(Eds: With AP Photos.)
By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Central Florida walked into last week’s matchup with Florida International poised to add another notch to a resume it felt was one more dominant win away from being worthy of a place in the national polls.
A humbling 17-10 setback to upstart Florida International put a halt to those aspirations for now. But there is hardly a falling sky feeling around the program heading into Friday night’s trip to BYU (1-2).
The Knights feel as though a nationally-televised game could be the perfect place to find some redemption.
“Personally I love games like this – all eyes on me, all eyes on us,” UCF defensive tackle Victor Gray said. “We’re gonna get out there and play and prove to the nation that we are the team we were talking about at the beginning of the season and show that last week was just a lapse.”
Lapse or not, in their loss to the Panthers the Knights looked nothing like the team that had outscored their first two opponents 92-3.
After taking an early touchdown lead, UCF imploded thanks to two turnovers that both resulted in FIU scores. It also allowed its offensive leader, sophomore quarterback Jeff Godfrey, to be sacked six times and committed 10 penalties. The Knights were whistled for just nine penalties in their first two games combined.
“I’m more concerned with what we have to improve on than anything else,” UCF coach George O’Leary said. “We’re going to work to get that done. I think when you come in second in a game I think some of your weaknesses are exposed a little bit. That’s your resume that’s out now on film so you have to be careful with what you have to correct there.”
The only hiccup in UCF being able to turn the page is that it will be facing a BYU team coming off back-to-back weeks it would like to forget. The most recent was a particularly nightmarish 54-10 loss to rival Utah, which included the Cougars giving up 47 unanswered points after leading 10-7. They also had six fumbles and just 11 rushing yards in the game.
BYU’s defense has yet to record a sack this season, but has been put into some precarious situations so far. By the time the Cougars’ defense took the field against Utah the offense had already surrendered two fumbles and put the team in a hole on the scoreboard.
It’s why coach Bronco Mendenhall is refusing to put his team’s recent woes on just one unit.
“They are fiercely competitive and have a lot of resolve,” Mendenhall said. “I had zero complaints with how they played other than the long run they gave up in the fourth quarter and the time they gave it up. I think they will continue to play well for a long time. They are supportive of the entire team and there is no place for anything other than support.”
BYU senior cornerback Corby Eason was even confident enough to tell reporters in Utah this week that the Knights’ offense can be subdued just by stopping Godfrey.
“If we stop the quarterback, like, they have no offense,” Eason said.
Considering the number of times FIU was able to sack Godfrey, last week’s outcome somewhat supports the idea. And asked if he were BYU’s coaches if he’d copy the blitz-heavy packages FIU employed against the Knights, O’Leary replied simply “I would.”
It is why UCF offensive lineman Nick Pieschel said the Knights have concentrated on fixing their own house this week. He also said he believes if they can duplicate the rushing success they had in their first two outings, it will go a long way to getting the offense back on track.
“Absolutely, that’s one of our flaws now,” Pieschel said of stopping the blitz. “We weren’t prepared enough and I put that on the seniors … We need to get back (rushing the ball). That’s where we all start from and we let down the team last week, so we’re trying to make sure we’re ready against BYU.”
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