TUFF @ Nationals
by Bjorn Schey
For the 7th time in the last 8 years, the UT Men's Ultimate team TUFF, qualified for the UPA College Championships. With the Championships expanded to 20 teams, the tournament took on a new 4 day format. Here's how it shook out for our hometown boys.
Day 1:
Williams: While readily apparent that Texas was the superior team, several good hucks by Williams where we aren't able to make a d kept the game from becoming a blow out.
Pitt: The Deep defensive woes evident against Wufo were only magnified against a clearly more powerful Pitt. Fast and huck happy, Pitt completed every huck they put up for the first two thirds of the game. Switching to zone defense proved to be the key for TUFF, forcing any longer throws to go through TUFF's big deep men, Soup and DJ. As many teams from the weekend can attest, this is not very easy. Soup gobbled up a few bouncy swings (1 on the goal line for a near callahan) and laid out for a couple more on overly aggressive swings. DJ D'ed every huck they threw. Period. Pitt's 14-11 lead ended up 16-14 TUFF. Inspiring.
Day 2:
Wisconsin: A refresher on the history of Wisconsin vs Texas. This was Steven Presley's 5th year, and the last time TUFF beat Wisconsin was Centex the year before he arrived. Since then TUFF is 0-8 or 9. Is there any team TUFF and Stevie wanted to beat more?
Played on the showcase fields, the surrounding hill was filled with spectators. If you weren't playing, you were watching this game. Wisco has its full arsenal of rowdy alumni and parents pacing the sidelines in baby blue, including many of the faces the ultimate community has come to know, fear and respect over their dynastic run. After all, Wisconsin came to Columbus as the defending champions.
Despite these distractions, Texas came out slangin'. An awesome layout D by DJ got an early break and generally unimpressive throws by Wisconsin's bit players put us up by a couple of breaks. Wisconsin was clearly freaking out, and a series of calls slowed the game down. Tuff took half 8-6. This game became very exciting in the second half. TUFF went back to zone to funnel throws toward Soup and DJ. They continued to make big defensive plays. Stevie enjoyed domination in both the deep field and back field. TUFF won on ultimate point. Athletic plays from both teams. See the ultivillage clip for great highlights.
California-Berkeley: This win against Wisconsin sealed the pool victory for Texas, and rendered the Cal game meaningless. Cal, who had played some tough, close games, runs hard from the get go, and Texas tries to rest some starters and plays open lines. The young guys on TUFF did great, but Cal ran away with it.
Day 3:
Quarters - Virginia: Virginia, a team that 1 month ago no one outside the AC region knew about, stormed into the spotlight when they won the AC by beating Florida, shocking the country and winding up with a 1 seed at nationals. They basically played with 9 guys. Robert Runner, their best player, played every point and had excellent throws and a very quiet demeanor. While he played every point, he never really left the backfield on o, and was careful about his matchups on D. A brave strategy, but I think he would've benefited from some rest. Perhaps he could have made a defensive play or two had he more energy.
From the get go it was obvious that TUFF outclassed them. Runner was having to throw at stall 9.5 over and over because Drew Coyne was putting on a great mark, and the downfield defenders were on lock down. DJ got an awesome callahan early on, and after point 3 this game was over. TUFF all the way.
Semis - Colorado: Colorado brought a very good team. Big and fast, all of them. TUFF started out well with another big D by DJ to get up an early break. For the first time on the weekend there was wind as a little thunderstorm rolled through. TUFF had a few unforced errors due to the increased wind. Colorado did a great job of contesting everything thrown and became more aggressive with their throws as the game rolled on. Colorado's star Mac Taylor started the game slowly, but by the end his hucks were dialed in. Stevie had a series of 3-4 incredible catches on a single point to get the crowd riled up. TUFF's O-line had to work very hard due to Colorado's fast and deep pool of defensive players, and Mamabird got a couple breaks in the second half to seal it.
This was the farthest Texas has gone in the College Series in more than 20 years, a historic accomplishment. In Calvin's phenomenal tenure as coach, he had never made semis. Stephen Presley finished 3rd in the Callahan voting, with Michigan's Will Neff taking the award. The presentation was humorous as the other 4 finalists for the award are at least 6 inches taller than Stevie. Congratulations TUFF and way to go seniors.
