NCAA Football '12 impressions thread

[Ragone]

trying to decide on an offline dynasty team to play.. 2 stars would be a good place to start.. hmm

[Ksyrup]

Despite messing with the sliders some, I've started 3-0 at Missouri. To be fair, the talent level is actually fairly decent for a 1-star program coming off a 2-10 season (I wish there was an OOTP-style almanac of sorts, because I have no idea how they did in the years before last), and I've got some really good seniors at QB,. HB, WR, and DL (my secondary, OTOH, is young and not so good) to do some damage. Two of the 3 games have been fairly close - 34-21 over Illinois to start the season (oddly enough, it was 31-21 at half and I only got 3 points by kicking a FG as time expired just because I could); 38-13 over an overmatched Ball State; and 28-21 over Air Force. After a bye, I start the Big 12 schedule with 3-0 Texas.

[Ksyrup]

From the sliders BYU posted (taken from jistics' slider set posted at the OS forum), here are the slight changes I've made:

Sliders
AA - 9 minute Quarters (8 minutes)
Game speed - Slow
Speed Threshold - 40 (65 - I left this at jistics' default)

Slider - Hum / CPU
QB acc - 70 (65) / 75
Pass blk - 75 / 60
WR cat - 75 (70) / 65
RB ability - 60 / 60
Run Blk - 50 / 55
Coverage - 45 / 20 (45)
Pass rush - 50 / 30 (50)
Int - 25 / 20
Run Def - 40 (35) / 60
Tackling - 40 (35) / 40
FG Pow - 50 (40) / 45
FG acc - 40 (35) / 35 (40)
Punt Pow - 55 (50) / 50
Punt acc - 35 / 45
KP - 50 / 50

Penalties
Offsides 90 (100)
False Start 90 (100)

I'm thinking about dropping offsides and false start down, just because they seem to hit the AI far more than me. I wish they had separate penalty sliders for AI/human.

Holding and Clipping 52 (54)
Facemask 50 (53)
Off/Def PI and KR int 100

Interference is not called nearly enough - in 13+ seasons, I have had PI called 3 times. They need to fix that.

I started messing with the holding penalties to get a slight increase in calls (to make up for the lack of calls against me on offsides/false starts), and I think I like where this is at. Usually get several a game.

Int grounding 80 (100)

I put this at 100 because I'm the only one that this will hurt. The AI throws 2-3 balls away every game that should be grounding but isn't called. I'm not even sure I understand why this penalty is in the game, as I've never seen it.

RP and RK 55 (54/100)

No one gets close enough to a kicker to rough them anyway, so I put it at 100. I moved the Roughing the Passer up from 52 to 60, and got 3 called in 1 quarter, so I've moved it back down.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

From the sliders BYU posted (taken from jistics' slider set posted at the OS forum), here are the slight changes I've made:

Sliders
AA - 9 minute Quarters (8 minutes)
Game speed - Slow
Speed Threshold - 40 (65 - I left this at jistics' default)

Slider - Hum / CPU
QB acc - 70 (65) / 75
Pass blk - 75 / 60
WR cat - 75 (70) / 65
RB ability - 60 / 60
Run Blk - 50 / 55
Coverage - 45 / 20 (45)
Pass rush - 50 / 30 (50)
Int - 25 / 20
Run Def - 40 (35) / 60
Tackling - 40 (35) / 40
FG Pow - 50 (40) / 45
FG acc - 40 (35) / 35 (40)
Punt Pow - 55 (50) / 50
Punt acc - 35 / 45
KP - 50 / 50

Penalties
Offsides 90 (100)
False Start 90 (100)

I'm thinking about dropping offsides and false start down, just because they seem to hit the AI far more than me. I wish they had separate penalty sliders for AI/human.

Holding and Clipping 52 (54)
Facemask 50 (53)
Off/Def PI and KR int 100

Interference is not called nearly enough - in 13+ seasons, I have had PI called 3 times. They need to fix that.

I started messing with the holding penalties to get a slight increase in calls (to make up for the lack of calls against me on offsides/false starts), and I think I like where this is at. Usually get several a game.

Int grounding 80 (100)

I put this at 100 because I'm the only one that this will hurt. The AI throws 2-3 balls away every game that should be grounding but isn't called. I'm not even sure I understand why this penalty is in the game, as I've never seen it.

RP and RK 55 (54/100)

No one gets close enough to a kicker to rough them anyway, so I put it at 100. I moved the Roughing the Passer up from 52 to 60, and got 3 called in 1 quarter, so I've moved it back down.

