NCAA Football 07

[Lightning Flik 0]

Dear God, I mean I love the concept of getting a few bonuses and looking a little better but yeah. No Joe Montana.

 

I just went from a 28-31 losing at the half against #6 Miami to beating them and winning 59-31. All because I got momentum back by the half and then took it at the start of the half by scoring the TD.

 

My teams are the following: Conquerers 2-1, Blue Raiders 2-1, Wolfpack 2-1 and Knights 3-0. That's just ridiculous. Especially when the Knights beat #2 Texas, #8 Louisville, and #6 Miami.

 

Although, I find it strangely ironic that the Knights are still unranked in the coaches poll due to whatever reason, yet are 17th on the media poll.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Navy is really good in my dynasty, too. Finished ranked each 3 years so far. And gave me a really tough game.

 

Won the Emerald Bowl 27-24 over an A Western Michigan team (no idea how they got that good). Best game I've had so far. Winning over a team I had no business beating, even more so since my starting QB Ron Mexico broke his arm in the 2nd quarter.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Well my Tigers dynasty started to get a bit repititious, so I swtarted a new cupcake on All-America, the Houston Gunslingers (in honor of my old semipro team). D's across the board, but luckily I don't actually have that many seniors starting out (only like 10 or 12). That'll make fielding a team easier since I won't have to keep as many of the inevitable walkons at the end of recruiting.

 

Stomped Montana in my first game and made some recruting inroads with some of my targets (looks good for 3 or 4, might manage to pull 1 or 2 more depending on what my season looks like). Running a "Balanced Pass" offense but it's mainly my bruising HB (no speed but nice tackle breaking) running the option because my receivers can't catch a damn thing. My schedule's not that bad (C+) but there's no bowl this year since I've got a few 1AA schools on the schedule. It's the only way to get keep from getting run over. This is my first dynasty to start on AA so we'll see how it goes. I'm not optimistic.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I was the same way with my Alaska cupcake team the first year... ran the shit out of my bruising HB.

 

Plus, you can still get to a bowl, even if you play all 1-AA teams. You just need Navy to struggle a bit, or Notre Dame to finish under .500. It seems like it's not possible to get more than 2 Independents into bowl games. In previous years, you could only beat 1-AA teams and make the title game.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Is that so? I would've thought they would put in the program somewhere that you can only mak a bowl if you beat a certain # of D1 school like in the real NCAA. Odd.

[Lightning Flik 0]

I was the same way with my Alaska cupcake team the first year... ran the shit out of my bruising HB.

 

Plus, you can still get to a bowl, even if you play all 1-AA teams. You just need Navy to struggle a bit, or Notre Dame to finish under .500. It seems like it's not possible to get more than 2 Independents into bowl games. In previous years, you could only beat 1-AA teams and make the title game.

Out of curiousity, how exactly do you run the shit out of the ball? My 4 teams with decent backs can't run the ball for the life of them. I think my running average is like 50-70 yards per team. I'm throwing between 300-500 yards (which basically IS the total yardage) and praying that my defense can contain on the picks.

 

And non of the backs have that great of break tackling skills, but I still can't get my West Coast offense to run the ball much.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

For me, I usually get about 100-125 yards out of my HB by running option tosses with a QB that can run fairly quick (about 70-75 speed).

[Guest Princess Leena]

I was the same way with my Alaska cupcake team the first year... ran the shit out of my bruising HB.

 

Plus, you can still get to a bowl, even if you play all 1-AA teams. You just need Navy to struggle a bit, or Notre Dame to finish under .500. It seems like it's not possible to get more than 2 Independents into bowl games. In previous years, you could only beat 1-AA teams and make the title game.

Out of curiousity, how exactly do you run the shit out of the ball? My 4 teams with decent backs can't run the ball for the life of them. I think my running average is like 50-70 yards per team. I'm throwing between 300-500 yards (which basically IS the total yardage) and praying that my defense can contain on the picks.

 

And non of the backs have that great of break tackling skills, but I still can't get my West Coast offense to run the ball much.

 

First off, never use burst unless you're in open field.

 

If the defense play base/nickel defense, run up the middle. You'll generally get at least 4-5 yards a carry. Then if they start clogging the inside, you can get big gains with the option.

 

And it's also really important to flip plays if the defense cheats to the side you're running. Or call an audible.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Why not use burst right off the bat? I'm now fairly curious. I hit the burst on the handoff, so wondering if I've been doing it wrong for so long now.

