Who Wins the Matchup Between UCF's Front Seven and Cincinnati's Rushing Attack?

Will UCF need to slow down Cincinnati’s rushing attack this Saturday, and it will be a difficult challenge.

Brian Smith | Oct 14, 2021

ORLANDO - The Bearcats running game is good, and the credit often goes to the quarterback and running back. That’s not the group people need to focus on prior to Saturday’s noon kickoff.

The heart of an offensive unit would be the offensive line. Regardless of the offensive scheme that’s installed, the offensive linemen place the quarterback and the skill players in a position to make game-changing plays. That’s exactly what Cincinnati’s offensive line accomplished so far in 2021.

Look at the UCF offensive line as an example. It’s the backbone of the UCF team as a whole. Experience, size, athleticism and character represent that unit, and it’s much the same with Cincinnati.

Here’s what to look for when the Knights line up their front seven against the Bearcats, as well as a specific scenario that UCF must handle much better than it did earlier this season.

Most Important Matchup

For the Knights to be successful, the defensive line must first force the Cincinnati offensive line to focus on them long enough to help free up UCF’s linebacker core. This basic step in football, at least from the way it sounds, actually could dictate the outcome of Saturday’s game. Here’s why.

As an example, UCF inside linebacker Tatum Bethune is coming off a career game, recording 17 career tackles. He’s healthy and ready to roll. One of the reasons Bethune gained success would be the defensive line creating havoc up front for East Carolina.

Tatum Bethune UCF — Tatum Bethune, Linebacker, UCF / Brian Smith, Inside The Knights

The Pirates spent a good deal of time attempting to block players like defensive ends Josh Celiscar and Big Kat Bryant as well as defensive tackles Cam Goode and Kalia Davis along the interior defensive line. Those four, among other defensive lineman for the Knights, helped to make Bethune’s path to the ball carrier more direct. Bethune would then lay his shoulder pads on East Carolina running backs play after play.

With the Cincinnati offensive line being experienced coming into the 2021 season, it will be interesting to see if the Bearcats will be able to reach Bethune before he’s out of reach and on his way to the ball carrier. It’s a really good offensive line, with a combined 25 starts among the starters that were set to begin this season.

Bethune would be just one example. The objective will be for UCF defensive lineman to create plays in the backfield; UCF does not operate a two-gap defensive front. Instead the Knights want to penetrate and make plays behind the original line of scrimmage.

Because of UCF's style of play, Cincinnati’s offensive linemen will need to continue to play assignment football directly in front of them before moving up to the second level with Bethune, Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and Bryson Armstrong.

In the Crosshairs

Speaking of Armstrong, he’s once again in a unique position while being the “Knight” for UCF, which simply means playing the hybrid linebacker position that is often lined up over the slot receiver.

He’s going to be responsible for helping to keep Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder inside the pocket and not making plays on the perimeter. This responsibility would be similar to slowing down Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham, which the Knights quite frankly did not do a good job of accomplishing.

Desmond Ridder scored a rushing touchdown against Notre Dame / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The task of containing Ridder begins with the defensive line, of course, but it’s the linebackers that will oftentimes be needed to actually corral Ridder and bring him to the turf.

If the UCF defense consistently allows Ridder to play on the perimeter with a two-way-go of passing or running, the Bearcats will flat out run the Knights out of Nippert Stadium. Mark that down.

Ridder is a special player. He will make plays, but do not allow him to extend those opportunities by allowing him outside the tackle box where he can run or pass. Here are some interesting statistics related to the offensive line and the Bearcats’ rushing attack this season, Ridder included:

**The Bearcats average 173.4 yards rushing per contest, good for No. 52 in the nation.

**Cincinnati scored 14 rushing touchdowns so far in 2021, including Ridder scoring three on the ground himself.

**The only game in which the Bearcats did not go over 100 yards rushing would be the Notre Dame game, with the Irish holding the Bearcats to 93 total rushing yards.

**At least one of Ridder or running back Jerome Ford scored a rushing touchdown for the Bearcats in every game of the 2021 season thus far.

So far in 2021, UCF’s defense allows 144.8 yards rushing per game, and that includes playing Navy, a triple-option team that runs the football on almost every play. With Cincinnati’s success, there’s also a UCF defensive front that played very well to contain a potent East Carolina rushing attack last Saturday.

**UCF held running back Keaton Mitchell to 17 carries for 65 yards, a 3.8 average, after he came into the contest averaging 9.6 yards per carry. During the first half, Mitchell tallied just 22 rushing yards.

**During the first series of the game, East Carolina moved the football into the red zone, only to see UCF defensive tackle Anthony Montalvo knock the football loose and Celiscar come up with the recovery.

**UCF held East Carolina without a rushing touchdown, the first team to accomplish that feat this season.

Final Thoughts

This will be a fun matchup. UCF does a good job of playing assignment football to bring down runners, and Cincinnati’s offensive line opens up holes for Ford and Ridder.

Something has to give. The winner of this battle holds a major advantage this upcoming Saturday.

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