NCAA FOOTBALL 2000 FAQ/STRATEGY GUIDE By Dennis L. "Fox" Doucette (rocketshow@hotmail.com) For the Sony PlayStation Version 1.0 June 9th, 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This FAQ is Copyright 2000 by Dennis L. Doucette. It is licensed free of any and all monetary charges to GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) and The Rocket Show (http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/rocketshow). Anyone else who wishes to use it may do so under the following conditions: 1. The FAQ is not altered in any way, shape, or form, electronically or otherwise. 2. The latest version of the FAQ is always posted within a week of its initial release on the abovementioned "free and clear" sites (the best way to find this out is to look on the GameFAQs "What's New" section, as that date is the "official" reference point for purposes of this notice). 3. 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If you're going to derive any ad revenue from people looking for information which I provide, I want a 20% cut for my trouble. 6. If the source of the "Cash-for-click" cannot be determined (e.g. if it is in a frameset, the URL of the page containing the banner is separate from the URL of the page containing the FAQ), then the author of the FAQ shall be entitled to 1% of all revenues from clicks on that banner throughout the Web site(s) of the page owner. 7. The FAQ author reserves the right to take legal action against those who violate these terms and conditions. If these terms are too labyrinthine or excessive for you, then don't ask me if you can use my FAQ. It's provided for free to GameFAQs in recognition of that site's outstanding commitment to maintaining the intellectual property rights of its contributors and because I derive a tremendous amount of useful information from the efforts of its contributors. The Rocket Show is my site, and it would be mightily difficult to develop an accounting system by which I write checks to myself to pay me for things I've used. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |=================| |TABLE OF CONTENTS| |=================| 1. Revision History 2. My Cheat Code Policy for Sports Games A. Exceptions to Policy for This Game 3. Game Modes A. Quick Start B. Exhibition C. Rival Mode D. Season E. Dynasty F. Tournament G. Great Games H. Practice 4. Basic Strategy A. Running B. Passing C. Defense D. Special Teams 5. Slightly More Advanced Strategy A. Keeping the Computer Off Guard B. Audible C. Stupid Stat Tricks 6. Mastering the Dynasty Mode A. Moving Up in the World B. Powerhouse Recruiting: A Dow Jones Average's Worth of Blue Chips C. Keeping the Game Interesting In Later Seasons 7. Creation Mode: Will Yourself into Existence A. School Creation Guide B. Player Creation: The Basics C. Created Player Stat Limits D. Getting Your Guys a Job After College: The Madden 2000 Import Mode 8. Coming Soon: New FAQs and Updates ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |===================| |1. REVISION HISTORY| |===================| Version 1.0 (6/9/00): First version, probably the most complete of any 1.0 release I've ever done. About the only thing left to do is to figure out exactly what the upper limit is on maximum extra attribute points at each position when creating a player. If anyone has this information (without using a cheat code to get it), please email it to me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |========================================| |2. MY CHEAT CODE POLICY FOR SPORTS GAMES| |========================================| You'll notice that I don't include cheat codes in my Sports FAQs. There's a simple reason for this: I don't believe in them. Sports are supposed to be about the challenge of taking on an opponent with nothing other than your skills and tactics to guide you. Why even write a strategy guide if I could just type in a code and give all my players the strength of Magnus ver Magnusson and the speed of Michael Johnson? In addition, when you're playing in two-player mode, you won't have the skills to actually beat a human enemy, which means that you'll end up looking the fool. Single-player modes in games like these exist only to provide practice for that ultimate thrashing of a friend, roommate, or sibling. Cheat codes dilute that experience. |===========================================| |2A. EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY FOR THIS GAME| |===========================================| That having been said, there are so-called "cheat codes" that don't enhance your gameplay. Rather, they're more like "Easter Eggs" that serve to make the game a lot more fun. Following are my favorites, culled from the NCAA 2000 page at sages.ign.com: CONTROVERSY---View the Complete Poll instead of just the Top 25 STADSGALORE---Use All Exhibition Mode Stadiums Type the above codes in at the "Secret Codes" screen to access them. In addition, if you hold L1+L2 after scoring a touchdown, you can activate a series of End Zone Celebrations by pressing the following buttons: Triangle: Do back flip Square: Flex muscles X: Do Heisman Trophy pose Circle: Spike the ball R1: Spin the ball Beware, because you can get called for unsportsmanlike conduct for using these celebrations. If you really want to cheat that badly, go to sages.IGN.com, or if you're reading this FAQ on GameFAQs, back out of this FAQ, then click "Codes and Hints" from GameSages to go directly to the Codes page where I got these cheat codes from. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |=============| |3. GAME MODES| |=============| NCAA Football 2000 offers seven major categories of game modes, and an eighth "mode within a mode" that allows you to play against your chosen school's arch rival in Exhibition mode (I've treated this as a separate game mode in my FAQ) for a little extra incentive to win. Whether you want to play a quick game, or set up a monster dynasty to stand the test of time year in and year out, the choice is yours to enjoy this game any way you wish. |===============| |3A. QUICK START| |===============| If you want a no-muss, no-fuss instant game, simply select "Quick Start". The last two teams used in a game are loaded up, and all you have to do is choose up sides and get right into it. The game's load-up default is a rematch of the '99 Fiesta Bowl national championship game between Florida State and Tennessee. Quick Start has the added advantage of being completely idiot proof, and as such is excellent for playing with young children. Try and go easy on 'em. |==============| |3B. EXHIBITION| |==============| This one's pretty simple. Choose from all 114 Division 1-A schools or 26 1-AA institutions. Put Harvard up against Notre Dame, put Army against the Air Force, you can literally create any matchup you like. This is the ultimate in two-player modes, as you can either pit your favorite school against another, or (with the help of Memory Cards) battle your friend with your created teams and players. This is where your player development skills will receive a very worthy test. |==============| |3C. RIVAL MODE| |==============| Press the Select button on the Exhibition Team select, and you'll activate the Rival Mode. The highlighted school will have its rival selected as its foe automatically, enabling a knock-down drag-out contest of skill. The schools and their rivals are as follows: NOTE: The Rival is based on the highlighted school. Some schools have more than one other team gunning for them (Alabama and Miami University being prime examples). |==================================================================| |SCHOOL |RIVAL | |SCHOOL |RIVAL | |==============|==============|=====|===============|==============| |Air Force |Army | |Mississippi |Miss. State | |Akron |Kent | |Miss. State |Mississippi | |Alabama |Auburn | |Missouri |Kansas | |Alabama A&M |Alabama State | |Morgan State |Hampton | |Alabama State |Alabama A&M | |N. Carolina A&T|S. Carolina St| |Alcorn State |Jackson State | |NC State |N. Carolina | |Arizona |Arizona State | |NE Louisiana |Louisiana Tech| |Arizona St. |Arizona | |Navy |Army | |Arkansas-P.B. |Alabama A&M | |Nebraska |Oklahoma | |Arkansas |Mississippi St| |Nevada |UNLV | |Army |Navy | |New Mexico |New Mexico St.