90 percent of the country had never heard of him before January 1st

Quote :

"But doing what everyone expects has gotten EA Sports into trouble as of late. Its library of next-generation sports titles have received lukewarm reception from fans for being feature-light and a tad, well, boring. At the same time, interest in current-generation games is waning as they seem to have reached an innovation plateau. So, EA decided it's time to do the unexpected. The cover athlete of NCAA Football 08 will be Jared Zabransky. Jared Zabransky? Casual football fans around the country are wondering, "Who the heck is Jared Zabransky?" Hardcore fans already know the answer. The former Boise State quarterback led the Broncos to an undefeated season in 2006, and Z, as his friends call him, compiled a 32-5 record as a starter. For those keeping track, that's more wins than Smith, Leak and Quinn, and more than every other quarterback at the 2007 NFL Combine."

http://sports.ign.com/articles/769/769819p1.html

3/5/2007 2:43:10 PM

im fine with that.

im suprised people still dont know who he is after the fiesta bowl

3/5/2007 2:44:33 PM

hahaha

i guess this will be the official game thread now

i know a certain someone who is going to be pissed

3/5/2007 2:45:19 PM

it prob wouldve been Peterson had he played a full year

3/5/2007 2:46:05 PM

They ought to put a senior from the championship team on...ie Chris Leak

3/5/2007 2:48:47 PM

or Troy Smith

3/5/2007 2:54:42 PM

^ hahahahahahahahahahahaha

3/5/2007 2:55:45 PM

Quote :

"im fine with that."

3/5/2007 2:57:53 PM

too bad Meachem didnt get the nod, eh?

3/5/2007 2:58:07 PM

no, that would be dumb... kind of like putting Troy Smith on the cover

3/5/2007 2:59:17 PM

Heisman Trophies are a pretty dumb too

3/5/2007 3:00:57 PM

Seeing Ted Ginn return the opening kickoff for a touchdown and thinking you have the game in hand is pretty dumb too

3/5/2007 3:02:20 PM

Quote :

"im fine with that. im suprised people still dont know who he is after the fiesta bowl "

3/5/2007 3:03:13 PM

^^^ yeah, the Andre Ware cover of NCAA is my mostest favorite ever!



or is it the Jason White cover? fuck, maybe its the Chris Weinke cover, I cant decide!

[Edited on March 5, 2007 at 3:04 PM. Reason : d]

3/5/2007 3:04:00 PM

I had two years worth of Archie Griffin on my Atari ESPN College Footeball

3/5/2007 3:07:10 PM

does the athlete on the cover get an endorsement deal since he's out of school? If so, that fiesta bowl was worth boi$e for him.

3/5/2007 3:10:01 PM

more like boi$e $tate

3/5/2007 3:11:06 PM

haha, talking shit about someone who won two straight heismans wont win you many arguments...I dont even know what team(s) you are a fan of

and why dont we wait a few years and see how he does in the NFL before we close the case on Troy Smith, since that really is the only basis that you are using to describe other past Heisman winners lack of success...one bad game doesnt make you a bad quarterback

3/5/2007 3:11:32 PM

Quote :

"Its library of next-generation sports titles have received lukewarm reception from fans for being feature-light and a tad, well, boring. At the same time, interest in current-generation games is waning as they seem to have reached an innovation plateau."

So the solution was to deviate from the expected box art. Looks like I'll sit out 2008 as well.

3/5/2007 3:13:47 PM

I wasnt talking about just his last game... i was talking about the shitty work ethic since, and how all the GM/coaches are really down on him now, and how his draft stock is dropping... doesnt exactly sound like someone they would want on their cover right now.



and the Meachem comment just shows that you cant be objective... it has nothing to do with me liking or not liking Troy Smith. I could care less about him really, but I just think it would be a stupid decision to pick him for the cover, just like it would be stupid to pick Meachem.

[Edited on March 5, 2007 at 3:18 PM. Reason : d]

3/5/2007 3:17:04 PM

that's gay as hell!

3/5/2007 3:31:48 PM

Quote :

"They ought to put a senior from the championship team on...ie Chris Leak"

3/5/2007 3:36:04 PM

Well if Troy Smith were to be on the cover at least he can take the cash now and not get suspended for breaking the rules!

3/5/2007 4:54:27 PM

Quote :

"They ought to put a senior from the championship team on...ie Chris Leak"

what do you mean? they did!

oh you meant the championship team with the worse record

3/5/2007 9:09:36 PM

I like having Zabransky on the cover, fuck those other doods.

3/5/2007 9:12:51 PM

Is this one going to be on PS3?

I haven't been keeping up.

