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Anybody else perturbed by UCF's performance
Posted on 9/17/13 at 4:26 pm
Posted on 9/17/13 at 4:26 pm
I know Penn State is a dumpster fire with a 65 man roster but it was a road game for O'Leary and the knights who ventured into Pennsylvania (something UF never does) and came up with a soilid win.
Also, they dismantled an Akron team who put up very nice points and played a solid game against an decent Michigan team.
If our composure on the road isn't there and Spurrier brings in a lackadaisical squad into Orlando I think it may very well be a close game (assuming these factors lead to excessive turnovers).
Also, they dismantled an Akron team who put up very nice points and played a solid game against an decent Michigan team.
If our composure on the road isn't there and Spurrier brings in a lackadaisical squad into Orlando I think it may very well be a close game (assuming these factors lead to excessive turnovers).
This post was edited on 9/17/13 at 4:28 pm
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Posted on 9/17/13 at 4:29 pm to Mootsman
Players/Coaches need to treat this game like an SEC road game, UCF is no chump by any stretch.
This post was edited on 9/17/13 at 4:30 pm
Posted on 9/17/13 at 4:56 pm to CayceCock13
quote:
UCF is no chump by any stretch
Ain't that the truth
Posted on 9/17/13 at 4:58 pm to Mootsman
quote:
I know Penn State is a dumpster fire with a 65 man roster but it was a road game for O'Leary and the knights who ventured into Pennsylvania (something UF never does) and came up with a soilid win.
Also, they dismantled an Akron team who put up very nice points and played a solid game against an decent Michigan team.
If our composure on the road isn't there and Spurrier brings in a lackadaisical squad into Orlando I think it may very well be a close game (assuming these factors lead to excessive turnovers).
Wow. This is like saying team A beat teams B who beat team C who beat us, therefore team A is better than us.
Yes, Akron almost beat Michigan at their house, and UCF curb-stomped Akron. But that is a Michigan problem, not a USC problem. UCF curb-stomped a Akron team that has won a total of 6 games over the previous 4 seasons, hasn't beaten an opponent on the road in 5 seasons, and generally is one of the worst FBS programs in college football. And yes, that also nearly beat Michigan. So what does that tell us?
UCF has also soundly beaten Florida International. FIU is winless through 3 games this season, went 3-9 last season, and just lost 31-10 to FCS opponent Bethune-Cookman last Sat. Who FIU is 0-3 against in it's history.
Other than PSU, UCF has played nobody yet this season, for all purposes. The only reason Akron has gotten any note thus far other than being a gimme cupcake, is because they almost took Michigan down in the Big House. But that means nothing to us...
PSU is undermanned as you stated, and is thin in athletes. Skills, speed, athleticism. Most of their top skill players transferred out, and they will rebuild in time, but they're still hurting from the NCAA sanctions.
UCF is not a cupcake at this stage. They do not have a lot of size or depth, but they do have some solid-to great skill players and speed and athleticism. PSU couldn't keep up defensively with the Knight's speed and offense. UCF does have an impressive passing QB, but he's no different nor better than UNC's Renner, UGA's Murray, or CU's Boyd.
IMO he's a poorer escape artist than the last two, mostly more like Renner, but UCF doesn't run a HUNH offense that keeps opposing defenses off of their QB: UCF has run 190 offensive plays through their 3 games thus far (USC has run 207 in ours), they are ranked 70th in tackles for loss allowed (USC is ranked 6th in defensive TFL), and 60th in QB sacks allowed (we are ranked 9th in QB sacks). That's playing Akron, FIU, and PSU.
The biggest issue IMO is USC going to this small, unfamiliar venue and coming out flat to start the game. UCF does have an effective offense that can score, and if we allow them to get into a rhythm early on, the emotion of the occasion could help carry them. We need to maintain that "anger" our defense had for Vanderbilt, and eliminate the miscues that helped keep Vandy in the game late.
IMO, we should be able to mash UCF all over the field on both sides of the ball, control the game clock, and keep the Black Knight offense on the sidelines. Jump out to a sizable lead early (if we can jump out 17-0 vs UNC and 21-0 vs Vandy, we should be able to do the same vs UCF), quiet down the home crowd and instill doubt into the UCF team. Make them become one-dimensional passing the ball and just bum-rush the tall QB all game long. In quick time, he will begin to crumble in his decision-making abilities....
Posted on 9/17/13 at 5:51 pm to ConwayGamecock
quote:
Wow. This is like saying team A beat teams B who beat team C who beat us, therefore team A is better than us.
I am by no means saying they are better than us I am just saying the way their playing this year they don't appear to be the push over team we thought we were scheduling and we should do due diligence coming into it.
Bortels is not a bad qb. He was 20-27 saturday and passed for 277 yards with 3 tds against a poor defense but on the road this says something. I'm not saying he could do this against our D but it is food for thought.
I think we win 42-10
Appreciate the rest of your response however.
