I Played CFB25 for 24 Straight Hours: It was as Glorious as it was Humbling

I've waited 11 years - nearly half my life - for the release of EA Sports College Football 25. 

As silly as this might sound, the NCAA Football video game franchise was one of the most important parts of my childhood. It helped develop my love and passion for college football and was part of what led me to pursue a career in sports media.

But I'm not a gamer by any stretch, in fact, I haven't played video games since my copy of NCAA Football 14 stopped working around 2017. That's why I was so excited for the return of this franchise and knew I couldn't miss out on the mania. I bought a PlayStation 5 just for this game, and when it was suggested that I play it for 24 straight hours, I felt like I was cheating life.

To me, there's no greater sport than college football. This video game franchise epitomizes how ridiculous and zany it all is, and it's the one game that people across the industry are united in praising. The work the developers did to get it right is more than I ever could have dreamt of in its return.

CFB25 Play Now mode

4 p.m. ET (Monday, July 15): I've been waiting 11 years for this game, I can barely put into words what it feels like to finally be diving into it. I'm having flashbacks to all the times my brother and I played NCAA growing up. I'm shaking right now as I get started.

4:01 p.m. ET: This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Chris Fowler's voice is giving me goosebumps watching the intro to the game with the bands playing Welcome to the Jungle in the background. This is ART.

4:02 p.m. ET: Here's the part where I have to admit that I'm an Ohio State fan - the game has you choose your favorite team off the top. I'm not an alum and I've never even been to Columbus. But as a Canadian with no affiliation to any school, I became a bandwagon Buckeyes fan. But not because of the football team - although it did lose back-to-back national championships as I was becoming a fan - but because of Greg Oden and Mike Conley in 2006!

4:06 p.m. ET: I'm rusty and haven't played video games in years, so I'm starting on the varsity difficulty like a coward. I'm diving into play now mode to try and get a handle on all the new changes.

4:10 p.m. ET: Starting off with Ohio State vs. Akron to make sure I'm competent enough to beat one of the lowest-rated teams in the game. Wearing Ohio State's black alternates - the jersey customization in this game is jaw-dropping - and playing a night game at The Horseshoe with Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit on the call to give it that big game feel.

4:15 p.m. ET: Just got absolutely cooked by Akron's tight end on third and long. We are off to a ROUGH start. Maybe I should stick to writing and not gaming.

4:17 p.m. ET: SPOKE TOO SOON!!! JUST HAD AN 82-YARD PICK-6 WITH DENZEL BURKE, BABY!

4:27 p.m. ET: Just had another pick-6... this time with Davison Igbinosun. Good reminder Ohio State has one of the best cornerback tandems in the country, but maybe playing varsity mode against one of the worst teams was a little unfair. Who cares, I plan on dropping a 70-burger.

4:35 p.m. ET: Just realizing J.T. Tuimoloau isn't in the game for the Buckeyes. I'm holding out hope he's pulling an Arch Manning and waiting for the bag to drop a sick commercial. They have a fictional player named "Tyler Bourne" in the game instead of Tuimoloau. It's sort of like when Barry Bonds was replaced with players like "Jon Dowd" and "Reggie Stocker" in MVP Baseball and The Show.

4:40 p.m. ET: Taking a delay of game on my first offensive snap as a way of honoring the years we went without this game.

4:45 p.m. ET: You can definitely feel the difference in talent level out here like it's a real Saturday in the fall when a powerhouse program mops the floor with a lowly Group of Five school.

4:51 p.m. ET: Kicking is HARD. Feeling like Pat McAfee when he helped blow West Virginia's shot at playing for the national championship in the Backyard Brawl. Nothing will ever top the 2007 season of college football.

5:06 p.m. ET: Passing is HARD. This game is so in-depth, in the best kind of way, that I feel like I'll never grasp all the little intricacies. EA did an incredible job and I still can't believe this is real. 

5:15 p.m. ET: This game is like a love letter to college football. The team who developed it is clearly made up of diehard college football fans, and honestly if that weren't the case, I don't think this would have worked. This isn't a college version of Madden. It's the best sports video game franchise ever made (NCAA Football) coming back from the dead.