| |Auburn |Alabama | |New Mexico St. |UTEP | |Ball State |Miami Univ. | |North Carolina |Duke | |Baylor |Texas | |North Texas |New Mexico St.| |Beth. Cookman |Florida A&M | |Northern Ill. |Ball State | |Boise State |Idaho | |Northwestern |Illinois | |Boston Coll. |Notre Dame | |Notre Dame |USC | |Bowling Green |Toledo | |Ohio |Miami Univ. | |Brigham Young |Utah | |Ohio State |Michigan | |Brown |Columbia | |Oklahoma |Texas | |Buffalo |Syracuse | |Oklahoma State |Oklahoma | |California |Stanford | |Oregon |Oregon State | |Cent. Florida |Beth. Cookman | |Oregon State |Oregon | |Cent. Mich. |Western Mich. | |Penn |Princeton | |Cincinnati |Miami Univ. | |Penn State |Michigan State| |Clemson |South Carolina| |Pittsburgh |West Virginia | |Colorado |Nebraska | |P. View A&M |Jackson State | |Colorado St. |Wyoming | |Princeton |Dartmouth | |Columbia |Brown | |Purdue |Indiana | |Cornell |Penn | |Rice |Houston | |Dartmouth |Princeton | |Rutgers |Temple | |Delaware St. |Florida A&M | |S. Carolina St.|N. Car. A&T | |Duke |N. Carolina | |San Diego St. |Fresno State | |East Carolina |Southern Miss | |San Jose State |Fresno State | |E. Michigan |Cent. Michigan| |SMU |TCU | |Florida |Florida State | |South Carolina |Clemson | |Florida A&M |Beth. Cookman | |Southern |Grambling St. | |Florida State |Florida | |Southern Miss. |Alabama | |Fresno State |San Diego St. | |Stanford |California | |Georgia |Georgia Tech | |Syracuse |West Virginia | |Georgia Tech |Georgia | |TCU |SMU | |Grambling St. |Southern | |Temple |Pittsburgh | |Hampton |Howard | |Tennessee |Alabama | |Harvard |Yale | |Texas |Texas A&M | |Hawaii |Brigham Young | |Texas A&M |Texas | |Houston |Rice | |Texas Southern |Southern | |Howard |Delaware State| |Texas Tech |Texas | |Idaho |Boise State | |Toledo |Bowling Green | |Illinois |Northwestern | |Tulane |LSU | |Indiana |Purdue | |Tulsa |Oklahoma State| |Iowa |Iowa State | |UAB |Auburn | |Iowa State |Iowa | |UCLA |USC | |Jackson State |P. View A&M | |UNLV |Nevada | |Kansas |Missouri | |USC |UCLA | |Kansas State |Kansas | |USL |Louisiana Tech| |Kent |Akron | |Utah |Brigham Young | |Kentucky |Tennessee | |Utah State |Utah | |Louisiana Tech|USL | |UTEP |New Mexico | |Louisville |Kentucky | |Vanderbilt |Tennessee | |LSU |Alabama | |Virginia |Virginia Tech | |Marshall |West Virginia | |Virginia Tech |Virginia | |Maryland |Virginia | |Wake Forest |North Carolina| |Memphis |Louisville | |Washington |Wash. State | |Miami |Florida State | |Washington St. |Washington | |Miami Univ. |Cincinnati | |West Virginia |Pittsburgh | |Michigan |Ohio State | |West. Michigan |Central Mich. | |Michigan State|Michigan | |Wisconsin |Minnesota | |Mid. Tenn. St.|Vanderbilt | |Wyoming |Colorado State| |Minnesota |Wisconsin | |Yale |Harvard | |MS Valley St. |Alabama State | | | | |==================================================================| |==========| |3D. SEASON| |==========| Season and Dynasty are covered in the same menu by the game, but since they are not even close to being the same thing, I'm going to cover them separately from one another. In Season, you are given a completely blank slate of games to work with. You have to "mark" which games you want to play, which may or may not all involve the same team. This way, if you want to guide Northern Illinois to a national title, you can play games as the teams in the Top 25 and intentionally lose them in order to pump your ranking. Also, if there's a team you particularly don't like, you can intentionally play like crap to watch them go 0-11 over the course of a season. I particularly despise the Nebraska Cornhuskers, so it was a particular pleasure to get into their games, crank the difficulty level to max, then intentionally throw interceptions and play lousy defense in order to lose every game 98-0. It was even more fun to punt on first down. Anyway, the point is that in Season mode, it's wide open for you to be as good or as bad as you want to be, sometimes both at the same time (in that same "Husker-Don't" season I played as Michigan State and won a national title.) |===========| |3E. DYNASTY| |===========| This mode is fun on a whole different level. I love management sims, and I love sports games. This mode is the closest anyone has ever come to combining the two genres. You play a season, in control of the team of your choice for better or for worse, with no fooling around tolerated in this mode. You can either take control of an established team like Florida State or Tennessee, or you can try and lead a team like Buffalo or Northern Illinois out of the basement and into the national spotlight (which may take two seasons). You can also import a created school in, taking control of the schedule of an established team, which is then removed from the game. In that case, you start out ranked 57th out of 114 (in 1-A), or 26th out of 26 (in 1-AA), which allows a title to be won the first year. Note that the CONTROVERSY "cheat" (a wildly inaccurate term in this case) allows you to view the complete rankings. After the season, you're put into Team Management mode, in which you cut the slackers who aren't performing up to scratch, and try to recruit the best blue chip talent from high schools around the United States. You're in competition with the AI to try and sign the very best recruits, and your recruiting class is ranked between 1-140 based on number of each caliber of prospect (which can be a good mirror of future rankings). You also have the benefit of seeing which of your players ended up drafted by the NFL (which I believe has at least a small benefit on your recruiting efforts). You can continue to repeat this process over and over for up to fifteen years, after which I suppose you retire or something (I've never played that many seasons in a row with the same team). If someone out there actually knows what happens at that stage, please email it to me and you'll get your name in the update. |==============| |3F. TOURNAMENT| |==============| Are you one of those BCS bashers who believes that the national championship should be settled in mortal combat on the field? Would you like to pit the best teams from each conference in a basketball-style Gridiron Madness contest for the ages? Perhaps you'd like to take on a bunch of your friends in a knockdown, drag-out football fracas? Tournament lets you do all these things and then some. Pick the teams, choose a single- or double-elimination format, and settle it on the field. If you can win a tournament against the Top 15 computer opponents on Heisman level, then you will truly prove yourself worthy of the title of Champion. Take the challenge and put yourself to the test. |===============| |3G. GREAT GAMES| |===============| Tired of listening to your parents or grandparents talk about the great college football games of the distant past? Relive the games for yourself with the Great Games Mode. In addition to being heavy with the best games of the recent past, there are also such classics as Notre Dame-Army (1946), the "Take