Alright, so I just played the best and most fun game of NCAA football 2005 (yes, it's that old but I plan on getting a new one when I get an Xbox 360) I have ever had today. In Dynasty mode, I was playing in the New Orleans Bowl with the Appalachian State Mountaineers (Sun Belt conference champs with a 9-3 record) versus the East Carolina Pirates (5th in C-USA with an 8-3 record), with five minute quarters. I got the ball on the kickoff and drove downfield. After a few drives, I managed to pin ECU back at their own four yard line off a great punt. For some reason, their coach decided a pitch was a great idea and I managed to tackle their back in the end zone for a safety (two points). Being the bizarre and/or rare football score nerd I am, I decided this was a great opportunity to make the game have an odd score of some sort, like 2-0 or 5-0. I very, very slowly drove the ball down the field, eating up the clock. Right at the end of the second quarter, I lost a fumble at the end zone, so the score was 2-0 at half.

In the second half, I managed to stop ECU and force a punt on their first drive. I essentially went into keep-away mode from that point on, running out the clock with little to no passes and slowly forcing the ball downfield. By the fourth quarter, I had possessed the ball for the vast majority of the game and was stopping ECU from advancing each time. With about a minute left I managed to get a first down off of a third and ten, but my wide receiver fumbled at the fifty-yard line. ECU choked and threw three straight incomplete passes, but on fourth down they had a clear shot at what would have been a touchdown and made it at least 6-2, which would have ruined my plans. On some sort of miracle they dropped the pass, turning it over on downs and allowing me to hold on to win with a final score of 2-0.

Just as a bit of historical perspective, a 2-0 score is extremely uncommon in real life football - the last such score occurred in 1938, when Green Bay beat Chicago 2-0.

-TN05