ORLANDO, Fla. — The Knights will host their conference home-opener this weekend against a 2-4 Tulane program that is fresh off their first AAC win of the season.
UCF head coach George O’Leary made it clear today that their dismal record is a poor representation of the level of competition their team is capable of, making note of their rushing attack–ranked third in the American Athletic Conference.
“I think they’re well-schemed up offensively,” he said. “They do a great job of breaking tackles against everybody, and they’re moving the ball.”
“The scores of some of the teams they’ve lost to are not indicative of the game,” O’Leary insisted.
UCF will have their hands full as the Green Wave is averaging over 200 yards on the ground per game, especially if it means the difference in the battle for possession time. The Knights’ offense exploded last week against BYU, but will have to adjust from an abnormally pass-heavy attack that was so essential in a 31-24 win.
“In this program, we’re not going to rely on fifty one throws to win games. If we are, we’re in trouble,” O’Leary said. “That’s too many throws for this program. We have to establish the run. People that win championships can stop the run and run the ball.”
It will take improvement along the offensive line to finally establish a sustainable run game, something that has seemed leagues out of reach through five games. UCF resides at the cellar of the American in rushing offense–averaging a mere 2.6 yards per carry.
Even with the running game’s limited success, the Knights have finally found ways to win games in a total team fashion, highlighted by their sweep of the AAC’s offensive, defensive and special teams player of the week awards.
Justin Holman (30-51, 326 yards two touchdowns), Terrance Plummer (17 tackles, a sack, a forced and recovered fumble), and J.J. Worton (five returns, 77 yards) brought home the awards.
Terrance Plummer’s career day did nothing to quell the appetite of O’Leary’s demands, only serving to enhance the old school coach’s demands.
“I expect the same level of competition from him every week and so he’s raised the bar for himself, but he’s also raised it for the other players,” he said.
Awards are not won on the play of one man alone. The bounty of recognition was built upon the foundation of an entire team’s collective play, an impression not lost on safety Brandon Alexander.
“It’s not about who had a good game. I feel like if Terrance had a great game, we all had a great game,” Alexander said. “It’s about a brotherhood.”
