UCF vs Tulane: Castellanos Taking Over at QB?
The UCF Knights are still within striking distance during the American Athletic Conference title game against the Tulane Green Wave, but the first half is a sign of recent concerns coming back into play. That includes what is perceived to be a lingering injury concern with quarterback John Rhys Plumlee.
He's been in the lineup, but less and less as the second quarter came to a close. More on him during the postgame article. For now, know that UCF is now going with true freshman signal caller Thomas Castellanos behind center.
That first scoring drive is a result of the Knights shutting down Tulane during a fourth and short play. Defensive tackle Ricky Barber and the middle of the defensive line playing their keys well, staying low, and gaining a push.
Now on to an overview of what's been going on, beginning with UCF's poor start.
Tulane is basically going with the approach of forcing UCF to win by throwing the football. That’s only being amplified with Castellanos in the lineup. Tulane is absolutely daring the Knights to throw the football from the pocket, and the Knights are not yet showing they can do it.
Tulane is blitzing off the edge, shifting where they line up, and absolutely loading the box. Still, UCF is not throwing all that much. It did not help that left tackle Tylan Grable gave up the unforgivable sin of a 3-man rush sack towards the end of the second quarter. With a third down and 13 to go, Tulane gained another sack of Castellanos.
The Knights do have some momentum with the rushing attack despite Tulane’s deliberate attempt to take away the rushing game. Isaiah Bowser has 51 rushing yards, and Johnny Richardson has 20.
Unfortunately, with the quarterback situation being what it is, UCF's big-play receiver corps is mostly limited without much of a fight. There is absolutely no replacement for thousands of reps (literally) between quarterback and receivers. That's what UCF is battling right now.
Defensively, it’s an edge to Tulane, but it’s nothing definitive. Third down conversions started poorly by allowing 2-3, but the Green Wave finish at 2-6. Michael Pratt, Tulane’s main man at quarterback, is fading with accuracy after a hot start. Still, he's been a big-play threat.
Even after a quarter, he held a stat line of 7-10 for 122 yards and a touchdown pass. At the end of the first half, he is at 12-22 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
That pick came when UCF edge defender Tre'mon Morrish-Brash hit Pratt's right arm and the football flopped up in the air and cornerback Davonte Brown came down with the pick and brought it back 22 yards to the UCF 41.
The Knight are trying to come after him, with mixed results. Pratt is shifting his play calls when he sees blitzes and the Knights are not consistently getting close to him before he releases the football, with Morris-Brash's sack being a glaring exception.
A few other key statistics to note include UCF being a miserable 2-8 on third down and being out gained 283 to 118.
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