Gus Malzahn Press Conference, AAC Title Game & 'Holy Holler'
This week's UCF Knights matchup with the Tulane Green Wave has been elevated to special status because it's the American Athletic Conference championship game. With that, there were some great comments from head coach Gus Malzahn during his Monday meeting with the media.
He truly went into detail about several topics, and from right off the bat of the press conference, too.
To start, he admitted how happy the Knights were to be in the American Athletic Conference title game.
“Tickled to death to be playing the conference championship game,” Malzahn began. “That’s been our team’s goal since Day 1. Yeah know, they got us here, and I’m real proud of our guys.”
As usual, Malzahn showed his humbleness. He’s loved coaching for a long time. Malzahn was obviously happy for his team and how it accomplished what it did so far in 2022.
As for Tulane, Malzahn did not mince words with regards to how he felt about their talented roster either, with an added point about location.
“We’re playing a Tulane team, and I think I’ve said this before, they’re one of the best teams in college football. We get to go on the road to their place for the second time, which is a tough feat.”
It’s one thing to knock off a top opponent on the road, but doing that twice, during one season, that’s rarified air. UCF’s challenge has been set quite high.
Malzahn mentioned something else about how Tulane has been playing since losing to UCF 38-31 on Nov. 12, which included ending Cincinnati’s 32-game home winning streak at Nippert Stadium.
“Cincinnati hadn’t lost in forever (at home) and they went there and beat’em. That was a really, really impressive win, for them to do that, to get them to the (AAC) championship game. So, they looked pretty healthy; they looked like they’re playing really good football.”
Malzahn’s comment about “healthy” stuck out. If Tulane has indeed healed up, as there are hardly any college football teams remotely near being at full strength this time of year, good for them and not so good for UCF.
The Knights have battled numerous injuries to the defense during the past month. It’s had its impact at all three levels of the defense. Perhaps it was coach-speak or some some sort of gamesmanship, but make no mistake, if Tulane has become healthier at the end of the season, that’s an advantage for the Green Wave.
Then, onto the all-important question Brandon Helwig of Rivals. How has quarterback John Rhys Plumlee felt since tweaking his hamstring injury against USF?
“He actually feels better. The thing about it, you know, he’s dealt with this hamstring for a few weeks now. So it’s not like something new. And he’s managed it, been able to recover and come back. So, his mindset is to play. We’ll see how he does each day (at practice). But, it’s not the first time, so I think that’s probably a positive.”
Two key points from Malzahn’s Plumlee statement. First, he rarely provides much injury information. That’s been Malzahn’s style for a long time. For him to be as open as he was about Plumlee playing against Tulane, that’s a good sign.
Next, he mentioned how Plumlee has a “mindset” to play. That’s needed in critical moments. As noted above about Tulane’s looking healthy from Malzahn’s eyes, Plumlee being on the field mattered the first time these two teams met so it’s likely going to matter once again. Here’s what Plumlee’s statistics looked like against the Green Wave.
17-30, 56.7%, 132 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. As a runner, Plumlee gashed Tulane from the outset, including his 67-yard first quarter touchdown run. For the game, Plumlee rushed 18 times for 176 yards, a 9.8 average, and two scores. The Tulane game added to the discussion of Plumlee being the most dynamic run-pass quarterback in college football.
Next, a great question from Jason Beede about the impact of the Knights finding a way to win the close game against USF and winning the last War on I-4. Plus, a truly great answer from Malzahn.
“Yeah, I think close games, it’s about believing. Finding a way, getting it done. There’s nothing like feeling what it feels like, with that pressure, when the whole season is on the line. And, you’ve gotta respond.
“Defensively we didn’t play our best. When we needed to make the stop…they stopped (USF). They (USF) punted. (We) got the ball back. And the offense went down and scored. So, I think that says a lot about our leadership, the character of our team, a lot of winners, that’s hard to do. Especially when you’re up 31-7 against your rival.
“You lose the lead; the place is going nuts. Those challenging times, that’s when you truly find out about your football team. So, to answer your question, I think that if it’s a close game, yeah know, we know how to win at the end, and I think that’s really important.”
That was a mouthful. It was intriguing, too. Overall, Malzahn was talking about what many call the “it factor” for finding a way to pull out a special play or series of plays to gut-out a victory. That’s what UCF’s defense did after the turnover gave USF the football near midfield.
The Knights absolutely needed a stop, and that’s what happened. It was a three-and-out for USF and then the miraculous drive began with Mikey Keene behind center. Great stuff that can be recalled again during critical moments versus Tulane.
One final quote and comment from Malzahn’s press conference. How about Kyle Nash from the Black and Gold Banneret asking Malzahn about the “Holy Holler” catch from tight end Alec Holler against USF and wanting to know what Malzahn thought about it?
“I think that play was worthy of whatever you want to call it,” Malzahn stated immediately. “I knew it was a pretty good catch on the sideline, when it happened. I just worried about him being in. Then I saw it on my phone after the game. Wow! That was crazy. That’s a crazy play right there.
When you put the fact that everything, in the moment, against your rival, and how important it was. Because, I mean (field goal kicker Colton) Boomer, I’d have felt good about him, but I didn’t want to put a true freshman in that moment. That was a wow-catch.”
There’s much more from Malzahn’s press conference as well, plus linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and the man of the hour, Holler himself, inside the video below. Overall, it was a great press conference. Here’s the full press conference video:
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