2022 Gonna Be a Big Year?

[KnightVision82]

I definitely believe we need to produce this season with the roster we have. We're going to have some big games but most of them are at home. The running game for this team is going to be big and the DL for this team is going to produce havoc this season despite Big Kat going bye, bye to Cowgirls. The DBs are going to be better and the LBs will be good enough.

Nobody is talking about our receivers but I know our receivers are very talented.

Why do we need to produce big? Because it's going to take 2-3 years to be back in a position like this year in the Big 12.

I don't think fans want to wait that long and Gus has a few tricks up his sleeve for this season. Look at what he got the team to do last season with all the injuries and less depth than he has now with this year's roster.

 

[tjb74]

Traditionally a football team makes a huge jump in the second year of a new coach's tenure from the 1st. This alone has me pumped to see what this team can do. I am in the 11-1 or 10-2 camp, then a bowl win to top it off.
I LOVE the fact that everyone is talking about Cincy and Houston.

 

[Wings0fred]

I’m less bullish.

We have a lot of questions on defense and, though we are VERY stout at RB, I think there are significant questions at QB as well.

I wouldn’t be surprised with a record similar to last year’s or running the table, but I foresee a lot of close games in our future.

 

[Knight Strength]

Hope you're right. Throughout 2019 I kept thinking Heup had a few tricks up his sleeve...

 

[goodknightfl]

I have no idea what will happen this year. I think anything from 8-4 to 13-0 is possible.

 

[Shark19]

Can’t help feeling the QB position will let us down.

 

[Central Floridave]

WE WANT BAMA !!!

 

[muckdawg24]

8/9 wins absolute minimum otherwise season is a failure. I know injuries really hampered us last year, We gotta keep guys healthy!

 

[DanManwUCFPlan]

What does vegas have us projected at from a win total perspective?

 

[SimpleJack53]

What does vegas have us projected at from a win total perspective?

ESPN FPI+ says 9.4-3.1

 

[Knight_Classes_begin_7pm]

I tell ya what...it's going to be interesting with some huge crowds! Exciting!

 

[KnightVision82]

I’m less bullish.

We have a lot of questions on defense and, though we are VERY stout at RB, I think there are significant questions at QB as well.

I wouldn’t be surprised with a record similar to last year’s or running the table, but I foresee a lot of close games in our future.

My view on the 50 yard line of QB Plumlee at the Spring game was of a very good future for this team at QB as I watched him throwing spectacular TD passes and running circles around the defense.

 

[UCFBS]

Too many players in and out these days.
Hard to build a team around so much turnover.

Cincy had little turnover prior to this year, and that kept them dominating.

A 10 win season would be nice, but I'll be happy with a winning season.
Houston and SMU are going to be tough this year ... Cincy, not so much.

 

[PhDee]

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I definitely believe we need to produce this season with the roster we have. We're going to have some big games but most of them are at home. The running game for this team is going to be big and the DL for this team is going to produce havoc this season despite Big Kat going bye, bye to Cowgirls. The DBs are going to be better and the LBs will be good enough.

Nobody is talking about our receivers but I know our receivers are very talented.

Why do we need to produce big? Because it's going to take 2-3 years to be back in a position like this year in the Big 12.

I don't think fans want to wait that long and Gus has a few tricks up his sleeve for this season. Look at what he got the team to do last season with all the injuries and less depth than he has now with this year's roster.

9 regular-season game wins is our floor.

The offense will be a juggernaut, easily top 25, probably top 15 in terms of efficiency.

Defense is the unknown. We will have better info after game 2. The defense will determine if we can beat Louisville, Cincinnati, and SMU.

 

[knight_tracker]

Hope you're right. Throughout 2019 I kept thinking Heup had a few tricks up his sleeve...

Heup's only trick was the long ball and speedy receivers. I guess it's possible he had a donut up his sleeve.

 

[tjb74]

Damn. Matt Lee looks like he has been starting in the NFC East for 5 years. 😳

 

[mattropolis]

It all boils down to QB, 9 out of 10 times.

 

[mattropolis]

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Damn. Matt Lee looks like he has been starting in the NFC East for 5 years. 😳

Remember when he was a false-start machine as a true freshman and everybody was ripping him . I was like, “once this kid gets through this season he’ll be a stud/solid starter for the next 3-4 years.”

 

[SADUCFKNIGHT]

I was the only one here that predicted last season accurately. This season we go 9-3*

 

[BlakNGoldAllDay]

I was the only one here that predicted last season accurately. This season we go 9-3*

I can’t find the thread that corroborates this.

 

[beelit47]

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I definitely believe we need to produce this season with the roster we have. We're going to have some big games but most of them are at home. The running game for this team is going to be big and the DL for this team is going to produce havoc this season despite Big Kat going bye, bye to Cowgirls. The DBs are going to be better and the LBs will be good enough.

Nobody is talking about our receivers but I know our receivers are very talented.

Why do we need to produce big? Because it's going to take 2-3 years to be back in a position like this year in the Big 12.

