This week delivered the demo for NCAA Football 11 from EA. Over the years these games have become mostly roster updates and painfully gradual improvements to gameplay mechanics. Given how realistic and fluid NCAA Football and Madden have become in recent years, it’s not hard to understand why each year doesn’t bring a slew of new features and overhauls.

It can be a daunting task to simply think up a few outstanding ideas for these titles that don’t already exist. For example, check out what ESPN has listed as nine enhancements to this year’s edition of NCAA Football. While some are welcome changes, a few are so minor and even relevant to a handful of teams, that to call them features is a little much. That said, I welcome each year’s installment of NCAA Football and Madden. As a guy yearning for football season these titles release when the anticipation is nearly unbearable. So much so that I buy NCAA Football each year to simply hold me over for a month until Madden releases.

NCAA Football 11 is more of what you want as a fan of the sport and college football specifically. There’s not a lot to say other than it’s a seemingly worthy entry into the series. One component to either football title that I key in on every year is the feel of the running game. The passing game and defensive control generally feel very similar to me year to year. The running game, however, tends to shift from year to year. Some years I’ll find the running game to be too stiff and not quite responsive enough to simulate the elusiveness of a great running back. This year’s installment really has done an exceptional job in the running department. Even down in the trenches I feel like I can find a small hole in the line, break free of an arm tackle, and bust off a large gain. In some versions running into a small hole at the line of scrimmage is effectively a 1 yard gain at best. This year, it feels like the realism of creating big plays from bleak situations is possible in the running game, and I’m really excited for that.

This year also feels like an emphasis was made on the wide variety of offensive styles seen in college football. The demo points them out clearly when making your game choice and the video above does a good job of breaking them down. I haven’t spent enough time evaluating the implementation of each in the demo but their emphasis in the demo is inspiring. Hopefully that becomes a real selling point in creating a more simulated experience.