The latest entry in EA Sports' college football video game franchise will hit store shelves on July 13. What better way to get a feel for the 2010 Boise State football roster than to peer into the looking glass through the eyes of Boise State's video game team.
Did Kellen Moore score a 99 rating? Is Titus Young really better than Austin Pettis? And what have they done with Brenel Myers? Find out the answers to these questions and more, after the jump. Plus, a Kevin Sapien sighting.
EA Sports brought back its lauded TeamBuilder feature from a year ago so that we all can waste a good hour-and-a-half trying to recreate the 2001 Boise State football team. Also, the TeamBuilder feature lets you upload any current roster and get a sneak peek at player ratings for each school. Sneak away, Bronco fans.
Note: Players and positions are per EA Sports and not, you know, the real world. I am fully aware that Dustin Kamper does not play cornerback. Also, these ratings may change, pending my scathing letter to EA's ratings algorithm.
Kellen Moore on HGH.
Kellen Moore not a 99 but significantly better than every other QB
Boise State life force Kellen Moore scored a 96 overall rating, which easily tops his 90 from last year and hints at a possible 99 in next year's version. He is the new Tecmo Bowl Joe Montana, this much is true.
While he is undoubtedly the best quarterback in the WAC, there have been offseason rumblings from preseason magazines that he is not the best quarterback in all of college football. Well EA Sports thinks that is just ludicrous.
Player | Rating |
Terrelle Pryor | 90 |
Jake Locker | 91 |
Ryan Mallett | 88 |
Case Keenum | 90 |
Among the top quarterbacks in the country, none come close to matching Moore's 96 rating. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Sporting News!
On a sadly related note, Colin Kaepernick is only a 91. Looks like he and Graham Watson will have much to discuss at their weekly fro-yo date.
And now the moment that Titus Young has been waiting for: Titus Young's speed score
A 93. Out of 93, I assume.
Kevin Sapien lives!
The retired Boise State lineman called it a career this offseason due to a bad everything, but EA Sports said "injuries schminjuries" and threw him in the game anyway.
Instead of a bad neck, it appears EA Sports gave Sapien brain swelling and eyebrow balding.
Brenel Myers' Luddite convictions win out
Boise State OL Brenel Myers was not included on the EA Sports roster despite the fact that he is a starter, a Fiesta Bowl hero, and a whole lot better than Jake Broyles. Fortunately, Myers owns a Gamecube so NCAA Football releases stopped mattering to him in 2006.
This year's unidentifiable Boise State football player
Last year, EA Sports included a gaunt latchkey child who they apparently found wandering too far from his fourth grade class field trip. This year's random video game inclusion? Clooney-beard Richie Brockel.
I preferred African American Richie Brockel myself.
Poor Joe Southwick, or should I say Haley Joel Osment?
By far, the Boise State player with the harshest review from EA Sports was Joe Southwick. Think the competition between Southwick and Michael Coughlin for Boise State's No. 2 QB is close? EA Sports doesn't. Coughlin got a 72 rating. Joe Southwick looks like a 14-year-old.
Southwick's overall rating is a 55, which most high school quarterbacks could achieve. His awareness rating is a 40, which is typically reserved for children who live in bubbles. His throw power is 74 and his throw accuracy is 72, but those numbers mean significantly less when you consider the prepubescent girl's body that EA Sports has stuck him in.
Compared to Joe Southwick, Brad Elkin is an Adonis.
Titus Young > Austin Pettis, and other observations
- Young was a 95. Pettis was a 94. Oh to be a fly on the wall of the WR meetings this season.
- Nate Potter got some well-deserved due for being awesome by scoring a 94 rating as the team's top offensive lineman. Not far behind him? Will Lawrence at 92. This may be the highlight of Will Lawrence's career.
- Michael Ames got an 86, apparently because someone let Bruce Feldman into the ratings room.
- Tommy Gallarda and Kyle Efaw are both 76s. I want to hurt something.
- Mitch Burroughs: 74. Byron Hout: 71. BAD WORDS!
- The worst player on the Boise State football team according to EA Sports is QB Mikey Tamburo.
See the full Boise State roster
Head over to EA Sports' TeamBuilder page to build your own Bronco team and get a look at the full ratings for each Bronco player. I would have you visit the team I created, but saving online content is not something I am particularly good at apparently.
Your turn
What are your thoughts on Boise State's player ratings? Think Kellen Moore should be higher? Think Joe Southwick should be more manly? Will you be buying NCAA Football 11? Share your thoughts in the comments.