I don't think fans want to wait that long and Gus has a few tricks up his sleeve for this season. Look at what he got the team to do last season with all the injuries and less depth than he has now with this year's roster.

I have decided to return to tailgating for my 24th season. So it should be a solid year

 

[tjb74]

Just wanted to give you all something to daydream about. 🚀🚀🚀🚀

 

[beelit47]

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Just wanted to give you all something to daydream about. 🚀🚀🚀🚀

His ball fake is deadly. He will command 7-8 guys in the box which will give him throwing lanes

 

[Shark19]

I’ll have wet dreams if he can throw the ball, which he wasn’t very good at before

 

[tjb74]

Hell put Bowser, Richardson and MAR in the backfield and let’s run the damn wishbone.

 

[goodknightfl]

Can’t help feeling the QB position will let us down.

I have no feel here. Keene should be better, he will have 1 year under his belt, and a whole offseason to work on things. The mystery is Plumley, can he come in and instantly be the best QB we have? The potential is there with him. In college a QB doesn't need a great arm, he needs field awareness and quick intelligence. Can either of these have that? I don't know the answer.

 

[Shark19]

I have no feel here. Keene should be better, he will have 1 year under his belt, and a whole offseason to work on things. The mystery is Plumley, can he come in and instantly be the best QB we have? The potential is there with him. In college a QB doesn't need a great arm, he needs field awareness and quick intelligence. Can either of these have that? I don't know the answer.

You would think there would be growth with Keene, but we have experience with QBs that either never got any better (Calabrese) after experience or even regressed (Godfrey). And we had guys like Holman and Moffett, that seemed to do both. Remember, I think all of us felt pretty good about Holman coming off a good year where he led us to a shared conference title and destroyed the ECU program entirely. That year was 2015....oops.

And Plumlee is a total wildcard.....

I haven’t been this conflicted about the position in several years

 

[Gwoz]

You would think there would be growth with Keene, but we have experience with QBs that either never got any better (Calabrese) after experience or even regressed (Godfrey). And we had guys like Holman and Moffett, that seemed to do both. Remember, I think all of us felt pretty good about Holman coming off a good year where he led us to a shared conference title and destroyed the ECU program entirely. That year was 2015....oops.

And Plumlee is a total wildcard.....

I haven’t been this conflicted about the position in several years

There is a reality that not every QB puts up heisman level numbers, no school is immune to having weak QB room from the time to time. Just the elite schools have talent on both sides of the ball where they can get by with a game manager.

There has to be improvement, but I would expect it to be more modest gains, and you may see more game management similar to how Malzahn instructed Keene in the USF game.

 

[muckdawg24]

^ I agree with this. I think with Gus we have a guy with a proven track record to work with what he has and mentor guys along so they build confidence as they grow.

 

[BlakNGoldAllDay]

You would think there would be growth with Keene, but we have experience with QBs that either never got any better (Calabrese) after experience or even regressed (Godfrey). And we had guys like Holman and Moffett, that seemed to do both. Remember, I think all of us felt pretty good about Holman coming off a good year where he led us to a shared conference title and destroyed the ECU program entirely. That year was 2015....oops.

And Plumlee is a total wildcard.....

I haven’t been this conflicted about the position in several years

I didn’t remember everyone loving Holman then so I went back and looked. Mixed bag. Most people said they had no idea what to expect. Bo Schneider had the it factor someone said. Then first game FIU wins I think and they blamed play calling. Even though Holman wasn’t great.

 

[Shark19]

I didn’t remember everyone loving Holman then so I went back and looked. Mixed bag. Most people said they had no idea what to expect. Bo Schneider had the it factor someone said. Then first game FIU wins I think and they blamed play calling. Even though Holman wasn’t great.

IDK, we seemed happy enough....here is his stat line. Also had 3 rushing TDs, and an arm that had the ESPN guys gushing during the program-breaking ECU game. There was no reason to think he wouldn't be able to cut the interceptions down going into 2015.

As far as the human statue went, he wasn't recruited highly (1 P5 offer) and never sniffed the field again at his other 2 stops after us. I remember being more excited about Tyler Harris as a backup, but he didn't do any better. And that was the year Nick Patti came here from Boise St, who had a big following on the board.

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		Passing
Year	School	Conf	Class	Pos	G	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	AY/A	TD	Int	Rate
*2013	UCF	American	FR	QB	3	9	14	64.3	75	5.4	3.6	1	1	118.6
*2014	UCF	American	SO	QB	13	223	392	56.9	2952	7.5	7.1	23	14	132.4

 

[KnightVision82]

QB position going into 2022:

Mikey is comfortable with the offense and looks to be able to get ball into the right place.
With a running game and OL. You see vanilla QBing which usually fails in big games.

Plumlee is getting his feel back at QB. He is fast and has a cannon for an arm (he is a baseball player). We haven't seen enough of his passing like on quick outs and middle passes to know
where he is at in his progression. He will make some big plays at QB and Gus will figure out how to
get him in there if the offense struggles with Mikey. He does have the athleticism to make a strong case to be a starter.

Freshman Castellanos will appear in 4 games this season at a minimum as he is a talent.