Passing Tips

[PROTOHYPE]

So I'm pretty much frustrated right now.
But it's probably because I have been playing NCAA 09 ever since it came out and I finally upgraded. lol So I'm not used to the passing mechanics in recent years. Can anyone give any tips?

I googled some, but it's not oo helpful.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by PROTOHYPE

So I'm pretty much frustrated right now. But it's probably because I have been playing NCAA 09 ever since it came out and I finally upgraded. lol So I'm not used to the passing mechanics in recent years. Can anyone give any tips? I googled some, but it's not oo helpful.

Are you using Hawaii?

[PROTOHYPE]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

Are you using Hawaii?

yah that's a main reason why i need to get better at passing. Only using them cause I'm from Hawai'i.
I'm not too big of a fan of their playbook too. Seems like there's only 5-7 plays and they are mostly down and out pattern.

[Pogo27]

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...sing-ball.html

I suggest checking out this thread. I've already dropped a lot of detailed tips about the passing game there.


Also... is Hawai'i's playbook classified as Air Raid, Run & Shoot, or Spread?

There's a few differences between these styles of high-scoring offenses that I could give some tips on.

[Fredonia]

Pogo, Hawaii is Run and Shoot...

[sebalishish]

Im no where near an expert, but try sending a man in motion to see if they are man coverage or zone? Look at what the defense they are running and hot route accordingly. Dont use the same play over and over. I know in 09 you could throw a slant to the middle of the field alot. In this game you WILL get picked if you do it over and over agian. (I play on Heisman and this happened to me) Try a balanced attack of running. Then passing out of that same formation to confuse D. I dont know if any of that helped but there ya go.

[PROTOHYPE]

Yeah I got away with doing a lot of drag routes and crossing patterns across the middle.
I'm starting to try and figure out if they're in man or zone and i think I can tell. But then making the decision is the hard part.

Edit: Alright so i looked at that thread someone posted up above. Great tips. Most of the stuff are things that I've been thinking about. Now it just looks like I have to practice it and just get better at it.

[Pogo27]

All right. Run & Shoot is all about the option routes. Bobby Petrino uses a lot of the Run & Shoot philosophy in the passing aspect of his pass-heavy pro-style offense here at Arkansas.

In real life, it requires smart receivers. I assume in the game, the ability for your receivers to run the Run & Shoot depends on Awareness... or maybe it doesn't matter at all.

In your standard passing offense, Air Raid, for example, the quarterback is really the only player on the field reading the defensive coverage. The routes are set, and the quarterback picks the receiver who is going to be open in the coverage he has read.

Run & Shoot is different. Most of the receiver routes in most of the passing plays are option routes. In the game, these are the routes that for example might look like a 10 yard in, but at that 10 yard mark, there's a shaded line for the out and for the go routes.

There are also sorts of options on all sorts of routes. But let's stick with that example. Now, your receivers are reading the coverage. Hopefully, your receiver and quarterback make the same read, or else the receiver won't be where the quarterback expects him to be.

Anyway, for the in/out/go option, the first read is the safety coverage. Cover 0, Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 4, or Cover 6?

In Cover 0 and Cover 1, your Split End and Flanker should be choosing the go route. Reason being the limited help over the top. In Cover 0, the DB on the receiver has no safety help at all. In Cover 1, if both receivers go, the safety has to pick one, so you just throw to the other one.

In Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 4, and Cover 6, the receiver should be choosing the in or out route (sometimes they even have curl or comeback option for a 4th route). Which route they choose is dependent upon the coverage underneath the safeties. Is it fullzone? Is it man? Is there a lot of blitz? Etc.

There's a lot of different factors, and I honestly haven't broken them all down to where I know them all super well, because it's not the type of offense I run.

But anyway, assuming (you and) your receivers are making the correct reads, the Run & Shoot should be the easiest systems in order to complete passes.


Some key concepts for the run & shoot:
First, you're mostly passing, and nearly every formation should be 4-wide with a HB (although, if you have a talented receiving TE, he can be in as often as you want).

Throw to the open receiver. It sound obvious, but I'm always amazed at how often when I'm watching someone play NCAA football (just observing) and they have a guy open for a 7 yard pass but the instead throw a 40 yard incompletion. Take what the defense gives you, and nothing more.

Any time you read 5 or fewer in the box, you need to audible into a run. And you need to have the offensive line capable of blocking open a hole for your RB. You're passing most of the time, so defenses will want to come out in a dime, giving them 6 DBs to defend your 4-wide set. This gives them the advantage in the air. The only way you can offset is having the ground threat, forcing them to stay at least in the nickel.

Use motion. I suggest this as a general rule for all people who need help in the passing game. My personal offense tends to be run-heavy pro-style offense. I don't typically use motion on my run plays, so I feel using motion to read a defense tips my hand and shows my opponent that I'm going to pass. However, your opponent already expects you to be passing nearly every play. So use motion. And use it nearly every play. This is a good way to read your underneath coverage, man or zone. You can also find the blitz, etc. A fake hike is also a good way to get the defense to show you whether or not their blitzing.




EDIT: One last comment that I forgot to mention. In the Run & Shoot, you should be running most plays out of Ace with the quarterback under center. The runs that you audible into work significantly better out of Ace versus Shotgun.