Stupid question--are yoru changes in parenthesis?

[Ksyrup]

Yes

[Ksyrup]

I lost. Yay!

We opened conference play with Texas at home and got creamed, 38-7. It was 7-7 after the 1st quarter, but that was the only time it was a game. I didn't stop their offense until late in the 3rd quarter, and by then they'd stopped mine 3-4 times and had an insurmountable lead.

Next up was Oklahoma State, coming in at 2-1 and looking like they had the same talent level I did. I expected a decent game, but we absolutely destroyed them 56-17. It was 42-3 at one point, capped by their QB botching an option pitch and me picking it up from my LDE position and running it 50 yards for a TD. My QB had 5 TD passes by halftime.

So we sit at 4-1 (1-1) right now.

After a bye week, we hit the road to play 2-3 aTm, followed by 1-5 Iowa State. Strange quirk of the schedule - our first 5 games were at home, and now we've got 5 of our last 7 on the road. I hate when the computer schedules like that because it's impossible to get recruits in for late visits, without any home games.

[ColtCrazy]

Getting into my IU dynasty after a hiatus. Had a weird game against NC State. The team combined for 63 points in the first half, and only 13 in the second. Ended up winning by 20. The following week, struggled against a weak Penn State team and won 34-28...had to bat down a hail mary at the end that looked good for a second. Loving the sliders that everyone has posted. Getting a nice mix of offense games and defensive struggles, or both as in the case of the 2 halves of the NC State game.

[Balldog]

I started a UCLA dynasty tonight on Heisman. The first game at Houston was a tough one but we sneaked away with a 17-16 win. They moved the ball at will but were not able to score TDs. Both teams had 383 yards so it was about as even as could be. In week 2 we struggled early against SJ State and trailed midway through the 3rd quarter 10-9 but a great run 44-yard TD run by Franklin finally put us ahead and we ended up winning with ease 29-10.

Sure it has it's annoying moments but I really enjoy Heisman this year.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Getting a nice mix of offense games and defensive struggles, or both as in the case of the 2 halves of the NC State game.

Yeah, that's what I really like about the game and these sliders. I posted up above about the Illinois game where it was 31-21 at half and the game ended 34-21.

Then I had a couple of wild games since then. including a 35-34 win over aTm where I trailed 34-14 going into the 4th quarter. A&M refused to run the ball (59 passes, 6 non-sack runs all game), and I somehow shut them down in the 4th after allowing the QB to set the school passing yardage record (in 3 quarters!!), and I ended up winning it with a TD with 18 seconds left after challenging a 4th-and-1 spot on the 6 yard line with 25 seconds left that would have turned the ball over, but was overturned and gave me a 1st down, leading to the winning TD.

Next wild one was against #3 OU. I thought I would get blown out, but surprisingly my offense was great, and we had a 27-17 lead at half (capped by a TD I lofted into the corner of the end zone where the OU DB had position, got his hands on the ball, it bounced off his hands, over his helmet, and bounced off his back into my WR's hands!). OU came back with 2 TDs in the 3rd to go up 31-27, and we traded TDs in the 4th to put me down 38-34 with 2 minutes left. I drove down to their 35 with a minute left, but threw an INT on 3rd and long that would have ended the game, except my WR stripped the ball on the return and I got second life at the 40. We came up just short, throwing an incompletion on 4th-and 12 from the 15 with 6 seconds left and lost 38-34.

The next game was against 6-3 Kansas State, and was a great defensive battle. 7-7 at half, and I got a FG late in the 3rd quarter, then another in the 4th to go up 13-7. I had the ball with 2 minutes left trying to run out the clock when my RB fumbled (I've got 2 RBs with BAD hands) and it was returned for the go-ahead TD... until an official review overturned the fumble and I ran out the clock, kicking a meaningless FG as time expired to win it 16-7.

I'm 8-2 with 4-6 Kansas and 8-2 Texas Tech left.

[ColtCrazy]

I have yet to really get into a Madden franchise. I've started 2, but never got past week 4 in either. I'm hoping once I play this game for awhile and build up some draft classes, I might. But I'm really enjoying NCAA. My only gripe was the Penn State game where their linebackers seemed to be able to leap higher than any other team I've played. I know the linebackers have always been swat machines, but this was crazy. At one point a linebacker swatted a pass that was not even behind him. He seemed to jump sideways. Linebacker U indeed.

