Official UCF Sports Thread - Basketball: NIT Bid? Football: Spring Practice Underway

[golfreak]

Let me also add that even of UCF loses to Tulane, they still have a pretty good chance at the AAC Championship game.
Here's the scenario.
- If UCF loses to Tulane.
- Tulane need to also beat Cin. With 2 losses each UCF has the tie breaker.
- ECU can beat UCF in a tie breaker but they still have to play Cin and Houston.
- Houston can win out and only have 2 conference losses but UCF would have a better record and hence a better ranking which is the tie breaker if they don't face head to head.
There you go but if UCF loses to Tulane and then win the AAC Championship, it's 3 losses so don't know about NY6 berth.

Man, we really should've won that game against Louisville. Oh well.

Yeah the problem with JRP is when he's good he's really good.
In his stinkers, he's pretty bad. It's like he can't just have a mediocre game.
In Keene 2 games, he's been steady nothing flashy but he gets the job done.
You gotta go with the hot hands right now. If Gus sticks with Keene and we lose, no one will fault him. If he switch to JRP now and UCF loses, Gus is going to hear it.

[UCFJayBird]

Let me also add that even of UCF loses to Tulane, they still have a pretty good chance at the AAC Championship game.
Here's the scenario.
- If UCF loses to Tulane.
- Tulane need to also beat Cin. With 2 losses each UCF has the tie breaker.
- ECU can beat UCF in a tie breaker but they still have to play Cin and Houston.
- Houston can win out and only have 2 conference losses but UCF would have a better record and hence a better ranking which is the tie breaker if they don't face head to head.
There you go but if UCF loses to Tulane and then win the AAC Championship, it's 3 losses so don't know about NY6 berth.

Man, we really should've won that game against Louisville. Oh well.

Yeah the problem with JRP is when he's good he's really good.
In his stinkers, he's pretty bad. It's like he can't just have a mediocre game.
In Keene 2 games, he's been steady nothing flashy but he gets the job done.
You gotta go with the hot hands right now. If Gus sticks with Keene and we lose, no one will fault him. If he switch to JRP now and UCF loses, Gus is going to hear it.

Fair points. I think the thought is right now that Keene will continue to start and JRP will come in for some tricky packages, gimmicks, etc to try and throw off the defense. Probably the best solution if JRP's ego can handle being that role and not take offense to losing the starting role. Could also always say if Keene is struggling, give JRP a series or two to see if he's fairing better.

I always wish coaches were a bit more dynamic and responsive in live games to switching out players or going with the hot hand, but so often they back down to the normal starters (in basketball too) and we're always left wondering if it might've gone differently had he stuck with the hot hand.

[Knightro]

Huge win!

I was skeptical going back to Plumlee, but if Gus is going to actually commit to a gameplan where Plumlee is actually doing designed runs, then he's a great option with his home run ability as a runner.

[dsg2003mach1]

Well take it for sure, really thought that damn roughing the kicker would come back to haunt em… stupid stupid stupid

Hopefully they keep their heads on straight and take care of business these last two games

[UCF]

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[golfreak]

Well take it for sure, really thought that damn roughing the kicker would come back to haunt em… stupid stupid stupid

Hopefully they keep their heads on straight and take care of business these last two games

Yeah, they have no business losing either of the last 2 games.
Even if they do lose one of the last 2 games, they are still in the AAC championship game.
They have the tie breaker vs Tulane/Cin/SMU/Houston. Tulane plays Cin so one of them will have 2 losses and the other 2 already have 2 losses.

[UCFJayBird]

It was a great win for sure. JRP killed it running, but man did he struggle with his passing this week. A lot of easy throws he just missed. The number of times he threw it into a rush defender's arms was frustrating.

Defense played ok except for some dumb penalties. That drive in the 4th was maddening when Tulane got bailed out with two defensive PIs, one of which was absolutely 100% not pass interference, got lucky on a fumble because our guys were trying to scoop instead of fall on it (I get it but damn that sucks), and then that really dumb roughing the kicker penalty.

Has Gus said if that Bowser pass on 4th was a called play? It looked like Tulane was lined up in the neutral zone and Bowser thought it was a free play. The line didn't move. Thankfully they got called for PI (though if he didn't interfere I think JRP catches it anyway). Still curious if they were actually intending to run a play or just trying to draw them offsides from the jump (the balls on Gus if he intended to run a play).

Next two games are super winnable, we'll be heavy favorites for both. Can never take things for granted in college football though. Navy's triple option is always problematic, and USF is a rivalry game so I suspect those players will show up for it. But UCF takes care of business and we're hosting the conference championship in Dec 3rd with the Cotton Bowl on the line.

[dsg2003mach1]

once they started slowing JRP down on his runs and I wouldn't have been mad if they threw Keene in there.

The second PI on that drive was almost as stupid as hitting the kicker, no way the guy was gonna catch that ball and they checked up the receiver anyway. Refs made plenty of dumb calls on both sides.

[Trailbreaker]

I'm certainly not going to take the Navy and USF games for granted that we already have them won. Looking back on that ECU game is reason enough for me to be cautiously optimistic. Things are definitely looking good so far!

[Knightro]

Has Gus said if that Bowser pass on 4th was a called play? It looked like Tulane was lined up in the neutral zone and Bowser thought it was a free play. The line didn't move. Thankfully they got called for PI (though if he didn't interfere I think JRP catches it anyway). Still curious if they were actually intending to run a play or just trying to draw them offsides from the jump (the balls on Gus if he intended to run a play).

The plan was 100% to run a play and it would have been a direct snap to Bowser for a run up the middle.

However... if the defense jumped offsides, the center is instructed to snap the ball and one of Bowser's options when he has a free play is to chuck it deep to JRP.

