There were few positive moments from UCF’s season opener vs. Samford. The most important one is that we got the win.
I’ve been searching for answers on why we played so poorly and came up with three possible excuses:
1) Conservative play calling
2) Bad pre-game meal
3) We didn’t improve our areas of concern
Brett Hodges replaced Rob Calabrese, who struggled to find a groove during the second quarter.
Hodges completed 10-of-17 passes for 129 yards with 1 touchdown. He showed poise in the pocket, trust from Charlie Taaffe, the offensive coordinator, and short term memory after being picked off for a touchdown to go down 21-13 in the third quarter.
But the game ball goes to one man: Brynn Harvey. Harvey rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns and was one of the few bright spots.
Quincy McDuffie opened the second half with a 95 yard kickoff return, and the UCF faithful was ready to forget our first half woes. PK Jamie Boyle brought back memories of last year’s failures with a missed PAT.
Samford went on to score two plays later from scrimmage to continue torturing UCF fans until Hodges’ 9-yard touchdown pass to Jamar Newsome in the fourth quarter gave UCF the lead for good.
People can criticize the team all they want and predict another losing year, but only one thing matters: We won.
Looking ahead to next week: Knights travel to Southern Miss, who beat Alcorn State 52-0 this weekend.
