Florida Atlantic University football players sat in front of a row of screens at the University Center, playing as none other than themselves in the new EA Sports College Football 25 game.
The franchise's return after an 11-year hiatus has sparked excitement across world of the college football, but student-athletes aren't the only ones getting in on the action.
FAU has presented football fans with a unique challenge, and the student body has risen to the occasion.
The first FAU student to provide proof of winning a national championship with the school's football program in EA Sports College Football 25 will win a pair of season tickets for the upcoming year of football games.
To stamp an exclamation mark on that challenge to its students, FAU hosted an EA Sports launch party at the school's eSports arena on Tuesday, featuring a number of student-athletes playing the game, free food, and FAU videogame cases.
"It's honestly a dream come true," Florida Atlantic University's Andre Lamas said of the opportunity to play as himself and teammates in the game. "I guarantee that everyone else will say that, too. Growing up, everybody played these games."
As an offensive lineman, Lamas doesn't often play as himself, opting to run FAU's offense from the perspective of his quarterback. And when he does play as a lineman, it's as a teammate.
"I've always got to do the dirty work in the game, so I just want to be one of the fast guys . . . best player? My boy Federico," Lamas said. "I like to show him some love. I'll go and switch over to him and get a couple of pancake [blocks] here and there."
Maranges, FAU's starting center, laughed at his teammate's admission, acknowledging that he, too, enjoys seeing his character tally a few virtual pancake blocks each game.
But being able to do that in a videogame is something he had to see to believe.
"It's something you never thought was ever going to happen," Maranges said. "They finally let us be in the game, and it's an amazing opportunity and an amazing experience just to be able to see your name on a screen and play with your same name. It's a dream come true."
From his backfield teammates "running guys over" to receivers "catching bombs," Maranges had a hard time narrowing down who his favorite teammate is to play in the game.
Some players found the gaming experience more difficult than others, and others have found inside-joke opportunities.
CJ Campbell Jr. has already had fun calling up teammates to discuss their character's virtual mess-ups.
"If one of my teammates messes up, I can just call them and be like, 'hey man, on the game, I don't know what you've got going on, but you need to tighten up,'" the running back joked.
For Campbell Jr., who has played since he was seven years old, the newest edition of EA Sports' college videogame came naturally, evidenced by his shutdown victory over a CPU-controlled Ohio State on the screen in front of his teammates.
The one gripe he has with the game? His own rating.
"The rating is a 72," he said. "And the biggest thing is, like it can stay as a 72, but my speed at 86 is kind of crazy, because I just ran 23-plus miles per hour, so you've got to get that up. 86 speed has to go up to a 90-plus."
But that aside, he's having a world of fun.
"I've played almost all the Madden [games], but I don't think I'm going to play Madden anymore with College Football 25."
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