5:40 p.m. ET: After a missed PAT and a blown two-point attempt, I'm up just 68-0 with 53 seconds left. Luckily, I'm getting the ball back as I chase this 70-burger.

5:43 p.m. ET: This was my Super Bowl. Three ugly incompletions in a row and facing a 4th & 10 with the chance at a 70-burger on the line. I turn to Chip Kelly and tell him to dial up his best play. We call a fake screen to freshman Jeremiah Smith with a running back wheel. Will Howard drops back knowing he can't let me down and lofts it up to TreVeyon Henderson who pulls it down and takes it 60 yards to the house. The 70-burger was accomplished. 

5:55 p.m. ET: Thanks to a third pick-6 (and a second missed PAT) with 15 seconds left, I beat Akron 81-0. But now it's time to get serious. And nothing is more serious to me than #MACtion.

6 p.m. ET: It's Toledo vs. Bowling Green in the Battle of I-75. Turning on the snow setting to make it really feel like a Tuesday in November at the Glass Bowl. Also playing on All-American this time around to humble myself. As a Jason Candle truther (he should be a P4 head coach), I'm controlling the Rockets. 

6:20 p.m. ET: This game is shockingly realistic. There's been as many interceptions in the first quarter as there's been points (three). I've thrown two of the interceptions and scored zero of the points. This is a little tougher with comparable teams on a harder difficulty! 

6:25 p.m. ET: Just fumbled and they scooped n' scored. This really is a #MACtion football game. Almost threw my controller at the TV.

6:57 p.m. ET: It's going poorly to say the least. I'm down 24-7 and have turned the ball over six times and missed a chip shot field goal. One of them was my dog Pumpkin's fault though, she barked at me on a key third down and I got flustered and threw a pick.

7:08 p.m. ET: Well, I lost 27-7 and threw six interceptions. Maybe I shouldn't have put the opponent in all white uniforms in the snow. On the bright side, Terion Stewart is a monster in this game for Bowling Green, and he's probably my favorite sleeper running back in the 2025 NFL Draft.

7:12 p.m. ET: I'm a glutton for punishment, so now I need to experience playing on the road against a high-level program. Since I'm repping my Arizona State shirt from Homefield, I'll be taking the Sun Devils to Autzen Stadium to get my ass kicked by Oregon. I'll 100% be pretending the Pac-12 didn't die and playing this at night time as if it's a #Pac12AfterDark game.

7:32 p.m. ET: After the first quarter, I'm down 21-0. My QB can't see the plays/sees the wrong plays pre-snap because it's so loud and he's not very good. Every run play feels like when you see the mascots playing kids at halftime of a game and they're actually trying. I'm getting eaten alive out here.

8:15 p.m. ET: I feel humiliated and will not be revealing the score of that game. The Pac-12 is dead, so this never happened.

8:25 p.m. ET: First of all, I'm going back to varsity mode because I have no business playing on All-American. Second of all, it's time for some real football. Army vs. Navy in the rain. I always loved watching Keenan Reynolds, so I'll be rolling with the Midshipmen.

8:45 p.m. ET: RUNNING THE TRIPLE OPTION IS GLORIOUS.

9:01 p.m. ET: Defending the triple option is not glorious.

9:31 p.m. ET: I just screamed. After scoring with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 13-13 I allowed a TRIPLE OPTION team to throw a 72-yard game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left to lose 20-13. I need a minute to process how bad I am at this game. 

9:40 p.m. ET: I swear I used to be so good at NCAA on my Xbox in high school and college that I'd beat all my friends by double-digits, even when I had consumed far too many beverages to call rational plays. Now, at 29, I'm washed. 

9:45 p.m. ET: Consuming my third coffee since starting this ridiculous project and got a pep talk from my partner. She said it's better content that I absolutely suck. So I will press on, and this time I'm playing as Georgia against lowly Vanderbilt. Need to build my confidence back up.

10:17 p.m. ET: Just had a punt return touchdown. I am so back. That was one of the most electric moments of my life. Uga even woke up from his nap to celebrate that one.

