Good morning friends, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

I had a uh, slightly different editorial schedule planned for the next few days, but I got a text around 8:00 PM on Friday night that changed everything. “You want a download code for the college football game?”

Why yes. Yes I did.

I’ve logged a good 14 hours or so in the game so far, which is not nearly enough to master anything, take Sam Houston State to the College Football Playoff, shatter every record at Ohio State in a RTG mode, or anything else. I don’t even think it’s enough time to for me to write a proper review….that will come later this week.

But it is enough time for me to share a few high level thoughts. So for those of you refreshing your social media feeds every six seconds for more gameplay footage, let me share a few things I’ve learned and noticed from my weekend on the sticks:

There’s going to be a learning curve, and that’s okay

The very first thing I did was fire up a Play Now mode. When I played a very early beta build of the game back in May, I never actually finished an entire game, because I wanted to see as many stadiums and uniforms as possible. So I figured this time, I’d sit down and finally play an entire game…so I could see the halftime presentation, better understand how Wear and Tear worked, the works.

Since the Playstation is currently in our family living room, and my wife and kids were curious, I fired up the two teams that would be most familiar to everybody: my Ohio State Buckeyes, and my wife’s alma mater, BYU.

Anyway, here’s the final score of my very first game. Varsity difficulty, five minute quarters.

Very normal game. I am very good at video games.

Why was this score so insane? Well, BYU’s digital Gerry Bohanon threw two pick sixes in the first quarter. I gave up a kickoff return for a score. I forced a fumble inside the ten. And nobody, but especially me, had any idea how to tackle in the secondary. Seven yard catches routinely became 40-yard catches. If I wasn’t picking the ball off, it was going to be a big play for the offense.

Now, I can promise you, two days later, I’m not nearly this bad at defense. But I’m still not to anywhere I’d consider to be good. One of the new gameplay mechanics that EA is very proud of is a Switch Stick system that allows users to more easily switch between defenders in the secondary, to help users make better plays on balls. I’ve seen Youtubers use this system to great effect so far. I hope to eventually get there. But for my first few games, I found myself breaking stride whenever I switched, so I’d find myself four yards away from the ball, leading to big play after big play.

Now, is this partly because I uniquely stink at video games? Yes, unquestionably. You are not reading this newsletter because I am a #pro #gamer. But I’d encourage folks to set the expectation that they’re probably not going to be amazing the first time they hop back on the sticks. Many systems, from downfield passing to option pitches, are different compared to NCAA 14. Give yourself a break and remember, it’s okay to suck for those first few games.

In fact, because of this, a good place to start your journey is with Ultimate Team. No, seriously.

I realize that in certain corners of the internet, this is an outright heretical opinion. I am not necessarily recommending anybody spend large swaths of time in Ultimate Team (the card-collecting mode where one assembles a roster of players from current and former college stars), and I’m absolutely not recommending anybody spend money on packs.

But the game does have a short series of Ultimate Team challenges specifically built around different playbook styles. For reasons that I’ll get to more in a second, playbooks and roster makeup matters in this game, and spending an hour on Ultimate Team may help new players better understand how the Veer and Shoot might play differently than a Pistol-centered offense, versus the Air Raid. It’s also a chance to practice some specific gameplay mechanics (how to use certain juke or spin moves, how to layer the football while passing, etc) in a faster setting than Play Now.

Don’t be afraid to spend a little time here, even if you never touch the mode again. It might make your first Dynasty or RTG run a little easier.

The presentation isn’t perfect. But it is really, really good

So much of what makes college football a unique and treasured institution is the traditions, pageantry and atmosphere of all 130+ institutions. A game at Texas is going to look and feel very different from a game at Oregon, or Jacksonville State, or Wyoming. Everybody knows the specific sights, sounds and symbols that make their school, you know, theirs.

I’ve written extensively about how EA went through great pains to try and digitally recreate as much of that pageantry as possible. And for the most part, my first impression that they absolutely succeeded. I haven’t seen anywhere close to every stadium yet, but I’ve seen enough of the places where I’ve covered games to know that there was a great deal of attention paid to small details, like where the band sits, what the tunnel walk looks like, and what songs the marching band plays. Part of why I want to keep playing the game is just to experience as many of these settings as possible!

