Darriel Mack Jr.: Meet the UCF Backup QB Who Takes Over for McKenzie Milton
https://heavy.com/sports/2018/11/darriel-mack-who-is-ucf-qb-backup-quarterback/
https://heavy.com/sports/2018/11/darriel-mack-who-is-ucf-qb-backup-quarterback/
In Darriel Mack Jr. WE TRUST...
- Thread starter Central Floridave
- Start date
Did not know he had offers from Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Maryland and Pitt. Had 3,000 passing yards his senior year and hope to see some of that next week. Thanks for sharing.
He doesn't have KZ's instincts (who does?), but he did throw some nice long balls and there were a lot of drops. The receivers didn't seem ready for the velocity of his throws.
I’m going to bust out my old #8 jersey. Go Knights!!!
They need to let him throw downfield more, especially 10-15 yds in the middle of the field....I did like the lateral sprint out passes. USF was camping out waiting on the QB draws.
Put in bubble screens, shovel passes, passes to a RB in the flat, and consider bringing back the Wild Knight.
Put in bubble screens, shovel passes, passes to a RB in the flat, and consider bringing back the Wild Knight.
I thought he threw a nice ball. The pass to Snelson was money and he wasn't far off on the other deep throws. Seems like he has more zip on the ball than KZ and we had some drops. If he can control his nerves early on, with a week of practice, I think he'll do fine. But we will need the D to play lights out again as I don't think we'll be nearly as explosive as with KZ.
I THINK Mack can be a good passer; I can't say for sure b/c Heupel never calls enough pass plays with him. The ones he was off target with still looked good. If he can find that rhythm then things will be good.
There's 2 options I see for Heupel here. Get as much throwing practice for Mack and Jones this week to try to keep the normal UCF run/pass balance OR make a drastic change to the triple-option attack made famous by Nebraska & GT. If they go triple option, I think UCF could pull it off like the Joe Hamilton/Justin Thomas led GT Teams of the 2000s with Mack making enough throws to keep the defense honest. Somehow, you've got to get the ball to your speedy receivers and not just the backs who seem to starve when Mack's in the game. That's gotta chance.
The 1 thing UCF can't do is get run heavy with those 1 yarders up the middle with Killins, McRae, and Mack. If that's all the defense sees they'll just line 11 up in the box every time.
There's gotta be an offensive gameplan against Memphis. As well as UCF's defense has played, it's very hard to stop Henderson Jr and you can put him down for at least 2 50+ yard rushes next Saturday. Whether UCF can answer will be the key. This is Mack's ship now and sometimes where star QBs are born is when they have to. I remember Charlie Ward looked like Garbage until they found a system for him in the shotgun at GT 1992 and he became the superstar Heisman he's known for being today. Can Heupel find Mack a similar setup? With UCF's OL being very good there are all sorts of possibilities.
There's 2 options I see for Heupel here. Get as much throwing practice for Mack and Jones this week to try to keep the normal UCF run/pass balance OR make a drastic change to the triple-option attack made famous by Nebraska & GT. If they go triple option, I think UCF could pull it off like the Joe Hamilton/Justin Thomas led GT Teams of the 2000s with Mack making enough throws to keep the defense honest. Somehow, you've got to get the ball to your speedy receivers and not just the backs who seem to starve when Mack's in the game. That's gotta chance.
The 1 thing UCF can't do is get run heavy with those 1 yarders up the middle with Killins, McRae, and Mack. If that's all the defense sees they'll just line 11 up in the box every time.
There's gotta be an offensive gameplan against Memphis. As well as UCF's defense has played, it's very hard to stop Henderson Jr and you can put him down for at least 2 50+ yard rushes next Saturday. Whether UCF can answer will be the key. This is Mack's ship now and sometimes where star QBs are born is when they have to. I remember Charlie Ward looked like Garbage until they found a system for him in the shotgun at GT 1992 and he became the superstar Heisman he's known for being today. Can Heupel find Mack a similar setup? With UCF's OL being very good there are all sorts of possibilities.
He threw a really good deep ball to Nixon which got me excited. If he can complete a few passes downfield each game our O will charge on. Not as fast as with Milton but still will thrive.
I was thinking the same thing. He has a strong arm and can run. Reminds me a little bit of Daunte.
I respect your opinion, but we aren’t going to make drastic changes to an offense that Mack’s just getting used to and can barely handle as it is. We aren’t going to install a bunch of new stuff
Jones isn’t an option
He sits in the pocket nicely and throws a nice deep ball. Honestly, he may be the kind of QB Heup wants for the system. Given some time and experience I think he’ll be really good. We’ve seen some flashes of talent in when he’s been in.
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Actually, he probably is more of a Heupel’s offense QB.
Why isn’t Jones an option? Serious question since ive never seen him play or practice other than the one trick play vs ecu
We probably shouldn’t have showed this to Memphis. I wonder if he had a few of these plays against ECU. That play is hard to defend, but Memphis will spend all week looking for an answer
You just answered your own question. I can’t see how we start a 3rd string walk-on in the CCG who has never played. This isn’t an FCS team. Memphis would destroy us
This kid can do it! I’m confident in him. He has awesome potential and upside, just needs to mature and get reps in practice.