10:46 p.m. ET: If I can throw for 400-plus yards and five touchdowns with Carson Beck, then he should probably be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Shoutout to the Bulldogs for getting my mojo back, I won 68-7. But that's enough of that, it's time for the real reason we all bought the game.

CFB25 Dynasty mode

10:50 p.m. ET: Choosing your first dynasty team is never easy. But as a kid, my brother and I would almost always choose whichever team made the leap to the FBS that year. Seeing as it's been 11 years, there are almost as many new teams as there are reasons to not hire Hugh Freeze as your head coach. Sorry, Auburn.

10:53 p.m. ET: People have been giving the streamers who made a big deal about picking their school for dynasty - like how a recruit would - flack but I wish I was cool enough to do that. Instead, I'm looking at the nine schools who have previously not been in the game at the FBS level. That means my options are Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, James Madison, Jacksonville State, Sam Houston, and Kennesaw State.

10:55 p.m. ET: As much as I want to pick the Mountaineers out of respect for the 2007 team embarrassing No. 5 Michigan, App is far too strong a program to start with in dynasty. Coastal would have been cool if it was still built to run the spread option - especially on the teal turf - but Jamey Chadwell is at Liberty, and you couldn't pay me to pick it. Plus, the Flames are too overpowered with Kaidon Salter.

11:01 p.m. ET: I have an affinity for Jacksonville State simply because Rich Rodriguez is the head coach. He was the man who invented the offense that made Pat White and West Virginia the coolest team in the country... boy, do I miss the old Big East. I partially credit that conference with my love of college football. In Canada, we didn't always get many options for games to watch, but every Thursday one of the local channels picked up Big East games. And they used to play the now-defunct International Bowl in Toronto between a MAC school and a Big East program - I went to two of them. In my house, players like White, Matt Grothe, Tony Pike, and Donald Brown were the kings of college football.

11:06 p.m. ET: It was a difficult choice, but I'll be taking over as offensive coordinator at Kennesaw State. It's the newest school in the game, reps black and gold - and I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, yes I bandwagon everything - and its nickname is the Owls, and I have an owl tattooed on my arm. This is the best choice for me and my family, please respect my decision.

11:18 p.m. ET: Creating my coach and going with the "tactician" label over "motivator" and "recruiter." My favorite coach of all time is Mike Leach because of the way he and Hal Mumme looked at their situation at Iowa Wesleyan and adapted by inventing the air raid. However, I'll be running the spread option rather than the air raid - throwing the ball is hard as hell in this game.

11:47 p.m. ET: Might be in over my head, both with this project and with my dynasty. My starting QB at Kennesaw State is a 63 overall and only 5-foot-9, 190 pounds. And y'all thought Bryce Young was small.

11:51 p.m. ET: Made my recruiting board and my second-highest target was a one-star QB. Didn't even make it a week before he locked me out. Come play for the Owls where the worst recruits in the country don't even want to play. It's fine, we'll perceive through this. #OwlUp, #HootHoot.

12:35 a.m. ET: They said we couldn't do it. They said there was no way we'd walk into the Alamo Dome and beat UTSA. But we ran over those Roadrunners and now they're road kill. This 24-17 victory will go down in the history of Kennesaw State football #HootHoot. (Thinking I need to try this on All-American now or else I'll be called a poser.)

12:58 a.m. ET: Just threw a pick-6 to a defensive tackle. Who let me turn the difficulty up?

1:15 a.m. ET: We got too high on our own supply. We thought we were the best team in the state of Georgia after beating UTSA, but it turns out we're probably not even the best team in Cobb County. Louisiana beat us 42-14 and now I'm remembering why I had turned it back down to varsity mode.

1:51 a.m. ET: Nearly 10 hours in and was hitting a wall. So, I drank two cups of coffee and beat the hell out of San Jose State 42-34. Now I'm more alive than ever, we're building something special in Kennesaw. #HootHoot!

2:26 a.m. ET: My quarterback has upset me to the point I'm Googling who Kennesaw State's richest alum are so I can email them about funding an NIL collective to bring a QB to my beloved Owls who can actually throw. Anyway, I just lost to a generic FCS school called the Pandas.

