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To all the Keene haters...

AuburnLegacy_1

Silver Knight
Feb 4, 2022
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I sure see a lot of fans without wins casting stones at the Giant Killa, who finished his career 8-3 (727%) as a starter at UCF.

What more does he have to prove? What more can be asked of him?

He beat Florida last year.

He came off the bench to lead come-from-behind victories against Cincinnati and South Florida this year. And he won the Memphis game.

He completed 72% of his passes and had a 6-to-1 TD to INT ratio.

He was undefeated in high school and won two straight state titles at the highest level of football in Arizona.

Still, he gets disrespected...

The cold hard truth is Keene should not have been on the bench for the first SIX games of the season. I don't recall but a select few clamoring to "put him in" back then. Y'all all the sudden wanted him to come off the bench and waste a year of eligibility in a game he arguably could not have won had he started.

The cold hard truth is without Keene the UCF would have been watching the AAC title game (like Keene and a lot of Knight defenders did today).

Don't blame Keene.


The annals of UCF football history will remember Keene as a hero.

Celebrate Lets Go GIF by UCF Knights
 
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Bottom line is Mikey Keene gave up on his team. Read Bianchi's article again...it's damning on Keene. We really needed him to play. He knew Plumlee was injured early in the week, but refused to play. He sucks in my opinion and just killed his 'legacy' he may have built at UCF. If I was the coach, if any player refused to play he would not be on the sideline.
 
Bottom line is Mikey Keene gave up on his team. Read Bianchi's article again...it's damning on Keene. We really needed him to play. He knew Plumlee was injured early in the week, but refused to play. He sucks in my opinion and just killed his 'legacy' he may have built at UCF. If I was the coach, if any player refused to play he would not be on the sideline.
UCF needed Keene to play against Louisville, East Carolina, and others, too.

UCF needed to get Thomas Castellanos on the field at any available position where he could help the team ALL SEASON long.

You can't win championships with your best athletes watching.
 
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Since you can't get past a simple paywall here are some Bianchi quotes from the article. This is not a pro-Mikey Keene like you think it is:

If the iconic sports writer Grantland Rice were around today, he would have to amend his famous line to say: “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s if you preserve your redshirt.”

If the great Vince Lombardi were alive today, he would declare, “Winning isn’t everything, preserving your redshirt is.”

If the legendary Al Davis were talking to his team today, he wouldn’t say, “Just win, baby.” He would say, “Just preserve an extra year of eligibility for when you enter the transfer portal, baby.”
 
Bottom line is Mikey Keene gave up on his team. Read Bianchi's article again...it's damning on Keene. We really needed him to play. He knew Plumlee was injured early in the week, but refused to play. He sucks in my opinion and just killed his 'legacy' he may have built at UCF. If I was the coach, if any player refused to play he would not be on the sideline.
Are you suggesting he would have started? Or are you suggesting he should have made himself available once again over Gus’s continued refusal to start him. You’re saying he should have put A coach who has repeatedly exhibited disloyalty to him since he won the off season competition when measured by performance, and sacrifice his own eligibility? Insane.
 
Since you can't get past a simple paywall here are some Bianchi quotes from the article. This is not a pro-Mikey Keene like you think it is:

If the iconic sports writer Grantland Rice were around today, he would have to amend his famous line to say: “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s if you preserve your redshirt.”

If the great Vince Lombardi were alive today, he would declare, “Winning isn’t everything, preserving your redshirt is.”

If the legendary Al Davis were talking to his team today, he wouldn’t say, “Just win, baby.” He would say, “Just preserve an extra year of eligibility for when you enter the transfer portal, baby.”
and we thought sitting out Bowl Games was the line. The ABC announcers were calling him out all game and they are usually careful to not criticize student athletes. It had to effect the locker room
 
Are you suggesting he would have started? Or are you suggesting he should have made himself available once again over Gus’s continued refusal to start him. You’re saying he should have put A coach who has repeatedly exhibited disloyalty to him since he won the off season competition when measured by performance, and sacrifice his own eligibility? Insane.
Well said. The loss of MK is on Gus.
 
Gus is ultimately responsible for sure, but in my opinion, Mikey Keene quit on this team. We really could have used him this game. Instead we had to burn a freshman's redshirt who obviously wasn't as good. As mentioned in the post game, they knew Plumlee was still hampered with the hamstring on Tuesday first practice and they had a conversation and Keene still wanted to sit out this championship game. See you guys tomorrow on this ole forum. Have a great rest of your night. Adios.
 
