College Football 25 RPO Controls, How to Keep the Ball

Now that College Football 25 has brought one of the most sprawling and dynamic sports back to gaming, the RPO is just one of dozens of ways players can focus their offensive attacks. If you're new to gaming, we'll be sure to break down the basics of RPOs to help you understand the options you're actually be presented with. Even if you've been a master of the RPO in Madden, the College Football 25 RPO controls might take some getting used to.

College Football 25 RPO Controls

When it comes to honing your skills with all the College Football 25 controls, knowing how some of the more complex play types operate will give you a major edge on offense. The ever-present RPO, or Run-Pass Option, is just one of many football schemes that are used both in the real-world sport and its gaming counterparts to confuse opposing defenses. Generally you'll be making a split-second decision as the play begins to hand the ball off to the running back, make a lightning fast pass to a receiver, or keep the ball with the quarterback.

Here are the basic College Football 25 RPO controls:

• Hand-off to the running back: Press A (on Xbox) or X (on PlayStation) to snap the ball then don't press anything else and it will automatically execute the hand-off
• Quick pass to any receiver: Press A (on Xbox) or X (on PlayStation) to snap the ball then quickly press the button of your desired receiver to pass before the hand-off would take place
• Keep the ball and scramble as the quarterback: Press A (on Xbox) or X (on PlayStation) to snap the ball, be sure to release that initial button press, then press and hold A or X a second time immediately after the snap to keep the ball, and finally scramble then run or pass with the quarterback after the faked hand-off

Getting the timing right on these is going to take some trial and error, and the best place to do that is in Practice Mode. Take an RPO-heavy team like Oregon, Wake Forest, or UNLV into a full practice, go to Play Type in your playbook and look at all the RPO plays you can select.

RPO Play Types Explained

While mastering the controls doesn't seem too complex on the surface, the aspect that is likely tripping up many is attempting to do one of these actions while using a type of RPO play that doesn't allow it. There are actually several which will not allow the QB to keep the ball, and trying to do that only for the hand-off to occur can cause a major mishap and loss of yardage during a game.

Here are the primary types of RPO plays in College Football 25 and the options you'll usually get with each:

• RPO Read: Hand-off, keep to scramble with QB, or pass
• RPO Glance: Hand-off, keep to scramble with QB, or pass
• RPO Walk: Hand-off, keep to scramble with QB, or pass
• RPO Peek: Hand-off or pass
• RPO Alert: Hand-off or pass
• RPO Bubble: Hand-off or pass

As a general rule, this will let you know how things will operate, but there are a few exceptions and variations to keep in mind. RPO Walk plays have a much slower and more drawn out hand-off which gives you extra time to make a decision, but this can also let defenders close in even more before a hand-off or keep.

There are also a couple of confusing variants with two of these keywords, such as an RPO Walk Alert or RPO Walk Peek which usually won't allow you to keep the ball despite other Walk plays letting you do that. Then there's the fact that Gun Trips RPO Read Bubble doesn't let you keep the ball while Gun Trips TE Offset Wk RPO Read Bubble does let you keep the ball.

If you're in a game and have to go with one that you aren't sure has a keep option, hold RT (on Xbox) or R2 (on PlayStation) to view the pre-play art. You're looking to see if there's an R (which you might mistake for an A) over a defender's head, and if there is you should have the choice to keep the ball.

These variations are why it's best to spend some time in practice mode with the playbook you plan on using, especially if it's your long-term Dynasty Mode playbook choice. It can be a lot to process, especially in the high pressure situation of an active game, but a little practice with the College Football 25 RPO controls will help you integrate this into your regular playstyle.