Why this game is close.....

[Bullpride08]

Not to mention SC ST was starting a brand new QB that was a RS-FR and still new to the game.  Easy feasting for a solid UCF defense.  USF faced a team that had a starting QB who started UTM's last 6 games, was a South Carolina transfer and played as a RS-FR there, and also returned 17 starters like SCSU.  They also got the services of a gamebreaking receiver named Mike Hicks who transfered in this summer from Ole Miss.  He was a two year player there averaging 17.5ypc, and was 6-3 205lbs, and he had 1 catch for 11, but was blanketed the entire night.

The match-up is relatively the same as last year.  The difference is UCF does have deficiencies on offense, right now as the team is still new those deficiencies are very glaring.  Starting a freshman RB will have it's draw backs as he's certainly not going to know all the checkdowns, and plays, and be adept at picking up blitz packages.  Take into account that UCF struggled at times just running basic offensive formations against a 1-AA team should show they're still working out the kinks.

I fully admit this will be an emotional game for UCF, and their fans.  They want to win this last one bad.  They want to knock us off, and us being ranked is only added motivation.  A plus for USF is their ability to execute a power running game.  UCF is hanging their hats, or rather fans like Chad, that the emotional factor will be too much and will allow them to dictate the flow of the game like against Texas.  That very well could be the case, but against Texas they had some real legit weapons on offense that will not be at their disposal on Saturday.  Obviously Kevin Smith, Phillip Smith had a big game against TX, Aikens, Merritt, and a stout OL that was very experienced together.  They're not bringing that offense to the table Saturday night.

My guess is UCF is going to try and use Greco as a flex QB with some read option and lots of running early to build his confidence and hopefully slow our pursuit.  If we anticipate that and stymie it then it will be a long night for UCF.  If it's effective and keeps them in the game then it could be a long night for USF.  I do think USF has a lot to prove to themselves and the nation.  On paper this game is a mismatch in all the right areas again, but they've got to execute, they can't turn the ball over and must win the turnover margin, and they've got to play FAST, and nasty (relatively speaking clean of course).  If they do that, stay patient then they should win well.  If we put away UCF early then we have a chance to be a very special team this year because we've had trouble putting away inferior opponents on occasion on the road.  But if we put them away early then that's great.  IF we turn the ball over a ton, and give them game away then we didn't deserve it to begin with and deserve what we get.  I'd like this game to resemble the Syracuse game last year.  Slow, methodical, and just continue to put pressure and pound the rock. 

[UCFChad]

Wow, emotions didn't play a big part when we were outmatched, outmuscled, and outranked against a Texas team that was #10 against the run nationally in a better conference?  Don't tell Mack Brown that after he talked extensively about it postgame.  The QB we faced in S.C. State was Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina and didn't forget how to play football when he came in.  Their D-line was also very big for a I-AA school as well.  S.C. State would absolutely crush Tenn-Martin.  One was 7-4 with two BCS losses and the other was 4-7 and lost to sucky teams I never heard of.  S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina. Again, if you need to know about them, just go ask South Carolina fans and what they think.  EVERYONE says their team has some talent. If you heard the call in show (O'Leary) he all but alluded to the fact he showed absolutely nothing and was looking at situational playcalling more than anything.  Our running backs, particularly Latavious Murray had just huge numbers out of high school and can flat mash.  Even conservative George O'Leary said he looked a little like Kevin Smith.  This time it's just personal for what was said in part after last year's thrashing. I think you all look better on paper, but I think we win 29-27.  ;D

[Rizman]

Wow, emotions didn't play a big part when we were outmatched, outmuscled, and outranked against a Texas team that was #10 against the run nationally in a better conference?  Don't tell Mack Brown that after he talked extensively about it postgame.  The QB we faced in S.C. State was Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina and didn't forget how to play football when he came in.  Their D-line was also very big for a I-AA school as well.  S.C. State would absolutely crush Tenn-Martin.  One was 7-4 with two BCS losses and the other was 4-7 and lost to sucky teams I never heard of.  S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina. Again, if you need to know about them, just go ask South Carolina fans and what they think.  EVERYONE says their team has some talent. If you heard the call in show (O'Leary) he all but alluded to the fact he showed absolutely nothing and was looking at situational playcalling more than anything.  Our running backs, particularly Latavious Murray had just huge numbers out of high school and can flat mash.  Even conservative George O'Leary said he looked a little like Kevin Smith.  This time it's just personal for what was said in part after last year's thrashing. I think you all look better on paper, but I think we win 29-27.   ;D

It is emtional for us, we get tired of smack talk when you have nothing to stand on except gut feeling.  I hope you play well and give us a game because we need it to get ready for the Kansas game the following Friday night.  I say our defense puts Greco in a hole quickly and he throws 3 interceptions with one being a score.  USF 35 UCF 10

