An offense that doesn't need to punt is somehow bad playcalling and talent...
- Thread starter UCFBS
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Why punt when you can just throw it to the other team (3x) and put it on the ground (1x), but yea we didn't have to punt. Your logic seems pretty low. By your logic we can dump the punter for another scholarship player and just let JRP, with all his amazing talent, throw on 4th down.
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Most turnovers were in enemy territory.
Seriously, not a problem with playcalling or talent on offense. And JRP 100% is a beast.
UCF hasn't been blown out like Cindi or Houston, and in all games but Kansas.
If those turnovers don't happen we win yesterday's contest in a shoot out . It was clear to me WVa wasn't stopping us until JRP gifts them turnovers.
Whatever makes you feel better.
If by most, you mean 50% then you are spot on. I will give you the first INT which was a complete fluke but the rest were completely on JRP.
Only positive from the game is that JRP has hit his eligibility for this year so he will not be back next year (100%). So at least we have that going for us in 2024.
A WR fell down on another INT.
There were 2 bobbles at Boise. Would have had +14.
This is just reality... turnovers and a D without depth that is gassed by the 4th quarter.
The O is solid without the TOs.
Rewatched the game and I agree that we had better play calling. No trick plays, better routes (receivers were open a majority of the time) and JRP was, for the most part, accurate. And he stayed in the pocket. Unfortunately, when he wasn't accurate, it cost us. Not once, but 3 times. And although Javon made some nice catches, he missed one (again) that he should have caught, and it ended up costing us. So, two of our stars just didn't make the clutch plays when we needed them and that cost us the game. With our D failing to stop the run (again) and their short passes, they controlled the clock and, in the end, the game. So overall we played better on O, but our stars can't continue to turn it over if we want to win in our new league. And, because of his blunders, JRP wasn't the beast. Again, it was RJ Harvey. Without the TO's the O would have put in a good performance. But with our D, we can't afford to turn it over at all let alone 4 times.
JRP isn't 100%. He can be a liability when not 100%. You could see it in his throws.
He's only a beast at 100% without that brace.
Then why not rest him until he is healthy, instead of making sure he stays in a brace for the entire season. Same thing happened last year.
Plumlee had one game of note against a challenging opponent. Mack Jr had an even better performance in a bigger game. Plumlee has so much hype around him, he really is the poor man's Tebow but without the wins.
We did punt. In fact we were down 3 and fumbled the ball away on what should have been an offsides free play. Then we punted the next 2 drives and that was the ballgame.
Then why in the hell is JRP playing if he's not 100% and a liability? I guess that's a question for Gus since he seems to start JRP as long as the guy can walk. And that's just one of the problems right now with our HC and our program. You've got to play to win, not to satisfy personal preferences. Gus still has a big personal challenge with our program. In the offseason he claimed he was going to be the CEO not the OC and this was the first game where it appears he's really, really tried. But we should demand (loudly) that he focus' on winning, not personal preferences. With better play calling, no trick plays and better routes, I don't know if Timmy (or even Dylan) could have eliminated the turnovers and won that game but it's time to find out.
Were you asleep when Timmy played? He was awful, and the team was unbelievably bad. JRP stinks, but he's clearly the best option, even hurt. Gus is clearly lost when it comes to the QB position.
McClain QBR vs Baylor and Kansas State was actually higher than JRP vs Oklahoma and West Virginia. Both QBs had very low numbers against Kansas.
WTH do you mean...against Villanova Timmy threw for 321 yds, 2 TD's and 0 Int's....against Kansas State he threw for 264 with 3 TD's and 1 Int. JRP just threw for 274 with 3 TD's and 3 Int's and he lost 1 fumble (4 turnovers). JRP has become a turnover machine! KS State and Villanova are 6-2 and West Virginia is 5-3 so all are winning programs. TImmy's problem is that no one taught him what to do under pressure and he ran around out of control. That can/should have been fixed after the first game he did it. But it wasn't and that's a separate coaching problem. I say fix that problem and let the kid play. And if he can't fix it, let Dylan play, use up his 4 games and still keep his redshirt. The QB job should be up for grabs.
He isn’t a beast. He is never 100% bc he doesn’t have an adequate QB IQ.
I think Timmy made a wise choice. The job is his if he steps up (or doesn’t get beat out by a transfer). He’s still got two years of eligibility left.
I agree that we should play Timmy the rest of the season to give him meaningful reps but Gus seems obsessed with Plumlee…like he owes him something. He’s nowhere near 100%. We have nothing left to play for but the future and that is what the focus should be for the remainder of the season….getting reps to players that need them.
Do I have to explain this to you? Timmy's performance and QBR have been as good or better than JRP's. BTW he threw for 234 with 2 TD's and 1 Int against Baylor (mostly in the first half and beginning of Q3 then the play calling killed us the rest of the way). The point is, if JRP can't run effectively (and he can't if not 100%) then Timmy is the logical er choice as QB. Plus, Timmy has 2 more years left. And don't forget Dylan. Time to move on....
