Fairly New to NCAA 14, Couple of Quick Questions Regarding Defense

[Landonio]

1. What's generally considered better in NCAA 14, zone or man? I've heard that zone isn't that great in this game, but I've also heard that Cover 3 is really good? So dk. Historically I've always been a zone guy in NCAA games. Like 80% of the time, at least. After NCAA 2003 (when zone was literally unusable), EA buffed it and it became pretty dominant if you knew what you were doing. But this was in the pre-360/PS3 era. I have very little experience with the more modern NCAAs, so I'm not sure how good (or bad) it is.

2. What is generally considered the best overall base set? I know many times in EA games that 3-man fronts leave much to be desired, and tend to be inferior defenses overall. But I've heard that the 3-3-5 and even the 3-4 are pretty good in this game. Is that true? Also what said would you say is the worst or that I may want to generally avoid?

3. What's a good "money" play or set on defense to consistently stop the run? And what are some general tips for run defense?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[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.

[Landonio]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

Appreciate the response. I'll try out running a mix of 2-Man Under and Cover 3 Zone.

Follow-up question though. You said man coverage doesn't tend to yield very many interceptions. What would you say are the best ways to get picks in this game, if any?

Also, have a few more questions, if you don't mind.

-Any tips for special teams? As far as blocking and/or returning punts/kicks.
-What are some of the best consistent run plays/running formations?
-How's the 5-2? Worth using? Saw a few people say that it was the best defensive formation in the game.

Thanks.

[sherrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

The zone is either poorly implemented or I've never been able to recruit zone defenders. Even playing man with two deep safeties, the safeties are often slow to react. I just took over Buffalo in my current dynasty (I was DC at Temple and took the head coaching job for 0-12 Buffalo) and the safety play is maddening. One play had the two outside receiver running GO routes and the safeties stayed on the hash marks despite no deep threat in the middle of the field, allowing both wideouts to get wide open deep.



I like the 4-2-5 defense, but you have to attack the LOS. I held USF (in my final season as the Temple DC) to 34 yards rushing on 22 attempts and their top RB to 28 yards on 16 carries. Two concepts that compliment each other are Bullets Dbl A and Smokes. Bullets Dbl A will blitz both LBs up the middle. If you spread the DL wide and pinch the LBs, you can usually get a LB in unblocked or picked up by a back. It is a good concept to stuff an inside run. Smokes blitzes both Strong Safeties from the outside. You can shift the DBs up and both SS will line up on the LOS. As with the Bullets Dbl A, you usually have one coming in untouched or picked up by a back. There are also two COP coverage concepts (Mob 0 COP and Thunder COP). Use these sparingly. COP coverage means the DE will have man coverage on the TE, but this game will also assign the DE to cover a RB or slot WR. Running this defense when you know they are going to run gives you 7 players (including the coverage DE) attacking the LOS.



The Cover 3 (zone) is about the only thing that seemingly has a chance to defend the corner routes. With 2 deep, the safeties will never get to the boundary and I have rare success defending it with man. Most of the times I "stop" the corner route is because the QB made a rare bad throw or the WR dropped the ball.

[OBinKC]

I agree with method of ‘recruit the talent and man up’ being most effective. BUT, until you have that talent, you’ve got to be able to blitz effectively.

One of the things I learned about defense in NCAA ‘14 was that stunt angles can be very effective. For example, if you’ve got two players, say a D-lineman and a linebacker stunted to shoot the same B gap, and another defender blitzing straight down on the 5 technique (on the outside shoulder of the Tackle) with no TE blocking, one of those guys is getting in. This method can be used on different gaps. You should go into practice mode with two controllers and mess around with different blitz angles and see what you’d like. I found 3-4 Over, Under, and Solid works well. Nickel Normal and 4-2-5 work for me as well.

Slide protection can stop this, but that’s where you have to mix up blitzes, which makes it fun too.

[tessl]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

I agree with 2 man under. I tend to use 4-3 unless a team is running on me and I switch to a 4-4 or 4-6. Personnel also makes a difference regardless of which scheme you use. Speed is a game changer and ability for DL to shed blocks.

[Landonio]

I appreciate the feedback.

Is it not possible to have 6th-year seniors/medical redshirts without using the dynasty tool/editor thingy?

[sherrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by Landonio

I appreciate the feedback. Is it not possible to have 6th-year seniors/medical redshirts without using the dynasty tool/editor thingy?

No. The game does not allow a 6th year. Also, the new redshirt rule where a player can play up to 4 games and redshirt is not allowed. You can do both in the dynasty editor. However, you cannot see the detail of the player's statistics in the game. The player's season participation is hard-coded as a 4-element array. While you can PLAY with these extra (statistical) year players, the game will crash when you examine the player's year by year stats because you have overflowed the data structure.