 

I always try running up the middle first if the outside breaks down, but I usually try (with a fast back) try to break to the outside. I find better success.

 

And should I rearrange the audiables to my own stuff or should I leave it at manual? Does it matter?

[Urban Warfare 0]

I don't like to hit the burst right away because you will outrun your blockers and get tackled for a minimal gain. I like to let my blocks set up and find lanes. Best way to gain yardage on the ground, IMO.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Why not use burst right off the bat? I'm now fairly curious. I hit the burst on the handoff, so wondering if I've been doing it wrong for so long now.

 

I always try running up the middle first if the outside breaks down, but I usually try (with a fast back) try to break to the outside. I find better success.

 

And should I rearrange the audiables to my own stuff or should I leave it at manual? Does it matter?

 

Definitely wrong... at least in the last few years of the EA football games.

 

When you burst, the defense converges much faster on you. And it also prevents you from juking as well, stiff arm, etc... Wait for your holes, and things work out perfectly. Or, if you have a fast back against a weaker defense, you can still burst outside and do fine. I try to avoid doing that too much, though... because it's easier to fumble if you're on burst, and that usually leads to a TD return the other way.

 

As for audibles, you might as well make them plays you want to use.

[UZI Suicide 0]

This upcoming season is going to suck for me. I just finished my first year with Texas Tech - Graham Harrell threw for 4,590 yards and 41 TD's and won the Heisman, then leaves for the NFL. My two impact players on offense, WR's Joel Filani and Jarrett Hicks, both seniors and 1,000+ yard receivers, are gone, along with my #3 receiver Robert Johnson. Had a good year but I lost in the Orange Bowl to Miami.

 

I guess it's time to find out if it's as easy to replace people in the Tech system on the game as it is in real life

[iggymcfly 0]

Apparently, I'm not as good at this as I thought just yet. After my win over Miami left me dreaming of an ACC title and a trip to the Orange Bowl, I got pulled back down to earth hard by Clemson who shut me out 54-0. They got the momentum early, and all of a sudden my QB started missing open receivers by ten yards and throwing picks to defenders that shouldn't have even been in the play.

 

I followed that up with a 23-7 loss to Maryland and now I'm danger of not even making a bowl at 5-5. I've got Virginia and Georgia remaining on my schedule, and I'm not sure if I need to beat one or both of them to make a bowl, but I'm looking sketchy any way. Even if I finish 6-6 though, beating Georgia should be enough to keep my job safe, as that would leave me with 2 out of 3 contract goals complete for the year. (Beating Miami was the other.)

[Guest Princess Leena]

You have to finish over .500 to make a bowl. I've seen the very rare exception, but don't bet on it. Even at 7-5 you may not get one, since major conferences rarely get the at large bids for the lower bowls.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Sorry if this has been touched on already, but 12 pages is to much for me to search through.

I understand there's a feature where stats are saved and sent to your Gamertag/email?

[lomasmoney 0]

Does anyone else find it really easy to run designed quarterback runs out of the shotgun formation. In my campus legend, my qb has like 87 speed and he carved up defending national champions Ohio State for something like 187 yards running on 22 carries. Almost all of the yards came off of QB draws, wraps and keepers. I never was able to pull off non option runs with the QB on 2006 in Singleback Shotgun formations.

[iggymcfly 0]

Well, looking at the real bowl tie-ins, the ACC is supposed to get guaranteed bowl berths for its top eight teams. I finished 7th in the conference at 4-4 (after beating Virginia 38-8), so I shouldn't need an at-large bid. Looking at the latest projections, I wasn't in though, as they did have small conference at-large teams filling up the bids as at-larges.

 

I'm hoping it's just because they don't really expect me to beat Georgia and finish over .500 with six I-A wins, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'll tell you, if I finish 7-5 with wins over Miami and Georgia and get passed over for Middle Tennessee State, I'm going to be pissed off.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Midlevel conference FTW, yo.

[Guest Princess Leena]

You may well be pissed off... those at-large bids often go to 6-5 teams from the MAC and Sun Belt.

 

As for the bowl projection, they may see that you're not over .500 now, and that's why they don't put you in.

[The Tino Standard 0]

In regards to running plays, pick a toss sweep play where the RB goes to a side where there is only one wideout. If the defense is in a man-to-man, put that wideout in motion, leaving that side of the field open.

 

If you've got a running back with good speed, he should be able to beat the defenders to the corner, and then it's off to the races.

