Feeling Nostalgic: What's your favorite NCAA memories?

[Rhudey]

Man I loved this game, played since 99. The last season I played in 14 I was Notre Dame, last game of regular season against Stanford. I was holding on to a 2 point lead in a tough defensive battle where I had pretty much shut down their offence in the second half. With seconds left they complete a bomb to my 20 on a desperation heave under pressure and then kick the game winning field goal with no time remaining.

I advance to bowl week, lo and behold my bowl game is a rematch against Stanford. This time I'm up by 4, they have it inside my 5 with a couple seconds left in the game. I come in on a linebacker blitz, hit the qb in the knees, he puts his hand on the ground to keep his balance and throws a touchdown with 00 on the clock. Two heart breaking losses to Stanford two games in a row.....so much fun to play though.

I like the new Madden, but I've never had the exciting finishes in Madden like I've had in NCAA.

[jbrew2411]

I will throw mine out there...

NCAA 09: The career of Ryan Williams, the greats 3* QB to ever live. I was several seasons into a dynasty where I ended up at a struggling Miami (The U). I was in need of a QB so I landed this 4* who was a dual threat. I thought I had my future in him. The first offseason came where I lost a senior and to sophomores who transferred. I was in need of depth behind my price recruit. I found this 3* QB who had solid ratings in Ryan Williams, was even a gem recruit.

Week 1 rolled around and I had my 4* stud ready to run and throw his way to glory, but that was not the case. He went 0-4 with 3 picks and could not hold on to the ball. I benched him in favor of Williams by halftime of the 1st game. Williams would go on to start every game the next 4 years. He set every school passing record and even some NCAA records. He lead the Cains to 2 national titles, won the Heisman his senior year, and was the 6th overall pick by the Raiders (the day of the NCAA draft classes in Madden).

I have played the NCAA series since NCAA 98 and never had a guy I loved as much as him. I still look for a QB like him every dynasty season I play. The guy was a star and I almost didn't even recruit him much less play him.

On a side note that 4* dud never took another college snap. He did stay all 4 years with Miami but never had an offseason where he progressed more then 3 points.

[R1zzo23]

Here's mine from my dynasty reporting thread here at OS:

