Agreed. But in game, line play is severely downplayed. I can stick a skinny freshman punter in as my center or guard, and while it might be slightly more difficult to run to that side, I can still pick up yards and I can still get off passes. Line interactions really downplay player ratings in NCAA, and therefore are almost like wasted players on defense
In-game the 3-3-5 is so effective because in general both sides are generally just locked in a stalemate. The DL only get through after repeated spin moves, and real breakthroughs are rare enough that extra linemen dont help that much anyways. Once the RB is past the line, your DL breaks off their blocks super easy anyways, so running up the center isn't that big of an in game issue for the 3-3-5 either.
In NCAA 11 at least, I had the most success with the 3-3-5 because the line interactions in this game basically make it equivalent to running a 4-3-5, so you basically have an extra defender. Again this is all in my experience in game. Maybe was my sliders
but they were the only thing that prevented me and my roommate from both scoring 50+ each time we played each other (that and perhaps not drinking while playing... but what fun is that!)