In the next day or so I will be starting a new dynasty in 06. I know what offense I want to run.
I am going to be a heavy run spread option team, think tons of Triple Option, Speed Option, QB Choice, and PA Read from Gun sets, especially from twin back sets.
What I haven’t decided yet was what type of defense I wanted to put on the field.
This question has motivated me to start a post on my holistic thoughts on defensive football in NCAA 06.
As you can tell from my first set f posts, I enjoy talking offense. Defense can be a ton of fun too, once you figure it what works best, for you anyways.
In the 10 years of playing this game, I have only used one type of defensive scheme per se, and in that time I have used the same set of plays to make it work.
Defense is hard in this game, thus why I just stick with one main defensive identity.
Even though I have used just one type of defense, I really believe there is no right or wrong way to play defense in 06.
It is quite possible that all the main defenses in this game can work if you practice enough.
So instead of giving you my tips for better defense or my defensive playbook, I want to share my thoughts on defense as a whole.
- I have always been a 4-man front guy. My defense consists of 4-3, nickel, and 4-4. I use all three depending on who I play. The problem with this is you need to over-recruit certain positions like MLB and CB
- I have always struggled using the 3-4 for the following reasons
- nose guards are extremely hard to find. Height and weight matters in 06 and finding 330+lb DTs can be really tough
- 270+lb DE are hard to find as well, especially that switching around player positions is not as easy compared to more recent titles
- I struggle against impact HBs, thus the 3-4 has too many holes up the middle for my tastes
- I feel that it helps to have 4 rushers, this results in always having to blitz at least 1 LB every play
- I like the idea of the 4-2-5 but the position of the strong safeties are not in the right spot and I don’t want to adjust them on every play.
- I think the 3-3-5 would be even tougher to use than the 3-4, for obvious reasons
- I have thought about using the 4-4 as my base but OLBs are too slow to run it exclusively. The best OLBs you can find run at best a 4.39 and with that defense, you are asking your OLBs to do a lot of things
- I think CPU QBs tend to struggle a little more against zone than against man. Constantly trying to put the ball in tight windows is tough to do over the entirety of a game
- Yes the deep ball is tough to stop, but playing a lot of cover 2, 3, and even 4 zone will help with this
- I think calling defensive plays is no different than calling offensive plays, you have to mix it up
- CPU offenses know who their impact players are and will try to get them the ball whenever possible, which is a good thing, for realism sake
- If you like to blitz a lot, you better hope you get to the QB, otherwise they are great against find your weak spots
- Speed is everything, awareness is everything
- I struggle against run-spread teams. The best I ever went up against was UTEP and Mike Price, one of the founding fathers of the original one-back spread. They do a lot of things from Ace formations, mainly Spread and Trips. They ran downhill on me out of the 4-wide sets and I had no answers for it. It made me want to use that offense
- I struggle against heavy option teams that use flexbone, wishbone, etc. I never add these teams to my schedule for that reason
- Did I mention how hard it is for me to stop impact HBs?
Well these are my thoughts on defense right off the top of my head. I can probably think of some more but this is a good start.
I want to hear from you and your thoughts on defense in 06. What base do you like to use: 4-3, 3-4, 4-2-5, 3-3-5, 4-4, etc?
Do you have any tips for me, especially if you are a 3-4 guy or any other defense I don’t normally use?
Please post in the comment section so we can talk about defense, which I’m sure we all could learn something new since it is much harder to pin down compared to offense.
I will start my dynasty once I get some good feedback from you guys since I want to try some new things on the defensive end with this dynasty.
Hey man I recently completed my 6th year in a dynasty in ncaa 07 ps2.
And I ended up having probably my favorite player I’ve ever recruited. I recently got on a linebacker kick. Like researching linebackers from the 80s and 90s. Guys like Bosworth. I feel that position was played differently back then.
But anyways I wanted a star mike linebacker someone I could remember after his career was over. So one year in in-season recruiting I decided to put 50 points into the top rated mike lb.
I got him of course. I changed his name (something I never do) to Brian Stoyanovich. Sounded like a linebacker name. Have him number 55 a classic lb number. Blonde mullet. That classic lb facemask and a black visor.
Well starting as a true freshmen he didn’t do all that well. He had around 35 tackles.
His second year he blew up and had over 100 with 5 sacks and his other stats were great too.
But his junior year was something I’ve never seen. He had over 130 tackles I believe and a game where he had 22 tackes. This guy was amazing. He had 20 sacks that year alone. He was everywhere. Mostly of sim games. But I like to play important games to take it all in. I’d let the cpu control him. It was awesome to watch.
He was actually as high as number 3 in the Heisman hopeful list. And made the cover of the ESPN mag a ton. It was just awesome.
