I failed you a little bit, my football game-playing friends. I was working on something about one of the most broken plays in the history of EA's College Football/NCAA series, but it got hit with the nerf bat before I told you about it.
Penn State has one of the most creative playbooks in the game, but its piece de resistance was RPO Power HB Swing from the Wildcat Wing Flex formation. It was already a good run, but something about it caused the defense to dumb out. This made an already powerful play into a game-breaking glitch. The most recent College Football 26 patch fixed this and a host of other issues.
I have been a Penn State playbook enjoyer for a while (I swear I use some of the other plays), so I immediately had to see what they had done to my boy. I challenged Ohio State on Heisman difficulty, and my first experience with the new RPO Power HB Swing was a surprising one.
I ended up with 42 rushes for 143 yards and three rushing scores, not bad for a play that's been butchered. I typically got one of two results. Either a defender came screaming in and blew up the run immediately, or the middle was wide open and I gained 10 -12 yards. It's a high-risk, high-reward play now. It kind of always was, but your opponent had to know the right steps to stop it.
Now the powerful RPO is a tool in your toolbox, where before it was duct tape and could hold almost anything together. I actually found a fair amount of success using it like a "Tush Push." In any short yardage situation, it must be respected.
Even without its ability to turn the opposing defense into a bunch of NAIA players, RPO Power HB Swing wields a tremendous amount of power. The Wildcat dominated the NFL for a couple of months for a reason.
And even with the nerf, the Nittany Lions have one of the most creative offenses in the game, featuring unique formations such as Gun Gate and Wing Off 3 TE. I'm running it a lot, and we will definitely revisit it here on App Trigger.