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I never thought Keene was the answer. Hes a great backup. He wants to start. I don’t blame him one bit. He isn’t going pro so getting an extra college year makes sense.
 
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Why is this Auburn fan who admitted that he didn't watch games last year (where Keene appeared in most of his games) telling us how Keene will be remembered by UCF fans?

I'm more mad at Gus than Keene on how he handled the QBs this season and their redshirt situation, but still kinda shitty to say what he said in the press conference and then to still sit out. If he was just going to refuse to give up his redshirt he shoulda left the team when he lost the job to Plumlee back in August.
 
Bottom line is Mikey Keene gave up on his team. Read Bianchi's article again...it's damning on Keene. We really needed him to play. He knew Plumlee was injured early in the week, but refused to play. He sucks in my opinion and just killed his 'legacy' he may have built at UCF. If I was the coach, if any player refused to play he would not be on the sideline.
He could have went to the portal from the beginning but didn’t and stuck around and helped us win games. He’s doing what’s best for him. I look at it as a win win. I wouldn’t burn my redshirt to a coach that didn’t think I was good enough to start. He was still cheering on plumlee last night.
 
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Are you suggesting he would have started? Or are you suggesting he should have made himself available once again over Gus’s continued refusal to start him. You’re saying he should have put A coach who has repeatedly exhibited disloyalty to him since he won the off season competition when measured by performance, and sacrifice his own eligibility? Insane.
Agree with this 100%. Keene did the right thing for himself and all of us would do the same
 
I sure see a lot of fans without wins casting stones at the Giant Killa, who finished his career 8-3 (727%) as a starter at UCF.

What more does he have to prove? What more can be asked of him?

He beat Florida last year.

He came off the bench to lead come-from-behind victories against Cincinnati and South Florida this year. And he won the Memphis game.

He completed 72% of his passes and had a 6-to-1 TD to INT ratio.

He was undefeated in high school and won two straight state titles at the highest level of football in Arizona.

Still, he gets disrespected...

The cold hard truth is Keene should not have been on the bench for the first SIX games of the season. I don't recall but a select few clamoring to "put him in" back then. Y'all all the sudden wanted him to come off the bench and waste a year of eligibility in a game he arguably could not have won had he started.

The cold hard truth is without Keene the UCF would have been watching the AAC title game (like Keene and a lot of Knight defenders did today).

Don't blame Keene.


The annals of UCF football history will remember Keene as a hero.

Celebrate Lets Go GIF by UCF Knights
The cold hard truth is that Mikey isn't transferring to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Bama, Clemson, etc... He's already at a top 25 program (or close to it). [Remains to be seen if we maintain this when we step up in competition next season but we need 2-3 years to really assess that]. Where is he going to transfer so that he is guaranteed the #1 job at this level without any competition? Charlotte, Old Dominion, Wyoming, UMass, UConn, FIU, FAU, etc... If your goal as a player is to win hardware, which that should always be your #1 goal, then where is he going to do this? Tulane, James Madison (oh wait, they are only allowed to be the best team in their conference but not play for the conference title because of some inane NCAA rule), Troy....yeah, maybe next year he can play for an AAC or Sun Belt title?!?!?!

Of course we're all thankful for his hard work and dedication. He's a QB that works hard and plays well when opportunity knocks but he has his limitations. In ~12 games as the starter over two seasons he's like a 66% completion with ~2130 yds and 20 TDs against 7 picks. That's not bad...it's also not great. He has -38 yards rushing with 1 TD. That's 178 yards/game passing. As a comparison to the current #24 team Miss State (NC State was #25 but has had to play 4 QBs to get through the season), Will Rodgers completed 68% of his passes for 3713 yards with 34 TDs and 6 picks, and an abysmal -172 yards rushing with zero TDs. Is Miss State going to get Mikey and name him the #1 QB without any competition?? I think not.

I think we're generally just saying in order to get more playing time he's going to have to go "down" in the pecking order of college football to guarantee that, and not "up", and there is nothing to say if he stayed around that next season he couldn't be the starter. He should get better, right? Maybe Plumlee decides he doesn't want to come back. He's often hurt already. Maybe other guys get hurt. Maybe he gets better. I mean, I get it, you're a player and want to play but at this level it is generally a never-ending fight for your job.
 
