Coaching Career of Demarcus Cravens (NCAA 13)

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Basic Info
Name: Demarcus Cravens
Age: 22
Alma Mater: Ohio State
Offensive Playbook: Multiple (Generic)
Defensive Playbook: 4-3 (Generic)
Roster: Gamingtailgates
Qtrs: 8 min
Sliders: Hartstoppers Heisman
Recruiting: Heisman

Year 1: Kent State 0-0

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On a summer morning, Demarcus Cravens had gotten the phone call of a lifetime. His long-term dream of being a head coach was finally becoming a reality. Cravens had served 4 years as an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2007-2011 seasons. He was a member of the staff that Jim Tressel had put together but because of the scandal, majority of the staff was scrapped and forced to search for other jobs. After a year of no success, Cravens had received a call to be the head coach of the Kent State Golden Flashes. “It was an honor,” said Cravens, “I need to pack my bags and get to Kent, OH and begin preparing.” Cravens also liked the job offer because it was in Ohio, his home state and with his background of high schools, had background access to recruits. He also liked it because hopefully he could find his way to working at his alma mater, Ohio State.

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Kent State Contract: 2 years
Goal:
Win 8 games in one season
Win 75% of your games in one season
Beat a Rival Opponent
Sign 5 2-star or better prospects each regular season
Finish each season ranked in the BCS Top 100
Finish 4th or better in the conference one season
Fill all team needs before the off-season each year
Win 4 games in one season
Win 25% of your games in one season

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Athlon Sports Pre-Season Prediction

Kent State
Offensive: The team has potential to make a case in the Mac if the offense can provide points. The return of QB Spencer Keith and HB Traylon Durham really helps their chances, and also helps give new head coach, Demarcus Cravens, some stable options until he can get his recruits into the system.

Defense: The strength of the team by far. With 6 players returning from the year before, all 6 are in key skill positions and can help the Golden Flashes offense by keeping the opposing team off the board. The defense will also benefit by having Demarcus Cravens at the head position, seeing as he served on the defensive side of the ball when at Ohio State.

Overall: 5-7 record for Kent State as the adjustment to a new system poses to be too much for the team during the offseason and the upsurge of NIU, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ohio, and Miami(OH) proves to be an upward climb for the Golden Flash, But if Coach Cravens aspires to establish his team in the mix for a MAC championship, then he is going to need the players to rally around him, despite many of them being only a few years younger than him.

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Kent State Golden Flashes 2012-13 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 1	vs Marshall
Sep 8	at Kentucky
Sep 22	at Buffalo
Sep 29	vs Ball State
Oct 6	at Eastern Michigan
Oct 13	at Army
Oct 17	at Bowling Green
Oct 20	vs Western Michigan
Oct 27	at Rutgers
Nov 3	vs Akron
Nov 10	at Miami University (OH)
Nov 24	vs Ohio

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NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Aug 30, 2012
RK	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	Alabama
2	USC
3	LSU
4	Oregon
5	Oklahoma
6	Georgia
7	Arkansas
8	Florida State
9	Michigan
10	West Virginia
11	South Carolina
12	Michigan State
13	Kansas State
14	Clemson
15	Virginia Tech
16	Wisconsin
17	TCU
18	Ohio State
19	Nebraska
20	Stanford
21	Boise State
22	Texas
23	Oklahoma State
24	Notre Dame
25	Florida

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Running By Committee??

Marshall Thundering Herd at Kent State Golden Flashes
Sep 1, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Marshall Thundering Herd (0-0)	7	0	0	10	-	17
Kent State Golden Flashes (0-0)	7	17	0	0	-	24

Team Stats Comparison
	MRSH	KENT
Total Offense	411	354
Rushing Yards	168	98
Passing Yards	243	256
First Downs	20	9
Punt Return Yards	17	3
Kick Return Yards	123	43
Total Yards	551	400
Turnovers	2	1
3rd Down Converstion	7-16	3-11
4th Down Conversion	1-2	0-0
2-Point Conversion	1-1	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-2-0	1-0-0
Penalties	3-20	2-16
Posession Time	16:57	15:03

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	KENT
5:03	(KENT) C. Meadows INT for TD(FG Good)	0	7
2:07	(MRSH) J. Kelson, 16 yd pass from A. Graham(FG Good)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	KENT
4:14	(KENT) T. Goode, 37 yd pass from S. Keith(FG Good)	7	14
2:47	(KENT) M. Hurdle, 76 yd pass from S. Keith(FG Good)	7	21
0:00	(KENT) 40 yd FG from F. Cortez	7	24
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MRSH	KENT
5:55	(MRSH) Safety on Kent St.	9	24
1:11	(MRSH) T. Martinez, 19 yd pass from R. Cato(2pt Good)	17	24

Marshall Thundering Herd

Kent State Golden Flashes

With the first week of games finally underway, it was time for Kent State to strap up their chinstraps and play the Marshall Thundering Herd of the C-USA. “I felt that this first game would be a nice test for the team. We could see some strengths and weaknesses and also get a good challenge from a capable team” said Coach Cravens. The challenges he would get though, he probably didn’t expect. The first kickoff return was kicked to the left side and HB Traylon Durham fielded it and began running up the sideline. He was hit violently at the 23 yard line and that was just the beginning of Coach Cravens troubles. The star halfback had dislocated his elbow and would not return for a minimum of another 11 weeks. So Cravens was forced to rely on A. Meray to fill the load. He fared well for the time he was given, managing to go 17 carries for 68 yards, but he too would not manage to finish the game as he suffered broken ribs after stretching out for a first down. “So now we are down to our 3rd string running back and hopefully he can step up and perform with his opportunity in front of him.” Said Coach Cravens about the injuries, but despite them his team still managed to win and improve to 1-0. The team has a tough challenge next week with a Kentucky Wildcats team that is also 1-0 after beating rival Louisville.

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NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 7, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	2	USC	1	0	1502
2	3	LSU	1	0	1431
3	4	Oregon	1	0	1363
4	5	Oklahoma	1	0	1316
5	9	Michigan	1	0	1198
6	7	Arkansas	1	0	1166
7	8	Florida State	1	0	1103
8	1	Alabama	0	1	1059
9	10	West Virginia	1	0	982
10	11	South Carolina	1	0	941
11	12	Michigan State	1	0	879
12	13	Kansas State	1	0	811
13	14	Clemson	1	0	811
14	15	Virginia Tech	1	0	705
15	16	Wisconsin	1	0	654
16	17	TCU	0	0	604
17	19	Nebraska	1	0	510
18	20	Stanford	1	0	464
19	22	Texas	1	0	379
20	23	Oklahoma State	1	0	338
21	24	Notre Dame	1	0	310
22	6	Georgia	0	1	276
23	25	Florida	1	0	261
24	21	Boise State	0	1	200
25	--	Washington	1	0	189