Since this is a relevant thread i'll provide some insight into this years UCF team:
-Position Groups
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Receivers
UCF lost all major receiving options from last year, 2 of which are currently on NFL squads (
Breshad Perriman, 1st round to the Ravens, and
Rannell Hall who signed an UDFA contract with the Buccaneers, and made it past OTA's) and one of the staple WR's and PR's in JJ Worton, who hasn't signed yet because of an ACL injury sustained in last year's SMU game.
We return Jordan Akins and... that's pretty much it. Akins is a massive, former Baseball Player with the Rangers talent system, that committed in 2010 originally. Well he's back in his True Sophomore season, and he looks every inch a professional athlete, at 6'3", 240 pounds. Look for him to play a slot / TE role in many different looks.
Aside from Akins, several players are expected to step up for the receiving core, who all looked good in the Spring Game.
Former Pinellas county passing leader,
Pete Dinovo, after completely bombing the opener with Penn State last year in Ireland, he's converted into a slot receiver role, and may see looks in our Wild Knight package that has been dormant since 2013's South Carolina game, given his skill set. He played reliably in the spring game, but nothing too spectacular.
Other targets that received some good time were Taylor Oldham and Michael Colubiale, who, till that day, I had really never heard of.
2 Players are expected to step in immediately though.
Tre'Quan Smith, a redshirt sophomore that only sat last year because of the incredible talent ahead of him, made a Breshad Perriman-esque, laying out catch in the spring game. He was scout team player of the year last year, and will undoubtedly replace Perriman as the deep route Play Action player this year, right away.
The other player expected to contribute right away is consensus best recruit in UCF history,
Tristan Payton, who chose the knights over Florida and USC (the Cali-flavored one).
UCF might switch to a more Tight End heavy role, utilizing some surprising catching ability in Kevin Miller, but the hope is to stack the line and grind for 4 yards at a time, with an ace-backfield set. I'm not sure how heavily we'll rely on the read option this year, like we have in past years. (albeit, rely is too strong a word)
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Running Backs
The standard UCF ground attack will be back in full force, lead by
William Stanback, who is picked as the 1st or 2nd best RB in the conference depending on who you ask (competition being Kenneth Farrow of Houson, and Marlon Mack of USF).
The depth at Running Back is such that one of our previous signees, Micah Reed, actually transferred away to an as yet undetermined school in hopes of seeing playing time, as all of
Dontravious Wilson,
Taj McGowan, and Stanback look to be in the 1-2-3 lineup, solidly. This is surprising, because McGowan is true freshman that turned a lot of heads in the spring game. He is readily nipping at the heels of the 1 and 2 RB already.
UCF recruited a true Fullback last season, in the monster of an 18 year old,
Aaron Cochran. The 6'3", 267 lber (last weighed) chose UCF over Louisville, and looks to replace Joseph Puopolo as the lead blocker in the run game, with options for receiving from the backfield as well. I'm not sure if we'll be burning a red shirt on him with Puopolo in the mix, but who knows. You never want to sit athletic players who can contribute.
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Quarterback
This is Justin Holman's team. There's no question about that. What is in question is QB2. It was expected that Tyler Harris would step up and be a solid 2 in his Redshirt Freshman season, but he's having basic mechanic issues, and was completely unproductive in the spring game.
Nick "Perfect Spiral" Patti is a mobile QB, with some skill. He's interception prone, and while the same as Jeff Godfrey, who succeeded in his first year as a pure DTQB in 2010, gone are the days of the smaller C-USA O-linemen, and, put simply, he literally bounces the balls off the heads of his o-linemen all too often. He's quite agile and moderately fast, but without a passing threat, he's really not a long term option. The Jesuit QB from Dallas,
Bo Schneider might be the future of the knights.
