Alright let’s talk subs. Mass subs. In College Football 25. Man, I was getting slaughtered in the 4th quarter because my starters were dead tired. Couldn’t tackle, couldn’t run. It sucked. So I decided, enough is enough. Gotta figure out how to swap out bunches of players fast. Here’s exactly how it went down.
First Try: The Halftime Switch
First thought? Halftime. Perfect break, right? Paused the game, jumped into the Depth Chart. Started clicking positions one by one… QB, RB, WR1, WR2… my thumb started hurting. Scrolled down to Defense. More clicking. MLB, OLB, CB… felt like forever. Finally hit “Apply Changes”. Thought I was slick. Second half kicks off… annnnnd most of my starters were STILL on the field! Like, why? Turns out I must’ve missed like three backups clicking so fast. Epic fail. Whole defense was still gassed. Got torched. Not efficient at all.
Second Attempt: Using Timeouts (lol)
Desperation move. Called a timeout late in the 3rd quarter thinking “Quick, swap em all during the pause!” Same thing. Menu diving. Scrolling. Clicking. Stress level rising because the pause timer is ticking down! Panicked, clicked “Confirm”. Got back… saw only maybe half my offense actually swapped. Safety was still playing CB? Total mess. And I wasted a crucial timeout for basically nothing. Felt like an idiot. Don’t do this. Just don’t.
The “Game Flow” Menu Hope
Remembered something called “Game Flow” from settings. Thought maybe it had a magic button. “Auto Substitutions”. Yes! Slid fatigue sensitivity to “High”. Sub Frequency to “Very Often”. Saved it. Fired up the next game. First quarter, no subs. Second quarter… maybe one guy? Third quarter… starters still gasping for air while backups sat warm and cozy on the bench. Where was my mass sub? This setting ain’t for that. It’s gradual, slow. Fine for realism maybe, but useless when you need fresh legs right now. Back to square one.
Blind Button Mashing Technique
Frustration kicked in hardcore. On a kickoff return touchdown (against me, naturally!), I just started jamming buttons near the Depth Chart screen. I THINK I hit the “Sub Packages” button? Who knows. Saw a bunch of preset formations pop up like “Heavy Run D” or “Prevent Pass”. Huh. Started cycling through ’em. Some seemed to swap multiple D-linemen or DBs at once. Clicked “Apply Package”. Went back to the game… holy crap! Like 4 DBs had instantly swapped out! But the O-line was still the same old tired dudes. And offense didn’t have this feature easily accessible. Partial win? But messy. Not what I wanted.
The “Oh Duh” Moment on Defense
Okay, focus on defense first. Found a decent rhythm. HOW IT WORKED:
- When opponent offense was set (I was on defense).
- Didn’t pause. Just pressed whatever button brings up Play Call menu (like Square PS5).
- Scrolled RIGHT to “Sub Package”.
- BAM! List of formations appears.
- Selected something like “NASCAR” (swaps DL) or “Dime” (swaps DBs). Instantly saw multiple backups swap in when I picked the package.
- Called my actual play.
It worked! BUT, it’s package-based. You swap positions based on the package, not the actual tired player you see blinking red. Gotta know what the package does.
The Offensive Struggle (& the Fourth Down Trick)
Offense was tougher. No similar “Sub Packages” shortcut sitting right there in the Play Call menu. Tried pausing again. Depth Chart drill time. Still slow. THEN: Pure accident. I was facing a 4th down late, decided to go for it, called a heavy set. Got stuffed. Opponent ball around my 40. While THEY were lining up their offense, I briefly had control. During that switch, I hit Play Call SUPER fast -> Depth Chart -> was able to swap like 4 offensive positions real quick before their offense was fully set. No pause timer! Sneaky. Risky. Timing is super tight. Almost missed it. But it swapped those players immediately when the defense took the field.
What Actually Works “Best”? For Me…
Here’s the brutal truth:
- DEFENSE: Use “Sub Packages” MID-PLAY CALLING! Don’t pause. It’s the fastest way to get 3-4 guys swapped instantly. Just know your packages.
- OFFENSE: Painful. Best time I found was immediately AFTER your offensive play ends (like a tackle in bounds, short of 1st down) BEFORE the opponent starts playcalling. Mash buttons to Depth Chart and swap fast! Or use that weird fourth-down transition window I found. Neither are great. Takes practice.
- Halftime/Timeouts: Only if you have the patience to manually click every single tired guy… and double-check. Slow and risky.
- Game Flow Settings: Nope. Too gentle.
Mass sub ain’t smooth. It’s messy. Defense you can kinda hack it with packages. Offense? Still grinding on that one. Good luck!
