seanmac
08-03-2004, 01:40 AM
After having figured out that my running problems on ESPN were not the game itself but rather how I was approaching running, I thought I would whip out NCAA and test to see if the major problem in that game was also my fault.
What do you know. It was. The short game drops that seem to plague everyone actually have very little to do with the game being broken and everything to do with where people are throwing the ball. Basically, the combination of touch and leading goes a long, long way towards eliminating drops. For instance, a lot of people are finding that if you throw a crossing route where the receiver has made it past the quarterback it is almost always a drop. The reason why? Because the qb almost always ends up throwing the ball to the receivers back shoulder. If you consciously lead the receiver, you can complete that route fairly often (and leading as he breaks across the field is money unless the defender jars the ball loose). Taking the same principle and applying it to a variety of short and intermediate routes led to the realization that the big problem is not that the passing game is broken but that a lot of people aren't properly leading their receivers.
Does that mean everything is great? No. The DB AI is still wonky, and they will still make Michael Jordon jumps up in the air to bat balls to themselves (but this can be alleviated by putting air under the ball). I've been averaging 50-55% completions, and my pass game is finally looking like something I can actually use to play ball control.
What do you know. It was. The short game drops that seem to plague everyone actually have very little to do with the game being broken and everything to do with where people are throwing the ball. Basically, the combination of touch and leading goes a long, long way towards eliminating drops. For instance, a lot of people are finding that if you throw a crossing route where the receiver has made it past the quarterback it is almost always a drop. The reason why? Because the qb almost always ends up throwing the ball to the receivers back shoulder. If you consciously lead the receiver, you can complete that route fairly often (and leading as he breaks across the field is money unless the defender jars the ball loose). Taking the same principle and applying it to a variety of short and intermediate routes led to the realization that the big problem is not that the passing game is broken but that a lot of people aren't properly leading their receivers.
Does that mean everything is great? No. The DB AI is still wonky, and they will still make Michael Jordon jumps up in the air to bat balls to themselves (but this can be alleviated by putting air under the ball). I've been averaging 50-55% completions, and my pass game is finally looking like something I can actually use to play ball control.