Knights focused on Tulsa’s offense

ORLANDO — UCF S Kemal Ishmael referred to Saturday’s Conference USA Championship game at Tulsa (9-3, 7-1 in C-USA) as a business trip.

“We know what we need to accomplish,” Ishmeal said. “Coach [George O’Leary] has been harping all week that we have to go out there and play and compete like no other.”

For the Knights to win a third C-USA title since joining the league in 2005 they must first find a way to slow an offense that passed for 252 yards and rushed for 209 yards the last time they played.

Tulsa sustained long drives and kept UCF(9-3, 7-1) from claiming good field position during a 23-21 win Nov. 17.

UCF’s defense struggled to contain Tulsa WRKeyarris Garrett during that outing. He caught seven passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns. East Carolina’s Justin Hardy (119 yards) was the only receiver to surpass the century mark against UCF up to that point.

Last week, the Knights allowed a season high 599 total yards (510 yards passing) during their win against UAB.

“It’s just simple mistakes that wemake in the secondary and up front,” Ishmael said. “We prepare all week for the run and then they pop us with some passes. We’ve just got to tighten that up.”

The Knights had not allowed more than 400 yards of total offense before the past two weeks since giving up 411 yards in the second game of the season at Ohio State. Next game: at Tulsa, noon, Saturday, ESPN2 Game-day hashtag: #OSUCF