Scouting the UCF Knights ahead of the Gasparilla Bowl
Florida may have missed a New Year’s Six Bowl for the first time since 2017 this year, but unlike that season, this team will at least be playing during bowl season. After reaching bowl eligibility with a win over Florida State, the 6-6 Gators were placed in the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, where they will take on the UCF Knights on Thursday night.
This game carries some intrigue, as some controversy arose between the two schools a couple years ago while attempting to schedule future non-conference matchups. The Knights wanted a home-and-home, while UF wanted a two-for-one. The schools eventually agreed on the latter and will play in Gainesville in 2024 and 2033 and Orlando in 2030.
However, we’ll see an early preview of that series on Thursday night, though neither program is at its best. UCF went 8-4 this season in Gus Malzahn’s first year at the helm, losing four games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2014-15.
Here’s what you need to know about this Central Florida team.
Program Overview
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UCF’s program has existed since 1979, but it’s only been at the FBS level since 1996. It saw just middling success until the arrival of legendary coach George O’Leary in 2004. Within four years, O’Leary won 10 games for the first time in program history in 2007 and eventually led the program to four double-digit win seasons.
The best, however, came in 2013 with quarterback Blake Bortles when the team went 12-1 with a Fiesta Bowl victory, the first BCS/New Year’s Six win in program history. Things took a downward turn in the final season of O’Leary’s tenure in 2015, when the team went 0-12.
But new coach Scott Frost turned things around quickly. In 2017, the Knights went 13-0 and upset Auburn in the Peach Bowl, claiming a national championship in the process. Frost left after that season to take the Nebraska job, but Josh Heupel carried the success into the next year when the team went undefeated in the regular season again before falling in the Fiesta Bowl against LSU.
After a 10-3 finish in 2019 and 6-4 finish in 2020, Heupel left to take the Tennessee job, and UCF hired Malzahn, who had recently been fired at Auburn, to replace him. This season has been a slight disappointment, but aside from a road loss to Navy, it’s hard to judge UCF too hard for its other three slipups.
Passing game
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The Knights entered the season with a veteran quarterback in Dillon Gabriel, who first took over when McKenzie Milton suffered his gruesome leg injury in 2018. Gabriel kept up the offensive success the team saw under Milton, and he was off to a good start in 2021 until a broken clavicle in the third game ended his season prematurely.
Gabriel announced that he would be transferring to UCLA earlier this week, and UCF will be rolling with true freshman Mikey Keene for the foreseeable future. Keene has had a solid season for a first-year player, throwing 16 touchdowns to six interceptions. But he’s also completing just 63.6% of his passes, and he has just over 1,500 passing yards on the year.
Central Florida’s offense ranks 69th in the FBS, and the main reason for that is that the passing game comes in at just 89th. This isn’t the pass-heavy UCF teams we saw under Frost and Heupel, though it could find success against Florida’s struggling and now depleted defense.
Keene’s favorite target this year has easily been junior slot receiver Ryan O’Keefe, whose 77 catches are almost 40 more than any other player. He has 727 yards and six touchdowns, but the most productive receiver relative to touches is Tennessee graduate transfer Brandon Johnson, who has 565 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns on 38 catches. Other players to watch in the passing game include Jaylon Robinson and tight end Alec Holler.
Rushing game
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UCF has a two-headed rushing attack that has been very effective this season. It ranks 37th in FBS, averaging 188.7 yards per game, and that’s been very helpful for a true freshman quarterback trying to learn the ropes. Isaiah Bowser, a transfer from Northwestern, has seen the most carries, taking 124 for 548 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns.
However, the most efficient back has been Johnny Richardson, who is averaging nearly seven yards per carry and leads the team with 693 yards, though he has just three touchdowns. Mark-Antony Richards also has 309 yards and five touchdowns.
The run game only has an average offensive line blocking for it up front, though. The stars of the unit are a pair of redshirt seniors in left guard Cole Schneider and right tackle Samuel Jackson, but the line ranks 46th in sacks allowed, and Keene has been brought down 15 times. Still, this Florida front seven will be without two starters in Zachary Carter and Mohamoud Diabate, and against a run defense that already struggled, it could be a big day for the Knights.
Front seven
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It’s hard to talk about this defense without mentioning Big Kat Bryant. The Auburn transfer followed Malzahn to Orlando, and he has had a very good season, totaling 48 tackles and six sacks on the season. Fellow defensive end Josh Celiscar has also had a good season and has three sacks to go with 35 tackles. This is a UCF team that can get after the quarterback, and it ties for 28th (with Florida) in sacks per game with 34 total on the season.
However, the front seven is less effective against the run. UCF has just the 54th ranked defense, and the primary reason for that is a rushing defense that ranks 71st. Defensive tackles Anthony Montalvo and Rickey Barber have combined for just 59 tackles.
The best player in terms of run-stopping is linebacker Tatum Bethune. He leads the team with 101 tackles in addition to two sacks and an interception. As far as the rest of the linebacker corps goes, Kennesaw State transfer Bryson Armstrong, the team’s third-leading tackler, was lost for the season, paving the way for Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste to start the rest of the way. He has 48 tackles and a pick this season.
UCF has some solid players in its defensive front, but stopping the run is a relative weakness, and Florida should hit it with a major dose of Dameon Pierce on Thursday night.
Secondary
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While the Knights have some deficiencies against the run game, they’re much strong against the pass, ranking 41st in passing yards allowed. Much of that is thanks to sophomore Davonte Brown, who leads the team with 10 pass breakups to go with a pick and 33 tackles. True freshman Brandon Adams and sophomore Corey Thornton both see time playing opposite Brown, but Thornton has been more productive, totaling 28 tackles and six pass breakups compared to Adams’ 18 tackles and one breakup.
At the safety spots are Quadric Bullard, the team’s strong safety and second-leading tackler with 79 (to go with five pass breakups), and Divaad Wilson, who has 65 tackles and two interceptions on the season. Wilson is a Georgia transfer playing his second season in Orlando.
Finally, we have sophomore Justin Hodges playing the “KNIGHT” position, UCF’s equivalent to Florida’s “STAR.” Hodges is essentially the team’s nickel corner, and he has 32 tackles, two sacks, six pass breakups and a pick on the season.
It hasn’t been a great year for Florida quarterback Emory Jones, and though he has already entered the transfer portal, he will get the start in this one in all likelihood. He will be without his top receiver in Jacob Copeland, who also entered the transfer portal and will not play in this one, and the Gators will likely look to establish the run in this one as a result.
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