EA Sports NCAA Football 11 [View All]

[lazarus]

Anybody play this? I'm just getting into it, and it's kind of frustrating.

There are four difficulty levels: Freshman, Varsity, All-American, and Heisman. I started on AA, and won my first three games in Dynasty mode. Then I got my ass handed to me. I decided to step down to Varsity mode, and did even worse.

Huh?

So I gave up and am playing on Freshman mode, which is a bit too easy, but it's a way to get familiar with the controls, which are plentiful and confusing. I'm still learning how to do option plays properly, although Alabama (the team I control) doesn't do many.

Defense is where I'm having the most difficulty. Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, any tips on recruiting? I only went for four and five star recruits who listed me in their top three for interest. The only position I needed to fill was center, and I got two four stars to commit week four. I'm afraid I'm getting three five star running backs, which I don't need, so I have to decided which ones I actually want. Not sure how to do that.

My big complaint is that you can't red shirt once the season starts. My backup running back broke his shoulder week 2. In the real world, I could use a medical red shirt on him. Boo hiss.

Oh, and I'm never using Super Sim to finish a game again. I was beating South Carolina 98-3 at the end of the third quarter, and simmed out the game. They outscored me 21-0 in the fourth. Right.

Final complaint: The stupid "Season Showdown" thing. This is an online thing whereby you amass points for your school. You get skill points when the player you control does something good, like a sack or tackle for loss. You get strategy points for doing a set up play (these are labeled as setups when you're picking your play, and change all the time). And you get sportsmanship points for punting on fourth, that sort of thing.

But I like playing crazy. I always go for two, and I rarely punt. This means I lose big sportsmanship points. You also lose sportsmanship if you pass when you have a big lead. Bullshit, I'm passing on 3rd and sixteen even if I'm up by sixty.

As far as I can tell, the Season Showdown doesn't have any effect on recruiting or anything, so I mostly ignore it. Does anybody know anything further about it? Should I be paying attention to it?