Well, I was actually able to find a copy of the game this weekend, and I have to admit, I am (so far) pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I don't see the holes in the D that everyone is describing. I play on the Heisman difficulty level, so I'm not sure if it's just an issue with the lower difficulties. In Madden, I was using the new My Skill feature and also playing on All Pro, and noticed a lot of dickery by the CPU (both on my own team and the opponent's), but when I switched to All Madden, it turned into a real game of football.
The same happened with NCAA. On Heisman, I had a real game on my hands that felt realistic and exciting down to the last 3 seconds of the game. I'm an OSU (#3) alum and current student, so they're my team all the way. I set up a rivalry game with Illinois (#18) and the CPU put up a helluva fight. I threw 3 interceptions that I totally deserved, and I had a legitimately difficult time moving the ball up the field (more than I could say for NCAA 08). One thing I did notice is that I could sack and tackle for a loss all day long with 46 Bear and 5-2, but I haven't decided yet if it's simply due to the fact that OSU's D-line are studs (in the game, not in real life... anyone catch OSU v OU this weekend? Yikes...).
The Option isn't the money play it was last year, either. I ran it 4 or 5 times in the game, and only once did I get a true break away. Illinois ran it at least once per possession, but I had no problem shutting it down all but one time.
There's actually one area where I think NCAA even shines over Madden. Madden over-pursues human controlled players like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat, which is my biggest complaint about it this year. For instance, on a kick-off, the receiving team's blockers will hunt YOU down (by "you" I mean YOU PERSONALLY, not your team), largely ignoring your teammates in its effort to neutralize you. It does the same thing with the running game. If you hit a good hole with your back, you can expect all line backers and safeties to instantly shed their blocks and teleport right on top of your asshole.
I don't see these tendencies in NCAA... at least not to the degree they exist in Madden.
My game with Illinois boiled down to the final 20 seconds. I was up 21 to 14 and Illinois was on my 2 yard line. On 1st and goal I blitzed 8 out of the 46 Bear and stopped their Option on my 8 yard line. They got to my 5 with a screen pass on 2nd and goal. No gain with a run up the gut on 3rd and goal. With 3 seconds left, they ran the option and I stopped them inside the 1 yard line.
My wife and I were both losing our minds, screaming and cheering, and pumping our fists like this was the real thing.
I don't play many online football games, honestly. My friends don't get into it much, and I can't stand playing random strangers in a one-on-one setting, especially when so many of them are prone to exploiting the cheese. That said, even if you can take a 20 yard drop with your QB to freeze the D and then throw a TD bomb, who should you really be pissed at? I agree that it's pretty ridiculous that this is even possible, but at the same time, no football fan with any measurable sense of honor and shame would pull that shit.
The best football game of all time - NFL 2k5 - had a similar weakness. You could roll your QB out - any QB, that is - and stall in the backfield all day long while you waited for a receiver to get open. My damn brother in law would play with Michael Vick each and every time, run the same damn play each and every time, and there was very little I could do about it. So, I stopped playing football with my brother in law (and made no bones with him about why).
Problem solved.