I spoke with Brandon Helwig who runs our UCF site and here is what he had to say and early thoughts on the team going in the spring:
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I'd say every year since 2017 the expectation has been to win or compete for a conference championship. That's obviously going to be a little different this year. I think the realistic goal is trying to get bowl eligible.
Offense is a question mark. QB John Rhys Plumlee can run like the wind (when he's healthy) but his passing ability is questionable. Some wonder if the new OC (Darin Hinshaw) may have other ideas because he will definitely want to throw down the field more.
Gus Malzahn recently handed over the offense to Hinshaw. The only QB that could potentially compete with Plumlee is Timmy McClain, a transfer from South Florida that sat out this past year. Depending how spring goes, they could see what portal QBs are available later on.
RB and WR talent is solid. OL is loading up on transfers, so you never know how that's going to go.
The defense collapsed late this past season and several guys hit the portal. UCF is also loading up on portal. New DC too (Addison Williams). UCF may still need portal help at LB (a guy they thought they had but went to Arkansas). Also, the starting nickel just got arrested for home invasion. UCF's DE depth was non-existent last year, one of the starters played every snap in multiple games (that's unheard of for DL).
Big 12 won't have any cakewalk games. I do think UCF is in better shape than Cincinnati and Houston though in terms of being more competitive right off the bat, but we'll see.
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My Take: When the schedule first came out, I was still hoping for a Houston home game although I heard that wasn’t likely this year. Or I would have taken West Virginia at home or Baylor. They beat West Virginia last year so I don’t mind those odds.
But I will gladly take Central Florida as a home game. They will have athletes and I watched Plumlee at times, and he can be tough to defend with his legs.
This is a game where KU should be every bit as good and playing at home my early pick is the Jayhawks.
KU 31
UCF 24
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I'd say every year since 2017 the expectation has been to win or compete for a conference championship. That's obviously going to be a little different this year. I think the realistic goal is trying to get bowl eligible.
Offense is a question mark. QB John Rhys Plumlee can run like the wind (when he's healthy) but his passing ability is questionable. Some wonder if the new OC (Darin Hinshaw) may have other ideas because he will definitely want to throw down the field more.
Gus Malzahn recently handed over the offense to Hinshaw. The only QB that could potentially compete with Plumlee is Timmy McClain, a transfer from South Florida that sat out this past year. Depending how spring goes, they could see what portal QBs are available later on.
RB and WR talent is solid. OL is loading up on transfers, so you never know how that's going to go.
The defense collapsed late this past season and several guys hit the portal. UCF is also loading up on portal. New DC too (Addison Williams). UCF may still need portal help at LB (a guy they thought they had but went to Arkansas). Also, the starting nickel just got arrested for home invasion. UCF's DE depth was non-existent last year, one of the starters played every snap in multiple games (that's unheard of for DL).
Big 12 won't have any cakewalk games. I do think UCF is in better shape than Cincinnati and Houston though in terms of being more competitive right off the bat, but we'll see.
----------------
My Take: When the schedule first came out, I was still hoping for a Houston home game although I heard that wasn’t likely this year. Or I would have taken West Virginia at home or Baylor. They beat West Virginia last year so I don’t mind those odds.
But I will gladly take Central Florida as a home game. They will have athletes and I watched Plumlee at times, and he can be tough to defend with his legs.
This is a game where KU should be every bit as good and playing at home my early pick is the Jayhawks.
KU 31
UCF 24