But eagle-eyed readers have been DMing me for a few days, pointing out errors or mistakes with certain stadiums, uniforms, endzone layouts, etc. I’ve caught a couple myself. I also think there aren’t as many unifrom options in the game compared to the version I played earlier in the summer. I haven’t seen any mistakes that I think are overwhelmingly immersion-breaking, (although I understand some fans might feel differently), but if it is your favorite team, you’ll probably notice one or two. I actually spent some time this weekend connecting some panicked coaches, administrators and fans to folks on the development team.

What I’d tell folks is that what you will see today (and Friday) is not the absolute final product. Some mistakes can and will be fixed. Some could be fixed before the first real game of the season, some might take longer. Some things probably won’t get fixed this season (like, for example, the marching band uniforms. I would not expect a patch to bring them closer to real life current uniforms).

I have personally found the atmosphere, sights, sounds and broadcast presentation to be, on the balance, a major positive. But it isn’t flawless. I think that’s okay, but I’d want to prepare anybody who maybe had different expectations.

I’ve enjoyed RTG so far, even though it’s a different experience than in previous years

Me and the girls sat down to design my first Road to Glory character. They wanted to take advantage of the player creation system to make somebody that looked, in their eyes, a little ridiculous. So I’d like you to meet our first Road to Glory candidate, a five-star running back recruit from Warwick, Rhode Island. Chuck Steak.

I thought Chuck Steak was one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 names from Space Mutiny, but I guess I misremembered. Maybe I’ll use Blast Hardcheese or Big McLargehuge for my next playthrough.

Based on the answers I gave during the recruiting process for Mr.Steak, we ended up at Stanford, a team that I thought would a) give me a path to immediate playing time and b) give me a chance to test out some of the time management mechanics in the RTG mode.

I’m about eight weeks into my freshman season. I haven’t been able to build a completely overpowered dynamo, and I’m not sure anybody really can that quickly….my guy started college as a 79 overall, and he’s currently an 81. He missed most of his games against historic Stanford ACC rivals Syracuse and Clemson due to leg injuries, injuries that probably happened because I spent too much time studying instead of doing rehab. Because I’m at Stanford.

And because I’m at Stanford, there are going to be plays where we try to run inside zone, and I’m immediately tackled by three Notre Dame linemen before I can even get to the line of scrimmage. That’s football, baby.

It’s not a mode, (at least, at launch, in the hands of casual dads like me) where one can instantly live out the dream of rushing for 2,000 yards a game and making Barry Sanders look like a tuba player. It’s build on a realistic progression and realistic time management of a college athlete.

I skipped a night class to go to a party…which helped my NIL marketability. That could happen! And then I blew off training to hit my chemistry books, which is why I got exactly three carries against the Clemon Tigers. That could probably happen too.

Anyway, my Stanford team is 6-1 right now, and I’m averaging a neat 90 or so yards a game between rushing and receiving yards. Will Chuck Steak stay at Stanford and build them into a powerhouse again? Will I hit the portal and try to go somewhere with easier academics, or better linemen, or who doesn’t have to play Notre Dame? Who knows!

Don’t get overwhelmed….but also don’t be afraid to learn a little football

I’m a casual video game enjoyer, and I’m hardly a walking chalkboad when it comes to the Xs and Os of college football. While I regularly played Dynasty and other modes in previous games, I freely admitted that I did not possess the field vision to move to by 4th checkdown before getting sacked. I simmed half of my defensive possessions. I was not getting in the lab, pracitcing my stick skills, chaining together open field evasion manuevers.

You can still play this game that way. You can turn down the difficulty level, as well as turn off several of the new gameplay mechanics. I don’t love the new kicking system, personally, so I switched it back after doinking an extra point or two. If you don’t want to think about Wear and Tear, or want the old passing system back, you can do that.

But underneath all the mascot animations and old uniforms and fight songs is a pretty sophisticated football simulator, one that wants you to engage with the game on a deeper level. You will have a better game experience if you think just a little big harder about blocking schemes, or about how to play complementary football, or about how attack a particular linebacker. You will move the football better if you don’t just pick one of the recommended plays the AI picked for you.

I have already seen better results as i’ve tried to get a little more hands-on with my strategy, my pre-snap motion, my adjustments at the line of scrimmage, and how I try to manage and attack specific mismatches. You don’t have to do this, but my early experience shows a game that want you to dip your toes into that world, and is prepared to reward you for doing so.

It might make you a more informed fan leading into the actual college football season.

Which as far as I’m concerned, is just the excuse you need to play even more video games. You’re welcome.

If video games aren’t your thing, hang in there, I won’t be writing about them forever (or for tomorrow, for example). If they are your thing, well, good news…there’s a bit more content coming before I go on vacation.