The UCF Knights, reigning AAC conference champions, are racking up the frequent flyer miles this year. At 1-2, they have already traveled more than 5,000 miles with road trips to Dublin, Ireland, and Columbia (MO), and will embark on another sojourn this week when they travel to Houston (TX), to take on the Houston Cougars (2-2) on Thursday.
UCF, which has won four consecutive conference openers, begin its title defense following an up and down start to the season. After dropping their first two games to Penn State and Missouri, the Knights got in the win column with an impressive but expected home victory over Bethune-Cookman.
One of the keys in the Knights’ initial win of the season was the play of the offensive line. Minus three starters from last year’s unit, head coach George O’Leary has had to experiment with untested options, going with three different starting rotations on the O-line in the first three games. The only staples and returning starters on the inexperienced line are center Joey Grant and left tackle Torrian Wilson.
Encouraged by the play of freshman right tackle Chavis Dickey and Chester Brown at right guard, O’Leary may have found a group to move forward with. Grant is confident the early-season struggles and increased intensity in practices leading up to the conference opener are helping to forge the front.
“Practices are where you grind and where you prepare and you have fun on that game field,” Grant told the Orlando Sentinel this week. “You have fun getting the Ws and winning is one of the greatest joys you can have if you really love the game. I think that’s what the young players are starting to understand as well after getting that first win.”
Thanks to a convincing performance by the O-line in the Bethune-Cookman game, running back Will Stanback produced the type of breakout performance that the Knights have been banking on. Stepping into the void left by the departure of Storm Johnson, now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Stanback rolled to his first 100-yard rushing performance in the home opener.
“He’s been really working hard in trying to get back to the level in which we expect him to be and that’s to come out and run hard every play and block,” UCF running backs coach Danny Barrett said. “(He did) all those things to be the complete back, and I thought for the first time this year we’ve been able to see that, you know because of conditioning and the injury and everything. Now, the key is to follow that up.”
Hampered by a foot injury early in the year and then bothered by a stiff back, Stanback carried the ball 15 times and gained 104 yards against Bethune-Cookman. He also scored two touchdowns—a personal best—in the second half and was named to the AAC’s honor roll for his performance.
The Knights’ offense is starting to click. UCF opened the season with 246 yards of total offense vs. Penn State, followed by 299 yards at Missouri. It amassed 351 total yards against Bethune-Cookman and look to parlay that momentum against Houston.
The ground game has also improved each week: going from a season-low 24 yards in the Croke Park Classic, to 90 yards against Missouri and jumping up to 169 against Bethune-Cookman.
While the offense is picking up its pace, the defense is becoming more stingy. UCF held Bethune-Cookman to 72 rushing yards on 42 attempts for a 1.7 average. It was also the second time this year that the Knights kept an opponent to a 2.0 average or less (Penn State gained just 57 yards on 28 carries).
The Knights will need to continue to improvement on both sides of the line of scrimmage against a Houston squad that likes to pound the ball on the ground. In a 47-14 win vs UNLV on Sept. 20, the Cougars totaled 399 rushing yards and had four different players record a rushing touchdown. Houston is averaging 31.5 points a game, 164.5 rushing yards and 221.5 through the air.
With the offensive line making progress and the running attack finding its footing, UCF is ready for a bigger test in its conference opener.
“Everybody says that the first conference game is a statement game,” Stanback said. “You know we just want to go out there and fight hard and play till the end.”
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