UCF football coach Gus Malzahn preaches unity and which positional group feels 'slept on'?

ORLANDO — The time for pomp and circumstance at UCF has passed; the school joined the Big 12 Conference officially on the first day of July, becoming the Power Five's youngest member.As the Knights opened their fall practice schedule, head coach Gus Malzahn said the focus has shifted within.

"We're focused on us right now," Malzahn said. "Our key is about us being a close team. It's going to be about us counting on the guy beside us. We're going on the road six times, and we're going up a level in competition. There is a good chance we're going to be in a lot of close games come the fourth quarter. So our goal in this fall camp is to develop that trust."

HALF AND HALF: UCF's John Rhys Plumlee hosts baseball/football camp, relives 'crazy day'

Picked to finish eighth in its debut Big 12 campaign in the league's preseason media poll, UCF returns a largely veteran group that will be under the guidance of two new coordinators: Darin Hinshaw on offense, and Addison Williams on defense.

Hungry to prove it can contend for a conference title right away, here are five things to watch before the Knights' Aug. 31 home opener against Kent State.

John Rhys Plumlee in charge, improving in new offensive scheme

Malzahn waited three weeks last fall before deciding upon John Rhys Plumlee as the Knights' starting quarterback. There was no such drama this time around as the third-year coach made it clear Monday that JRP remains QB1.

"JR is our starting quarterback, and I really feel like he's in position to be one of the better starting quarterbacks in all of college football," Malzahn said. "This is his team."

Plumlee, named one of the Knights' six captains and to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, led all FBS quarterbacks in rushing with 861 yards to go along with 11 touchdowns last season. He threw for 2,586 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions, returning to QB after spending the previous two seasons at wide receiver for Ole Miss.

Hinshaw put an emphasis on attacking vertically in the passing game upon his appointment as offensive coordinator in January. Plumlee tossed 70- and 35-yard touchdowns in UCF's spring game, the second half of a personal baseball-football doubleheader.

"He's like night and day right now compared to where he was this time last year; that's to be expected," Malzahn said. "His leadership, he's really taken it to the next level. Every championship team I've ever been a part of, the quarterback's been one of the leaders, if not the team leader. He's definitely in that category."

Plumlee's progression as a passer will be critical to UCF's success in the nine-week Big 12 grind. In three games against Power Five opponents in 2022 (Louisville, Georgia Tech and Duke), the 6-foot, 200-pound fifth-year senior completed 53.6% of his attempts for 362 yards with no touchdowns and three picks.

Health is also a question mark for Plumlee after he sustained three injuries during the '22 season: a concussion against Cincinnati, a shoulder injury versus Navy and a hamstring tweak at South Florida.

Tylan Grable, UCF's starting left tackle, is 'full go' on Day 1

After missing spring ball due to injury, UCF left tackle Tylan Grable returned to the practice field Monday and has been deemed "full go" by Malzahn and the school's training staff.

Grable manned the blind side for all 14 games last season, earning third-team All-AAC honors from Pro Football Focus. He's made 25 career college starts; the previous 11 occurring at Jacksonville State.

"We've got a lot of depth on the line with Tylan back, and Adrian (Medley), too," running back RJ Harvey said. "It's a great feeling to have those guys blocking for me again."

Paul Rubelt and Edward Collins rotated at left tackle for the majority of the spring, and they will be among the options to replace Ryan Swoboda on the right side. Marcellus Marshall and Lokahi Pauole are penciled in as the starting guards, while Bula Schmidt, Drake Metcalf and Caden Kitler battle for reps at center.

UCF seeks to improve pass rush with deep, experienced D-line

Of all UCF's position groups, the defensive line unit appears to be the team's most obvious strength.

Three starters — defensive tackle Ricky Barber and edge rushers Josh Celiscar and Tre'mon Morris-Brash — return alongside redshirt sophomore Lee Hunter. Ascending reserves Malachi Lawrence and Matthew Alexander enjoyed a strong spring, and true freshmen John Walker and Kaven Call could immediately earn meaningful reps and spots on the depth chart in the coming weeks.

The big question is whether or not the unit can be more productive. UCF collected just 22 sacks last season, ranking 109th on a per-game basis (1.57). It fared better in the tackles for loss category with 76 total TFLs and 5.4 per game (76th in the nation).

Oddly enough, the Knights will fit right in as most of the Big 12's defenses struggled to get home in 2022. Texas Tech had the best sack total of the league's 10 incumbents (31), good enough to tie for 45th in the country.

Cincinnati ranked 27th (35 sacks, 2.69 per game), and Houston matched Texas Tech on the dot (31, 2.38).

RJ Harvey says UCF's running backs 'slept on' despite gaudy totals

UCF finished the '22 season with the ninth-best running game in college football, averaging 228.4 yards per game. Plumlee paced the Knights, while Isaiah Bowser produced 799 yards and a team-high 16 touchdowns.

The returning running back group, now under the direction of Kam Martin following Tim Harris Jr.'s exit for Miami, feels overlooked, Harvey said.

"We're real slept on. Nobody's talking about UCF's running back room," Harvey said. "I feel like we've got a great group, and that anybody can go out there, give it their all and showcase their skills."

Harvey, who missed all of 2021 with a torn ACL, emerged in October as a featured piece of the rushing attack with a 6.7-yards-per-carry average. In line for the lion's share of carries, Harvey seeks to improve upon his totals (796 yards, five TDs) after concentrating on ball security and open-field elusiveness in the summer.

The Polk County duo of Johnny Richardson and Demarkcus Bowman provide home-run-hitting speed in the backfield. Richardson has maintained an average of 6.9 yards per carry in his three-year Knights career, though his volume of carries was nearly halved a season ago. Bowman, a former Mr. Football and five-star recruit at Lakeland, spent last year on the scout team after his second transfer.

Jordan McDonald also figures to see an expanded role after seeing time in 13 games as a true freshmen; he gained 44 yards and scored his first career touchdown in a Space Game blowout victory over Temple.

Addison Williams seeks winning combination in the secondary

After sharing responsibilities coaching defensive backs with David Gibbs the last two seasons, Addison Williams was quickly pegged as Travis Williams' replacement at defensive coordinator in December. UCF finished 2022 ranked third in the AAC in pass defense efficiency, and fifth in the FBS in red zone defense.

Top cornerback Davonte Brown transferred to Miami, nickelback Justin Hodges was dismissed from the team following home invasion robbery charges that were later dismissed and starting safety Divaad Wilson signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. That leaves at least three open spots in the secondary to fill over the next month.

UCF aggressively recruited defensive backs in the NCAA transfer portal, landing Decorian Patterson (Middle Tennessee), Jireh Wilson (East Carolina), DeJordan Mask (Texas State) and Fred Davis (Clemson).

Patterson tied for the FBS lead with seven interceptions and added a further 12 pass breakups. He'll compete for a starting job at cornerback with incumbents Brandon Adams and Corey Thornton and true sophomore Ja'Cari Henderson, among others.

Wilson and Mask could end up being the starting safety tandem; together, they have combined to appear in 94 games. Wilson starred in East Carolina's win over UCF last October, earning AAC Defensive Player of the Week honors with three tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. Quadric Bullard is working his way back from a season-ending ankle injury, and Demari Henderson participated in 11 games as a second-string safety in his freshman campaign.

At the nickel spot, Nikai Martinez has the edge to start following a strong debut season for UCF (21 tackles, 17 solo tackles, 1.5 TFLs, one sack, two PBUs). True freshman Braeden Marshall is among the reserve options in the slot.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Gus Malzahn seeks unity, John Rhys Plumlee takes charge