10 Pregame Questions: Navy at UCF
It’s going to be a beautiful day on the campus of the UCF Knights. Temperatures in the 70s and the sun will be out for much of the day. When they take on the Navy Midshipmen at 11 a.m., there are a few items that should be mentioned.
The Knights need to win in the following categories.
1) Does UCF come out with natural energy? In short, Do the Knights play fast from the opening kickoff, or do they need something bad to happen to get charged up?
2) Can UCF’s offensive skill-position speed dominate in space, i.e. jet sweeps and reverses to players like Johnny Richardson and Ryan O’Keefe, screens to Kobe Hudson and Javon Baker, etc.?
3) Can the Knights finally hit a huge punt return? They have been close. Perhaps that house call happen today.
4) Will Navy’s blitzing and aggressive defense cause UCF assignment issues? For Navy to win, it must cause havoc in UCF’s backfield.
5) When the Knights lose yardage from a blitz, how does the offense react immediately afterwards? In other words, are they surprised that the Midshipmen can truly make some plays (and in fact they absolutely can) and play shell shocked, or do they just move on to the next snap and execute?
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6) Does quarterback John Rhys Plumlee come out throwing because the wide receivers and tight ends possess a size and speed advantage, or does the play calling dictate to Navy by drawing them closer to the line of scrimmage first with the power run game, and then going play-action over the top?
7) To the point above, tight end Kemore Gamble has just seven catches for 118 yards and a score this year. He has a huge advantage over Navy’s linebackers today. Will he be more involved with the passing game, whether it is via the run-pass option with Plumlee, deep seam patterns, near the goal line (an extra advantage with his athleticism), or from any other type of route or concept?
The last three questions are all about the UCF defense, and arguably the most important.
8) Does the UCF defense need to commit an extra defender to the box to slow down Navy fullback Daba Fofana? He’s their workhorse. If the Knights can slow down Fofana without over committing, it’s going to be hard for the Midshipmen to consistently move the football and score points.
9) Will the inside linebackers for the Knights have a feel for taking the fullback when needed, as well as flowing to the perimeter during true option plays (this is honestly very difficult)?
10) How well does UCF’s red zone defense perform? Considering the following: The UCF defense that’s ranked No. 1 in red zone scoring with teams converting at a 65.9% clip, as well as being No. 3 in the nation by allowing only 39% of drives into the red zone resulting in a touchdown, goes against an offense that is built to score in the red zone. That would be Navy’s triple-option. This category is pivotal today.
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