the Tie" game (Notre Dame-Michigan State, 1966), and others (see below): |==================================================================| |YR|BOWL/GAME |AWAY |HOME | |--|---------------|----------------------|------------------------| |98|Orange Bowl |97 Tennessee |97 Nebraska | |98|Rose Bowl |97 Washington State |97 Michigan | |97|Sugar Bowl |96 Florida |96 Florida State | |95|Rose Bowl |94 Oregon |94 Penn State | |95|Orange Bowl |94 Miami |94 Nebraska | |94|Orange Bowl |93 Florida State |93 Nebraska | |93|Sugar Bowl |92 Alabama |92 Miami | |92|Orange Bowl |91 Nebraska |91 Miami | |92|Rose Bowl |91 Michigan |91 Washington | |90|Orange Bowl |89 Notre Dame |89 Colorado | |90|Sugar Bowl |89 Alabama |89 Miami | |89|Fiesta Bowl |88 West Virginia |88 Notre Dame | |88|Great Games |88 USC |88 UCLA | |88|Orange Bowl |87 Miami |87 Oklahoma | |87|Fiesta Bowl |86 Miami |86 Penn State | |86|Orange Bowl |85 Oklahoma |85 Penn State | |85|Great Games |85 Auburn |85 Alabama | |84|Great Games |84 Boston College |84 Miami | |84|Orange Bowl |83 Miami |83 Nebraska | |83|Sugar Bowl |82 Georgia |82 Penn State | |82|Great Games |82 Stanford |82 California | |81|Great Games |81 Clemson |81 North Carolina | |80|Rose Bowl |79 Ohio State |79 USC | |79|Sugar Bowl |78 Alabama |78 Penn State | |77|Sugar Bowl |76 Georgia |76 Pittsburgh | |75|Fiesta Bowl |75 Nebraska |75 Arizona State | |74|Great Games |74 Notre Dame |74 USC | |73|Great Games |73 Ohio State |73 Michigan | |73|Sugar Bowl |73 Notre Dame |73 Alabama | |71|Great Games |71 Nebraska |71 Oklahoma | |71|Rose Bowl |70 Ohio State |70 Stanford | |69|Great Games |69 Texas |69 Arkansas | |69|Rose Bowl |68 Ohio State |68 USC | |67|Great Games |67 UCLA |67 USC | |66|Great Games |66 Notre Dame |66 Michigan State | |66|Rose Bowl |65 Michigan State |65 UCLA | |63|Rose Bowl |62 USC |62 Wisconsin | |59|Great Games |59 Mississippi |59 LSU | |57|Great Games |57 Notre Dame |57 Oklahoma | |46|Great Games |46 Notre Dame |46 Army | |==================================================================| |============| |3H. PRACTICE| |============| This does exactly as its name implies, and is one of the best ways to master a new play or defensive scheme without having to be torched and humiliated in an exhibition game. You can also goof around here if you're in the mood for a mindless diversion and don't feel like playing Doom on God mode for the 9000th time. Basically, it works like this. You choose a team to play as, you choose to be either the offense or the defense, and if you picked the offense, you get to choose whether or not to face a defense. Hence the goof around factor, as you can create players named after you and some of your friends, and play in a virtual playground as if you were 12 years old again. For those of you who are reading this and actually ARE 12 (or younger): Go outside and play if you are going to do something like this. Dang kids today! There is a useful purpose to playing without a defense, however. You can get the timing down on the passing routes without the defense getting in the way, so once you're confident with that and hitting the receiver regularly, you can add in the defense and try it out in a virtual game situation. Once you've mastered that, you can add the play to your regular repertoire and use it against either the computer...or against your friends for a powerful added weapon. Practice, practice, practice! Especially if you're having trouble in game situations, PRACTICE! There. I think I've stressed it enough, but this is my catch-all answer to the problems some of you may be having with this game. If you don't have it down, practice until you do. Simple. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |=================| |4. BASIC STRATEGY| |=================| I presume that everyone who owns this game knows the rules of the sport of football. I also presume that everyone is reasonably familiar with standard football terminology. If not, I think Joe Theismann wrote "Football for Dummies"...I recommend moseying over to the local Barnes and Noble and reading it over a cup of Starbucks. |===========| |4A. RUNNING| |===========| The old axiom about the running game is "three yards and a cloud of dust". 3 lousy yards isn't going to get you any national championships unless it's 3rd and 2, so you're going to need to learn the kind of techniques that will turn a slow freshman running back into Barry Sanders if you're going to compete. The best running plays for turning the corner with a fast back involve running the field in a zigzag pattern from hashmark to hashmark. If you're lined up on the right side of the field, run left...and vice versa. The best plays for this are the HB Toss Left and the Triple Option Right, both out of the I Formation, but remember that the computer (and your friends) have a learning curve and can stop this before too long. Therefore, you should also become adept at running up the middle, the secret of which is to do so sparingly (for the element of surprise), or as part of an unpredictable strategy in which your opponent never knows quite who will get the ball or where he will go. That latter strategy is excellent for teams with two strong backs who can both carry the ball well. At any rate, the running game shouldn't be your only weapon unless either you have a HORRIBLE passing attack or excellent running backs who can play smash mouth football so well that you're tempted to sing "Hey now, you're an All Star" whenever they have the ball. |===========| |4B. PASSING| |===========| If you want to mix it up and tie your opponents up in knots, there are few better ways to do it than to put the ball in the air. Whether it's short out patterns to the backs in the flat as part of the West Coast offense, or long bombs à la Randy Moss ("go long!"), the passing games can force the defense to stretch itself out, meaning your running backs will have more room to work. The run sets up the pass, and vice versa. It's always fun to break off a 30- yard touchdown run after passing the ball up the field, then yell "You will respect my authori-ty!" at your downtrodden friend to break his spirit. The key to throwing a good long bomb is to hold the button down about ¾ of the way between a little popgun throw and the low bullet. This gives the pass the perfect combination of speed and hang time, and is battle-tested by me, my old roommate, and three of our friends. It works...almost TOO well if you've got the timing down right and have good wideouts. The other thing about the long bomb is to try this strategy which is virtually impossible to defend if you don't make it too obvious that you're going to do it: Use the Shotgun or Shotgun Spread formation, and call a Hail Mary pass. Send the left side slot receiver in motion to the right, then throw the pass to him. If the defense is in zone coverage, it's a guaranteed touchdown. If the defense is in man coverage, it works about 35-60% of the time depending on how many defensive backs are in the formation. The defense for this is to call a defensive play that double-teams the slot receiver, a defense that can be seen by the offense when two guys follow that slot guy across the field. If you see that the defense is on to you, audible to a short pass (preferably out of the same formation) or wait for everyone to get downfield then run with your quarterback, a tactic that can gain 20 yards or more if you do it right. The key to a good short pass is to use the hashmarks and throw to the running back as if you were using a run play. Often the back will have some daylight, but if he's covered you may end up with another, better