Favorite NCAA Football memories? Best dynasties? What we missed most about CFB video games

The upcoming release of EA Sports’ College Football 25 after an 11-year hiatus has a lot of fans — and The Athletic staff members — feeling nostalgic for the glory days of the NCAA Football video game series.

What do we remember most about the old games? What did we miss over the past decade? And what are we looking forward to now that a new addition is finally here? Chris Vannini, Max Olson, Christopher Kamrani, Cameron Teague Robinson and Jason Jones gathered to reminisce and look ahead.

What’s your best memory of playing past college football video games?

Chris Vannini: My memories of NCAA Football games are the feelings more than anything. My youth hockey teammate Steve and I went to FuncoLand for the midnight release of the game a few times, and we’d play the game all night for weeks with a heavy supply of Doritos and Mountain Dew. We’d always start with one-star programs and work our way up to bigger teams. Back when recruiting wasn’t in-season, you could blast through seasons and easily get 10-15 years into a dynasty. We’d create ourselves as prospects and export our draft classes to Madden. (Those features unfortunately are not in this new game.) I personally don’t think about online play, Ultimate Team or any of the new stuff when looking back. It’s sitting in a bedroom with my best friends and playing until we fell asleep.

Max Olson: The NCAA Football 11 dynasty I had with three of my best friends in college was an all-timer. I took over post-Tim Tebow Florida and built a powerhouse with a Trey Burton-Mike Gillislee rushing attack and a defense led by elite pass rusher Ronald Powell. My buddies rolled with Ohio State, Oregon and Texas. The nights when we’d play head-to-head showdowns were unbelievably intense and, on at least one occasion, ended with a controller being destroyed. We absolutely took this dynasty more seriously than our college classes and still reminisce about the legends of those teams (LaMichael James, Marquise Goodwin and Jake Stoneburner) to this day.

Chris Kamrani: All I had was the turbo button. It was the one button I managed to press harder than anyone else. I write that because my only shot at beating my friends who played the game like real human beings — running the football — was beating them with speed. I was always playing catch-up. Because I was the least-talented player, I got to play with the most fun teams to compete against them, and God smiled upon me when I ran roughshod with West Virginia’s Pat White, Steve Slaton and Noel Devine on NCAA Football 2008. It was my first big win over my friends who played with Florida and Ohio State. I probably lost every time after, but I’ll always remember that W. I think there were Totino’s Pizza Rolls present.

Cameron Teague Robinson: The last NCAA game actually had my best memory. In my sophomore year of college, my roommate and I had the same resident adviser during our freshman year, and he became one of our closest friends. The three of us and a few friends had an online dynasty of maybe six. Our rule was that you had to start as a Group of 5 head coach and work your way up. Our RA and I built a fierce rivalry when I took over Mississippi State and he had Rutgers. I think we met in the national championship two years in a row and started battling on the recruiting trail, too. I’m a Madden guy — that’s where my competitive side comes out — but for NCAA, it’s always the memories I have of playing with my friends and taking their best recruit the week before signing day or their dream job in the offseason.

Jason Jones: I still had long hair in the 1990s. A big part of me getting my hair braided was playing PlayStation, and NCAA Football was always in rotation. I had multiple seasons saved on memory cards (yes, youngsters, you had to purchase a separate memory card). I was attending Cal, and we weren’t very good, but that didn’t stop my friends and I from trying to turn people we knew into college stars. It also helped being a Long Beach Poly grad, as I had a lot of high school football teammates playing in college. I’d edit players to give them their real names and see if I could get my buddies to the NFL.

What’s the favorite dynasty you ever had?

Vannini: In NCAA Football 05, I started a Ball State dynasty. After Michigan freshman quarterback Chad Henne beat out Matt Gutierrez (in the game and real life), Gutierrez transferred to Ball State, kicking off a MAC dynasty. After a few 10-win seasons and MAC championships, my Cardinals were invited to the Big Ten, kicking out Indiana. I spent five years in Muncie, Ind., before taking the Notre Dame job. It was the best decision for my family, and I wanted to compete for national championships.

Olson: There are truly too many to count. I once went a full decade with the Oregon Ducks. I developed Kiehl Frazier into an all-time great at Auburn. I successfully converted LSU into a triple-option program. I turned UTSA into a monster with five-star recruit Robert Nkemdiche playing both defensive end and running back. Most recently, I took Jeff Scott on a wild journey from Clemson offensive coordinator to Temple head coach to USC and then Alabama.

Kamrani: Easy. Cal on NCAA Football 06. Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett and DeSean Jackson. They laid the groundwork for me to be able to dominate recruiting in the state and land all the five-stars.

Teague Robinson: I built Mississippi State into a run-heavy powerhouse in a dynasty and was so attached to Bulldogs great LaDarius Perkins that when he got hurt two weeks away from winning the Heisman Trophy, I was ready to restart our entire dynasty. We lost the national title that year without Perkins but came back and won the Heisman and the title the following year, allowing me to recruit the best running backs every year.

Jones: Way too many to have a favorite. Tops is probably winning a ton of games with Kyle Boller at quarterback for Cal, getting to the Rose Bowl and all. I used to give my friends fits when I’d use UCLA (Cade McNown, Freddie Mitchell and Deshaun Foster were the truth). McNown’s run/pass ability made him quite the weapon. Later on, it was all about Michael Vick!

