Breaking down BC's appearance & representation in CFB26

Not sure how many of you on here still dabble in the occasional video game, but I’m still big on the sports ones. So, when EA Sports dropped a college football game last year for the first time since I was in college I was pretty pumped.

The product last year was really cool, but it was more about the nostalgia than anything else. This year, I genuinely wanted to see how they handled ratings for players and the traditions from each home stadium.

Alumni Stadium presentation

When it comes to the field entrance for BC, things are pretty spot on with the pyro, touching the Eagle on the walk out and this year they even added the banner that BC rips before fully heading out of the tunnel. They also added a nice touch with ‘Shipping up to Boston’ blaring right before the opening kickoff. The two upper tiers in the stadium in each end zone also aren’t always full depending on the opponent in the game, which unfortunately is extremely accurate.

Coach graphics

As most of you saw on Twitter when I posted it, I’m not sure they did the greatest job with Bill O’Brien’s character or Will Lawing, but I thought Tim Lewis looked pretty spot on. It’s pretty cool that you can either be HC, OC or DC and control everything that they would do for the most part during a game week.

Coach ratings

The Bill O’Brien B+ rating seems pretty fair and they’ve also labeled him as ‘Scheme Guru’. The C- for Lawing and Lewis don’t feel all that fair. I would’ve given Lawing a B- or a C+ given the diva QB he ended up having to work with in his first season with the program. While third down was a problem at times last year, Lewis’ defense was closer to middle of the road than below average, which a C- would indicate.

Player graphics & ratings

Most of the players’ images are alright, but there’s clearly some generic-ness to them (as expected when you have that many players to go through and create). Lewis Bond’s image is probably the most realistic.

As far as the ratings go, I’m looking forward to talking with a bunch of guys during Media Day to see what they think of them. To me it feels like most of them are pretty spot on, but this is arguably the biggest topic of discussion/argument in the locker room throughout the year. Same thing goes in the Pats’ locker room. Ratings in these games like CFB26 and Madden truly matter to players.

Here’s an example of how much goes into just one player rating, regardless of position:

Grayson James – Overall (78), Speed (79), Strength (75), Agility (80), Acceleration (83), Awareness (88), Break Tackle Ability (76), Trucking ability (70), Change of Direction (79), Ball Carrier Vision (71), Stiff Arm (65), Spin Move (71), Juke Move (71), Carrying (74), Catching (43), Short Route Run (28), Medium Route Run (26), Deep Route Run (26), Catch in Traffic (29), Spectacular Catch (27), Release (38), Jumping (75), Throw Power (90), Short Throw Accuracy (83), Medium Throw Accuracy (79), Deep Throw Accuracy (80), Throwing on the Run (79), Throw Under Pressure), Break Sack (67), Play Action (69), Tackle (63), Hit Power (71), Power Moves (61), Finesse Moves (54), Block Shedding (57), Pursuit (47), Play Recognition (52), Man Coverage (38), Zone Coverage (59), Long Snap (68), Press (47), Pass Block (62), Pass Block Power (44), Pass Block Finesse (49), Run Block (64), Run Block Power (44), Run Block Finesse (47), Lead Block (51), Impact Blocking (52), Kick Power (30), Kick Accuracy (43), Kick Return (34), Stamina (84), Injury (90), Toughness (89)

As you can see, they leave absolutely no stone unturned for every single player. Each of those categories are accounted for with every roster. If you guys want to see the full BC ratings let me know and I’ll just take some screenshots and post them on the EN board.

Overall team play

Offensively, Dylan Lonergan is a better passer in terms of accuracy (at least against the better opponents) than James, but James is phenomenal running the option. The Big 3 of Bond, Harris and Skeete are all really fun to play with. Speedy and they (mostly) catch everything. If Ty Lockwood is as good as he is in the game, the tight end position will be fun in Chestnut Hill again. All of the running backs are good and Broome is unstoppable if you run screens with him. Automatic TDs.

The O-line is great run blocking, struggles to pass protect at times. D-line is great (they made Q Hutchins as good as I think he’s going to be in real life). Secondary is shut down (most games I’ve played or simulated using the Eagles opponents are scoring no more than 14 points) and LB’s still struggle to tackle in the run game, except for Crouch and Blackwell, who are beasts.

There are a few ‘made up’ players at certain positions (I’m assuming because some guys may not have opted into the game?) and unfortunately, Andy Quinn isn’t in the game. That means it’s a made up punter and somehow, it’s worse than it was last year. Gotta go for it on like 4th-&-19 or the other team automatically starts at like, the 50.

Final thoughts

Well worth it if you or your kids want to get to know the team a lot better. I’ll genuinely use this to check out other teams on the schedule when writing previews. The only thing you’ll have to put up with is hearing BC called the ‘Golden Eagles’ because apparently EA Sports chose not to correct last year’s mistake.