Okay, so I wanted to figure out how to do this lateral thing in College Football 25. I’ve seen some folks do it online and it looks pretty cool when it works, but also pretty disastrous when it doesn’t. Anyway, I hopped into the game to give it a shot.
First thing I did was just run around a bit to get a feel for the controls again. I hadn’t played in a while, you know how it is. After messing around, I remembered, oh yeah, it’s the L1 button (or LB on Xbox, I think) that you need to press to do a lateral. Got that part down.
Next, I needed to figure out the timing and aiming. This is where it got a little tricky. I tried just randomly pressing L1 during plays, and most of the time, my player would just end up chucking the ball into the ground or way out of bounds. Not exactly the highlight-reel play I was going for.
- Attempt 1: Tried a lateral while running a sweep play. Pressed L1, ball went straight into the dirt. Fumble!
- Attempt 2: This time I tried to lateral to a receiver running a crossing route. Pressed L1, aimed (sort of), and the ball went flying… way behind him. Incomplete.
- Attempt 3: Okay, starting to get a little frustrated. Tried a simple pitch to my running back on an option play. Pressed L1, and… success! He caught it! But then he immediately got tackled. Baby steps, I guess.
I spent a good chunk of time just practicing this. It’s definitely harder than it looks. You gotta have the right play, the right timing, and you need to be pretty precise with your aim, otherwise, it’s just a turnover waiting to happen. One thing I noticed is that you don’t want to be too close to a defender when you try to do it. Makes sense, but it is important. It is also important to have a receiver nearby. Don’t lateral it to no one!
Practice, Practice, Practice!
I will say, I did manage to pull off a few successful laterals after a while. It is not easy. It felt pretty awesome when it finally worked, especially when my teammate managed to pick up some extra yards. But I also had plenty of failed attempts that led to turnovers. It’s a high-risk, high-reward kind of move. Do not lateral if it is 4th and 10! I will keep practicing, though. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do those crazy multiple-lateral plays like you see in real life sometimes. But, man, it takes some serious skill. For now, I’d say I’m still a beginner when it comes to laterals. But hey, at least I’m learning, right? And that is what is important!
