Return of Fast Play Football

Getting hyped up for the return of football (American style).

This has prompted me to bring back my Fast Play Football League (formerly War Without Miniatures Football League).

Pre-Season Moves

Each team is rated for offense, defense, and kicking. I thought it would be uninteresting if the teams had the same stats as last year. But I wanted some consistency with the prior season. Therefore, I decided to roll to see if one of the stats changed.

I rolled a D6 per team, -1 for each superior trait and +1 for each inferior one. A roll of 1 indicates that a trait gets reduced while a 6 indicates an increase. If there is a change, I chose the lowest to increase or highest to decrease. If there were multiple options, I rolled for it.

Overall, the league did well in improving its skill levels. Four of 8 teams increased while only one decreased.

• Denver and LA improved their offense to average.
• Chicago improved its defense to average.
• Dallas improved its kicking game to average.
• Alas, Washington's offense dropped to average.
• New York, Miami, and Seattle had no changes.

Week One

I also completed the first week of games.

• In a tough defensive battle, NY slips by Washington 19-13.
• Miami surprises with a convincing 23-7 victory over Chicago.
• Dallas and Seattle are tied 16 all. Seattle scores a TD then hold Dallas for the win!
• Another surprise! LA (1-9 last season) wins 31-24. The score is a little misleading. LA was up 31-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Denver scored a FG early in the 4th then a TD in garbage time. An attempted onside kick fails.

Oops

I keep track of results in an Excel spreadsheet. Unfortunately, I accidentally overwrote the Season 1 spreadsheet (stupid autosave). At least I have the season summaries on this blog.

WWMFL Season 1 Wrap Up

Season 1 is now complete.

Here are the final standings (teams in alphabetical order).

Note: Green shading indicates best offenses or defenses while red are the worst.

Some exciting games from the second half of the season.

• Week 7 - Dallas comes back from a 21-7 deficit to beat Miami 31-24. The Stallions score the game-winning TD mid-4th quarter then hold the Miami offense.
• Week 8 - Washington ties NY in the 4th quarter but then gives up a TD in OT to lose 24-17.
• Week 9 - Dallas and Seattle play for the division lead. Dallas is up 10-0 but then Seattle scores 2 TDs to go up 14-10. Dallas dominates the second half, scoring 2 TDs en route to a 24-14 victory and the division title.
• Week 9 - Down 14-7 late in the 4th, Denver scores a TD to tie it up. The Dragons then get a TD in overtime to win 21-14.

And stories of interest.

• Denver starts the season 4-1 but then goes 1-4 in the second half to finish at .500.
• Seattle surges into second with a 4-1 second half.
• New York runs away with the East title while Dallas needs a victory in week 9 to secure the West.

The WWM Bowl

Division champions New York Imperials (East) take on the Dallas Stallions (West).

• 1st quarter - both teams get a field goal. 3-3
• 2nd quarter - NY gets a TD but Dallas responds. 10-10 at half.
• 3rd quarter - NY gets another TD early and its defense clamps down. 17-10
• 4th quarter - NY moves the ball but cannot punch it in the end zone. The Imperials get 2 field goals. 23-10. Dallas gets the ball and drives, but they turn the ball over on downs.

Final: NY wins 23-10

That's a wrap for season 1. I think I will put WWMFL on hold until next football season.

WWMFL Halftime Report

I am halfway through my WWM Football League's first season.

Current Standings

Here are the standings (the teams are listed alphabetically)

New York is opening up a good lead in the East while Dallas and Denver are in a close race in the West division.

Notable Games

Here are some notable games so far.

• In week 2, Seattle and Dallas played to a 10-10 tie, with each team missing  a field goal. In WWMFL overtimes, each team gets a chance to score. In this game, the teams traded 2 touchdowns, Then Dallas held the Seals to a field goal and score a touchdown for a 31-27 win.
• Seattle is involved in another overtime game in week 4. Washington scores first then the Seals respond with 2 touchdowns to lead 14-7 at half. The Warriors score early in the 3rd quarter to tie it up. Seattle goes ahead with a field goal at the end of the 3rd. Washington ties the score in the 4th. In OT, Seattle holds Washington to a field goal then wins it with a TD. Final score 24-20.
• A number of close games in week 5.
• Dallas holds on to a 37-34 win vs. Chicago
• Down 7-0 at half, Seattle scores 13 points in the 3rd quarter then holds on for a 13-10 win.
• Dallas scores a TD in the 4th to squeeze by Washington 14-13.

WWM Football

What's Next?

