EA Sports is no stranger to American football games, having produced the popular Madden series for decades. However, those games have always focused on replicating the sport at a professional level. With the return of collegiate competition inCollege Football 25, fans were eager to see how the two series would differentiate themselves mechanically.

One of the biggest changes is how College Football handles airing the ball out. The developers have implemented a new system, dubbed Revamped Passing, that allows players to take more control of their throw placement and trajectory than previous Maddens. The result is a more naturalistic skill curve, allowing veterans to place balls perfectly in receivers' hands.

How Does Revamped Passing Work?

As in Madden, youthrow to receiversbypressing their corresponding face button. When you do this,a meter will pop up above your quarterback’s head. This is College Football’s power gauge, andit dictates the accuracy, arc,andpower of your pass.

When you press a button to throw,the meter will fill up blue,andholding it too longwill cause it toturn yelloworeven red. The color denotes the accuracy of your throw, withblue safeoron-target, yellow being a bit less accurate,andred having the chance of going wild.

Throwing a pass with the power gauge in the reddoesn’t guarantee the ball won’t be caught, but it doesincrease the drop chance, and it won’t hit a receiver perfectly in stride.

The more you fill the power gauge, the stronger your throw. This meansyou can arc a deep floater into someone by tapping a buttonas fast as possible, orrifle it to them by holding it; just don’t hold too long, or you’ll turn the gauge red.

Madden features lob and bullet passes as well,but those are on predetermined trajectoriesyou have no control over. College Football is special becauseit allows you to fine-tune the exact throw arc you want, letting you place balls just out of a defender’s reach where only your team can catch them.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by the intricacies of College Football’s passing game or simply don’t like the changes the developers made,you’re able to revert to classic passing controls in the control settings.