option to throw the ball. Make up your mind in Practice mode as to what the QB's read progression will be on each play so that the defense will have to work harder. If you have to write it down and practice it in actual game situations, by all means do, but have your strategy down to a science before you use it against a human foe because preparation is the difference sometimes between scoring touchdowns and throwing interceptions. |===========| |4C. DEFENSE| |===========| Scoring points is not enough to win unless you do so every time you have the ball. You've got to play defense. A key stop in a pressure situation can be a real confidence boost to you and make you play better on offense as you move in for the kill on your disheartened opponent. Against the computer, only six defensive plays matter. These six defenses are almost as good against humans as well...but learn a few more schemes in Practice for use against humans who are good at exploiting man coverage or running through a front line. The six defenses are as follows: 4-3 MAN: Standard defense, equally good against run and pass, and the only one I call against the computer until I'm way ahead and it starts calling a lot of desperation pass plays that require a more pass-oriented defensive strategy. NICKEL MAN: Like the 4-3, but good on third down and when ahead by between 21 and 35 points, or late in the game with a 14-21 point lead. NICKEL DOUBLE OUTS: Good against teams that like to throw to the receivers, this defense can lead to a LOT of interceptions for your defensive backs. DIME MAN: See Nickel Man above. Dime Man is like a "prevent" defense that actually works. DIME DOUBLE OUTS: Like Nickel Double Outs, this gives you a better chance of grabbing the big pick, but at a price of more Pass Interference calls. If you want to be a dirty little SOB about it, you can set "Defensive PI" to minimum in the "Set Penalty Levels" screen, but be advised that this is regarded by most skilled players as cheating, and is only done by pathetic LOSERS who don't know how to play the game for real. If you don't want to be regarded as a pathetic loser, then don't do this. You have been warned. Against human opponents, remember that linebacker blitzes are excellent for stopping the run, man coverages are better than zone coverages (because the AI was designed by apes), and fast D-linemen can make your opponent crazy as his quarterback is beseiged by mad-rushing human ogres bent on making him into lawn fertilizer. Speaking of the human ogres, you can try this neat trick for racking up your sack total against the computer (don't use it against human players who like to run to the right or you'll get creamed): Shift your defensive line to the left (press L1 before the snap). Take control of your left-side defensive end and rush around the weak side tackle (you should have superior speed, but hit circle for a speed boost right off the line if you're getting blocked). You should end up with a completely clear path to the QB, and if your guy is good enough and you have practiced this for long enough, you can end up with over 100 sacks in a season (the record at my house, held by my old roommate, is 157 sacks in a season, that's over 14 a game!)...a potent, not to mention NASTY, strategy. As I've mentioned, the counter for this tactic is to run to the right, or use draw plays to the left that go clean past the onrushing lineman. You should also note that this tactic only works if you're using a four- or five-man front. If you want to get a lot of interceptions, you should remember this one final tidbit: Unless you spend a LOT of time in Practice mode learning how to control your defensive backs manually, you'd be a LOT better off just focusing on the QB with the Ogre Rush tactic, and letting the computer play pass defense for you. I managed to get 2 INT's a game (25 for the season) while achieving 132 sacks with my DB (12 per game) and allowing precisely NO points the entire season (I won all 11 of my games plus the Sugar Bowl by shutout!) |=================| |4D. SPECIAL TEAMS| |=================| If the chips are down and you can't gain ground...Special Teams. If you're down less than three and the goalposts you see...Special Teams. If you pin your foe down you can make him frown...Special Teams. If your enemy scored and you can't take no more...Special Teams. The "Shaft"-like intro was to get your attention because people don't realize the value of special teams to winning championships. A good kicking game can be the difference between winning and losing a close game...it can also net you an extra three points right before the half which can come in REAL handy in the fourth if you're playing a human opponent who's almost as good as you are (but you've read this FAQ so he'll never be your equal). A punt that goes into the "coffin corner" can get you two points for a safety when your enemy has to start inside his own 5-yard line. And a kickoff return can take the wind out of the sails of an opposing player just as he thinks he's mounting a comeback (remember Super Bowl XXXI when Desmond Howard broke the Patriots' spirits with one ten-second flash of brilliance?)...so don't underestimate the power of the kicking game...it is called FOOTball, after all. First off, you should know how to punt for distance. If you're pinned down inside your own 35 and want to change the momentum of the game in a heartbeat, use the circle button for a low trajectory punt, aim it away from the return man, and (to a lesser extent) hope for a good bounce, which you'll get about 85% of the time, the remaining 15% being simply pure, unadulterated crappy luck. Lest you doubt the value of this, I once punted on first down from my own 20 just to see what would happen...and the opponent's starting position ended up being his own 11 yard line. That's a 69-yard punt, folks. Also, my coverage team got to the ball just as the return man got there, so he got puréed as soon as he picked up the ball. One quarterback sack later, my team had two points on the board and the ball besides. Next, you should know how to turn your field goal attempts into ballistic missiles. This often involves a suicide mission on third down, so be ready with this one. The idea is to set the ball up in the middle of the field, so you won't have to worry about aiming it between the posts (something that's VERY easy to screw up). Use the triangle (high) button on attempts shorter than 35 yards, the X button for 45 yards or less, and the circle (low) button on attempts beyond 45 yards, up to a maximum of about 61 (depending on the wind, your timing, and your kicker's skill; the longest FG I ever kicked was a 61-yarder). The suicide mission is best accomplished with a running play like HB Counter or FB Power (depending on which way you're trying to go), and if you get a first down with the running play, great, but otherwise it's a perfect setup for the kicker...just make sure you have a timeout left if you are doing this late in a half or game. It's embarrassing to run out of time because you didn't call time and couldn't get the kicker on the field. The "coffin corner" punt is good if you're out of field goal range or don't want to risk missing a 50- or 55-yarder due to wind speed or ball position. The idea is to aim the ball for the sideline in between the 5 and the goal line without putting it in the end zone (again, PRACTICE to get this right!) The opponent will start wherever the ball went out, and this method has the advantage of not relying on a stupid "pooch punt" which, you'll notice, always seems to go into the end zone. Ray Guy of