Agree with this 100%. Keene did the right thing for himself and all of us would do the same
I wouldn't. Winning hardware is everything. I don't think anybody wants to end their college career and go, "Man, the highlight of my career was coming in 6th place in <whatever> conference. Remember that year we won 7 games!"

If Keene was 100% "in" maybe he starts this week? OR maybe not but after it was obvious how limited Plumlee was Gus sticks him in the rest of the game. Just don't know how important he might have been in this game. I can tell you this, he made no impact for his time watching from the bench.
 
I wouldn't. Winning hardware is everything. I don't think anybody wants to end their college career and go, "Man, the highlight of my career was coming in 6th place in <whatever> conference. Remember that year we won 7 games!"

If Keene was 100% "in" maybe he starts this week? OR maybe not but after it was obvious how limited Plumlee was Gus sticks him in the rest of the game. Just don't know how important he might have been in this game. I can tell you this, he made no impact for his time watching from the bench.
The main goal is to become the best player possible, get the best degree possible, go NFL or get a great job. Winning a CC doesn’t mean much when you are on sideline watching.
 
The cold hard truth is that Mikey isn't transferring to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Bama, Clemson, etc... He's already at a top 25 program (or close to it). [Remains to be seen if we maintain this when we step up in competition next season but we need 2-3 years to really assess that]. Where is he going to transfer so that he is guaranteed the #1 job at this level without any competition? Charlotte, Old Dominion, Wyoming, UMass, UConn, FIU, FAU, etc... If your goal as a player is to win hardware, which that should always be your #1 goal, then where is he going to do this? Tulane, James Madison (oh wait, they are only allowed to be the best team in their conference but not play for the conference title because of some inane NCAA rule), Troy....yeah, maybe next year he can play for an AAC or Sun Belt title?!?!?!

Of course we're all thankful for his hard work and dedication. He's a QB that works hard and plays well when opportunity knocks but he has his limitations. In ~12 games as the starter over two seasons he's like a 66% completion with ~2130 yds and 20 TDs against 7 picks. That's not bad...it's also not great. He has -38 yards rushing with 1 TD. That's 178 yards/game passing. As a comparison to the current #24 team Miss State (NC State was #25 but has had to play 4 QBs to get through the season), Will Rodgers completed 68% of his passes for 3713 yards with 34 TDs and 6 picks, and an abysmal -172 yards rushing with zero TDs. Is Miss State going to get Mikey and name him the #1 QB without any competition?? I think not.

I think we're generally just saying in order to get more playing time he's going to have to go "down" in the pecking order of college football to guarantee that, and not "up", and there is nothing to say if he stayed around that next season he couldn't be the starter. He should get better, right? Maybe Plumlee decides he doesn't want to come back. He's often hurt already. Maybe other guys get hurt. Maybe he gets better. I mean, I get it, you're a player and want to play but at this level it is generally a never-ending fight for your job.
As for your first paragraph... The same could be said of John Rhys Plumlee, who lost his starting job as a wide receiver at talent-depleted Ole Piss.

As for your second paragraph...

I concede your point. Mikey Keene's passing numbers as a true freshman and sophomore backup quarterback operating out of a run-oriented offense are not as good as a three-year starting SEC quarterback who operates out of the Air Raid.

Aa for your third paragraph...

Gus didn't want him for Day One. History has proven Gus was wrong several times over. I think it took too long for Gus to figure out how wrong he was until now.

Ohio State lost Joe Burrow to LSU. We all know how that ended up.
 
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I wouldn't. Winning hardware is everything. I don't think anybody wants to end their college career and go, "Man, the highlight of my career was coming in 6th place in <whatever> conference. Remember that year we won 7 games!"

If Keene was 100% "in" maybe he starts this week? OR maybe not but after it was obvious how limited Plumlee was Gus sticks him in the rest of the game. Just don't know how important he might have been in this game. I can tell you this, he made no impact for his time watching from the bench.
Most players want to play. Keene was the incumbent starter and Gus brought in an Ole Miss WR and gave him every opportunity to have to lose the job. He played his guy despite reports that players felt MK won the job in the fall and despite at least 3 different injuries to his guy limiting his effectiveness. It was obvious Mikey wasn’t going to be a part of the future of the program on the field. I’m glad that he bridged the gap with 4 games rather than immediately transferring like McClain did in identical circumstances. He added to the depth of the QB room this year. He doesn’t owe us a year of his eligibility. It wasn’t his choice to be phased out of the program in favor of Gus guys.
 
