The Daily Knight: Why UCF Should Dismantle Navy

There's no reason for UCF to not play well against Navy. There's motivation from the loss to Louisville, and the Knights simply possess too much talent for Navy to keep up. The Knights should roll.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Sep 28, 2021 10:13 AM EDT

ORLANDO - Time to get back on track. UCF needs to come out and dominate a team that simply does not match the talent that UCF has on its roster. The past game should be a motivator as well.

With the Louisville game as a barometer of what to come, the UCF defense should be motivated to stop a Navy option attack that will attempt to reach the perimeter and create big plays in the process. Louisville did a great job of getting to the outside of the UCF defense making the Knights pay for their errors. That cannot happen against Navy, another team that will try to do something similar with its triple-option attack.

If the Knights contain Navy’s option attack by not allowing the wing backs and quarterback to reach the edges of the defense, there’s little chance that Navy will be able to score with UCF.

On offense, look for freshman quarterback Mikey Keene to play well during his first start. Regardless of the injury situation, the UCF offense possesses far too many skill position players with speed and quickness for Navy to handle.

Some key areas to look for during the game this next Saturday, as discussed in podcast below:

**Can UCF keep Navy's first down plays to an average less than four yards? Navy's offense needs to be "ahead of the chains" to win. That means managing the plays on second and third down with more running plays; Navy does not throw the football well.

**Navy's offense and defense will probably be smaller than any other team that UCF plays. This should be exploited by the Knights, especially the experienced and massive offensive line.

**Navy signal caller Xavier Arline will be the primary target for the UCF defense to stop. If the Knights contain Arline by keeping him between the two tackles, there's no reason to believe that UCF will not win this game going away.

**Injuries could be a factor, but should not allow Navy to win; even with UCF's injury situation there's no reason that the overall speed for the Knights does not overwhelm Navy.

**To the point above, Navy's offensive line allowed 16 sacks through three games. That's atrocious for a traditional offense, let alone a team that does not throw the football very often.

Here's today's podcast, in traditional form and via YouTube:

For UCF insights, college football news, and recruiting information go to: The Daily Knight podcast; it will be found on iTunes and Spotify. For more UCF and recruiting information, go to Twitter @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation, as well as my YouTube Channel and Instagram page. Like and Subscribe!