Who bought NCAA 14?

[Cribby]

I really wanted to like this game....and offline with slider adjustments it's a fun game to play.

But the game is absolutely positively broken in regards to online play. The defense plays absolutely horrible in human vs human games. If you play any type of decent player the game is basically going to come down to who manipulates the time in the first half to compensate for who receives at the start of the 3rd quarter.

I played a game tonight online where this one dude kept running double post routes on both sides of the field. I'd user one side and he'd see which side I was user'ing and would just go the opposite way.....mind you I knew it was coming so I did nothing but call cover 3, cover 4 and deep combo man zones. The safeties just wouldn't react. Huge disappointment from an online play perspective. Hopefully they patch/tune the D.

You can't put a olb on a purple zone ( guards corner) and user the other side? 3-3-5 man is good for that .

I haven't played the game this year but that's what I've done in the past.

That's the first thing I tried. Been playing these games competitively for a LONG time....I know most of the tricks.

The purples get pulled down by any drags/flat routes/short routes that occupy the same part of the field.

I know exactly what ya mean, they do the same thing on Madden 13. To make it worse the left cb wont jam in man...... ever!!

Oh well,you saved me 60 bucks. Another year I won't be buying it.

 

[cane since birth]

Does anyone else have trouble throwing bombs down field, it seems everytime i see my guy open the safety recovers amazingly quick and always ***** up the pass

 

[marshallrc13]

In my online dynasty I just lost to Florida on a 70 yd hail marry with no time left. Had 2 WRs and 5 defenders in prevent and somehow he came out with the ball and scored the winning TD. I could not stop their running game, especially Driskell when everyone was covered. I came all the way back behind 575 yds from Morris only to lose on the last play. Gameplay is def harder but more challenging which I like. Gets old winning 70 - 10 every game. But **** it if yesterday's game didn't **** me off!!!

 

[marshallrc13]

Does anyone else have trouble throwing bombs down field, it seems everytime i see my guy open the safety recovers amazingly quick and always ****s up the pass

Yes. You will need to establish the run and make the play action more effective. Otherwise the downfield routes aren't open. For the life of me I can not run the **** ball. I get 2-3 yds per carry with Duke.

 

[cane since birth]

Does anyone else have trouble throwing bombs down field, it seems everytime i see my guy open the safety recovers amazingly quick and always ****s up the pass

Yes. You will need to establish the run and make the play action more effective. Otherwise the downfield routes aren't open. For the life of me I can not run the **** ball. I get 2-3 yds per carry with Duke.

Still when i establish the run and have the safeties cheat up they still rundown the pass and break it up or intercept, its like my guys are in slow motion when the ball is thrown and their guys are quick as ****

 

[cane since birth]

Oh and does anyone know what this speed differential setting is best at?

 

[K2Cane]

Does anyone else have trouble throwing bombs down field, it seems everytime i see my guy open the safety recovers amazingly quick and always ****s up the pass

Yes. You will need to establish the run and make the play action more effective. Otherwise the downfield routes aren't open. For the life of me I can not run the **** ball. I get 2-3 yds per carry with Duke.

Still when i establish the run and have the safeties cheat up they still rundown the pass and break it up or intercept, its like my guys are in slow motion when the ball is thrown and their guys are quick as ****

it was like that last year too!! assoon as I hit the button,before the pass was even thrown, the safety would already be heading towards my WR. it was bull****.

 

[K2Cane]

Nice picture of Rashawn Scott stiff arming Kyshoen Jarrett

http://www.easports.com/ncaa-football

looks cool even though EA still hasn't noticed we haven't worn green in 2 season. I know its a dumb little detail but it should be too easy for EA to pay attention too. they have had green pants as our main away uni for the last 10 years even though we have gone back to wearing orange pants.

