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The Big 12 are in the most sensible place among Power Four football meetups, under none other than the bright lights of Las Vegas, ahead of the biggest and, perhaps, most unpredictable season in recent memory.
The league’s head coaches, dozens of players and commissioner Brett Yormark will speak at press days starting at 1 p. m. UCF coach Gus Malzahn takes the podium Wednesday afternoon, with five Knights players available for interviews after the news conference.
Texas and Oklahoma officially left the Big 12 to go to the SEC on July 1, but Arizona, Arizona state, Colorado and Utah are coming in from Pac-12 to round out the 16-man list. Five of those teams won first-place votes in the league’s preseason media voting last week, with Utah edging out incumbents Kansas State and Oklahoma State for the most sensible spot.
Knights’ most recent game: ESPN prospect 300, continental defensive vision of Christian Hudson UCF’s picks
UCF, on the other hand, lands directly in the middle of the group. The Knights finished 3-6 in the Big 12 last year and 6-7 overall, the first time in Malzahn’s career that his team posted a spendthrift record.
Ahead of the festivities, here are questions UCF will face as we move into the upcoming season.
The four newcomers to the Big 12 have had an eventful first crusade in the league; UCF, thanks to the Thanksgiving weekend win over Houston, the only one to achieve bowl eligibility.
The Knights bounced back from five straight losses in the Big 12 (as well as giving up a 28-point home lead to Baylor and failing a two-point conversion in a disappointed effort in Oklahoma) to close with 3 wins in their last 4Array. they may do so in a crushing 45-3 win over 15th-ranked Oklahoma State, capitalizing on 4 turnovers and destroying Cowboys RJ Harvey’s career-high 206 rushing yards.
The Big 12 opener on Sept. 14 at TCU may set the tone for the season, followed two weeks later by a massive home date against Colorado and a planned nonconference in Florida.
Usually, the most important place in the country in the fast-moving stats branch is reserved for service academies and their triple-choice attacks. But UCF finished fourth last season with 228. 2 yards per game and has one of the most innermost running back teams in the country.
Harvey and Peny Boone, added to the spring trade, surpassed 1,400 rushing yards in 2023, Johnny Richardson is averaging 6. 8 yards in his career consistent with bringing and quarterback KJ Jefferson has rumbled for more than 1,700 yards in 3 years as a starter in Arkansas. Wide receiver Xavier Townsend, a running back turned best in school, gained 163 yards on just 15 carries.
Beating the rock is one of the distinguishing features of the Big 12’s new look; Five of the 11 most sensible floor violations in the country live in the league, as do six of the 19 most sensible individual running backs in school football. In this regard, UCF is perfectly in line with its new competitors.
While UCF has excelled in football, it has struggled to protect itself, with the exception of its aberrant save through Doak Walker winner Ollie Gordon, one of the main reasons Gus Malzahn changed defensive coordinators and brought his friend Ted Roof with him when he arrived here. outside of Oklahoma.
Only 8 FBS allowed more game-consistent rushing yards than UCF did last season (194. 3). Opposing running backs averaged 4. 9 yards consistent with carrying, and the Knights allowed 26 rushing touchdowns.
UCF reorganized its linebackers organization after the start of starters Jason Johnson and Walter Yates. Deshawn Pace (Cincinnati), Ethan Barr (Vanderbilt), Xe’Ree Alexander (Idaho) and Jesiah Pierre (Texas Tech) signed up in January through the move. portal. In addition, the Knights have a full diversity of defensive tackles, led by All-Big 12 honorable mention Lee Hunter, four-year starter Ricky Barber and All-American freshman John Walker.
Jefferson shined in 2021 and 2022 for Arkansas, leading the Razorbacks to 16 wins, adding the Outback Bowl and Liberty Bowl triumphs. But the offensive line crumbled around him last year, and his individual numbers as Arkansas’ win-loss record suffered.
In his prime, Jefferson is an accurate passer (67. 3% in 2021, 68% in 2022) who protects the ball (nine interceptions combined over the two seasons) and lowers his shoulder to move chains and move up an extra size to the running game. . . The 6-foot-3, 247-pound player has also proven to be durable, missing just two games over the past three seasons due to injury.
There are several question marks over the Knights’ offensive line, which will have to update sixth-round pick Tylan Grable and vocal leader Lokahi Pauole. UCF used 4 centers last season and Marcellus Marshall in 3 positions, which says a lot about the consistency of the unit.
But if given time to act, Jefferson will have direct compatibility with Malzahn’s offensive philosophy and potentially motivate UCF to do bigger things this fall.
Coach speeches, clichés and eternal optimism will abound in the press conferences of the 16 groups this week, but will seeds be planted that could lead to a valid rivalry for UCF in this new league?
