How about 120 ways to play defense next year?

[shttymcgee]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

And I doubt we'll see 120 ways to play defense. Most defenses are that different. You have the basic 4-3 and 3-4 with the rare 5-2 or 4-4. And then the difference really between those teams is how often they blitz and how often they run man vs zone.

There are just as many defensive styles played in college as there are offensive styles right now. Personnel on the field is not the determining factor. USC's 4-3 defense is vastly different than Nebraska's in the same way that Florida's Spread is different than Texas Tech's. Why shouldn't there be more emphasis on utilizing true to life defensive philosophies? I think there is room for improvement on both sides of the ball, yet I take it for what it is, a videogame. Right now, my biggest pet peeve about defense is the fact that the new playbook mechanic doesn't allow me the time I need to call a defense before the cpu is at the line so I get stuck with the default one a bunch.

[berad88]

I have no problem playing Defense and in any football game I tend to be better at defense than offense when playing offline so it all comes down to the plays you call and how you execute.

[Strummer101er]

Quote: Originally Posted by jolson88

After playing many more games tonight, there is one aspect of the demo that has been incredibly excited: I'm LOVING playing defense again!

Weird -- I feel the complete opposite.

NCAA 10 was the most fun I had playing D in years. I'd make about 10-15 user-controlled tackles with my SS every game (7-minute quarters) -- I had one game where I made 22 tackles.

Granted, that's mostly because there was no locomotion and you could turn on a dime, so you'd never really have to worry about overpursuing the ballcarrier. But at least I felt like I was having an IMPACT on D.

I'm afraid the more realistic locomotion is gonna make it hard as hell to control your defenders and make tackles in NCAA 11. I know it'll be a better game overall, but I think I'm mostly gonna be twiddling my thumbs after I make my call on D.

[Thaen]

d-line play is subpar, but sliders can sorta fix that the pass coverage in hook zones is kind of ********, but defense isn't broken beyond repair is it perfect no it is not, but it isn't an abomination like you are implying i do however hope they do some defensive things for ncaa 12.

[DonkeyJote]

Before we get too far in complaining about the defense here (or even on Madden), let's remember that defense is an endangered species in football. Bend but don't break is the philosophy of most teams - that basically means don't give up a big play, and hope the offense screws up and you can capitalize. If you can come up with 120 ways to win on defense, be my guest, but the majority of defenses play the same 3-4 schemes and leave it at that. You'll never be able to dominate consistently on defense against good teams in this game, because it's increasingly rare to see that in real life anymore.

[footballdude1971]

Disagree completely...you can't manually control a guy on defense and make a play on a passed ball (those who think you can, you can't...at least not like last gen)...the players don't perform an action (e.g. swat ball or jump) when you hit the corresponding button. Robo QB's with amazing accuracy and the speed of the pass all contribute to a sense of helplessness on defense. Lack of pass rush contributes to this as well.

Like I said, all you guys who think defense is solid aren't going to "stop" anyone...the only chance you have is your opponent stopping themselves. Like I said, the defense in this game sucks.

[Xaos]

Quote: Originally Posted by footballdude1971

Disagree completely...you can't manually control a guy on defense and make a play on a passed ball (those who think you can, you can't...at least not like last gen)...the players don't perform an action (e.g. swat ball or jump) when you hit the corresponding button. Robo QB's with amazing accuracy and the speed of the pass all contribute to a sense of helplessness on defense. Lack of pass rush contributes to this as well. Like I said, all you guys who think defense is solid aren't going to "stop" anyone...the only chance you have is your opponent stopping themselves. Like I said, the defense in this game sucks.

Like I said, no it doesn't. You do.

[Senator Palmer]

I skipped last year and didn't care much for NCAA 09, but I'm loving playing defense on the demo. I was initially frustrated at the lack of pass rush (I manual control my linebacker and leave th cpu to pressure). But it hit me that maybe I should adjust my gameplan. After turning up the D-line to aggressive, I noticed a HUGE difference in pressuring the QB. Like others have said, you have to think strategically and call appropriate defense. The tools are there from what I've seen.

Good example; I just played Ohio St. vs. Miami. Ohio St. has a short, quick passing game. I came out in zone and Terrell Pryor was eating me up with short passes to the back. Went to man-to-man. He started hitting the TE who was matchup up against an inferior LB, just as he should have.

I bracketed the TE then tweaked the gameplan to play tighter in zones. Problem solved. Finished the game with three sacks, 6 hurries.