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After many years absent, college football returned to the world of sports video games withEA Sports College Football 25. It aims to capture everything that makes Saturdays so special, including the pageantry and atmosphere that many have fallen in love with. The game includes 134 collegiate programs, with special care being taken to honor all their unique traditions.
Despite largely attempting to emulate the same sport, your skills from Madden won’t immediately translate over to College Football; it has brand-new mechanics and systems that affect the on-field action. Keep these tips in mind when you start each game, and you’ll be blowing out your opponents in no time.
Master Revamped Passing
College Football 25 hasmade major changes to the passing game. The new control scheme,dubbed Revamped Passing,allows unrivaled control of your passes, letting youfine-tune the trajectory of your throwsto slip them past defenders.
To pass to a receiver,press the button that appears above their head. This will bring up the power gauge, where you candictate the arc and power of a throwbased on how long you hold the button.Just don’t hold a button too long, or you’ll launch an inaccurate pass.
Used properly, you’ll be slicing up secondaries and racking up impressive yardage. If you don’t like the new system,you may revert to more traditional controlsin the settings menu.
Pay Attention To Wear And Tear
Football will leave your body bruised, if not outright injured, and the developers at EA wanted this to be represented when you play College Football. Anew system called Wear and Tearhas been integrated into the game,tracking the blows every player takeson each down.
Should a player take too much punishment,their stats will be impacted, causing their effectiveness to decline andleaving them more prone to injury. You cansee which attributes and parts of the body have been affectedby highlighting a player on the depth chart in the Coaching menu.
Adjust Your Auto-Sub Settings
With Wear and Tear being a focal point for College Football’s gameplay, you’ll want tomake sure that you’re subbing players in and outto keep fresh bodies on the field.
You canuse the Auto-Subs menu to adjust how often you want players to be removed and put in, even adjusting by position so that certain groups are replaced more or less frequently.
You canperform substitutions manuallyin the Coaching menu as well. However,you’ll be replacing just one player at a time.
Use Your Pre-Snap Menus
As with many sports sims, College Football throws a lot of information at you constantly. Thankfully, yourpre-snap menus can break some of it downand make it easier to understand.
By holding the left trigger before the snap,you’ll be shown a variety of options you may accessusing the left and right Sticks.
Here, you canquickly glance at stats like Composure, Wear and Tear andsee what abilities every player has.
Study Abilities
Madden 24 grants the best players in the game Superstar status and X-Factors, but College Football tries something a bit different.The best athletes in the game are given physical and mental abilities, passively influencing their traits on the field.Go to the Abilities menu to learn what each of them doso you understand how they impact on-field gameplay.
Afterward,spend some time on your favorite team’s depth chart. Here you cansee what abilities your best players have, allowing you to gameplan around your stars.
Play Mini-Games
Mini-games offer bite-size fun as you attempt to rack up a new high score. They might seem like a small distraction at first, butthey can be incredibly usefulin the long run,helping you hone your skillson both sides of the ball.
There are drills forpassing, rushing, catching, tackling, kicking, and more. If you struggle with any of these skills,find a mini-game that lets you practiceso you’re ready for more intense competition.
Be Aware Of Stadium Pulse
The atmosphere of college football is second to none, but what’s fun for the spectators can make the players' lives a living nightmare. In order to emulate the deafening noise of stadiums and how it can disrupt opposing offenses,the developers implemented asystem called Stadium Pulse. Your controller will vibrate, the screen will shake, andyour play art will be messed up.
When the crowd gets rowdy,do not panic; you can quiet them down by playing well.Make simple plays to get first downs, and the crowd will naturally quiet down.
Utilize The Option
Many teams in College Football 25 have the option in their playbook. This refers to a play wherethe quarterback can hand the ball off to a running back, or opt to do something elselike run it himself or pass to an open receiver.
To hand the ball off to your back,hike the ball as normal. If you want the quarterback to keep it and run,hold X on PlayStation or B on Xbox. You can also pass on a run-pass option play bythrowing to a receiver before the ball is handed to the running back. These playsoffer a degree of flexibility, andutilizing them at the proper time can vex defenses.
Change Your Coin Toss Preferences
The coin flip that happens before every football game doesn’t actually occur onscreen, butyou can still decide what you’d like your team to do should you win the toss.
This option is hidden in the settings menus underGame Options, but once you find it,you can decide whether you want the ball firstto fit your strategy during every game.
Don’t Play On Heisman
Whatever you do,do not play on Heisman difficulty. The opposition istruly crushing; you won’t be able to get any momentum on offense and your defense will bleed points.
It’s possible that one day you’ll be able to play at that level, but if you’re just starting,humble yourselfand try Varsity or All-American first.
