Oct. 17, 2010
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By Marc Daniels
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - George O'Leary may have gotten exactly what his team needed when a struggling Rice football team beat cross town rival Houston, 34-31, this past Saturday. If there was any concern about UCF not paying attention to the Owls and looking ahead to a big showdown with East Carolina, that has now been taken care as UCF gets a Rice team that beat a Houston squad that is talented even without quarterback Case Keenum.
Before the win over Houston, Rice's lone victory was a 32-31 win over North Texas. All five Rice losses were by double digits and there was no sign things were getting better, but they did. More on the Owls in a bit, but first some leftovers from UCF's win at Marshall:
Six in a row and counting: Even Marshall fans admit the pendulum has swung big time. UCF has now won three straight in Huntington and the talent gap is big between the two. Marshall fans, who once viewed UCF as a wannabe, now see a role reversal before their eyes.
Weaver wows them again: Television did not do justice in showing how strong the rains were at Marshall. Ronnie Weaver's 30-carry, 150-yard performance was one of the best efforts by a Knight back since Kevin Smith. Weaver ran over tacklers and dragged others for additional yards. He has become a power back and now has become a player opposing teams must game plan for.
Defense keeps on scoring: A.J. Bouye's 42 yard interception return for a score was another touchdown for the UCF defense, the fourth this season. The Knights defense is one of the nation's best and the scoring may not be over. With ball hawking players all over the field, UCF has playmakers on defense.
A kind gesture leads to injury: All Rob Calabrese was trying to do was give the ref the ball. But his cleat got caught in the carper and he suffered a knee injury. The injury is painful in many ways. He had developed a nice role over the last five quarters of coming in and running UCF's "Wild Knight." All Calabrese did over the last few weeks after losing the starting job to Jeff Godfrey was stay focused and be ready to play and help his younger teammate . The injury also puts UCF in the position of making a choice for the number two quarterback. L.D. Crow took a few snaps at Marshall and had been third on the depth chart. Nico Flores is more suited to run any "Wild Knight" and might get a chance. Remember, Flores was a scout team quarterback almost all last season for UCF.
Speaking of last season, UCF's most lopsided road win in school history came at Rice, 49-7. The Owls went 2-10 last season. But they expected a better year in 2010 with 18 starters coming back. In the win over Houston last week, quarterback Nick Fanuzzi, an Alabama transfer who played in the game against UCF last year, threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns. Michigan transfer Sam McGuffie ran for 63 yards. The Owls have struggled on defense giving up at least 31 points in every game this season. That's where our keys to this week begins:
UCF big plays vs. Rice defensive woes: UCF has a speed advantage on offense. Jeff Godfrey should be able to create with his legs and run but he needs to also get his receivers going early. The Knights wideouts need a few game breakers. Because of the rain last week, the passing game rarely had chances to go deep. That will not be the case this week.
UCF offensive line vs. Rice defensive line: Despite giving up a lot of points, Rice has a decent defensive front. UCF's offensive line has simply taken over the game the last two weeks. It has opened holes for running backs and the line has allowed just five sacks all season. UCF controlled the clock last week and don't be surprised if UCF can get an early lead that the Knights go heavy in the run game and wear down the Owls defense.
Rice QB Nick Fanuzzi vs. UCF's speedy line: The stat sheet shows no sacks last week at Marshall. But UCF hurried Herd throwers all game. Bruce Miller rolled inside a lot last week and the speed of Miller with ends Darius Nall and Troy Davis caused headaches all night. UCF will want to get to Fanuzzi early and often and after no sacks last week, the defensive front will look for a few in this game.
Win the kick coverage battle: UCF is among the nation leaders in kickoff coverage. It has become the "hip" thing to make the kickoff tackle. Be it Chad Alexander, Kemal Ishmael, Darin Baldwin and even starting running back Ronnie Weaver, UCF continues to keep the opposition inside their own 20 after kickoffs and it goes a long way in winning the field position battle.
David Baliff is in his fourth season at Rice. He was head coach at Texas State before moving to Rice...This is the first of three straight road games for the Owls... Rice was a road winner against UCF in 2006, 40-29, that also was the first game in a three game road trip...Rice has its third offensive coordinator in three years in David Beaty.
Knights notes and more: Sorry playoff proponents, I give you this past Saturday as another example of when every game, every week counts. Top-ranked Ohio State lost at Wisconsin. Auburn won a thrilling shootout against Arkansas. Texas, who had stumbled into Lincoln, beat Nebraska and the list goes on and on of big games with a lot on the line. As I have always said, let the season play itself out and enjoy the thrill every weekend...Speaking of weekends, try and figure this past one in C-USA. UAB drills what once was a hot UTEP team. Rice beats Houston and SMU loses at Navy by tossing a late pick to give Navy a chance to win the game, which they did... I spent Saturday morning watching Donnie Jones' basketball team practice. Let's just say everything is fast paced. Players are constantly moving and UCF is a bigger, stronger and faster team. Keith Clanton looks great and along with new center Tom Herzog, the Michigan State transfer, I am not sure anyone in the league has a better center-power forward combination...Final thought: If we get a weather delay this week or again this season, I am claiming a world record. But thanks to official weather delay guest John Denton, our Knights Insider columnist, for another visit to the booth last week. For his appearance John will receive the official "What to do during a NCAA football weather delay guide" which is not available in stores.
Marc Daniels' From the Press Box runs several times per month on UCFAthletics.com. Listen to Marc during UCF football, men's basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the UCF-ISP Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts "The Beat of Sports" on ESPN 1080 in Orlando from 9-11 a.m.