This is the best, wild ride.
We’re obsessed with College Football 25. Like, actually obsessed. Since the game’s early release we’ve sunk dozens of hours collectively into the sports’ glorious return to gaming, and with it had some incredible moments along the way. From incredible in-game heroics, so astonishing events in recruiting or player development — honestly, we just want to talk about College Football 25 more.
Here are the best things we’ve done, in no particular order.
I broke Army
Haters will say this is because it was pouring rain at West Point, but as far as I’m concerned if you’re a member of the armed forces and afraid of a little weather you’re in the wrong business.
I’m doing my dynasty as East Carolina, entirely because my wife got her PhD there and we lived in Greenville, NC for six years. Also purple and gold are cool colors, and pirates are neat.
Anyway, so it’s a SLOG starting with a 1.5 star prestige school like ECU. The roster isn’t fantastic, recruiting has been difficult, but dammit I’m going to make them a powerhouse. When I was playing this week against 2-4 Army I knew I had a good shot of beating them, but instead I broke the spirits of the United States Army.
I noticed as soon as I hit the fourth quarter that the stands were emptying. All that was left was a few loyal fans in their rain slickers. The entire end zone stand was empty and the place was dead quiet. No more home field advantage. No more crowd noise. Just my team running out the clock and making army a laughing stock.
A sign of personal growth
Unlike my friends James and JP, I have yet to dive into the other elements of the game and have been living exclusively in the dynasty world.
With, as I have mentioned previously, Navy.
Starting out with Navy has been tough sledding. Recruiting is hard — although there could be some user error there — and the roster is not exactly filled with talent and depth.
Still, the squad got out to a strong start this season, winning our first six games. National attention was slow to follow, and finally Navy cracked into the “Others receiving votes” category of the various Top 25 polls.
Right ahead of our annual clash with Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium.
The Irish came in as the #2 team in the country, but we had them on the ropes. With time winding down in the fourth quarter, we took a 24-20 lead when we split the safeties on a double-post concept against Cover 2, hitting the inside receiver over the middle for the go-ahead touchdown.
One more stop and a massive upset was in store for the lads.
Notre Dame got out to midfield, but with under 30 seconds left they faced a 3rd and long. They were out of timeouts, and we just needed not to give up the big play. I called for a two-deep coverage, looking to keep everything in front of me, but I wanted to send one of the linebackers on a blitz to try and force the QB off his spot. Pre-snap I switched to that linebacker, because let’s face it, the less I have to do at the moment, the better.
Imagine my surprise when one of the half-field safeties started screaming downhill on a blitz of his own. That’s when I realized A: I had switched to a safety instead and B: Riley Leonard was throwing a seam route right to the spot I vacated.
Touchdown, Notre Dame. Final score 27-24, Irish.
I consider it a matter of great personal growth that I simply moved on from the loss. The version of me that was playing NCAA 14? That version of me would have done something much, much different.
The recruiting war
I am absolutely obsessed with recruiting. It might actually be my favorite part of running a dynasty. Scouting players to uncover gems and reveal busts, managing my recruiting hours, and puzzling it all together is so rewarding when things go right.
But sometimes they also go wrong.
I sank a stupid amount of energy into Armond Battle, a three-star elusive running back I had my eye on. His acceleration and speed stats were such that I knew I could turn him into a powerhouse. The only problem was Virginia Tech, who had more prestige than I did and were really putting the hard sell on my guy.
Week after week I watched as the Hokies rose up his list of schools, where my impact waned. Finally I had to accept that they had pull I didn’t, but then I noticed something …
Virginia Tech had spent so much time trying to get Battle that they barely were even trying to recruit Eric Folkerts, a three-star gem dual-threat quarterback. My school featured a lot of the traits Folkerts was looking for, so I sent the house after him. Week after week I watched as Tech’s influence waned, while I took over. Finally last night after winning a game where Folkerts was on a recruit visit I got the announcement he was reaching a verbal agreement with my school.
I might have literally lost the Battle, but I won the war.
Signing that first recruit
One of the most satisfying feelings in dynasty mode is signing a recruit. Especially when, in previous versions of the game, you identify a few prospects in the preseason who have your team as their top school and they immediately sign with you upon being offered a scholarship.
Well, that isn’t quite working with 1.5-star Navy.
Still, there were a few prospects who had Navy as their top choice heading into the season, including a three-star LT which is a position of need. As he is from Virginia, both Virginia and Virginia Tech were in his list as well. At one point Virginia even crept into his top spot, dropping Navy down to #2.
But a home win over Memphis, with the LT in attendance on a recruiting trip, sealed the deal.
It may not be a five-star running back, but it is a start.
Winning the Heisman at Troy
So for the most part, I’ve been obsessed with Road to Glory. It was my favorite part of NCAA 14, and that hasn’t really changed. I made a three-star QB who ended up signing with Troy, and through the freshman season, things were BRUTAL. We only played in the last three games and to put it simply, we STUNK OUT LOUD. The Trojans just missed out on a bowl game, and I had to win my job back from a transferring in Emory Williams.
That lit a fire under me, losing the job to the transfer. I took the starter job again in Week two and never gave it back, leading Troy to massive wins over Clemson at home (that one was a MESS) and winning the Sun Belt. My player won the Heisman, and undefeated Troy entered the CFP as the final 12th seed, traveling to take on…Arkansas? The game went back and forth, going blow for blow with the Hogs, until a late 2 minute drive put us up for good. One of the most rewarding moments playing the game, honestly. We came up short against Oregon the next week, but that’ll be a moment that lives in CFB 25 lore forever.
Establishing the Run at South Alabama
So, I had a goal for my dynasty: I never want to throw the ball. Like, EVER. Three things happen when you throw it and two of them are bad, so I’m bringing sexy back by using Liberty’s playbook and running the triple directly down the throats of our opponents. I chose South Alabama as the beginning of my dynasty, but as an offensive coordinator at first.
The wear and tear makes it super difficult to truly run what I want to, but I get around that by rotating in five running backs throughout the game. Using the pistol triple option, my favorite offense in football, I’ve had players run for 300 yards and we haven’t thrown the ball at all on offense. The beatings will continue until morale improves.
