding six-week playoff and prove on the field that they are the true champs. This also gives mid-majors and smaller schools a chance to compete on a national level.

Expect an intense regular season in which every game counts. Underdogs pushing for that major upset to help them get in. No more going to the whatever.com bowl after a good winning season. National powers seeking that No. 1 seed for a less-resistant road to the title. All in all, I feel this should be a great year of football in DaONE.