(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – When University of Central Florida defensive coordinator Erik Chinander left his office to go get his defense on the team bus, an unscheduled gathering of players in a meeting room caught his attention. The defense was having a players-only meeting, wherein Chinander heard his defense going over calls for the then-upcoming game against the University of Maryland. That sort of self-responsibility by the players led to a dominating, 38-10 victory over the Terps in just the Knights’ second game of 2017.
For redshirt junior Joey Connors and his fellow defensive linemen, that kind of extra work and preparation helped UCF’s defense call out Maryland’s plays at a studied signal’s notice.
“Yeah, we knew certain formations they were gonna do—certain things,” Connors told the New Day Review after practice on Sept. 26. “And whenever the tight end was in a certain place or running aback was in a certain place, we knew what was coming. So, definitely, the coaches had us really well prepared for this game going into it.”
Entering Week 4, Maryland was led by an explosive rushing attack that averaged 315 yards per game on the ground. UCF did not let that number intimidate them, however, as the Knights held the Terrapins to 42 yards rushing on 37 attempts. UCF defensive line coach Mike Dawson said his group’s top priority is to shut down the run game.
“You gotta take what the teams give you. I mean, our No. 1 goal is always stop the run,” Dawson told the New Day Review after practice on Sept. 26. “We gotta stop the other team from running the ball, and I think that’s probably universal throughout the game of football. But, for us, we gotta do a good job of stopping their run plays, and then, when pass comes, we gotta convert to pass-rush mode, then we gotta try to get after the quarterback.”
UCF head coach Scott Frost noticed the Knights’ off-the-field efforts paid off. In addition to helping nullify a potent rushing attack, UCF’s D-line also helped keep Maryland’s passing game in check, as the Terps only threw for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
“Yeah, I think [the D-line] showed up Saturday,” Frost said at the team’s game-week presser on Sept. 25. “Our D-line played well. Really, they were a team that came in averaging a lot of yards per rush and a lot of yards rushing going into the game. I think they had 42 yards. That speaks to our pursuit to the football, but it also speaks to the guys up front. We rolled a lot of guys in there and got a lot of production from a bunch of guys.”
The Knights’ defense did use a number of defensive linemen against Maryland; Dawson said the team used nine linemen against Maryland. Using that many linemen for a defense that switches between three down linemen and four was for two reasons: First, to keep players fresh, and, second, to encourage competition.
“I think it’s something that’s gonna breed more competition,” Dawson said. “There’s always a guy ready to step in and get more reps, and they’re all fighting for the same reps throughout the course of a game on Saturday. So, I think that’s one thing that’s great.”
The depth of the line showed in a game where the defensive line accounted for four sacks and six tackles for loss. Jamiyus Pittman led the group with two sacks and two tackles for loss, and Tony Guerad and Josh Odigie each had one sack and two tackles for loss each. Defensive leader and linebacker Shaquem Griffin knows a thing or two about sacks, as he recorded a conference-high 11.5 sacks last season.
“I think that it was pretty good that our D-line understood what was the situation that we was in, and they know me being on each side, they gonna slide the protection to where I’m at, which gonna create double teams on me and one-on-ones for most our D-linemen,” Griffin said at the team’s game-week presser on Sept. 25. “And, you know, it’s kinda cool when you can see the other guys, you know, making plays, and you can feel that we working together.”
UCF’s defensive line and the rest of the Knights now shift their focus to beating the University of Memphis, as the Knights take on the Tigers on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Spectrum Stadium.
For more on the Knights, as they look to their first conference opponent in Memphis, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
