NCAA Football 10: What we know so far

(#18 Mike Mohammed. Apparently, he is now black.)

A few of you all know that I’m a huge NCAA Football fan. I’ve used the game to make grandiose predictions about the Cal football team.

Those who have my xbox live id can still see me “occasionally” clocking in an hour or two of NCAA 08 each week. I didn’t get NCAA 09 because I knew the Bears weren’t going to be ranked in the game. Yes, I’m that fickle.

But with Jahvid Best certain to be a beast in the game (no more James Montgomery as your starter), and the Bears as a likely solid team, I might give this year’s version a go.

Most avid fans of the NCAA series were aware of many of last year’s changes. Namely, online dynasties, roster sharing, user-customizable stadium music and sounds, more vibrant sides (the inclusion of cheerleaders), fields that degrade throughout the game, and the break animation engine which highlighted the studio’s emphasis on refining the running game.

This year however, EA seems to trying to tone down the cheap factor, namely in the passing game with its new “proxy target” camera system.

If you’ve played NCAA Football or Madden, you’ve either been the victim of, or perpetrated these plays at some point. The scenario is all too familiar. The QB hikes the ball, and instead of a 3 step, or 5 step drop, the QB goes into a Jake Plummer-esque 20 yard drop back, allowing his receivers to get down the field before heaving a hail mary for a 70 yard gain. Well no more, according to producer Greg Heddlesten.

"This year, what we did was a side feature where if you run back 20 yards, we actually turn off all of your passing icons," says Heddlesten. "We're trying to stop some of the cheesing going on, so if you're dropping back that far, you better remember which receiver you're throwing to because if you hit the wrong button, you might be throwing into triple coverage instead of throwing to the guy who is wide open.


"Sit there in the pocket, that's why there is a pocket," Heddlesten laughs. "Hopefully we'll be a deterrent to some of this cheese that goes on, and this will also help people become a little more instinctual as they'll have to learn more about when they guys are making their cuts and what buttons are assigned to each receiver instead of just relying on the icons."

(An example of the new camera system at the Coliseum)

In other words, the camera will be much more dynamic this time around, with the new “proxy targets” creating dynamic spots on the field that will be center the action between your QB and his intended receivers. So for example, let’s say Kevin Riley is bootlegging it to his right, but Tad Smith along with the other receivers are rolling left. In versions past, they would disappear off the screen if Riley was racing far past the right has line. However, in NCAA 10, the camera will for the most part, stick with Riley, while shifting at an angle to keeping his receivers in view.

Other small additions:

• Improved Super Sim System. The chances of SuperSim-ing a game because you’re short on time, only to find out you’ve lost Syd’Quan for the season to injury will be cut down. Thank Syd’God.

(Supersim'ing at Memorial Stadium. It's look a lot better btw.)

• New field goal nets and wind socks to help gauge the wind. A small addition, but it does help with the realism. I guess it never crossed my mind, that Cal would run out of footballs if the balls were continually landing in the stands with me averaging 77+ points a game.

• Camera Flashes. The bigger the game, the more camera flashes during the game. I’m assuming we’d see very few of these in the new Stanford stadium.

• Team Specific Bowl Endzones. The EA Blog seems to be selling this up as a big deal—but it kind of isn’t.

• QB Auto Pass. Yes, what it is what it sounds like. This is more of a coaching simulator, where you call the play, and let the CPU control what your team does. It’s more for the playcalling purists, aka. dorks.

• Improved Player Pursuit Angles. Before, if you got your speedster to the edge, it usually meant an automatic TD. The defenders have now been programmed to take better angles. Players like Jahvid will still probably get a huge chuck of yardage, but will likely need a shifty move down the field to take it all the way.

• Improved Pocket Protection. Hallelujah! The tackles will now play defensive ends wide behind the quarterback instead of playing them standing up. This will likely be critical now that QBs can’t just run back thirty yards before launching the rock.

Anyway, we’ll see who pops up on the cover in the next few weeks. I’m personally pulling for Pat White, but I’m getting the feeling Sanchez or Stafford will make their ways into NCAA Cover Glory. Or Hell? Check out my NCAA Football Cover Curse Feature if you don’t get it.

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Bear Bits: What Little News We Have

Sorry for the lack of updates. Actually, I’m not sorry because it really isn’t my fault, as there has been no new Cal football updates to report. I could have done a writeup on Cal’s production on 2nd and +3 yard situations on grass versus turf in the month of October on leap years, but I got lazy.

Still, there isn’t much out there yet, but expect some news to pick up with spring practice resuming this week. Until it picks right back up, enjoy these tidbits for now:

The SF Chronicle has a nice interview up with Cal’s Athletic Director Sandy Barbour, who I’ve said on numerous occasions is the man. *Note that I said THE man, not a man. We love you Sandy. Barbour discusses Cal’s facility and stadium upgrade situation.

