With that in mind, here are some important tips for NCAA Football 2009 by EA Sports for the competitive world of online and dynasty game play:
NCAA 2009 Tips and Strategies #1 : Go for Interceptions
Defense is hard to play in NCAA Football 2009, like really, really hard. Everyone knows it. With that in mind you need to adjust your strategies in online or online dynasty games and be prepared to get into a shootout.
In a shootout, one big play, usually a turnover, is usually what turns the tide and allows you to secure the win in the NCAA Football series by EA Sports.
So play a lot of zone defense and run a lot of different packages to try and bait your opponent into throwing a pick.
Move your defenders around before the snap and don't be afraid to drop a lot of guys back to play zone defense because the pass rush is largely ineffective in NCAA Football 2009.
The Cover-2 variant defenses in the game work great, especially against the computer, as your highly-aware cornerbacks will drop into the flats and pick off any short passes that come their way for some huge defensive plays.
NCAA 2009 Tips and Strategies #2: Establish the Run Threat
It can be tempting to just pass, pass, pass in NCAA Football 2009 but most hardcore players know that the run is still a big part of the game. Passing is easy but eventually the defense is going to get locked in and drop a guy in the right spot to pick off a pass unless you throw them perfectly every time with a top-notch Heisman-type quarterback.
Offset this by mixing in runs on not-so-obvious downs just to keep the defense honest and to flash the threat of the run. All top NCAA players need to do this to stay consistent on the offensive side of the football. Even a two-yard gain is not a wasted down because it will open things up for the pass.
NCAA 2009 Tips and Strategies #3: Throw to the Running Back
Offense in NCAA Football 2009 and in real life football is all about creating favorable matchups for your football team. If you get a running back isolated on a linebacker, chances are that the running back will have a big speed advantage and be open in the flats on swing passes a good 60% of the time or more so look for this play and set it up by running hot routes off of it to draw the safeties outside of the area. You can bust off huge touchdowns by hitting the running back in stride in NCAA Football 2009 and having him sprint past the defense for a long score.
NCAA 2009 Tips and Strategies #4: Recruiting.
In NCAA Football 2009's dynasty mode, the new recruiting system can be very difficult to understand at first since it's much more involving than in the past.
The goal is to balance how much of a lead or how far you are behind in regards to a recruit's interest and react accordingly. If you are comfortably ahead you can just call them for 10 minutes or so to keep their interest steady.
If you're in a close fight for a recruit in NCAA's dynasty mode then use the "call" option. The goal each week is to work on a pitch and get the "pitch complete" message to work at least 2 times or 3 if you really are in a close fight.
If the football face icon above the recruit starts to turn sour, cancel the pitch and move on to another one to bring it back up then try the same pitch again a bit later.
Follow this and you can recruit a monster team in NCAA Football 2009. Just make sure to target difference makers and don't waste too much time or too many resources on lower-rated players because they ultimately won't make a big difference in your NCAA program.
