EA Sports College Football returned last year after a long hiatus and breathed life into the franchise. After the successful return of the franchise EA Sports College Football much like it’s sister franchise, Madden, returns for it’s an annual release. Sports games for almost all their existence have operated on an annual for better or worse. EA Sports College Football 26 (CFB 26) is no different however it feels like it does come with higher than before expectations.
EA Sports College Football 25 was a record-setting game that was met with relatively high critical scores. Now with the nostalgia factor gone, this is the year to see if the EA Sports College Football franchise can sustain that success. CFB 25 was a good game, but it left a lot to be desired in certain areas, and CFB 26 set out to improve on them.
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The main changes for EA Sports College Football 26 were in the gameplay itself, pageantry, Road to Glory(RTG) mode, and the most popular Dynasty Mode. I did a preview for the game earlier in the year, talking about some of these changes, particularly in the new physics-based gameplay and the dynasty mode. Now that we have a way more in-depth experience, we can see how all these changes worked out.
Solving “No Eyes, No Pick” plays in CFB 26 also makes playing Defense harder.
The gameplay in College Football 25 was pretty good on all fronts, especially for a game that had been gone for a decade, but there was some room for improvement. This year, the EA Sports team went with a more physics-based gameplay and looked to make the game’s immersion a focal point. And that starts with how you play on the field.
This is really apparent from the first snap. Player movement feels more authentic and realistic, from cuts to tackles, you get a better, more realistic feeling. You no longer feel like your player is moving on skates, and tackling has a weight to it that actually feels like you’re tackling people. There are still animations, since this is still a video game. Still, there doesn’t seem to be any major “animation locking” that traditionally led to weird player interactions, particularly during plays.
Another big thing the EA Sports team mentioned was that they were working on something that they called the “No Eyes, No Pick.” This was a pain point in CFB 25, where defenders reacted to plays like they had eyes in the back of their heads.
For the most part, the team did a great job with this since players can now throw the ball towards other players, and if they are not looking at it, they will not react. This has made the passing game more expansive, allowing users to throw routes that they never would have before knowing that a defensive player would magically turn and make a play on the ball.
Defense gets much-needed depth in CFB 26.
While this is a good thing, the trade-off is that defense is really tough to play. Just as the other team’s DBs cannot make blind plays, your DBs will not make a play on the ball unless they see it. The CPU Quarterbacks, at least on Heisman difficulty, can still pick you apart very easily. I had plenty of games where opposing QBs were completing above 80% of their passes. Still thought there were some defensive adjustments added in this year’s game to hopefully combat all of the offense.
The addition of custom zones, safety alignment adjustments, and defensive linemen stunts were the major additions to Defensive depth for CFB 26. I think these do help and add some creativity for playing defense. Playing against another person, some of these can be really helpful for sure; however, against the CPU, it still feels like defense is not up to par with the offense. Saying that, it is still understandable in that college football in real life is a more offensive game overall.
Defensive stunts are the most effective defensive updates, offering real benefits in both player-versus-player and CPU matches. Being able to do a variety of stunts for any play does allow players to get creative with their defensive play calling from a D-line perspective.
Play calling was another major area that EA Sports College Football 26 expanded, with over 2,800 new plays added and plenty of new formations to accompany them. Playbooks feel more robust and allow players to really expand their play calling. More motion has become a big thing in real-world college football today, and it is now no different in the video game. So many plays have motion and even multiple players in motion, which leads to getting creative with play calling.
Additionally, there seem to be way more motion plays that are now putting wideouts (WRs) more involved in the option and run game. Now with Formation Subs returning to the game, being able to get a versatile player involved in the game plan has never been easier. For those unfamiliar with Formation Subs, this feature allows you to substitute a player into any specific formation without needing to worry about packaging or adjusting your depth chart.
There is a downside to all these new plays, however, in that I found plenty of motion plays that were busted and did not work properly. These, sadly, were the majority of the plays where a WR motioned into the backfield and was a part of some option play. An example would be running a basic Motion WR Option play where the WR would motion into the backfield.
