New patch on the game’s release day, which happens to be tomorrow, which includes:

• Fixed an exploit where the QB could walk through the defense when the ball is snapped, with a guaranteed a gain of over 50 yards.
• Tuned QB fumbling on scrambles, resolving an issue where the QB would fumble every time if hit past the line of scrimmage.
• Improved deep zone coverage assignments, making it significantly more difficult to be beaten by the deep ball. In particular, deep zones have been improved against Streak routes.
• Tuned QB throwing out of a sack. Previously, it was too easy for a QB to throw the ball while being tackled; this has been toned down to be more accurate.
• Resolved an error with pursuit angles, which resulted in defenders over pursuing the ball carrier every play. The angle was fixed to be slightly more aggressive, creating a more accurate pursuit.
• Tuned the read and react assignment for linebackers, especially outside linebackers, before the handoff. This will make it more difficult to run the ball outside the Tackles.
• Fixed an issue with the CPU ball carrier being stuck in a forward lean animation. Also lowered the frequency of CPU ball carriers leaning.
• Resolved an issue where AI players in man coverage assignment would swerve when covering particular vertical routes, causing them to be beat repeatedly.
• Ball carriers will no longer go into a tightrope assignment when running along the sideline. This was causing the player’s speed to decrease to 70%.
• Resolved an issue that was causing tackles to not matchup in online games, potentially causing a crash in online games.
• Footsliding will no longer occur when the ball carrier has the ball in their left hand.
• Tuned CPU screen passes so they will get rid of the ball faster, resulting in less sacks.
• Resolved a crash that occurred if connection is lost before entering a game mode.

NCAA 11 will feature New Stadium tweaks and upgrades to give them a more realistic look and will add some new stadiums in all together. Click here for all pictures.

Pistol – The Pistol combines elements of the one back offense with those of the shotgun based spread offense.  The quarterback aligns 3 yards behind the center as opposed to the 5 to 6 yards he would align in a normal shotgun formation.  The halfback aligns directly behind the quarterback at a depth of 7 yards (See Figure 1).  With this setup the offense can run traditional downhill running plays and play action passes that are synonymous with the I formation and it gives the quarterback the benefit of being in the shotgun for regular passing plays.  This offense was originated by the current head coach at Nevada and has been a staple of their program for several years now.

Over the past few years several teams have used the Pistol as part of their offensive package as it is becoming more and more prevalent in the college game today.  Some of these teams include Ohio State, Louisiana State, Florida State, UCLA, Illinois, Baylor and the last two National Champions Florida and Alabama.  However there are only three teams that use it extensively which includes Indiana, Ohio University and of course the Nevada Wolfpack.

Team	Offensive Style	No Huddle
Indiana	Pistol	No
Nevada	Pistol	No
Ohio	Pistol	No

Because of the reasons listed above and if you have the right personnel, the Pistol is the ultimate dual threat offense when utilized correctly.  Over the past few seasons the Nevada Wolfpack has done just that.  With quarterbacks that are able to both run and pass effectively and a stable of excellent running backs, the Wolfpack have put up some astounding numbers on offense (see chart below).  Over the past two seasons the Wolfpack has averaged over 500 yards per game of total offense while leading the nation during the 2009 season with an absurd average of 344.9 rushing yards per game.  This average was almost 50 yards more than the second highest rushing team.   They also became the first team in NCAA history to have three 1000-yd rushers.

Season	Total Yds Per Game	Rush Yds Per Game	Pass Yds Per Game	Avg. Points Per Game
2009	505.6	344.9	168.9	38.2
2008	508.5	277.8	242.1	37.6
2007	480.0	214.1	265.9	33.5
2006	364.0	175.8	188.3	32.6
2005	465.6	199.5	266.1	34.2
2004	435.7	154.1	281.6	29.7

Signature Play:   Read Option – A big part of Nevada’s success with the running game in 2009 came via the Read Option play which we discussed previously in the Spread Offense blog.   The read option play itself is most synonymous with the spread offense but it can also be run just as effectively from the Pistol formation.  The read option play from the Pistol in theory works the same as it does from the shotgun.  The difference between the two is obviously the alignment of the quarterback and halfback.  With the halfback being aligned directly behind the quarterback this meant that we needed to add read option handoff animations specifically for the Pistol formation.

The No Huddle offense has become an instrumental part of the college game as many teams base their entire offensive strategy around controlling the tempo.  Instead of trotting back to the huddle after a play is over, teams will simply line up in a formation and either snap it quickly to catch the defense off guard, or switch to a new play based on what the defense is showing them.

One of the benefits of using a No Huddle attack is that a team has the opportunity to run more plays during a game, since they are using less time in between plays.  The No Huddle strategy is just one of the ways that you can try and run your offense in NCAA Football 11.

