I’m playing on the 360, and overall it’s good. I only have a couple of complaints:

• The kick-off returns are simply not realistic. I do like that you can actually get a return now, but opponents generally start around the 40, and I’ve taken several to the house with Arenas already. It used to be too tough to get a decent return, now it’s too easy.

• The opposing passing game is too damn good. My guys are always in position, and the coverage is good on the receivers, but nevertheless these guys are completely 75-80 percent of their passes, and these aren’t short throws either.

• It’s pretty tough to get a pass rush with the defensive linemen. It does happen occasionally, but it is quite rare. You really have to blitz if you want any semblance of consistent pressure. That was a concern during the demos of the game, and it’s apparently founded in the real deal, too.

On the offensive line, maybe it’s just a systems issue. On the 360, my OL tends to do quite well. The only time they really struggle is in playaction, but that’s a glitch NCAA has had for years and years now.

and my o-line is freakin awesome. I’ve got Smith, Davis, Caldwell, Johnson, and Tyler Love. If you move Caldwell from RT to C, his rating jumps from a 95 to a 98. He’s a beast at C. And Love is actually really quick for a 6’8” 280lbs guy. I can see where he’s gonna win some awards on my season.

The bit about Georgia being un-freaking-beatable is absolutely true. I’m playing on All-American mode and have had some pretty good games. Won 14-10 over Clemson (thanks to Kareem-a-wheat turning a pick-6 from 60 yards with a minute left in the 2nd quarter), then hammered Tulane 38-10 and Western Kentucky 41-9. Then it got tough against Arky, beating them 13-0. Then I got hammered by Georgia 35-14. It wasn’t that bad, but in the 2nd half, after going down 21-14 with less than a minute left in the third, JPW threw a pick on a slant route to Julio where he threw it so far behind Julio that the cornerback, even in a game, looked surprised that it came right to him. He returned that one, untouched, 80+ yards for a 28-14 lead, and then, midway through the 4th, when I was driving again, JP threw a curl pass long, allowing the safety to easily grab it and run 70 yards for the final margin. Ridiculous, my friend.

But, I did just finish beating Kentucky 38-0, so that made me feel better.

This game really does think we’re gonna be a force this year. Definitely higher player ratings than we’ve had in quite some time. If everything goes according to this game, we could easily be looking at a 9-3 season. I’m thinking, if we can beat Clemson, maybe 10-2 isn’t out of the question. Even with such a brutal road schedule, it’s still fair to assume that Tennessee will suck, LSU won’t be great because they don’t have a QB, and Auburn is at home. All winnable games. Even Georgia could be a win because of where the schedule fits them for us – with them coming off of two consecutive road trips to South Carolina and Arizona State, and then with a bye week after our game.

Man. I rambled quite a bit there. Anyway, the game is much more realistic on PS3 than it has been in quite some time. I’m not killing the WKUs and Tulanes of the world by 70 in this one. It’s actually a somewhat respectable score, which is cooler to me. No more toss sweeps going for 80 yards every play either.

Todd’s experience is making me not want to buy NCAA 09 and stick with my ‘08.

Where are you guys getting your rosters from? Did you manually enter them or is there somewhere I can download them? I am on PS3

RTR

I play on the 360 and some of the things I’ve encountered are:

-o-line is actually pretty good. I run off tackle with Grant a lot and average 6-8 yards per carry. with that being said, JP is constantly gettin sacked…but I don’t blame the line, I blame him. he’s horrible in 09, which is probably based on his performances from last year. in that case, EA Sports is right on. he is constantly throwing behind receivers and it’s a pick almost every time if you go deep, even in single coverage and ya receiver has a 5 yard step. I sub Star Jackson and run the option and it works to perfection. fuckin beautiful. it makes me smile for the future of Bama football.
-defense is ok, I guess. I don’t kno if I’m get into a slump though or the computer is ridiculously good…I play on All-American and I lost to Clemson 27-24 and it would’ve been more but I bitched out and dropped down to Varsity just to make it fair because they were unstoppable. I would be in perfect position, hit stick the player and bounce right off him…I’m an excellent tackler so it was retarded that they would shrug off my attempts like a pillow tap. I’ve been busy so I’m only at I’m just now about to play Arkansas so who knows what’ll happen…I’m tempted to start over because as much as I like to play realisticaly, taking an L from Clemson is not a good look…

Actually I love it but since I haven’t played NCAA on the 360 yet, I am so out of practice. I got my ass handed to me by Georgia. Naturally, I quit the game before it was over, and need to regroup and rethink my process.

I hate the fact that everytime you get in a third down, no matter WHAT DEFENSE YOU RUN, the computer comes up with this little over the middle short pass bullshit and magically you have no one anywhere near the receiver. 4-4, Dime, Nickel, 4-3, you are screwed.