 

[hoops156]

In my online dynasty I just lost to Florida on a 70 yd hail marry with no time left. Had 2 WRs and 5 defenders in prevent and somehow he came out with the ball and scored the winning TD. I could not stop their running game, especially Driskell when everyone was covered. I came all the way back behind 575 yds from Morris only to lose on the last play. Gameplay is def harder but more challenging which I like. Gets old winning 70 - 10 every game. But **** it if yesterday's game didn't **** me off!!!

ya i had a close defensive game w UF but def couldnt stop the run. they couldnt pass on me but driskell racked up near 100 just running off the option or when the pocket broke down. the OL sucks for me as Morris is always getting sacked right when a guy breaks open. really annoying considering how good our OL is supposed to be (maybe EA didnt rate em high enough). duke is my savior tho just opens everythiing up for me. still dont know which receivers to start as i have my personal favs and like playing my seniors (hurns) bc its my last chance to play w em until they leave. i find malcolm lewis being a beast and dorsett being pretty reliable.

 

[marshallrc13]

Question for all you guys out there... I am having an extremely hard time stopping anyone on this game defensively. What defensive playbook are you all using and how effective is it for you? I pride myself on playing great defense for years on in but I can't do anything right on this version. Please help!!! Thanks.

 

[BWCD]

Question for all you guys out there... I am having an extremely hard time stopping anyone on this game defensively. What defensive playbook are you all using and how effective is it for you? I pride myself on playing great defense for years on in but I can't do anything right on this version. Please help!!! Thanks.

I'm having issues as well. The only thing I've been able to do to make it somewhat fair is to adjust the sliders and hope for the best.

The toughest thing about playing D on this game is the zone defenses just DO NOT work, so you can't mix up coverages as well as in prior years. Also, with the zone read option stuff being more robust in favor of the offense in this year's game, you can't simply call a man defense and make sure you've got all the skill guys accounted for (like you would in real life).

Another sucky thing is that if there's a TE in the set, and you have either a S or LB covering him--that guy is going to be wide open, zone or man. Against a 3 WR set, you need to run a Dime defense to get a CB on that TE, or you will get burnt.

One thing that worked really well for me against UFag's option attack was to stop playing man and blitz more...especially off the edges with DB's. As long as your DL stays neutral, the blitz gets home and the option gets snuffed out pretty well.

 

[marshallrc13]

Question for all you guys out there... I am having an extremely hard time stopping anyone on this game defensively. What defensive playbook are you all using and how effective is it for you? I pride myself on playing great defense for years on in but I can't do anything right on this version. Please help!!! Thanks.

I'm having issues as well. The only thing I've been able to do to make it somewhat fair is to adjust the sliders and hope for the best.

The toughest thing about playing D on this game is the zone defenses just DO NOT work, so you can't mix up coverages as well as in prior years. Also, with the zone read option stuff being more robust in favor of the offense in this year's game, you can't simply call a man defense and make sure you've got all the skill guys accounted for (like you would in real life).

Another sucky thing is that if there's a TE in the set, and you have either a S or LB covering him--that guy is going to be wide open, zone or man. Against a 3 WR set, you need to run a Dime defense to get a CB on that TE, or you will get burnt.

One thing that worked really well for me against UFag's option attack was to stop playing man and blitz more...especially off the edges with DB's. As long as your DL stays neutral, the blitz gets home and the option gets snuffed out pretty well.

Blitzing off the edge with DBs was the only thing that worked against UF as well. When in zone, it seems like no one knows where to cover and dudes are just running wide open. I love playing man, but when I do the QB just takes off and gets 10 - 15 yds at a time.

 

[NorthFlaCane]

Bought it, after not buying 2013, regretted it within a few hours.

The game is just crap. Defense is awful. Against no-huddle there isn't any time to call your D. Man coverage is awful. Zone is pointless. Dline gets zero pressure. The best thing I've done is put Perryman at defensive end and let him do something. Every once in a while he'll make a play.

 

[Port Knox]

Still playing 2011!!

 

[BWCD]

Blitzing off the edge with DBs was the only thing that worked against UF as well. When in zone, it seems like no one knows where to cover and dudes are just running wide open. I love playing man, but when I do the QB just takes off and gets 10 - 15 yds at a time.

Yeah, and normally what I'll do if I'm in man coverage against a scrambling QB is take one of the LB's and spy them, and do QB contain with the DE on that side (normally strongside/right side, even if the QB is left handed)...and the reaction times on both are hit and miss depending upon when the QB decides to take off.

