BY: Brian Goins
KNIGHTS CHATTER
ORLANDO, Fla. — After a rallying overtime victory against BYU last week, the Knights – now on a three-game winning streak – head into Saturday’s home matchup versus Tulane (2-4, 1-1 American) with a chance to extend even more marks and possibly begin making their case for a bid into the Access Bowl.
UCF (3-2, 1-0 American) will begin a string of seven-consecutive American Athletic Conference games to close out their regular-season schedule. Already carrying over a perfect 9-0 record in league play since the formation of the AAC, the Knights are looking to extend their team streak of 10 straight regular-season wins in conference play, which is currently the fourth-longest active streak in college football.
Here’s what to expect and look for while watching Saturday’s matchup:
While Tulane may not be at the echelon of the American Athletic Conference standing, they still pose some challenges for UCF come Saturday afternoon. After suffering two tough losses versus Duke and Rutgers, the Green Wave have regained some confidence in the form of a hard-fought conference win over UConn last week at home, 12-3.
Tulane, currently sixth in the nation in red zone defense, afforded just 217 yards of total offense, whilst forcing three turnovers: a pair of fumble recoveries by junior strong safety Darion Monroe and an interception by junior cornerback Lorenzo Doss. At the line of scrimmage, the Green Wave controlled Connecticut with 10 tackles for losses, including four sacks and a safety.
“I’m impressed with their quickness on defense and I think they play extremely hard. They fly around to the ball and play with a lot of energy, but it comes down to execution,” said UCF offensive coordinator, Charlie Taaffe about the challenge of game-planning Tulane’s defense, during a media session Tuesday.
“The most successful red zone offenses that I’ve had, you have to be able to run the ball in the red zone effectively. We did find some of the [bootleg plays] helped us, and to me they’re almost like runs anyway.”
For the Knights, limiting the damage on the running attack will be key as redshirt freshman running back, Sherman Badie, has been a breakout star, showcasing his explosiveness with three runs of more than 70 yards so far this season. Badie’s become a much-needed weapon for an offense that had been short on big plays last year, as he ranks ninth nationally in yards per carry (7.2). However, the Green Wave are still winless on the road in three tries this season.
For UCF starting quarterback, Justin Holman, he’s starting to see the field more clearly as he takes each new start as a new experience. Holman, who was named the AAC offensive player of the week for his 30-of-51, 326 yards, and 2 TDs performance, had been averaging 197.0 ypg on just 56 percent completion before his breakout performance last Thursday. And his development has taken a more promising course as evident by his distribution of at least one completion to nine receivers last week. However, don’t expect so many passing attempts to sustain on-over to Saturday.
“You do what you have to do to move the ball. I thought Justin took some strides in his consistency this week. And the thing that impressed me the most is that he didn’t go into the tank. He came right back and held the team. That showed me his development, his poise not to get down on himself because he didn’t happen to make a smart decision on a particular play,” Taafe admitted, when asked about the “less than desirable interception” Holman threw that almost cost the game against BYU.
On the defensive side, the Knights have enjoyed a bit more success, as they enter this week ranked 31st nationally in total defense (335.8) and 37th in points allowed (21.4). Linebacker Terrance Plummer leads the unit with 53 tackles, including 7.5 for loss. He racked up a game-high 17 tackles against BYU to go along with a sack, forced fumble and recovery. Thomas Niles has a sack in a school-record six straight games, while Jaryl Mamea has notched his share of four sacks. Jacoby Glenn has three interceptions and seven passes defended to his credit
When it comes to minimizing your weaknesses, the biggest challenge for UCF will be if they can somehow execute their running game that has been subpar for the better majority of the early season. Lead running back William Stanback is averaging only 3.4 yards per carry, and last week’s BYU game was a testament as the team resulted just 63 net yards on 33 attempts.
As for Tulane, it’s all about minimizing penalties. Tulane’s offensive line ranks in the bottom 20 nationally in penalty yards per game and has forfeited them multiple scoring drives throughout the course of the season.
If all aligns well Saturday, UCF will keep their streaks alive and potentially two months from now, position themselves for a shot at the Access Bowl thanks to the new college football playoff system which allows a place for one non-power 5 conference school to gain an invitational bid into the bowl game come January.
Kickoff starts at noon at Bright House Networks Stadium with coverage on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
RAPID NOTES:
### UCF will be hosting the following recruits on official visits during Saturday’s Tulane matchup at noon:
4-star QB Feleipe Franks (2016, LSU commit)
3-star DB Malik Vaccaro-Dixon (UCF commit)
3-star LB Pat Jasinski (UCF commit)
3-star OLB Ty Tyler (Marshall commit)
3-star OL Luke Hiers (UCF commit)
3-star LB Quintin Hampton (UCF commit)
3-star DE Steven Wright
Unranked DE T.J. Smith
Unranked C Nathan Hoyle (2016)
Unranked DE CJ Williams (2016)
