(Recap) Designer vs. OS Member: TheFuture (UT) vs. AuburnAlumni (Troy)

[Ian_Cummings]

Just thought I'd drop an update...

I played a full game online against AuburnAlumni, and I took the Vols of Tennessee vs. the lowly Trojans of Troy.

Final Score: UT 24 - Troy 17 (2 OT)
Box Score:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT
Troy 0 3 7 0 7
Vols 0 0 3 7 14


UT QB #8: 16-21, 155 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT, Sacked 4 times
Troy QB #11: 29-39, 225 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT, Sacked 5 times

1st Downs: Troy 18, UT 8
Total Offense: Troy 222, UT 143
Rushes / Yards: Troy 8 for -3, UT 14 for -12 (15 of which on a broken pitch play)
Turnovers: Troy 3 (2 INT, 1 fumb), UT 1 (1 INT)
PR Yards: Troy 21, UT 11
KR Yards: Troy 76, UT 107
Penalties: Troy 0-0, UT 5-30
TOP: Troy 10:50, UT 9:15

As for my thoughts on the game:

First off, I want to say the game was a lot of fun for me. There were definitely some rough spots, but overall - a lot of great drama with the 2 OT's (and I'll explain the other big plays below). It came in at #1 on my Instant Classics list...with 1000 points.

Troy's rush defense was unbelievable. For the entire first half I tried really hard to establish the run game and I wasn't successful. Their 2 d-ends are 90 and 83 respectively (I paused and checked), and I am not very good online because of the delay in skill moves, so by the 2nd half I kind of had to abandon the run because I had been shut out. The key to the game was turnovers...Troy had the ball with 1:30 left in the 4th, up 10-3, running the clock out, when I took a timeout and chose the "Get The Ball" coaching option...he rolled out to scramble with his QB and I went for the user strip, I rip it out and then take it back to the house to tie it up! I was jumping out of my chair. Sorry AA...I had to post it :


He got the ball back right after that, and drove down for a 40 yard field goal with :02 left on the clock. I saved my timeout purposely to "ice" him, and he missed! This sent it to OT. After a couple of traded TD's, I got a great pick to seal the deal and sneak off with a win...highlight of that below:




As for the Troy offense, AuburnAlumni ran 5 WR pretty much exclusively the entire game. He sent me a VM after the game saying he wanted to do this to show that the front 4 really can't get any pressure. Unfortunately I can't yet confirm this 100% because I had to adjust my defense drastically to account for his 5 WR. He was tearing me up for the whole first half, so on nearly every play I would start with a 4 man front and then hot route one of my linemen (if not 2 or 3) to drop back into zone or QB spy. (You can even see it in the 2nd highlight...I've only got 2 guys rushing). I actually had a decent amount of sacks too (5). I think we'll have to play again with more normal passing as a test to see what kind of pressure we can get.

I want to clarify, I'm not disagreeing with his (and many's) complaints about the pass rush, but NCAA isn't my game so I am just going to make sure I talk to the NCAA gameplay folks again after this experience and let them know how everything went. FYI - the starting UT d-linemen are 85, 87, 94, and 94 OVR, and no one on the Troy OL is better than an 81. Since I wasn't playing any kind of a normal defense, I don't think our game was a great test, but it did feel a bit frustrating on my end that I wasn't able to just man-handle Troy with UT. I mean again it was a lot of fun, but I guess I'd expect this kind of hard nosed game with a lot of drama from UT vs. Florida or Georgia, not UT vs. Troy. AA said this (and I agree with him), if it wasn't for the key turnovers and the missed FG (where I "iced" him), Troy would have pulled off the win without a doubt.

I'd be really interested to hear his take on it. AA...your thoughts? Highlights? Lowlights?

[baumy300]

Ian, this may not be 100% on topic, but how much influence do you have on NCAA?

I'm just curious, because if you see the issues we are talking about firsthand, then you surely should be able to get things going on the road to recovery, right?

[AuburnAlumni]

My thoughts...

1. It was a good game Ian. I wish you had your headset on because I would have liked to discuss certain aspects during the game..such as the disappearing "Y" Receiver icon in 5 wide, etc.

2. I would also like to reiterate that I did explain to Ian my offense was an "extreme" offense. I ran about 3 times all game. My main goal was to show Ian that the passing game, in my opinion, is way too powerful right now. The results of this game seem to show that. He started the game as a down lineman. By the end of the second quarter...after I had shredded his defense with short pass after short pass, he was playing as DE or DT dropping into coverage, he was playing as a DB trying to USER Blitz me from the corner...I think he sent a cheerleader after me one time. lol

Nothing worked. I deliberately held onto the ball a few times (and was sacked) just to see how long it took one of his defenders to come after me.

One sack...I held the ball NINE seconds.

Another...I held the ball EIGHT seconds.

That is simply way too much time and would never occur in a real game.

And as he mentioned, Troy's BEST O linemen is about 6 points lower than Tennessee's WORST Starting DL. And he never created pressure with the front 4 in a reasonable amount of time.

If not for a fumble at the end of the game, I would now be 2-0 using a 70 rated Troy squad on the road against Oklahoma (all 90s on the D line) and Tennessee.

That is an issue.

Fix the passing game and I believe this game will be STELLAR.

My ideas...