[TheBullies]

Wow, emotions didn't play a big part when we were outmatched, outmuscled, and outranked against a Texas team that was #10 against the run nationally in a better conference?  Don't tell Mack Brown that after he talked extensively about it postgame.  The QB we faced in S.C. State was Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina and didn't forget how to play football when he came in.  Their D-line was also very big for a I-AA school as well.  S.C. State would absolutely crush Tenn-Martin.  One was 7-4 with two BCS losses and the other was 4-7 and lost to sucky teams I never heard of.  S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina. Again, if you need to know about them, just go ask South Carolina fans and what they think.  EVERYONE says their team has some talent. If you heard the call in show (O'Leary) he all but alluded to the fact he showed absolutely nothing and was looking at situational playcalling more than anything.  Our running backs, particularly Latavious Murray had just huge numbers out of high school and can flat mash.  Even conservative George O'Leary said he looked a little like Kevin Smith.  This time it's just personal for what was said in part after last year's thrashing. I think you all look better on paper, but I think we win 29-27.   ;D

How long are you going to hold on to the "we hung with (insert ranked opponent here)"?

I just ran over and asked SC State, they said UTM isn't as bad as you said. Maybe you should talk to them.

Pretty comical that O'Liar said he "told the oc to keep it simple."

-- The Lakeland Ledger suggests that UCF struggling with South Carolina State was a function of the Knights "holding back" in the opener. UCF's offense was "very vanilla," with just 16 passes and 59 runs, and the defense did very little blitzing. Then again, USF had 19 passes and 52 runs in its opener ...

Wait... now who's holding back?

WE'RE DOOOOOOOOOOOOMMED! DOOOOOOOOOOMED!

[UCFChad]

Wow, emotions didn't play a big part when we were outmatched, outmuscled, and outranked against a Texas team that was #10 against the run nationally in a better conference?  Don't tell Mack Brown that after he talked extensively about it postgame.  The QB we faced in S.C. State was Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina and didn't forget how to play football when he came in.  Their D-line was also very big for a I-AA school as well.  S.C. State would absolutely crush Tenn-Martin.  One was 7-4 with two BCS losses and the other was 4-7 and lost to sucky teams I never heard of.  S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina. Again, if you need to know about them, just go ask South Carolina fans and what they think.  EVERYONE says their team has some talent. If you heard the call in show (O'Leary) he all but alluded to the fact he showed absolutely nothing and was looking at situational playcalling more than anything.  Our running backs, particularly Latavious Murray had just huge numbers out of high school and can flat mash.  Even conservative George O'Leary said he looked a little like Kevin Smith.  This time it's just personal for what was said in part after last year's thrashing. I think you all look better on paper, but I think we win 29-27.   ;D

It is emtional for us, we get tired of smack talk when you have nothing to stand on except gut feeling.  I hope you play well and give us a game because we need it to get ready for the Kansas game the following Friday night.  I say our defense puts Greco in a hole quickly and he throws 3 interceptions with one being a score.  USF 35 UCF 10

Haha.  I think our secondy is better according to the experts, so I expect a pick or two as well.  Joe Burnett would have gone in the 4th round of the NFL draft last year, FWIW.  Limus Sweed from Texas had a rough one against Smokin Joe, so I am not sweating anything we will see Saturday from your wide-outs.  I think our tackles in between are better than last year and strong as hell  and in the 20 plus years I hae watched UCF football, our linebacking corps has never been faster nor deeper.  I also made a mistake, our defensive end benches 500, not 450. No gut feeling there. If we can hang with Texas at home, then I will sleep well Friday night. Having said that, I will come back here and offer congrats in the unlikey event we lose.  UCF 29- USF 27.

[Triple B]

Wow, emotions didn't play a big part when we were outmatched, outmuscled, and outranked against a Texas team that was #10 against the run nationally in a better conference?  Don't tell Mack Brown that after he talked extensively about it postgame.

I think USF will come into the game in a little different state of mind than Texas so the emotional edge you had then won't be there Saturday ...

The QB we faced in S.C. State was Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina and didn't forget how to play football when he came in.

He didn't forget how to play high school football .... if he had the potential to be an even an average major college player, he wouldn't be at SC State.

S.C. State would absolutely crush Tenn-Martin.  One was 7-4 with two BCS losses and the other was 4-7 and lost to sucky teams I never heard of.

You never heard of Southern Miss? That explains a lot ....

S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina.

LOL .... Dude, it's obvious you're just making up crap to stir things up but thanks for coming over. We had almost forgotten how delusional some UCF fans can be

I think you all look better on paper, but I think we win 29-27.  ;D

From this point on, I'd just limit your comments to this if I were you.... Everything else is making you really look stupid.

