1. I will review the two Ultimus Bowl members in the Austin Copperheads and Sarasota Sailfish to see how these teams exceeded expectations to make Ultimus runs.
Starting with the Copperheads, they were coming off a successful 10-6 season that ended with a disappointing upset loss in the first round. The team was still quite good, but no one was sure how it would go with rookie QB Jay Cue III under center. But as it turned out, Jay Cue III had a massive rookie year with 4,500 yards and a 31 TD to 11 Int ratio. He was even able to lead the entire ISFL in QB rating, cruising to rookie of year to cap a great season. His two main targets were Zaphod Beeblebrox (1,000 yards and 10 TD's) and Delores Bickerman (1,500 yards and 5 TD's) who both had incredible seasons. Backup RB Jeff Newman also lined up at WR3 in tune to 860 yards and 9 TD's while Penger Tolliver (600 yards and 2 TD's) also contributed to a top 5 passing game. But that might not even have been the strong suit of the offense as Howard Coward powered for 1,250 yards and 13 TD's on 4.6 YPC, leading to over 100 rushing yards a game for a top 3 attack.
The Copperhead defense was pretty average, interestingly much more efficient in yardage (6th in the league) than PPGA (12th in the league). The pass defense was quite stellar with 3 players (Zamir Kehla Jr. , Draft Steal, and Geralt) snagging 2 picks. Two other DB's in Robert Green and rookie Trent Thigpen were surprisingly good pass rushers, getting 8 and 4 sacks respectively. This unit combined to under 260 passing yards allowed per game and a top 3 finish. Wälter Gunther and Tank McGibbons were the two best pass rushers on the team, combining for 24 sacks. Mario Moloka'i was also quite good making a Pro Bowl at ILB. Despite the stars, no one else at LB or DE really stood out as the Copperheads had the 13th rush defense to round their pretty average defense.
The Copperheads were widely inconsistent in the regular season, flip flopping wins and losses through most of the year but scored 3 TD's in the final 2 minutes to beat the Otters and clinch a playoff berth at 9-7. They were also able to erase a 19-10 deficit into a 41-19 blowout against the Outlaws with Coward rushing for 3 TD's. The were also able to upset the Hahalua with 3 3rd quarter TD's in a 42-35 win to make it to the Ultimus. There they would face the Sarasota Sailfish.
Sarasota were more similar to Austin then they weren't, with both teams having top 5 passing games and defenses that were good against the pass and struggled against the run. But unlike Austin, Sarasota had a veteran QB in Willier Miller who threw for almost 5000 yards despite a league worst completion percentage. He was still quite good though, throwing 35 TD's to 15 INT's and putting up a 90.7 rating. The Sailfish had a very diverse receiving core with Johnny Blaze Jr. (1300 yards and 13 TD's) while Thomas Robinson put up 1100 yards and 8 TDs. That passing game sounds quite traditional at this point, but RB Kumquat Archipelago lined up at WR3 to get 1100 yards and 6 TD's while starting RB Ace Anderson also had 700 yards through the air. Veteran Lucius Salem also contributed with 600 yards and 2 TD's from TE. Anderson also rushed for 1000 yards and 7 TD's on 4.5 YPC to cement Sarasota as a top 5 offense.
The defense was, like the Copperheads, pretty average with a good pass defense and bad run defense. Sarasota had 2 players catch at least 3 picks with Harley Andrews snagging 3 and Spruce Willis catching 4. The pass rush wasn't spectacular as Sarasota was dead last in the league in sacks with a bad DL, but Max Honestly still had 11 sacks while Ignatious Cleetington tacked on 7 more. The pass rush was also helped by Jamie Orions 7 sacks.
Sarasota got off to a hot 3-0 and then 6-2 start before cooling off to 6-4. They rebounded quite successfully though, winning 3 in a row to make it to 9-4 and looking like they would get the bye. But everything changed with 3 straight losses allowing Sarasota to barely make the playoffs at 9-7 after winning a close tiebreaker with Berlin. Despite barely scraping into the playoffs, the Sailfish dominated the Hawks in a 34-21 victory to face the Yeti in the conference championship. The game was close throughout until a 13-0 run to end the 4th quarter won the Sailfish the game to make it to the Ultimus.
In a toss up thriller of an Ultimus that never saw anyone lead by more than 7, the Sailfish scored a TD with 1 minute left to go up 31-24, but a miraculous Austin TD drive sent the game to overtime. In OT, Austin walked down the field and kicked a field goal to go up 34-31 with a game sealing interception winning the Copperheads the trophy.