3:08 a.m. ET: WHY IS KICKING SO HARD!? (I just missed a game-winning 35-yard field goal against Jacksonville State and ended up losing in OT.)

3:30 a.m. ET: The sandman has me in a chokehold and is trying to take me out, but I continue to fight back. I simply refuse to sleep. I'll be listening to my favorite college football podcast - Split Zone Duo - with the volume on full blast through my headphones. Perfect episode, too, with Ben Haumiller, the principal game designer for CFB25, on the show.

3:55 a.m. ET: Just hurdled a defender to score a touchdown and I'm starting to feel myself a little bit. Could I be good, even great, at this game?

4:08 a.m. ET: After playing this game for 12 straight hours, I just lost to an awful Middle Tennessee State team by two. I think I'm getting worse the more I play. Could I be the worst CFB25 player in the world? 

4:35 a.m. ET: Stole this one from Marv Levy, but after that last game I needed to inspire the team so I recited to them an old poem. It goes, "'fight on, my men,' says Sir Andrew Barton, 'I am hurt, but I am not slain; I'll lay me down and bleed a while, and then I'll rise and fight again.'" It worked, we upset Liberty 28-25. That's Owl pride. #HootHoot.

5:21 a.m. ET: I have a photo of McDonald's mascot Grimace and Big Red, Western Kentucky's mascot, saved on my computer for a reason I can no longer remember. So losing 37-15 to the Hilltoppers was a tough pill to swallow. I think I need to take a break from dynasty.

CFB25 Dynasty thoughts

For as much as I clearly struggled to elevate Kennesaw State as offensive coordinator, this is exactly what all of us diehard NCAA Football gamers wanted from the return.

It's more in-depth than ever with the recruiting and you can actually feel the lack of talent when operating with a low-end Group of Five team. The gameplay, the transfer portal, and recruiting being hard is a good thing.

If there was one complaint with the old version of the game, it became too easy to elevate a bad program quickly.

On top of that, getting to choose a program and feel the pageantry and tradition associated with that school, or when at an opposing school, is unbelievable. That's exactly what makes a Saturday in the fall so special, and you feel it in dynasty mode.

When you're on the road and the controller's shaking and your quarterback forgets the play with thousands of fans screaming, that's college football. I cannot wait to spend more time playing dynasty mode and truly immersing myself in it. And for non-diehard college football fans, this game can show you what makes the sport so unique and beloved. 

CFB25 Road to Glory mode

5:30 a.m. ET: Forever loving smaller schools, I'm definitely going with the "underdog' archetype for my Road to Glory player. Feels especially fun with the transfer portal aspect allowing you to move to a higher-end program if you're good.

5:35 a.m. ET: As for what position to choose, I think running back has to be the way to go at this point. We've all seen how ugly it gets when I'm in charge of a passing game. Plus, nothing feels more college football than a physical running back in the MAC. I can picture it now, a 35-carry game that just barely goes for 100 yards in a 13-9 win.

5:45 a.m. ET: The design of this player, who I've dubbed Thunder Mack, takes inspiration from former MAC running backs like Peny Boone, Carson Steele, A.J. Ouellette, and of course, Travis Prentice.

5:55 a.m. ET: You're probably thinking that's a ridiculous name. Well, there are players named General Booty (Oklahoma), Rowdy Beers (FIU), and King Large (SMU) playing college football this season, so it's really not that absurd.

6:15 a.m. ET: While dynasty mode is forever my favorite, I used to be obsessed with Road to Glory as a kid. I still remember my first Road to Glory player that I exported to Madden. It was NCAA Football 09 and I had a safety named Greg Liddell. Played his whole collegiate career at Miami, where he was an All-American (of course), and then grinded out 17 years in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, and Tennessee Titans.

6:45 a.m. ET: I'm spending way too long hammering out the details of Thunder Mack. He hails from Canton, Ohio, the birthplace of the NFL, and comes in at 5-foot-10, 240 pounds with so many accessories that it gives him the least amount of swag you've ever seen.

