Evaluation Time for NCAA 08 Football by EA Sports .....sec sports report

By Jay Holgate
SEC Sports Report


Atlanta, GA--At first look, the fine people at EA Sports have hit a home run. The NCAA 08 football is tougher. Defenses don't give up the long passes as easy and quarterbacks have to make quicker decisions. Tougher is better.

In the 07 version, I basically could dominate any SEC team with another SEC team. Some games were closer than others but basically I could win without a complete intensified effort. In the 08 version, I played three times and lost twice. Granted, I lost to the fine folks from Athens and Louisiana, but they smoked me. LSU had me so dominated by half time in one game, I was forced to hit re-start. That has never happened before.

Why the game is more exciting. It's intense. Running backs actually break tackes which can result in 85 yard runs. Interceptions and fumbles seem more frequent which definitely changes the dynamics of the game. The defense is hard to beat with the deep throws. All this being said, it is tougher to win which makes it more fun.

Last night, I had a rare moment. My wife had left to go to a meeting and the only thing standing between myself and being the coach of an SEC football team was a 4 year old little boy named Jackson. Jackson had not had a nap for the day and had already had his bath so things were lining up in my favor. Fortunately, he seemed pretty excited about playing football on the big screen tv.

So what did I do? I got out the NCAA 08 game, moved his controller to the middle area, and the two of us lit up the skies of Baton Rouge. We had to see if LSU was as good as they say they are. We played as South Carolina and it was tough. Can't run up the middle and unless someone is in single coverage, USC can't catch it because the LSU players hit the receivers so hard. After a loss by three touchdowns, it was time to put Jackson down. He needed the rest, I needed my game face on.

Re-Match Time. My son was in his room asleep, my wife was out of the house. A rare moment was upon me. It's time to play some Xbox NCAA football. LSU won the toss and took the ball first. Since I had already been burned by their running back breaking tackles in game 1, I moved to a different strategy. Stop blitzing, play containment, stop the big plays. It worked, I got an early interception. The LSU defense is brutal, so nothing is easy. LSU made me work for it, but I scored. By halftime, the score was 21-14 in my favor.

Then my world changed. My wife came home. She wanted to talk about her meeting. I was listening as best I could but I had a great game going on and it's hard to switch gears like that. After she finished, I went back to my game and she asked me the million dollar question.

"Are you going to be playing game much longer?" I answered, "it's already half time." In my mind I'm thinking, I have so few moments to play XBOX games that to ask me when I will be done is a little insulting. Plus I had a lead on LSU and you can't end a game on that note. So I took the higher ground. I said nothing. The less I say, the better everybody gets along. The second half was brutal with probably 6 turnovers total. I finished out the game with a victory and it felt good. After the game, I had to stretch, so I wouldn't be sore the next day. All the features look like awesome stuff, but for me, it will have to wait until my wife goes out again.

Jay Holgate is an analyst and sports writer for http://www.secsportsreport.com
Just SEC Sports!