Man-to-Man Coverage The Key to Stopping the AI QB in NCAA 09

[cbc72]

Interesting.

Especially given the Devs were saying "This is the year of the Zone," before the game was released.

They were telling people man would hardly be worth calling because it would work so poorly for the defense, given the new speed curve.

[heavy_hitter]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

Playing zone against a spread offense allows a team to nickle and dime it's way down the field against you. Playing man with fast db's and lb's allows a team to double cover players and keep up with them. The reason most teams play zone against spread offenses is because their defense tires out by running around all day with the WR's. Maybe if Oklahoma was playing man against Boise they would have won the game? hehe (had to take that shot). Bust seriously, do hook and ladders work if you are playing man?

You seriously don't know what you are talking about. Playing and Coaching are two different things. I coach and more than 75% of the time you are going to see ZONE. This is in Florida where an athlete is a dime a dozen and they have the speed to play man. If your coaches cam out in man every play then they probably didn't know what they are doing or your competition SUCKED. Any coach that knows you will be in man every play will eat you alive.

[Jistic]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

This game forces you to mix up coverages A LOT! You can't play man bump and run all game because they will eventually burn you deep. You can't play simple man all game because they will start running all over you or hit someone deep over the midde. You can't play in a qb spy all day because they will figure out a way to screw the players in the spy. You can't blitz all day because they will patch up the side you are going after (cpu uses slide protect too). Basically you need to mix things up a lot, and confuse the cpu.

Adam said the CPU doesn't adjust to the game that you call and that it just calls plays. It's in another thread that I can't dig up right now, but maybe someone else knows off the top of their head.

[rhombic21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

Playing zone against a spread offense allows a team to nickle and dime it's way down the field against you. Playing man with fast db's and lb's allows a team to double cover players and keep up with them. The reason most teams play zone against spread offenses is because their defense tires out by running around all day with the WR's. Maybe if Oklahoma was playing man against Boise they would have won the game? hehe (had to take that shot). Bust seriously, do hook and ladders work if you are playing man?

Hilarious. Boise isn't even a spread offense, but whatever.

Almost nobody in college football plays man to man against spread offenses. Very few teams have the athletes to pull it off consistently, and as you mentioned, almost nobody has the athletes to do it all game.

You're right that you allow people to nickel and dime on you, but the difference is that very few teams in real life are consistent enough in the passing game to be able to do it all game. Most of the time their drives will eventually stall out because of a penalty, sack, drop, errant throw, or because the QB makes a bad read and throws a pick.

[NE_Passat'n]

Quote: Originally Posted by capp34

GREAT ARTICLE....I have been saying this all along. I have always played majority man and I only recruit man corners. Now let the bashing begin from the people who refuse to play like this.

What do you look for in a man corner vs a zone quarter when it comes to recruiting?

[cardinalbird5]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

It's not way wrong, it's not way right. Everyone has different defensive philosophies. I played free safety through 4 years of high school, and we had a pretty small team that was fast. We relied on man coverage against spread offenses because we were able to cover the receivers and eliminate the threat of a dump off to a running back. This was a successful strategy for us because we didn't get nit picked down the field by teams- we were able to stop the short stuff with our DE's and LB's, and take the deep ball away. So how is that way wrong? Zone is a great defense to use in certain situations, but if your main concern is a team dinking and dunking down the field with 5 yard dump offs, then the best way to counter that is with man coverage and LB zones to take away the middle of the field. Again, there is no correct, or incorrect defensive philosophy- it is just what works for a certain team- you have to adapt- and this game makes you.

That makes more sense and I agree with that, but I think you give EA too much credit. Defense doesn't seem rewarding. I play 2 man under majority of the game and it works best. I'll try to disguise a blitz maybe once or twice a game and the QB doesn't seem surprised at all. I usually only play zone in the red zone.

Of course, online is totally different. I find myself playing a lot more zone and doing more zone blitzes. Man seems useless online, unless you are in a Dime with a fast linebacker covering the HB. But then they can run it on you, even though most of them aren't smart enough to.

[cbc72]

Also, for people saying "the computer will learn and pick you apart.."

No. The devs have said the AI is not adaptive and chooses plays based on down and distance. The CPU does NOT choose plays based on your play calling tendencies.

[stoncold32]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bumble14

How is it a work around? Shouldn't you expect the cpu to tear you up if you are playing in a soft zone and they are spreading the field? This is the kind of reasoning I don't get- I honestly think you guys never played football in your lives, let alone understand how defensive sets are called. In high school our team would play an entire game in man to man if the opposing team was the type that loved to throw the ball around. We had speedy corners and linebackers, so we were able to do this. Looking back on it actually, I'm not sure we ever really relied on a zone heavy scheme- I'm not really sure of any team that really loves to play zone exclusively. This game forces you to mix up coverages A LOT! You can't play man bump and run all game because they will eventually burn you deep. You can't play simple man all game because they will start running all over you or hit someone deep over the midde. You can't play in a qb spy all day because they will figure out a way to screw the players in the spy. You can't blitz all day because they will patch up the side you are going after (cpu uses slide protect too). Basically you need to mix things up a lot, and confuse the cpu. The game has issues, but a lot of you are moaning and groaning like you expect everything you have used in past games to work this year. Just because you have been good at playing d in past football video games does not mean what you are doing is correct, or fundamentally sound in actual football. This game has the most realistic defensive recognition ai of any game I've played, and I think it's awesome that the cpu will pick me apart because I overused a zone, or blitzed a cb and got burned. Again, the game has some issues, but for the most part if you follow this article and understand where it is coming from, you will be ok. I find it req=warding to play defense this year.

Yeah but in this game, it doesnt matter if you're playing again Nebraska or against Hawaii, you still would have to play man against either b/c the CPU completes too many passes. I ahvent tried these tips yet, but I KNOW I have played PLENTY of man on 3rd downs and all the CPU does is run a dig route, or a slant and get one yard beyond the required first down spot.

Theres really no such thing as confusing the CPU on this game. THey know what you're calling, you can Hot Route and fake a blitz to throw them off, but often times you have no time to adjust before the ball is snapped.

Another gripe I have is that when you try to jump to deflect a pass with a LB, they usually don't react when you press the jump button, they react after the pass hasw flew over their heads.