Big Game Pressure?

[CMH]

My 7-0 #2 Hurricanes were basically unstoppable thru the first half of the season. We had one scare early against Florida winning 14-7, but crushed rival Boston College 30-7 and also beat Florida State.

In comes 7-0 #3 Virginia Tech with the IMO the best running back in the game (in my season at least, even though early Heisman voting has him 5th). The back is unstoppable.

Anyway, my team has been very solid. I never saw the dropped pass problem or poor defensive plays. Miami's offense wasn't impressive (ranked 100+th in offense) but had the number 1 defense in the nation.

The 2 vs. 3 game had a Championship Game atmosphere. The crowd never shut up. It was amazing. Apparently, my team was in awe and lost focus. Dropped pass after dropped pass. Easy interceptions turning into half-hearted tips. VT jumped on my canes and absolutely spanked me 31-14. One of those touchdowns came on a 4th quarter kick return. VT was unbelievable.

Well, to the point. Like I said my team played nervous. They were slow on defense, played unimpressive on offense (much worse than their season average - which is already terrible). Defensively, VT ate me up. Their back rushed for over 130 yards easily. My top rated defense looked pathetic.

I guess I had it coming though. VT was 3rd in the nation on defense and 5th in offense. I was, for the first time, just another team.

I wonder, is there such a thing as Big Game Pressure for young players?

NOt really askin, just wonderin. Any insight? I'm sure many of you have felt this pain. This is the first time I played such a crucial game late in the season and lost. I was pissed, overjoyed, challenged, and left impressed by not only VT, but NCAA 2004 as well.

(btw, I only play on AA, but I do mess with sliders to improve the CPU's AI in every aspect.)

[CM1847]

I was playing as #4 Notre Dame against #3 Georgia and I fell down 37-13 due to dropped passes and really poor defense. My D snapped out of it in the 4th quarter and sent Georgia's conservative play calling packing 3 and out every possesion of the final quarter. My offense started to play better as I kept clawing back into the game. Anyway, I ended up tying them and loosing in overtime but not without about 5 or 6 WIDE OPEN dropped passes late in the 4th which made it really hard to tie the game, fortunately I found one WR and my TE were able to hold onto it.

In short, yes, I have noticed players making mistakes in big games they usually don't make, but thankfully I got helped by some comeback AI in this case.

[mgoblue21]

i know what you mean with the big game pressure, in my Texax A&M dynasty i walked threw the Big 12 undefeated. When I played Nebraksa I drilled them by 3 touchdowns, it was never close. So I have to play them in the Big 12 Title game. They come out and absolutely spank me. I had more dropped balls in one game than all season it seemed. Final score 31-10 I was shocked.

[Cataschism]

In my Southern Miss dynasty, I was playing Nebraska. My offense was almost totally shut down. My QB was off the whole game and late in the a game he got injured and is out for two weeks. My second string threw three picks in 1 1/2 quarters. My D did well because Rod Davis had a big game but it wasnt enough Final Score: 21- 24

[Dallasin2K3]

I played my 1st big game, starting like 6-8 freshman, in year 2 of my TCU dynasty.. played at Tennessee.. They whalloped me.. they were up 31-0 at half.. ended up winning 45-27 with their 2nd string in the whole second half.. oh well.

[Donovan]

In my dynsaty as Bowling Green I had some very good freshmen, starting nearly the whole team (they become quite good since then) and in a few rival games like Toledo I saw them play badly, I mean I wasnt as sharp but still guys who were clutch were missing tackles and dropping passes.
The SI confence standings said Freshmen failure for Bowling Green after that game and showed my QB and MLB on the same page

[SPTO]

this is kinda interesting...In my first year at FSU in my 2 rivalry games against Virginia and Miami I got smoked both times. I then recruited a couple recievers, a replacement at HB and the next year I beat both my rivals. I think I have a better fit as well as the fact that I didn't lose too many players on my team after the first year.

Tho the Miami game was a SQUEAKER!

42-38, Miami had the chance to win it with a hail mary but I knocked it down.

Greatest game score of 1788

[ABLCommish]

I can attest to this.

My Penn State team was ranked #4 in the country...only loss was a 21-20 crusher to Ohio State. I played a surprising Tennessee team in the Fiesta Bowl...and got CRUSHED, 28-0.

NOTHING I did worked. NOTHING. My guys were slow, making idiot tackle mistakes, dropping balls...letting balls turn into interceptions...I couldn't believe it.

Anyway, I go into the new season ranked 10th, and I play #7 Auburn to start the season. They have a freshman QB starting...and he was NERVOUS. I mean it. I'd blitz, and instead of stepping up or throwing the ball away (what you'd see in 2003), he'd run backwards. I'd NEVER seen that. He actually ran back and tried to get away from the blitz. He tossed three interceptions.

My team, still young, had setbacks against Pitt in OT and Maryland where they couldn't hold a lead (and you could see the momentum shift early in the 4th quarter, when they finally stopped my running attack). Mills absolutely sucked, so I benched him and started Michael Robinson, who has turned in two amazing efforts, blasting #3 Texas 31-7 and then Minnesota. Texas played like a team in a hostile enviornment. They didn't move the ball, and while their defense was good, they just played very conservative.

If I'm reading too much into the game, so be it. But I see team philosophies change based on the time of season and the magnitude of the game. And I like it.

-John