Tay Gowan is getting the hang of being starter.
The former junior college cornerback was thrust into a primary role earlier this season after Brandon Moore suffered a season-ending injury in the opener. According to PFF, Gowan has earned the second highest defensive grade (78.9) among starters, trailing only Aaron Robinson.
He's also had a hand in two of UCF's three forced turnovers - an interception at FAU and a fumble recovery at Pitt.
"I'm feeling good now," Gowan said. "First couple games, I was like I didn't want to let anybody down. Now I feel a lot more comfortable and I can relax a little more. From here on out, you're going to get the best of me."
Gowan spoke more about the 35-34 loss at Pitt, especially how some of the Panthers' touchdown drives were aided by defensive penalties.
"It hurts. I know we're giving our all and I know everybody on the team is trying their hardest, but some of those penalties we did to ourselves. We could have been off the field. You've got to be smart. That's all I can say."
He elaborated more about Pitt's last-minute trick-play touchdown which has been dubbed the "Pitt Special." Wide receiver Aaron Matthews took the direct snap and threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Kenny Pickett.
"It happened so fast," Gowan said. "We were still trying to communicate. I heard the ball snap. I feel like if we had two more seconds of just making sure everybody was right, that play would have been stopped and it never would have happened."
The attention now shifts to UConn, which will be the first of eight consecutive American Athletic Conference games. Though this is Gowan's first season with the Knights, he knows the importance of winning another conference championship.
"We want to bring another championship back to Orlando," Gowan said.