Ted Miller continues to countdown the 30 best players in the Pac-10, and so far, the only player on the list is Tyson Alualu at 26. That’s fine and dandy and all, but I’m banking on Mr. Miller coming through and notching in at least 3 Cal players in the remaining 11. Best and Thompson for sure, and a wildcard in the final spot. Anger, Hagan, Mohammed, I don’t care as long as we get some solid shoutouts.


Former Cal DB Nnamdi Asomugha (pronounced AWESOME-WAH), is the league’s best and richest DB, and a class act all around. Enough said. Check out a story on him here.

Dennis Dodd from CBS Sports has Cal ranked #18 in the preseason which is about in line where a lot of media pundits have us pegged. I’m thinking the final preseason number will fall in the #15-#19 range, depending on how much Heisman hype Best receives, and how much hype Oregon continues to receive as a Top 10 team.


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Mailbag 3.20.09

Yeah I know, I haven’t done this in a while. But I kinda need questions to provide any answers. Here’s what I gots so far.

Will Belotti taking over AD at Oregon affect the balance of power for Pac-10 football?
-Wyatt, from Nebraska.

A Nebraskan asking about Pac-10 football? Color me surprised.

To answer your question Wyatt, I don’t how much of a “balance of power” will really shift. At this point, it’s still USC at the top, and everyone fighting for upper-tier status. I don’t think Chip Kelly’s appointment as the head coach really signifies that Oregon will now move into USC’s company, nor does it mean that they will be relegated to crunching elbows with the likes of Washington State any time soon.

I think Oregon will continue in the model that Bellotti has set, that is, typically being one of the top 3-4 teams in the conference year in and year out, while seriously challenging for a conference title every 3 or 4 years or so.

To be fair, I think it may be a few years before we can really honestly begin to answer this question.


With the graduating seniors gone, can you rate, by position groups, whether each group will be stronger or weaker in 2009?
-Abe from Georgia

Abe, it’s hard to say for two reasons. One, I haven’t had a chance to see enough of the younger players play extensively to really know what we have one hand. For example, OLB Mychal Kendricks is supposed to be incredibly talented, and even Worrell Williams has said that he might be the best linebacker to come out of Cal. This coming from a NFL prospect. But will Kendricks be ready to play at the Williams level by the fall? Who knows.

Secondly, a number of the units feature nearly all their returning starters, so it’s a bit of a coin toss to see if they’ll be better, the same, or worse.

But, I try not to disappoint, so if pressed, here are my very tentative and initial thoughts in terms of productivity.

Offense:
QB: Better
HB: Better
FB: Worse
OL: Same
WR: Better
TE: Same

Defense:
DL: Better
LB: Worse
CB: Same
Safety: Better

Okay, I take it back, I have no clue.

Who was the most successful cal alum in the NFL?
-Noah from az

Hmm…good question. Depends on how you define successful. Personal numbers? Super Bowl Rings? You’ve got some legends like Chuck Muncie who had a probowl NFL career before it ended at the hands of cocaine. You’ve also got some young studs in Aaron Rodgers (if he can sustain numbers and win close games), Marshawn Lynch (if he can stay out of Roger Goodell’s office), Desean Jackson (if he doesn’t go TO anytime soon) who have the chance to have some pretty storied careers. Not to mention some current Cal players like Nnamdi Asomugha and Ryan Longwell who are great characters but might also the best players at their position. Scott Fujita, Andrew Carter, Deltha O’Neal, Tully Banta-Cain have also done some impressive things.

At the end of the day, I think it’d be egregious not to say Tony Gonzalez though. As it stands now, Gonzalez will go down as arguably the greatest player to play his position. Gonzalez owns the NFL records for career receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns for a tight end, and has 10 Pro Bowl Selections in his career.

Plus, the man has literally saved lives.


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Cal's Pro Day

Cal held its annual Pro Day yesterday. It was an opportunity for all of Cal’s draft prospects to work out in front of 50 scouts representing 30 NFL teams in hopes of improving their draft pick status or even just landing an invitation to a fall camp.

Big Mack
The biggest star of the day was undoubtedly C Alex Mack. Most scouts had come just to see the top center prospect in the nation, and congregated excitedly around Mack as he performed his workouts. As centers are rarely taken in the first round, Mack had been considered a borderline first-round pick. However, Mack did everything to ensure that he would be an exception to that rule with a terrific workout.

Mack ran a 5.17 and a 5.23 in the 40-yard dash, also recording a 8’10” broad jump, a 28 1/2-inch vertical jump, a 4.75 short shuttle, a 7.31 3-cone drill, and 20 bench press repetitions of 225 pounds.

Mack then met individually with certain teams to break down film, and will have about 10 individual workouts with teams between now and the draft. I can’t see any reason at this point why Mack won’t be taken in the first round.

