Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

[Godspeed]

I've watched college football for a long time, but never really paid much attention to the X's and O's (formation tendencies, which routes beat which coverage, what defense to call versus a particular offense, etc.) of the game. Therefore I've always just picked a random play from Ask Coach or had a few plays I knew "worked" because they're broken.

This video inspired me to learn the fundamentals of the game so that I can actually understand what plays to pick and why, as well as controlling the defense.
Here are some basics things I know (or don't know):
- slants, crosses, outs, curls beat man coverage
- man coverage means a defender is responsible for a single receiver, not a general location. Man coverage I believe allows more blitzes and is good against streaks
- zone coverage means defenders are responsible for a patch of land and they will never move from this spot while the QB is in the pocket. It is best to throw streaks on this coverage and play-action passes.
- you can hot route your defensive ends to contain if the opponent has a scrambling QB
- 3-4/4-3 stop the run, 3-3-5/4-2-5/nickel/dime/dollar combat spread teams, quarter stops air raid offenses

I've searched for tutorials about learning the technical stuff on NCAA 14 on YouTube, but I mostly find money plays. Can someone direct me to some threads or videos to learn everything about the game?

[Cards_King70]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

AI used a lot of cheap tactics.

If you're lead by large margin, they will start to throw the ball all the way ,so you may want to use Quarter Normal (spy) while Press (DL button) left, right, or middle to keep qb guessing. Oh, you must remember to check position of your dbs because if dbs fall back then you may want to press (DB button) go front of receivers.

If they manage to score fg or td, they will use onside kick ,so you'd better prepare for rest of 4th quarter.

Naturally, DL, LB, and coverage buttons are most important for defense. Ad for Cover 2, you must have great pass rushers from DL while one of your OLBs have great coverage and SS has great hitter and high PRC. If not, don't bother to try cover 2 scheme because qb will torch your secondary all day. Of course, you better not use cover 2 if you have low thresold because speed wr will eat your cb for a snack.

[Dr Death]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

quarter stops air raid offenses

Nothing stops the Air Raid... just to set things right...

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

I really hope someone reads this. I want someone who is very knowledgeable about defense and defensive schemes. I am in an online dynasty with 4 other friends in the PAC-12. I am California and have quickly led my team to the top by winning back to back natties until this year.... In the conference championship game my friend's 86 overall tight end with 84 speed had 15 catches for 280+ yards on him. My team is far superior to his. My players are faster, stronger, etc. I could NOT cover his tight end though. I lost the game simply to his tight end. I need help, I don't know if the 4-2-5 is weak in this game and if the game is built for 4-3/3-4 teams. I have run a 4-2-5 and never had a problem until now. His tight end was killing me on posts and especially corner routes. I play on xbox 360 and my gamertag is Hijjake if you are interested in helping me please send a friend request. I would love to practice against someone online. I am willing to learn.

[jackster802]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

You can spotlight a receiver (or tight end) before the play by hitting L2 + Receivers button (Idk what it is on Xbox). This will make your coverage guys focus on him and priotitize him.

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

Thanks man, but I did that.... honestly even when I spotlighted him there wasn't anyone within 5-10 yards of him. Like he was completely WIDE open.

[jbrew2411]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

To the OP, I don't know how much learning the X's and O's will help you become a better gamer. I coached high school football for 10 years and I can tell you that the game is nothing like what I do on Friday nights. What I can do is offer you some insight having played the NCAA series since 1998.


Offense:


The key to running a good offense is making sure you have the players that fit what you do. This does require some insight to the real life game. It all starts with the type QB you have.
-"Pocket Passer" this is a QB that has good arm strength and accuracy but is not a good runner. I would suggest running a Pro style, Spread, or Air Raid.
-"Scrambler" this is a QB that has really good running ratings but lacks the accuracy of a "Pocket Passer." I would suggest running a Pistol or traditional option playbook.
-"Balanced" this is a QB that is what is considered a "Dual Threat" in the real world. These guys can run or throw making them the most deadly weapon. I would suggest running a Spread, Pistol, or Spread option playbook.


