UCF Report Card: Knights 47 Pirates 29

The following is the report card for the UCF Knights Football Team following their 47-29 road win over the East Carolina Pirates:

Offense

Quarterback

If you were like me, you were shocked when Justin Holman trotted out at quarterback for the first offensive snap for the Knights. Freshman McKenzie Milton was held out due to an apparent ankle injury. With Milton out, the senior Holman made his first start since the Michigan game. To put it nicely, Holman really struggled. His accuracy was off, particularly when trying to make deep throws to Tre'Quan Smith. He also short armed a couple of balls and was generally inaccurate, finishing just 11 of 29 passing. His worst moments were on his 2 interceptions. His first one was clearly under thrown, while his second one was an unnecessary pass off his back foot. For all his negatives on this day, Holman stepped up in critical moments to complete a couple of chunk plays. The wide receivers were typically wide open in these scenarios, but completions are completions. Holman also had a few nice runs, finishing with 31 yards on 9 attempts. He does not grade well because I believe in many ways that the Knights won this game in spite of him, but he still was on the winning side of things, so he does not fail. Grade: D+

Offensive Line

The UCF offensive line gave up 0 sacks, although they did allow 7 tackles for loss. Still, giving up 0 sacks on the road in a loud environment like Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium is pretty darn impressive. Aaron Evans and co. paved the way for 4 rushing touchdowns and 373 yards of total offense. Justin Holman's problems were a product of his own and not a result of him being under intense pressure. Overall, this group played very well and was integral to the Knights punishing the Pirates on the ground. Grade: A

Skill Positions (Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Tight Ends)

The brightest spot of the #UCFast offense has to be the plethora of running backs that drive the car.  Senior Dontravius Wilson continues to show great agility, make great cuts, and read his holes. When he got to the second level of the defense, the Pirates had no answer for him. Wilson finished with 74 yards on 11 carries with 2 touchdowns, giving him 5 rushing touchdowns in the last 2 weeks. Freshman Jawon Hamilton got shaken up last game at FIU, but was in the lineup again and did not disappoint. Hamilton found the end zone once and finished with 48 yards on 13 carries. Adrian Killins did not do much in the running game, but that's okay, as we'll discuss later. Sophomore Taj McGowan put the exclamation point on this one with a 47 yard touchdown run. Grade: A

The receivers and tight ends did not have big games, but this was not entirely their fault as was stated earlier about Holman's performance. Drops were a bit of an issue though. Sophomore Tre'Quan Smith dropped at least one ball while sophomore Tristan Payton also dropped a potential long touchdown pass. Junior tight end Jordan Franks was the star of the pass catchers, hauling in 2 balls for 73 yards including a long of 40. Senior receiver Taylor  Oldham also had a key 25 yard catch to set up a rushing touchdown. Overall, not the best day for the receivers, but  the skill position players as a whole were on point. Grade: A-

Defense

Linebackers

If one looks at the box score alone, you would assume that the UCFierce defense did not play well, but anyone who watched this game knows that these guys were the biggest reason the Knights left Greenville with a win. Where to start with the individual standouts? How about linebacker Mark Rucker? The senior from Miramar led the Knights with 10 tackles and 3 tackles for loss (TFL), including 1 sack and a great wrap-up tackle of ECU's Devin Anderson in the end zone to give the Knights a safety and 9-7 lead in the second quarter. I thought it was a crime that Rucker got thrown out for targeting as it did not look intentional. Joining Rucker amongst the linebacking corps in defensive excellence was junior Shaquem Griffin. He continues to amaze, finishing this one with 5 tackles and 1.5 TFL including 1 sack and 1 sick forced fumble on ECU's QB. Lastly, but certainly not least amongst the linebackers was senior Justin McDonald who finished with 5 tackles and 2 tackles for loss, including 1 sack and 1 forced fumble. Just a wonderful day for the linebackers and the defense overall. Grade: A

