Getty Image / Andy Lyons
After an 11-year hiatus, an officially licensed college football game is back. EA Sports’ College Football 25 is set to return On July 19.
We’re all excited for the game to come back, and there are still a ton of people who play NCAA Football 14, the final licensed college football game before EA Sports shut down production of the series due to potential legal issues stemming from likenesses being included in the game without compensation .
Even though the old games never had names, we all knew who the players were. Ohio State’s QB #7 was Troy Smith, Oklahoma running back #28 was Adrian Peterson, and so on and so forth. In fact, by the end of the series, players could download rosters from other gamers that had meticulously put in the correct name for all of the game’s players.
While many have kept up with those roster updates over the years that kept the NCAA Football 14 community alive, that’s a small minority of overall players. Frankly, we missed out on getting to play with so many awesome players over the last eleven years
LSU RB Leonard Fournette, 2014-2016
Leonard Fournette has had a successful NFL career, but he was an absolute physical freak at LSU. At 6-0 228 with great power and speed, Fournette would’ve been so fun to build a run game around.
Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey, 2014-2016
Christian McCaffrey was the do-it-all player that would’ve had longtime players of the franchise reminiscing about how good Reggie Bush was on the series back in his USC career. Stanford was pretty good at the time, too, and McCaffrey would’ve been nearly unstoppable in the game in so many different facets.
Penn State RB Saquon Barkley, 2015-2017
Arguably the biggest athletic freak at the position in the last decade brought Penn State back from the depths of sanctions to national prominence once again. He was a superstar from his first action as a freshman, and his insane agility would’ve been so fun to use with the sticks.
Louisville QB Lamar Jackson, 2015-2017
Anyone who plays football video games knows how fun it is to have a true dual-threat quarterback, and the 2016M Heisman Trophy winner was arguably the best dual-threat quarterback we’ve had during the hiatus. His speed rating would’ve been close to a 99, and he would have been so fun to run the spread with.
Michigan DB Jabrill Peppers, 2014-2016
Yeah, just playing with a defensive back isn’t all that fun, but that’s not all Peppers could do. He featured in the return game and even on offense for the Wolverines and could pretty much do it all on the football field at Michigan. His versatility would’ve been fun to use as Michigan returned to glory under Jim Harbaugh.
The 2019 LSU Offense
Yes, this is more than just one player. But, how can you choose between Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire? Altogether, they made up arguably the greatest college football offense ever, and this would’ve been a team no one wanted to play against online.
Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray, 2016-2018
The last year of the game featured Texas A&M QB #2, AKA Johnny Manziel, fresh off his Heisman Trophy. He was so fun to play with, and while there will never be another Johnny Football, Murray may be the closest thing since. He actually started at Texas A&M, but it was playing for Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma where his style of play won him a Heisman Trophy. That freewheeling style would’ve been so fun to play with, especially since he was so small.
Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle, 2018-2020
Fast and shifty wide receivers are always fun to play with, and while his teammate Da’Vonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy, Waddle would’ve been more fun to play with. The exceptionally agile and fast-twitch receiver would’ve been used in so many different ways by gamers.
Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr, 2021-2023
The son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison made a name for himself at Ohio State as one of the most unguardable wide receivers we’ve seen in college football lately. While he had a great final season with quarterback Kyle McCord under center, the connection we all would’ve loved to use would’ve been the CJ Stroud-Marvin Harrison Jr. duo.
USC QB Caleb Williams, 2022-2023
The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and 2024 NFL Draft first-overall pick started his career at Oklahoma, but he became the best player in the country at USC. Ultimately, his dual-threat ability and insane arm talent would’ve given players who prefer an air raid offense an unstoppable weapon.