I always start NCAA off by placing my 3 sons on a team, playing through their careers, then leaving to build up some 1 or 2 star program. Even with them having modest stats and placing two of them on defense, IU's defense still allows yardage at an amazing high level. I've ended up gambling a lot on defense in order to get pressure on the QB. We can get sacks, but if they get the pass off, it's pretty much all over for us after that. We're 4-0, but have won 3 of those by less than a TD. Ohio St, Michigan, and the bulk of the Big Ten baddies remain.

[Izulde]

I keep trying to get into this game, but can never complete a pass to save my life. Guess I'll have to keep on slider tweaking.

[Johnny93g]

It's been 2 weeks since picking this up and I'm having alot of fun.

Playing with Notre Dame in year 2 now, and it's not that easy, which I love. Lost 3 games in year one, and 2 so far this season. I adjust the sliders each game as i got more used to the game play, but I am experiencing alot of different kinds of games. Only thing i can complain about is the linebackers knocking down too many passes, but I'm sure that's been discussed to death.

Graphically, it's amazing.

Thanks for the recommendation guys, good call.

[Ksyrup]

The LB thing kills me, but I put up with it because it balances out what would otherwise be a real arcady feel to the game. But yeah, when I've got a guy 20 yards down field and throw what I think is an easy completion only to have a LB knock it down 5 yards past the LOS, it's frustrating.

I had another one of those "tale of 2 halves" games. I beat Texas Tech 24-17, and that was the score at half.

[Balldog]

Had a pair of intense games tonight in my UCLA dynasty.

We managed to upset Texas with a 22-19 win in 3OT. With it tied at 9 we missed a 40-yard FG as time expired, neither team scored a TD until the 2nd OT. They missed a 49-yard FG in the third OT to give us the win.

In the 2nd game at Oregon State we lost 34-27 in 2OT. They jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead in the 1Q and we scrapped back to tie it at 10 just before the half. By the end of the 3Q they had built a 20-10 lead but we managed to tie it up at 20 as time expired with a 35-yard FG after missing another 40-yard FG the possession before.

Up next is at #4 Stanford which I'm guessing will be pretty one sided.

[ColtCrazy]

After watching Illinois run all over us for a half and being tied at 24 going into halftime, I gave up on my defense and switched to a 3-4. Helped tremendously.Ended up winning 48-24. I was wondering if that was another tale of two halves game, so I took my new 3-4 set up to Wisconsin. Ended up winning 37-10 in what has been my most dominant defensive performance yet, even scoring a defensive TD for the first time all year.

Offensively, I like the standard pro style play book, but I want something else. Giving the Boise St. playbook a spin in my next game.

[whomario]

I am propably switching conferences next season, too easy in the MAC really and a good recruiting class shaping up.

Have got a gem of a freshman receiver right now that i started using more. He´s only rated 69, but is 6´5 and has 94 speed, fun combination

[Ksyrup]

I beat UCLA 31-27 in the Alamo Bowl to finish 11-2. Recruiting went OK but I did manage to swipe a 4 star athlete/QB who came in rated 77. My starter last year graduated and I have a junior rated 81 but I've never had a 4-year starter at QB so I'm toying with the idea of starting the freshman. My D line lost a lot and I'm very young (just 9 seniors total after the Great Purge), so I'm thinking about playing for the future.

[Ksyrup]

So I'm 4 games into the new season (2028? 2029? I've lost track). I did go with the freshman QB and I'm really happy with that decision. He is one of the most accurate passers I've ever "coached." And aside from an issue with fumbles, he doesn't appear to get flustered or make many (if any) off-target throws, even in pressure situations. And we've had a couple of tests so far this season.

First game was at Illinois, a decent B-ish rated team like mine who I beat 34-21 last year. Dude was amazing - 18-23, 249 yards, and 2 TDs. He did have a fumble in the red zone that got returned for a TD, but otherwise, he was great. Two of his incompletions were hail mary's at the end of the 1st half trying to get into FG range, too. And to top it off, in his first start as a true freshman on the road, he drove the team to the winning TD with 38 seconds left. And then I nearly blew it on D, stopping Illinois at the 2 on a 4th-and-goal as time expired. But we won it 28-24.

Next up was Tulsa, and while it was a sloppy game (3 TOs by each team, plus 3 other fumbles recovered by the offenses), we won easily 44-19. Harrison threw 2 picks and had another fumble, but he also threw for 4 TDs.