My favorite play he had was a option play he ran straight thru the line and hit the first guy with the ball who pitched it behind him and as the Rb ran around Brian got up and made that tackle as well. I have it recorded on my phone lol.
But anyways thought I’d share. Needless to say we had an amazing run D. Only averaged 60 yards per game.
I would love to be able to use 3-4 but I struggle too much against impact HBs that leaving that much space between the tackles is just too hard to overcome. I am a big zone/zone blitz guy and I think the CPU struggles a little more against zones compared to man. I figured that the 3-4 would be perfect for that reason alone. Also, it is super rare to find SSs who are faster than OLBs. LBs in general are made well in this game. Imagine having 4 of them out there at all times. My zone defense is good enough to where I barely play nickel against 4-5 WR sets so I can only imagine how much fun it would be to run the 3-4 100% the time. Like you, if I can figure out how to stop the run consistently then I would switch. The blitz plays in that formation are nasty too.
Regarding DTs, yeah there are really hard to find, mainly due to height and weight, but I guess you just try to find the strongest dudes possible and hope that they are big and tall as well. There is one thing that might work though. I once recruited a 6’10 350 guy who was listed as an athlete. He was equally as good on both lines but would have been perfect for the 3-4. So make sure you scour through the athlete pile and see if any of those guys exist.
The other thing to look for is to look through 2 and 3 star DTs. I think when ranking players, 06 doesn’t care how big and tall players are and only cares about the other things. That means it is quite possible to go further down the list for 2 and 3 star guys and might find someone who happens to be really big. I really think these huge guys are out there, just might have look deeper down the list. I have to shake off my pride and get a 2 star kid if he is big enough.
Height and weight really matter in the game (thank God) and out the 100 or so DTs ranked every year, surely there are 5-10 that fit what we need in a NG.
I have been thinking about using the 3-4 more and I have thought about teams that use the 3-4, esp. the Pittsburgh Steelers, and how they change player positions to get the players they need. I think the changes are a little more that size.
I agree with what you seek in a nose tackle, but I think you might do better with converted DT’s for DE’s rather than just size. All three lineman should have good tackle stats. They also should be tun stoppers or balanced. Pass tush in the 3-4 comes from the LBs.
Most 3-4 OLB’s are converted DE’s, but DE’s in the game may not have good hands, so I would recommend using converted MLBs for your OLB’s and then find larger MLB’s to handle the inside LB tasks.
Get the best secondary you can get.
I think the extra size in the from 7 will help with the run stopping and will mirror what successful 3-4 teams do in reality.
Am I off base?
I’m sure you can make it work. I don’t use the 3-4 much due to stopping the run game in general. At least I struggle with it.
As long as you get the biggest strongest dudes you can find and convert some of them then you can make the 3-4 work.
So I’ve been using the 5-2. As a 3-4 . The d-lone isn’t as spread out as much as the base 3-4. I sub Around in formation subs to get the right guys in the right position. I suggest you try it. It’s still same recruiting difficulties but management in my experience.
Too bad the game does’t have the 5-2 as a base in Coaching Strategy so you can recruit to it easier. About the only downside I see with the 5-2 is how it handles against the passing game. If I move on form SMU I am thinking about switching to a 4-2-5 just to change things up. Otherwise, there’s no reason for me to switch from my 4-3/Nickel stuff.
really dumb question should you hit the catch or swat button when you are outside the pass play ie you are the dline and don’t change to the DBs? i ask because i have seen plays made that i have never seen before when i hit the button while the ball is in the air and i am trying to figure out if i am canceling them out by hitting the buttons
Are you asking if you should use the catch button as a d-lineman? I don’t think you can cancel the action once you hit it so I guess it is up to you whether you should try to swat or catch passes or not.
Personally, I usually play LB on defense and play a ton of zone so if I think I can swat or catch the ball I will, but I feel confident in my ability to do so.
I hope that answers your question.
i should have worded it better. does using the swat or catch button cause the AI players to not trigger animations? i have just watched about 10 different pass deflection animations that i have never seen before and the only thing i can tell that i did different was i stop hit buttons while the pass was in the air.
