It's been exactly two weeks since UCF opened camp. And two weeks from today, UCF will fly to Hartford in advance of the Thursday, Aug. 30 season opener at UConn.
While practice has been closed to media outside of individual drills, some various tidbits have surfaced since Tuesday's second scrimmage which was opened up to Excellence Club members. I know a few people posted in the thread yesterday and I know there are many more lurkers who were probably there as well.
For those who may have some missed some of the commentary from yesterday and over the last couple weeks, I thought I'd make a new post trying to culminate what we think we know so far.
-The defense is stepping up. This was my primary concern entering camp, based solely on losing players like Shaquem Griffin, Mike Hughes and Jamiyus Pittman. The DL will have a new look and there will be multiple new LB starters as well.
I know we've heard in interviews from Heupel and players that there's been a good give-and-take between the offense and defense, but sometimes it's hard to know if we're getting generic coach/player-speak or not. But from what I've been hearing - and this is echoed by those who were there yesterday - this is indeed the case.
In scrimmage No. 2, the defense is said to have won the day. McKenzie Milton threw a pair of interceptions, but we know what this offense is capable of doing. They have an established track record. In fact, there was a scrimmage last August when Frost was pretty upset at the offense's performance and we all know how things turned out. I'd be more concerned if the offense was dominating all of the time.
-During yesterday's scrimmage, Randy Shannon was up in the box while Willie Martinez served as the primary defensive coach on the sideline. I'd imagine this is what we'll see during the season. Originally, Chinander was going to coach from upstairs but the players actually wanted him on the field.
-It appears at least two true freshmen are in line to have primary roles - and by that I mean a spot on the two-deep. DE Randy Charlton was described by one observer yesterday as a "beast" and is certain to see a lot of PT. LB Eriq Gilyard, currently Pat Jasinski's backup at MLB, has seen regular action with the second group but has also played with the first team. It should be noted that both players enrolled in January and went through spring practice.
CB Dyllon Lester has been mentioned by multiple players as an early standout and he could factor into the secondary depth. Some have mentioned Lester as a possible nickel, though it appears the first plan is to have safety Richie Grant fill that slot while bumping Antwan Collier up to the first unit at safety with Kyle Gibson (Brandon Moore and Nevelle Clarke as the first team corners).
DL coach Shane Burnham was high on freshman DE Landon Woodson, but the Virginia native may have recently tweaked his knee (he has a history with knee injuries) so that may preclude him from seeing action. Time will tell.
The real wild card is QB. Coaches are said to be raving about true freshman walk-on Quadry Jones, who appears to have the most upside of all the backup QBs. Words are being used like "steal" to describe the Orlando-Jones product, who only attracted FCS offers because of his height (maybe 5-11).
There's talk that Jones could be No. 2 already, but there's a lot more that goes into making something like that official. UCF's QB room is already super small and you don't want to intentionally make it smaller. I'd be surprised if Mack wasn't listed at No. 2 on the first depth chart, just because there's plenty of time for Jones to mature in the system, assuming Milton stays healthy. And there is still an opportunity for a guy like Quadry Jones to get reps. There's a new NCAA rule that allows freshmen to play in four games and still retain their redshirt.
-Offensive line is still somewhat in flux with nothing official. Best guess: Wyatt Miller (LT), Tyler Hudanick/Parker Boudreaux (LG), Jordan Johnson (C), Cole Schneider (RG), Boman Swanson/Trevor Elbert (RT). I interviewed Glen Elarbee this week, but couldn't get anything out of him. I'm unclear where Jake Brown fits - he didn't participate in the spring and I know has missed a few days this camp.
-Burnham did a great job of breaking down his DL in the recent interview. Top four DTs appear to be Joey Connors, Aaron Cochran, Trysten Hill and A.J. Wooten. Seems like Cochran may have been playing DE yesterday. Ends include Titus Davis, Brendon Hayes, Randy Charlton, Kenny Turnier and Dedrion Bacote-Sweat.
-The depth at LB appears to be Pat Jasinski (MLB), Shawn Burgess-Becker (sam) and Eric Mitchell (will), backed up by Eriq Gilyard (mlb), Nate Evans and Gabe Luyanda (not 100% sure where Evans and Luyanda are, will or sam).
-In an effort to utilize existing talent, Marlon Williams has been used in various different offensive roles.
-RB Taj McGowan is going to be used as UCF "big back" for short-yardage situations. He had one of the more descriptive comments this week when asked about the change in offense:
"(The offense is) obviously faster," McGowan said. "As far as the run game goes, it's more down hill. It's getting to it. Less to read. The o-line is getting in there, they're doing a fantastic job by the way, but they're just getting dirty, getting aggressive and moving people out of the way. We're just hitting it more downhill now. Last year was more zone, you kind of had to feel it out, feel where the hole was coming. Now it's getting downhill."