the old Raider teams of the 70's was the master of this technique, and it seems like the tactic died when he retired. Finally, there's the art of the good kickoff return. There are two major methods to this...the Open Side technique, and the Robo-Cheese method. The Robo-Cheese method is so named because it's widely regarded as cheating, even though I think it's perfectly fair because it relies on skill and timing. The Open Side technique involves treating the KO return as if it were a standard running play and running to the far hashmark, oftentimes away from the advancing defense, leaving one man (the kicker or the outside rusher) to beat. If your return man is fast enough, this method is good for a touchdown about 20-25% of the time, especially after a safety when the kicks don't go as far. The Robo-Cheese technique is a variation on the Open Side technique. Instead of using the D-Pad to go around a tackler, run right at him, then press the juke move button to duck away from his tackle, then continue up the field. The reason this is regarded as cheating is that it's VERY difficult to defend, and if both players do it well, the game can degenerate into a game of "anything you can do, I can do better" with no offensive plays ever getting run. If your opponent is one of these types, you can get around this nasty tactic either by using the same method you use for punts (just be advised it doesn't work quite as well), or just kicking the damn ball out of bounds and letting the little schmuck have the 35 yard line. Or you can learn the Robo-Cheese method for yourself and out-cheese your opponent...or you can just outlaw it and beat the tar out of the violator when he does it...good for stopping annoying kid brothers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |==================================| |5. SLIGHTLY MORE ADVANCED STRATEGY| |==================================| Championships are not won on basic strategy alone...unless you're playing on a nice easy level like JV or Varsity. If you're going to win on All-American or Heisman levels (or regularly beat human opponents), you'll need a few more neat tricks to turn the tide of the battle in your favor. You've come to the right place to find them...read on. |==================================| |5A. KEEPING THE COMPUTER OFF GUARD| |==================================| The computer's playcalling AI isn't retarded. If you break off a nice 20-yard run, the computer's going to remember the situation and the play you called, and it's going to come at you with an unholy vengeance the next time you try to call that same play, coming up with a perfect, almost psychic defense in order to stop you. The counter for this is to use different play types in different situations. Don't run the ball on first-and-ten every time. Throw downfield on third and two. Don't be afraid to go for a long bomb on second and short, because the worst that will happen is that you'll end up with third and short unless you are a complete fool and throw a pick. Use a bunch of different plays to keep the AI from catching on to a different scheme. Run guys in motion. Use multiple formations. Do whatever you have to to ensure that you maintain the advantage over your opponent. This goes for human players as well...if anything, people learn even faster because they're not tied to an AI algorithm. Learn to vary up your schemes and plays...you'll be glad you did. |===========| |5B. AUDIBLE| |===========| The Set Audibles screen can be your best friend if you notice that your play is well-defended based on the defense at the line. If you've been calling a lot of running plays, the defense may have time to adjust, at which point you bust out the Hail Mary or other long pass audible to drive your enemy into a mental institution from your brilliant playcalling. The best audibles include one run to each side, one short pass to each side, and one long pass to each side. Audibles should have either a standard formation, or some other method of maintaining unpredictability to make the audible harder to counter by a friend or computer with good Defensive audibles of his own. These can mean the difference between moving the chains and being liquefied by charging defenders. |======================| |5C. STUPID STAT TRICKS| |======================| Unlike their baseball games, EA Sports football games don't have many creative ways to rig the stats. The best way I've ever seen to rig the Heisman voting involves having a team that has an inordinately focused offense on either the run or the air attack, which leads to one player in particular finding his way into the spotlight with an incredible season. This is often accomplished by either creating the school and making it a powerhouse in either the run (Smash Mouth) or the pass (Air It Out), allowing either the running backs or the QB to have spectacular, Heisman-winning campaigns. The stats can also be effectively rigged by setting the difficulty level to a lower setting against weak opponents to really let the carnage pile up, or declaring a "run up the score rule" which essentially states that if you are ahead by more than 15 points per quarter remaining in the game, you can shift the difficulty level down (on the grounds that the game is in hand) and maul the defenders for extra yardage and touchdowns. The difficulty level of stat rigging reeks of cheating, however, so use the Focused Offense stat trick if you have the skill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |=============================| |6. MASTERING THE DYNASTY MODE| |=============================| The true test of a team's worth is its ability to always be in contention for the national title. This is what sets programs like Florida State, Nebraska, Florida, and Ohio State apart from one-trick ponies like Oregon or Northwestern, who each had one great season then went into the Dumpster as far as the national spotlight was concerned. It's your job to take the school of your choice and turn it into a powerhouse...and your challenge to do this with a doormat team in a strong conference on a difficult level. Winning the title while playing as a team like South Carolina (SEC), Northwestern (Big Ten), or Duke (ACC) carries with it a lot more bragging rights than winning as BYU (Mountain West), Marshall (MAC), or Virginia Tech (Big East). |==========================| |6A. MOVING UP IN THE WORLD| |==========================| If you want to crank up your national ranking, there's no better way to do it than to simply win a lot of games. Even teams in absolute garbage conferences like the Big West and the MAC get noticed when they win ballgames. You might not land a spot in a BCS bowl your first year if you play as Buffalo and go 11-0 playing against MAC competition, but you will put yourself in a prime spot to make a title run in Year Two after grabbing some blue chips in a good recruiting class. Winning big has its advantages, winning over strong competition (the "doormat in strong conference" discussion above) has more advantages, and combining the two puts you in championship form. There's no trick to it. Just set a strong schedule if you can, even going so far as to play your Week 1 game at Hawaii so you get a chance to play a 13-game schedule with strong non-conference opposition. Every win helps, and a 13-0 season will be a godsend if you're trying to make things happen. Play in the WAC for an automatic shot at the Rainbow Warriors, allowing 2 extra games free and clear. If you want to cheat you can override NCAA scheduling rules and play a 16-game season by setting an opponent for all 15 weeks and playing in a conference that has a championship game of its own. Go 16-0 and you're virtually guaranteed a spot in a big BCS shindig. This is, however, considered cheating in most circles. |====================================================================| |6B. POWERHOUSE RECRUITING: A DOW JONES AVERAGE'S WORTH OF BLUE CHIPS| |====================================================================| If you want to recruit an awesome class, there are several rules you must remember: 1. ALWAYS use "Individual" recruiting. You want to be able to follow the progress of your recruiting efforts to guarantee that you get the best class possible with your recruiting resources. 