Once you know what type QB you have and the playbook that fits them best then you can go from there.


Calling running plays:
The best advice I can give you here is know your tailbacks abilities. If you have a slower back that is what is considered a "Down Hill Runner" or in the game a "Power" back then you want to run more between the guards and center. These guys are better running straight ahead then trying to get outside.
If you have a back that has more speed and acceleration, 90-99 in both, then you can run more outside running plays that takes you outside the tackles, Left and Right Tackles or the 2 outside offensive linemen. These guys are also great in the passing game as well.


Calling passing plays:
When calling pass plays know where you are on the field. If you are on the left hash mark, you will have less room on the left and more on the right, then you want to call plays where your receivers go back towards the right. So if you have a receiver on the left side of the formation running a out to the sideline or a flag route (it will take the receiver towards the sideline) then they are out of the play because you have such little room to throw the ball. The same works if you are on the right hash mark you will want routes going towards the left or middle of the field.
If the ball is in the middle of the field then almost ever pass play is open. I have coached with and against coaches that don't understand field position when it comes to play calling.


What to look for at the line before the snap:
If you have called a run play you want to look at where the play takes you and how the defense is lined up. If you are going to the right and the defense has given you one more guy to that side then you have blockers then you will need to a) move a extra blocker to that side or b) flip the run to the opposite side since you should have a man on man.
If you have called a pass play then look at where the DBs are positioned. If they are playing off coverage, a 5-10 yard cushion, then that might mean they are in zone coverage or if the corners are up on your receivers or the safeties have moved up close to the line then they should be in man or blitzing the safety. This is what I love to see because the coverage is in your favor at that point.


At the snap of the ball:
In run plays I am watching how the defense is flowing. If I am running right and the defense is flowing towards the right then I know I can cut back once my tailback gets the ball turning a lose into a 4-5 yard gain. If the defense goes man on man then I just follow my blockers allowing them to set the once they do I hit the "speed" button to run through the hole. Once you get past the line you might have to then break outside or cut back to allow your second level blocks to set. The goal I have on run plays is 5 yards, if I get 5 per run then I know I will be moving the ball.
For passing plays at the snap I am looking at the middle of the field to watch what the middle linebacker and 2 safeties are doing. if the move backwards then I know it is zone or if they move towards one of my backs, tightends, or receivers then that should mean man coverage. I can then start through my reads. Based on knowing if the defense is in zone or man allows me to know where the holes will be based on the routes my guys will be running. You need to know what each guy is running to know where the coverage will be weakest. This is the only time in the game my real life coaching experience helps me. Since the game is so basic it is so easy to find the holes once you play enough, but that does not mean you will always complete the pass since the guys do unhuman things at times.


Some finial advice on offense, you have to know your personal's abilities when calling plays. If you have a weak arm QB or one that has a lower accuracy then you want to keep throws short, under 20 yards, to best maximize his abilities. If you have slower receivers then calling a bunch of "9" routes, these are the ones where the run straight down field, then you want get the separation needed to complete the pass. When throwing the ball try to throw the ball right before the receiver breaks to maximize the potential of a successful pass play. An example is if you have a guy running a deep in, where the receiver runs down field then cuts back towards the middle of the field, then throw the ball right when he breaks, if open, to prevent the DB from picking it off or the middle linebacker from getting a hand on it.


I can post some defensive help if needed, but I think this is long enough as is.

[iqra6500]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

What is the difference between both?

[jbrew2411]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

Thanks man, but I did that.... honestly even when I spotlighted him there wasn't anyone within 5-10 yards of him. Like he was completely WIDE open.

I run the 4-2-5 as well and I have had a few games against the cpu where certain players in the slot were hard to cover. The issue I saw in my games was the side my extra DB was on often was overloaded. The linebackers don't cover well enough so you have to depend on that STAR position to cover tightends in the base 4-2-5. The game places the back-up SS at that position by default. If I recruit SS I often move them in before the start of their first year to MLB. I formation sub a guy in that STAR position that can cover, often times my 3rd corner. This has prevented those guys from being completely wide open on every play. I also start targeting guys once they make a few plays.


