[doctorhay53]

These are my opinions...

2 man under is the best defense in the game by far. You will not see many interceptions unless you play man. Athleticism is the most important attribute for defenders. Zone defense simply gives up many more yards after catch. I have had to implement house rules to force me to play any zone at all.

I don't see much difference between 3 and 4 man fronts, but IMO the key to stopping the run is 3 LBs on the field. What I am really saying here is that the difference between a 4-down nickel and 3-down nickel in stopping the run is due to the LBs. Essentially in NCAA 14 the OL is overpowered. It's very hard for DL to stop the run on any heisman set that provides a challenge. The key is athletic linebackers who simply run around the blocks and just clog things up.

Most offenses in ncaa 14 will spread you out. Once you get enough athleticism you can basically match up DB for WR and then just play 2 man under and it's practically impossible to lose. But as above, for dime I like the 326 formations for the extra linebacker.

edit: and I will agree that of the zone plays, cover-3 is the least bad. In cover 2 the safeties don't defend the boundary well enough and you'll give up a lot of long passes in the window between the corner and safety. Cover 4 is just too soft and the underneath zones are terrible.