Can we also remember he JUST saw his friend and mentor get carted off with a gruesome injury? Didn’t turn the ball over and managed a 28 point win over our rival on the road.
I'm sure this week Heupel will work in some pass plays that Mack is confident in and we are pretty sure he can complete. With our running game and Mack's running ability, a few pass plays that keeps the D honest is all we need. It will need to be a better game plan than what we had against ECU to beat Memphis.
Don’t forget that Mack is 6’3 230 lbs of lean. He probably fits heupels offense better which is probably why we haven’t been pursuing a QB.
As far as the vanilla playcalling goes. He’s coming in cold, in a high emotional game, timing is probably off, and we were gashing them on the ground, also with no game plan for him. With a week to put all your assets on him, I’m sure he’ll be fine. He reminds me of culpepper with how he flings the ball so smooth. He goes through his progressions and has wheels to escape if needed. He was also offered by many schools so he’s not some joe schmuck walking on. Have faith.
As far as the vanilla playcalling goes. He’s coming in cold, in a high emotional game, timing is probably off, and we were gashing them on the ground, also with no game plan for him. With a week to put all your assets on him, I’m sure he’ll be fine. He reminds me of culpepper with how he flings the ball so smooth. He goes through his progressions and has wheels to escape if needed. He was also offered by many schools so he’s not some joe schmuck walking on. Have faith.
“Schmuck”
On that one play, he held the ball so cool and calmly then rifled it downfield
We had a lead. Our defense had them in control. They were playing a 3rd string QB. We have a ton of talent running the ball, including the QB. The only way USF was getting points was on a turnover. Heup played it exactly right. Protect the ball, eat clock pound on the defense by running. And what happened, we won by 28.
I think UCF should play Mark Morrison's song Return of the Mack when Darriel takes the field for his first home game. He back in the fold baby! Go Knights!
I hate those walk-on schmucks...
Can you imagine how much our best TE and RB would rag on him if he was a walk-on? He wouldn't get any respect in the locker room...
Now we know why Greg McRae isnt starting...dont want no walk-on schmuck starting.
More like a home game
I like our chances if Mack can take care of the ball like he has so far, the run game can carry us through. Not to mention how stellar the defense has been! Held USF and Cincy to their lowest totals of the year and shutout Memphis for a half. I think with the game slowed down a bit for Mack, the defense should be able to keep up more.
Not all Schmoes and Scmucks are created equal. Hahahaha. Seriously, I think that it was taken as an average example.
He was basically saying that he was highly recruited out of high school, so he must be a half-decent player. However, we know this
It’s not Jones time yet, so please don’t call for him to start.
He was basically saying that he was highly recruited out of high school, so he must be a half-decent player. However, we know this
It’s not Jones time yet, so please don’t call for him to start.
Very good point. If there's a way to do both of those options this week I would. I think we need to be prepared to switch between the two options above. Time is unfortunately not on our side.
Home field advantage. Just you all wait.
I think if Heupel believed he was capable, he'd call more passing plays. Remember, Heup is a former QB, so he knows what it takes. If he's having Mack constantly hand off, that tells me he doesn't have much faith either in his passing game.
That aside, Mack looks like a slightly smaller Daunte, and I want him to be a baller. I'm just not seeing it yet.
My observations from Mack
-extreamly physical
-very comfortable scrambling and on QB options.
-great arm strength, but throws it a bit hard for short yardage. He did have two screen plays that he didn’t gun it in the cows game.
-good technique and footwork in the pocket. However he does telegraph where he wants to throw it.
-still not sure how good his accuracy is. I think we find out in the Memphis game.
-needs to learn to slide or run out of bounds. That hit on the sideline made me cringe.
-seems a bit raw at times and timing is just not quite there yet. More playing time should resolve that.
-extreamly physical
-very comfortable scrambling and on QB options.
-great arm strength, but throws it a bit hard for short yardage. He did have two screen plays that he didn’t gun it in the cows game.
-good technique and footwork in the pocket. However he does telegraph where he wants to throw it.
-still not sure how good his accuracy is. I think we find out in the Memphis game.
-needs to learn to slide or run out of bounds. That hit on the sideline made me cringe.
-seems a bit raw at times and timing is just not quite there yet. More playing time should resolve that.
Shades of of Blake in 2012 (red shirt sophomore year). Numbers don’t line up due to offense and situationally when Mack has played, but they both can run and lack touch. He needs a little air under the ball and to improve accuracy. This always seems to be the issue with big, strong armed qbs though. If he controls the nerves, even Milton was way too jacked up in big home games, we should win if the defense continues from the last couple weeks.
He doesn’t turn the ball over. And when you have the talent a the skill positions on offense that we have and the way our defense is playing, that may be enough. Plus, the dude can run.
