Why I love the gameplay (so far):

[BuckeyesTHEGAME]

I use Ohio State. I play on AA, default sliders.

I played a scrimmage against Illinois in Champaign to see how the game played before I stared my dynasty.

Their crowd was quite rowdy and my quarterbacks (Zwick and Smith) were rattled as hell. My offense couldn't get going the first half, and it was 0-0 at halftime.

I decided I wanted to test the HFA so I quit and played the same two team in Columbus... I won 52-0 after jumping out to a 30-0 lead at halftime. I got the momentum early and never lost it.

Then I started my dynasty and I was playing UC at home in the first game. I jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead after EJ Underwood picked off a pass and took it 52 yards for the score.

For the next three quarters, my offense was awful.

UC kept shutting me down and playing tough, and at the end of the third, it was 10-10. In the fourth, I benched Zwick and my offense finally came to life. I ended up winning 24-10.

It was a very realistic game (other than the fact that the Guidugli - UC's QB - was 10-34 passing). I liked how it was hard.

After the game, I was told my 91 rated MLB (Schlegel) has people taking exams and doing homework for him (now I know why he dropped out of the USAFA) so I suspended him for three games. Now I have to go into Ralieh in two weeks without him.

I might actually lose a few games this year without feeling screwed.

I HATE the playbooks, but I'm loving the game itself.

[djwill13]

i believe we are all finding out, be it the hardway or the easyway, that homefield advantage is playing a much bigger role than any of us anticipated.

it's funny when your hometown fans get rowdy when your on offense and your screen starts shakin. the first time i saw that i was like, hold up i'm the home team ya'll quite down. lol

actually though, it helps to rattle the defense

[kbell97]

Yeah, the HFA has definately become a strategic part of the game, thats why I will not use audibles or hot routes anymore when I am away at a noisy stadium. I plaid my first game at the swamp , I audibled my receiver to a streak to curl, the screen even showed curl, of course the reciever couldn't hear, I throw to him and the runs a streak, INT...

[mad_bomber]

After the game, I was told my 91 rated MLB (Schlegel) has people taking exams and doing homework for him (now I know why he dropped out of the USAFA) so I suspended him for three games. Now I have to go into Ralieh in two weeks without him.

Now that's funny :D.

[BuckeyesTHEGAME]

It was recommended that I suspend him for the year, but screw that, he's too good. :D

[orlandoPace]

im surprised that the buckeyes linebackers werent rated even higher, i was a little disappointed about that, and mangold the center, wasnt he all big ten last year, only an 88 overall

[BuckeyesTHEGAME]

As much as I love them, OSU's LB's shouldn't be ranked higher. Schlegel was all Mountain West and AJ Hawk's a player, but the rest of them (Carpenter, Kerr, D'Andrea) are unproven. Although I did disagree with the way EA rated Carpenter's speed at a 78 when he's one of the fastest linebackers on the team.

[orlandoPace]

have you heard whether teddy ginn jr. is supposed to start at the second corner position, or are they using him as a nickelback?

in the game he is only rated 78 overall, but its because his awareness is only 57, i think he has a speed of 94 and acceleration of 97, he will definetly make team captain in my dynasty when hes a senior if he stays that long.

i guess the only linebacker rating i really disagree with is hawk, he should be a 99, hes a friggin beast

[BuckeyesTHEGAME]

I'd say Ginn will sub in and get about 15-30 plays on defense a game. Maybe towards the middle of the year he'll start, who knows? Tressel isn't scared to play freshmen, but the defensive backfield is pretty loaded.

Dustin Fox, EJ Underwood, Ashton Youboty, and Harlen Jacobs are all quality players. I think Ginn is better than all of them, but he's young. If those players struggle (especially Jacobs and Underwood), expect to see him soon.

I think Hawk's rating is a bit low so I upped him to a 94 OVR. I think that's about right... he's not terribly fast, his hands aren't amazing, and he still has room to grow... I think he was made to look better than he really is by playing behind Will Smith, Tim Anderson, and Darrion Scott for two seasons. Don't get me wrong, he's a great player, but he relies more on heart and desire than pure talent.

One person who is overrated for OSU is Ryan Hamby. There is NO WAY he should be a 90+ overall. He's a good player, but I'd say he should be a 86 at best. Also, Dustin Fox's speed is way too high. I lowered his speed to 95 (from 98).

I actually fiddled around quite a bit with OSU's roster. I took Guilford (HB#5) and Irizarry (TE#88) and switched their positions, changed their numbers, and edited them to be other players since they're not on the team anymore. Then I created Sirjo Welsh (as a safety) and Brandon Underwood (as a CB... he's EJ's brother). I wanted to create AJ Trapasso (punter) but I didn't have enough room. :(

Oh, and WR#29 should be changed to #82. That should be Devin Jordan... a bad *** frosh from last year's class.