2. The more games you win during the regular season, the more states you can recruit from and the more "points" you'll have toward coaching visits, which can swing a recruit's opinion of your school in your favor. 3. Coaching points are consumed at a rate of 5 per Head Coach visit, 3 per Assistant Coach visit, 2 per 2nd Assistant visit, and 1 per Graduate Assistant visit. The "Remaining Visits" are calculated based on this, and for obvious reasons, you can figure out your total points remaining by checking out the remaining number of Graduate Assistant visits. 4. Don't waste points on someone who doesn't have you in their Top 10 unless either there's no other option or you REALLY want him to come play for your school (you're going to build a team around him)...at which point you can go down to Top 25, but you'll need to spend a LOT of coaching points to lure him. 5. You can build a nice team out of Solid performers rather than Blue Chip talent. These players are especially suseceptible to Head Coach visits, and can often be gobbled up in the first couple of weeks of recruiting if you have a lot of coach points. The problem with them is that they're not really of much use to your team unless either you redshirt them or they reach their Junior year, but once they get some experience they're as tough as nails. 6. Elite players can be recruited early on if you have enough coach points from winning multiple championships. Simply send all four coaches to recruit each week until he signs...you may be able to recruit nine or ten players at a time this way once you've gotten good enough. If you're lucky, you'll fill all of your team's major needs in Week One or Two, leaving you free to search for guys to fill gaps in your offense or defense. 7. Don't recruit Blue Chip talent that won't ever be in the game. If you use a one-back formation, recruit ONE Blue Chip halfback and one solid performer to be the backup guy. If you use a lot of four-wideout sets, be sure and get four wideouts that are Solid or better. Likewise, make sure that your team carries six defensive backs who can play because you're going to be using dime coverages. Figure it out and use some common sense to avoid wasting coaching points and valuable time on guys who won't contribute. 8. Don't underestimate the value of a good kicker. Although it's ill-advised to spend all of your recruiting points on one, make sure you get a good one when the need arises. With enough coaching points, you could even get away with trying for a Blue Chip cannon-legged kicker. 9. If all else fails, use the Create Player mode and plug yourself (or your friends) into the game. |=================================================| |6C. KEEPING THE GAME INTERESTING IN LATER SEASONS| |=================================================| The key to keeping this game interesting largely involves playing tough schedules, trying to win games despite having a recruiting class largely consisting of "Backup"-caliber players, creating players and putting them in and watching their development (which has extra advantages which become evident in the next chapter of this FAQ), or simply enjoying the havoc you can wreak on your enemy as Blue Chips recruited before Year Two blossom into absolute monster player 5th year seniors in Year Six, with maxed-out stats and a killer instinct that makes them like a pack of wolves. Anything you can do to keep it interesting...well, that's why we all play these games, isn't it? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |==============================================| |7. CREATION MODE: WILL YOURSELF INTO EXISTENCE| |==============================================| If you've ever wondered what it must be like for God to create people, this is your chance to experience the wonder of being a supreme deity for yourself. You can create a school, create an entire army of players to staff any team, and watch each blossom into a powerhouse. You can make them as good (or as bad) as you like, and you can set your school's offensive and defensive philosophy to suit your style of play. |=========================| |7A. SCHOOL CREATION GUIDE| |=========================| Ever wanted to create an expansion team of your very own? Well, now you can give it the Old College Try as you set up a fictitious (or actual) school to take on the big boys themselves. I'll walk you through it as I create my ultimate college team, Rocket State University: First, you must choose a name for your school. This was easy enough...simply use the alpha buttons to type in "Rocket State". The words "State", "Tech", "Univ", "Of", "The", and "College" are included at the bottom to save you the trouble of spelling out these frequently used words. Next, you need a six-letter (or less) abbreviation which will be used for the score panel and any stat screens. For Rocket State, I used "RSU". Simple. Try not to pick a six-letter abbreviation already in use by another team, for the simple reason that it gets ROYALLY confusing. "ROCKET" would also be a good choice for a six-letter abbreviation. Choose the state in which your college is located. This affects recruiting, since you will be spreading out from your home state as you acquire more coaching points. After doing so, choose a city, which can be real or imagined since it's a typed-in name. Rocket State is in Wakefield, Massachusetts because I grew up there. You should also give your team a nickname...my team is the Marauders for reasons that will become evident later on. Choose a fight song next. There are ten "Generic" fight songs, composed and arranged by the sound guys at Electronic Arts. You can also steal a song from any college that has a song in the game. The good ones (with my notes) are as follows: |============================================================================| |SONG/COLLEGE |NOTES | |-----------------|----------------------------------------------------------| |Generic 7 |This is the best Generic Song | |Generic 9 |This is also a good Generic Song | |Air Force |Excellent choice for teams that like to pass | |Clemson |This has a Dixieland feel to it | |Georgia |Battle Hymn of the Republic: Salute when you score! | |Georgia Tech |The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech | |Michigan |This was in a Burger King commercial a couple years back | |Michigan State |As a Spartan fan, this song is a personal favorite of mine|
|Navy             |Anchors Aweigh!  Patriotic songs are cool.                |
|NC State         |This song WILL get stuck in your head...be forewarned.    |
|Notre Dame       |This song IS Saturday afternoons in the fall              |
|Ohio State       |This song was also in a Burger King commercial            |
|Tennessee        |The March Madness mix of Rocky Top is much better         |
|Texas            |Is this "I've Been Working on the Railroad"?              |
|============================================================================|