I have never noticed this to be quite honest. I don’t think you hitting that button effects the rest of the AI. I could be wrong though.
the only reason i asked is because i noticed something new watching the replay because i was doing something on a laptop while the play was going on. i called a 2 man blitz in 4-3 and the WR ran a streak, i first thought WR dropped it because i was not watching a TD pose, nope the CB jumped over the WR’s back and got it with this extended one handed block that had the DB hips level with the WR’s head. now i have trouble with the deep ball even with safety back in zone because neither of them jump, they usually do that close to the body basket catch, and here i am watching this great play wondering if i have been keeping this from triggering because i hit a button that caused the AI to limited to a certain set of responses based on user input.
so for next couple of plays i try doing nothing after picking the play and i see new stuff for the rest of the game. it had the short zone players jumping trying to block balls that was were out of their zone by 10 yards up field, safeties playing the ball in the air in a real attempt rather than just running toward the WR. hell i got my first blocked punt ever in this game try this out and they were at the 40 yard so it wasn’t even because they kicking from the goaline.
i am going to have to play around with it to figure this out. i know if you hit the swat button in fg block everyone not engaged will jump but i have no clue how far that logic will go. or i might be overthinking it and going crazy
Forgive my ignorance but are you having trouble defending deep balls or connecting on deep balls? If you are having trouble with either I can help.
I honestly don’t think it is you triggering the AI to indirectly do things although what you have found seems rather interesting.
defending the deep ball. the DB will be tailing and do a shoulder height back swipe for the ball and the safety will either run behind the WR, do the basket catch or if i am lucky the shoulder height swipe. it get really bad when safety is already in position and runs right past the WR without jumping for the ball.
First of all, Cover 2 is not going to cut it, regardless if you are in man or zone. I use a ton of cover 3 and 4 zone. Most of the time when the AI sees this they are hesitant to throw deep. I want the AI to throw the short stuff.
Also, do not control any defensive backs on the deep ball, let the AI control them since they will make fewer mistakes than you will controlling them. Cover 3 and 4 help a lot with this.
My next post will cover my favorite defensive scheme, Pat Narduzzi’s Quarters Coverage Defense. It is the only play that can be used on every single down, seriously. I can defend from 4-wide to power run teams with this one single play. It isn’t a chees play by any stretch, just pure execution.
Want to know why Michigan State has been a top 10 team the last few years? This is why and their defense can be run effectively in 06!
I think a lot of people can learn from it and may convert to it altogether after I post it. The AI has a really tough time going deep on me with it so you will definitely get something out of it.
Stay tuned!
that is the thing i have tried out everything from cover 0 to cover 4 trying to solve the deep ball problem but in the end i usually cool with it because i go 5 and 6 man blitzes enough that they should hit a big play 4 or 5 times a game. it is when i going straight coverage i get a little pissed at them not playing the pass right
You just solved your own problem and answered your own question. If you blitz with 5 or 6 that many times like you do, the AI will continue to throw deep stuff at you. That is why the AI doesn’t throw deep on me anymore: I play cover 3 and 4 zone most of the time.
It is all still situational, depending on who you play against and the offense they like to run.
Hello!
I recently re-discovered your site, and am having loads of fun reading it.
My base is 4-3 against most teams.
If it is a 60-80% run option team (Navy), I go to the 4-4.
I discovered by accident that if a team uses the spread but runs 60%+ out of it, the 4-2-5 worked. I’d had problems with those teams but it worked for me, until they start to pass more if/when they get down, then back to nickle and dime.
Before the game, I go to the coach tab, and slowly scroll over to that teams coach to see what their sliders are.
Anyway, thanks for the site and have a great day… RT
This reminds me to want to add all Coaching Info for these games to the blog: the percentages, pass/run ratios, tendencies, etc. I may do this once I am finished with the playbook video project.
ok The offense side of 06 I feel I have a firm grasp of and defense to a point. But man user tackling in 06 is so hit or miss. So time I bump right into the guy and no animation occurs. Do you think the tackle slider has anything to do with it?
I don’t think the slider effects the tackle animation itself. I rarely have issues with the tackle animation in general and I leave that slider at 50. I think a combo of a player’s tackle rating and not using the speed button so much is key. So I would prioritize a prospect’s Squat numbers as this directly relates to how well they can tackle.
Longtime follower, love this game and this site! My 2 cents on defense, as I tend to play D well but suck notoriously on offense lol.
I’ve only really used Navy. I also create a Marine team that I pattern after Army/Navy and try to build the program from scratch. So when i use Navy or Marines, if I do recruit guys that weigh over 280 or 290 I change their weight (lower) to be more realistic to those programs. And I recruit for speed and strength to compensate for lack of beef up front.
Anyway what I’m getting at here is with a service academy with smaller linemen, I have used a 3-4 sometimes. But I like to mix it up, and stick with whatever is working at the time.
…the 3-4 can work without huge guys as long as you have speed. At least in my experience. I like blitzing a lot which helps stuff the run, then zone up on passing downs to not get burned.
Having said that, the 4-3 or 4-4 is what I typically stay with. Depends on my roster too though, and whether I have more talent at LB or D-line. With the service schools you’re usually at a disadvantage anyway, so you want your best guys on the field.
Good stuff