NCAA 2014

Anyone else playing it?

I was able to get a few hours in last night. I love the new recruiting so far, saves a ton of boring repetitive work that made me hate (and usually sim) recruiting. I am enjoying it now. It is ultra important to pick the right players at the beginning of the year. Only issue so far is that in week 7, I am still finding 3 and 4 star recruits that nobody has recruited. Longtime issue in NCAA.

I'm having fun with the gameplay. Due to some really poor playcalling, I ended last night with a brutal game between Oregon and UW. I (Ducks) kept getting first downs but I couldn't get a big play (and I kept accidentally calling for no-huddle even in formations I don't like) and had trouble scoring. I was down 21-28 going into the fourth, took a 1 point lead off a Mariota TD run, UW scored a field goal for a 2 point lead, I threw a pick at the 1 yard line and then managed to sack Price in the endzone for a safety. Won the game easily in OT. Read option can be fun, but with DeAnthony Thomas, I find that defenders let Mariota run on them almost every time. He has 500 yards rushing in 6 games and I am usually simming the second half. Even on Heisman, Oregon is like playing on easy mode, just biding time until named rosters come out.

I hate the time commitment that was recruiting and I'd always suffer in my online dynasties because of it. I like how its simpler, faster and easier this year.

The game runs smoother and the offensive playbooks are improved. Play action passing actually works, unlike the past couple years when you would get sacked immediately upon dropping back.

The spread offenses are a little too good in this game as it is extraordinarily hard to stop read option teams. I'd love an option where I can choose whether the defensive end crashes all the time(cutback lanes are huge this year) or the defensive end sits and takes the quarterback. The option options(sorry for the redundancy) seem set for the under center Nebraska option offense as you choose between the pitch man and the quarterback(shouldn't have to if you play it right). I'm hell bent on coming up with a scheme or way to play that alleviates this, but it shouldn't be that f'ing hard. If I want the d end to crash so that the outside backer on that side scrapes over the top every play, I should be able to select that.

Yeah, the read option seems too unstoppable in this game. Although, I take a different approach - I want my backside DE to slow play the QB every time unless there is a terrible matchup (and my starting RDE at Tulane is 6'1 and 235lbs with 60 speed, so it's gonna happen), because I see the DE crash most of the time and rack up crazy numbers with any running QB. Heck, with my 71 speed QB I am getting 7-10 yards most of the time when the DE plays the RB.

You can't beat anyone deep with a go route. Sucks if you like to audible at the LOS. QBs seem unable to throw a ball over the shoulder of the WR. For me, it takes away the incentive to run the ball because I can't take advantage when the AI becomes psychic on Heisman and knows the playcall. But I am having fun bringing an air raid offense to Tulane (can't wait to get a promotion to a real team, this team is damn near talent-less.).

Recruiting is a blast. Very different from before, but now I spend a lot more time playing football than recruiting, so I'm happy. It seems much more difficult to sign a good class, which is great.

Agree on the go routes, I would put up insane numbers wherever I was by throwing over the top last year. Now the only time I go up and over the top is in the red zone when i run a fade on a cover 1. I discovered quickly that although the go routes aren't there, the deep in, my all time favorite route is wide open all the time. I've been checking at the line to a lot of quick outs, which work pretty well for once.