Then we went back out on the road for our final non-conference game against #15 Northwestern. Although it started slow (they lead early in the 2nd quarter 14-10 after ANOTHER Harrison fumble was returned for a TD), we blew them out from there, 41-14. Harrison had another game with less than 5 or 6 incompletions.

And finally, last night we played OK State and barely hung on, 31-26. Harrison threw a pick, but didn't fumble for the first time in his career. My running game was so good that he didn't have to do too much - 12/20, 170 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. We ran it 46 times for over 200 yards. OK State put up over 400 yards on us, though - my pass D isn't so great. They had a chance to tie with a 2-point conversion with 1:45 left but missed it, and I got the onsides kick and added a FG at the end.

Up next is 0-4 Texas A&M, then I think Oklahoma, which is somehow ranked #24 despite being 2-3.

[johnnyshaka]

Continuing along in my Marshall dynasty, we beat Tulsa in a shootout...48-42. The game went back and forth and we had a WR who scored on a run, had a TD catch and ran a kick back...pretty cool.

We kicked two FGs late to win it but this one could have easily gone the other way as we couldn't stop them on offense.

Memphis is up next followed by ECU and assuming we win these two we'll finish 9-3, IIRC.

[Ksyrup]

I had a huge scare last night against winless Texas A&M. They did a nice job of keeping my offense from moving the ball consistently - I was sacked 6-7 times - and they had a 10-7 lead at half and a 20-10 lead with 5:30 left. From there, my freshman QB took us 85 yards in 4 plays to score, pulling us to within 20-17, then the D got a stop and we drove down the field in a minute to score again, going up 24-17 with 2 minutes remaining.

A&M started driving right down the field on me until, on a completed pass to my 25, one of my DBs jacked the receiver as he turned to run up field, forced a fumble, and we recovered and ran the clock out. Escaped a MAJOR upset bid.

So, 2 years into my career with Missouri, I've beaten A&M on the road with a 20 point comeback in the 4th quarter, and at home with a 10 point deficit with 5 minutes left. Mike Sherman must still be coaching them.

[SegRat]

I had one of my best games the other day. I was Kentucky playing against Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt went up 24 to 21 with one minute left. I returned the kickoff to the 1 yard line. I have never returned a kick that far. We punched the ball into the end zone for the touchdown. My freshman quarterback went for 22 of 26 passes. Two interceptions but one was my fault. 277 yards 3 touchdowns. The freshman quarterback is playing the best football out of any quarterback I have used in this game. Having a lot of fun with this game right now.

[Balldog]

I was finally able to continue my UCLA Dynasty tonight. We are now 5-1 and ranked #17 in the AP Poll after beating #4 Stanford 6-3 and pounding Washington State 37-6.

Stanford moved the ball well in the 1st half but was only able to muster a FG. Luck was efficient but took some sacks that killed their drives any time they started to threaten our red zone.

Wazzou had 250 yards in the first half but only managed 6 points to show for it as we continue to shut teams down in the red zone. In the 2nd half we pulled away with 23 unanswered points and only allowed them 71 yards while wearing them out with our ball control offense.

Unfortunately recruiting has been brutal.

[Ksyrup]

I just concluded one of the most absurd seasons I've played in this game. I ended up winning the national championship with Missouri in my 2nd season, going 13-0 and finishing as one of only 3 teams with 0 or 1 losses on the year. Five of the final top 10 had 3 losses!

That was strange/amazing in itself, but what was even more amazing was my team - far from a powerhouse, we won 7 of our games by 5 points or less, including 1 OT game and 3 that ended with a game-winning FG! And remember, I'm doing this with a true frehman QB.

We played 11-1 Notre Dame for the title, and they came out in the 1st quarter and destroyed me, going up 14--0. The game turned around when we got a strip-sack early in the 2nd quarter and returned it for a TD. After a ND FG to make it 17-7, we finally got a decent drive to score a TD, intercepted a pass with 55 seconds left, and scored a TD on the final play of the half to lead 21-17.

In the 2nd half, it was a defensive struggle, with ND getting a FG near the end of the 3rd to pull to within 21-20. Midway through the 4th, I put together a great drive and looked to be going in for the put away score when my FB fumbled at their 15. They then drove inside my 35, where their RB fumbled it back to me with 3 minutes to go. I got 2 1st downs, and they used up their 3 TOs to set up a 4th-and-2 at the ND 35 with 62 seconds left. I decided to go for it, somehow escaped a LB blitzing up the middle, and ran for 5 yards, a 1st down, and the title.

