Professor Jeremy: How to Play Defense

Our resident guru shares the strategies he uses to find success on Heisman difficulty.

Aug 07, 2024

If you fancy playing on College Football 25’s highest difficulty setting, Heisman, playing defense can resemble something more like nuclear physics than football. But despite the difficulties of taking on the computer at the peak of its powers, there are still strategies you can employ and weaknesses you can manipulate to slowly turn yourself from 2019 UMass to the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

While I’m still trying to get that elusive National Championship, I’ve won four conference championships (two in the American and two in the ACC) with Charlotte and reached the title game but lost to Oregon - all on Heisman.

Here are a few of my personal tips on how to play better defense on Heisman after more than 100 hours of play time on CFB 25.

PICKING A PLAY

Generally, your play selection will have a lot to do with your level of success on a particular down. With that in mind, here are a few tips to keep in mind when picking your play.

When it comes to defending the run, I always like having four down linemen, so any formations like 4-3, 4-4 and 4-2-5 are my go-to sets. But if your team’s base defense normally features three linemen, 3-3-5 isn’t a bad option thanks to the three linebackers at the second level.

Defending the pass, on the other hand, is a bit more tricky to master. My No. 1 tip if you’re playing an opponent of equal or greater strength is to avoid press man coverage at all possible. If you’re in a bad matchup, the AI quarterback will find it nine times out of 10, and you’ll be giving up long bombs left and right.

If I’m expecting my opponent to throw and I’m worried about my corners in man coverage, I typically always run Cover 3 and make my user one of the linebackers playing the zone in the middle of the field. Back in the old days I always used to user a defensive end to try and get after the quarterback, but that is no longer a viable strategy against these new AI signal-callers.

Another bit of advice is to use blitzes sparingly, especially man blitzes, because the computer will shred you if you don’t end up creating any pressure. I can’t tell you how many times my safety blitz was immediately countered by the QB throwing to his wide open tight end in the seam.

BEFORE THE SNAP

The Golden Rule when it comes to playing defense pre-snap in College Football 25 is to pay attention! The computer, like user players, has certain plays it likes to run several times a game. If you start to recognize the signs of a play before the quarterback calls for the ball, you’ll find yourself in better positions to make plays and avoid giving up points.

Perhaps the most important thing to pay attention to pre-snap is any motion the AI opponent is doing. A tight end set in motion from one side of the line to the other is a sure sign of a trap run, while receivers coming in motion could be ready to take a jet pass and get around the edge.

One of my favorite personal defensive moments came in the following clip. Playing against FCS Midwest, I recognized a receiver motion I’d seen several times already that game, jumped the screen and earned myself a pick-six.

AFTER THE SNAP

If you’ve done enough prep before the snap, the rest should normally take care of itself. But the action after the ball is hiked separates the good players from the great.

This might sound like an easy tip — albeit one I frequently ignore — but you’ll want to use more normal tackles (A or X) instead of hit sticks (right stick) when trying to bring down ball-carriers in the open field. A missed hit stick will take you out of the play entirely. While mistiming a normal tackle will still allow you a second chance at the defender most of the time.

Hit sticks also cause fumbles less often in this game than in Madden, from my personal experience. If you want to try and force a fumble, try using the “strip ball” button (RB or R1) instead. It can lead to some missed tackles, but it can be surprisingly effective if one of your teammates is already wrapping up the ball-carrier and you come in to finish the job with your user player.

If you’ve taken all these tips to heart and are still struggling on defense, don’t get discouraged! Just try focusing on the small things, namely, allowing field goals instead of touchdowns. This is College Football, after all. Pretty much everyone outside of the elite defensive teams gives up 30 or 40 points every now and again.

Jeremy Vernon is a Featured Columnist for Four Verts: An EA Sports College Football 25 Substack. He also writes about the MLS and NWSL for Field Level Media, and his previous stops include Sporting News and MLB.com. You can follow him on X @jbo_vernon and on Twitch @jbovernon. When he isn’t working, you can likely find Jeremy at the dog park with his two-year old lab mix, Summer.