Frost: It’s time for Knights to dial in
You know it’s a new day for the UCF football team when scoring 49 points during a 25-point blowout win over UConn Saturday still isn’t considered playing to “the standard.”
“I just don’t think we’ve put in a complete game together for a while from an offensive, defensive and special teams standpoint,” said second-year UCF coach Scott Frost. “To win these last few games, we’re going to have to be firing on all cylinders in all three phases.”
There are still more levels for the No. 18 Knights to reach despite entering the week as one of four undefeated Football Bowl Subdivision teams and being one of 11 teams in the country with a top-30 scoring offense (No. 1) and defense (No. 29).
UCF is facing a difficult two-game stretch to close the regular season, starting with rising Temple on the road and chippy rival USF at home on Black Friday.
As the national attention grows for UCF each week, Frost said he’s looking for players to be more mentally dialed in. The Owls (5-5 overall, 3-3 AAC East) will push to knock off the Knights (9-0 overall, 6-0 AAC East) and become bowl eligible this weekend.
“There’s a lot of distractions and you’ve got to be able to ignore all of them. Star Wars is coming out in December, the new ‘Call of Duty World War II’ just came out. There’s things happening all over that could get our guys’ attention,” Frost said lightheartedly referring to the increased media attention for the team and his potential future job opportunities. “Our guys are fighting it by showing up and going to work.”
Some of the elements players are fighting this week include the fatigue of a long football season that didn’t offer a true bye week as a result of a hurricane earlier in the season. UCF also has traditionally struggled in the past with cold weather games, with the roster usually loaded with southern kids from areas where 60 degrees is considered chilly.
Freshman running back Otis Anderson said he plans to keep the air conditioner turned down in his room this week to help his body adjust. The weather is supposed to dip into the 40s for UCF’s noon kickoff against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field.
Offensive lineman Wyatt Miller laughed at Anderson’s plan, but added that it was a good idea he unfortunately couldn’t participate in because he has to contribute to a monthly electric bill at his off-campus house.
“I enjoy the cold. The thing about going to school here is you can’t walk to class without sweating and it’s usually 90 degrees,” Miller said. “…I’m not wearing sleeves or anything, I’m just gonna enjoy the cold.”
Despite the end result, UCF hasn’t played its cleanest games in the past four contests, starting with some offensive troubles against Navy. Last Saturday, the Knights were shut out in the third quarter against UConn, making it just the second time this season the nation’s topscoring offense didn’t produce during a quarter.
Frost acknowledged there is minor clean-up work to be done — particularly with penalties and turnovers — but the team is overall in good shape.
“There’s a few little holes, but the ship isn’t sinking here,” he said. “… There’s been a couple of weeks where I thought the offense was lights out, but the defense wasn’t quite up to their standard and vice versa. But it’s going to take all hands on deck and really good performances from everybody to finish this thing off.”