If anybody has anything else to add, please post. If you don't want to post, feel free to send me a message (click on username, then "start a conversation") or e-mail (helwig2001@aol.com).
While practice has been closed to media outside of individual drills, some various tidbits have surfaced since Tuesday's second scrimmage which was opened up to Excellence Club members. I know a few people posted in the thread yesterday and I know there are many more lurkers who were probably there as well.
For those who may have some missed some of the commentary from yesterday and over the last couple weeks, I thought I'd make a new post trying to culminate what we think we know so far.
-The defense is stepping up. This was my primary concern entering camp, based solely on losing players like Shaquem Griffin, Mike Hughes and Jamiyus Pittman. The DL will have a new look and there will be multiple new LB starters as well.
I know we've heard in interviews from Heupel and players that there's been a good give-and-take between the offense and defense, but sometimes it's hard to know if we're getting generic coach/player-speak or not. But from what I've been hearing - and this is echoed by those who were there yesterday - this is indeed the case.
In scrimmage No. 2, the defense is said to have won the day. McKenzie Milton threw a pair of interceptions, but we know what this offense is capable of doing. They have an established track record. In fact, there was a scrimmage last August when Frost was pretty upset at the offense's performance and we all know how things turned out. I'd be more concerned if the offense was dominating all of the time.
-During yesterday's scrimmage, Randy Shannon was up in the box while Willie Martinez served as the primary defensive coach on the sideline. I'd imagine this is what we'll see during the season. Originally, Chinander was going to coach from upstairs but the players actually wanted him on the field.
-It appears at least two true freshmen are in line to have primary roles - and by that I mean a spot on the two-deep. DE Randy Charlton was described by one observer yesterday as a "beast" and is certain to see a lot of PT. LB Eriq Gilyard, currently Pat Jasinski's backup at MLB, has seen regular action with the second group but has also played with the first team. It should be noted that both players enrolled in January and went through spring practice.
CB Dyllon Lester has been mentioned by multiple players as an early standout and he could factor into the secondary depth. Some have mentioned Lester as a possible nickel, though it appears the first plan is to have safety Richie Grant fill that slot while bumping Antwan Collier up to the first unit at safety with Kyle Gibson (Brandon Moore and Nevelle Clarke as the first team corners).
DL coach Shane Burnham was high on freshman DE Landon Woodson, but the Virginia native may have recently tweaked his knee (he has a history with knee injuries) so that may preclude him from seeing action. Time will tell.
The real wild card is QB. Coaches are said to be raving about true freshman walk-on Quadry Jones, who appears to have the most upside of all the backup QBs. Words are being used like "steal" to describe the Orlando-Jones product, who only attracted FCS offers because of his height (maybe 5-11).
There's talk that Jones could be No. 2 already, but there's a lot more that goes into making something like that official. UCF's QB room is already super small and you don't want to intentionally make it smaller. I'd be surprised if Mack wasn't listed at No. 2 on the first depth chart, just because there's plenty of time for Jones to mature in the system, assuming Milton stays healthy. And there is still an opportunity for a guy like Quadry Jones to get reps. There's a new NCAA rule that allows freshmen to play in four games and still retain their redshirt.
-Offensive line is still somewhat in flux with nothing official. Best guess: Wyatt Miller (LT), Tyler Hudanick/Parker Boudreaux (LG), Jordan Johnson (C), Cole Schneider (RG), Boman Swanson/Trevor Elbert (RT). I interviewed Glen Elarbee this week, but couldn't get anything out of him. I'm unclear where Jake Brown fits - he didn't participate in the spring and I know has missed a few days this camp.
-Burnham did a great job of breaking down his DL in the recent interview. Top four DTs appear to be Joey Connors, Aaron Cochran, Trysten Hill and A.J. Wooten. Seems like Cochran may have been playing DE yesterday. Ends include Titus Davis, Brendon Hayes, Randy Charlton, Kenny Turnier and Dedrion Bacote-Sweat.
-The depth at LB appears to be Pat Jasinski (MLB), Shawn Burgess-Becker (sam) and Eric Mitchell (will), backed up by Eriq Gilyard (mlb), Nate Evans and Gabe Luyanda (not 100% sure where Evans and Luyanda are, will or sam).
-In an effort to utilize existing talent, Marlon Williams has been used in various different offensive roles.
-RB Taj McGowan is going to be used as UCF "big back" for short-yardage situations. He had one of the more descriptive comments this week when asked about the change in offense:
"(The offense is) obviously faster," McGowan said. "As far as the run game goes, it's more down hill. It's getting to it. Less to read. The o-line is getting in there, they're doing a fantastic job by the way, but they're just getting dirty, getting aggressive and moving people out of the way. We're just hitting it more downhill now. Last year was more zone, you kind of had to feel it out, feel where the hole was coming. Now it's getting downhill."
If anybody has anything else to add, please post. If you don't want to post, feel free to send me a message (click on username, then "start a conversation") or e-mail (helwig2001@aol.com).
