NCAA Football 2007

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Terps

I think I added most if not all of you guys to my friends on XBLive now. My tag is YouR FN IDoL for those without singatures enabled.

At first I was like who in the F is this guy? Then I saw your signature and accepted your invitation.

[Terps]

haha, it is quite the screename . My gamertag from the original XBOX would not transfer over for some reason when I got the 360.

[kingnebwsu]

Had a great .58 of a game last night vs Raiders Army. Around 5 AM EST (yes, we were both up late), it says something like "connection to opponent lost" even though we were still chatting. We try to finish up another half but the EA servers were apparently down for maintenance Thanks for the warning EA! I didn't find any notice about it on the game and it took some hardcore searching of their forums to find it...and even then it was posted by a user there.

Anyway, RA was up 14-0 on two very nice drives. I had countered with one of my own after it was 7-0, but my QB Troy Smith fumbled the ball as he was about to cross the goalline!!! I scored right before halftime and was down 14-7. I had the ball to start the third quarter and had an awesome drive where Troy Smith had 2-3 20+ yard runs and I tied the game at 14. I kicked the ball off and soon after the game ended

Was an enjoyable part of the game though, just wish the server didn't crash. I couldn't sleep very well after that, cuz it felt like things were unfinished. I mean, I'd rather win/lose than have an unfinished draw. Argh.

Anyway, I added like 3 more FOFC'ers to my buddy list on the 360.

If anyone wants a traumatic experience then visit the EA NCAA forums. The lack of coherent spelling and USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS will make you throw up

[Eaglesfan27]

If you got to the news section or FAQ section of their online area within the game, it mentions the times of routine maintainence and that is one of them. I read all of those things when I was having my router problems trying to figure out the problem (none of it helped until I did a google search.)

[Raiders Army]

It was a good game up until we were disconnected. FWIW Eaglesfan, he can't handle the blitz that well either.

kingneb absolutely dominated me going no huddle with a four wide set.

[MizzouRah]

I stayed up until about 1am last night playing my dynasty... I think I might start over though and try heisman as AA is becoming too easy.. but believe me when I say.. "I'm not that good" !!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I stayed up until about 1am last night playing my dynasty... I think I might start over though and try heisman as AA is becoming too easy.. but believe me when I say.. "I'm not that good" !!

Heh. Hard to believe as AA is still giving me a good challenge more games than not unless I am playing against a clearly inferior team


Raiders, thanks for the advice. Looking back, I think I will approach quite a few things different the next time I play King

[ISiddiqui]

I just discovered something today... I SUCK on AA... oh well . Practice makes perfect, I guess.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Heh. Hard to believe as AA is still giving me a good challenge more games than not unless I am playing against a clearly inferior team


Raiders, thanks for the advice. Looking back, I think I will approach quite a few things different the next time I play King

I'm going to wait until I play someone like Oklahoma.. as my schedule has been soft so far.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, I crushed Stanford tonight before my visitor arrived, but I looked at key spots. Their O-Line was about 15 points lower than my D-Linemen at each spot. Similarly, their D-Line was about 10 points lower than my O-Line. Their CB's were about 15 points lower than my WR's. Despite, all of this they were only 1 letter grade below my team. Not too surprisingly, I blew them out 63-3. They have a good QB, but he wasn't getting too much time to throw.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yeah, I crushed Stanford tonight before my visitor arrived, but I looked at key spots. Their O-Line was about 15 points lower than my D-Linemen at each spot. Similarly, their D-Line was about 10 points lower than my O-Line. Their CB's were about 15 points lower than my WR's. Despite, all of this they were only 1 letter grade below my team. Not too surprisingly, I blew them out 63-3. They have a good QB, but he wasn't getting too much time to throw.

You should try the Heelfan sliders I posted above, I had a great game last night.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

You should try the Heelfan sliders I posted above, I had a great game last night.

Yeah, as I was playing that Stanford-USC game, I was debating on trying them. It plays well out of the box, but I think I might go ahead and give those a try in my next game.

[Bearcat729]

I just got destroyed 57-27 by Kingneb He was Iowa State and I was playing with Wake Forest and the Iowa State QB had a field day on my team. 197 yards on the day and his team had 4 rushing TD's.

[Young Drachma]

Woo..I got the game today. It's pretty sweet or at least, I hope so. Haven't played yet.

[AgustusM]

Just started a league with 5 friends - we are all meeting at one guys house and playing there. partially because he is centrally located and partially because he has a great 65" HDTV on his 360.

Best part about the league is all 6 of us are football coaches, so there is a lot of knowledge playing AND the league rule is when you play your game if one of the other guys is there he can jump in (or multiples can take turns) being the opposition. Makes for a pretty fun dynasty.

