Starting off the season 3-3 and dominating sports headlines nationwide as frontrunners for a Big East bid is not the type of season the UCF football team envisioned.
Even with the good news of the Big East invitation possibly coming their way, the Knights need to take that with a grain of salt, as they have a short week’s rest before taking on the UAB Blazers in Birmingham.
The short week may be exactly what the Knights need to get them back on the right track, especially on a Thursday night game on national television.
After suffering a demoralizing loss to Southern Methodist University, 38-17, last week, the Knights couldn’t have asked for a better team to rebound against.
UAB has yet to pose a real threat to any team this season as they remain winless through six games. They were shutout by the Florida Gators, and were demolished by C-USA foes Tulane and Tulsa.
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The Knights will travel to Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama where they are 4-0, which is the most road victories the Knights have at a single stadium.
Scouting Report: UCF
On Saturday, the Knights (3-3, 1-1 C-USA) were once again plagued by special teams mistakes that led to the lopsided defeat. If the Knights can limit their turnovers and not make costly mistakes, they should have no problem beating UAB.
The UCF offense didn’t have trouble gaining yards against the Mustangs, tallying up 459 yards, but failed to convert once they were in the red zone. Sophomore quarterback Jeff Godfrey led the Knights with 231 passing yards and a touchdown.
The Knights might look to start playing true freshman Blake Bortles more consistenly, as he has shown flashes of greatness this season, completing 77 percent of his passes thrown so far.
“I think we need to do that, only because I think it’s a good change of pace,” O’Leary said in a statement to Florida Today on Monday. “We’ve put him out there in tough situations (this season) and he’s responded really well, so he deserves a shot.”
The UCF defense, which is normally stingy and effective, showed some glaring holes as the SMU passing game picked through the Knights secondary, which allowed 358 yards in the air. Before the game, UCF had the number one pass defense in the nation. The Knights defense allowed 440 total yards in the game.
UAB passed for 379 yards in their loss against Tulsa, so the Knights secondary will need to fix their problems from last week.
Scouting Report: UAB
The Blazers allowed 559 total yards in their loss last week against Tulsa, with 218 of them being on the ground. The Knights will come out looking to capitalize on this, and expect UCF to utilize Brynn Harvey, who has 246 total rushing yards in the last two contests.
UAB has been near the bottom of the nation in almost all offensive and defensive categories, so as long as the Knights do not give up the big plays, this should be an easy victory for UCF.
Final Thoughts:
– Expect to see the Knights defense forcing a lot of three and outs after an uncharacteristic defensive performance at SMU.
– Jeff Godfrey has been struggling finding receivers downfield. If the Knights can build an early lead, Godfrey will be trying to get his passing game back on track.
– If Godfrey struggles, expect Bortals to be inserted in the game for some snaps.
– This is the first of two Thursday games the Knights play this season.
– UCF beat UAB 42-7 in the team’s previous meeting in 2010.
Prediction: Look to see an aggressive offense and a lockdown defense against UAB. The Black and Gold will be looking to make a statement in this game. UCF wins 34-7.
