GAME ON
Local esports company to provide software for a first-of-its-kind collegiate tournament
Jun 22, 2020, 3:04 pm
Houston-based Mainline is providing the tournament software for an unprecedented esports showdown between the Big 12 schools. Jamie McInall/Pexels
This article originally appeared on InnovationMap.
While college football's fate this fall is up in the air thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the Big 12 Conference is definitely going to face off virtually thanks to esports software developed in Houston.
According to an announcement from the Big 12 Conference and Learfield IMG College, its multimedia rights partner, the tournament has opened for registration for all 10 member schools — Baylor University, Texas Christian University, University of Texas, Texas Tech University, Iowa State University, University of Kansas, Kansas State University, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and West Virginia University.
"This is a great opportunity to engage in an emerging space on a Conference-wide level," says Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby in a news release. "This opportunity is a unique way to provide original content from within a competitive environment during these challenging times. We appreciate the collaborative efforts that have made this first-of-its-kind Big 12 Championship tournament possible."
Houston-based Mainline, an esports software startup, has been selected to provide the tournament software for this unprecedented event, which is set to take place July 13 to 16. Each of the 10 schools will host its own single-elimination qualifying tournament featuring Madden NFL 20. Students have until July 10 to register to compete. Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will air both the schools' finals and the Big 12 Conference Championship tournament. The host of Big 12 This Week, Bill Pollock, will call the tournament.
Continue on InnovationMap to learn more about esports visibility.
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What Houston Texans must do to steal a signature upset win over Lions
Nov 7, 2024, 4:02 pm
It's no secret that the Houston Texans are having some real issues with protection, which is causing CJ Stroud's numbers to dip and the team to lose games.
Stroud has only tossed one touchdown pass over his last three contests, which clearly isn't sustainable if the Texans want to compete with the top teams in the AFC.
After watching the Texans film from last Thursday's game against the Jets, NBC Sports' Chris Simms noticed some issues plaguing the Houston offense.
Simms was quick to point out that he believes Texans OC Bobby Slowik is “not doing enough” to help CJ Stroud. He sees Houston's offense as a very basic version of the Shanahan scheme, which opposing defenses have seemingly figured out when attacking Houston's protections.
He would also like for Stroud to take over the role of calling out the protections, instead of leaving it up to the center. In this case, it's Juice Scruggs making the calls. A second-year player that has less experience in the Texans' offense than Stroud. (Scruggs missed about half of last season due to injury, and spent time at guard).
Simms makes the case that since Stroud is not in charge of protection, he may not know where the pressure is coming from.
ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime recently confirmed that this is not the case. Scruggs does make the calls, but Stroud knows what the protection calls are. He referenced a story from September where guard Shaq Mason discussed this very topic.
Here’s right guard Shaq Mason confirming this from a story back on Sept 11. pic.twitter.com/maBNAAJzMM
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) November 7, 2024
So if Stroud is fully aware of the protection calls on each play, it would suggest that the poor left guard play, and the predictability of the Texans sliding protections when they get certain looks as the main problems Bobby Slowik has to get corrected.
Jarrett Patterson should start at left guard this week after returning from a concussion. That could immediately give the o-line a boost, even if he's just average. If Patterson does play a decent game, and Stroud is still running for his life, Slowik and his scheme will have nowhere to hide.
Be sure to watch the Simms video above as he shows some examples from the Jets game to illustrate his points.
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