Once the ball is snapped, the WR, instead of being the pitch man for the quarterback, would run the opposite direction and just block someone. This is very disappointing, as I would argue these are some of the more creative plays in these new, robust playbooks, and really hamstring some players based on their offensive coaching scheme.
Pageantry has always been a big part of college football since its existence. CFB 25 set out to really encapsulate this pageantry and traditions, and for the most part, they did a great job. However, CFB 26 stepped it up, adding even more of these traditions and authenticity to the game. Whether it be the drone shows, mascot traditions, or even walkout music, there is plenty to love here.
They didn’t stop at just introductions either, as they added mid-quarter traditions and situational fight music for specific teams. This includes the famous crowd singing “Mr. Brightside” in Ann Arbor as the game goes into the fourth quarter. Additionally, many of the chants feel just like they do in a stadium. There is plenty to enjoy in this department, and it really makes it feel special and unique each time you take the field.
Pageantry gets louder and more immersive in EA Sports College Football 26.
Road to Glory is a mode that felt very lacking in CFB 25 for a variety of reasons. CFB 26 is trying to spur some life into the mode with some changes. The first major one is high school is back, as players will be able to “play” five high games and go through a recruiting process before having to select a school. This is completely optional for anyone who doesn’t wish to do this, but I will say that, for the most part, this is the best part of the game mode. That doesn’t mean this doesn’t come with faults.
Players in high school get to play four moments of five high school games. These moments are essentially a single drive at a given point in each game. During these moments, players need to complete challenges or goals that they had selected before each game.
Each moment has a smaller challenge and a larger, more difficult challenge. These challenges and/or goals are the most important thing for each player to complete. This is where issues arose in that each of these challenges can only be completed during its single moment.
During one game, I had selected two challenges in which both required a scrambling QB TD run. I completed this on my first drive, and then learned that I had to do it a second time during a different drive to complete it again. This is also difficult in that these challenges are not things you would normally do, and that is perfectly fine, but only getting a single drive to complete them becomes a pain. The other main issue is the actual game itself, as game situations are not always factored in for these moments, and the game itself becomes a backseat to irrelevance.
I had one moment where my smaller challenge was to pick up a first down on a designed QB run and the more difficult one of score a TD on a designed QB run. That would be fine, except during this moment I got the ball with less than a minute left in the game and no timeouts on my own side of the field. So trying to do designed QB runs was not really feasible for the moment and made completely no sense.
Challenges in College Football 26’s Road to Glory don’t capture the reality of game time like they should.
This leads to the last issue of these challenges, which is by far the most important thing to complete, regardless of what happens in the game. Yes, players will receive bonus points for getting their team into field goal range or scoring a touchdown, but these bonus points are worth only about one-fifth of the points for completing both challenges. There were plenty of times when I would throw a touchdown pass, and I would need to replay the entire moment as I failed all my challenges. It was weird being punished because you did too well in a game.
There are many times when you don’t know if you actually win the game or if it even matters. I scored a game-tying touchdown with little time left on the clock, and the game just ended as my last moment was over. I enjoy that we don’t have to play the entire high school game, as I think that would be too much. Still, the moments and their challenges need to be adjusted to make an impact.
The RTG recruiting experience is done really well and exciting as you move up and down the recruiting boards, earning not only a scholarship but scholarship bonuses too. The celebratory picking a school by picking a hat is a cool touch. Once in college, the mode can tend to feel a little bland. I feel like all I did for the first year or so was put my weekly points into studying, and if I didn’t, I would just barely pass or worse.
I do think RTG as a game mode has improved from last year’s version, but the mode still feels lacking in areas, and really unless you are a die hard for that game mode, it does seem like it will be a one-and-done for most players.
My favorite and the most popular game mode in EA Sports College Football 26 is the Dynasty mode. This year’s dynasty mode has a number of changes being implemented. I talked with Ben Haumiller earlier this year on some of these changes and what to expect.