Overall I think the key is to get a guy who is better at coverage in that position to provide better coverage. I also move corners to FS and FS's to the SS position to get better coverage guys across my defensive backfield. I am in my 13th season in my current dynasty and just had a defense ranked #1 in every major category using the Matt10 community sliders. The key change for me was getting those guys with better coverage ratings in the game. In my 4-2-5 playbook I only have all the 4-2-5 sets and the Nickel 2-4-5 sets.

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

Thanks for the advice man. What form over 4-2-5 do you run? Over, under, okie, etc? And which one is the "star" is it the starting SS or the backup? And I might put a free safety there, but I kind of don't want to because I like blitzing from those strong safety spots and a free safety wont have great finesse, power moves, and block shedding. Is it worth having weaker blitzing options to increase coverage skills?

[XXstormmXX]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

I have some advice. Read the book Take Your Eyes off the Ball and use what you learned to help you in the game. If you don't want to buy it then look for it in the library, it's probably the best book written about football strategy. It's about the NFL but everything applies to college football too.

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

If you had superior athletes on offense and defense what would be the best offensive and defensive system to run? My theory at least offensively is to run a no huddle because if you are better offensively the more plays/series you get will eventually widen the gap between your players and the other teams players. But defensively I am not sure a conservative approach is best. I sat back against my friend and eat ate me alive. Blitzing didn't do much better.

[jbrew2411]

Re: Becoming more knowledgeable about the X's and O's?

If you had superior athletes on offense and defense what would be the best offensive and defensive system to run? My theory at least offensively is to run a no huddle because if you are better offensively the more plays/series you get will eventually widen the gap between your players and the other teams players. But defensively I am not sure a conservative approach is best. I sat back against my friend and eat ate me alive. Blitzing didn't do much better.

On offense you need to build around your skill players abilities. Running no huddle has 2 objectives, wear down the defense, trap the defense in a base formation. Yes you will get more plays but that does not always result in good things. Look at it like a basketball team that shoots a lot of 3s and gets shoots off in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, if those 3s don't fall then they can put themselves out of the game. So getting more plays is only good if you are running the proper plays.


I would suggest creating an offense that best fits the pieces you have. I said that I coached high school football for 10 years. I spent 6 of those years as an OC. You have to be able to adapt a system around your players skill set. The key is the QBs abilities, you can make the other positions fit in what you do. If you have fast players at HB and WR then you will want to force the ball down field, unless you have a running QB then you will want a spread option to get the ball in the hands of all those fast guys. If you have a weaker arm QB then you will want to run a more Bill Walsh style system where you get the ball out quick and let your skill guys make plays. Bottom line, on offense you want to create a system that fits your players best and be willing to mold it to fit new players each year.


On defense you need to get players in position to make plays. I run a 4-2-5 but I formation sub my SAM and WILL linebackers in the 2 DE spots and use 1 DT and 1 3-4 type DE in the middle. My 5 DBs are all good cover guys. When I recruit I move any SS that is 220lbs to MLB, I move any FS that can cover to SS, and I move taller and fast CBs to FS. Once I do this I then have speed to get pressure on the passer while still having guys on the back end that can go get the ball. I call plays based on my players ratings. Currently I have the last three #1 ranked corners on my roster. They are all 3 really good man coverage guys but are amazing zone guys. I run a lot of zone which maximizes their skills but I also throw in some man to keep the cpu honest. Against a human gamer you will still need to do the same. I have played against a few human gamers using my same 4-2-5, I had mixed results. It is a game so their are things you can't stop. Running certain plays are just money against anyone. I you play your friend again and he is going to the TE all the time, then switch to a LB or SS to cover him own your own. When I was coaching we would spend 4 hours on Sundays breaking down film of our next opponent. I would tell our DC all the time how to stop the other teams top offensive players. The key is making a guy do something else then what he wants to do. If you jump your friends TE then he will have to look other places or force passes. To be good on defense you have to think offensively, what do they want to do and how can I make them uncomfortable preventing them from doing what they want.