In NCAA Football 11, you will have the opportunity to run a No Huddle offense at any point after a normal play is over where there is not a change of possession, time out, penalty, injury, or any other stoppage of play.   At the end of a play, you’ll have about 4 seconds to press the “No Huddle” option.  This will redirect your players to skip the huddle and get set in their previous formation positions.  As they’re lining up, a modified play call screen will appear so you can call a new play.  From here you will even be able to change your formation.  However, you won’t be able to sub or use packages at this point.  The same is true for the defense as they will be stuck in the personnel that they currently have on the field.  With that in mind, it will be important for you to call formations and plays that are best suited for your current personnel package.  For example, if you start a drive and the first play you call is from a 5WR personnel package, you will probably want to stick to mostly 4 and 5 WR sets when running No Huddle.  If you were to no huddle and switch to a base I-Formation with this personnel package, you would have receivers playing positions they are not accustomed to (TE/FB/HB).  This will make things more difficult, especially if the receivers are trying to block inside against bigger defenders.

List of changes since the release of NCAA 11 Demo from the EA Sports Blog site.

What’s Been Done Since the Demo?

The following is a list of the most common issues reported on the demo that will not occur in the retail game:

• On Xbox 360, the Reese’s Perfect Play of the Game will not always be the final play. As some of you have already speculated, we temporarily save off highlights to the hard drive during the game so you can view them later, however this is not something we are able to do in the demo.

• The CPU team will now decline penalties.

• Front four defensive linemen will generate a better pass rush. There are many contributing factors to this that have been tweaked. CPU defensive linemen will rush the pass more aggressively and will not get thrown to the ground as often when “losing” to the blocker. Defensive ends will also do a better job of getting off their blocks at more appropriate angles to help contain a scrambling quarterback. Additionally, you can always tune the pass rush to your liking using the AI sliders if you still feel it is lacking (or overpowered) in the final product.

• A major issue was fixed where the sound would cut out and eventually cause the game to freeze.

• Pass defense has been greatly improved, both in man and zone coverage assignments. They will do a better job defending crosses, slants, and the flats in man coverage. Also, deep zone assignments have been improved to defend against the deep pass. Like the pass rush, you can further tune this to your liking using AI sliders.

• Improved lead blocking by pulling linemen and fullbacks on tosses and sweeps.

• Fixed an issue where place kickers were getting subbed out for (usually) quarterbacks on kicks.

• Fixed issue where the commentary would occasionally sound garbled on Xbox 360.

• Dual Stick Ballcarrier Control has been improved, making R-Stick moves look and feel more responsive. Also made some visual improvements with turning and leaning animations.

• Fixed some issues that caused receivers to drop catches they should have made. Again, this is also something that can be tuned further using AI Sliders.

• Quarterbacks will no longer stutter when scrambling and crossing the line of scrimmage.

• Fixed several situations where the wrong team was celebrating after a big play.

• Playcall will not suggest going for a 2 point conversion when it shouldn’t.

• In general, we made defenders a little better at getting off blocks. This helps in defending against outside runs and quarterback scrambles as mentioned before.

• Fixed several camera issues on kickoffs, including the one where the camera would not follow the ball on the ground.

• Fixed a broken play where the quarterback would get stuck in his handoff animation and just run backwards away from the line of scrimmage.

• Fixed FB Fake HB Toss play so the quarterback will not toss the ball behind the running back.

• Improved head tracking for ball carriers, receivers and defenders.

• Fixed some issues with auto replay cameras where it was too low to the ground and was not focusing on the correct targets.

• More general tuning was done on option plays to make them run smoother.

• Fixed an issue with playcall where it was not remembering the last formation you called.

• Fixed an issue where receivers couldn’t make a tackle quickly after an interception.

• Removed an exploit that would allow for “Rocket Catches”.

• Fixed an issue where the CPU Ballcarrier would continue to cover the ball during long runs, even if no defenders were near.

• Defenders will now be able to press receivers when they are in preplay motion.

• Fixed an issue where defenders would turn the wrong way on curl routes.

• Fixed an issue where defenders in man coverage would make a bad direction change after pressing the receiver.

• Tuned some out-routes out of the backfield that were too effective against man coverage.

• Fixed an issue where linebackers would stutter in pre-play and would get stuck.

• Fixed some issues with players bumping into each other during preplay adjustments.

• Fixed some issues where defenders would get caught offsides a lot against the no huddle.

• Fixed the issue causing a delayed whistle in post play.

• Fixed an exploit that disables bump and run after a play is flipped, causing coverage to go back to normal.

• Fixed an exploit that allowed you to consistently recover onside kicks.

• Adjusted CPU AI for kick returns so that they will not attempt to catch kickoffs that are headed out of bound.

• Improved CPU clock management so they will call a timeouts properly to set up a late field goal.

• Fixed an issue where the Read Option would not be executed properly from the hash marks.

• Numerous Commentary Fixes and Additions.

• Various other tweaks and tuning to improve general gameplay.

http://ncaagaming.com

Tim Tebow is to grace the cover of NCAA 2011.  Hopefully they get a better picture of him than what I remember….

New blog from EA Sport’s NCAA team about the authenticity, core experience, and innovation they plan to focus on for the NCAA gaming experience. Click Here for the full blog.