The problem was that the referees did not rule the Tulane defender was offsides so it wasn't actually a free play

[dsg2003mach1]

I'm certainly not going to take the Navy and USF games for granted that we already have them won. Looking back on that ECU game is reason enough for me to be cautiously optimistic. Things are definitely looking good so far!

makes me feel better Cinci barely snuck past them

[UCFJayBird]

Has Gus said if that Bowser pass on 4th was a called play? It looked like Tulane was lined up in the neutral zone and Bowser thought it was a free play. The line didn't move. Thankfully they got called for PI (though if he didn't interfere I think JRP catches it anyway). Still curious if they were actually intending to run a play or just trying to draw them offsides from the jump (the balls on Gus if he intended to run a play).

The plan was 100% to run a play and it would have been a direct snap to Bowser for a run up the middle.

However... if the defense jumped offsides, the center is instructed to snap the ball and one of Bowser's options when he has a free play is to chuck it deep to JRP.

The problem was that the referees did not rule the Tulane defender was offsides so it wasn't actually a free play

Have we had confirmation that it was a called play though and they weren't just trying to draw them offsides from the beginning? Gus tries to get the defense to jump on offsides on 4th down a lot. Just seems like a pretty ballsy (crazy, let's be honest) call to make with where we were on the field with a lead.

I think the outcome is clear, the center thought the defender came offsides and snapped the ball and Bowser and JRP ran the free play route. Just curious if we've gotten confirmation from Gus himself it was a called run.

[Knightro]

Have we had confirmation that it was a called play though and they weren't just trying to draw them offsides from the beginning? Gus tries to get the defense to jump on offsides on 4th down a lot. Just seems like a pretty ballsy (crazy, let's be honest) call to make with where we were on the field with a lead.

I think the outcome is clear, the center thought the defender came offsides and snapped the ball and Bowser and JRP ran the free play route. Just curious if we've gotten confirmation from Gus himself it was a called run.

No confirmation. In fact Gus and the players all seemed a bit sheepish about what the actual play was when asked.

I think it actually benefits UCF for opponents to think it was a planned play. Just gives everyone one more thing to consider in a similar situation.

[UCFJayBird]

Have we had confirmation that it was a called play though and they weren't just trying to draw them offsides from the beginning? Gus tries to get the defense to jump on offsides on 4th down a lot. Just seems like a pretty ballsy (crazy, let's be honest) call to make with where we were on the field with a lead.

I think the outcome is clear, the center thought the defender came offsides and snapped the ball and Bowser and JRP ran the free play route. Just curious if we've gotten confirmation from Gus himself it was a called run.

No confirmation. In fact Gus and the players all seemed a bit sheepish about what the actual play was when asked.

I think it actually benefits UCF for opponents to think it was a planned play. Just gives everyone one more thing to consider in a similar situation.

True. Probably best to be cagey and let people wonder if you have the stones to make such a call next time, haha.

[golfreak]

UCF really could have easily blown Tulane out but they kept letting them back in the game.
Best example, leading 24-7, they sacked the QB and caused a fumble. Instead on pouncing on the ball, UCF tried to run with it.
Even after that, missed FG but roughing the kicker. Before that same drive 3rd and 8 and pass incomplete but PI.
They gave Tulane 3 separate chances on that same drive to score and get back in the game.
Imagine getting the ball back leading 24-7, any type of score would have deflate Tulane.

[dsg2003mach1]

UCF really could have easily blown Tulane out but they kept letting them back in the game.
Best example, leading 24-7, they sacked the QB and caused a fumble. Instead on pouncing on the ball, UCF tried to run with it.
Even after that, missed FG but roughing the kicker. Before that same drive 3rd and 8 and pass incomplete but PI.
They gave Tulane 3 separate chances on that same drive to score and get back in the game.
Imagine getting the ball back leading 24-7, any type of score would have deflate Tulane.

agreed.... the PI calls on that drive were sketchy at best but just like that roughing the kicker there was no reason to even make that contact and give them the opportunity. To stop that drive and even just put up a field goal would have changed the tone. They've killed their own momentum and/or lost games a couple times by giving the other team a score off of brain dead penalties. Don't get me wrong, they've definitely cut it down from the start of the season but the ones they've had were still pretty severe

That QB fumble, I think the guy that hit him didn't know he had knocked it loose

[MagicFan101]

Is UCF really about to lose to 3-7 Navy? *smh*

[dsg2003mach1]

17-14 not much better

Didn’t get to watch the second half but seems I’m better off

[Knightro]

Gus is pathetic.

[UCFJayBird]

Yea i'm not sure who to blame more, the offensive line who couldn't protect Mikey in the second half and effectively killed several drives, or Gus for his play calling. I'm leaning the line to be honest, they had a really bad game. But it didn't help that JRP couldn't hit anyone in the first half and then outside that first drive for Mikey he couldn't get any protection.

Really sour taste since I drove up for the game the night before and had to drive 4 hours home after it, lol.

On the positive side, really good chance to still get into the title game. It's complicated because if Houston beats Tulsa this weekend it'll come down to either the CFP rankings or some computer models, but i would think UCF has a good chance of getting in with the win. And then honestly if we managed to win on the road in the AAC title game, we'd still have a great shot at the Cotton Bowl because I don't know if any other G5 team is going to appear on the CFP rankings, and I don't think they'll be ranked ahead of UCF if UCF has a third Top 25 win (the other G5 teams that might be considered don't have any Top 25 wins as far as i can tell).

But right now the team needs to just be focused on USF and beating them. If we lose to a USF team that has like 1 FBS win in 3 years i'll lose my mind, lol (fake laugh, real pain).