The UCF Knights (2-2, 1-0 AAC), fresh off a win last Thursday night over the Houston Cougars in their conference opener, host the BYU Cougars (4-1) in another mid-week game tomorrow night at Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, Fla. It is just the second true home game for UCF this season.
BYU is off to a fast start, notching wins over UConn, Texas, Houston and Virginia before falling to Utah State on Oct. 3. With BYU’s standout quarterback Taysom Hill out for the year with a leg injury, senior Christian Stewart will handle signal-calling chores once again for the Cougars. Stewart struggled against Utah State, going 10-of-29 for 172 yards with three interceptions.
UCF’s defense has been solid in recent outings and came up big in last week’s heart-pounding win over Houston when free safety Brandon Alexander forced a fumble at the goal line, resulting in a touchback that sealed the win for the Knights. The Knights’ defense will be tested again facing a balanced BYU offense that likes to stretch the field. BYU has scored 34 points per game and averages 215 rushing yards per game and 229 yards through the air.
Opposing offenses have reached the red zone 14 times against UCF, but have only come away with six touchdowns. The Knights rank fifth in the nation by giving up a touchdown just 28.6 percent of the time when opponents are in the red zone.
On the other side of the ball, sophomore running back Will Stanback is getting warmed up after being hampered by injuries early in the season. He leads the rushing attack and currently ranks fifth in the AAC with an average of 60.3 yards per game on the ground.
Quarterback Justin Holman continues to learn on the job. He enters the BYU contest off of back-to-back two-touchdown games, and last week against Houston threw a 52-yard touchdown strike to receiver Breshad Perriman. UCF’s all-time leading receiver averaging 19.69 yards per catch, Perriman tops all other Knight receivers this season with 258 yards receiving.
While Holman obviously possesses a world of talent, his inconsistent play appears to have head coach Goerge O’Leary at the ready to make a change if warranted.
“If we’re struggling at all at quarterback, [Nick Patti’s] gonna see action,” UCF coach George O’Leary told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday. “We just gotta get things going offensively. We have too many good players at certain positions that need to get the ball in their hands and we gotta get it to them quickly and do the things that we’re supposed to do.”
Patti would be the third quarterback to see action this year while O’Leary seeks to find the right fit for the offense. Pete DiNovo was named the starter to begin the season, but was pulled in favor of Holman in the second half of the Croke Park Classic against Penn State.
To help the offense find its rhythm, offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe said this week that coaches are working to simplify the playbook.
“We’re really trying to give him (Holman) the plays that he knows and feels comfortable executing,” Taaffe said. “We’ve probably reduced the package somewhat in the passing game just to see if we can get him in a rhythm and get him going with some consistency in his passes.
“He’s a smart kid, he’s a great kid. But at some point you have to be able to execute the offense and he’s in the early stages of development,” Taaffe added. “But they’re not going to delay the season for Justin to develop so I gotta get him to perform more consistently.”
UCF and BYU faced each other for the first time in 2011 with the Cougars prevailing 24-17. The Knights are seeking their first ever win over a team from Utah as UCF lost to Utah State in 2001.
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