Whether it’s a crucial third down or a play at the goal line, what’s your favorite go-to call?

Vannini: The third down go-to in the open field is “HB Angle”: Hit the running back in the middle of the field coming out of the backfield. At the goal line, it’s “Fake FB Dive HB Toss.”

Olson: In college, our dynasty user games were so high-stakes that I turned into a very conservative play-caller who was nervous to throw the ball and turn it over. The safest call in the book with my Florida dynasty was an I-formation power run with Gillislee. It was extremely predictable, but it got the job done. In the new game, however, it’s safe to say I’m gonna overdo it on RPO (run-pass option) calls on those critical downs.

Kamrani: My buddies and I will still randomly text each other “689 Hook” every year or so. It was the play that always worked no matter what coverage you faced. It was a three-receiver, two-running back set, and for some reason, the inside receiver lined up on the right was always open once he cut in on his post route against linebackers or safeties. It was a house call often. It later was outlawed as a play call.

Teague Robinson: I have two. I had a Bowling Green dynasty where I eventually recruited pure athleticism and spammed “Motion WR Option” out of pistol. If you had a fast slot receiver, it was a touchdown more often than not, because he comes on an end-around and takes the option pitch. My other was “Stretch” or “Power O” with Mississippi State, a go-to whether at the goal line or not. If ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was my motto.

Jones: I was big on running the option. It’s why I loved having a mobile quarterback. It’s a basic play that can exploit a defense in multiple ways near the goal line. If I had a little more room, the fade to the wide receiver was always a favorite. I don’t know why that route was so hard for the corners to stop on the game. I routinely moved the ball with that route.

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The entire four-team College Football Playoff era passed without a college football video game. Which team and/or player would you have most liked to have used in a game over the past decade?

Vannini: Lamar Jackson is the obvious choice. The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner was the ideal video game player with electric dual-threat ability. When I was in college, our friend group banned the use of Ohio State because Terrelle Pryor was too good. It would’ve been the same situation with Jackson.

Olson: My favorite aspect of NCAA Football 14 gameplay was using spread-option playbooks like Oregon and Auburn to run a ton of zone read and triple option with fast quarterbacks, and I exclusively recruited athletes to play quarterback. For the way I liked to play, I can’t think of a more ideal playmaker than Jackson at Louisville. It’s a shame we never got a chance to play with him in the college game. I bet Kyler Murray’s 2018 Oklahoma offense would’ve been unstoppable, too.

Kamrani: That 2019 LSU team. Joe Burrow may not have wheels necessary to turbo out of a corner blitz, but if you got the ball out fast to Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson or hit Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the flat, you’d be made in the shade.

Teague Robinson: It’s Jackson by a wide margin. He’s my favorite college football player I’ve seen but haven’t covered. I imagine running the option with him would be unstoppable. An under-the-radar option would’ve been Justin Fields. Similar to Jackson, his running and passing ability would’ve been so much fun to use.

Jones: Has anyone said Jackson? Ha! If playing with Vick was fun, Jackson would have been in the same category. One of Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma offenses would have been fun, too, with Murray or Jalen Hurts.

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What are you looking forward to most in College Football 25?

Vannini: I’m looking forward to just how much more connective college football will feel. It’s been 11 years since we could pull up a game and play it on a Friday before the real thing happened on a Saturday. I’m looking forward to figuring out the best players on each team in the video game and then recognizing them on the field in real life. College football lost that connection with a general audience, hurting its place in culture. I’ve seen so many people who don’t follow college football closely talking about this game. We’re all going to feel closer to the schools, the players and each other because of this game. The feeling is back.

Olson: It’s still mind-blowing to me that College Football 25 has a player’s actual name and likeness. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m one of those nerds who spent countless hours filling in players’ real names to make rosters as accurate as possible in the old days of NCAA Football. In the final years, you’d have to wait a few days for somebody to post named rosters you could download. I couldn’t be more thrilled about players getting the opportunity to opt in for this game and make money from it. It took a long, long time for that to even become permissible, and I’m glad they got it right just in time for this game’s revival.

Kamrani: Because I’m old and boring now, my dated Xbox One will not be blessing my house with the ’25 version — at least not for now. What I’m most looking forward to is finding a way to play at a friend’s house like it’s 2004 all over again. I think it will be an amazing experience for the players, too. It will be a fun subplot to what should be the most exciting college football season ever.

Teague Robinson: The addition of actual names is such a cool thing, because it feels more connected to the sport than ever before. But for me, it’s dynasty mode, again. My buddies and I have a 10-person dynasty already prepped for release day. I can’t wait for the trash talk, the arguments in the group chat about who is stealing somebody else’s recruit and the eventual CFP matchups. I’m ready to turn whichever Group of 5 team I pull out of a hat into a better version of Nick Saban’s Alabama teams.

Jones: I’m ready for dynasty mode in this new world of college football. I’m still not accustomed to Cal playing in the ACC, so I’ll be looking to make a run at Florida State and get into the playoff with my Bears. Hopefully, I’ll be beating USC in a game to advance or win the national championship.

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Share your favorite college football video game memories in the comments!

(Top image from NCAA 09: EA Sports / Associated Press)