I finally decided on Generic 7, a tune which I've come to identify with my
team.

On the next screen, you'll be prompted to choose some of your team's features
which separate it from the pack.  You start off by choosing a rival.  Since my
school is in Massachusetts and will go into the Big East when I plug it into
Dynasty mode, Boston College was a natural choice for a rival.  You can set
any team you want (1-A or 1-AA) as your hated arch-nemesis.

For the Team Type, you'll be given a list of "grades" to show you the rough
differences in skill level between each style of play.  For my team, I picked
"Defense Wins Championships", because the offense may be lousy, but the D on
this team is so good that they can win a game by themselves with safeties, INT
returns, and field goals, because the kicker on this team has an artillery
mortar for a leg and the accuracy of a laser-guided missile.  You may wish to
go with "Air It Out" because if you're good on defense, you can win a LOT of
games by ludicrous margins with that setup.

Next, choose your logo.  The uniform colors will be affected by this, so let
your color preferences and your team's nickname be your guide here.  Since my
team is the Marauders, it makes sense that I should choose the Skull, and the
Uniform style number 3 is an excellent one, with an evil, intimidating look.

Your Stadium is next up, and you can choose any design from the sublime to the
utterly insane with this setup.  I like the Dome with Grass (just because you
really aren't supposed to be able to grow grass indoors), but for my stadium I
chose a Bowl with Upper Deck and that cool Blue Turf stuff that they use at
Boise State's home field.  There's something so...surreal about playing on
blue Astroturf, which is exactly why I love the stuff.