1. More aggressive DBs-I was able to complete hitch after hitch, cross after cross and rarely did a UT DB (and UT's secondary is VERY good) lay a hit before my WR had caught the ball. The positioning was bad on many and zones were too loose IMO.

2. Pass Rush, Pass Rush, Pass Rush. There needs to be a REWARD for having big time Defensive linemen. The reason great defenses work is because the back 7 DOESNT have to blitz to create pressure...why? Because their front 4 can get to the QB and disrupt the offense by themselves.

This simply does not happen in NCAA 09. Troy's O line stonewalled the front four of UT and OU almost every snap.

3. Make QB ratings more dramatic. Troy's QB isn't even an 80 overall. Yet I was able to put every pass right on the money. I went 29-39 and had 6 registered drops. That would have put me at 35-39...against Tennessee. With a 78 rated QB.

There needs to be a difference between guys like Tebow and Harrell and a scrub from Troy or Florida International. There isn't one right now.

We do need to play some more games, but I believe Ian is starting to see some of the issues many of us feel are keeping this game from being a "10".

I look forward to our next matchup Ian.

Bring your headset next time!

[Ian_Cummings]

Quote: Originally Posted by baumy300

Ian, this may not be 100% on topic, but how much influence do you have on NCAA? I'm just curious, because if you see the issues we are talking about firsthand, then you surely should be able to get things going on the road to recovery, right?

Not all that much influence but like I said I'll just go talk to the NCAA guys and they can get some QA folks getting numbers & doing more research. Adam (OMT) and Will (our community manager) are making sure everyone is up to date on all the major complaints coming from the community...it just takes a bit of time to filter through everything and verify it all.

[therizing02]

Quote: Originally Posted by AuburnAlumni

My thoughts... 1. It was a good game Ian. I wish you had your headset on because I would have liked to discuss certain aspects during the game..such as the disappearing "Y" Receiver icon in 5 wide, etc. 2. I would also like to reiterate that I did explain to Ian my offense was an "extreme" offense. I ran about 3 times all game. My main goal was to show Ian that the passing game, in my opinion, is way too powerful right now. The results of this game seem to show that. He started the game as a down lineman. By the end of the second quarter...after I had shredded his defense with short pass after short pass, he was playing as DE or DT dropping into coverage, he was playing as a DB trying to USER Blitz me from the corner...I think he sent a cheerleader after me one time. lol Nothing worked. I deliberately held onto the ball a few times (and was sacked) just to see how long it took one of his defenders to come after me. One sack...I held the ball NINE seconds. Another...I held the ball EIGHT seconds. That is simply way too much time and would never occur in a real game. And as he mentioned, Troy's BEST O linemen is about 6 points lower than Tennessee's WORST Starting DL. And he never created pressure with the front 4 in a reasonable amount of time. If not for a fumble at the end of the game, I would now be 2-0 using a 70 rated Troy squad on the road against Oklahoma (all 90s on the D line) and Tennessee. That is an issue. Fix the passing game and I believe this game will be STELLAR. My ideas... 1. More aggressive DBs-I was able to complete hitch after hitch, cross after cross and rarely did a UT DB (and UT's secondary is VERY good) lay a hit before my WR had caught the ball. The positioning was bad on many and zones were too loose IMO. 2. Pass Rush, Pass Rush, Pass Rush. There needs to be a REWARD for having big time Defensive linemen. The reason great defenses work is because the back 7 DOESNT have to blitz to create pressure...why? Because their front 4 can get to the QB and disrupt the offense by themselves. This simply does not happen in NCAA 09. Troy's O line stonewalled the front four of UT and OU almost every snap. 3. Make QB ratings more dramatic. Troy's QB isn't even an 80 overall. Yet I was able to put every pass right on the money. I went 29-39 and had 6 registered drops. That would have put me at 35-39...against Tennessee. With a 78 rated QB. There needs to be a difference between guys like Tebow and Harrell and a scrub from Troy or Florida International. There isn't one right now. We do need to play some more games, but I believe Ian is starting to see some of the issues many of us feel are keeping this game from being a "10". I look forward to our next matchup Ian. Bring your headset next time!

Damn! When I read the title of the thread all I could think of was AA "venting" during the game. Too bad Ian didn't have a headset. I'm sure he could hear you though through the TV.

You forgot to mention the kicking game. Fix that and the passing and we're pretty close.

Sounded like a great game!

[AuburnAlumni]

One easy way to improve the Pass rush IMO would be to eliminate the "chop block" animation where the DL goes head over heels. This happens just about every play. In a real game..you may see it once.

Ian, as you mentioned...my rush defense was solid. That's because on a running play, the DL/OL interaction is MUCH MUCH different.

The ratings actually seem to matter during a run play. When I play as my Auburn Tigers, my 95 rated stud DT Sen'Derrick Marks can blow up a Center or Guard and tackle the ball carrier.

However, the dynamic seems to change on a Pass Play. Suddenly my guys get "sucked" into a wrestling animation with the linemen, get stonewalled, or get chop blocked.

It's such a difference, that I can tell if a run is a real run or a playaction even before the QB gets his icons up.

How do I know? Because I can tell if my DT is able to play to his abilities or if he's suddenly sucked into a vortex.

[Gamecock]

Wait, did i just read that there happens to be a lag with skill moves?

*haven't played online yet.

Yea I too wish Ian would've had a headset on! AA would've been in that ear!

Actually I'm sure he was anyways