I had a lot of fun with the Fast Drive Football college football playoff. I want to keep playing some football.

However, I decided not to use FDF. It's a good game, but games take a little longer than I want. And the instant result rules are too quick. Therefore, I chose to try creating my own rules.

The Rules

FDF works well, but each side gets a lot of possessions, many of which don't result in scores. To speed things up, I created rules where each side gets fewer possessions but score more often. I assume that there are more non-scoring possessions but the game skips over them.

In general, here is what I came up with.

• Each team starts with 1 possession per quarter.
• Roll a D6 to find the result of that possession: 1-2 no score, 3-4 field goal attempt, 5-6 touchdown
• If the roll is even, the team will get another possession in the quarter, up to a max of 3 possessions.
• It requires a roll of 3 or more to make a field goal.

Those are the basic rules. I also wanted to account for differences in team quality. I settled on three categories, offense, defense, and kicking, rated as superior, average, or inferior.

For a team's first possession of a half, roll 2D6 and determine the results as follows:

• If the offensive rating > defensive rating, use the highest roll.
• If the offensive rating < defensive rating, use the lowest roll.

If there is a 2 degree difference (for example, superior offense vs. inferior defense), roll 2D6 for the first possession of each quarter.

Sample Game

Here is a sample game for team A vs. team B.

First Quarter

• Team A scores first with a field goal. Team A leads 3-0.
• Team B drives but misses a field goal. Not surprising due to an inferior kicker.

Second Quarter

• Team A scores a touchdown. 10-0.
• Team B misses a field goal.

Third Quarter

• Team B actually kicks a field goal! They're down 10-3
• Team A gets a TD. They lead 17-3
• Team B gets a TD. 17-10
• Then they miss another FG. That's 9 points missed!

Fourth Quarter

• Both teams miss field goals.
• Team A then ices the game with a TD. 24-10.

This game took only about 5 minutes to play.

The WWM Football League

Now that I have rules, I decided to build a league and play a season.

Key features:

• Eight team league with two 4-team divisions
• Each team plays 10 total games - two each vs. division rivals and one each vs. the teams in the other division
• Division champions will play in a championship game

I asked Chat GPT to generate helmets for the 8 teams. Here they are

WWM College Football Playoff Finale

Wrapping up my version of the college football playoff using Fast Drive Football.

Semi-Finals

With Notre Dame out of the playoff, I just used FDF's Instant Results table to generate the semi-final scores.

• James Madison with another shocker! They beat #1 Indiana to advance to the championship game.
• Ole Miss squeaks by Ohio State 24-21

The Championship Game

Curious to see how James Madison would do, I decided to play the full game. They take on Ole Miss.

First Quarter

• JM gets a safety and a field goal to take a surprising 5-0 lead.
• OM drives for a TD. OM 7-5
• JM fumbles. OM recovers and drives for another TD. OM 14-5
• JM returns the kickoff for a TD. OM 14-12
• OM drives for a TD run. OM 21-12

Second Quarter

• Defense dominates. The only scoring is an OM field goal. OM 24-12

James Madison is still in this ballgame.

Third Quarter

• OM's defense dominates, shutting down JM.
• OM gets a TD run after a great punt return. OM 31-12
• OM recovers a fumble for a TD. OM 38-12

Ouch.

Fourth Quarter

• JM gets a TD after a great punt return. OM 38-19
• JM tries an onside kick but OM recovers. OM then gets a field goal. OM 41-19
• JM drives but turns the ball over on downs. OM runs out the clock.

Final score: Ole Miss 41, James Madison 19

Ole Miss wins the 2025 college football championship!

WHAT's NEXT?

Well that's over, but I'm still interested in some football. I'm thinking of building a fictional league and playing some games.

WWM College Football Playoff Round 2

Continuing with my version of the playoffs.

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State

In the first round, Notre Dame beat Texas A&M. ND advances to face Ohio State.

Ohio State beat ND in the CFP final last season. Can ND flip the result?

First Quarter

• OS tackles the ND QB for a safety. OS 2-0
• Then OS gets a field goal on the ensuing drive. OS 5-0
• ND intercepts a pass then drives for a touchdown run. ND 7-5

Second Quarter

• OS and ND trade long drives ending in TD runs. ND 14-12
• OS and ND trade field goals. ND 17-15
• OS intercepts deep in ND territory. It's returned for a TD. OS 22-17

Third Quarter

• ND takes the opening drive for a TD. ND 24-22
• OS gets a field goal. OS 25-24
• OS and ND trade TDs. ND's 2-point conversion attempt fails. OS 32-30
• OS is driving but fumbles near the goal line. OS 32-30

Fourth Quarter

• After a great punt return, OS gets a TD pass. OS 39-30
• ND drives but only gets a field goal. OS 39-33
• ND tries an onside kick. OS recovers and runs out the clock.

