Keep Score With Me and Make UCF Play Your Game

There are a hundred different things you can watch Saturday when TCU goes on the road to play UCF for its Big 12 opener.

I want you to watch three.

And this week, they all tell us the same thing.

Who gets to decide what kind of football game this becomes?

The UCF offense TCU will face Saturday is built to run. The Knights have rushed 100 times and attempted 70 passes through three games. They are averaging 228 yards on the ground, with 11 rushing touchdowns.

Keyone Jenkins is expected to start at quarterback after Alonza Barnett III suffered a hamstring injury. Against Georgia State last week, Jenkins went 7-of-17 for 86 yards while UCF ran for 304.

So if I’m TCU, the equation isn’t complicated. I don’t want UCF playing the game it wants to play. I want to make the Knights play ours.

Can the TCU defense hit them in the mouth early? Can the Frogs consistently win against the run? And if they do those two things long enough, can they make UCF start calling plays it didn’t come into the game wanting to call?

That’s what we’re keeping score of this week.

Test One: First Punch

I talked about this on the podcast this week. I want to see this defense come out pissed off.

Not reckless. No stupid penalties. I’m not talking about guys running around trying to prove how tough they are. I’m talking about controlled violence.

Playing downhill. Defensive linemen knocking people backward. Linebackers triggering instead of catching. Edges squeezing space. Eleven hats running to the football.

For UCF’s first two possessions, forget the scoreboard for a minute. Watch who is making the other team react.

Count the runs stopped for four yards or fewer. Look for tackles behind the line of scrimmage, pressures, third-down stops and multiple purple jerseys finishing around the football.

Then find me somebody who makes you notice him because he seems to be around the ball every play.

I played on TCU defenses that took a lot of pride in making sure an offense knew very early what kind of game it had signed up for.

After watching what consequence football revealed against Arkansas State, I want to know who will show us Saturday that this TCU defense still has that “If they don’t score, then don’t win” mentality.

Who throws the first punch?

Test Two: Four Yards

The look this weekend in Orlando 🔥🧊 #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/L3fhTGZi80
— TCU Football (@TCUFootball) September 24, 2026

This is probably the one I’ll watch closer than anything else. Every time UCF runs a designed run play, keep score.

Four yards or fewer: TCU gets a plus.

Five yards or more: UCF gets a plus.

Simple.

Count running back carries, sweeps and designed quarterback runs. Don’t count sacks or quarterback scrambles.

But I want you watching something beyond the number.

Where and how are these plays being made?

There is a big difference between a linebacker coming downhill and striking a running back near the line of scrimmage, and that same linebacker hesitating, waiting on him and making the tackle five yards downfield.

Both put a tackle next to his name in the box score. They are not the same damn play.

One tells me the linebacker is looking for the fight and the defense is deciding where that fight happens.

The other tells me the offense has already decided that for them.

Don’t just watch who makes the tackle Saturday. Watch whether he’s meeting the runner or catching him.

Because if TCU keeps winning those four-yard battles, something else should eventually start happening.

Which brings us to my favorite test.

Test Three: Make Them Blink

This is where we find out whether the first two tests actually mattered.

Any time UCF gets into second-and-4 through second-and-7, keep a simple tally:

RUN or PASS.

That’s it.

Why those downs?

Because that’s where the guy holding the play sheet still has choices.

On third-and-9, everybody in the stadium knows you’re probably throwing it. But second-and-5?

Now you’ve got options.

Run it. Throw it. Play-action. Whatever you want.

If UCF’s backs are having success, there isn’t much reason to stop handing them the football.

What I want you to watch is whether that starts changing as the game goes along.

If TCU keeps winning the four-yard test and UCF starts throwing the ball more often in those situations, pay attention.

You may have just caught the play caller blinking. That’s when you’ve done more than stop the run. You’ve made the other team start questioning what it came into the game believing it could do.

Coaches sometimes call it making an offense play left-handed. Take away what they do best and make them beat you doing something else.

That’s what I want to see from TCU Saturday.

Don’t let UCF decide what kind of football game this becomes. Make the Knights match the level of physicality we bring into the Bounce House, or make them play a game they aren’t built to play.

So keep score with me.

First Punch: Who establishes the terms?

Four Yards: Who wins those terms snap after snap?

Make Them Blink: Does winning enough of those snaps eventually change what UCF is willing to call?

Because if TCU passes all three tests Saturday, I won’t need the final rushing total to tell me whether the Frogs dictated this football game.

UCF’s play sheet will tell us.

Which test are you watching most closely? .

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