Although this topic is a month or so old, it pertains to the Run & Shoot, which is something I know very well. One thing I can tell you Gigem is that the Run & Shoot in NCAA 11 is not the true Run & Shoot. The true R&S has option routes for WR's on every play. The playbook in the game only has a handful of true R&S plays. That doesn't mean you can't use SMU or Hawaii's playbooks, just understand that those are not true R&S offenses.

Some helpful tips on the passing game...

I currently use UTEP's playbook because it has 5- wide both under center and in the gun, but the same principles will apply to the SMU playbook. Let's say you call 60 Go and you are on the left hash, w/ the Trips WR's on the right, or open side of the field. My first read is the inside slot WR who runs the quick out. My second read is the next WR who has an option of either running a hook, a post or a go route. Since you are on PS3 and I am on XBox, I will diagram this using the lettering that the R&S actually uses, instead of A, B or Triangle or Square...

60 GO:

X..........................................LT...LG ...C...RG...RT.................................... .............................Z
.................................................. ..............................W..................Y

.................................................. ......QB...SB

Some R&S teams call the 4th WR other things, but in the original Mouse Davis/June Jones playbooks he is called W. Also, the RB in the R&S is SB, which stands for Super Back. So... W runs the quick out and Y runs the option route. Z runs a wheel route up the sideline and X runs a curl route at about 8-10 yards.

Since you have 3 WR's on one side of the field, that is where you look first. W... then Y... then Z... X, on this play, would be your last read. These reads need to happen quickly though, because the openings, especially for Y and Z won't be there long.

One very helpful hint is motioning a WR. This will tell you Man or Zone. Sadly, in NCAA 11, if you motion a guy, he has to complete the motion before you can return him to his original spot. It used to be you could start a guy in motion and return him at any time, just as the R&S did/does in real life.

Get to the line at about the :18 second mark and motion W to the left. You want to motion him because he has the shortest distance to motion to and back from. Now, after having sent him in motion and returned him to his original spot, you'll have about :09 on the clock and you will know if it's Man or Zone.

If it's Man, W can be gold for either 3-4 yards or as many as 60 or 70. If it's Cover 2, Y on the streak is your go-to guy, unless the SS stays closer to home, in which case you would hit Z on the wheel route.

One note on the Z... in the Mouse Davis playbook, the Z runs the route exactly as it is in the game, and Mouse calls it a Wheel Route. So even though it isn't what you may be accustomed to in a typical wheel route, this is what it's called on this play. You could also think of it as a Fade Route, but I'll go w/ what Mouse calls it.

This play is also a great blitz beater and W is the hot read in a blitz. One other note on W... in the true R&S he actually takes a quick step in, so in Man the LB or CB covering him believes he is running inside, then he quickly hits to the out route... giving himself a split second to gain distance between himself and the man covering him. In the game, they just have him running the quick out.

In the game 61 X Choice is another good play to get down as you have two WR's w/ option routes... in this case X and Y. As you have already figured out, practice is what will help you the most. And here are some helpful practice tips. In practice mode call the Defense... say Cover 2... so you know what the D is in and then call your play and run it over and over until you have it down pat against Cover 2. Then, go to Cover 3 and run the same play over and over. Do this w/ all defenses. This will get you used to those defenses and also the timing. Use Motion too, even though you know the D, see what, if any, movement the D gives when motioning against a particular D.

Running the ball... this may come as a surprise to many since the Run & Shoot was unjustly criticized in the NFL as not being a good running offense. In the years it was in the NFL the teams running the R&S had the league's highest average yards per carry. Detroit, Atlanta and Houston all averaged 4.6 or better w/ Houston's worst year in the 4.1 range. Detroit, w/ Barry Sanders, averaged over 5.1 per carry.

You can run in this game, and here's how I do it. Every play I call in the huddle is a pass play. I have one running play as an audible. It is in Ace Spread - HB Dive. The QB is under center. I will audible to this when I see 4 or 5 in the box IF my pass play appears to be covered. Using this philosophy, when I used SMU's offense my RB averaged over 6.3 per carry for the season.

Is it cheese? Perhaps. But EA has the shot-gun running game so poorly implemented that I see it as justice. It also is the only way to effectively run in the R&S in the game.

If you work on these few things... and believe me... it can take some time... but soon you will understand this offense and your ability to read defenses will grow as well. And don't forget to Motion your WR... this will tell you instantly what the D is doing. Very key, that.

Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.