1. Players getting rattled. I loved going on the road and sometimes seeing guys struggle against a noisy crowd. I think pre-snap you could look see who was confident and who wasn't. Having a freshman have to enter a big game and face nerves, the crowd, and the other team was very realistic. I'll never forget a experience I had while playing with Iowa. I had already lost one starting CB a few weeks prior to injury, and was on the road at Michigan. In the 1st half another one went down and I was force to throw in a freshman. The Big House was going nuts as I was down 14-0 and my CB was totally lost. The offense kept picking on him all game and he was just having one heck of a time. I've experiences this with QB's as well.
2. Player suspensions. Sure it wasn't fine tuned, and sometimes lots of players were suspended (I once had 2 kickers who were skipping class, along with 3 starters on defense) but it made you think and adjust your starting lineup. I read the NCAA did not like this feature and that's why it was removed but this unfortunate aspect is a part of college football. Kids make poor choices off the field and teams have to deal with it.
These are the main two things off the top of my head that I miss. They added a sense of realism to the game.
What are some things that you miss?
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