It’s been a day and night difference between Central Florida’s offensive and defensive performance this season.
The defense ranks top 15 in the country in points allowed, surrendering only 19.8 per game. The offense: not so dominant.
UCF’s rushing attack has been mediocre, a result from returning only one starter on the offensive line from last year’s Fiesta Bowl squad. Atop of that, there have been at least eight different combinations of starters in the offensive trenches this season. The line’s chemistry has faltered because of this inconsistency, resulting in the worst yards-per-carry average in the conference at 2.97 per game, tied with lowly SMU.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Knights have a big-time playmaker in junior wide out Breshad Perriman who averages an eye-popping 23.1 receiving yards per reception. His big plays don’t come at a premium, as he remains second on the team in receptions and first in touchdown catches. Overall, UCF receivers average a little more than a first down with each reception they haul in, at 13.7 yards per snag.
With all of this big play potential on the outside and an underperforming interior, all signs point to more mediocrity for the UCF offense this weekend against winless SMU, right?
Not so fast.
This week’s x-factor will fall on the leadership, confidence and consistency of sophomore quarterback Justin Holman, who has been teetering in-and-out of head coach George O’Leary’s doghouse. Holman’s four interception performance against Connecticut, two games ago, began the quarterback controversy conversation in Orlando.
Last week against Tulsa, the first year starter finally showed a progressive outing and a much needed confidence boost by tossing three touchdowns and protecting the ball to the tune of no turnovers.
Needless to say, the team began to believe in Number 13 again.
“It was a rough environment to play in [at UConn]. A couple of those interceptions weren’t really his fault; a couple times it went through the receiver’s hands. It was an unfortunate event,” said senior wide receiver J.J. Worton, in an attempt to defuse his quarterback’s underwhelming statistics. “He definitely kept his composure [verses Tulsa]. He came out and threw great balls.”
With an enough is enough performance against Tulsa, UCF will need another strong showing from Holman versus SMU if they want to keep the American Athletic Conference title in their sights.
Luckily for Holman and the Knights, SMU ranks in the bottom five teams nationwide in rushing yards and points per game; the Mustangs have been outscored 388-90 this season.
However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves; Connecticut was statistically similar to what SMU offers and they were able to upset UCF a few weeks back, 37-29.
If Holman plays well and the defense continues to dominate, the Knights should be able to handle the Mustangs, convincingly.
The path towards at least a share of their second consecutive AAC championship begins and ends with the consistency of quarterback Justin Holman.
The weight of Central Florida, now, rests upon his shoulder pads.
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