Longshore Impressive?
One of the workouts I was most curious about was Nate Longshore’s. Tedford has run some legendary pro day workouts for his QBs in the past, and I was interested in seeing how Longshore would do. Although I haven’t been able to find too many specific numbers or scouting reports, I do know that Longshore threw about 75 passes all over the field, and appeared to be satisfied with his workout.

"It went well," he said. "The weather cooperated, and it was a nice day. My body feels good. I feel like I'm throwing the ball like I should be."

I’m still looking for an official number for Longshore’s 40. It’s something I’ve always been curious about. This BleacherReport has an unofficial time of 4.7/5.1 which would actually be pretty impressive, if true. Doubtful, but then again the author’s hand time for Cameron Morrah wasn’t off by much.

While I still don’t expect Longshore to get drafted, I sincerely hope the guy at least gets a shot at a pro camp this summer. It’d be real good to see and he still has a lot of the physical tools that may make scouts willing to take an extra look at.

Linebackers Limited
It was a tough day for the linebackers, as all were limited in workouts due to injury or were injured during the workouts themselves.

Zack Follett bench registered 21 reps but couldn’t participate in any on-field workouts after tweaking his hamstring last week.


Anthony Felder clocked in a 4.76 40-yard dash and posted a 36-inch vertical leap. However, Felder pulled his hamstring running his 40, and was unable to complete his workout. It is particularly unfortunate for Felder who was considered a borderline draft pick going into the pro day, especially given his limited workouts at the combine due to hip flexor injury.

Worrell Williams ran a 4.75 40-yard dash, but strained his groin in the process.

Other Players
Tight end Cameron Morrah recorded 40 times of 4.61 and 4.63, impressive for the 242 pounder, and good enough to make him one of the top 3 fastest tight end prospects. One NFL Blog reports seeing that Morrah showed really good hands, but “is not seen as a proficient blocker.”

Rulon Davis showed up to observe but did not participate due to an ankle injury. He did say however that he was satisfied with the numbers he had already posted at the NFL combine.

FB Will Tau’fou’ou had an impressive workout, even catching some passes from Nate Longshore in some receiving drills. It’s pretty rare that fullbacks get drafted these days, but I would be very surprised to not see Tau’fou’ou get a shot in the pros and make an NFL camp this summer.

Jonathan Okanes reports that other players who worked out included:
“Wide receivers Sean Young and LaReylle Cunningham, defensive tackle Mika Kane and long snapper Nick Sundberg. There also were some former Cal players working out, such as quarterback Joe Ayoob, offensive lineman Erik Robertson, wide receiver Burl Toler, and placekicker Tom Schneider.”

Oh, and let me repeat that again. BOOYA BABY.

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Spring Practice Update: Riley and Tavecchio continue to shine

Quick Spring Ball update for you all. Apparently Jonathan Okanes from the Contra Costa Times appears to be the only media rep really providing updates on Spring practices, as I can’t seem to get accounts from other places without signing up for select Insider memberships. And I would do that, except, you know the economy sucks and all that stuff. Although, my Starbucks stock is the highest it’s been in four months, so who knows? Maybe I’ll splurge.

Anyway, the biggest news that Okanes emphasized was just how much QB Kevin Riley and K Giorgio Tavecchio continue to shine at practice.

Riley seems to be performing very well, drawing the praise of a number of coaches. In fact, Okanes only recalled one instance in which Riley misfired.

“Riley did make one mistake when it appeared he threw to the wrong area on a route by Jeremy Ross, but otherwise he was very good. He made a terrific throw over the middle and through traffic to tight end Anthony Miller, which prompted an animated reaction and pat on the rear from Jeff Tedford. Then he lofted a perfect long pass down the middle on a play action play, right in stride and softly into the hands of Nyan Boateng. That got some hoots and hollers out of running backs coach Ron Gould.”


Tavecchio on the other hand, continues to show off productive results from having hit the weight room this off season. He was consistently hitting 42-yard field goals, while also blasting balls from one sideline into the opposite stands.

“His work in the weight room is really evident,” Tedford said. “The ball is really jumping off his foot. He looks very good.”

“I’ve been lifting like crazy,” Tavecchio said. “I’ve been getting a lot stronger, just working on following through the ball, making good contact.”

We can’t get too ahead of ourselves with it only being the third practice of Spring ball. The team hasn’t even started working in full pads yet. But, it’s still very reassuring considering the QB and kicker positions were some of the biggest question marks entering into spring ball. It’s good to see some early results match up with the high regards and expectations many people have of these players.

One last note:
“Cornerback Darian Hagan and wide receiver Verran Tucker missed practice to concentrate on academics. Tedford said both players will periodically miss some spring sessions to hit the books.”

I hope this is completely a preemptive measure and in no way a reaction to poor grades that may ultimately make either player academically ineligible. Tedford and his coaching staff have done a wonderful job thus far with keeping his players’ academics prioritized fairly high, so let’s hope this trend continues.

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