Defensive Line

I thought this was arguably the defensive line's best performance of the season. ECU was held to 33 net yards of rushing and the D-Line created the push and chaos up front that enabled the Knights to finish with 10 tackles for loss total, including 5 sacks. Junior Tony Guerad led the charge with 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He continues to be the best UCF defensive lineman. Freshman Trysten Hill is not far behind Mr. Guerad. He added 2 tackles and 1 TFL and looks to be both the present and future of UCFierce. Sophomore Joey Connors and junior Jamiyus Pittman both had batted balls at the line as part of the ferocious pass rush the Knights employed. But perhaps the most impressive play in this game was this interception by freshman Brendon Hayes: 

An extremely athletic play by the young Hayes that ended up being the dagger in East Carolina's comeback bid. As a fan, I couldn't be prouder of the defensive line. Grade: A+

Secondary

The UCF secondary faced a stiff test against an East Carolina team that boasted the #8 passing attack entering this game, including stud receiver Zay Jones. Although they gave up 488 passing yards, the defensive backs made plays when they needed to. Senior Shaquill Griffin had 5 tackles, tracked down a fumbled football in the end zone before it could go out of bounds, and had a very nice interception where he jumped the route. But the Knights' best defensive back on this day had to be fifth year graduate student T.J. Mutcherson. He had 5 tackles, an amazing forced fumble near the goal line to prevent a touchdown, and an interception. Mutcherson also laid the wood on some poor Pirate on at least one occasion, setting the physical tone for this defense. The Knights did give up a 75 yard touchdown on a badly missed tackle by Mutcherson and the Pirates did put up 29 points; however, credit has to be given to ECU's passing game. Overall, I thought the secondary did what was necessary to win, especially with the turnovers. Grade: B+

Special Teams

Fellow writer on the blog Jason Sanford and I to this day have a good laugh about the YouTube video titled "Quincy McDuffie is fast." The laugh is at the simple title of the video, not the content:

The Knights have enjoyed a lot of fast players in their history, but McDuffie always has stood out. No one rivaled McDuffie in my eyes until I witnessed Adrian Killins do THIS against Michigan:

Killins has been somewhat of a folk hero amongst UCF fans since that run, but he might have topped it with THIS kick return:

Not sure what's funnier, the Quincy McDuffie video titles (there is one by the same YouTube author called "Quincy McDuffie is still fast) or this new Adrian Killins super fan. Regardless, this play shifted the momentum of the game and put the Knights in the driver seat towards victory. It is amazing to think George O'Leary probably wouldn't have recruited this guy in past years, because "he's too small." In college football, if you're fast and have field vision, you can be dangerous, and Killins is the ultimate proof. 

Outside of Killins' breathtaking kick return, senior Caleb Houston pinned 5 punts inside the 20, including a beautiful 70 yard boot that setup a safety by the Knights defense. Matthew Wright hit a short field goal and Donald De La Haye did a solid job on kickoffs. Last but not least, the kick coverage units did not give up any big plays. Just an awesome game for the special teams! Grade: A+

Coaching

This was by far the most impressive win of the young Scott Frost era. To go on the road into a hostile environment and beat up on a rival like East Carolina with Justin Holman having to start over freshman stud McKenzie Milton is nothing short of impressive. Frost's impact on the team's psyche was evident in how they responded in the 4th quarter when the Pirates rallied from 23-7 down to make in a 23-21 game. Coach Frost and his staff didn't panic and neither did the Knights. They simply rose and conquered the Pirates and brought a huge conference-opening win home to Orlando. Special props have to be given to Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander. He had UCFierce firing on all cylinders and it showed up big time in the turnover column. As long as the Knights defense is flying around like that, UCF is going to have a chance in most games. If I'm athletic director Danny White, I start talking to boosters now about giving Frost a raise. As the coach says himself, "We are on our way boys."  Grade: A+