Posted on 9/17/13 at 9:17 pm to LewDawg
quote:
Ain't that the truth
I remember that game. They took mizzou down to the wire last year as well. This is a team that gets up for these "big" non conference games. They are every bit capable of beating USC. If our guys don't come in ready to play, we could lose this.
Posted on 9/17/13 at 11:15 pm to CockInYourEar
Week off to prepare mentally and heal physically ... but so do they.
Not too worried. We have better, deeper, athletes and a better overall staff.
A lot of people called UCF to beat Penn State.
I do believe we are past the days of blowing games like this. I may be wrong, who knows ... but I don't believe that I am.
Not too worried. We have better, deeper, athletes and a better overall staff.
A lot of people called UCF to beat Penn State.
I do believe we are past the days of blowing games like this. I may be wrong, who knows ... but I don't believe that I am.
Posted on 9/18/13 at 1:55 am to scrooster
quote:I thought we were gonna run Vandy out of the stadium because of these exact reasons and while we certainly did that in the 1st half, we let them hang around and make a game of it in the 2nd half. If we keep doing that to teams eventually it will catch up to us.
Not too worried. We have better, deeper, athletes and a better overall staff.
.
.
.
I do believe we are past the days of blowing games like this. I may be wrong, who knows ... but I don't believe that I am.
Posted on 9/18/13 at 7:54 am to CockRocket
You nailed it. We have to develop that killer instinct and put a team down when we are up big. The Vandy game should have been a cake-walk 4th quarter, but we didn't do the things necessary to truly put them away early on.
I played on a basketball team that did this in high school. We would be up by 20 at the half and would end up winning by 5 or even losing, because we kept letting teams hang around.
I played on a basketball team that did this in high school. We would be up by 20 at the half and would end up winning by 5 or even losing, because we kept letting teams hang around.
Posted on 9/18/13 at 10:07 am to CockRocket
How many times in the past three years have we had big leads and squandered them.
Or, is the whole program's worth based upon one game ... the last game?
Never use one game to judge a work in progress. That applies to pretty-much anything and everything in life.
All teams are going to have games like we had against Vandy. The good teams will still win those games, especially at home, the mediocre and bad teams will not.
I stand by what I typed earlier. We are not the Carolina of old. I remember when we almost lost to UCF here at home when they had Daunte Culpepper ... oddly enough so did Nebraska the following week. When was that, '98 or so?
My point is that the more things change the more they stay the same. UCF is always a tough draw and O'Leary has them playing well. That doesn't change the fact that we are a better team with more talent, deeper talent, a more experienced head coach and a better overall coaching staff. Combine that with the fact that we simply play with a different mindset and under a different culture these days and I am not the least bit worried.
BTW, we're too young of a football team to have a killer instinct. That's something we'll have to develop in coming weeks and months. But I do wish we had kept the foot on the gas pedal ... but think about it, we were throwing the ball when the interception occurred and the momentum swung. Still, I wish we would have driven down and scored on that final drive.
Or, is the whole program's worth based upon one game ... the last game?
Never use one game to judge a work in progress. That applies to pretty-much anything and everything in life.
All teams are going to have games like we had against Vandy. The good teams will still win those games, especially at home, the mediocre and bad teams will not.
I stand by what I typed earlier. We are not the Carolina of old. I remember when we almost lost to UCF here at home when they had Daunte Culpepper ... oddly enough so did Nebraska the following week. When was that, '98 or so?
My point is that the more things change the more they stay the same. UCF is always a tough draw and O'Leary has them playing well. That doesn't change the fact that we are a better team with more talent, deeper talent, a more experienced head coach and a better overall coaching staff. Combine that with the fact that we simply play with a different mindset and under a different culture these days and I am not the least bit worried.
BTW, we're too young of a football team to have a killer instinct. That's something we'll have to develop in coming weeks and months. But I do wish we had kept the foot on the gas pedal ... but think about it, we were throwing the ball when the interception occurred and the momentum swung. Still, I wish we would have driven down and scored on that final drive.
Posted on 9/18/13 at 11:16 am to Mootsman
quote:
Anybody else perturbed by UCF's performance
I've had this game circled since I first saw it on the schedule. Definitely not a game to overlook and a curious scheduling move but I think this is the game that will show us what the team is made of.
Posted on 9/18/13 at 1:14 pm to Cockopotamus
I am ecstatic about UCF's performance. Them "upsetting" State both keeps us from looking past them and improves our SOS. There is no downside to how they've played this year.
Also going to Orlando, while unusual, makes a win look better than if we beat them at WB. It should be a fun game (I really liked what I saw of their RB in the FIU game), but I'm thinking we're just too much for them in the end.
Also going to Orlando, while unusual, makes a win look better than if we beat them at WB. It should be a fun game (I really liked what I saw of their RB in the FIU game), but I'm thinking we're just too much for them in the end.
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