[kingnebwsu]

Originally Posted by Bearcat729

I just got destroyed 57-27 by Kingneb He was Iowa State and I was playing with Wake Forest and the Iowa State QB had a field day on my team. 197 yards on the day and his team had 4 rushing TD's.

The first half was really close but my running game was too much I guess. Bearcat was hitting the big passing plays in the first half (one of his WR's had 3 catches for like 120+ yards!) but I managed to mostly stop them in the second half. 4 rushing TD's, 197 yds on the ground for the QB, and 50% through the air (for me) was enough to make it happen.

You'll get your revenge next time Glad I evened up our series though.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

Just started a league with 5 friends - we are all meeting at one guys house and playing there. partially because he is centrally located and partially because he has a great 65" HDTV on his 360.

Best part about the league is all 6 of us are football coaches, so there is a lot of knowledge playing AND the league rule is when you play your game if one of the other guys is there he can jump in (or multiples can take turns) being the opposition. Makes for a pretty fun dynasty.

Setting up a 10 man group including myself, and we are all going to take a Pac-10 team and run a dynasty. Will take forever, but should be crazy fun!

[AgustusM]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

Setting up a 10 man group including myself, and we are all going to take a Pac-10 team and run a dynasty. Will take forever, but should be crazy fun!

that is a great idea - all 6 of us have top 10 teams and none in the same conference - but I like your one conference idea a lot!

one of these days EA is going to realize their is a HUGE interest in on-line dynasties for NCAA and Madden.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't have as many friends that are interested, but myself and 3 friends have formed a 4 team dynasty that we are hoping to get started soon. My house has the biggest HDTV so it is going to be the main center for the games, a fact that I'm sure my wife loves.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - My 3 closest friends are scattered around the country, and we all hope for the day when Online Leagues become a reality.

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Dola - My 3 closest friends are scattered around the country, and we all hope for the day when Online Leagues become a reality.

Madden 2002 was great for that.

[AgustusM]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Madden 2002 was great for that.

you can still with a little work run a small multi-player dnyasty on PC Madden with remote players.

I have about 5 friends that have been playing a Coach Only Madden league for about 5-6 years this way. The madden dynasty save is just one file so we simply zip it up and e-mail to whoever is "next" - certainly no ideal, but we have played a lot of seasons this way. Then we get together for drafts and playoffs .

[Grammaticus]

Does anyone know if you can use a standard USB jump drive on the 360 or do you have to use the memory card from microsoft?

[dervack]

I don't think you can use a USB drive as a memory card.

[ISiddiqui]

Just had my first online game against Raiders Army. It kicked ass... hardly any lag and it was a barnburner of a game. RA was 'Bama and I was WVU. He got up on me 14-0 early in the 2nd Q, but then I clawed back and it was 42-35 in the 4th Q. RA had the ball, ran an option with his QB who was running for a 20+ yard gain when my safety stripped the ball away. I drove down the field to the 25(ish) and it was one last play, but was knocked down in the endzone to the TE.

Very fun game and I can't wait to do it again .

[Raiders Army]

'twas a very fun game. ISiddiqui put up with my hiccups during the game (they're gone now) and like I told him during the game, it was a tossup except for that first one or two touchdowns. If I hadn't gone up early, he definitely would've won.

[ISiddiqui]

Nah, I think the computer gave me gift fumbles to make it close at the end .

[Raiders Army]

IIRC, it was only one fumble. I was thinking I should cover up (RB), but I was like "nah, what are the chances he'll fumble?"

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

IIRC, it was only one fumble. I was thinking I should cover up (RB), but I was like "nah, what are the chances he'll fumble?"

Remember the one where you wished you could Challenge online?

[Raiders Army]

Oh yeah. My bad.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I don't have as many friends that are interested, but myself and 3 friends have formed a 4 team dynasty that we are hoping to get started soon. My house has the biggest HDTV so it is going to be the main center for the games, a fact that I'm sure my wife loves.

I saw YOUR TV and my one day..maybe TV at Best Buy today. An older guy was purchasing my.. I mean the 50" SXRD and I say to him, "Nice choice" and smile.. he grinned back. He said, "You think?", I said, "Best TV on the market right now...take a look around and find one with a better picure." .. he grinned again.

[AgustusM]

Originally Posted by Grammaticus

Does anyone know if you can use a standard USB jump drive on the 360 or do you have to use the memory card from microsoft?

nope doesn't work - I tried.

but I ended up getting the xbox transfer kit for $15 from circuit city and I already had a memory card (only way to keep the 2k6 games from freezing) so I got the real rosters for the first time ever and I have to say this is the most I have ever enjoyed the college football game.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

nope doesn't work - I tried.

but I ended up getting the xbox transfer kit for $15 from circuit city and I already had a memory card (only way to keep the 2k6 games from freezing) so I got the real rosters for the first time ever and I have to say this is the most I have ever enjoyed the college football game.

