Being Offensive

NCAA® Football 2005 is the first EA SPORTS title to support online play via Xbox Live®, but that’s not the only exciting thing about it. Electronic Arts (EA) has juiced up the gameplay to make it more exciting, more challenging, and more entertaining—just like college ball itself. Because offense is literally half the battle, we thought we’d explore some of the new game features that make marching downfield look and feel so good.

So many options.

Exercise Your Option
As in real college football, the triple option play is the quarterback’s best friend. No other play gives you such flexibility—once the ball is snapped, the QB (you) can assess what the defense is up to and react accordingly. You can hand off to the fullback for an up-the-middle charge, keep it and try to sneak upfield yourself, pitch out to either side (or fake pitch to fool the defense), or drop back and force the defense to come at you before you bust out the option pass. Each team has several option plays in its playbook, so work with each until you find your favorite. NCAA Football 2005 is college football at its finest, with the entire team relying on its ability to work together and react as a unit, using all the strength, speed, and reflexes of the individual players.

Don’t get burned.

Match Game NCAA
One of the most important features of NCAA Football 2005 is the Match-Up stick, which reveals how composed each player is (or how rattled they are). A player’s composure factors into how fast he runs, how well he catches, and how effective his tackles will be. Clicking the stick brings up a meter for both offense and defense. If the meter is green, the player’s composure is good, and he can be relied on to execute his part in the play. If the meter is silver, he’s on the edge, and if it’s red, he’s been rattled. On offense and defense, you want to adjust your line so that your red meters are well clear of your opponent’s green meters, because your man is going to lose that face-off if the play is close. Also keep track of the composure circles that appear over each player: white means full composure, half black is iffy, and all black is a disaster waiting to happen. Manipulate as many key personnel as you need to in order to give your team the biggest possible advantage (and avoid putting yourself at a disadvantage).

The fans love you!

Playing Off the Crowd
The home team defense can rally the crowd before the snap, raising the volume of cheers so much that your players won’t be able to hear any audibles you call from the line of scrimmage. This can result in sloppy plays at best and embarrassing turnovers at worst, so when you’re the visitor in a rowdy arena, you’ll need to know how to deal with the noise.

While on offense, you can’t quiet the crowd, so your best bet is to stick with the play you originally called. If you don’t rely on audibles, you can’t get hosed when the crowd drowns them out. Rely on pitches, hand-offs, and other running plays that position the eventual ball carrier close to the QB—that way, if you line up and realize that the defense has totally guessed what you’re up to, you have a better chance of successfully calling an audible. If the crowd noise proves too overwhelming, delay the snap as long as you can and keep trying to call the audible. There’s no guarantee your play will go off as intended, but if the blitz is looming and you’ve got no other choice, you also have nothing to lose by trying the audible a fourth or fifth time.

There you have it—offensive strategy for NCAA Football 2005, loud and clear. Or at least as loud as your quarterback can muster against an opposing crowd!

By Mickah Wallace