Starting with the Copperheads, they were coming off a successful 10-6 season that ended with a disappointing upset loss in the first round. The team was still quite good, but no one was sure how it would go with rookie QB Jay Cue III under center. But as it turned out, Jay Cue III had a massive rookie year with 4,500 yards and a 31 TD to 11 Int ratio. He was even able to lead the entire ISFL in QB rating, cruising to rookie of year to cap a great season. His two main targets were Zaphod Beeblebrox (1,000 yards and 10 TD's) and Delores Bickerman (1,500 yards and 5 TD's) who both had incredible seasons. Backup RB Jeff Newman also lined up at WR3 in tune to 860 yards and 9 TD's while Penger Tolliver (600 yards and 2 TD's) also contributed to a top 5 passing game. But that might not even have been the strong suit of the offense as Howard Coward powered for 1,250 yards and 13 TD's on 4.6 YPC, leading to over 100 rushing yards a game for a top 3 attack.
The Copperhead defense was pretty average, interestingly much more efficient in yardage (6th in the league) than PPGA (12th in the league). The pass defense was quite stellar with 3 players (Zamir Kehla Jr. , Draft Steal, and Geralt) snagging 2 picks. Two other DB's in Robert Green and rookie Trent Thigpen were surprisingly good pass rushers, getting 8 and 4 sacks respectively. This unit combined to under 260 passing yards allowed per game and a top 3 finish. Wälter Gunther and Tank McGibbons were the two best pass rushers on the team, combining for 24 sacks. Mario Moloka'i was also quite good making a Pro Bowl at ILB. Despite the stars, no one else at LB or DE really stood out as the Copperheads had the 13th rush defense to round their pretty average defense.
The Copperheads were widely inconsistent in the regular season, flip flopping wins and losses through most of the year but scored 3 TD's in the final 2 minutes to beat the Otters and clinch a playoff berth at 9-7. They were also able to erase a 19-10 deficit into a 41-19 blowout against the Outlaws with Coward rushing for 3 TD's. The were also able to upset the Hahalua with 3 3rd quarter TD's in a 42-35 win to make it to the Ultimus. There they would face the Sarasota Sailfish.
Sarasota were more similar to Austin then they weren't, with both teams having top 5 passing games and defenses that were good against the pass and struggled against the run. But unlike Austin, Sarasota had a veteran QB in Willier Miller who threw for almost 5000 yards despite a league worst completion percentage. He was still quite good though, throwing 35 TD's to 15 INT's and putting up a 90.7 rating. The Sailfish had a very diverse receiving core with Johnny Blaze Jr. (1300 yards and 13 TD's) while Thomas Robinson put up 1100 yards and 8 TDs. That passing game sounds quite traditional at this point, but RB Kumquat Archipelago lined up at WR3 to get 1100 yards and 6 TD's while starting RB Ace Anderson also had 700 yards through the air. Veteran Lucius Salem also contributed with 600 yards and 2 TD's from TE. Anderson also rushed for 1000 yards and 7 TD's on 4.5 YPC to cement Sarasota as a top 5 offense.
The defense was, like the Copperheads, pretty average with a good pass defense and bad run defense. Sarasota had 2 players catch at least 3 picks with Harley Andrews snagging 3 and Spruce Willis catching 4. The pass rush wasn't spectacular as Sarasota was dead last in the league in sacks with a bad DL, but Max Honestly still had 11 sacks while Ignatious Cleetington tacked on 7 more. The pass rush was also helped by Jamie Orions 7 sacks.
Sarasota got off to a hot 3-0 and then 6-2 start before cooling off to 6-4. They rebounded quite successfully though, winning 3 in a row to make it to 9-4 and looking like they would get the bye. But everything changed with 3 straight losses allowing Sarasota to barely make the playoffs at 9-7 after winning a close tiebreaker with Berlin. Despite barely scraping into the playoffs, the Sailfish dominated the Hawks in a 34-21 victory to face the Yeti in the conference championship. The game was close throughout until a 13-0 run to end the 4th quarter won the Sailfish the game to make it to the Ultimus.
In a toss up thriller of an Ultimus that never saw anyone lead by more than 7, the Sailfish scored a TD with 1 minute left to go up 31-24, but a miraculous Austin TD drive sent the game to overtime. In OT, Austin walked down the field and kicked a field goal to go up 34-31 with a game sealing interception winning the Copperheads the trophy.
SAVE THE WIKI!