Recruiting has been very tough so far, although I did manage to get a 5 star WR - but no 4 stars.

I'm trying to figure out how to make the game tougher without taking away from the fun I'm having. I had so many close games that I could have easily lost 4-5 games. None of my RBs averaged 5 yards a carry, so I don't think I need to make any changes there. My D has been far from lock-down, giving up between 20-35 points in 9 of the 13 games. I think I might pull down the QB slider another notch, as my freshman QB was probably better than he should be.

[Ksyrup]

So I managed to get my first game in for the 2029 season, a 45-31 win over Illinois. Once again, my D really sucked but my offense was stellar. I have 3 really good Sr. RBs, and my #1 guy (who spent more time injured last year than healthy) went off for 223 yards on 30 carries, while my QB threw 5 TD passes (4 to my only Sr. and new #1 WR).

However, I have identified 3 major issues with this team - (1) my FB sucks (66 rated So., replaced 86 Sr.), and I rely pretty heavily on my FB; (2) my LE sucks, despite an 87 rating; and (3) my TE sucks (69 rated, and he dropped every pass I threw to him in this game).

On #1, there's not much I can do about it. This guy blocks OK, I guess, and he can run OK for what I use him for, but he's not much for pass-catching, which is the FB's real value in my offense. I run mainly with a FB in the backfield, but he obviously isn't killing me too much on blocking if my RB went for over 200 yards.

On #2, this is the player I lock in as, the LE. I lost a couple of Sr. ends and have 5 So. to go along with 1 Sr. this year. So I decided to move someone with more experience to that position for the year, and found a back-up Sr. SS rated 86 who converted to an 87 DE. Well, I don't know WTF that means, but he's so small that I got pancaked on every damn play for 3 quarters. Finally, I benched him and went with a 70 rated guy, and while he wasn't great, at least I did more than pick myself off the ground on every play. I don't understand how the game would rate him 87 if he's useless at that position. But anyway... that experiment is over, so I'm going to have to go with a 70 rated guy at one end and I moved the 81 rated RE to LE for me to play. That's the best fix I can make.

On #3, this one hurts A LOT. As I've mentioned before, I rely heavily on my TE and he's usually #1 or #2 on my receiving list each year. The guy I have now is young, low-rated, and can't catch. Problem. So I went in and edited several formations for the first time ever, picking out 4-5 formations I most frequently throw to the TE from and inserting a WR in that spot. It's not ideal, because if I run from that same formation, that WR will be useless. But I'll just have to remember that. And 3 of them are shotgun sets anyway, so I'll almost always be throwing.

Second game of the year is a rematch of the championship game against #1 ND. Well, they were #1 until they lost to Vanderbilt to start the year. I'm still unranked, despite going undefeated and winning the title last year. I think the game needs to factor in past performance in pre-season rankings, and not just look at the current roster.

[rjolley]

Have you tried moving one of your RBs to play in the FB spot since you use him as a pass catcher?

[Ksyrup]

I've looked into that, but they show as rated 50-something for the position. And I do use my FB for blocking quite a bit - most of my running plays are from strong/weak I formations. I'm afraid they'd just get pancaked and that even a 66-rated FB is better for that.

In addition to the LE rated 87 who can't handle the position, I also question why an 85-rated "power" HB can't play FB at an average level. Say, rated 70ish. You'd think those positions would be fairly compatible for a power runner.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I've looked into that, but they show as rated 50-something for the position. And I do use my FB for blocking quite a bit - most of my running plays are from strong/weak I formations. I'm afraid they'd just get pancaked and that even a 66-rated FB is better for that.

In addition to the LE rated 87 who can't handle the position, I also question why an 85-rated "power" HB can't play FB at an average level. Say, rated 70ish. You'd think those positions would be fairly compatible for a power runner.

I never use the overall rating. I start looking at what his blocking and power running ratings are.

[Ksyrup]

I guess that makes sense, but seeing as though each player has position-specific ratings, it seems to me that there's something wrong with the way they calculate those ratings, if an 87-rated DE converted from SS is useless, or a power RB is worse than a scrub at FB. And I checked 2-3 RBs to see how they would fair at FB, and none were above, say, 55. I'll check their power running and blocking ratings tonight. I would expect a power runner to be a terrible blocker in order for him to be a 55 FB from an 84 RB.

