Knights are fired up for scrimmage

UCF will take part in its first full scrimmage since spring today. While the Knights have been through nearly a dozen preseason practices, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander is eager to see his players’ development.

“We’ve already seen great communication. We’ve already seen great effort. Can that carry over to a game-type situation? And can we tackle?” Chinander said Monday when asked about his expectations heading into the scrimmage. “That’s the big thing as a defensive coach that you always want to see in that first scrimmage. You might think that your defense is awesome and then you go out in the first scrimmage and you can’t tackle anybody. We’ve got some work to do.

“Maybe [today] we’ll be pleasantly surprised and maybe we won’t be.”

Offensive coordinator Troy Walters believes is much better than it was a year ago.

“I’m very excited about our progress. We’ve come a long way,” he said Monday. “The guys are picking up the things we’re throwing at them.”

Walters credits the defense for offensive development.

“We may go over something in our game plan and our playbook versus one coverage, but we’re getting multiple coverages with our defense,” he said. “It’s making us better; making us sharper. We’re light years ahead of where we were last year.”

Next game: UCF vs. FIU, Network

Matt Murschel Aug. helping 31, the Knights’ p.m., CBS the offense Sports