So, did anyone else expect to see more of Harvey and Hudson last night? I get JRP getting reps into the 4th qtr, but 21 carries for Bowser against SC State? No MAR, no Harvey? I thought Hudson would be a starter for us. Is he hurt? Not trying to be a negative Nancy but what gives? What am I missing?

1) offensive line wasn’t getting any push to open holes for the RB’s
2) offensive line was struggling with the SCS 4-man rush
3) corners don’t look back for the ball, causing 3 PI calls (each time SCS threw the deep ball)
4) special teams - had punt blocked, had punter get 1st down on fake punt, missed field goal

lots to fix in 7 days !

South Carolina State’s Punter Had A Hysterical Illegal Punt In The Opener Against UCF​

Man I missed me some football. Kind of a crazy night, everyone seemed to assume lightning delays and nonsense would ensue but the weather for the actual game was pretty damn perfect for this time of year. Good dress rehearsal for the boys. Gonna help a lot going into Louisville. I am just getting home and i got to get on a plane first thing so lets get into it...

UCF Fast:

• JRP: Man he is fun to watch play. He is really fast. I was hoping he won the starting job because he is dynamic on his feet. Keene i thought is serviceable at everything last year but wasn't really great at any one thing. He was young and i think he will be better this year but JRP can extend plays and extend drives with his legs and that such a game changer that we sorely missed with Keene. With the RBs, WR and OL we have i think the mobility of the QB is a big deal for this offense, makes us tough to defend. With that said you can tell JRP is raw with the pocket passing. He has a quick release and isn't afraid to stand in there but he has to get better pocket awareness and see the field better overall. I am sure we are going to see some growing pain INTs as the season goes on. That will work itself out in time but hard to be upset with what you saw tonight. Dude had like 5 TDs passing and running and ran for 100 and threw for 300, don't care who you are playing against that is solid. We will need Keene though especially if JRP keeps taking those hits. Scares me shitless every time.
• 
  
• Richardson: I know he didnt get a ton of touches but he is so electric every time he touches the ball. Another game averaging 10 yards a carry, nothing to see there. I think Gus needs to find a way to get him more touches and work him in the game plan more with Bowser. I get Bowser is doing the dirty work, softening them up but Richardson is too special to not get double digit touches. he really needs to touch it 15+ times rushing and passing. If not we are cheating ourselves.
• 
  
• Defense: D played really well, JJB you can tell is at another level this year. Barber is special inside. love the length in the secondary. Really solid game for the starters all the way through.
• Health: Unless i missed it i didnt see any UCF guys banged up so looks like we got through the game in tact, no issues. That is huge for us moving forward. Last few seasons i have felt we had some key injuries in the early games that really impacted the bulk of the season.

UCF Slow:

• SC State Punter: LOL, i have watched a lot of football and i do not think i have ever seen that play before. That punter had to be 10+ yards PAST the line of scrimmage when he punted that ball. It reminded me of a cheat code situation you could implore in Flag Football Intramurals at UCF. If you were at the end of the game, down by one score, with no time left and it wasn't 4th down and you needed to score a TD you could run a play and send a guy real deep and another guy over the middle. You would throw to the guy over the middle and if that guy wasn't going to score that player could throw the ball from wherever he was on the field to the deep guy in the end zone and if the guy caught it for a TD the game couldn't end and you would get another play because the defense would have to accept the penalty for the illegal forward pass because if the defense declined the penalty the TD would stand and the game cannot end on an accepted penalty.
• UCF Kicking Game: Our kickoffs were solid, all were basically touch backs from Ryker but for Obarski to get one shot and miss a makeable kick and for Osteen to take 7 years to punt that ball and get it blocked are both crap plays. We need both these guys to play at a high level to make a deep run this year. I railed on both of them for these exact issues last year and it was disheartening to see them pop up in game 1
• 
  
• Offensive Line: I will be interested to see the PFF when it comes out. I really thought going into this game the O-Line was going to dominate a team like SC State. I thought we would push them around and run at will. I thought Bowser would have had avg more then 3.4 yrds a carry. We just didn't seem as overwhelming as i expected we would be against that level of competition.
• Keeping Players in Late in the Game: I know i always say this but in games like this when we are up by 5+ TDs in the 4th quarter None of the starters should be in the game. JRP, Bowser, the whole crew were playing in the 4th when we were up 42-10. I get JRP needs all the reps he can get but i feel like with how he plays it is tempting fate a bit to leave him out there. I still feel the worst ever situation was Heupel with Bam when we were up like 56-0 and his knee was shredded. I know the guys want to play but we got to be smart.