6:55 a.m. ET: I'm definitely drawing inspiration from players like Jerome Bettis and Mike Alstott for his aesthetic. But only if they were more like those guys on TikTok who eat raw meat and claim not to be juicing when they clearly are loaded up with tren.

7 a.m. ET: It's now thunderstorming where I am, seems like a good omen for Thunder Mack's future.

7:20 a.m. ET: Thunder Mack will be signing his national letter of intent to play for the Kent State Golden Flashes. Didn't realize Kent State's an Under Armour school though, so he has negative drip now.

7:35 a.m. ET: Really appreciate that the developers took the "whole hog" approach of showcasing what it's like being a collegiate athlete. Texting with coaches/teammates to build trust, NIL, needing to practice to move up the depth chart, academics, etc. It's amazing that this much care went into this game. They understood the mission and came through for all the diehard fans of this sport.

7:52 a.m. ET: Kenni Burns, Kent State's head coach, must hate Thunder Mack because I'm stuck as fourth-string on the depth chart - I'd hate him too for his aesthetic. Mack didn't touch the field in the season opener but the Golden Flashes beat Pitt at Acrisure Stadium (it's still Heinz Field to me), which is objectively hilarious.

8:05 a.m. ET: Pat Narduzzi losing to Kent State in the opener has become even funnier. The Golden Flashes lost to an FCS team by double-digits in Thunder Mack's second game - which he also didn't play in. I hope we lose out so that Pitt win just gets more comical. 

8:12 a.m. ET: Didn't play again, but I don't even care. Kent State somehow beat Tennessee in Neyland Stadium 43-37. So the Golden Flashes have two Power Four wins and an FCS loss to start the season, that's glorious.

9:09 a.m. ET: Thunder Mack still hasn't touched the field eight games into the season, but Coach Burns finally gave him a chance to move up the depth chart and he let the entire town of Canton down. I can't be blamed for this, clearly he didn't want it enough and is content with being fourth on the depth chart. He's brought shame to his family.

9:45 a.m. ET: Coach Burns gave me, I mean Thunder Mack, another shot at winning the position battle and this time he put the whole state of Ohio on his back. He's officially the third-string running back for the Golden Flashes, some say he's the best third-stringer in all of America, maybe even in the entire world.

9:59 a.m. ET: OH MY GOODNESS, COACH PUT THUNDER MACK IN THE GAME AGAINST MIAMI (OH).

10:01 a.m. ET: I'm proud to say Thunder Mack played three snaps. Two were pass-blocking snaps and the other was for a QB kneel. Electric.

10:16 a.m. ET: Last game of the season needing a win for bowl eligibility and Kent State lost. Coach Burns didn't even put Thunder Mack into the game. He could have been the difference, he could have been the second coming of Dri Archer - if Archer was built more like Mike Tolbert.

11:09 a.m. ET: Road to Glory isn't easy when you choose the lowest-rated recruit option. Despite grinding through practice the whole season and earning the third-string role, in Thunder Mack's second season, he's back to fourth on the depth chart. I appreciate the realism with this mode, even if they keep sleeping on Mack. 

CFB25 Road to Glory thoughts

My biggest takeaway is that it was overblown how upset people were that they removed the high school aspect of this mode. While it was fun to build up your player at the high school level and earn scholarships, this mode has so much more in it than the previous versions that I half forgot they removed playing high school.

Sure, it's a little anti-climactic just choosing between being a two, three, four, or five-star - and picking whatever school you want - but it's a freaking grind to level up. 

I probably shouldn't have started this with a two-star, but I thought I'd at least have a chance to get on the field at a program like Kent State. That obviously wasn't the case, and it wouldn't likely be in reality either.

Adding the NIL, academics, and social aspects to this mode has improved it so much since NCAA Football 14. I enjoyed playing this a lot more than I was expecting and I'm excited to go back to it and try my hand with a blue-chip recruit. Again, the developers killed it with how real it feels. 

Playing the CFP National Championship in CFB25

11:30 a.m. ET: I would be foolish to not play a mock national championship game before the 24 hours is up. I've always loved this franchise allowing you to play in any bowl game, so let's head to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the natty. You just know this game will nail the presentation of the national championship.

