NCAA 12 Plays and hopeful additions

[Slaticus]

What I mean by this is that there are certain plays that certain teams run that are NOT just trick plays. Sometimes these plays are staples of the offense. I am not blaming EA for not having some of these in last years game. How could they? The way that offenses have been evolving Spread concepts as well as the heavy use of the Pistol is starting to change the way that the game is played.

From what we have seen of the new offensive plays, many of them look great. EA has showcased several new formations that look really good and, all of the football nuts on this forum have seen in real games. Just a few that I would like to point out are the Tiger Sweep(Playart), the Triple Option from the Pistol Train Set (Playart) Badger Power, which I am guessing is going to be Wisconsin’s playbooks, (Playart), Mizzou Jet, again probably from Mizzou’s playbook (Playart), and finally Y Over Fly Sweep, from Oregon State’s playbook.(Playart).

The thing about these plays is that they are not sexy. By sexy, I mean they are not trick plays, they are not reverses and, with the exception of the option play, no one is going to pitch the ball anywhere. What these plays have going for them is that they are staple plays of their respective teams. If you watch college football you have probably seen a few, if not all of these plays, used by one team or another.
This is a great step forward for EA. I would say that since 2006-07 EA has been steadily adding individualized plays to each teams playbook. As I said earlier, with the tremendous amount of diversity in colligiate offenses, this is a great update. But, what I would like to say is: EA WE WANT MORE!

Madness you say? I say no. Almost every team has a certain formation, a certain set, that no one else uses. TCU? Anyone who watched the Rose Bowl game and is a student of football could see that their offense formationed the mighty Wisconsin D to death. Auburn? That offense evolved throughout the year. There was at least one new formation in every single one of their games that I watched. Heck, even UGA’s ultra conservative offense changed every few weeks. Yeah, I guess this sounds like I am advocating create a play or create a formation. And yes, I do want that. Is it going to happen this year? Maybe, but I severely doubt it. Since EA is probably not going to give us these tools, we must be given everything that we want. Hence the reason for all the hate on EA.

On to the main point of this post. THE PLAYS THAT , IMO, NEED TO BE IN THE GAME.

1. The Inside Zone read- if it was an undercenter formation, old school option guys would call it Midline. Nebraska made a living with this play with T Magic back there. I forget the game that I watched with them, but they ran this play 5-7 times in a row, for big gains each time. Michigan also ran the heck out of it, plus the multiple fakes with Denard. (Great Article on the Nebraska Inside Zone http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/1...-will-run.html as well as a diagram article of how Utah used to run it http://trojanfootballanalysis.com/?p=86)

2. The “Brokeback” Flexbone- I know, slightly gay reference there, but where I am from, and the coaches I work with, this is what the flexbone from a shotgun look is called. That or the Mexican Wing-T. Airforce has been running this since about 2005 and it is a precursor to the heavily modified spread offenses. (Base Formation)

3. Building on the Flexbone thing, there are more than just option plays in the Flexbone. Georgia Tech runs a great deal besides the option. Especially after their starter went down last year and they had to stick that young Washington kid in. They reduced the number of option plays down a bit and ran more straight running plays, such as sweeps, traps and a nice little fullback off tackle play that I would call 88 or 82 down. The Tiger Sweep play is STRAIGHT from a number of old Flexbone and Wing T playbooks. I would call that 121 or 929 sweep. Or, simply, Buck Sweep. It needs to be in the Flexbone playbooks, along with a whole bunch of other stuff.

4. Finally, this one is kind of personal. I have been in and out of coaches offices for the majority of my life. I have always been involved in old school offences such as the Wing T or the Veer. I would love to see some classic playbooks and plays. For instance, a great redo of the Nebraska I Form Option IE what they went 15 seasons in a row with 300 yards per game rushing average. Last year there were a few I Form options buried deep in some random playbooks (Wake Forest?) Maybe some splitback veer? That kind of put Houston on the map back in the 70s and 80s. I know that there are many arguments on the viable nature of these offenses in modern college ball, but that’s what they said about GATech running the flex. I would say they have done pretty well.

EA, you guys did a fantastic job last year and I am not bashing you for not including these things. It would, however, be cool as hell to see these in a game one day.

Sorry for all you guys who like to “throw the ball” and what not. I have been playing NCAA since I was a kid and the only time I have ever had a passing QB win the Heisman was back when Brennan was at Hawai’i. And that was just to prove a point. What do you guys think? Any other plays or formations that you think could be added to improve the experience?

[SonOfEd]

I think there should be somewhat of a build a play during a game or something you work on in practice mode in dynasty. The sexy part of clollege ball is seeing that one trick play a team will throw together and have in the coaches back pocket for a tight game. Other than that, i think the game evolves so much during just one season its hard for programmers to keep up.

[pirates946]

pretty soon this one guy is going to comment and say he wants the shovel pass, so i will save him the trouble and say the shovel pass would be a nice addition. I really like the new Diamond Formation though

[Slaticus]

Quote: Originally Posted by pirates946

pretty soon this one guy is going to comment and say he wants the shovel pass, so i will save him the trouble and say the shovel pass would be a nice addition. I really like the new Diamond Formation though

The Full house pistol thing does look great. I am gonna play w/ that one for a while.

[CObra-la]

Check my write up in the Feedback section on Army's Wing Bone offense.

[Slaticus]

Quote: Originally Posted by CObra-la

Check my write up in the Feedback section on Army's Wing Bone offense.

Good stuff there. I have not been watching Army all that much over the last few years. I like what they are doin up there though. The Pro set stuff they were attempting to do had no chance of ever being very effective up there.

Wish your Navy boys would quit beating up on us soldiers. Its just not right

[SECElit3]

Hmmm.... Shovel pass

Shut Up and Show Me!

[Slaticus]

Quote: Originally Posted by SECElite3

Hmmm.... Shovel pass Shut Up and Show Me!

I hate that play. Seriously, I have a deep and irrational hatred of the shovel pass. Yeah, I know. Its a middle screen. Still, I hate it IRL and in game.