My Stadium:
Name (not seen in game): Roger Doucette Memorial Stadium (named after my dad,
who died in 1986)
Type: Bowl w/Upper Deck
Capacity: 117,000
Surface: Blue Turf
Midfield Logo: Team Logo
End Zone: Solid Color
Coolness Factor: Off the Charts

Once you've done this, you can save your created school to a Memory Card and
bring it to a friend's house for play against him.  You'll need to have it
saved if you ever want to use your team in Exhibition Mode or use it to create
a new Dynasty after the PlayStation has been reset.

|===============================|
|7B. PLAYER CREATION: THE BASICS|
|===============================|

To create good players, remember the following VERY simple rules:

1. Set your year as Senior, then go set your attributes.  Return to the Player
Details screen, change your year to Freshman, then save and exit.  This is not
considered cheating because you're eventually going to import the created guy
into Madden 2000 and you want to have as good a player as possible when you do
this.  Even if you're not going to import, you still have the right to create
excellent players because most people use this to create themselves and their
friends, and you want your guys to be as good as possible.

2. You know how I feel about cheat codes, but you can max out your player
attributes by typing the cheat code "BLUECHIP" at the Secret Codes screen.
Since this mode is so often used for fun purposes, this cheat code might make
the game more fun as you and your friends beat on the computer guys, but
personally I never use it, preferring to develop my players over five long
years into absolute madmen.  I have a quarterback created in my own image who
is a human monster with an arm that could function as a Mega Man weapon in the
Capcom series of that name.

3. If you don't like what you get because the number of attribute points was
not high enough for your tastes, simply back out of the creation screen and
try again.  You should eventually find a score that you like and that allows
you to create players that are good enough...this is if you don't want to use
the cheat code or want to at least maintain some small shred of honesty in
your player creation efforts.

4. It's rarely of any use to max out a stat beyond 80 on the player creation
screen.  Put the player on a team in Dynasty mode and develop him that way.
You can export your created player to the Saved Players file on your Memory
Card, which is the game's way of rewarding you for developing your talents on
the field instead of in the creation utility.

|==============================|
|7C. CREATED PLAYER STAT LIMITS|
|==============================|

Players at certain positions have maximum values beyond which they cannot
be created (but they can be developed as high as they can with a little game
experience), according to the following tables: (note that MXV stands for
MaXimum Value)

|==================| |==================| |==================|
|QUARTERBACKS      | |HALFBACKS         | |FULLBACKS         |
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV|
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|Agility       | 92| |Agility       |100| |Agility       | 80|
|Speed         | 80| |Acceleration  | 90| |Speed         | 75|
|Awareness     | 92| |Speed         | 90| |Carry         | 80|
|Throw Power   | 92| |Catching      | 76| |Break Tackle  | 75|
|Throw Accuracy|100| |Break Tackle  | 80| |Run Block     | 50|
|==================| |==================| |==================|

|==================| |==================| |==================|
|WIDE RECEIVERS    | |TIGHT ENDS        | |OFFENSIVE LINEMEN |
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV|
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|Agility       |100| |Agility       | 80| |Agility       | 68|
|Acceleration  | 92| |Speed         | 68| |Speed         | 52|
|Speed         | 92| |Awareness     | 80| |Awareness     | 88|
|Awareness     |100| |Catch Ability | 92| |Pass Block    | 80|
|Catch Ability |100| |Run Block     | 52| |Run Block     | 80|
|==================| |==================| |==================|

|==================| |==================| |==================|
|DEFENSIVE LINEMEN | |LINEBACKERS       | |CORNERBACKS       |
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV|
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|Agility       | 80| |Acceleration  | 80| |Agility       |100|
|Speed         | 68| |Speed         | 80| |Speed         |100|
|Awareness     |100| |Awareness     |100| |Awareness     |100|
|Tackle Ability| 92| |Catch Ability | 40| |Catch Ability |100|
|==================| |Tackle Ability| 92| |Tackle Ability| 88|
                     |==================| |==================|

|==================| |==================| |==================|
|SAFETIES          | |KICKERS           | |PUNTERS           |
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV| |ATTRIBUTE     |MXV|
|--------------|---| |--------------|---| |--------------|---|
|Agility       | 92| |Kicking Power | 92| |Punting Power | 92|
|Speed         | 88| |Kick Accuracy | 92| |Punt Accuracy | 92|
|Awareness     |100| |==================| |==================|
|Catch Ability | 92|
|Tackle Ability| 92|
|==================|

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|==============|
|8. COMING SOON|
|==============|

This FAQ is just about completely done.  If someone can tell me the maximum
number of points you can use to distribute to players at each position (using
the "Senior" technique discussed in Chapter 7B), please email me with that
information and I'll put your name in the next revision of the FAQ.

My next major FAQ project will be a March Madness 2000 FAQ which will have a
format similar to this one.  Also in the works is my running list of human-
compiled solution lists to every game of Windows 95 FreeCell (except for the
unsolvable Game #11982).

Also on GameFAQs.com, be sure to check out my FAQs for Triple Play 2001 and
Railroad Tycoon II, and email me telling me things you liked and didn't like
about this FAQ, because I'm always working to make my FAQs, Walkthroughs, and
strategy guides more useful and more interesting for all of my readers.  This
hobby of mine wouldn't be anywhere close to worthwhile without your feedback,
and I thank all of you who take the time to write in with your suggestions and
comments.  I read every email I get and try my very best to reply promptly to
everyone, especially those with a game-related question.

I'm on the GameFAQs Message Boards as "SimuLord", and I can be reached via
e-mail at rocketshow@hotmail.com.

This concludes this NCAA Football 2000 FAQ.  Thank you, and drive through.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------