[SegRat]

I started playing as a DE, and I could not get any pressure. So I switched an OLB and now I am able to get pressure on the QB. My DE is rated at a 82. My OLB at DE is listed at a 58. So I am surprised at the difference it seems to have made.

[Ksyrup]

With a "normal" DE, I do just fine. I don't dominate unless I have a really great player, but I get my share of sacks (usually 5-10) and at leasat contribute something to stopping the run and pressuring the QB. I'll just be leary of switching guys from other positions to the line from now on, because apparently the overall rating doesn't always add up.

[Ksyrup]

I started the 2029 season 3-0 - beat #14 ND pretty easily, 37-6, then struggled for 3 quarters with Indiana (up 14-13) before running away with it in the 4th, 31-13.

That set up my first conference game, against #14 Oklahoma. We played yet another tight, back-and-forth game, and for the 2nd time in 3 years, they beat me, this time 27-24, on a TD with 35 seconds left. Really good, tense game. I had a couple of opportunities to extend the lead in the 4th quarter, but my RB and #1 WR got knocked out of the game and I just couldn't mount a consistent drive.

Not a killer though. We only dropped to #17, and with the way these seasons usually go, having only 1 loss can still get you into the top 5 by the end of the year.

[Icy]

I saw this yesterday as downloadable game in PSN in my usa account and finally bought it.

I have started a RTG as MLB/HB and so far i'm having fun with it.

Btw, i'm thinking about starting a dynasty but only coaching/playcalling/recruiting, not joystick playing. Would those posted sliders fit that play style?

Any house rules?

[Ksyrup]

Can you imagine a real-life scenario where no team goes undefeated and the defending national champion loses 1 game, on the road to the eventual #14 team, losing by 3 points on a TD with less than 40 seconds left, and still finishes 6th in the BCS behind 3 2-loss teams?

That happened to my Missouri team this year. What a crock. National championship game is Cal versus Fresno State. I get 9-3 USF in the Fiesta Bowl for none of the tostitos.

[Ksyrup]

Well, it only took playing into my 17th season, but I finally witnessed a blocked kick in this game. We beat UTEP 44-9 in a pretty sloppy game (3 TOs by us), but late in the 3rd quarter, I sacked the QB inside the 1 yard line on 3rd down, forcing a punt, and somehow my LB broke through and blocked it out of bounds. I haven't seen anyone get close enough to even lay out for a block until that happened.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Well, it only took playing into my 17th season, but I finally witnessed a blocked kick in this game. We beat UTEP 44-9 in a pretty sloppy game (3 TOs by us), but late in the 3rd quarter, I sacked the QB inside the 1 yard line on 3rd down, forcing a punt, and somehow my LB broke through and blocked it out of bounds. I haven't seen anyone get close enough to even lay out for a block until that happened.

I blocked a FG for the first time in a RTG....

[Kodos]

I had my first blocked punt in my OD the other day.

[Ksyrup]

Played game #2 last night, another sloppy win, this one at Illinois 38-16. My QB, now a junior, has thrown 4 INTs in 2 games (plus a lost fumble), after 2 seasons with 8 INTs each. Not sure what the issue is. I tweaked the sliders at the beginning of last season, and his numbers weren't off appreciably in 2029. But this game he was only 13-33, easily the worst game in terms of completion percentage (not to mention 3 INTs) in his career.

One thing that I've definitely found to be a problem with this game, and it's not something that can be changed with a slider, is my ability to convert 3rd downs. I should start keeping track of these numbers. I'm fairly certain I convert an average of 70% of my 3rd downs. The computer is usually around 25-30%, maybe. Every game, it'll be something like 11-16 for my team and 4-13 for the computer. There's something off about the computer's defensive logic on 3rd downs, because I'm able to convert way too many long yardage plays. But I don't know what to do about it - I'm not going to run it up the middle on 3rd-and-9 just to make things fair.

We've moved up to #20 and up next we are at #24 Texas. Should be a good battle - especially if I keep turning it over 3 times a game.

[Kodos]

Maybe the CPU blitzes too much on 3rd, leaving guys open downfield?

[Ksyrup]

I think that's part of it. One thing I have done is try to run different plays to give some variety, but there are a couple of crossing route-type pass plays that are usually money in those situations. But even on short running plays, I find I normally will not get stoned at the line. It happens occasionally, but if I've got 3rd-and-2 or less, I can almost always hand it to my FB and he'll get 3-8 yards every time.

[Balldog]

We just finished year 3 of our OD with guys from work. I finished 9-4 winning the WAC and a Bowl Game only to be fired. Utter bullshit.

