What Exactly Did EA Change in the New Update?
TL;DR: EA fixed contains so they actually work now — your edge rushers won't get burned by scrambling QBs as much. They made halfbacks block the Texas 4 Man pressure WAY better with half slide protection. Those cheesy stemmed corner routes that were basically unguardable? Gone — can't stem routes below three yards anymore. Plus there's a new ranked mode in Ultimate Team with monthly rewards.
Let me break down what actually matters for your gameplay.
How Do You Set Up Contains That Actually Work Now?
No contains on the field by default. But if you press Right Bumper on defense, then tap Left Bumper (R1, then L1 on PlayStation), you'll see the outside guys — your outermost pass rushers — get into these hook angles.
These are contains.
Here's the thing — they actually work now. Tested it stock, totally base. The defender disengages well. Can't really get outside of him very easily. Works going left side too.
Even tested it in pinch style defense with contains. Much harder to roll out now. Where before you could pretty easily roll outside consistently and get leverage, potentially go upfield — now with contains, you immediately get disengaged and sacked.
Nickel Wide was really frustrating pre-patch because it wasn't containing well. Now it's doing a pretty decent job.
Big piece of advice: If you're running contains, you need ATHLETES at these edge positions. If you have dudes who are 350 pounds and can't move well — they're not going to be great contains. But if you have an athlete at the edge, he's going to be a pretty good contain because he can get after a mobile QB way better than someone less athletic.
How Do You Block Texas 4 Man Pressure After the Update?
If you've played College Football 26 at all, you've probably experienced this pressure right here at least a little bit. This right here is the Texas 4 man, and when it comes in, it absolutely screams.
EA says: "Running backs now handle Texas stunts more effectively when using half slide protection."
Here's how to set up the block:
- Block your halfback - Wire triangle, select the halfback
- Pass block him - Right trigger
- Select half slide - Tap left bumper or L1
- Choose direction - Use right stick to go half slide in either direction
Testing results? We actually pick it up now. The halfback actually does a little cut block. He doesn't totally knock down the defender who's coming in free, but he does go for the cut block on him and he does engage on him.
The halfback getting shedded is NOT the same as him missing the block. That's just a halfback against an elite edge rusher.
This is one free tip on blocking pressure. Members get the full defensive counter guide with 15+ more pressure beaters, updated weekly. → civil.gg/become-a-member
What's the Deal with Auto Base Protection?
Every play in the game comes with one of a few different stock pass protection. Like Flood Switch comes with base blocking already stocked. Corner Strike has empty blocking — those dotted lines. Play action plays come out with a half slide to the left.
Now though with the right stick, we're able to click in, go down into auto base protection, and put that onto a pass pro. So every play we choose already has the same pass protection. It always stays the same.
The default I suggest you put this on to begin every game is base.
BUT — if someone's running Texas 4 Man all game:
- Click right stick in
- Go down to auto base protection
- Instead of just turning it to base — go into a half slide right or a half slide left
When we break the huddle now, we're going to already have this half slide activated. Then we don't have to do anything except for blocking our halfback.
Why Can't You Stem Corner Routes Down Anymore?
EA updated route stems to a three-yard minimum. This change enables defensive backs to react more realistically, creating better balance between offense and defense.
You could take these short corner routes and stem them all the way down. They would get a speed burst which made them almost unguardable.
Testing it on Corner Strike:
- Press Y or Triangle
- Select this B wide receiver
- Hold LB to custom stem
- Try getting him lower
You actually see we can't get him underneath three yards.
When we snap this ball — before what would have been a speed burst is now just a normal corner route.
Other routes affected:
- Stock post route — won't go any lower than three yards
- Out routes — like on Clemson, can't stem them down anymore
I'm super happy with this change. To me, it seems really fair.
What's This New Ranked Mode in Ultimate Team?
EA just added a NEW game mode into College Football 26 Ultimate Team called head-to-head ranked. This is meant to take over as THE competitive game mode inside of Ultimate Team — where each game actually matters.
There are 7 different rankings:
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Elite
- Hero
- Champ
- Tier One (Top 100)
Inside each rank is 3 tiers. So you start at Bronze 1, then 2, then 3, then Silver 1, 2, and 3, Gold 1, 2, and 3 — so on and so forth.
Per Win: 5,000 coins for EVERY win. This appears to stay the same no matter what tier or rank you're in.
But where things get INTERESTING is that on the first of the month, these seasons will reset.
When they reset, whatever tier you finish in — you will get a Kendall Daniels (or whatever that month's unique player is) for that rank.
- Top 100: 92 overall Kendall Daniels with discounted ability buckets + 250K coins
- Champion: 91 overall Kendall Daniels + 100K coins
- Bronze: No coins and only 83 overall Kendall Daniels
Also notice — the Top 100 reward is NOT BND. All the other ones ARE BND.
This will reset every single month and is going to be played on the Heisman game difficulty.
How Do You Beat Contain After the Update?
You can manipulate contains by faking outside and going inside. That's something they probably can't totally negate because that happens in real life too. You fake outside, then scramble back in.
But it's a harder game to play now.
What still needs work:
- Animation issues — there's still a weird thing where players run into each other before they animate into a sack or tackle animation
- Throws across your body are still good from what I've seen post-patch
- Would like to see more of those weird animations result in sacks
The key is knowing when to use your scramble and when to stay in the pocket. If they're containing heavy, hit those quick passes underneath. Make them pay for committing extra guys to the edge.