Football is a hard sport to simulate. Even though it might look simple to the uninitiated onlooker who doesn’t quite understand what they’re seeing, it’s an incredibly complex and tactical sport to play, much less simulate in video game fashion. That is especially true with the quarterback position.
I’m going to assume that everyone reading this knows enough about football to understand how pivotal a QB is to a team’s success. And if you don’t believe me, go back through the archives and see how many football teams won a Super Bowl or a national championship with a bad quarterback. The same applies to video games such as College Football 26. Sure, you can build your team around certain aspects such as defense, rushing, etc. But if you don’t have a QB that isn’t at least competent, good luck winning games.
In College Football 25, the QB play was less than stellar, particularly due to a lack of aggression. But because the game built such a sturdy foundation, many expect the sequel to improve. But as of right now, College Football 26 has some problems when it comes to the QB position, perhaps even worse than CFB 25. But what are these problems? And how can they be fixed?
QBs Aren’t Aggressive Enough In College Football 26
I sing their praises all of the time, but it really is true: the Operation Sports forums are home to the smartest and most innovative sports gamers out there. And what are smart and innovative people often prone to? The answer is observation.
Recently, OS veteran Canes21 — the creator of some awesome, realistic, and authentic slider settings — made a post, talking about what CPU-controlled QBs have been doing in College Football 26. And spoiler alert: It’s not good.
According to Cane, in many of the games he’s played, the CPU-controlled QB is a bit too efficient and plays it safe way too much. “QBs are too prone to throwing underneath, often before the play has had time to develop even when the pass rush is not getting home,” Cane said. This wasn’t the only complaint Cane had about the experience, but it’s one of the more important things.
And he’s not the only one to notice this.
In another post made by OS user Stooge 1010, these concerns were not only echoed, but an example was provided as well. In one game that Stooge played, a QB that they weren’t controlling completed 21 out of 21 passes. What a day, right? But no, this wasn’t some kind of dominant QB showing off his greatness — this was a QB who takes next to no risks, instead relying on quick and short passes, and checkdowns. On top of that, the skill of the QB doesn’t seem to factor into this at all, either.
Worse yet, there doesn’t seem to be a way to fix it. Under Stooge’s post, the ever-reliable Cane came back and reported that even when taking extreme measures with the game’s pass accuracy slider — and by extreme, I mean putting it all the way down to 0 — there isn’t enough to hinder the CPU QB from not only being passive, but doing so with pinpoint precision.
From the sounds of it, this isn’t an issue that can be fixed with sliders or by using bad quarterbacks. Instead, EA is going to have to jump in and provide a patch that more closely matches realistic QB play, and not just QBs doing Marcus Mariota impressions every game.
