ORLANDO — UCF reached the first of its two bye weeks following its Sept. 6 dismantling of North Carolina A&T, meeting expectations with a pair of expected home victories. But head coach Scott Frost knows the road only gets tougher from here, and that his team needs to get considerably better.
“In camp, I didn’t know how the team would react when it was live bullets. I think we played better than we did (against Jacksonville State), which is good to see. Now we’ve got two weeks to get ready for the next one. We’ve really got to utilize this two weeks,” Frost said. “It can’t just be time off and getting away from football. We’re going to rest the guys and make sure they’re right, but we need to come back and attack and take another step.”
The Knights return to the Acrisure Bounce House at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 20 for their highly anticipated non-conference finale against North Carolina, coached by six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick. From there, UCF will play its final nine contests against Big 12 opponents, starting with a Sept. 27 road trip to Kansas State.
Here are three things Frost and the Knights should focus on during the break.
1. Get healthy, and sort out QB situation early
The additional time off should give UCF an opportunity to heal up and field a nearly full-strength squad for the North Carolina game.
Last week, during his appearance on Knight Talk with play-by-play broadcaster Marc Daniels, Frost said he hoped to have both Week 1 starting quarterback Cam Fancher (back) and redshirt senior safety Jayden Williams (thumb) return. Fancher went 5-of-9 passing for 32 yards and ran four times for 38 yards against Jacksonville State; Williams made a crucial fourth-and-inches run stop to set up the Knights’ game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
Tayven Jackson has played well in Fancher’s absence, completing 64.4% of his passes (29 of 45) for 471 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another pair of short-yardage scores in the blowout win over North Carolina A&T. In addition, Jackson guided Indiana to victory last October against Washington, a head-to-head matchup against first-year UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick.
Frost declined to name a starter going forward Sept. 6, opting to bide his time and make sure that Fancher will be available. He has been consistent in delivering a message of confidence in Fancher, Jackson and Jacurri Brown, who added a pair of second-half rushing touchdowns, but Frost will ultimately need to make another big decision behind center.
“We’ve got a bye week to think about it, see who’s healthy and who’s available,” Frost said. “We’ll talk about it as a staff, but I don’t think it’s going to be tough.”
2. Improve run blocking
Sure, UCF just bulldozed North Carolina A&T and rushed for 356 yards at an average of 11.1 yards per attempt. That’s to be expected against a Football Championship Subdivision program that has lost 23 of its last 25 games.
The week before, against a rebuilt Jacksonville State squad, the Knights totaled 108 yards on the ground at just 2.9 per attempt. Myles Montgomery gained 55 of his team-high 79 yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus.
Through two games, PFF issued the Knights an overall run blocking grade of 61.2 out of 100 — a mark that ranks 62nd among FBS programs, five spots ahead of North Carolina.
UCF rotated guards in pairs against Jax State, though starters Gaard Memmelaar and Keegan Smith took the bulk of the reps. Jabari Brooks and Cameron Kinnie have each logged double-digit snaps in both games to date.
Kinnie and Smith, per PFF, have the two highest run-block marks among the team’s linemen.
3. Focus on discipline and fine-tuning details
Asked directly what would be the major points of emphasis for the upcoming week, Frost replied, “Discipline and detail is probably what I’m going to hammer home to these guys.”
UCF reduced its penalties week-to-week from nine to six, but for the second straight game, Montgomery had a touchdown taken off the board due to a holding call. Freshman wide receiver Carl Jenkins Jr. was flagged for a downfield grab inside the 10-yard line. Kinnie drew another call for a false start two plays later, and the Knights eventually settled for a field goal.
North Carolina A&T moved into field goal range on its opening drive of the second half with the aid of two UCF personal fouls — one on cornerback Antione Jackson and another against defensive tackle John Walker for illegal use of hands to the face. The Aggies came away emptyhanded, missing a 43-yard kick.
Better opponents, however, could make the Knights pay dearly for those errors, as well as incorrect alignment or missed assignments.
“Discipline matters,” Frost said. “We talk about every decision being based on what’s best for the team, not what’s best for me. And I still think we have a little bit of, ‘I know I’m supposed to do this on my assignment, but I’m going to go make this play,’ instead of doing what they have to. That’s something we’ll talk a lot about over the bye week.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football: 3 areas of emphasis during bye week before UNC