Now I have to begin with a new coach but the program has a lot of momentum going into year 4. We had 5 players rush for 500 yards or more and they are all back in addition to one of last year's top rushers coming back after being redshirted. Throw in a Top 30 recruiting class and I'm feeling good despite the stupid coach contract logic.

[Ksyrup]

Damn, that sucks.

Well, I was able to finish out my 2030 season before Ieft on a business trip, and we won the title as the only undefeated team on the season, beating Michigan 31-10. There was a bit of controversy over Michigan, at 12-1, getting to the championship game over 12-0 TCU. TCU was ranked #2, Michigan #3, and both had a .992 BCS rating. But Michigan made it. I can't tell if that's because they had a higher BCS rating taken out beyond .992 (say, .9928 versus .9923), or whether Michigan made it because M comes before T. Knowing EA Sports, I'm going with the latter. But seriously, does anyone know how that gets decided?

[Ksyrup]

After a week out of town, I was able to get back to it this weekend starting 2031 in my 5th (and what will be final) season with Missouri. I've still got 2 years left on my contract, but my team is heavy on seniors - especially on offense - and I'm dominating so much that it's time for a new challenge. The problem I see is not so much my team as no one to challenge me in the Big 12. With Colorado State, I had TCU and Boise State. With Washington State, I had Oregon, Cal, and Stanford just in my division. With the Big 12, it was Oklahoma and that's it, and now even they have fallen off. I'm in week 6, and right now, only Texas is ranked besides me, and they are #24. It's clear sailing through the Big 12.

So for this year, I scheduled 3 pre-season top 25 teams to pull my SOS up to a B (that's how bad the Big 12 is). #9 GT, #15 UF, and #12 Ohio State. I beat all three, and right now they are a combined 3-7 and unranked. So much for that.

The GT game was pretty good, for a half. We kept scoring back and forth, and I was up 21-17 with about 2 minutes to go in the half when they faked a 46-yard FG and didn't get it. Three plays later, I scored, then held them 3 and out, got the ball back, and scored again to make it 35-17. Ball game. Should have taken the 3 points.

Florida was a pretty easy win, especially after I knocked their QB out of the game to start the second half. I struggled with Ohio State for 3 quarters - I was up only 14-13 after committing 4 1st half TOs and having my Heisman RB knocked out of the game - but we destroyed them in the 4th quarter, scoring 4 TDs to win going away, 42-13.

Up next is Texas to start Big 12 play.

I will say this, as far as a challenge... Missouri is tough to recruit. I'm now a 5 star program, and I'm still having a hard time attracting 4 star recruits. I can get a couple, but most of them want nothing to do with me, or at best, I end up a distant 2nd or 3rd after a few weeks. Never had this kind of problem with CSU or WSU. I like that it seems realistic in that regard. And I've got at least 5 pipeline states, including Texas. Doesn't seem to matter.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

Memphis is up next followed by ECU and assuming we win these two we'll finish 9-3, IIRC.

Finally got back to this (getting transfer failed error in my online dynasty...ugh) and managed to finish out the season. We beat Memphis and ECU rather handily to finish the regular season at 9-3. A few highlights from those games include our best receiver returning a kick and a punt for six in the same game and several players setting school records like Vin Curry surpassing the team's season sack record.

So, with our strong finish we put ourselves in the C-USA Conference Championship game against 11-1 Houston...and we were at home because that one loss for Houston was us...lol. We ended up taking this one on the strength of QB Cato, a true Freshman, having the game of his life with 3 TDs and no turnovers. Keenum had a great game as well but they were forced to settle for FGs a few too many times.

We then faced Cincy (8-4) in the Autozone Bowl where we found ourselves down by 14 at the half because of a pick-6 and a fumble return for TD. We hugged it out in the locker room at half time and came out ready to win in the 2nd half and that's just what we did. The game was tied up mid-way through the 4th when Ward, the eventual Doak Walker Award winner, went down and Van stepped in and sealed the win with a drive featuring several big runs capped off by a short TD dive.

So, The Thundering Herd finished at 11-3 as the C-USA Champs and the Autozone Bowl winners...not too shabby. All of that is good for #24 in the polls which should bode well for my coaching prestige...woohoo!

As mentioned above, RB Martin Ward won the Doak Walker Award for best RB with nearly 1500 yards and 20 total TDs. Oddly enough, Ward was third on the depth chart to start the season behind Tron Martinez, who was hurt and knocked out for the season in the first game, and Travon Van, who is a true Freshman. While Van looked capable I figured I'd give the Junior, Ward, a kick at the can as Van would have his day down the road and I'm definitely happy with my choice.

