How Will UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn Call Thursday Night's Game Against Boise State?

Throughout his career, Coach Malzahn has proven he will call a fairly balanced game between running and passing, while leaning towards the running game just a little bit. Now that he has a signal caller like Dillon Gabriel, will that still be the case?

Brian Smith | Aug 30, 2021

How Will UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn Call Thursday Night's Game Against Boise State? /

UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn has found different ways to run the football prior to coming to Orlando. Inside zone, option, and gap schemes have all been used to run the football. However, with Dillon Gabriel now running the show behind center, Coach Malzahn will be afforded a unique passer that’s very accurate, especially with the deep ball. This factor could alter Coach Malzahn’s game plans.

In 2020, his Auburn team passed the football 453 times while running the football 550 times. Now with a quarterback that’s really accurate, what will the 2021 totals look like? That tale will begin to unfold as Boise State comes to the Bounce House on Sep. 2.

Power Football Will Not Go Away

Even with Gabriel, look for Coach Malzahn to attempt to establish the running game. It’s his mentality, it’s his bread and butter. When looking at the wins and loses from Auburn in 2019, a definitive trend was established. When the Tigers won the game, the rushing attack thrived. During losses, the Tigers struggled to run the football.

**From the 12 regular season games Auburn played in 2019, Auburn won nine games and averaged 221.9 yards rushing per game.

**From the three losses, the Tigers averaged 112.7 yards per game.

**In 2020, Auburn averaged 125.0 yards per game on the ground during losses, and that statistic includes a rare game of 209 yards rushing when the Tigers played at South Carolina. The bigger culprit for the loss in that game would be three interceptions, as South Carolina won the turnover battle three to one.

From those statistics, it’s obvious that Coach Malzahn’s offense operates best when the rushing attack thrives. Now, can the UCF offense find the combination of running and passing that complement Coach Malzahn’s history as an offensive play caller while also utilizing the skills of Gabriel? The Knights will be challenged against a quality defensive team in Boise State.

Balance Will Be Needed

The objective continues to be getting the football across the goal line. Whether running or passing, score touchdowns. As Coach Malzahn learns more and more about his team, there will be games where he might rely more heavily on the rushing attack or more heavily on Gabriel. That’s partly a feel for the next team on the slate, as well as watching film of the opponent's strengths and weaknesses; Boise State will not be an exception.

The Knights will need to find a way to set up play-action passing, something that Gabriel thrives at doing. The obvious must happen for Gabriel to operate at a high efficiency level with play-action passes, and that’s pounding the football between the tackles.

Dillon Gabriel, Quarterback, UCF — Few college quarterbacks compare with Dillon Gabriel's ability to throw the bomb off play-action / Brian Smith, Inside The Knights

Even then, however, look for Coach Malzahn to be creative with his play calling to find opportunities to run the football. It’s not just about inside zone or gap schemes to gain rushing yardage.

There are several good running backs on the UCF roster, and there’s the ability to give the controls to Gabriel during run-pass option plays where the heady quarterback has already proven he will get the Knights into the best play call. Once on the perimeter, Gabriel can also take off and run. He accounted for a mere 169 yards rushing (sacks count against rushing totals in college football) and two touchdowns last season, but look for Gabriel’s rushing totals to increase in 2021.

Final Thoughts

There will be a portion of the first quarter where UCF’s offense feels out what Boise State can be capable of doing, as well as seeing their schemes. That aside, it’s inevitable that the Knights will want to run the football, albeit an overall balanced approach.

With Gabriel at quarterback, the ball will certainly be in the air and headed for playmakers like Ryan O’Keefe and Jaylon Robinson as well. When and how the Knights throw the football will be quite interesting because of how little is known about Boise State’s 2021 defensive approach.

Can speedster Ryan O'Keefe get over the top of the Boise State defense? / UCF Athletics

Projection: Look for UCF to throw a bomb rather early in the game to test the deep secondary of Boise State. The Knights possess a really fast wide receiver corps, and the ability of Gabriel to drop deep passes right into the hands of his receivers has been proven over the course of the past two seasons.

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