As for your first paragraph... The same could be said of John Rhys Plumlee, who lost his starting job as a wide receiver at talent-depleted Ole Piss.

As for your second paragraph...

I concede your point. Mikey Keene's passing numbers as a true freshman and sophomore backup quarterback operating out of a run-oriented offense are not as good as a three-year starting SEC quarterback who operates out of the Air Raid.

Aa for your third paragraph...

Gus didn't want him for Day One. History has proven Gus was wrong several times over. I think it took too long for Gus to figure out how wrong he was until now.

Ohio State lost Joe Brady to LSU. We all know how that ended up.
Yes im sure this happens all over country. Kids are good but coaches don’t think they are or are asked to do things they aren’t good at. Shaq Griffen was going to quit football until luckily a new coach saw he could play. Now a movie is being made about him. Coaches ruin peoples lives because they don’t know what they are doing or don’t like the kid.
 
Most players want to play. Keene was the incumbent starter and Gus brought in an Ole Miss WR and gave him every opportunity to have to lose the job. He played his guy despite reports that players felt MK won the job in the fall and despite at least 3 different injuries to his guy limiting his effectiveness. It was obvious Mikey wasn’t going to be a part of the future of the program on the field. I’m glad that he bridged the gap with 4 games rather than immediately transferring like McClain did in identical circumstances. He added to the depth of the QB room this year. He doesn’t owe us a year of his eligibility. It wasn’t his choice to be phased out of the program in favor of Gus guys.
Gus could have just told Keene he wasn't going to the starter before the transfer portal window closed. Gus created this situation. If Gus was going to 'lead Keene on', he should have played him every other series or alternated series with JRP every game.

EDIT: I don't think Gus had planned to play Mikey against Navy or South Florida. UCF was just imploding at such a rate by that time that Gus needed Keene to save the ship.
 
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Agree with this 100%. Keene did the right thing for himself and all of us would do the same
But why are we asking whether he should’ve done it “for Gus”? Gus will be fine either way. It’s his teammates who had a chance to win a championship that might feel cheated by his decision. Of course he didn’t owe Gus anything, who cares? But what about the 100 guys who put on the uniform?
 
Anybody with half a brain figured out a long time ago that there was a deal in place for Keene to stick around for the season IF his redshirt was kept. That deal last week at the press conference was Gus telling him to say that so the other team would spend some time preparing for him.

The only surprise around the QB position yesterday was how unprepared TC was to play. That was embarrassing to watch. We would have been better off playing a clipboard guy and keeping TC's redshirt.
 
Gus is ultimately responsible for sure, but in my opinion, Mikey Keene quit on this team. We really could have used him this game. Instead we had to burn a freshman's redshirt who obviously wasn't as good. As mentioned in the post game, they knew Plumlee was still hampered with the hamstring on Tuesday first practice and they had a conversation and Keene still wanted to sit out this championship game. See you guys tomorrow on this ole forum. Have a great rest of your night. Adios.
You’re so full of shit your eyes are brown…. Lol. Suit up and put your ass on the line, then you can talk. MK should have started all season. if MK started after Cincinnati, he would have burned it willingly. But nope. Gus kept going to his guy. Maybe putting TC in for the last minute in 3 games wasn’t a smart move. But that is on Gus.
 
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Gus could have just told Keene he wasn't going to the starter before the transfer portal window closed. Gus created this situation. If Gus was going to 'lead Keene on', he should have played him every other series or alternated series with JRP every game.

EDIT: I don't think Gus had planned to play Mikey against Navy or South Florida. UCF was just imploding at such a rate by that time that Gus needed Keene to save the ship.
I think I made a post like we needed to just play bowser in the Navy/USF games to save Keene for CCG. No one predicted our defensive collapsing so hard.
 
Hey Jcmorning. "Let's Go Win A Championship"...

Remember that quote by MK from last week? Too bad he didn't 'suit up' and put his ass on the line. Thus, he can't talk either as he didn't. Welcome to social media where people can speak their minds and their thoughts. If you want to unleash on me and my opinion then go at it. I'm here for you.

