If you can’t make it to the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte for a preview of the 2024 football season, EA Sports College Football 25 has you covered. Launching Friday, it marks the first collegiate football video game since NCAA Football 14.
Curious how Duke, UNC, and N.C. State stack up? Before spending upwards of $69.99 on the game, read on to see how these Triangle teams and other ACC rivals stack up.
North Carolina
Scores: 85 overall, 82 offense, 84 defense
The game’s ratings for North Carolina are, in my opinion, puzzling. The Tar Heels feature Max Johnson, a Texas A&M transfer rated 82 overall, as the default starting quarterback — nevermind the current three-way battle for that position.
Key player ratings include star running back Omarion Hampton (93), Kaimon Rucker (91), Bryson Nesbit (88) and Willie Lampkin (88). Yes, you read it right, Lampkin is rated the same as first-team All-ACC tight end Nesbit.
Think you can transform this Drake Maye-less team, coming off an 8-5 season, into a bowl contender? Step into coach Mack Brown’s shoes and test your skills in the game’s Dynasty mode.
Duke
Scores: 82 overall, 80 offense, 74 defense
The Blue Devils feature seven uniform combinations, including home and away options, multiple helmets and popular all-black alternate jerseys. I particularly enjoyed playing with Texas transfer Maalik Murphy (rated 81) and emoting with the unique “Bull City” gesture at Wallace Wade Stadium.
And if the on-field exploits become boring, I suggest you switch over to “Dynasty” mode, where you can manage football programs and focus on recruiting. Duke boasts its scholastic prowess here, earning an ‘A+’ grade for its academics, alongside Rice, Stanford, Northwestern, California and UCLA.
N.C. State
Scores: 87 overall, 87 offense, 82 defense
EA Sports did its work on this one. Authentic features include “Wolfpack” hand signs and “Fury” — the bronze wolf statue at the team’s tunnel entrance — along with real crowd noise.
Outside of the “Play Now” mode, the transfer-heavy Wolfpack are a sleeper pick in “Road to the College Football Playoff.”
While 17 N.C. State players are missing from the initial roster, they are likely to be added in updates. The game ranks the Wolfpack’s offense 16th nationally, and includes top-rated players like Kevin Concepcion (89), Aydan White (88) and Grayson McCall (88), but that still wasn’t enough to prevent my double-overtime loss to Tennessee. Sad.
How about the other ACC schools?
Top Teams:
Clemson: The Tigers are highly rated at No. 6 overall, but the best part is the game’s electric pregame entrance.
Florida State: Rated No. 12 overall. As with Clemson, I was disappointed at the lack of a gameplay element for its ACC media rights lawsuit.
Miami: Controlling this explosive offense with quarterback Cam Ward and Damien Martinez was super fun, especially closing out a game in victory formation.
Notable Players: Cal, Boston College and Georgia Tech are carried by Jaydn Ott (ranked 25th), quarterback Thomas Castellanos (79 rating) and wideout Eric Singleton Jr. (85 rating) respectively.
Transfer and Roster Highlights:
Louisville: I had a blast putting this transfer-heavy roster through a range of trick plays à la Jeff Brohm.
SMU: The Mustangs and quarterback Preston Stone performed well in the ACC, at least through my gameplay.
Pitt: Come for the classic throwback uniforms, stay for the roughly 20 missing players.
Unique Features:
Syracuse: At least playing in the JMA Wireless Dome was fun.
Virginia Tech: Enjoyable gameplay with Kyron Drones made even better by EA Sports’ generic version of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
Stanford: Elic Ayomanor stands out, as does the outdated school logo.
Bottom-Tier Teams:
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