The consensus seems to be that the passing game vs. CPU defense is much easier to execute, and less challenging, in NCAA 14 than previous games. While I definitely agree that playing offense in 14 is less challenging in general - "read option" is all that needs to be said - I was an Air Raid guy in 12 (skipped 13) and feel like the Raid's passing concepts are slightly harder to use in 14 compared to 12. (Not too hard; I think it's an improvement overall because I felt like I was exploiting them in 12.) I'm interested in if any other folks, particularly Raid guys, agree with me. I have a couple of more specific questions too, and since I've written a long-ish post hoping to explain what I'm talking about, I numbered them to make them easier to find and respond to
I'm asking about the Stick concept in particular, since that's such a core Raid concept and even non-Raid guys have probably used it a lot. H Stick and Y Stick SHREDDED the CPU in 12. I remember it feeling automatic, like a borderline exploit. But while it's still great in 14, it feels a little less reliable/exploitable. If I tried to articulate why, I might say something like it feels like the OLB/nickelback is harder to read in 14 - in 12, he would immediately sprint toward the back in the flats if that was his assignment, giving me the hitch for free, or he'd linger around the slot receiver if he was playing the hitch, giving me the back for free (and if the outermost CB was in zone covering the flats, the Go was probably open for a bullet pass to begin with and I probably wouldn't have needed to progress to the hitch and flat reads.)
In 14, it feels like the OLB/nickelback will kinda waffle between the two - the hitch and the flat - kinda playing them both rather than declaring right away. Which slows down my read, so that when I make the read, reinforcements are arriving or have arrived; if I end up going to the hitch, he's usually getting tackled right as he makes the catch. Sometimes the incoming defender is on him so quick the receiver can't secure the catch, or the defender even just swats it down outright. And the slower read makes the RB in the flats much less reliable - he'll often be lucky to make it back to the LoS after the catch.
These are all positive things, to be clear - I like that the play is less exploitable than in 12.
I'm just curious if (1) other folks agree that Y Stick/H stick are less rewarding & more balanced in 14 vs. 12, since I've read a lot of comments mentioning how people find passing easier in 14.
Which brings me to my main question, concerning my CPB and which plays I wanna include -
(2) which do y'all prefer/find more effective in 14, Stick or Quick Slants? In 12, I would've taken Stick all day, every day, but Quick Slants has been much more reliable for me in 14. Since whatever you choose between those two tends to become that formation's quick pass audible in your CPB, I'm kinda trying to pick between them (I know both concepts are easily recreated with hot routes pre-snap, but I'd prefer to just stick with one concept over the other, at least for single formations.)
My last question is just tangential to all this, and concerns Mesh - which is the one Raid staple I never quite fell in love with, neither in 12 nor 14. In 14, with Mesh plays that have the man/zone option instead of just plain intersecting shallow routes that both continue across the field,
it seems like the receivers always stop/settle - i.e. pick the "vs. zone, find some green to settle into" option - regardless of what the correct read is. (3) Has that been y'all's experience too? I'm starting to like the play more, the WR's corner route is usually nice if the CB isn't pressing, it just struck me as odd that I don't think I've ever seen them continue across to the other side of the field (unless the play isn't tagged with that option, of course).
Definitely interested in what y'all have to say - thanks!