The Criticals: NCAA Football #1 - LetsGoPitt's Blog

LetsGoPitt's Blog

The Criticals: NCAA Football #1

Posted on February 23, 2009 at 09:26 PM.

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This is the first entry in what will (hopefully) become a regular blog where I will briefly highlight issues in sports games that are just begging to be fixed. So without further ado:

NCAA Football Critical Fix #1: Stupid receivers

Has this ever happened to you? Your quarterback is somewhat mobile, and after dropping back to pass, there's no one open. There's an opening to your right, so you scramble, buying yourself some time. You again look downfield and notice to your horror and consternation, that one of your wideouts is standing in his original position on the hook route, as though he were anchored there, and the other receiver on the right side has decided the best place for him to go is towards the OPPOSITE sideline. You have about half a second to curse under your breath before you get creamed by a linebacker.

In real football, receivers (at least the good ones), know to come back to the QB when he's forced to scramble. They adjust their routes accordingly and do whatever they can to try to get open. In NCAA Football, almost the exact opposite occurs. On curl routes, the receiver just stands there, even if there is a cornerback standing right in front of him. Downfield receivers often are completely oblivious to what the quarterback is doing...and that's the best case scenario. Too often, they actually run in directions that take them from poor options to completely unavailable options. This is something that DESPERATELY needs to be fixed in the future.

Comments

# 1 Jimbo68 @ Feb 24

You are correct. I am not sure what the game makers and testers are looking at when they build and play these games each year. Keep up the good observations. Perhaps someone at EA will read your blog.

# 2 statum71 @ Feb 24

I thought it was just me. I wanna see receivers run to the open part of the field in thar situation.

When I scramble...you find space...and I'll get it to you!

# 3 Jimbo68 @ Feb 24

What if there was a button and stick combination that you could press while scrambling, let's say the right stick, that would ask for your receivers to come back to the ball, down stick, or go deep, up stick, right or left, etc.?

# 4 LetsGoPitt @ Feb 24

Jimbo, something like that would be ideal. I remember once upon a time there was a feature in either Madden or NCAA that let you direct your receivers with the right stick. Does anyone else remember this, or is it just wishful thinking on my part? If it really was the case, then add it to the list of features that EA has removed from the next-gen versions of their games.