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Best Offensive Playbook To Use In College Football 26

Regardless of what game mode you're playing in College Football 26, you'll need to score points if you want to win the game. While defense might win championships, it doesn't always work that way in the virtual world, as scoring points on offense is usually going to be the key to victory in one way or another.

To effectively score on offense in College Football 26, you'll need to use the right plays and personnel. You can always use the coach's suggestion plays if you want to keep things simple, but if you want to run circles around your opponent, you need to take full advantage of your offensive playbook. Fortunately, you're able to select from any school's offensive playbook in a wide variety of game modes, giving you tons of choice. Of course, this also means you need to make some decisions.

To see the best offensive playbooks for any kind of offense you want to run in CFB 26, check out the guide below.

Best offensive playbooks in College Football 26

Since there are so many ways to run an offense in CFB 26, there's no best overall playbook, as any particular one might not offer all the plays you want. With that in mind, we'll be listing the best playbooks by different categories. So we'll have the best passing playbook, best rushing playbook, best options playbook, etc. This gives you a wide mix of playbooks to choose from depending on your preferences.

Best passing playbook - Houston

Houston gets our pick for the best passing playbook in CFB 26. If you've watched Houston Cougar football over the past decade or so, you know just how potent their offense can be, especially through the air. It's no different in CFB 26, as Houston features a wide variety of passing plays that utilize every skill position and personnel grouping you can think of.

Houston's playbook focuses more on short-to-medium passing plays, but there are some longer passing plays that you can use if the defense decides to press your receivers. If you're looking for a balanced playbook, Houston's might not be your best choice, as there's an overwhelming majority of passing plays compared to rushing plays.

Best rushing playbook - Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech has become famous for its style of offense that utilizes very little passing. Instead, the Yellow Jackets' offense comes down to rushing, options, and designed QB runs. GT's playbook in CFB 26 offers much of the same, as you'll see a Power Spread style offense in play that makes use of pre-snap motion to confuse a defense.

At the core of the playbook, you'll find plenty of rushing plays that are designed to wear a defense down. Both the halfback and quarterback get their fair share of rushing plays, but option plays also play a major role in the playbook. If you use GT's playbook correctly, you'll have the defense on their toes for the entire game.

Best option (RPO) playbook - Rice

Speaking of options, if you want to really lean into this aspect on offense, then you'll want to go with Rice's playbook. Rice surprisingly has one of the best overall playbooks in CFB 26, but the option plays you have access to are astounding.

This is primarily due to Rice only using Pistol and Shotgun formations, which allow you to send players in motion and make decisions on who is going to wind up with the ball. Of course, these formations also allow for designed passing plays, but you'll find more options than anything. If you use options at the right time during a drive, you'll break free for huge gains and touchdowns more than you might think.

Best balanced playbook - Oregon

We've talked about offensive playbooks that specialize in one particular area so far, but what about a balanced attack? For that approach in CFB 26, you'll want to head to Eugene, home of the Oregon Ducks. Head coach Dan Lanning has made the Ducks a juggernaut on offense in recent years, and this is due in large part to the variety of plays Oregon utilizes throughout a given drive.

In CFB 26, Oregon's playbook features a slew of formations, passing and rushing plays, and plenty of options to always keep the defense guessing. Screens, short passes, vertical passes, curls, options, and outside runs are all available in spades in Oregon's playbook, giving you a ton to work with on offense.

Best starter playbook - Oregon State

If we had to pick the consensus "best overall" offensive playbook in CFB 26, it would be Oregon State's. Oregon State also had a dominant playbook in CFB 25, and that trend has continued this year.

Oregon State's playbook features a wide variety of plays for every style of offense, making it a terrific playbook to pick if you don't know what kind of offense you want to run yet. You can utilize passing plays that are sure to get receivers open, inside and outside runs, and some RPOs to familiarize yourself with an option-style offense. Like Rice, Oregon State utilizes a lot of Pistol and Shotgun formations, but unlike Rice, the Beavers' playbook features more than just those formations.

Other good playbooks

Those are our picks for the best offensive playbooks in College Football 26, but we wanted to list some honorable mentions as well:

• UCLA (balanced)
• Iowa (rushing)
• Oklahoma (passing)
• UAB (RPO)

After you're done picking your offensive playbook, be sure to also check out our guide on the best Coach Archetype in CFB 26 if you decide to hop on over to Dynasty mode.