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So how does the new NCAA Football 08 360 patch stack up as Quietcool72 takes the reigns of the faltering Fighting Irish? So I decided to give NCAA 08 a fresh look today after the recent patch, and I have to say that so far, I'm impressed with some of what it does. Finally, lob passes are back. Gone are the days when the game forced low-trajectory passes that were easily picked off. It used to be you could barely throw over any defenders in the short to mid range. Indeed, this is welcomed news. Also, it seems like the super-DB AI has been toned down, and DBs act more realistically to the pass, and believe me, that was also a big fix that was needed.
Here's the list from EA of what the patch did: Gameplay: Fumble Chance has been tuned to more realistic values and logic.
Fumbling has been tuned to occur during more realistic scenarios such as big hits and collisions.
Gameplay: Defense Secondary aggressive coverage has been addressed.
Defensive players AI has been better tuned for only certain percentile of defensive backs have the ability to make aggressive moves that are effective.
Gameplay: Pass Lead Tuning on Lob passes has been improved.
The user has the ability to lead receivers with lob passes now. Online: Defensive playclock online increased from 7 to 14 seconds Good stuff there. I was totally frustrated with this game before the patch, because it seemed like the passing game was 2D, and the running game was suicidal due to the way-too-frequent fumbles. I'm glad to say that after logging about 2 hours with the game offline, these were addressed, and I'm quite pleased. With a new devotion to the game, I decided to fire up a brand new dynasty using my beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and try to resurrect the suddenly faltering program.
Out with Coach Weis, in with Coach Quietcool72. I opted to go with 6 minute quarters, and to juice the AI QB a bit in terms of accuracy (I saw a few too many INTs in my scrimmage earlier in the day). Once that was all set up, I dove into pre-season recruiting. My defensive philosophy leans heavily on high-quality cornerbacks that can play man to man while the front 7 does their thing. So, after going after my basic needs, I approached some young 5 star corners with interest.. as well as some WRs, centers, tackles, guards, and a running back or two.
The first game of my season, at home against Georgia Tech, was a classic...and a heartbreaker. The game was tied 9 to 9 with under 20 seconds left to play. Tech had the ball on their own 15, 3rd an 10. I wanted to get pressure, so I blitzed, leaving my strong safety man to man against their star running back, Tashard Choice. Well, I made a bad "choice". He caught an out pattern, my strong safety missed the tackle, my cornerback couldn't wrap up. Gone. 85 yards. Paydirt. End of game. Okay, why so aggressive, might you ask? Well, I had timeouts, and GT hadn't scored a TD all game. A third down stop near their own 15 means I could call timeout, field a punt, and maybe get in position for a good return that could get me into field goal position. Of course- the best laid plans....often fail. Mine did.
However, from a simulation sense, I'm realizing that I must up the run block and runner ability slider for the CPU. There's no way ND's defense should hold GT to 26 yards rushing with a start like T. Choice. So I've already addressed that for next game.
As for the new passing fixes-
G. Tech threw for 305 yards (85 on the final play, sadly..) and their QB had 1 INT and 1TD.
As I stated earlier, they ran with Tashard Choice for only 26 yards though. They tried to run, but the AI seems to call too many delays/draws and easily stopped wide tosses. The AI just doesn't seem to like to run behind a FB on straight up hat on a hat plays, and I think that always hurts the AI stats. I'll be adjusting the sliders to try to help it a bit for next game, as stated earlier. My own Jimmy Clausen went 14 for 23, 168 yards, no TDs, no INTs.I only rushed for 40, but NDs run blocking is nothing great. We had TONS of problems in the red zone. But- all was not lost.
Upon advancing to week two, the five-star corner I targeted in pre-season committed! Kenyon Kendrick, a 5 foor 11, five star corner out of Oak Grove South Carolina... signed on before I ever called him. That brings a smile...
I build around corners.
I'll be reporting more news from my dynasty in the next few days, and how the patch seems to be affecting it (or not). So far, thumbs up on what the pass does address, at least offline.
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