The much-desired Trophy Room and Record Book has returned. The lack of these became very apparent very quickly in CFB 25, when players realized they couldn’t even figure out who the previous champion was without doing their own record keeping. Having the Trophy Room and Record Book to keep tabs on everything you and other coaches are doing, and also see who won each of the last five championships when you are in Year 10, really adds a new layer to the Dynasty game mode.
Dynamic Dealbreakers are a massive addition to CFB 26’s Dynasty mode.
Dynamic Dealbreakers is one of the largest additions and overhauls for the game mode. The introduction of dealbreakers in last year’s game made players have to pay attention to some players’ needs, such as Championship Contenders, or be at risk of losing those players to the Transfer Portal.
However, once you understood how these dealbreakers worked it became really easy to skirt around them with no challenge. Well, now every single player has a dealbreaker, and the grade needed to fulfill these dealbreakers changes every single year. This means if you recruit a QB requires at least a C- in Championship Contender that the following year you may need a B+ to fulfill this need.
Another important factor is that playing time is now taken into consideration for each player, but it is particularly crucial in key positions, such as quarterback. There will be no more just hoarding of players, no matter their main dealbreaker, because if they are not playing eventually, there is a good chance they could leave. All of these changes are designed to make the Transfer Portal more important and match real-life college football, which is chaos.
In last year’s game, after the first few years, the Transfer Portal would dry up, and very few players would enter. However, with these changes, that’s no longer the case. There are many factors, of course, that go into dynasty like sliders and settings, but in my simulations, I was still getting around close to 1500 players even ten years deep into a dynasty.
This gives a more realistic feel for the Transfer Portal, but also brings so much more chaos and staying power for the mode. Knowing that each year you could lose easily 10, 20, 30 players to the portal makes you stay on that recruiting trail a little longer.
Recruiting gets an overhaul in EA Sports College Football 26.
Wear and Tear (W&T) is another feature that works a little differently this year in CFB 2. Seasonal W&T is still in the game, but now there is now career W&T. So, if you try to run your players ragged by the time they get to their senior year, there could be a lot of injury issues.
EA Sports has added upgrades to the Auto Subs, including Wear and Tear, to give players more control over their players and combat the new wrinkles associated with Wear and Tear. It seems like the Defensive Tackle Wear and Tear options are missing in Dynasty mode for some reason.
Manual player progression is a major addition to the mode. Being able to manually progress your players and not have to rely on the auto progression is a big plus. There is a default “EXP Tax” for manually progressing your players for balance. This means if you decide to have manual progression on that, your players will not receive as much experience for completing objectives. Overall, this is a good start, but it still feels lacking as it is really an all-or-nothing thing for everyone.
There is no option to just select players or even specific positions you would like to manually progress and have the rest of the players auto-progress. It is a set it On or Off, and this means unless you plan on manually doing all 85 of your players, you will need to keep toggling it On and Off.
There have been a few additional updates, including a new member screen that makes it easy to view each member in a dynasty. Cross-Play is now available for Online Dynasties. Team Needs and Player Cards are also more accessible and easier to navigate, eliminating the need to click through multiple menus. The coaching cap has been increased to 100, and some abilities have been revised or altered. However, since most abilities now cost more, I’m unsure how much the cap increase has actually expanded the options.
The ability to see each team’s pipelines and rivalries is still not easily available, nor the Top 25 hardest places to place, so there is still some room for improvement. Along with NIL, it still feels like a giant elephant in the room that will need to be eventually addressed. The mode has taken a respectable step forward in CFB 26 and has plenty to offer players both for the single-player Dynasty and the Online Dynasty Player.
Overall, EA Sports College Football 26 is a step forward in the right direction and builds really well from where CFB 25 left off. There are plenty of quality of life additions from menus and UI to even more sliders and options for players for the various game modes. The gameplay is even better than previous years, offering more authenticity with added bells and whistles, no pun intended. There are still a few areas of improvement that can be made, but there is no sophomore slump for College Football 26.
EA Sports College Football 26 is available for purchase on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