[crambone]

UCF will destroy us.

[Velcro]

Velcro,

USF at FAU,  Elon at USF. 

No smack, just explain*

Ahh... gotcha... so you are saying you are in FAU or Elon's class of team... and that perhaps you could possibly put up your best game ever and still lose.

Gotcha. 

FAU = tropical depression that day (at least it seemed like it... 40 MPH winds, and FAU is/was better than UCF... so you aren't helping your case.)

Elon = Vanilla offense/defense on purpose, still won going away.

How do you explain 64-12?  and how do you explain how your team is better than last year without any offense?

[BullyPulpit]

S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina. Again, if you need to know about them, just go ask South Carolina fans and what they think.  EVERYONE says their team has some talent.

First, it was that SC State was tied with South Carolina at halftime. Now, you have resorted to the DELUSIONAL LIE that SC State had more total yards than USC. Did you know that in the first half SC State only gained 87 yards of total offense? Did you also know that USC had 223 yards of total offense in the first half? Finally, did you know that USC ended up outgaining SC State by a total of 144 yards? I bet you didn't or you wouldn't keep embarassing yourself on this board with your completely WRONG assertions about the greatness that is SCST. To save you from yourself, I have provided you with the box score from the USC-SCST game last year. Please review it before making any more posts. Thank you.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=272582579

[Bullpride08]

S.C. State had more total yards that South Carolina. Again, if you need to know about them, just go ask South Carolina fans and what they think.  EVERYONE says their team has some talent.

First, it was that SC State was tied with South Carolina at halftime. Now, you have resorted to the DELUSIONAL LIE that SC State had more total yards than USC. Did you know that in the first half SC State only gained 87 yards of total offense? Did you also know that USC had 223 yards of total offense in the first half? Finally, did you know that USC ended up outgaining SC State by a total of 144 yards? I bet you didn't or you wouldn't keep embarassing yourself on this board with your completely WRONG assertions about the greatness that is SCST. To save you from yourself, I have provided you with the box score from the USC-SCST game last year. Please review it before making any more posts. Thank you.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=272582579

That's some funny stuff.  This is all becoming a bit of a joke.  SCSU is not that good of a 1-AA team, not much better than UT-Martin, if at all.  SCSU lost their four year starting MLB, the heart and soul of their defense, their words not mine, the week of the game. 

I reminded Chad that SCSU started a RS-FR QB who had played in only two games as a freshman.  He tells me the kid was POY in SC or something to that effect?  OK, well UT-Martin's starter was Cade Thompson he was 4A POY in TN (highest classification in TN), signed with South Carolina, played two years there, then transfered and started 6 games for UTM last year.  Who had the better QB situation entering the game- it would be hands down UTM.  SCSU lost six coaches from last year, UTM lost none.

Regardless, this is debating about who has the prettier peach.  UTM, and SCSU are both decent 1-AA teams.  Both our teams dispatched of their opposition rather easily, albeit SCSU did expose UCF's offense as not being quite perfect with some chinks particularly when they were missing their stout inside backer.

He brings up Elon, and true enough Elon gave us fits, and McNeese the year before, but if you go back and look both of those teams were great 1-AA teams.  Both were ranked 1-AA clubs, and Elon had a top five passing offense.  Our team played like crap, and we still only surrendered 241 yards total offense, and the score was 28-6 going into the 4th.  It's just a dreadful comparison really because Elon last year, and this year is just so much better than SCSU, or UTM.  They missed the playoffs only because they play in the same conference as App State.  Who only beat them by 10 last season.

If there is any game or opportunity for UCF fans to point to that resembles this it has to be the FAU game last year.  Crowd was big, FAU was super jacked for the game, and they had an experienced and talented defense.  I would say, that today by my estimations, that offense FAU had against us was more formidable than what UCF will put against us on Saturday.  That's not to say my opinion couldn't change after the game, or that UCF won't improve.  I think they have a lot of fine building blocks to eventually have a solid offense but they really need to develop a couple of RB's, they need to give Greco more than just one option, they need to develop a 2nd TE.  They have the building blocks, and athletes to get there, but time is what's necessary.

I don't care to go tick for tack with Chad.  He has a very antiquated and skewed opinion.  I applaud his enthusiasm, and if UCF found a way to win I would congratulate him....but when you look at potential you've really got to measure the x's and o's....not try to draw some opening week comparison on why our Elon experience mimicks their experience?  I like how this game stacks up for USF, and usually I am good about seeing areas of concern on paper.  I think this will be a hard fought contest, and it won't be the score like last year, but much closer because of the emotional factor, on the road, and UCF's defense.