I also don't like the offensive running game out of the single back or I formations. In past games, you could establish a good pro-style power run game, and if you're a good player--you could gain at least 5-7 yards per run if not more. In this game so far, I'm having trouble getting 2-3 yards a carry with Duke...and that's not realistic at all. To get any type of running game going, I have to run out of the Shotgun and do the zone read stuff with SM/Duke, and it works just because it's so beefed up in this year's version.

 

[marshallrc13]

Through 2 games for me Duke has 40 carries for 119 yds. I feel your pain.

 

[DHucks]

I'm getting the hang of it now.

Defensively, if there is a running quarterback, spy plays seem to work. Collapse the pocket with Porter by flicking the right stick down violently, and go from there.

Offensively, Duke is over 1000 yards with Virginia left to play, Beau has mid 7s on yards. I use FSU's playbook. Running up the gut isn't as fruitful as it used to be. Stretch plays, power o, power sweeps work well. If you aren't balanced they will crush your running game. More balance the better.

Recruiting is starting to make sense as well.

The more I play, the more I like it.

 

[BWCD]

Recruiting is starting to make sense as well.

That's something else I'm not a fan of either, yet. I haven't gone thru a full season, mind you, but I think I'm partial to 13's recruiting with the phone call setup as opposed to this points system. You can't make any headway with some players that you want/need even if you allocate max points to them. At least with last year's system, you could sway them on different pitches and influence them towards your program's strengths, and the compare schools option was great once you did that.

It might get easier once I beef up the coaching skill trees, but right now...it kinda sucks.

 

[DHucks]

Recruiting is starting to make sense as well.

That's something else I'm not a fan of either, yet. I haven't gone thru a full season, mind you, but I think I'm partial to 13's recruiting with the phone call setup as opposed to this points system. You can't make any headway with some players that you want/need even if you allocate max points to them. At least with last year's system, you could sway them on different pitches and influence them towards your program's strengths, and the compare schools option was great once you did that.

It might get easier once I beef up the coaching skill trees, but right now...it kinda sucks.

There was a great write up on operation sports about recruiting, and I've followed it almost to the word, and it is working great.

Have to start off pretty weak as far as who you go after. Aim for maybe 12 to 15 kids, mostly needs, and stick with them. Make sure their interest are strong suits, otherwise you're spinning your tires. Kids I was way behind with have committed or I lead for now with a regular season game to go. I have about 17 on my board now. As kids commit, I scout my butt off (maybe 10 or 15 kids over a few weeks), and make sure they're less than 25 percent locked in, and put the press on them.

As the school improves, and championships are won, skill tree improves, and I learn the nuances, then I'll be more aggressive.

Don't get discouraged with this because it ain't '13. I'm actually more happy with this set up now that I understand it better. More rewarding when I went from being locked out to taking the lead and getting a commitment. Or getting the last visit, and capitalizing because I was the last word and game they saw.

Strategy is the name of the game, not mindless phone calls.

http://www.operationsports.com/features/1666/ncaa-football-14-recruiting-guide/

 

[MoSikes]

Recruiting is starting to make sense as well.

That's something else I'm not a fan of either, yet. I haven't gone thru a full season, mind you, but I think I'm partial to 13's recruiting with the phone call setup as opposed to this points system. You can't make any headway with some players that you want/need even if you allocate max points to them. At least with last year's system, you could sway them on different pitches and influence them towards your program's strengths, and the compare schools option was great once you did that.

It might get easier once I beef up the coaching skill trees, but right now...it kinda sucks.

I kind of like that aspect, I feel like recruiting in years past was too easy, but this year you can max out a kid and still run into trouble with another team that's also maxing him out. It makes those extra 50 pts for pipeline states that much more important, esp. going after big time kids against major programs.


* One thing that is bothering me is that break the lock coach skill. It should put the team that uses it right at the lock limit, not vault them up into 2nd or 3rd place. I've had teams jump 2000 points out of nowhere become a threat after barely recruiting through the year. I think I'm going to pick my 10 or so guys to focus on, then fill the board with another ten blue chip guys and not recruit them for half the season. Some may just drop me, but if a few lock out first then I'll jump back in after I've had a few commits and points open up.