My Take..and some tips

[bpd115]

After screwing around with some AA sliders and taking the time to completely forget the way I played 2004, the game is growing on me. I started a game at OSU and they were dominating me early at the shoe...after an early 3 and out which included 2 holding penalties, everyone was ratteled. When I would get a big gain, oline would hold...I couldn't get anything started and they smelled blood. After a half I restarted...this time I came out composed and with a plan...I busted a big run off the left tackel on the first play of the game for 40 yards and I began to pound the ball a little....then I went to the air and Mills was starting to hit....I drove right down and hit an out route for a TD....My first 3 drives were all TD drives and my run game and passing game was on.....then OSU begain to come back and Zwick got hot. I just turned off the game but OSU was running well and Zwick was 13 for 17...

So I have learned that when you are on the road, play conservative in a hostile enviornment, try and take the crowd out, and don't give up on the run.

On a pass play read the D right at the snap and see if it's man or zone. If it's zone, and they are dropping everyone and you only have 3 recievers out, either scramble, throw it away or dump one off to your back. This isn't 04, don't force it...only bad things will happen.

If they call a zone, use motion and plan a check down for the play. Corner routes are not high percentage here. Remember the pump fake as it can make that shakey DB or LB bite. Look to the underneath route if the play has one as that has a high sucess rate for me.

If they are in man and you're throwing an out route, time the throw when the reciever is just about to make the cut, I've hit this a few times....too late and he'll be covered or worse, you'll be picked and taken back for 6, which will screw your composure on the road and bring the crowd into the game.

If you throw up the deep ball in one on one and you know you've overshot the reciever, take control and speed him up to try and manual catch it.

Pressing Y (not totally manual catching) did seem to help but it's going to take some getting used to as I've not done it like this in the past and if a reciever and your QB start to get hot, you may forget to do it...I'll try and keep it up though.

This game is frustrating because it's so different from past titles. Composure is big this year as are momentum swings. One day your team can play like they can beat anyone and the next day you're losing to Baylor......

[lordsin]

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bpd115 said:
This game is frustrating because it's so different from past titles. Composure is big this year as are momentum swings. One day your team can play like they can beat anyone and the next day you're losing to Baylor......

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I was close to dropping this game, but I am glad I stuck it out. Running a balanced offense is very important to keep moving the ball forward consistently. When your players get rattled, passing the ball becomes almost impossible, so if you find yourself throwing 2 or 3 straight incompletions you need to find a way to move the ball, or else the momentum is going to move so far to your opponents favor that you will have no shot.

The one thing I will never like is the DB AI however. If you watch them when you are throwing, even if your opponent is playing man (and I have checked this out in practice mode where I called the play so I know they were playing man) as soon as you press the button, and before the ball is in the air, the DB's will leave their man and attack the ball. This is why a guy who was single covered will suddenly have 3 or 4 guys around him. I'm learning to live with it, and it has made the games more defensive, but it is certainly not realistic.