(Photo by Adrian J. Hernandez / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Central Florida will take a break from American Athletic Conference play this weekend when the Knights take on FCS Austin Peay State University on Saturday.
Coming off their closest game of the season—a 31-21 road decision over the Navy Midshipmen—the No. 18 Knights (6-0, 4-0 in AAC) will look to avoid an upset defeat during what was supposed to be a bye week.
In Austin Peay, the Knights will face their first FCS team this season, as they were originally supposed to play the Maine Black Bears in Week 5; however, Hurricane Irma’s impact forced the Knights to cancel two games and reschedule another, giving the Knights’ a 10-game 2017 season before the scheduling of the Governors.
Coming into Orlando, the Governors (5-3, 4-1 in Ohio Valley Conference) look to interrupt UCF’s perfect season and a team that ranks No. 1 in scoring offense in the FBS.
Here is what to look for when the Governors visit Spectrum Stadium.
Will Healy Has Turned the Team Around in His Second Season
In December 2015, Will Healy was announced as head coach of Austin Peay. Healy transferred from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he spent seven seasons as an assistant. In Healy’s first season, the team went 0-11. However, this season, Healy has helped breathe life into the program partially because of his recruiting classes.
In 2016, Austin Peay had the No. 28 FCS recruiting class and, in 2017, the No. 44 FCS recruiting classes, according to HeroSports.com. At five wins this season, Austin Peay is one win away from tying its win total from all seasons between 2011 and 2016.
“Any shutout be a confidence in the defense. You know, that’s a big step as a defense,” UCF linebacker Chequan Burkett said after practice on Oct. 23. “They have scholarship athletes just as we do, so getting a shutout on them would be big, and it would definitely give us a platform to go from going into [Southern Methodist University] week.”
UCF is Austin Peay’s 3rd FBS Opponent
Austin Peay opened its season with back-to-back games against FBS programs, including a season-opening defeat to another AAC team. In Week 1, Austin Peay played the University of Cincinnati in a tightly contested game that saw the Bearcats win 26-14. In that game, Austin Peay outgained Cincinnati in total yards 313-248. The Governors ran for 224 yards and held the ball for 15:22 longer than the Bearcats. Ultimately, Austin Peay’s two turnovers to Cincinnati’s zero was the Governors’ undoing.
The second FBS game was against Miami University. Again, the Governors matched up well in total yards, only gaining 13 less than the RedHawks, but the score was not nearly as close, as Austin Peay lost 31-10.
“We never put more emphasis on one game than any other. And that works for us in big games, that works for us in other games,” second-year Knights head coach Scott Frost said at the team’s game-week presser on Oct. 23. “This is a big game for us. Any time you’ve accomplished what we’ve accomplished to this point, the last thing in the world you wanna do is have any kind of letdown.
“This is a team that I think is a really good FCS team. They gave Cincinnati everything that Cincinnati wanted early in the year. We gotta approach this just like any other game, and that’s the way our kids showed up to go to practice today. So, we need to beat our best. And I told the guys a bunch of times, ‘Every time that we go out on the field, we need to make sure that the opponent gets our best shot.’ And we’re gonna prepare in order to give ‘em our best shot.”
Austin Peay Has an FCS Middling Offense
This season, Austin Peay’s offense has been middle-of-the-road. Austin Peay has games where it only musters seven or 14 points while also having 69- and 38-point performances. Out of 123 FCS teams, the Governors rank 65th in total yards per game this season, gaining 365.8 per game, and 61st in points per game, scoring 25 per contest.
The Governors struggle more in the passing game than in the running game. Austin Peay has the ninth-ranked rushing attack in the FCS, gaining 246.8 yards per game. Through the air, Austin Peay is averaging 119 passing yards per game, ranking 118th in the FCS. Despite the lowly passing numbers, Frost is impressed with how diverse the Governors’ offense is.
“[Austin Peay] is a good team,” Frost said. “I think they’re really multiple, which makes ‘em difficult. They run more formations, personnel groups and plays than I think we have in our whole offense this year.”
Defense Sets the Tone for Governors
While Austin Peay might possess an average offense, the Governors’ defense ranks near the top of the FCS. So far this season, Austin Peay has allowed 296.4 yards per game, ranking 14th. Ranking at No. 26, the Governors also only allow just 19.9 points per game. The Governors’ defense even has something this year that the UCF defense does not: a shutout. Against the University of Tennessee at Martin, Austin Peay forced three turnovers and held UT Martin to 291 yards.
Part of Austin Peay’s defensive success derives from its pass rush. The Governors rank 53rd in the FCS with 17 sacks this season and are led by sophomore defensive end Jaison Williams with 7.5 sacks this year. Williams is tied for 10th in the FCS for most sacks.
“Defensively, they get a lot of guys up close to the line of scrimmage, make it hard on you to run, give you a lot of different looks, bring pressure,” Frost said. “Really impressed with a couple of their edge rushers that are active players and very productive.”
FCS Teams Have 6 Wins Over the FBS This Season
Six FCS teams have found victories over FBS opponents so far this season. The combined record of FCS schools against FBS schools this year is 6-80. Of the six wins, five came against Group of Five teams. The sixth FCS win over an FBS school came when the AAC’s East Carolina University fell to James Madison University to open the season.
Including its two losses this season, since 2010, Austin Peay is 0-16 against FBS schools. Since joining the FBS in 1996, UCF’s record against FCS and Division 1-AA teams is 21-1. The one loss came in 2015 against Furman University during UCF’s winless 2015 campaign. UCF last played an FCS school in the 2016 opener, wherein the Knights won 38-0 over visiting South Carolina State University.
“I mean, we just gotta go out there and prepare. We gotta prepare for this week like any other week,” offensive lineman Chavis Dickey said at the team’s game-week presser on Oct. 22. “We gotta watch film. We gotta go out there attack practice every day and just stay focused and don’t let nobody from the outside tell us, like, ‘Oh, this game is gonna be easy,’ and this and that. We just gotta go prepare.”
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UCF and Austin Peay kick off at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
For more on the Knights, as they look to avoid a letdown loss against Austin Peay, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
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