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O-Line
This was the weakest unit last year. Multiple combinations of 10 different players in the front 5 were utilized last year in an effort to get back to the elite unit that was 2013. They never really got into a rhythm, as is evidenced by the poor rushing attack from last year, ranking among the worst in FBS in total rushing yards. UCF only loses Torrian Wilson on the line, and adds some big uglies in
Luke Hiers and
Tyler Hudanick up front. They'll likely not contribute this year, as is the way with the O-Line, where experience trumps athleticism, all things considered. The starting lineup is anyone's guess.
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D-Line
This is UCF's strongest returning unit, of the entire team, let alone the defense.
Thomas Niles, a redshirt senior DE, looks to improve upon his performance last year, which garnished him an all AAC second team spot. With his help, UCF ended up having probably the #1 DL unit in the conference, surprisingly. Other notable names are Demetris Anderson (Senior) and an expected power up the middle in
Jamiyus Pittman, a True Sophomore who has seen the field since day one.
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Linebacker
This is an area i'm not too sure about. If the D-Line proves to be lackluster, and it falls on the LB to stop the run, i'm not overly confident that this position group is up to the task (at least in comparison to prior LB groups of UCF days). Losing Terrance Plummer is big. He was the heart and soul of this defense, having started at MLB for something like 3 years. His presence will be missed, undoubtedly. Look for support from Virginia transfer, Demeitre Brim, JUCO (from last year) Errol Clarke, and some strong performances from Chequan Burkett and Domenic Spencer.
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Defensive Backs
UCF lost every starter in the Backfield. Gone are Brandon Alexander, Clayton Geathers, Jordan Ozerites, and Jacoby Glenn. 3/4 were Redshirt Seniors (see: experience). Glenn elected to leave early for the NFL draft, which seems to have been a mistake, because even though he brought home all conference honors at corner, he went undrafted entirely.
All is not fire and brimstone though, as i'm personally not as worried about this group as I am, say, the offensive line. It's no secret that an O'Leary D has always been strong so long as he has been head coach at UCF (except for 2004.... no one remembers that year because it didn't happen.), and this year should be just another reload for the DB crew.
Just take a look at the talent that has been recruited over the past 2 years at this position:
Rashard Causey,
Brandon Scott,
Kyle Gibson,
Chris Williams, and
Mike Rogers, among others. Between these 5 players alone, they boast 94 D1 FBS offers, most from top schools like Auburn, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Florida, etc. There is just too much talent here to be bad for any length of time. And for a school that produces underrated talent like UCF, there's no expectation of a dropoff. Teams will not be beating UCF through the air, that's for sure.
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Offensive Style
Kind of a question mark at this point. Under Bortles (and probably due to a transition in offense experienced under Godfrey, who our former C-USA brethren should be amply familiar with) a transition was made from a strictly pro style offense, to more of a collegiate read option offense. Don't get me wrong, the play action was the bread and butter of the offense, but with options in mobile QB's over the past 5 years, Taafe (since retired) would have been a fool to pass up on the opportunity to get yards on the ground with a capable runner.
Holman appears to be less of a runner than Bortles, who's knack for extending the play was the source of many of his hidden yards, but is more durable, I would say.
UCF has seen a lot of odd looks over these past few years, utilizing a lot of screens to the flat, or WR options, Jet Sweeps, TE lead blocking and all sorts of run based shenanigans. It seemed to have worked well, because Perriman left UCF with an average yards per reception of over 20 yards.
Bottom line, if UCF can get 4 yards a carry on the ground, you better believe we'll pound it every single time. If that's not available to us, then Brent Key, the OC heir, has more than enough tools at his disposal to get creative. However,
stopping the run is the way you beat UCF. That, and
forcing turnovers.
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Defensive Style
UCF utilizes a prototypical 4-3 set, DE's range between 250-270 lbs with packages for run stop (see: Luke Adams) and pass rush (see: Miles Pace)
Standard Sam, Mike, Will linebackers, though a nickelback is often used in the pass first college offenses, that hybrids size and speed.
Strong play from the Safeties has been a staple of UCF play. Big Hits, and dominating ball hawk style of play.
Prognosis
If FIU is to win, they must stop the run, get ahead early to make us play catch up, and harass the quarterback. Can they do that?