Tyson Gale, our Senior MLB, ended up winning the Dick Butkus Award for best LB on the strength of his total tackle numbers. While he did have a pick (we had pass defense turned way down so we only had like 5 picks all season) and a few forced fumbles, he just seemed to be in the right place at the right time and always made the tackle. He, along with the starting OLBs, will be greatly missed next season as they were all seniors.

Aaron Dobson is our best player on offense, ratings-wise. The WR returned kicks and punts as well and won the Best Returner Award with 5 TDs (4 KR and 1 PR) and over 2200 combined return yards. He averaged over 30 yards per KR and nearly 10 per PR. He also contributed on offense with 10 total TDs (9 receiving and 1 rushing) and was 2nd in receptions and yardage for The Thundering Herd. Luckily he'll be coming back for his Senior year and hopefully we can get him even more involved in the offense so he can remove a certain Marshall WR from the record books.

Marshall had the 65th best recruiting class with 19 recruits (15 three stars and 4 two stars) and school prestige was bumped up to three stars from two. We will be graduating 16 players this offseason but only have 7 juniors to lead this team next season. Needless to say, this is going to be a young, inexperienced squad for the next season or two, especially on defense.

Regarding the in-coming recruits, overall, the group seems pretty solid but it doesn't look like there are any standouts, as of yet. There are a couple of speedy, under-developed HBs who will have plenty of time to watch as that is probably the team's deepest position. There are a few WRs who look like they might be something in a few years, as well. On defense, a few LBs will be tested early on as all three starters graduated and depth was already an issue so that will be something to watch. The secondary added a few taller than average kids who could make a difference provided they can adjust to the speed of the college game.

Time to get spring camps going and hitting the road to find ourselves a few more "playmakers" on both sides of the ball. Woohoo!!

[Ksyrup]

I think I might have finally hit the wall with this game. Between March Madness, baseball getting cranked up, and the 80 degree weather around here, I'm not finding much time to play. I still haven't played since my last update. I'd like to finish out the year I started, but that will require playing 10 more games, which is a hefty time commitment at a time when I'm not feeling it. We'll see how it goes. If I don't play before baseball season starts, and if I end up caving and buying OOTP, it might be over for my 20 or so year dynasty.

[Balldog]

Once I stopped going to the OS forums I found that I enjoyed this game a lot more.

We just finished our 4th season in our OD. My team went 11-2 with losses at USC and #2 Georgia Tech. We were ranked #8 after our 3rd straight bowl win with the top running game in the nation at 4300 yards and 2 1,000 yard rushers...both returning next year.

The story of the season, however, was our defense. We were statistically best in the country in running defense, passing defense, and points allowed. This was with 4 true freshman starting in the secondary and 2 on the d-line.

I'm sure year 5 will be our last and it should be by far my best team with 19 starters returning and a couple of guys coming in that were redshirted that should make our defense even better.

[Ksyrup]

I haven't played since early March. I lasted a lot longer beyond the real football season than I usually do. If/when I pick it up again, it probably won't be until football season. I'll be starting a new job at some point by July, so who knows what kind of time I'll have to devote to this by then.

[MizzouRah]

Ksyrup.. it's time to put v12 to bed and get ready for v13!

[Ksyrup]

I don't think so. I'll probably be sticking with v12. The fact that I'll be starting a new job means I won't spend the money on a new game that not only might be a step back from a version I enjoy but I might not get to play much anyway. But we'll see.

[ColtCrazy]

I have actually been playing this exclusively for about a month now. Just won my second consecutive championship with IU but it was much tougher than my first. Lost 3 of my 4 Dline to graduation, all 3 were All-Americans, one the Lombardi winner. Spent most of the title defense having to outscore people because we had absolutely no pass rush and only an average secondary (all world safety, one solid corner, the rest...meh). The magic corners still piss me off, but loving the game. Have finally figured out how to make the screen pass a useful option and this is the first game where I've noticed that the draw play actually works. Secured a key 3rd down by running the draw in a game against OSU. Loving this game.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't think so. I'll probably be sticking with v12. The fact that I'll be starting a new job means I won't spend the money on a new game that not only might be a step back from a version I enjoy but I might not get to play much anyway. But we'll see.

NCAA has been one series that I haven't regretted getting each season.