If things go right this season for Kansas University’s football team, the KU sports information staff will be printing up pamphlets proclaiming star cornerback Charles “Slash” Gordon as a Heisman Trophy contender.
But the virtual Gordon didn’t need a support staff this virtual Saturday, in the first showing of this season’s X-Factor simulation.
Nope the junior Jayhawk did everything but stitch new uniforms (apparently virtual adidas didn’t get the memo that KU was switching their school colors to one solid royal blue hue this season) as virtual Kansas thrashed Florida Atlantic 59-13 in front of a packed virtual Memorial Stadium.
Gordon returned two punts for touchdowns, including a special second return of 77 yards that saw Gordon bounce off one FAU defender before spinning between two more Owls then outracing a flock of virtual Florida Atlantic down the right side-line for the score.
That in of itself would have made Gordon the star of a game that saw KU score four touchdowns by its defense and special teams. But the 5-11, 180-pound cornerback/wide receiver from Carson, Calif., wasn’t done.
Get the stats: KU-FAU virtual box
scoreGordon also led the Jayhawks in receptions with four catches for 136 yards. He might have been even more outstanding on defense where he came up with six tackles, more importantly, forcing two fumbles — recovering one of them himself. Oh yeah, did I already mention his first 57-yard score off a punt return, or how about the fact Gordon even got one handoff — which he quickly turned into a 37-yard jaunt up the middle for yet another TD.
“That’s a pretty special guy,” the virtual Mark Mangino would likely say, considering the real-life Mangino uttered those exact words at KU’s media day, before adding: “I read an essay once by Bobby Bowden. He says some guys have ‘It’ and some guys don’t have ‘It’. He’s got ‘It.'”
While Gordon might have been the Jayhawks biggest highlight-reel producer in the season-opener there were plenty of other standout performances in the Jayhawks’ first virtual contest.
After tossing an interception on KU’s first series, the virtual Adam Barmann got the Jayhawks on the board halfway through the first quarter when he tossed a two-yard strike to true virtual freshman Russell Brorsen. The virtual Scott Webb added the extra point for a 7-0 lead and the Jayhawks took a lead they would never relinquish.
Then it was time for the virtual KU’s special teams to step up as Gordon scored his first of three touchdowns on a 57-yard punt return down the left side-line.
Kansas corner back Donnie Amadi followed in on the festivities when he scooped up a FAU fumble that the virtual Nick Reid caused when he leveled Florida Atlantic punt returner Casey McGahee. Amadi, who also nabbed an interception in the season-opener, rebounded the fumble on a single bounce and jaunted 42 yards for a score that put KU ahead 21-0 a minute into the second quarter.
Kansas added 10 more points before the end of the half thanks to a 25-yard field goal by the virtual Webb and Gordon’s other amazing return.
However, the Owls did finally manage to get on the scoreboard when FAU virtual QB Danny Embrick lobbed a four-yard strike to receiver Chad Wilkes in the back of the end zone.
KU’s virtual Clark Green racked up 63 rushing yards on just eight carries in the first half despite the fact that virtual FAU actually had more all-purpose yards than Kansas, with 307, while the Jayhawks churned out 305.
Any thought Florida Atlantic had of a rally after scoring the first touchdown of the second half quickly vanished when the virtual Jayhawks closed the game out with 28 unanswered points. Barmann hooked up with the virtual Mark Simmons for a 28-yard strike, and Gordon, of course, added his 37-yard rushing touchdown thanks to a large opening hole by KU’s virtual linemen up the middle.
Virtual Lawrencian Brandon McAnderson even had reason to smile after falling over the goal-line from a yard out to increase Kansas’ lead to 52-13 before Aqib Talib added the final score on a 97-yard interception return.
While the virtual Mangino had to be pleased with his team’s exceptional play (KU’s defense limited FAU to negative eight rushing yards and also had six sacks), and the out-of-this world performance by the virtual Gordon — much like the real-life Mangino, virtual Mangino was somewhat subdued in his post-game press conference.
“One game is not going to make or break our season, we’re in this for the long haul,” the virtual Mangino said with a smile.
Editor’s note – Because of the late relase of EA Sports March Madness 2005, there are a few differences with this first X-Factor simulation and the ones to come. Namely, we were not able to change the skin tones of any of the players, nor were we sure how our player and game settings would affect final scores and stats. We will definitely be fixing any issues that come up over the next couple simulations. We should have everything as realistic as possible by the TCU game Dec. 9. Thanks for your patience.
The No. 1-ranked virtual Kansas Jayhawks started the year right with a 93-54 victory over Vermont in the first X-Factor basketball simulation.
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Kansas jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first four minutes and never looked back. The Jayhawks led, 44-23, at halftime thanks to a blistering 70.4 field-goal percentage, including 66.7 percent shooting from three-point range. Vermont shot just 38.6 percent before intermission, though the Catamounts did outrebound the Jayhawks, 9-8.
KU’s shooting percentage cooled to 58.3 percent in the second half, but the Jayhawks did score eight more points after halftime than before. Vermont upped its second-half output to 31 points, but it still wasn’t enough to overcome Kansas.
J.R. Giddens led KU with 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Keith Langford was named player of the game for chipping in with 15 points, four assists and four blocks. Aaron Miles had 10 points, eight assists and four steals, and Michael Lee scored 10 points – all in the second half. Wayne Simien totaled eight points, five rebounds and three blocks.
T.J. Sorrentine and David Hehn led Vermont with 14 points each. Taylor Coppenrath – Vermont’s player of the game – had eight points, seven rebounds, four blocks and four turnovers. Martin Klimes added six points, five rebounds and three blocks.
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X-Factor Game 1: Kansas 59, Florida Atlantic 13