Also, I have played football. However, I'm approaching 60. I do have have the height and weight to be a middle linebacker in the NFL. Been waiting for the Fins to call me up anytime. :p For some reason my phone ain't ringin' so I'll just stay on this forum and give you some more of my brown eyes (You got that accurate about me) and spew my opinion.
 
Hey Jcmorning. "Let's Go Win A Championship"...

Remember that quote by MK from last week? Too bad he didn't 'suit up' and put his ass on the line. Thus, he can't talk either as he didn't. Welcome to social media where people can speak their minds and their thoughts. If you want to unleash on me and my opinion then go at it. I'm here for you.

Also, I have played football. However, I'm approaching 60. I do have have the height and weight to be a middle linebacker in the NFL. Been waiting for the Fins to call me up anytime. :p For some reason my phone ain't ringin' so I'll just stay on this forum and give you some more of my brown eyes (You got that accurate about me) and spew my opinion.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣just for you.
 
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Ultimately, it’s not Gus’s fault or Mikey’s fault. It’s the ugly reality of the transfer portal and NIL. Those of you supporting Keene’s decision 100% are making an argument that would apply to every backup QB in the country who thinks they should be the starter. It practically eliminates the concept of a reliable backup QB. If I’m not the starter, why should I play if there’s a chance it would limit my options at the next stop? How many backup QBs think the coach made the right decision picking the other guy? Only one guy can start. But in today’s world of college football you just transfer rather than commit to being that guy who comes in when the team needs you no matter what.
 
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But why are we asking whether he should’ve done it “for Gus”? Gus will be fine either way. It’s his teammates who had a chance to win a championship that might feel cheated by his decision. Of course he didn’t owe Gus anything, who cares? But what about the 100 guys who put on the uniform?
Maybe you missed the fact that the defense essentially imploded. Tom Brady could have been our QB at that point, and we still lose.
 
"Tom Brady could have been our QB at that point, and we still lose."

That's not true. We pulled to within 3 points with an injured Plumlee coming back in. You really think Tom Brady couldn't have done better? You must not watch much football. Imagine a healthy Mikey Keene? We've seen him do miracle comebacks to win games as well. Opportunity lost.
 
Maybe you missed the fact that the defense essentially imploded. Tom Brady could have been our QB at that point, and we still lose.
No one is arguing we absolutely would have won if Keene played. This discussion is about his decision, which was made before the game started when no one knew how the defense was going to play. What was known was that JRP might not last the whole game.

Having said that, who knows how it would’ve turned out if MK came in instead of TC? I didn’t think we’d beat Cincinnati when JRP went out, and we did. USF I was convinced we wouldn’t win after that implosion, and we did. QB play affects the whole team. It’s contagious. And this team knew 3 things when it took the field yesterday: 1) JRP was hurt; 2) MK had led the team to victory two previous times when JRP was hurt; and 3) MK wasn’t suiting up.
 
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Ultimately, it’s not Gus’s fault or Mikey’s fault. It’s the ugly reality of the transfer portal and NIL. Those of you supporting Keene’s decision 100% are making an argument that would apply to every backup QB in the country who thinks they should be the starter. It practically eliminates the concept of a reliable backup QB. If I’m not the starter, why should I play if there’s a chance it would limit my options at the next stop? How many backup QBs think the coach made the right decision picking the other guy? Only one guy can start. But in today’s world of college football you just transfer rather than commit to being that guy who comes in when the team needs you no matter what.
It doesn’t really apply to every backup situation. Historically your backup works his way up the depth chart to be starter as he gains experience. In this situation you have a guy recruited by the previous coach who started the last 10 games last year and felt he won the job in the fall sitting behind the new coaches pet project brought in as a transfer because he better fits the coaches QB “mold”. Not a situation where Keene felt he could eventually work his way up to be that guy under Malzahn.
 
No one is arguing we absolutely would have won if Keene played. This discussion is about his decision, which was made before the game started when no one knew how the defense was going to play. What was known was that JRP might not last the whole game.

Having said that, who knows how it would’ve turned out if MK came in instead of TC? I didn’t think we’d beat Cincinnati when JRP went out, and we did. USF I was convinced we wouldn’t win after that implosion, and we did. QB play affects the whole team. It’s contagious. And this team knew 3 things when it took the field yesterday: 1) JRP was hurt; 2) MK had led the team to victory two previous times when JRP was hurt; and 3) MK wasn’t suiting up.
Keene gets sacked more than the other 2. He can’t escape any pressure. We don’t win with him.
 
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