11:40 a.m. ET: I really went back and forth on which two teams to match up here. Naturally, I was going to be Ohio State and play Georgia or Oregon - the three favorites to win it all this year - but I want to utilize programs that I haven't seen in action yet. So, how about new SEC rivals Alabama and Texas - I'll be controlling the Crimson Tide because I realize how beneficial a mobile QB is and Jalen Milroe has 91-speed.

12:02 p.m. ET: Something this game does really well is highlight how much of a difference a good QB like Milroe or Beck makes for an offense vs. a QB who's mid-tier or worse. It's just so much easier to move the ball down the field with Alabama than it was with Kennesaw State. You're thinking, "Well, no duh," but in NCAA Football 14 you didn't feel the difference all that much.

12:19 p.m. ET: Speed at wide receiver is a cheat code in this game. Isaiah Bond just torched me for an 80-yard touchdown just before halftime to take a 17-14 lead. It's a real nail-biter in Atlanta. 

12:30 p.m. ET: One strange thing I've noticed is the amount of roughing the punter penalties caused by the computer - I've seen probably six or seven so far. Just had a nice third down stop and Texas punts it away to me, but the computer roughs the Longhorns punter. Shake my head, that kid will be running stadium steps tomorrow.

12:40 p.m. ET: Down six with four minutes to go, Milroe and Jam Miller carried the offense down the field - a strong rushing attack makes such a difference in this game. Bled the clock and scored with one minute left. But defense is so impossible that Texas marched down for a field goal with 31 seconds left. Here we go.

12:42 p.m. ET: We did not go. I immediately threw an interception with Milroe to lose the natty 30-28. How am I so tragically dreadful at this game?

Playing CFB25 online

12:55 p.m. ET: It's time to play another human. Luckily, I don't have to play some 12-year-old kid who would curb stomp me while calling me names. My best friend AJ also has the game so we can clash for bragging rights.

1:05 p.m. ET: We're doing a classic SEC game at Death Valley and playing the Magnolia Bowl with AJ operating as LSU while I go with Ole Miss. I like to imagine how weird a Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin conversation would be. Two very different kinds of people.

2:04 p.m. ET: To nobody's surprise, I lost 41-27 to LSU. But on the bright side, AJ was struggling with all the same issues as me, so I felt less useless. We both suck at defense, we both can't kick, and we both are shaky throwing the ball over the middle. The Death Valley effect was real, too. Jaxson Dart was rattled the entire game, and so was I. 

2:15 p.m. ET: Round 2 is a little Sun Belt, Fun Belt action between Appalachian State and Georgia Southern aka "Deeper than Hate." I'm repping the Mountaineers at home with AJ as the Eagles. This is real football, baby!

2:58 p.m. ET: The "Deeper than Hate" rivalry lived up to it. With the game tied 26-26, I got the ball back with five seconds left. With time for one Hail Marry, Joey Aguilar threw it up to Kaedin Robinson and the ball bounced off his hands into Christian Horn's breadbasket for the Mountaineers' win! It was reminiscent of Appalachian State's game-winning Hail Marry against Troy in 2022. 

3:03 p.m. ET: Playing online was a wicked amount of fun, especially because I didn't feel overmatched for the first time in like 20 hours. My biggest takeaway though was how smooth online play went, there were zero issues on either end despite how busy the servers definitely are right now.

Final CFB25 thoughts

3:05 p.m. ET: Honestly, what more can be said? I've said a lot, probably too much, and some of it might not even make sense. I was definitely out of it between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., but this was one of the coolest experiences of my life. This game is everything I wanted and more, and I'm just so happy it's back for a younger generation to love it the same way those of us who played it growing up always have and always will. This is more than a game to me, just like college football is more than a sport to me.

3:08 p.m. ET: Looks like there's just enough time for me to beat Texas A&M at Kyle Field. Be right back.

3:15 p.m. ET: I'm beyond exhausted, but it's my duty as a hater to beat Texas A&M before the 24 hours are up. Someone needs to silence the Yell Leaders, why not me?

4 p.m ET: Kansas 23 - Texas A&M 17. See y'all online.