Knights’ No. 1 priority: Containing Cincy QB Ridder
When you ask UCF players and coaches what their biggest concern is as the Knights prepare to face No. 7 Cincinnati Saturday in the Bounce House, the response has been unanimous.
“We have to stop the quarterback,” UCF sophomore defensive tackle Cam Goode said. “That’s it. If we stop the quarterback and we stop the run, it’s over with.”
Much of the Bearcats’ success this season can be attributed to its punishing defense, which ranks third in the country after allowing 12.4 points per game. But the offense has been equally impressive, with the team leading the American Athletic Conference in rushing (247 yards per game).
Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder is a big part of that effort, with the junior leading all AAC quarterbacks with 469 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He’s also averaging nearly nine yards per attempt.
“How much time have you got?” UCF defensive line coach Shane Burnham joked when asked how to slow down the Bearcats’ offense. “… Desmond does an unbelievable job of extending plays with his feet. He’s hurt people. I go back to his freshman year watching tape and thinking, ‘Oh, man. This guy’s going to be a handful.’ ”
No play better represents Burnham’s sentiments than what Ridder did against SMU during the fourth game of the season.
With Cincinnati pinned deep in its own territory, Ridder faked the handoff to the running back before turning the corner and sprinting 91 yards down the left side of the field untouched with a handful of Mustangs defenders giving chase.
It was his third rushing touchdown of the game as Ridder finished with a career-high 179 rushing yards. UCF coach Josh Heupel said the Knights have to apply pressure up front on defense in order to make Ridder uncomfortable in the pocket.
“It’s important for us, as passing plays unfold, that we’re able to push the pocket,” Heupel explained. “We’ve got to make him uncomfortable. He’s done a really good job of throwing the football and being accurate from inside the pocket this year. At the same time, we’ve got to keep our rush integrity otherwise he’s got the feet to turn it into a big play. He does a good job of using his legs, but also some of the designed quarterback run stuff that we’ve got to be able to handle.”
The Knights haven’t allowed a quarterback to rush for 100-plus yards in a game since Tulane’s Justin McMillan rushed for 102 yards in UCF’s 34-31 win over the Green Wave on Nov. 23, 2019.
Injury update
Heupel said the team continues to monitor the status of injured receiver Tre Nixon, who hasn’t played since the first half of the season opener against Georgia Tech.
“We’ll continue to have the doctors look at him here at the end of the week and make a final decision,” said Heupel, who stated last week that the redshirt senior was back at practice and making progress.
Offensive lineman Parker Boudreaux missed the opener against the Yellow Jackets due to concussion protocol, but the redshirt junior hasn’t played a down yet this season. When asked whether Boudreaux had opted out of this season, Heupel said no.
USF game in jeopardy?
The news USF postponed its game against Navy scheduled for Saturday due to positive COVID-19 cases in the Bulls program could have an impact on next weekend’s game against UCF. The Knights are scheduled to travel to Tampa on Friday for their War on I-4 rivalry series, but USF may not have enough players available to compete.
“Obviously the game we’re concerned about is this one,” Heupel said when asked about next week’s game. “At the end of practice today, I mentioned it to our players because I know they’ll see that with it being a holiday weekend, too. ‘I feel like we’ll probably have a good chance to play that one.’
“At the same time, as soon as I said something about that, our players reminded me that we only look at one game at a time. So, get focused on this one.”
UCF versus USF was supposed to be the regular-season finale for both teams, so the game could be pushed back a week to Dec. 5 or Dec. 12, depending on whether the Navy game is rescheduled.