Gator Knowledge expands its coverage

First of all, if you actually watched the game, rather than the 38-7 final score, you would realize we struggled with Arkansas quite a bit before wearing them down. We have problems: LSU will be a game.

But I am not hear to review the Gators; I do not believe TV angles show you enough. But I did attend a game. I drove 2 hours south to see the University of Central Florida play Southern Methodist University.

I have seen the other side of the mountain and it is bad. I will not say it was high school level, but you forget how many bad Division I teams there are because with 117 teams there are always good games on. SMU has a few quick ball carriers (RB and WRs), but their run-n-shoot offense produced about 2 yards after the catch (more on that later).

UCF analysis: We will keep this brief because I know I am the only one this crazy.

UCF’s offense is pretty solid on the ground. They lost their stud “24K” (Props: good nickname), Kevin Smith who almost set the NCAA single season rushing record last year, but walk-on freshman Ronnie Weaver (35) did well. He is good a dodging tacklers, but has some speed and power too. The OL was not great, but moved the Mustang’s DL and gave their QBs time on the few occasions (17) they passed. The receivers showed me nothing, but supposedly their best two are banged up.

Of course for any team you have to analyze their quarterbacks. UCF is have an alleged controversy between nominal starter junior Michael Greco (2) and true freshman Rob Calabrese (4) (from Long Island, same school as Boomer Esiason. Who but Gator Knowledge gives you that level of insight?). Calabrese is the fan favorite, at least I guess I think so. He started the game because Greco was supposedly hurt, but then the junior played the whole second half. Greco a better runner; Calabrese looks tentative as a runner, even on called runs. Greco has an awkward throwing motion. I am unable to describe it, but his torso jerks forward. On the other hand his passes flew better. It is tough to judge though because all off Calabrese’s throws where short (he was 5 of 9 for 32 yards) while Greco aired it out off play action. I dunno, you be the judge.

The defense was better than their offense. They got 4 turnovers, 4 sacks, and rebounded well from a tough start (they were on the field for 12 minutes in the first quarter and fell behind 10-3. Oh by the way UCF won 31-17 and generally were in charge as much as anyone was for most of this listless game). None of this was thanks to their linebackers who did nothing. I did not notice them at all; looking at their online roster I am unable even remember who was out there. Their DL was better, getting a little pressure and not really letting SMU get any running lanes. They were also the only guys on the whole team to interact with the fans. DE Jarvis Geathers (99) was their best guy, but I do not think he starts (internet says he is 215lbs). They have a pair of good DTs in Torrell Troup (98) and Travis Timmons (95) who are wide run stoppers, but got some penetration on passing downs too. The secondary is solid, but not spectacular. They are as a whole good tacklers and made a few good plays on passes (I remember thinking 35 was good, but ESPN has no 35 on their roster). On one play their safety bit on a short route and gave up a 94 yard bomb which brought SMU back into the game in the 4th.

UCF’s best player is their punter (remember the name Blake Clingan (41) on Sundays in a few years) , and he really is great – everyone was huge high. In general their special teams are good. Especially on punt returns, which was the only time there was any buzz in the stands. CB Joe Burnett (19) broke a few nice returns and I gather that is expected. He is a hell of a risk taker though.

In terms of coaching they were uninspired. There was very little variety to their play calling. I do not think they blitzed even once (and early on especially their QB had time). On offense they just ran Weaver all the time (he carried on about 45% of their plays. Literally 45%). Quite simply I think they do not trust their talent and so play conservative so their defense can carry them. This is not popular. To give them credit they stayed with the run until it worked, rode it for a while, and then passed a bit when the defense was tired and not ready for it (which worked well). And they rolled the dice going for it on fourth and short deep in SMU territory when only up by seven late in the third quarter (good defenses let you do that)

The Golden Knights’ fans are led by their mascot. His name: Knightro. I could not make that up. Perhaps because of that the fans act as though they are watching American Gladiators. I have no affiliation with UCF, but I was the loudest cheerer. Often I was the only one. Even on third downs when they were holding on to a slim lead it was quite. I heard many excuses about lack of tradition, how bad the team was (this win got them to 2-3) especially compared to last year, that it was a listless crowd for a minor game and they are louder at other times (maybe in games where they fill up more than 70% of seats even though the local paper says less than a thousand tickets went unsold), but bottom line is they are not good fans. I got no sense they realized a vocal crowd can pump its team. There are also some pretty unrealistic expectations. They won Conference USA last year FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER (only won a division for the first time in 2005), but now, with a bunch of seniors gone, they are struggling. They are not in a BCS conference. It takes time: in the last three years they have been to their only two bowls (been Division I since 1996) and they went winless are recently as 2004. There is only a certainly level they are going to get to anytime soon. Admittedly I was opposite the student section, but that was pretty empty and pretty quiet. A student told me he was yelled at in the student section for NOT yelling on offense to support the team. Good thing that was not me. Maybe they were inspired by the band, which sent their horns in little groups (tubas, trombones, etc) around the stadium with cheerleaders and rally captains to play for sections to get them cheering when they had the ball. My kingdom for one football savvy band director.

I don’t want to imply they aren’t trying. They played the ultimate sports pump song – which I learned is called “Zombie Nation” (or possibly Kernkraft 400) – at least half a dozen times (which is a good way to make it not feel special at all). They also have this cute little back and forth chant: “Gold” and “Black.” Whenever they get a first down the announcer comes on and says something to the equivalent of “that pass was good for six yards, good for a UCF first down” and everyone says “first down!” along with him and makes the first down motion in the direction the team is driving (hey – coordination!). It sure is cunning: reminds me of smiles, sunshine, and little puppies. The bitter student fan I was sitting with explained they have this celebration because for them a first down is as important as a TD is for UF (last time I saw people so excited for a first down was at a Baltimore Ravens game during the Kyle Boller years). When they kickoff the crowd chats “U! C! F! Knights!” which I admit isn’t bad (as an aside – why do we say “woosh?”). Easily their best technique is playing a somber church bell ring three times before third down to try to start some noise.

The stadium is nothing special. It is smaller than UF and prices are cheaper. The lower bowl is fenced off from the upper bowl; I am not a fan of segregating fans. The one advantage they have is that the stands are aluminum, not concrete, thus when you stomp your feet it reverberates in a big way. The stadium is ready to be deafening if some real fans ever so up.

I will give some credit: UCF’s campus is nicer than ours. They have less concrete block bunkers from the seventies. It just seems more modern. It also is more corporate; they have actually made of those little faux villages on their campus. Spitting distance from the stadium is basically the Haile Plantation village center (with apartments).