Of course, Cincinnati and UCF have a lot of history, and the fact that the Knights looted 3 Bearcats from the portal would only further fan the flames. But this year’s schedule introduces a handful of new opponents, adding to the 4 Pac-12 defectors.
Local Fort Myers and Florida state icon Deion Sanders can say just about anything as cameras film Colorado’s trip to Orlando on Sept. 28.
Neal Brown objected to West Virginia ranking last in last year’s preseason media survey; rightly so, as it turned out when the Mountaineers won nine games and gave him a mayonnaise bath to celebrate. UCF is 0-3 all-time heading into November in Morgantown.
Oklahoma State no longer faces the Sooners every year and will have to wait a bit to avenge last year’s Space Game blister, but it will indeed have an imaginable bone to choose from with UCF.
Thuesday
1:00 p. m. — Brett Yormark, Big 12 Conference Commissioner
2 – Sonny, TCU Coach
2:20 p. m. – Chris Klieman, Kansas State Coach
2:40 p. m. — Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati coach
3 – Joey McGuire, Texas Tech Coach
3:20 p. m. — Kyle Whittingham, Utah coach
3:40 p. m. — Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State Coach
4 – Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State Coach
4:20 p. m. — Matt Campbell, Iowa State coach
Wednesday
2 – Deion Sanders, Colorado coach
2:20 p. m. — Kansas coach Lance Leipold
2:40 p. m. — Neal Brown, West Virginia coach
3 – Kalani Sitake, BYU Trainer
3:20 p. m. — Gus Malzahn, UCF coach
3:40 p. m. — Dave Aranda, Baylor coach
4 – Willie Fritz, Houston coach
4:20 p. m. — Brent Brennan, Arizona coach
RJ Harvey: By choosing to return for his final year of eligibility the day before the Gasparilla Bowl, Harvey, an Orlando local, finished last season sixth among running backs in the Football Bowl subdivision (1,416 yards). Harvey named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the most productive running back in school football.
Kobe Hudson: Only 3 receivers have thrown for more yards than Hudson in the 2023 season, one of which his teammate and New England Patriots fourth-round pick Javon Baker. Hudson had 44 passes for 900 yards and 8 touchdowns, highlighted by 3 directly. 100-yard performances in September.
Lee Hunter: The red-jersey junior has become one of the most disruptive defensive tackles in the country, recording 69 tackles, adding 11 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. Hunter, who started all thirteen games, is UCF’s highest-rated defender according to Pro Focus on football (78. 7).
KJ Jefferson: Named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in the preseason media poll, Jefferson committed to UCF on Jan. 1 and has become the team’s star player outside of the move-in portal. Jefferson started 36 times for Arkansas, totaling 7,911 passing yards. , 1,876 rushing yards and 88 touchdowns.
Deshawn Pace: One of the Knights’ three picks from rival Cincinnati, Pace led the Bearcats with tackles in a hybrid linebacker/safety role. In 46 career games, Pace recorded 247 tackles, 251/2 TFL, 3 sacks, six interceptions, 14 passes defensed. , two forced fumbles, 3 fumbles recovered and two blocked kicks.
Utah (20 first-place votes), 906 points
Kansas State (19), 889
Oklahoma State (14), 829
Kansas (5), 772
Arizona (3), 762
Iowa State, 661
West Virginia, 581
UCF, 551
Texas Tech, 532
TCU, 436
Colorado, 400
Baylor, 268
Brigham Young University, 215
Cincinnati, 196
Houston, 157
Arizona State, 141
Offensive Player of the Year: Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State
Defensive Player of the Year: Travis Hunter, Colorado
Revelation of the Year: KJ Jefferson, UCF
OFFENCE
Quarterback: Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
RB: Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma
RB: Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech
FB: Stevo Klotz, State of Iowa
WR: Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona
Subject: Kobe Hudson, UCF
WR: Jayden Higgins, Iowa
WR: Brennan Pressley, Oklahoma
TE: Brant Kuithe, Utah
OL: Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona
OL: Luke Kandra, Cincinnati
OL: Dalton Cooper, State of Oklahoma
OL: Joe Michalski, State of Oklahoma
OL: Wyatt Milum, West Virginia
K: Tyler Loop, Arizona
KR/PR: Drae McCray, Texas Tech
THE DEFENSE
DL: Tyler Batty, BYU
Injured list: Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati
DL: BJ Green II, Colorado
Injured list: Lee Hunter, UCF
Injured list: Junior Tafuna, Utah
LI: Jacob Manu, Arizona
LI: Nick Martin, State of Oklahoma
LB: Collin Oliver, State of Oklahoma
DB: Tacario Davis, Arizona
Database: Travis Hunter, Colorado
DB: Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa
Database: Cobee Bryant, Kansas
Database: Mello Dotson, Kansas
Q: Jack Bouwmeester, Utah
This article appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights Football and Gus Malzahn prepare for the conference’s 12 big press days.