UCF concluded their first week of camp with a scrimmage inside the Bounce House on Sunday. The Knights started the morning a bit earlier than originally scheduled to avoid inclement weather from approaching Tropical Storm Debby.
Though the scrimmage was closed, head coach Gus Malzahn and players recapped the day afterward.
Malzahn said they ran 123 plays, starting out the scrimmage with field goal, field goal block, punt and punt return.
"The ones, twos, and threes got pretty much equal reps right around that 40 play total," Malzahn said. "The first half, our defense, we were very basic. So we could just evaluate who can tackle, who can block, who can hold on the ball, that.
"Second half, it was more pressure. There were some good things that happened. Really what stood out to me, big picture, the defensive line really was active. They knocked a lot of balls down. There were some sacks. They really came off and read some screens well. That's really what stood out to me defensively.
"Offensively, Jacoby Jones had two touchdowns, you know, a new receiver. Super job with that.
"Grant Stevens had a touchdown. The good thing for the offense is there was zero turnovers. Now, obviously, the defense, we're talking turnovers. We got to get the ball. But the offense had zero turnovers and had five penalties.
"So there was a lot of penalties, 18 total penalties. Five for the offense, 13 for the defense. We talked hard about pre-snap penalties, being disciplined, everything. And we got to do a better job in that.
"What is that, six days down? I think we're in a good spot. We're straining the guys. We were physical all the padded days. That's what we need, trying to get that good hard-nosed edge. Our guys are starting to learn how to practice, the expectation each day with that and have been getting better with that.
"And I don't believe there's any serious injuries. That's always something you worry about.
"We let our quarterbacks go live, all but KJ (Jefferson) and Dylan (Rizk). The other three went live. It's always good to see how they react. It's a completely different feel. And it's also really good for the defense."
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