3/5/2007 10:05:11 PM

Quote :

"hahaha i guess this will be the official game thread now i know a certain someone who is going to be pissed "

hahah no i wont

3/5/2007 10:21:18 PM

Z was pretty awesome at one of those "college all-star" deals...

He's pretty nasty

3/5/2007 11:05:48 PM

If you actually read the entire article and paid attention to the new direction that EA is trying to take NCAA Football 08' you can understand why Zabransky is on the cover.


Basically, EA understands the entertainment value of Boise's State perfect season and trick plays and are implementing it into their game.

3/6/2007 12:29:30 AM

^ oh oh, dont know if I like that... dont want it to turn into a gimmick-fest, like Gamebreaker did

3/6/2007 12:32:38 AM

^^ oh, i understand it... i just don't think it'll boost sales any...

they should have just gone with Quinn or Russell...

who's going to remember Zabransky 3 years from now? is he even in the draft? i haven't heard his name mentioned since january 2nd.

3/6/2007 9:17:26 AM

I wish they could implement a stadium editor, so that you can add on to the stadium if you build your program into a national power. That's now a common part of college football. I mean if I take Appalachian State up to Div. I-A and become a powerhouse, then ticket demand is going to go way up, and I'm going to need to accomodate this by expanding the stadium some. Also they could have it where if you add on too quickly then you'll have empty seats. Plus improving your facilities can help boost recruiting.

EA really makes me mad though with their college basketball game. I mean seriously, they can render all the 119 Div. I-A football schools stadiums, including Florida International University. Why can't they at least perfectly render all of the major basketball conference school's arenas, and some of the popular mid-majors. It's fucking rediculous that the only ones that they can do are the teams that are historic basketball schools (sometimes not even that, case in point State, Villanova, etc.).

3/6/2007 11:51:16 AM

i'm still more interested in NCAA Basketball 08' though. Unless Hickson and Smith dont come around untill the 09' game but I doubt that.

3/6/2007 1:31:19 PM

^^Yeah I hate our "RBC Center" on the game has 17,000 for attendance and it has the old Reynolds block S in the center on 2khoops

3/6/2007 1:52:34 PM

I havent bought a bball game in years... which one is the best now? and by best I mean most realistic and "deep"... i dont really care about graphics as much

3/6/2007 2:07:56 PM

^^ what does the RBC Center look like on 2khoops? On EA Sports, well the 2005 game, it's called the E&S Center and is a generic arena that looks something like Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye arena. The only teams in the ACC that they bothered rendering their arenas perfectly was UNC, Duke, Maryland, WF, and Miami (<--- wtf?). They kind of got GT's arena right, but they use the same model for pretty much all the teams with those terrible domed-stadiums that put the middle-seats the farthest from the court (i.e. UVA, Purdue, ND, and others). They got the Verizon Center (G'Town) right but didn't get Villanova's arena (where the 76ers play) correct. I mean that shouldn't have been too hard to get Villanova's arena in there since it was already rendered in their NBA game. Wisconsin's Kohl Center is some weird three level arena that looks like that arena in Kansas City that hosted that pre-season tournament that pitted Duke against Marquette. This same model is used for other schools like Missouri, Illinois and some other schools. How can they render Oregon State's arena perfectly, but get State's RBC Center, the RAC at Rutgers, Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena, Reed Arena at Texas A&M, Florida's O'Connell Center, and Michigan's Crisler Arena wrong? There just seems to be a lack of effort put into the college basketball series. If it costs me $10 more for better graphics, controls, and properly rendered arenas instead of generic ones, then I'll happily pay it.

[Edited on March 6, 2007 at 2:09 PM. Reason : ]

3/6/2007 2:08:07 PM

zabransky did well during the combine, he was tied for first in running the 40 with quarterbacks AND wide receivers.


His stock is going up, Smith's Stock is going down. Apparently Smith is difficult to work with and might fall under the Heisman Curse that Jason White did.

3/7/2007 12:03:25 PM

Quote :

"zabransky did well during the combine, he was tied for first in running the 40 with quarterbacks AND wide receivers."

He was frst among QB's that participated, but Brady Quinn, Jemarcus Russell, Troy SMith, and Isaiah Stanbeck did not run (will at Pro Days). He was NOWHERE near the top in Wide Receivers... his 4.58 (which he did both times) would put him at about #32 in WR and that is without 7 players running the 40 (including Ted Ginn Jr and Dwayne Jarrett). I've seen Zabransky ranked anywhere from 9 to 13 for QB's... definitely a 6th or 7th round draft pick, if at all.

3/7/2007 1:42:38 PM

I still think that NCAA football would be so much cooler if they allowed you to expand/build new stadiums for your team (like in ownership mode on Madden)

3/8/2007 12:26:09 PM