UCF at FAU Film Review: Defense Rises Up
Watching the UCF Knights during the first 10-plus minutes of the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls, a person might be shocked to learn the final score of 40-14.
FAU flat out dominated UCF’s defense for the first stanza of the contest. After that, a complete 180 took place. What happened? Well, UCF defensive coordinator Travis Williams made a few remarks during Sunday’s press conference that also showed up on the film review.
“Going into halftime, we had some things we wanted to fix, but the main thing was just fitting the run,” Williams admitted. “Things that as far as the run that we didn’t fit right. When you watch it live, it’s like okay. We gotta do this call for this play because they’re doing this. After watching it, it was like, just fit it up.”
Now, Coach Williams was his usual self with high energy and talking with his hands because he loves talking football x’s and o’s. The next statement is the most important of the press conference, however, because it’s one of the most basic premises in the sport of football.
“But the second half we tackled better.”
The Knights absolutely did. It changed chunk-yardage runs of over 10 yards to runs that ended up being shut down at the line of scrimmage, or no more than runs of two, three or four yards. That’s the overall theme from what was seen while watching the game film, too.
There will be grades for all three levels of the defense, but keep in mind that this is truly like watching two separate games and UCF fans should be happy that in-game adjustments were that incredibly impactful.
Statistic to note: As noted in the game recap article, FAU had just 130 yards of offense in the final three-plus quarters. That excellent defensive effort changed the game towards the Knights.
Also, keeping a team from scoring when they begin a drive at the 1-yard line, that's incredible. Talk about bowing up at the right moment!
Now, onto the three levels of the defense, beginning with men in the trenches.
Defensive Line
Early in the contest, FAU was using double teams to gain a push at the point of attack. The Knights interior defenders did not do a good job of fending them off and it caused issues. Further, there was nobody knifing in to create penetration, off the edge or the inside, to disrupt the flow of running plays. It was as bad on film as it was live, make no mistake.
That allowed talented running backs Larry McCammon and Zuberi Mobley to gain a crease and they took advantage. Hitting the hole hard after seeing the running lane, the Owls accumulated 68 yards rushing between the two running backs during the first drive alone, including Mobley’s 15-yard touchdown run.
Afterwards, the Owls mounted another drive later in the first quarter that was at least similar. Power funs that helped set up a few passes, but mostly just being physical and out working UCF’s defensive line. Then it happened.
UCF’s defensive linemen used their hands better, moved their feet better, and simply executed at a much higher level. It was like watching a light switch coming on.
UCF’s defensive philosophy also changed a bit during the second quarter onward, as it was manning up and challenging the FAU receivers. The goal was to stop the run with an aggressive downhill mentality.
Maybe that’s just what UCF does best and needs to stick with? The defensive line sure played better at that point as they were just more active.
From everyone that was reviewed, there were no defensive linemen that were good from start to finish, but coming off the bench Lee Hunter did show why he’s capable of changing games.
He pushed the line of scrimmage multiple times in the run game, and he recorded the only sack for the Knights. Look to see more and more of the redshirt freshman from Mobile, Ala. against Georgia Tech.
When combined with the lack of sacks, as well as those two touchdown drives, this is a little bit better than a so-so overall game for the Knights. UCF should be better moving forward.
Grade: B-
Linebackers
If the game was based on the first quarter effort, it was an F. It’s that simple. Poor run fits and tackling angles, plus getting off blocks quickly was all but non-existent.
The Knights looked like they had not seen Owl’s offensive scheme. The number of missed run fits is hard to even keep up with, just as an example.
As coach Williams noted, after making adjustments, UCF was fine with run fits. Even before halftime there were players doing better actually. That does not excuse the horrendous tackling during FAU’s two scoring drives and the first quarter overall.
While they were not phenomenal thereafter, again, it’s still a major improvement from what was seen from quarters two, three and four. The play of Jason Johnson was most notable due to his aggressiveness. He made some plays near the line of scrimmage that kept FAU in long-yardage situations.
With Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste not in the lineup, perhaps that hurt the chemistry of the linebackers. Whatever it was, the Knights underperformed here. The effort improved as the game progressed, but the lack of getting off blocks and just being sound with tackling angles hindered the unit so much during that first quarter that it’s hard to forget how the contest began.
Grade: C
Secondary
Try to beat us. That was the mantra of the defensive secondary. For the majority of the game, UCF was using press-man coverage against at least one FAU receiver during most plays. The Knights won those battles far more often than not, and it honestly did not matter if it was Davonte Brown, Brandon Adams, or Corey Thornton that was playing bump coverage on the outside.
They flat out set the tone.
It started with getting hands on the FAU receivers. They redirected routes time and time again. That's the bottom line if you’re going to challenge receivers at the line of scrimmage. It worked and FAU receivers were forced to attempt to make contested catches for the entirety of the game.
Watching UCF’s defensive backs run with FAU, it was obvious that the Knights were simply more athletic. Markedly so.
Hats off to each player that played bump-and-run coverage during the evening, with nickelback/Knight Justin Hodges getting the biggest props for his deflection in the end zone. He undercut the route and defeated the receiver in the process to gain the pass breakup.
The safeties were not challenged much down the field, but they did have some moments where they filled in run support quite well. They also helped to take away the middle of the field passing game from the Owls.
Overall, this was by far UCF’s best unit as they held FAU to 108 passing yards. Job well done. Tackling could have been a little better, but that’s being picky.
Side note: UCF is now No. 7 in the nation in pass defense, allowing just 119.7 yards passing per game.
Grade: A-
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