NCAA Football 13 Video: Watch Trailer Showing New Features in EA's College Game

NCAA Football 13 is shaping up to be one of the must-have sports games this year.

As always, the game will feature beautiful graphics, school-specific traditions and fun, wide-open game play.

But this year, that game play has received some much needed upgrades.

Along with this video, I went over to IGN to get some more specifics on the new features. Here are some of the exciting things I learned:

• There are actually a total of 20 new quarterback drop backs in the game.
• There are eight new quarterback avoidance moves in the pocket.
• There are 25 new pass trajectory zones, rather than one last year. So that crappy screen pass where the quarterback lobs the ball straight up in the air or the pass over the middle you're trying to sneak above the linebacker but is thrown with no touch and gets intercepted? Yup, they should be things of the past.
• There are 430 new catch animations—430!
• You know how you'll throw a pass and a defender with his back to the ball will magically swat it away? No more. If a defender isn't looking, he won't swat. Without question this is my favorite tweak coming this year.
• Oh, and defenses will disguise coverages, too! Exciting!

Honestly, these are the sort of game play tweaks that should make this game a dramatic improvement over the last. The NCAA engine is a good one, but it was due for an upgrade. From what I've seen here, the upgrades coming this year are pretty exciting.

Is it football season yet?

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets light the lamp like Danny Briere.