Final score: Ohio State 39, Notre Dame 33. 😢

GAME NOTE: This actually was my second try for ND. I accidentally erased the result from my first playthrough. The score was very close to this one.

Other Games

Other 2nd round action:

• James Madison upsets Texas Tech 38-35.
• Indiana squeaks by Oklahoma in overtime, 36-30.
• Ole Miss beats SEC rival Georgia 34-27

WWM CFP Round 1

Continuing with my version of the college football playoff using Fast Drive Football.

Previously, I ran a play-in game for ND and Miami. Now we move on to the first round.

Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M

After defeating Miami in a play-in game, Notre Dame takes on Texas A&M. 

They met earlier this year, with A&M squeaking by with a 1 point victory.

First Quarter

• A&M returns a punt for a TD. 7-0.
• ND responds with a TD pass. 7-7.

Second Quarter

• ND starts the quarter with a TD pass. 14-7 ND.
• ND intercepts a pass, then drives for another TD (pass). 21-7 ND.
• ND fumbles. A&M recovers and gets a TD (pass) 21-14 ND.

Third Quarter

• A&M gets a field goal. 21-17 ND.
• ND responds with a TD pass. 28-17 ND.

Fourth Quarter

• The teams trade field goals. 31-20 ND.
• ND fumbles. A&M drives for the score. They add a 2-point conversion. 31-28 ND.
• ND strikes quickly with another TD pass. 38-28 ND.
• A&M gets a 4th down conversion to keep its drive alive, but runs out of time.

Final score: ND 38 - Texas A&M 28

Other Games

Because I wanted to get to ND's next challenge, I did not use the full-blown FDF for the remaining games. Instead, I used the Quick Results table in the Commissioner's Expansion (on the FDF downloads page)

• James Madison shocks Oregon 47-17.
• Oklahoma squeezes by Alabama 21-16.
• Ole Miss defeats Tulane 30-17.

The WWM College Football Playoff

Disappointed that my team, Notre Dame, did not make the College Football Playoff, I decided to hold my own playoff. I will be using Fast Drive Football.

I spent some time last week calculating the 2025 college football ratings. I'm ready to go.

Play-In Game 1

Miami (Fla) got a bid over Notre Dame. These two teams played in week 1, with Miami securing a 3-point victory. That got them the playoff nod.

But are these teams the same as week 1? Let's find out. I'm giving ND a chance to play their way into the playoff. Because Miami is ranked above ND, I'll let them have home-field advantage.

Quarter 1

• MIA takes the opening drive all the way for a TD. 7-0.
• Three straight turnovers. Still 7-0.
• MIA starts in great field position but only manages a field goal. 10-0.
• ND takes the next possession for a TD. 10-7 MIA

Quarter 2

• MIA scores but ND runs back the ensuing kickoff. 17-14.
• MIA scores but ND runs back the ensuing kickoff. No, that's not an accidental duplication. 24-21.
• MIA scores but ND responds with a field goal. 31-24.
• Finally some defense. ND forces MIA to punt. ND gets a great return, setting themselves up in excellent field position.
• ND scores to end the half. 31-31.

Quarter 3

• ND and MIA trade TDs. 38-38.
• Then two punts. 
• ND has the ball and is moving.

Quarter 4

• ND scores, holds MIA, and scores again! 52-38.
• MIA and ND trade punts.
• MIA punches it in for a TD. 52-45.
• MIA forces a punt and gets an exciting return. They start in great field position.
• As they drive for the tying touchdown, they FUMBLE. ND recovers and wins the game!

Notre Dame takes Miami's spot in the playoff! Next up is Texas A&M.

Play-In Game 2

The last spot in the playoff came down to two conference winners - James Madison and Duke. JM was ranked higher and got the spot. Could Duke (my brother's team) pull off an upset and make my playoff? Let's find out.

Quarter 1

• JM gets 2 field goals. 6-0.
• Duke takes the lead on a TD run. 7-6.
• JM gets another field goal. 9-7 JM. Still, it's close.

Quarter 2

• JM scores 3 touchdowns. 30-7 JM. Ouch.

Second Half

• It's all JM with 3 more TDs.

Final score: JM 51 - Duke 7. No upset in this game.