UCF welcomes Baylor to Bounce House for Big 12 football home opener: 3 things to watch

ORLANDO — Welcomed rudely to the Big 12 by defending champion Kansas State and its raucous crowd of 51,212 fans, Kobe Hudson expects the Bounce House to transform into a similar fortress for conference opponents.

"I want them to experience the same thing we had to go through," Hudson, fresh off his third straight 100-yard receiving game, said Monday. "I come from the SEC, so I'm used to playing in packed-out stadiums. I played at Penn State with 110,000 (fans). I got that feeling back when I went to Kansas State; the atmosphere was real. I want the same atmosphere."

The Knights (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) host scuffling Baylor (1-3, 0-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the home opener in league play. UCF has faced the Bears just once before, a landmark 52-42 victory in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl — the program's first BCS/New Year's Six bowl win.

Live updates: The latest from UCF vs. Baylor

Starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee remains sidelined with an unspecified right leg injury, though Knights coach Gus Malzahn believes the fifth-year senior could be back "sooner than we originally thought". He's one of three captains currently fighting through injury; tight end Alec Holler missed the Kansas State game, and defensive tackle Ricky Barber was limited and considered on a snap count.

Here are three things to watch when UCF and Baylor square off Saturday.

Will Blake Shapen return, or is Sawyer Robertson still Baylor's QB?

Malzahn and his defensive staff are forced to deal with another week of preparation for multiple quarterbacks, given the potential return of Baylor's Blake Shapen from an MCL sprain. The redshirt junior completed 21 of 31 attempts for 302 yards and two touchdowns in the Bears' season-opening loss to Texas State.

Bears coach Dave Aranda called Shapen "day-to-day" during his press conference Monday, adding he will slowly start getting practice reps throughout the week.

In Shapen's place, Mississippi State transfer Sawyer Robertson has largely struggled across three starts, though two have come against top-10 opponents (Utah and Texas). He has connected on just 49.5% of his passes for 647 yards with one touchdown and four picks.

Last week, Kansas State deemed Will Howard questionable through Saturday, but the senior played and looked increasingly healthy as the night wore on. He threw for 255 yards and ran seven times for 64 yards and two touchdowns.

"Whoever plays quarterback, we'll adjust as we go," Malzahn said. "From a coach's standpoint, you have different calls for different types of quarterbacks, but it will be more big-picture and getting things cleaned up this week."

Expect a renewed emphasis on running the ball

If there's one statistic that particularly bothered Malzahn last Saturday, it was the disparity in rushing output. Kansas State, anchored by DJ Giddens and Howard, gashed the Knights repeatedly on the ground and outgained them 281-143.

Johnny Richardson was reponsible for 48 of those yards on the opening drive, but he had just five further carries. RJ Harvey ran 13 times for 44 yards, and Timmy McClain had 12 rushing attempts, including a handful of scrambles.

"Bottom line is, for us to be effective, we've got to be effective running the football," Malzahn said. "It doesn't matter who we are playing. We're a run/play-action team."

Baylor ranks 104th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in run defense, allowing 171.2 yards per game.

Can UCF correct and avoid mistakes that cost it a week ago?

Self-inflicted wounds, in addition to porous run defending, were primary reasons UCF came up short at Kansas State.

Tre'mon Morris-Brash and Lee Hunter were flagged for 30 yards' worth of penalties on K-State's go-ahead drive, and Timmy McClain took an inexcusable sack for a 12-yard loss after trying to dance out of the pocket. That sack halted UCF's potential tying drive, and resulted in Colton Boomer's missed 52-yard field goal.

Malzahn insisted that those mistakes were correctable. Film study and practice reps are one thing; remaining disciplined in-game is another.

"The only thing that can fix a loss is a win," redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Hunter said. "You learn from mistakes. I had a crucial penalty. … If I hadn't have gotten that penalty, it would have been 3rd-and-8 and we would have stopped them. It's just stuff you learn from."

Baylor ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring offense (20.0 points per game) and scoring defense (26.8 ppg). Making the Bears earn their yards and points will be critical.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Knights host Baylor in Big 12 Conference home opener