 

And if you've got a fast QB, like Troy Smith from OSU, the LB Attack play from the Shotgun Trips formation is almost unstoppable. Your QB can beat everybody to the left side of the field on speed alone. The only way to stop the QB is for the defense to put a spy on him on that side. That leaves the WR in single coverage, which leads to an even BIGGER gain.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Well my season ended up on a high note as I defeated Vanderbilt 27-21, WKU 47-15, and then had a wild one at Tennessee.

 

I was trailing 15-13 with two seconds left after the kick return so I called a hail mary with 5 receivers of course. I don't know what defense Tennessee was playing but on the left side of the field I had two receivers against one defender so I moved my quarterback over to the left side and heaved a huge one toward them. The #87 receiver who was supposed to catch the ball jumps for it as well as the Tennessee defender but the ball goes over both of their heads and I'm thinking I've lost when SUDDENLY my #12 receiver comes out of nowhere, grabs the ball a second before it hits the ground, and runs 25 yards into the end zone for the game winning touchdown. The only part that made me disappointed is that there was no pile up in the end zone or they didn't throw any gatorade on me or carry me off the field or anything. Either way, the 19-15 win fulfilled a contract goal and got me in good graces with the administration again after a 5-7 season.

 

West Virginia got screwed in the BCS in my first year and Alabama got to play for the national title even though they were #3 in the polls vs. #1 Oklahoma by four HUNDRETHS of a point. However, West Virginia lost their bowl game in a blowout to Maryland so I watched the National title game. Alabama got out to a 14-0 lead with :45 seconds left in the second quarter until Oklahoma marched down the field and kicked a field goal in to make it 14-3. Oklahoma stopped Alabama after a kickoff and kicks another field goal to make it 14-6. Alabama gets stopped yet again on 3rd & 7 and their QB gets knocked out of the game with a broken collerbone so Oklahoma gets the ball back and Adrian Petersen (the Heisman winner) gets a HB Direct to run it in from 43 yards. Petersen also gets a two yard run for the two-point conversion and we are tied 14-14 with about 2:15 to go. Alabama and Oklahoma both can't move the ball and with 17 seconds left Oklahoma punts the ball away BUT the Alabama returner fumbles the return after it hits his hands and Oklahoma recovers on the four with about 10 seconds left. A field goal kick later and a stopped kickoff return give Oklahoma the national title 17-14. Decent game but I thought the finish was cheap.

[iggymcfly 0]

Well, I got my bowl bid. I stomped Georgia and I was briefly scheduled to play #24 Navy in the Emerald Bowl, but after VT beat #1 Florida State in the ACC Championship, giving the conference two BCS berths, I "moved up" to face Hawaii in the MPC Computers Bowl.

 

Oh, and it's kind of interesting that everyone else keeps seeing teams get screwed by the BCS, because both years, there have been about 6 or 7 teams undefeated with three weeks left in the season only for things to magically work themselves out to get a undisputed title game between two undefeateds. This year, undefeated defending champion WVU was looking like they wouldn't even make the title game until FSU picked up the aforementioned loss to Va. Tech. Minnesota, Oregon, LSU, and TCU were also all undefeated going into Week 13 before losing one or two games each. Now, we have #1 Texas vs. #2 WVU for all the marbles.

 

I'm only getting 10 starters back next year (really 9 since I play my nickel corner more than my third linebacker), so I imagine things are going to get tougher, but with two contract goals reached, I should at least be able to stick around until I can build the program back up. Losing Calvin Johnson is really going to hurt as he set school records for receptions, yards, and TDs this year, finished third in the Heisman voting on a 7-5 team, and only needs 150 yards against Hawaii in the bowl game to set the single-season NCAA record for receiving yards.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Damn you, I always hope for the invite to the Smurf bowl, but get stuck with the Emerald Bowl. And it rains every freakin' time I play it, too.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Damn you, I always hope for the invite to the Smurf bowl, but get stuck with the Emerald Bowl. And it rains every freakin' time I play it, too.

 

I think I'm going to schedule a game against Boise St. in a year or two when my team isn't as embarrassing as it currently is. In all my years of playing NCAA I've NEVER played a game on the Smurf Turf. No idea why.

[Maztinho 0]

I think I need a defensive switch. I'm still new to the series and this is the first time I've actually bought NCAA. I'm running a 3-3-5 for whatever reason I clicked on that defensive set, but I get burned by everyone for at least two or three deep balls a game on Varsity. Any suggestions?

 

I have a tendancy to play zone since I don't trust my safeties, but when I let them play man the computer dumps screens and runs forever.

