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I know a lot of people have been asking about the deep ball issue and if it has been addressed and I can answer that with an astounding YES. I was basically playing Moostache all day long and we tried a couple things out with the QB, intentional or not. There was one play where he tried to spring straight back with the QB and chuck the ball intentionally, but it didn’t work at all, and the ball went about 20 yards and hit the dirt. Sometimes the QB’s do this turn-around animation and wing the ball downfield, but from what I noticed, it’s nowhere near the intended target. Thinking about hauling back and chucking the ball deep all game long? Forget about it. The QB’s arms in this game seemed to really be toned down and they don’t really throw the balloon balls that we were used to seeing last year, either. Not only that, but the DB’s on Heisman (which is what I played all my games on), weren’t having any of that. They would swarm near the ball and either knock or pick off a lot of errant throws; those DB’s are sticky. There was one play, however, that I had Bobby Hoyer rolling to his right, running for his life, and I threw the ball across his body about 30 yards downfield for a completion. That was a little unrealistic, but that was more of an exception and not the rule. I was having problems with him hitting his receiver’s stand still for cryin’ out loud!
Another thing they seemed to so, which might draw a little criticism, is slow down the running speed of QB’s overall. Now, if you don’t have a mobile QB, forget about trying to be sneaky and run for yardage. Even the fast guys seem like they are stuck in quick sand a little bit. To me, it’s not that big of a deal because there is a difference in speed between the mobile and non-mobile QB’s. The pursuit angle of the defense also has a lot to say if the QB is going to be able to pick up some yards on the ground or not as well. All that aside, the defense you pick does have some kind of effect on whether or not the QB will be able to run and pick up some yards. There were a couple times that I was able to pick up some yards with Tyler Donovan because my opponent dropped everyone back in coverage and nobody was rushing the QB or covering the flats. So, naturally, that running lane was open and I took advantage of it, I didn’t see a problem with it because it’s kind of logical if the defenders assignments are to drop 10 yards back into coverage. Again, the speed issue could be subject to debate, but overall I saw a definite improvement in that aspect of the game. One last thing on the DB play, if you get lazy, they will make you pay. They have some good anticipation and will jump your WR’s routes, but I can honestly say that it doesn’t feel cheap. It didn’t make me want to throw the controller or punch babies, so that’s always a good thing. 
Going into this years games, one of the big criticisms of EA’s games were the lack of gang tackling. I am fully aware that Madden on the PS3 had them, but from what I understand, it wasn’t all that great (I don’t own a PS3, so I am taking other peoples words for it here). Well, gang tackling is in both NCAA and Madden this year. And let me say that I talked to a couple producers while at EA and one of them even said that there was a conscious effort this year for the NCAA and Madden teams to be a more unified. Basically, both games use the same engine, but they have different teams to authenticate both the NCAA and NFL experiences, and I can tell just from the mere fact that both games get the blocking and the gang tackling treatment. When’s the last time both Madden and NCAA got the same new features in the same year? Anyway, the gang tackling works pretty well. You can tell the first time you try to bounce something outside. Guys tend to swarm to the ball giving you nowhere to go. However, sometimes the backs will be able to get out of some of the gang tackles, especially if the defenders are trying to strip the ball or arm tackle the defender, but most of the time they are able to take the defender down. I did also notice some nice open field tackles by the defenses. Sometimes a back would catch a ball out of the backfield and the CB/LB would be one-on-one with him, and the back wouldn’t be able to get around the defender. I saw quite a few nice open field tackles and it didn’t seem over done. It felt right to me, at least, after playing the game for 8 hours.
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