UCF is heading into another test for its defense, and this one starts with TCU quarterback Jaden Craig.
The Harvard transfer has opened the season with a strong first three games, leading the Big 12 in passing while completing nearly 71% of his throws for 903 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. Pro Football Focus has him as the conference’s fifth-highest-graded quarterback, behind Arizona’s Noah Fifita and Utah’s Devon Dampier. Scott Frost said Craig and UCF quarterback Alonza Barnett III share some of the same traits, especially the kind that show up when a transfer moves up and makes the jump look easy.
“A lot of those guys relish their opportunity to get a chance at a higher level and they’re perfectly capable of being elite players at this level, too,” said Frost.
Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch sees Craig’s movement as a major part of the challenge. UCF is coming off its third straight week facing a capable quarterback, after already seeing Pittsburgh’s Mason Heintschel and Georgia State’s Cameran Brown.
“When you got a quarterback that has pocket awareness and a pocket sense and can make the plays on a sprint out or naked bootleg, it really challenges you defensively,” Grinch said.
That challenge gets even sharper when explosive plays enter the picture. Georgia State hit UCF with five passing plays of 20 or more yards and three runs of 78, 34 and 21 yards last Saturday. TCU, meanwhile, had seven explosive passing plays of its own in a 31-7 win over Arkansas State.
“It’s tough against a team with the talent they have,” said Frost. “… If you get an athlete the ball in space, big plays happen.
They’re going to be trying to do that. We’re going to be trying to do that and we’ll see how the chips fall.”
For Grinch, the key is not just stopping one chunk play, but preventing the next one from following it.
“Does one play turn into two?” Grinch said, pointing to his unit’s ability to limit consecutive big plays against Georgia State.
UCF’s offensive line is also still being reshuffled because of injuries, but the group took a step forward last week. Redshirt freshman Jacob Maiava moved into the center role, Connor Meadows slid to right guard and Owen Spell remained out with plantar fasciitis. The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Maiava earned strong reviews inside the program.
“He’s a fireball. His energy just permeates throughout the whole offense and offensive line,” said offensive tackle Preston Cushman.
“He was just excited to be out there. We know his skill set and he can get it done there on the field.”
The result was UCF’s best pass-blocking performance of the season, according to PFF, with no sacks allowed. The line also helped drive a rushing attack that piled up 304 yards and four touchdowns against Georgia State.
“You’re lucky if you get through a whole year with continuity on the O-line,” said Frost. “We’ve got to be ready for that. Right now, we’re dealing with some injuries that ideally we wouldn’t have right now.”
Another area that needs cleaning up is third down. UCF went just 3 of 12 against Georgia State, a season-low 25%, and is converting only 36% overall this season, which ranks near the bottom of the Big 12. Frost said the numbers are being affected a bit by the team’s fourth-down approach.
“The first thing is we got to get in manageable third downs,” said Frost. “That number gets skewed a little when we’re going for it on fourth down; our play call on third down isn’t to get the first down, but to make a manageable fourth down play.”
That task gets tougher this week because TCU’s defense has allowed opponents to convert only 23% of their third downs.
On offense, UCF also wants more from tight end Dylan Wade. Last season, Wade led the team in receiving touchdowns with five and finished second in receptions with 43 and receiving yards with 523. This year, though, he has only three catches for 35 yards on nine targets, the third-most on the team.
Offensive coordinator Steve Cooper said the Knights need to find him more often.
“We need to get Dylan more involved,” Cooper said. “We need to capitalize on the plays that are already designed to get to him.
Whether it’s something that’s not his fault because of a protection lapse or simply better execution. We would like to see him with the ball in space because he’s a good football player.”
Fellow tight end Caden Piening has been targeted three times and has two catches for 30 yards.
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