Playing Timmy McClain the rest of the season would hurt UCF's chances of landing a top flight QB from the transfer portal.
Timmy McClain is not some unknown commodity. He was USF's QB for about an entire season, and so utterly failed to impress the staff of the school we have completely left in our dust that he was out of there after 1 season. He played in almost the entirety of 4 games at UCF, and beat an FCS team. Was at the helm of the most embarrassing collapse in a game in program history, a respectable loss at K-State and then a Kansas game where we got our shit kicked in. At least JRP got a quality road win, and played a Top 10 team tough on the road as well. They've played about equal time this year, I don't see how you can make the argument that McClain was better in his time, QBR is a small sample size when it's over 3-4 games, quality of competition is different, etc...
Rizk maybe great, but you and I have been given no indication of that, and it certainly doesn't seem like he's even close to getting playing time soon. With Castellanos last year, Gus went out of his way to give him playing time. (eventually to a fault) I'm just saying, you can say give this Rizk guy playing time over JRP, but you're really just talking out of your ass, none of us on this board have any clue how he'll do.
Getting a topflight QB in the Transfer Portal would be great but is no sure thing. First, we've got to see what the guys we've got on scholarship can do. Or else, why are they on scholarship? And if I were them, I'd expect an opportunity to play now. It's time to switch.
On the surface, UCF's QB room looks ominous.
Timmy McClain and Xavier Williams already burned their transfers and cannot move again. Dylan Rizk is on the roster, and Riley Trujillo is on the way. Gus usually doesn't carry more than four scholarship quarterbacks and two walk-ons. Brock Hansel and Gunner Smith are walk-ons.
This suggests UCF's 2024 starting quarterback is already on the roster.
@Shark19 you need to downvote this post. I would downvote it myself if I could.
Get real...Thomas didn't play last year because Gus went out of his way. He played because (and only because) JRP was injured and Mikey refused to play. It's time to give the other scholarship QB's an opportunity.
McClain still had to redshirt when he left USF. Seems like he should still be able to transfer.
This is simply not true, and either you're misremembering (or just refusing to remember or weren't paying attention) At the beginning of 2022, Castellanos was the guy getting mop-up time in blowouts and not Keene. 4 times Castellanos appeared in mop-up duty in fact. This eventually came back to bite us due to JRP's injury and Keene refusing to give up his redshirt status, because then in the AAC Championship game Castellanos was forced to play, giving up his redshirt, and probably ultimately pissing him off and leaving.
Mop-up, and barely. One of those games he came in with 90 seconds to go. His four games were wasted, and Gus burned his redshirt to hand off in the CCG.
I'd hardly call that Gus going out of his way to get him playing time. He should have played a half at FAU.
I'm not saying it was the right move, yes it was stupid, but it was definitely a sign that Gus had plans for Castellanos in the future, along with other signs, I've seen none of that when it comes to Rizk.
Hindsight is 20/20.
Had Gus not played Castellanos in early season blowouts, he may not have played at all.
No one could have foreseen the issue with MK and JRP.
Hard to play 3rd string when the team is either fighting for the win or losing. Though he should have came in the Kansas game as that was a lost cause.
Castellanos, made 2 pass attempts total in his first three appearances. It was a waste.
Again, not arguing that 2nd part.
Rizk could've easily come in Kent State, Villanova or Kansas games. Castellanos was brought in the first game there was an opportunity. Right or Wrong, it tells me Gus saw more in Castellanos than he does Rizk.
Yeah I don't agree with the bolded part. JRP's injury concerns should've been apparent to everyone, most of all Gus.
100% concur. Running quarterback with NO backups that aren't redshirts. In the history of college football, what percentage of teams go an entire season without needing a backup for one play? No one could've forseen it???
You KNOW you're going to use games from your redshirts, why in the world do you waste the 4 games with mop-up duty, literally 90 seconds in one case, where you don't let him pass?
Who could've forseen it? I foresaw it. Maybe I should get paid the millions to coach football.
So you are both saying you knew Thomas Castellanos would have to start the AAC Championship Game because backup Mikey Keene decided to sit out to preserve a redshirt.
Of course we didn't know, but the fact Mikey Keene was preserving his redshirt, if not 100% known by Gus, he should have at the very least known that's what Keene would want to do. And like the other guy said if you have a running QB you're most likely going to need your 2nd and 3rd QB, don't paint yourself into a corner if both your 2nd and 3rd QBs want to save their redshirts, by using up games on either in garbage time play. Keep JRP in the game and have him hand the ball off for God's sake.
It was a bad situation all around. Not totally avoidable either. Castellanos may have wanted to play.
What I _knew_ was that an injury was extremely likely with a running quarterback, based on the history of the sport of football. Two redshirt backups is 8 games where you have someone who can come in if a helmet comes off.
If you waste those games with 90-seconds of mop-up time. What are you doing?
"wanted to play" isn't wanting 90-seconds of mop-up time.
What I _knew_ is that we were wasting games where we had a backup, and that it could easily bite us, and then it did.
