Offense shows improvement in second scrimmage
Following the first scrimmage of UCF football training camp that saw the defense dominate, the offense rebounded Saturday during the second scrimmage, according to Knights coach Gus Malzahn.
The newfound success was in part due to the play of UCF’s offensive line.
“It was better than last week,” Malzahn said about the position group. “I thought that first five had a good day as far as getting a push up-front.”
One of UCF’s newest offensive linemen who’s going to be a key piece of the bunch is Virginia transfer Ryan Swoboda.
“I thought we executed things a lot better,” said Swoboda, who enrolled at UCF in the spring after 5 years in the ACC. “From an offensive line standpoint, there are still sacks and TFLs to clean up but overall you like to see touchdowns being scored in the red zone and you like to see big plays.
“We saw definitely a lot more of that this week than last week,” he added.
Swoboda is one of nearly 20 additions Malzahn made to his roster through the NCAA transfer portal this offseason. The Virginia transfer admitted he thought fitting in at UCF would be difficult but things have gone smoothly.
“Transferring in, you don’t really know anybody,” he said. “It’s been 7-8 months for me and I’ve made some of my closest friends in that amount of time.
“The core group of guys that played last year was really welcoming,” he added. “People accepted competition, which is always a good thing. Off the field, guys are really close. It’s worked really well.”
One of Swoboda’s closest friends has become redshirt sophomore Paul Rubelt. The two are listed at 6-foot-10 and tower over their teammates.
“People joke that we shouldn’t walk next to each other because everybody [else] looks like 4 feet tall,” Swoboda said.
The veteran Swoboda, who appeared in 44 of 49 games during his time at Virginia, understands Rubelt’s path of development and sees a bright future for the German native.
“When you’re a taller guy, it’s a little bit harder to begin but when some guys begin to almost plateau, you just keep going and I see that with Paul,” Swoboda said. “It gets me excited. Paul is going to be a problem for a lot of people.”
As Swoboda and Rubelt play along the offensive line, they’re mostly unaware of what’s going on behind them — a daily quarterback competition between Mikey Keene and John Rhys Plumlee for the starting job.
“I don’t know, I just block for them,” Swoboda said when asked what he’s learned about the quarterbacks. “I see a lot of big plays being made. Both guys run the ball really well.
“[On] deep balls, you see a lot of [passes] right in the hands and you love to see that.”