Week 7: Cincinnati at Central Florida Preview
Cincinnati will look for their second Big 12 Conference win on Saturday when they travel to Orlando for a match up against the Central Florida Golden Knights.
Both teams enter Saturday with identical 3-2 records and are coming off of losses.
Brendan Sorsby completed 31-of-45 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns prior to a week six bye, but the Bearcats came up just short in a 44-41 loss at Texas Tech.
The Knights started the season 3-0, but enter Saturday reeling following consecutive losses to Florida (24-13) and Colorado (48-21).
With several key reserves recently announcing their intentions to redshirt and transfer when the December transfer portal opens, there are a lot of question marks surrounding the UCF program currently.
Despite the uncertainty under Head Coach Gus Malzahn, the former American Athletic Conference rival still presents plenty of challenges for the Bearcats.
UCF features one of the best offenses nationally, ranking fourth in rushing offense (282.4) and 11th nationally in total offense (489.2).
"UCF is an outstanding football team with a lot of talent," head coach Scott Satterfield told media Tuesday. "They have one of the best offenses in the country, and certainly one of the best rushing offenses in the country. They have a lot of playmakers, and their quarterback is an outstanding player. They run him and do play action with him; he is a big guy and a tough guy to tackle. Their running back, RJ [Harvey], is an outstanding player as well. He is short, low to ground, very powerful and fast."
Harvey rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries in last season's 28-26 win over the Bearcats. This season, Harvey averages 156.8 all-purpose yards per game, which ranks fifth in the nation.
Satterfield described what makes Harvey so elusive and tough to contain.
"He's shorter, he's more compact, but he's got great speed, toughness, durability," said Satterfield.
The Bearcats will also have to respect and worry about quarterback KJ Jefferson as well in both the run and pass game.
Jefferson has struggled at times this season, but has still completed 64-of-108 passing attempts for 1,012 yards to go along with 193 yards on 61 carries. Jefferson has already thrown seven interceptions through five games, so there could be opportunities for the defense to create turnovers.
Toledo transfer running back Peny Boone is currently averaging 6.1 yards per carry and provides another option in the run game in short yard situations.
"They formation you, they will motion, and they are going to try to get you out of position and alignment. When they do this, you have to tackle a guy with one guy, and that's tough because RJ [Harvey] will make the one guy miss, and then where's the next guy? If they get you out of position, there's nobody else, and that's where the big plays come in."
"Now, not only are you defending 10 guys, but with their quarterback, you're defending 11. I think that's the whole premise of being able to run your quarterback, is that now we have to have a guy assigned for the quarterback and one guy assigned for the running back. I believe that's why they have been so good at what they do. When you load up a box, that's when the play action comes."
Cincinnati will have to do a great job tackling and making the Knights one dimensional. After averaging 375.7 rushing yards in their first three victories, UCF was limited to 177 and 108 rushing yards in their two losses to Colorado and Florida.
If there is one area of weakness for the UCF offense, it is inconsistency in the pass game.
During UCF's two game losing streak, leading wide receiver Kobe Hudson (16 receptions, 363 yards) has been limited to just three catches for 53 yards.
The former Auburn transfer went off for 145 yards on six catches in a 35-34 win at TCU, so the Bearcats' secondary will have to know where he is lined up at all times. Hudson was mostly kept in check last season against Cincinnati with just two catches for 45 yards.
Defensively, UCF has struggled over the past three games, but Cincinnati transfer linebacker Deshawn Pace has been consistent at the second level.
The Cincinnati native leads the team with 27 tackles and two interceptions.
Other notable defensive players to know for UCF include defensive tackle Lee Hunter (15 tackles) and linebacker Ethan Barr (24 tackles).
The Knights rank last in the Big 12 in sacks (12) but defensive back Mac McWilliams currently leads the team in tackles for loss with four. Fellow defensive back Quadric Bullard is currently tied for second on the team in tackles with 24.
With recent injuries and announcements of transfer, the Knights have started to go with a youth movement in several areas.
Freshman cornerback Chasen Johnson played well in 35 snaps against Florida and was awarded a spot on the Big 12 team of the week after posting a 79.3 coverage grade from PFF.
Redshirt kicker Grant Reddick replaced Colton Boomer, following his announcement to transfer from UCF, and connected from 28 and 37 yards on field goal attempts.
Isaiah Nixon and Jaylen Howard are two other freshmen who will be asked to contribute in some way.
While it would be easy for some to get wrapped up in all of the moving parts and questions with the UCF defense currently, quarterback Brendan Sorsby knows and understands the challenges that Cincinnati will face Saturday.
“They have a really good defense. Obviously, they probably haven't gotten the amount of pressures that they want or the amount of sacks that they want, but they are still very talented and know that they can definitely affect the game. So, we just have to take care of our business and do what we do, and I think we'll be all right, but their defense looks really good on tape."
Injury Update
Scott Satterfield said on Tuesday that the Bearcats left Lubbock with 25 players on the injury list following the loss to Texas Tech, including injuries to running backs Corey Kiner, Evan Pryor, and Manny Covey.
"It was a great time to have a bye week for us. We were beat up, we had over 25 guys on the injury list after that game against Texas Tech," Satterfield said.
"Fortunately for us, the majority of those guys are getting back and practiced on Sunday. I think Cam [Roetherford] was probably the one that was the most injured. I think he would be the biggest question mark on whether he plays this week. I would anticipate the rest of our guys will play. I’m looking at my list, but I think the rest of them are playing. We're going to get Jonathan [Thompson] back this week, which is awesome. He's been a great player for us, defensively and on special teams. He's had an outstanding year and to get him back is going to be huge. I think that Cam [Roetherford] is probably the one with the biggest question mark, but I feel like everybody else is going to be ready to go.”
UCF is still without defensive tackle John Walker, who was a first team freshman all american last season.
How to Watch:
ESPN2
3:30 kickoff
Final Thoughts:
It has been mentioned multiple times, but the biggest key for Cincinnati on Saturday is finding a way to contain the UCF rushing attack and simply being mentally tough in key situations.
UC's offense has shown they can move the ball both through the air and on the ground through the first five games. Defensively, the Bearcats will have to play assignment football, fly to the ball, and fill the gaps in the run game. Communication will be key in the secondary to prevent RJ Harvey from leaking out of the backfield in the pass game or Kobe Hudson beating the defensive backs deep.
The Bearcats are currently +3.5 with the over/under set at 58.5.
A win Saturday would go a long way in Cincinnati returning to a bowl game at the end of the season and building momentum heading into a week eight homecoming game against Arizona State inside Nippert Stadium.