Trends: SMU Mustangs Defense vs UCF Knights Offense
Some college football teams just want to be aggressive with their defense. That can come at a heavy price, however.
The SMU Mustangs are in fact an aggressive defense, and that could play into the hands of the UCF Knights when these two teams meet on Oct. 5.
Here’s what has been learned about SMU’s defense, and how UCF must attack it, including two pivotal points to ponder.
SMU’s Defense Made Plays, But…
The Mustangs produced nine tackles for loss against No. 17 TCU, the same team that just obliterated Oklahoma 55-24. TCU has shown its offensive line can do damage. In fact, the Horned Frogs have rushed for at least 180 yards in all four games they played, including a whopping 361 against the Sooners.
Those dominant rushing totals came one week after SMU created the aforementioned nine tackles for loss against TCU. That brings us to the first pivotal point. Even with those plays behind the line of scrimmage, the Mustangs were also gouged for 191 yards, 5.5 yards per carry, and three touchdowns on the ground by the Horned Frogs.
SMU is a bit of a feast or famine with its run defense. Overall, it’s earned a ranking of No. 105 after allowing 180.5 yards per game on the ground. Even if UCF suffers some lost yardage plays early in the ball game, the Knights need to stay true to running the football. There are big plays that will eventually come.
During the last game against Georgia Tech, John Rhys Plumlee had a 28-yard run, while Johnny Richardson and RJ Harvey each produced runs of 15 yards. From a reverse, wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe also produced a 10-yard run.
Look for the Knights to rip off a couple of 30-plus yard runs against the Mustangs on Wednesday evening.
When the Knights Go to the Air
SMU’s pass defense has been absolutely carved up by the two Power 5 programs it faced this season. Maryland and TCU combined for 510 yards passing, 9.6 yards per attempt, five touchdowns, and a staggering 75.5% completion rate.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Against quality teams, SMU has failed to slow down the opposition’s passing attacks. Now, any UCF fan knows that UCF’s own passing attack has been up and down. That’s why this matchup is intriguing.
Will UCF wide receivers not named Javon Baker step up and consistently make plays? O’Keefe should be back to health, but the Knights need other receivers besides him and Baker to make more plays after the football is in their hands. That leads to the second pivotal point.
Against Georgia Tech, there was not one receiver that produced a reception of 10 or more yards. Not one! That’s a problem across the board – coaching, quarterback, receivers and protection – that must be corrected prior to the SMU contest.
With what is expected to be a close game, the ability for UCF to create big plays to the wide receivers could be the difference in which team goes home with a victory.
There were dropped passes against Georgia Tech that simply cannot happen. That’s for sure. Beyond that, the Knights had plenty to work on after the game against the Yellow Jackets.
Whether it’s running better routes, Plumlee being more accurate, coming up with a few different plays, perhaps different formations, or something else, the Knights must consistently be able to throw down the field to the wide receivers. Otherwise, SMU is going to stack the line of scrimmage to stop the run while daring UCF to pass the football.
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