Should You Use Home Field Advantage?

Last week we discussed about how quarter length can effect in-game statistics and how trying to obtain realistic stats was a bit different for everyone.

This week I want to talk about Home Field Advantage (HFA).

HFA is a neat little feature that tries to implement realistic, tough game atmospheres for visiting opponents.

HFA mainly effects a road team’s ability to call audibles and make route changes.

This made an impact on all offensive players who may not be able to hear the quarterback’s calls.

Normally, the higher the awareness and age of a player, the less effected he would be to such a loud crowd.

This means that veteran players could handle the pressure of being in a big game in a big stadium.

Younger, less experienced players will normally struggle to make the adjustments their quarterback wants them to make.

This feature can be turned on or off so today we will talk about my personal experience with it and what I think about for the future.

My Experience

I have always used the HFA feature as I feel this feature added a fun element to the game yet it did not break the gameplay in any way.

I personally enjoy playing on the road in a very tough environment where my controller is shaking as I try to make the right adjustments before a play.

I think it is neat when I have young pups playing on offense that struggle understanding that I hot-routed one guy to a Go or audibling to a new play altogether.

This feature has made a bigger impact on my gaming than one might think.

For those of you who have followed this site since its inception, you may have noticed all of the many offenses I have discussed, taught, and employed.

Have you noticed how little emphasis I put on audibles in any of those offenses?

This is because of HFA! All of my offenses are set up to where you have to do very little audibling play flipping, and hot routing.

I want offenses that are ready for any situation, especially for tough road games.

I believe a good offense is one where you can run the complete system, regardless of location and environment.

***I forgot to mention another reason why I normally don’t rely on audibles. My experience with NCAA 11-14 on the PS3 was very audible and hot-route heavy. Most gamers would audible on every play or adjust three routes before they snapped the ball. To me that either means the plays they picked aren’t very good or they try to exploit certain aspects of the game. I like having plays there are ready from the get-go. The whole audible/hot-route experience was a big turn-off for me which translated into 06. Okay, enough of the rant.***

This internal HFA debate started while I was working and practicing on a brand new offense that heavily emphasizes audibles and flipping plays.

In order for me to fully use all facets of the offense, I need to audible, motion, shift, and flip on a consistent basis.

This can’t be done with HFA turned on. Which leads me to…

A Change of Heart?

Okay, I have given you the reasons why I love HFA and all the good things about it. Now let’s talk about why it is completely understandable to turn it off.

NCAA 06 was created in 2005. Notice when calling audibles, flipping plays, and adjusting routes that the quarterback literally yells out the change he wants to make. Today in 2018, you don’t see QBs do any of this anymore.

We now live in the world of hurry-up offenses. More importantly, we live in a football world where signs and hand signals are the official lines of communication.

Coaches make all of the on-field decisions, they tell the offense what the next play is by either big goofy signs with Betty White and Snoop Dogg on them along with crazy hand signals that would make an MLB catcher blush.

If a coach wants to make an adjustment, guess what? More signs and signals.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this as in the grand scheme of things, these types of communication are often more efficient than simply yelling out the assignments.

All of this means is that the way NCAA 06 handles communication is basically outdated.

The signs and signals we see today cam completely negate crowd noise.

So instead of adhering to NCAA 06’s system, we can tailor it to us by simply turning off HFA.

By turning off HFA, one can now freely audible, flip plays, and hot route to their heart’s content.

Conclusion

Here is where I currently stand on Home Field Advantage. For me and my personal use, I will continue to use Home Field Advantage as long as my offense doesn’t heavily emphasize audibles, flipping plays, and using hot routes.

However, if my offense does use these features, then I will simply turn HFA off.

I have no ill will towards anyone who doesn’t use HFA as I understand why they would not use it.

Besides, HFA doesn’t coincide with today’s game since most teams used other forms of communication other than voice.

As stated earlier, HFA is not a game breaker anyways, although it is fun with it on, seeing the camera shake while the offense is trying to line up properly, and freshmen trying not to pee on themselves in front of 100,000 screaming fans.

What is your experience with Home Field Advantage, and do you still use it today? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.