Quote: Originally Posted by rhs_rizzo

Where did I get the title “Run It Back”? Well, remember those college days I briefly mentioned above? My longest running NCAA dynasty came during my senior year of college on NCAA 08. I wanted to create a rags-to-riches story within the college football universe and I stumbled upon the MTSU Blue Raiders. I had never heard of them before in my life but I knew that they were terrible at football but had some pretty sweet uniforms. Every year I was at the helm for the Blue Raiders, we improved marginally. After two seasons we showed we were too good for the Sun Belt Conference and accepted an invite to Conference USA. While there, it took a couple seasons to get acclimated. By the 2010 season, we were proving that we belonged and found ourselves flirting with the top-25 polls. In 2012, we not only dominated the C-USA but finished firmly in the top-25 and were promptly offered an invite to the glorious SEC. Challenge accepted! In our first season we saw some up and down play with true freshman Dustin Valentine at QB running the air attack. He had one of the best backs in the country in sophomore Larry O’Donnell behind him but there were one too many hiccups along the way and we ended up outside of the BCS bowls and planning for the next season. Adding one of the top receivers in the high school ranks in Anthony Ray would prove to be a huge addition to the offense. While tight end Anthony DeLuca worked the linebackers and wide receivers David Dean and Brian Brown occupied the outside receiver positions, the young star Anthony Ray operated strictly out of the slot. To say that Ray was unguardable was an understatement. As a true freshman, Ray set the MTSU record for receptions in a season with 84 as well as receiver yards in a season with 1,339. As impressive as that was, he wasn’t the star of the offense. Junior running back Larry O’Donnell was not only the best player on the Blue Raiders squad, but he was widely considered the top player at his position in the country. He would eventually lead the MTSU Blue Raiders to their first ever SEC crown and a BCS National Championship in his third season in Murfreesboro. His 1,613 rushing yards and 30 rushing touchdowns were both program records along with his 60 career touchdowns. He would not only be named a first team All-American and the Doak Walker award winner but he took home the most iconic individual piece of hardware known to college football: the Heisman Memorial Trophy. [Editor’s Note: In what has to be considered the best glitch I’ve ever seen in a sports video game in my life, RB Larry O’Donnell didn’t have a nameplate on the back of his jersey but the rest of the team did. I played this up in my own mind and the stories I would tell my buddies that O’Donnell didn’t play for the name on the back of his jersey but for the name on the front. In the end, his unselfishness paid huge dividends with not only a BCS National Title but also by winning the Heisman. He was the best offensive player I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with in NCAA Football and will always have a special place in my heart.] Here are the stats, records and awards I have recorded from the 2013 MTSU Blue Raiders: Passing NAME Yards TDS INTS Valentine, Dustin* 3810 34 17 Rushing NAME YARDS TDS O'Donnell, Larry 1610 30 Clemons, Darrius 190 7 Valentine, Dustin* 37 3 Receiving NAME REC YARDS TDS Ray, Anthony 84 1339 9 DeLuca, Nate 51 489 4 Dean, David 42 678 7 Brown, Brian 29 563 6 Willis, Zach 22 290 4 O'Donnell, Larry 19 196 2 Clemons, Darrius 7 63 1 Thornton, Karl 7 118 0 Freeman, Josh 6 101 1 McGrady, Dan 2 16 0 Defensive NAME TKLS TFL SACKS INT FFUM FREC TD Upshaw, Marcus* 103 20 6 3 0 1 0 Jones, Keith 74 2 0 0 0 1 0 Mixon, Tim 69 12 2 0 2 0 0 Ernst, Corey 60 0 0 6 2 0 1 Cox, Robert* 58 2 0 6 0 0 2 Jefferson, Kyler 57 5 1 5 2 1 2 McNair, Adrian 50 1 0 1 2 0 1 Logan, Benny 49 17 9 0 0 1 0 McNeal, Preston 45 21 9 0 0 0 0 Harris, Doug 44 1 0 4 2 0 1 Williams, Willie 42 6 0 0 2 0 0 Davis, Noah 38 17 2 0 0 0 0 Young, Garrett 28 1 0 1 0 0 0 Hoyte, Eddie 25 8 1 0 2 1 0 Demps, Derrick 19 3 0 1 0 0 0 Wilkinson, Tiger 14 7 4 0 0 2 1 Awards Won Heisman Memorial Trophy : Larry O'Donnell Doak Walker Running Back Award : Larry O'Donnell Jim Thrope Award (Best DB) : Kyler Jefferson Lou Groza Place-Kicker Award : Justin Smith SEC Championship BCS National Championship All-Americans First Team: HB: Larry O'Donnell LG: Chris Miles MLB: Marcus Upshaw CB: Cory Ernst CB: Kyler Jefferson FS: Doug Harris SS: Keith Jones K: Justin Smith Second Team: RE: Benny Logan CB: Robert Cox Returner: David Dean Freshman: WR: Anthony Ray School Records Broken This Season Rushing Yards (Season) : Larry O'Donnell - 1613 Rushing TDs (Season) : Larry O'Donnell - 30 Rushing TDs (Career) : Larry O'Donnell - 60 Passing Yards (Season) : Dustin Valentine - 3810 Passing TDs (Season) : Dustin Valentine - 34 Passing TDs (Career) : Dustin Valentine - 52 Receptions (Season) : Anthony Ray - 82 Receiving Yards (Season): Anthony Ray - 1339 Sacks (Season) : [TIED] Benny Logan & Preston McNeal - 9 Sacks (Career) : Marcus Upshaw - 19 With the memories of what I’ve already done with this team, here’s to hoping that we can rekindle this flame and “Run It Back” for a potential BCS National Title in NCAA 14!

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[TripleCrown9]

[JHamilton9]

^^^ still have the soundtrack from NCAA 06 on my playlist.

One of my memories has to be my RTG as a walk-on QB at Texas A&M. I chose #12 because that's what the school would give walk-ons (in honor of the 12th Man), but I couldn't beat Johnny Football out of the starting job.

It wasn't until my senior season that I became the top Heisman candidate and had led the Aggies to the #1 ranking going into the SEC Championship Game. We played #4 Georgia, with the winner most likely going to the National Championship. It was a struggle and a close contest. We ended up going into double overtime. After holding the Bulldogs to a field goal in the second OT, all we needed was a touchdown.

I made an awful read in the end zone and threw an interception. I remember it as soon as I threw it... it was going to be picked. Lost the chance to play for the Championship, lost the SEC Championship, and lost the Heisman.

I could only imagine how the fans in Aggieland would have reacted...

[Mauer4MVP]

Seriously enjoyed all the stories you guys shared. Thanks for sharing!