EA Sports has given College Football 27 players a new way to build out Road to Glory, and it starts with one of NC State’s biggest names. In the latest update, former Wolfpack receiver Torry Holt has been added as a legend template, giving players a preset model to base a custom wideout on.
Road to Glory still lets players create a recruit from a range of positions, work through a handful of high school games and eventually land at a college program of their choice, including NC State. But the new legend option changes the setup a bit.
Instead of building everything from scratch, players can now lean on a classic college star and borrow that player’s attributes, archetype and style. The feature is new in CFB 27, and EA Sports has already tied it to names like Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.
For receivers, Holt is one of the standout choices among the 13 new legend templates in the update. His in-game profile labels him an “Elusive Route Runner,” and the build comes in at 6 feet, 200 pounds. That means the player using the template gets Holt’s listed height and weight right from the start.
The fit makes sense. Holt starred at NC State from 1995-1998 and left as the program’s all-time leader in career receiving yards with 3,379, single-season receiving yards with 1,604 and single-game receiving yards with 255. That single-season mark is also the ACC record for receiving yards in a season.
His 1998 season piled up the honors, too. Holt was a consensus First Team All-American and took home ACC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year recognition. He also finished eighth in Heisman Memorial Trophy voting that year, the only receiver in the top 10.
NC State retired his No. 81 jersey in 1999. Later came more recognition: he was named an ACC Football Championship Game Legend in 2012, entered the NC State Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
The build itself is tailored for players who want a receiver that can separate and make defenders miss. Holt’s speed and acceleration are both rated 95 on a 100-point scale, and most of his elusiveness ratings sit in the low 90s, with break tackle as the exception. His catching attributes are all rated at 85.
There’s also a clear route-running profile baked in. Holt’s medium and deep route-running ratings are both in the low 90s, while his short route running comes in at 82.
For players who want to model a Road to Glory receiver after a true NC State great, Holt’s template offers more than a name and a number. It gives a snapshot of what made him special in college and why his place in Wolfpack history is secure.
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