UCF is in the Right Hands

The Guy
The Guy
Sep 7, 2018 · 7 min read

Coming into Thursday’s game against Uconn, I was oddly nervous. Afterall, UCF was playing UConn a team recovering from the dumpster fire that was Bob Diaco. They were starting 6 freshmen on defense and 11 overall. UConn had not beaten UCF since George O’Leary got fired. UCF was coming off a perfect national championship winning season. The knights had a lot more talent than the huskies. So why the hell was I, like a few others, so nervous about the game? Well maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was Josh Heupel’s first game as head coach. Finally we would get to see what a Heupel led team looked like. After hearing nothing, but praise for him from the press and players, the fans would get to see what Heupel had molded ucf into.

Well if I was a fan of another team on UCF’s schedule I would be utterly terrified. It appears that UCF has not lost a beat after losing Frost and his staff. UCF imposed their will on both sides of the ball against Uconn. UCf scored 56 points against the huskies while raking up 652 yards of total offense. The Knights were 9/11 on third down oh and they did this while only having 21 minutes of possession. To be honest that score and those stats do not reflect the sheer dominance of the Knights. From the get go, UCF set the tempo on both sides of the ball. They were going to hit UConn and they were going to hit the huskies hard. From every angle, the Knights attacked the Huskies. Clearly this blitzkrieg threw UConn’s gameplan off and UCF took advantage of every opportunity/mistake. It was a perfect night to be a UCF fan. You could not have asked for a better debut from Heupel. This new staff clearly sent a message.

All anyone heard this offseason was that Heupel’s offense was faster than Frost’s. Of course any reasonable person that had not watched a Missouri game would have said, “yeah right.” Well it turns out that Heupel’s offense is indeed faster than Frost’s. In fact UCF played at such a blistering pace that even the cameras hard trouble following. There were two instances where the cameras missed the the live action because they could not keep up with the pace. Even the fans found it hard to keep up with the pace. The Knights snapped the ball within 10 seconds 80% of the time. It was a pace that UConn clearly could not keep up with as their young defense was exposed over and over again. Uconn could not make substitutions frequently because they feared that UCF would snap the ball before their defense could get set. If Oregon’s offense is known as the blur, UCF’s offense needs to be known as the blitzkrieg. There was an additional wrinkle to Heupel’s offense that made an immediate impact. UCF wide receivers and tight ends were split out further than in the previous system. Heupel had said that his system was a blend of the Oregon and Mike Leach air raid, splitting out the receivers and tight ends that far is the perfect example of that blending. This created natural mismatches as UConn was spread way out. This opened running lanes that were not open in Frost’s system. It also forced Uconn to show their hand on defense. If they were going to blitz, then Mckenzie had easy opportunities to throw over the heads of the defenders. If the huskies were playing back in coverage, then those running lanes would be open. Because the defense was spread out so thin this allowed Heupel to call more deep passes. UConn could not keep up on these one on one matchups when the Knights did go deep. These two new wrinkles have to cause UCF fans to be excited about the hiring of Heupel.

Remember when UCF fans were chanting for Justin Holman during the Cure Bowl in 2016? Remember how fans wanted to sign a new QB to replace Milton? That seems like a long time ago. McKenzie Milton had the perfect start his heisman campaign. He was 24–32 with 346 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. He also ran for 50 yards. So he had close to 400 yards of total offense for the Knights. Yet the stats do not tell the whole story. McKenzie looked like he took another leap from year 2 to year 3. His passes were a lot more accurate. Last year McKenzie had a tendency to overthrow his wide receivers, which was often covered up by Franks and Tre’Quan. Against UConn, McKenzie would often put the ball right on the receivers hands which a few times those receivers dropped. Heupel talked about making some adjustments to McKenzie’s mechanics and after one game you can already see the adjustments bearing fruit. Milton looks a more calm pocket passer and is willing to stay in the pocket more. McKenzie is more willing to go through his progressions and find the mismatch. Yet Heupel has not handcuffed Milton to just being a pocket passer. In fact Heuepel has given Milton more freedom to create. Throughout the game, Milton would read the defense and decide to run on his own. And how can I not mention the throw to TRe Nixon? While under pressure, Milton rolled to his right, set his feet, and threw a 35 yard pass right on Tre Nixon’s hands. His freshman year, people questioned if he had the arm strength to make the deep throw. Last year Milton proved that he could and do it accurately. After one game, he looks to have even gotten stronger and more accurate. If Milton can continue to make the accurate deep throw, this offense is going to be untouchable.

One of the smartest things Scott Frost did when he was at UCF was to allow an additional roster spot for later signees/transfers. That is how the likes of Trysten Hill and Mike Hughes ended up on UCF. Those two players ended up being difference makers for the Knights. Josh Heupel continued this philosophy this year. Tre Nixon, who was a bystander in the whole Ole Miss scandal, transferred to UCF in January though it was unclear if he would immediately be eligible. Well in May he was ruled eligible and man oh man does he look good. Nixon had 5 catches for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns. He could have had more if he had not been pulled towards the end of the third quarter. The fact that he and McKenzie have already formed a close bond and trust is very promising for UCF. Headed into the season people wondered if UCF had a wide receiver that could match Tre’Quan Smith’s production/ability. I think we found that answer in Tre Nixon. Nixon has the speed, ability, and physicality to become an elite player. Pairing him with Gabe Davis(6 catches, 40 yards) and Dredrick Snelson(5 catches, 90 yards) make this one of the deadliest receiving trios in the country.

Now let’s talk about the defense. Headed into the season, I was nervous about the shift from the 3–4 to the 4–3. Typically the 4–3 is outdated against teams with mobile quarterbacks. For a few plays in the first half, UConn QB David Pindell did just that. He would cause UCF defenders to miss tackles and ran for 127 yards. That’s not great if you’re a ucf fan. But on second look, maybe the defense wasn’t as bad as it looks on paper. Afterall UCF was able to force 3 turnovers. UCF was able to get penetration into UConn’s backfield. I know that not having a sack is not great, but there were [plenty of times that the UCF defenders were able to create chaos in the backfield and blow up a play before it could develop. The perfect example of this is when Shawn Burgess Becker blew up the UConn blocker then forced Pindell out of the pocket, but missed the sack. Trysten Hill also wreaked havoc on Uconn’s offensive line. They forced Pindell outside of the pocket several times. Forced him to run and not get comfortable in the pocket. In fact this would lead to a interception in the second quarter before halftime. It was just a matter of, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, tackling properly. If UCF can fix the tackling issue, this defense can be formidable. Remember when I mentioned in my first article about how Randy Shannon’s defensive backs were known to create the most havoc on opposing offenses? Well Richie GRant did just that. Grant was all over the field against UConn. He had a interception and a fumble. He was near the ball on every damn play. Now we understand why this coaching staff gave a shrug when Tre Neal transferred to Nebraska. Grant beat him in every facet of the game and pairs well with Kyle Gibson. Many have asked who will step up for Shaquem, the answer appears to be Richie.

Yes some of this might be overreacting to one game. A game against god awful UConn that ranked 108th in Bill Connelly’s S&P preview. So yes there is plenty of room for people to come back and laugh at this blog. But there were so many questions about what UCF would look like under Heupel. So many people saying there would be a hangover and that the team could not come together after Frost left. Well for one game, it appears that all those doubters were proven wrong. Josh Heupel appears to be the perfect fit at UCF.

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