UCF’s Shaquem Griffin keeps chasing success.
Griffin driven to build on success during showdown
Shaquem Griffin swears someone yelled it. Maybe it was UConn quarterback David Pindell or another UConn player, or it could have been a manufactured voice in Griffin’s own head.
Whatever the case, they made an impact as he pursued Pindell during a quarterback scramble.
“I thought I heard something,” Griffin said with a chuckle. “Soon as he made a cut backfield, he was like, ‘You ain’t fast enough.’ So something told me, ‘You better keep chasing him.’ So that’s what I did.”
Starting from five feet behind after being forced to overrun the play, Griffin ran Pindell down from the left to right hash marks, swatting past three players before he earned the sack.
Doubt only fuels Shaquem Griffin’s motor.
But this season has been different for the senior linebacker. He’s transitioned from being doubted in the shadows to celebrated in the national spotlight after becoming one of the best players in the country — all while playing with just one hand.
Last week, Griffin’s story was prominently featured in Sports Illustrated leading up to his best game of the 2017 season against Temple, during which he ran back an interception 22 yards. His story took center stage during ESPN’s Monday Night Football game when the network highlighted his bond with his twin brother Shaquill, a former Knight and current Seattle Seahawks cornerback.
And all eyes will be on Shaquem again as No. 15 UCF prepares to face rival USF on senior day. The Black Friday showdown will be featured on ABC at 3:30 p.m. If UCF wins, the Knights will earn a spot in the American Athletic Conference title game and continue their push for a coveted spot in the Peach Bowl.
“It’s crazy,” Griffin said of all the attention. “Because I never thought I would be in this situation or I would be at this point in my life, but it’s here now. And now you just have to be ready to take it home.”
With heightened attention after earning 2016 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of Year honors came heightened expectations.
Preparing for the extra attention on the field was easy. Griffin added more weight and muscle during the spring in anticipation of more double teams.
Coaches correctly predicted the approach opposing teams would focus on him, and Griffin’s sack numbers significantly dropped this year. He tied for No. 12 nationally in sacks last season, tallying 11.5. This season, he leads UCF with three.
“A lot of times, we put him in man coverage and he’s eliminated a receiver and those stats don’t show up in a game, but it certainly helps our team,” UCF defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said. “Some people say, ‘Well, why doesn’t he have as many sacks as he did last year?’ Well, they’re double-teaming him a lot, so we’re asking him to do different jobs and he’s doing a tremendous job and accepted every job we’ve ever given him, so I applaud that kid.”
But dealing with all of the attention off the field brought its own set of challenges.
“There’s times when it can be overwhelming,” Griffin said. “But I couldn’t be scared of all the attention that was coming. I couldn’t let myself fold under pressure. There was so much coming that my thing was to just embrace it. You just have to make sure you keep doing the same things you’ve been doing. It’s a lot but nothing I can’t handle.”
Griffin hasn’t handled the pressure. He’s mastered it.
During 23 career starts dating back to last season, no one on UCF’s staff could recall Griffin turning in a single bad game or practice. A bad play? Yes. A bad day? Never.
“The only time he might get himself in trouble is when he’s trying to do too much,” UCF linebackers coach Jovan DeWitt said. “That’s when he finds himself getting into out leveraged in positions and things like that. But he knows it the minute he does it, so it’s easy and fun to coach him.”
Most of Griffin’s best plays aren’t captured before a national audience. They happen in practice.
DeWitt, along with players Kyle Gibson and Aaron Evans, agreed Griffin’s best play came during an August practice. Griffin was the backside linebacker chasing down an option pitched the other way by McKenzie Milton. They said it was a similar play Griffin made against UConn’s quarterback a few weeks ago.
“They threw it back across the field. We tracked it. He ran about 130 yards in one play and then caused a fumble on the opposite sideline,” said DeWitt, who rarely gets his numbers wrong with degrees in mathematics and physics. “He literally crossed the field two and a half times to make the play and cause the fumble.”
Linebacker Titus Davis recalled another moment when Griffin caught an interception with his left arm, which has no hand.
“The ball got tipped up in the air. Somebody was holding him, so his arm was caught up, the ball just fell down and he clamped onto it,” Davis said while shaking his head in disbelief. “It was the craziest thing I’d ever seen in my life.”
One hand or no hands — he played with a broken right hand against Houston last year — Griffin knows how to make the impossible look easy. That’s partly why he took umbrage when USF coach Charlie Strong used the word handicap while attempting to praise Griffin’s play earlier this week.
Limitations just don’t exist in Griffin’s world.
“I can’t let myself take the easy way out. My dad was always on me about that at a young age. He created that motor for me,” Griffin said. “I’ll never sit there and take the easy way out because that’s not the right way to do it.”
Win or lose today, Griffin walks away from UCF as one of the best players in school history and arguably one of the greatest stories in college football. He will leave a legacy about overcoming obstacles.
And his brother believes his journey is far from over.
“Nobody can tell him what he can’t do. He continues to show that to people,” said Shaquill Griffin, who is now thriving in the NFL. “He can be just as good as anybody in the league right now. I can’t wait for any team that gives him an opportunity to play . ... I can’t wait to see what team drafts him or picks him up because, man, he’s gonna make history.”
The NFL, however, is for tomorrow’s concerns. Today, Shaquem Griffin is focused on revving up his motor to help UCF clinch the AAC East division title and make school history as the first team to post an undefeated regular season.
“If I go 120, I have nothing else to say. I did everything I could,” Griffin said. “I’ve never been big on making goals, saying I’m gonna get 40 sacks in one game. My whole thing is this guy is gonna see me 100 percent of the time and he’s gonna see me give 100 percent every time and let the best man win.”
“I can’t let myself take the easy way out. My dad was always on me about that at a young age. He created that motor for me.” UCF LB Shaquem Griffin