Christian Zavisca

Notre Dame football goes 12-1, disappoints fans

In my inaugural season of "NCAA 10," I was cruising to a national championship, driving Notre Dame to a 9-0 record, when all of a sudden the train got derailed by Pitt, 42-38. I thought we might win it all. Despite the loss, the Irish went on to finish 11-1 to end the regular season, and trounced Cincinnati 38-13 in the Fiesta Bowl.

I'm sure many virtual fans were quite happy, while an equal number were wondering why exactly we didn't win the national championship.

To that, I reply: There's always next year.

Notre Dame 38, USC 35

I'm exhausted, even though I never left my recliner: Notre Dame over USC, 38-35, in overtime.

If you're confused, check out this post.

Yes, I know the actual season hasn't started. But it's a good feeling to defeat the Trojans nonetheless.

Notre Dame trailed 7-0 early, and then got some really bad news. QB Clausen: Out 4 weeks — turf toe. Great. Super-recruit Dayne Crist stepped in and did just fine, throwing for more than 300 yards and offsetting three interceptions with two rushing touchdowns.

"We" trailed throughout: 28-14 before a field goal at the half cut the lead to 11, and 35-24 after three quarters. But a field goal, an Armando Allen touchdown run with 16 seconds left, and a 2-point conversion run, again by Allen, tied it up. A missed USC field goal in overtime set up the game-winning 3-pointer by Brandon Walker from 31 yards out. Ballgame. Celebration time.

I'm going to increase the difficulty level to Heisman from here on out. So if I lead Notre Dame to the national championship, we'll really deserve it. Sorta.

Notre Dame football starts 5-0!

The University of Notre Dame football team is rolling after a fifth straight victory, 31-13 over visiting Washington.

OK, in real life the season hasn't started yet. I'm talking about "NCAA Football 10." In honor of my ND fan friends, I'm playing a season at the second-toughest difficulty level.

I'm thinking I should ratchet up the A.I. difficulty, but we'll see how "we" do against USC this week.

It's been a great start: 34-7 over Nevada, 34-0 at Michigan (I don't see that happening in real life, unless the Wolverines are even more terrible than they were last year), 31-13 over Michigan State, 31-24 at Purdue, and the aforementioned Washington win.

The only bad news so far is that star sophomore wide receiver Michael Floyd, who missed time with injury last year, is out for six weeks with a strained back (yep, injuries in "NCAA 10" are pretty realistic).

The big offensive star has been running back Armando Allen (395 yards rushing on 5.8 yards a carry, 318 yards receiving with 3 touchdowns, and a kick return TD — I think he's a bit overpowered in the game).

I'll report back with a breakdown of the ND-USC showdown. Coming soon!

Geeking out on 'NCAA 10' and other games

"Madden" gets the bulk of the general-interest attention, but EA's "NCAA Football" franchise has plenty of loyal devotees, this guy among them. "NCAA Football 10" is the best of the next-gen-console bunch. It's still a little complicated for my taste, but I grew up on Nintendo and Sega Genesis, so that's probably more a function of my age than anything else.

It plays smoothly and looks great.

I'm always interested in how the game ranks teams and players. My dad went to Penn State, so I've always been a Nittany Lions fan. I'm happy to report that they're quite strong in the game, ranked eighth overall. The top 5 is unsurprising (No. 1 Florida, followed by Oklahoma, Texas, USC and LSU). Notre Dame (I grew up in South Bend) is unranked but rated a solid B-plus, as is Tennessee (that might be a bit optimistic, I think).

Six players earn the coveted 99 overall rating (Taylor Mays, USC free safety; Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma tight end; QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma; QB Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes, both of Florida; and left tackle Ciron Black of LSU), and Tennessee safety Eric Berry is right there with a 98 overall rating.

In general, it's turning into an exciting season for video games. "The Beatles: Rock Band" is getting plenty of attention. It looks great, although the $250 limited edition bundle is a bit expensive. It releases Sept. 9.

"Batman: Arkham Asylum" is getting strong pre-release attention, on a smaller scale than the Beatles game. It comes out on Tuesday.

I'm looking forward to a couple of titles coming out in late October: the turntable game "DJ Hero," and "FIFA 10" soccer.

My PS3 is going to be getting quite a workout.