Go 360!

[kingnebwsu]

I shoulda got the card and transfer kit...since I'll be using the 360 for like 4 more years. Oh well, maybe next year

[AgustusM]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

I shoulda got the card and transfer kit...since I'll be using the 360 for like 4 more years. Oh well, maybe next year

cheap, easy and makes the game WAY more interesting. not to mention the additional bonus of having a real name NCAA class for Madden.

[Booj]

Man, oh man.. I just had the best game I've ever had in NCAA... In an exhibition game I was down 32-15 in the 3rd quarter (as Northwestern vs Syracuse), scored a TD in the 3rd and two more in the 4th, including the game winner with 2:30 left. I put the game away with an interception with just over a minute remaining as they were driving for the win.

Sutton had 220 yards on 29 carries and 2 TD while Bacher had over 250 yards as well. The game shouldn't have been close but I had 4 INTs and 2 fumbles, both of them coming inside their 20 (one as I was in the clear to the endzone but was caught from behind).

The game felt real, you could feel the momentum shifting (I had a 7-3 lead driving towards their endzone until I fumbled on the 1 yard line, then I got a safety to go up 9-3 but was down 17-15 at the Half because their anemic offense through the first quarter and a half just stepped it up and I JUST missed a 2-pt conversion to tie it which put the momentum back on their side heading into the second half ... It had the excitement of a real game... Wow.

Greatness score of only 307 though, maybe because of all the turnovers?

[Grammaticus]

Ugh, I just started getting the dreaded dirty disc error. It is sporadic and it only happens with NCAA and sometimes within minutes of starting up the 360. It can’t be overheating that fast. All the same, I will probably get the damn cooling attachment.

I’d like one minute alone in room with Bill Gates, no questions asked. I don’t care if he has stepped aside as the overseer of Microsoft, it would still make me feel better. I’d hook him up to one of those shock devices in A Clockwork Orange and every time the dirty disc error popped up, he would get voltage.

[SunDevil]

Ballmer. Bill is harmless now, he is out of day to day operations, he is running his foundation now.... Ah screw it, get a second chair.

[ageofquarrel]

Is it just me or is their alot of fumbles? Im playing the xbox version and I cant go a game with out 7 or 8 fumbles a game.

[Raiders Army]

Not too many fumbles here. From what I can see, a lot of fumbles occur when your RB is trying to get more yardage instead of covering up or your QB throws a bad option.

[Eaglesfan27]

I see quite a few fumbles when the QB throws it just as he is getting sacked, but I don't see that as a problem. I just need to remember not to throw it too late

[kingnebwsu]

It wasn't so bad at first, but my last two games have had FIVE and THREE fumbles, respectively. Maybe one was legit each game. The rest of the time, they got a "good" hit on a guy in the open field (twice I had my punt returner fumble it and the AI return it for a TD). This is on the 360.

Hopefully when my Ohio State team plays michigan we can avoid the fumbles and win

I wonder if it's a coincidence that both of these games happened right after I started using Playmakers' All-American sliders? I dunno. I made a few changes to them, since some of the things were too crazy for me.

[Eaglesfan27]

Personally, I don't think the sliders are the issue with fumbles. There are a few situations where I've noticed my team fumbling:

- If I try to call for a fair catch too late. It's almost like the PR starts to raise his hand, but by the time he does, the ball hits him and he muffs it.

- If I try to pass too late as I'm about to be hit.

- If I pitch it too late or occasionally just the QB throws a bad pitch.

- If I'm running it with my QB or another player with a bad carry rating.

If I avoid those things, I've generally kept my fumble amount quite low. It's when I mess up those things that I usually fumble too much.

[kingnebwsu]

The thing is, only one of my fumbles was from the aforementioned situations. Ted Ginn had 2-3 on punt returns (after he had run 5-10+ yards), and several were by my RB Antonio Pittman on running plays where he got "hit hard." Troy Smith (my QB) also had 2 fumbles while scrambling.

Yeah, I think I'm about done with this year's NCAA game. It's like, I do this every f'in year, and I keep coming back for more. I actually only rented last year's for a week, and only played one half of '05 (both QB's going for 15% completion rate made me throw that one out) and I'm ready to return this version to the rental store.

I just played an online game vs Raiders Army that sort of epitomized everything that pisses me off about EA football games. From the totally sluggish online atmosphere the game creates, to shoddy collision detection, to just wrong officiating. I like feeling like I'm playing the entire game in molasses. How many times do I have to hit the damn button before it calls the play/throws the pass/hikes the ball?