 

Plus playing on the Smurf Turf rules, I booked Boise State just for that reason.

[Guest Princess Leena]

My created Alaska team plays on the Blue Turf. It's like playing on water. Plus, it looks pretty with the many snow games.

[Ripper 0]

Well.

 

I at the start of this year after ending my first National Title push the previous season going undefeated beating 4 number one teams and ended up ranked number fif-fucking-teen in the nation.

 

So I come in this year with my entire offensive, and defensive line gone and my linebacking corps gone. So all of those positions are freshmen. I still had my great QB and recieving corps, a incredible transfer running back, and two members of my secondary (the other two graduated) So in the first game against number one USC I lose the QB in the first quater after he had thrown for 198 yards. I can't run the option with my back up and my defense is giving up 450 yards a game now. So I had to take my third string TE who happens to have the same speed and acc as my QB, and has 98 throw power (only 78 pass accuracy though) to be my option qb and the other to be my passing qb.

 

I am griding out games this year instead of the shit kickings I gave the game the year before. Its more fun, but I miss my freakin qb.

 

And I have to say, I use the burst as soon as the ball is snapped method and i have never had a back average under 6 yards a carry. The one this year is at 10.3 yards per. And I am up to Heisman.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

I think I need a defensive switch. I'm still new to the series and this is the first time I've actually bought NCAA. I'm running a 3-3-5 for whatever reason I clicked on that defensive set, but I get burned by everyone for at least two or three deep balls a game on Varsity. Any suggestions?

 

I have a tendancy to play zone since I don't trust my safeties, but when I let them play man the computer dumps screens and runs forever.

 

Plus playing on the Smurf Turf rules, I booked Boise State just for that reason.

 

In Varsity I've always found Cover 2 out of the Nickel formation, Covers out of the Dime Formation, and Cover 4 out of the Dime 3-4-6 or whatever formation to work really effectively against the pass. I use multiple D as my defensive playbook because I like being able to run combinations of the 4-3, 3-4, Nickel, Dime, and Quarter when I need to.

 

In order to stop the short pass these formations work well for that because you've got someone playing zone on each of the corners so when they try screens there is usually someone who can run up and attempt a quick INT or be there to tackle them. You could also try taking control of a LB and patrolling one side of the field to make sure screens are minimized if it is a passing play.

 

I asked a question about pass defense earlier in this thread around page 10 or 11 so you might want to check back there for people's responses to my posts.

 

On a note about season 2 of my dynasty, I got some really good defensive players in the offseason and my RB's attributes went up some 8 points to a 94. Had my first game against #7 Louisville and won 34-0 and it got me on the cover of ESPN Magazine. That was pretty neat and it got me another contract goal so it looks like season 2 will be much better than season 1 but no surprise there b/c with UK there was no place to go but up.

[iggymcfly 0]

Well, my last dynasty school on my old NCAA game, I was Boise State, so playing on the blue turf didn't have that much of a novelty for me. It was nice to finish the season with three straight wins though. It looked like Calvin Johnson was easily going to set the receiving record, but Hawaii kept grinding out 3:00 drives and getting onside kicks, and he ended up 6 yards short.

 

Anyway, I couldn't believe how many players I lost in the off-season. I lost 12 players ranked 90 or higher including two 99s, and only have four players returning that were rated that high. Every single graduating senior (maybe 20 or 25 total) was at least an 80. I recruited OK, but not all that well, ending up with the #30 recruting class, so I'm thinking things will be tougher this year.

 

My QB (one of the few returning starters) threw 6 INTs in the spring game, so I don't think that exactly bodes well either. Apparently, throwing non-stop hail marys late in the game doesn't work as well without an all-world receiver.

 

The last bad thing is that for some reason, I couldn't schedule a game for Week 15, meaning I had to move the Georgia game all the way up to Week 2 just to keep them on the schedule. I really wasn't looking to put a big game that early since I got rid of the little advantages I'd been giving myself on the AI scale, and I wanted a couple scrub games to get used to my new team.

 

Despite all the losses though, I'm ranked 28th going into the season and predicted to finish third in the ACC, so if I find a way to win some games, I should be able to move up fairly quickly. As it is though, I'm thinking it's good I hit those contract goals last season, because this might be a down year. My job performance rating's almost full, so unless I completely tank the season, I should be able to get my contract renewed and set up for a run to the BCS in 2009.

[Ripper 0]

Does the playing the spring game have any advantages over just simming it?