Sorry for the quick write up this week. I will work myself back into mid season form soon enough. It is tough judging players in games against this level of competition. Next week i am sure i will have a lot more to say. Go Knights!!!

It's National Cinema Day on Saturday, Sept 3rd.

Many national chains are selling $3 tickets to every movie in every format.

Things I noticed at the Stadium tonight:

1. Plumlee is a significant upgrade at QB. His speed and running ability allows him to extend plays
and his passing is better than expected. Defenses will have to game plan for this guy.

2. Our O-Line was average against an FCS team, will have to be much better in the run game next week
vs Louisville. Pass protection was solid.

3. Special teams was bad. Three different holding calls on returns cost us field position and nullified an
electric TD return by Townsend. We also had a punt blocked along with the obligatory missed field
goal by Obarskie. Our kicking game is going to cost us a game if we don’t get it fixed.

4. Defense is much improved and is going to be a problem for opposing offenses.

5. Divaad Wilson is not the answer as punt returner. Hopefully, Gus slides Townsend in there
on a permanent basis. Kid reminds me of Otis Anderson Jr.

6. Appears that Tommy C is our QB2, would expect Keene to enter portal at some point.

7. Lee Hunter on sidelines but not dressed. Don’t know if it was injury or disciplinary issue.
Same thing with Terrance Lewis who was dressed and on sideline.

8. Appears we escaped without injuries tonight. Overall, good win but will need to clean up
some things in order to beat Louisville.

It’s happening:

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The view from the Bounce House for UCF's 2022 season opener against South Carolina State.

Over or under 2 surprises not dressed out tomorrow night?

I know probably already said but assuming Helmets are not in yet? These whites with black look like high school program. Go Knights ^^^

Lots of recruits at this game. Maybe Gus can talk to a few more to change their minds...

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The $18 doubles for liquor. My bar tab was expensive last night. Even the double barrel premixed drink was that much.

Asking $300 for the pair on here (I have them listed for more)
209B Row 11, aisle seat.

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I know we see the name South Carolina St. as our first opponent and we are all thinking a blowout. Just bringing it to everyone’s attention that we are facing a pretty good opponent in week 1.

* They won 6 of their last 7 games last year including a bowl win over Deion Sanders 11 win Jackson St team 31-10.
* They return 18 starters (9 on both sides of the ball).
* WR #1 Davis is 6’5 and going to be a problem.

This team looks just as good as Tulane, usf, East Carolina, etc.

Sec 129 (50 yard line) Row 13

…that Bowser doesn’t need 89 touches in game 1?
😤

UCF football expands alcohol sales stadium-wide for first time​

Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel - 44m ago

Exciting times!

Excited to watch the rest of the season!

Go Knights

I was a little disappointed at looking at all those empty seats at the carl back section.

And, it took a long time for the richy-rich ticket holders to fill into the stadium (much after kick off).

However, the North End Zone Student section was rawking! Pre-game it looked at capacity and the kids were having fun.

Saw an auburn fan in Epcot while drinking around the world. Flagged him down and thanked him for sending Gus our way.

He looked at my UCF shirt and impulsively goes oh f*** you. We both laughed and he said they have the dumbest boosters ever.

Universal consensus is that Gus is an absolutely amazing coach.

https://www.cardchronicle.com/2022/...game-by-game-card-chronicle-staff-predictions <-- Interesting read they play UCF, FSU, and USF consecutive weeks. The article provides a Kentucky perspective on Florida schools.

Ok brass tacks, i think its similar to last year we look superior early then fall flat. We hold on at the end this time and win. A close loss would not suprize me. A 10pt or more win/loss would suprize me.