Two extremely OP abilities in College Football 26 are not active right now while EA Sports figures out a way to balance them. Battering Ram and Aftershock were doing way too much work, so they've got to go for a while. The word just came down from the CFB Ultimate Team X account:
Heads up! Battering Ram and Aftershock have been temporarily disabled.
— CFB Ultimate Team (@EASPORTS_CUT) July 18, 2025
The update will change their AP cost and attribute requirements. If you have them equipped, you will need to deactivate them in your lineup screen.
We will update you when these abilities are available… pic.twitter.com/gGvzu282vB
Battering Ram, an offensive ability, causes more Wear and Tear to defenders that tackle runners equipped with it. Aftershock is the defensive version of the ability. CFB's Wear and Tear mechanic, which causes players to stack damage and lose attributes as they participate in more plays, was already controversial. Despite complaints, EA not only kept the mechanic, but is building more around it as evidenced by these two Wear and Tear specific abilities.
Also, Wear and Tear will appear in Madden NFL 26 as well. I suspect it has abilities similar to Aftershock and Battering Ram, and they're getting the once-over as well.
It's really starting to feel as if the whole Wear and Tear mechanic should go the way of the "Vision Cone." I understand what they're trying to do, but we're in Year Two and this is yet another example of a way it doesn't work.
I mean, is there anybody playing CFB 26 that is out here enjoying this mechanic? Not using your favorite players, especially in a mode such as Ultimate Team where you have either grinded or paid for them, just doesn't feel fun.
The only alleged benefit I can think of is it making the game slightly more realistic. Even that only seems to work with running backs. Major college football programs are not shuffling their starting quarterbacks in and out of the lineup after they have taken a couple of hits in the first quarter.