Sanderford: Heisman mode fun addition to NCAA game

Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez is no slouch in ?NCAA Football 13? with an 80s-class rating. But Martinez didn't stack up to Robert Griffin III, one of 16 Heisman Trophy winners who can be added to teams.

Published Saturday July 14, 2012

REVIEW

Sanderford: Heisman mode fun addition to NCAA game

If you're a Nebraska fan who wants to enjoy your ?NCAA Football 13? experience, learn from my mistake.

I started my first spin with this year's cut of the annual college football video game by plucking cover boy Robert Griffin III, Baylor's Heisman winner, and putting him behind center for the Huskers.

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Not a good idea.

RGIII's Nebraska squad gutted Southern Miss, UCLA and Arkansas State. I did have a little trouble adjusting to the game's revamped, more realistic passing system against Southern Miss. But, while learning, I still broke Nebraska's single-game school record for passing yards and overcame four early interceptions with seven scores.

Then RGIII went to UCLA, tossed four touchdowns and ran for 100 yards in a game that felt like a mid-1990s Husker snack. By the time Arkansas State rolled into town, I felt mean throwing four touchdown passes.

Then I clicked over to Dynasty mode and tried the digital Taylor Martinez. What you need to know is that T-Mart's digital doppelganger is no slouch. He's an 80s-class quarterback (out of a 100-point rating system) with quick feet and so-so accuracy.

Publisher EA Sports actually respects the NU signal-caller more than some fans. But after three straight Martinez incompletions that RGIII made with ease ? two of them drops ? I felt like a man who'd test driven a Ferrari then gone home in my Mazda 3.

With Griffin, one of 16 Heisman Trophy winners you can add to your favorite team as part of a new mode, Nebraska was an unstoppable force.

With Martinez, short passes were work and the long ones were crapshoots. Everything was work, except for improved zone read and option plays that better reward reading the lean of a defensive end or linebacker.

EA, with its Heisman push, is the latest company to add a nostalgic twist to a popular sports title. Its Heisman mode requires you to match or eclipse your player's real stats from his Heisman season in a current season against current opponents.

The payoff: If successful, you can then play as the superstar in the game's Road to Glory mode.

None of the game's 16 Heisman winners are Huskers ? a disappointment ? but you can still exact revenge for Tommie Frazier's Heisman slight by adding Eddie George to your least favorite team and running him into the ground. I did.

The best part of Heisman mode is taking an elite player and adding him to an already decent contending team. There will be some who prefer seeing what Charlie Ward could do at Texas-El Paso, but those folks are nuts.

The worst part about the mode is reverting to your favorite team's regular roster for Dynasty mode. I added Barry Sanders to Kansas State's roster, wanting the second coming of Darren Sproles, and it was fun. Then I tried the real, Top 15 K-State squad and lost.

The good news for Husker fans: The folks at EA still respect Nebraska's program as five-star and Top 25. In the Big Ten, though, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin are ranked higher.

If you dig deeper into player ratings, you'll see a talent gap against good foes. Nebraska, in its Top 20 ranking, punches above its talent class, much the same way Boise State does.

On roster ratings alone, the EA experts think most Top 25 teams have better raw material to work with. They might be right, but, on the field, you feel it.

Don't get cocky above the ?Varsity? difficulty, marching the Huskers into Tuscaloosa, Ala., or Los Angeles Coliseum.

I felt the talent gap against Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium. It's no fun tackling the digital Montee Ball.

You want to play the game with talent like LSU's or Michigan's. The drop-off from RGIII to Denard Robinson was a hiccup.

If simulated games mean anything, Nick Saban and Alabama could be in for a shock when the Maize and Blue come calling ? a team from up north with Southern football talent.

The toughest adjustment this season for regular NCAA Football players will be learning to pass again. Gone are the days of being able to just hit the thumbstick back then move a mobile quarterback until someone gets open.

Three-, five- and seven-step drops are in the game, and you can't successfully pass unless you get the timing down.

You'll have to watch for the right times to throw. Good receivers cut when their routes call for it. They also break toward the ball where thrown (a lesson Martinez wants his crew to learn).

On defense, don't expect to be able to swat down a pass without turning your cornerback's head.

EA made legitimate improvements to the systems that handle pass offense, pass defense and kickoff and punt returns. Kick returns, in particular, feel faster and better blocked.

You'll notice more-than-subtle changes to the animations for receivers, blockers and tacklers. And you'll have to pay attention if you want to run Nevada's pistol-heavy offense, Oregon's speed-spread attack or Nebraska's hybrid offense effectively.

End arounds and sweeps finally work well on the higher difficulty levels if you follow your blockers and make good, quick cuts. You can wear out your friends with the option if you practice. But fumbling a pitch is much, much easier and turnovers kill.

One warning to people who want to put Nebraska in the old I-formation and run Rex Burkhead until he pukes: Run left. The right side of Nebraska's digital offensive line is a work-in-progress.

In Dynasty mode, there have been notable tweaks to recruiting. The addition of more detailed scouting allows for finding diamonds in the rough. But there's also a lot more position-specific weight given to your performance in-season and how you run your offenses and defenses.

Every position is graded based on compatibility with recruits over time, the number and quality of players already on your roster at that position, as well as in-season and career stats.

You want to recruit a pro-style quarterback at Nebraska? You'd better throw a lot and have few underclassmen competitors. This changes the nature of signing players and is a strong step toward realism. It's also a bitter pill for people who think tradition in recruiting should be enough.

It's still an option to steal the Big East's automatic qualifier to the BCS and give it to the more deserving Mountain West, or to change conference affiliations. But if you're looking to start the post-BCS playoff early, you'll have to wait.

In terms of graphics and TV-style presentation, this year's game is an evolutionary step for the franchise. The studio updates are fun for a while, but will annoy people who just want to play.

Still, anyone who loves college football and likes the interactive versions will enjoy it. Just please avoid the disappointment of a step down. Play Dynasty first.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1135, aaron.sanderford@owh.com

Copyright ?2012 Omaha World-Herald?. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

Source: http://www.omaha.com/article/20120714/BIGRED/707149855

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