I mean, the defensive pass interference calls are a joke. They seem to happen almost every play, yet they're rarely called.

My receivers dropped SIX passes last game en route to a 35% completion rate. Good times.

The best thing was when my QB started to throw a pass and got hit...and it was called a fumble. Any non-idiot could plainly see that it was an incomplete pass, but it was a fumble returned for a touchdown.

Don't get me wrong, there were many mistakes that favored me, such as my QB was getting sacked in the backfield by a f'in huge guy and he magically spun out of it and completed a 40 yard pass. That was a nice touch.

Oh yeah, the best part of the whole game, was the THREE blocked extra points against my team. Wow. How many blocked XP's are there on any given Saturday in college football? And there were three in one fucking game. I ended up losing by 4, so it's not like those made a difference. Oh wait...they did. I even tried angling it higher and or only putting a little strength behind it, hoping my guy would kick it faster.

I also loved how his fat FB made this ridiculous juke move to make my guy miss, which lead to a TD. Totally awesome.

I'm still pissed from the unrealistic broken tackles the AI RB's can perform. The Minnesota RB averaged like 10 yards a run vs my Ohio State team...and most of it was off of broken tackles. I did a little better vs Northwestern...and they only averaged like 8 YPC. It's like, how many tackles can the average back break? Answer: about 3 per play.

It's a shame EA has the exclusive rights to football games, because the 2k football games were much better than any NCAA/Madden game I've ever played. NFL 2k5 was the best football game made in the last 15 years.

It sucks because now I have zero choice. If I want to play a football game on the consoles, it'll be made by EA. Now I remember why I haven't purchased an EA product in over 4 years.

E-A-Sucks...if it's in the game...we'll screw it up (Rated T for Terrible)

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Personally, I don't think the sliders are the issue with fumbles. There are a few situations where I've noticed my team fumbling:

- If I try to call for a fair catch too late. It's almost like the PR starts to raise his hand, but by the time he does, the ball hits him and he muffs it.

- If I try to pass too late as I'm about to be hit.

- If I pitch it too late or occasionally just the QB throws a bad pitch.

- If I'm running it with my QB or another player with a bad carry rating.

If I avoid those things, I've generally kept my fumble amount quite low. It's when I mess up those things that I usually fumble too much.

I fumble generally only when im trying to do a move(deke, throw, etc) or when the player has a bad carry rating...covering the ball works great

[Raiders Army]

I could feel kingnebwsu's frustration during our game and I emphasize with him. Conversely, I've come to get used to the blown calls (although kingneb is right and they should call pass interf more) and the wacky "fumblitis" of QBs when they're throwing (Madden 06 for the 360 got me used to that).

I still find it an extremely enjoyable game. I played RPI-Fan (Rengineer) in a fun game as well.

[RPI-Fan]

Picked up the 360 & NCAA today... As has already been mentioned, played RA in an online game where he coached me along a bit...

Since then, I've practiced a little and now have a pretty good feel for the flow of the game. If anyone wants a game tonight I can play if we start in the next 10-15 minutes. Else, I should be on 7:30pm~10pm this week so send me a PM if you want to "schedule" a game!

Rengineer is my gamertag.

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by ageofquarrel

Is it just me or is their alot of fumbles? Im playing the xbox version and I cant go a game with out 7 or 8 fumbles a game.

I agree, there are a lot of fumbles and a bit more interceptions than normal. The fumbles are much easier to manage when you do the things Eaglesfan27 and others mentioned.

What bothers me though, is the number of fumbles that are simply scooped up and returned for a TD, or just a big gain. Most fumbles cause a scramble for the ball and usually players dive on it and cover up. Heck in the game it is easier to scoop up a fumble running at full speed than it is to catch a pass in the open. There should be more missed recovery attempts of fumbles and more diving on the loose ball.

[Eaglesfan27]

I do agree that fumbles are picked up and returned too much for long gains or even TD's. I've really cut down on the number of fumbles by just making sure that I don't have QB's with low carry rating running it too much. Also, like Blade said, the cover button is a very good thing.


As far as interceptions, I'm happy with the number with sliders toning them down partially. My biggest complaint is that interceptions are returned for TD's too often when they do happen.

Finally, I do agree that too many blocked kicks are happening.

Despite these flaws, I'm having a blast with the game, and while I was spending time with my wife today I kept wondering when I was going to get time to play my next game..

[Grammaticus]

Yes, the cover up button makes a huge difference. Also, laying off the sprint button in heavy traffic helps too. Heck, I find myself pulling the sprint trigger and mashing the cover up at the same time. Not sure if it helps, but it is usually a matter of me forgetting to lay off the sprint.