USC 27 Ohio State 13

Received a few emails from some, um, "enthusiastic" NCAA fans. I'll never get why so many people take this stuff personally. If I had slapped your sister and kicked your dog, I'd understand the venom. But people -- get a grip. This is one guy talking about a very small sample. This is major grain of salt/your mileage may vary stuff.

I think I need to make some things very clear before we continue. This isn't a review of the game. That's going to take a while. The INT issue that I am talking about has been a problem in NCAA for a while now, so when I see the CPU throw so many picks in bunches, it simply raises red flags. I have seen this story before. Was the AA stuff a fluke? Was it because I was using OSU? I have no idea. Could be. But when the #1 issue from 08 rears its head 1 hour out of the case, it's a concern.

Now, onto the Heisman game.

Now, this might have been a fluke, too. Just like the 6 picks I had on AA lvl in 3 quarters.

But the USC game was one of the very best NCAA experiences I have *ever* had. And I lost 27-13.

Now, the sliders I used were WAY favored toward USC (100 QB ACC...) but the flow, and the playcalling, and the feel of the game was spot on awesome. The INT I mentioned earlier was the only one for the game. Well, for USC at least. Boeckman wasn't so lucky. Was that due to Heisman or the 100 ACC? Again, I have no idea; again -- sample is too small.

But we now know one thing -- it IS possible to play a game without the CPU handing it over to the human player via turnovers. And that's important. I think Sanchez ended up like 22/30 for the game, and only one pass should have been picked but wasn't.

Now, there remain a few concerns:

--Punt and kick coverage need major help. I still have WAY too much open field on punt returns, as does the CPU. The coverage is just crap. Not sure what to do about that.

--I saw more than one weird open field AI glitch. The score in reality SHOULD have been 34-13 but the AI juked in the open field when I was running 5 yards behind the WR and it allowed me to catch him. Kinda odd.

I have never lost a game and felt so happy afterward.

Of course a lot more games need to be played, but just knowing that the AI CAN play a competent game is a big step in the right direction.

Need to take a break and put my daughter to bed, but I'll get one more game in tonight if possible.