Sept. 9, 2011
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By Marc Daniels
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Consider this your sample tray of football appetizers heading into the weekend. Some notes and thoughts about UCF's game and other college football news.
GODFREY - For those who wondered why they did not see Jeff run wild and throw all over the field last week, please take note there was no reason to do that and allow this week's opponent to get a look at some of the new wrinkles to the UCF offense. George O'Leary and Charlie Taaffe spent an off-season putting in more for their young star quarterback and it was not designed for Charleston Southern. It was designed for games like this week against Boston College. This is a game for Jeff to shine. He will face a tough defense but there will be opportunities to make plays. BC lost two safeties, one to suspension and one who transferred. But Jeff must be smart in regards to when to stay in the pocket and when to run.
STOP THE RUN - Boston College running back Andre Williams had 114 yards against Northwestern but 69 yards came on the first play of the game. After that, Williams was held to 45 yards on 21 carries. All-ACC back Montel Harris is expected to miss this game for BC. If UCF can shut down the run and get pressure on BC quarterback Chase Rettig, it could be a great night. Rettig threw 44 times last week and threw for a career high 351 yards. BC lost 6-foot-6 receiver Ifeanyi Momah to an injury last week. However, Boston College still has three receivers 6-foot-2 or taller.
FIELD POSITION - Sounds boring but field position brings special teams in to play. UCF needs a big return game from Quincy McDuffie and Josh Robinson. BC historically is tough on kick coverage. Field position also comes into play when it comes to turnovers. UCF cannot shorten the field for Boston College. The Knights needs to make BC have to have long drives in this game.
Knights notes and more: UCF's attendance last week was 39,752. Boston College's attendance last week was 37,561...According to BC media guide the team's nickname comes after school leaders were upset that a Boston newspaper had a cartoon depicting the BC track team as a cat licking clean a plate of its rivals. Shortly after this, the school adopted Eagles as its nickname...BC Coach Frank Spaziani played on the Penn State team that tied Florida State in the 1967 Gator Bowl...BC's roster has just 10 seniors and 42 true or redshirt freshmen...BC is 48-10 in non-conference games since 2000...Who is Chadd Cripe? He writes for the Idaho Statesman and is a voter in the AP Poll. He ranked UCF 20th this week, the highest spot among the three people who ranked UCF...Speaking of Idaho and Boise State...With Boise State's win over Georgia it gave the Bulldogs back-to-back losses to teams from non-automatic qualifying BCS leagues. Do you know the last time that happened to Georgia? Never...Former MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst was on my radio show this week and said 16-team power conferences have its pluses and minuses. He said now with 120 D-1 schools, a lot of teams win each week. If there are four 16-team leagues and only those teams playing in one division, that means only 32 teams win each week...It's not whether anyone liked Maryland's uniforms in their game against Miami, it's how much the Terps were paid to wear them...Notre Dame head Coach Brian Kelly was criticized for his antics on the sideline and his language during their loss to USF. Why do I think if Notre Dame had won by three touchdowns, some of those same critics would say how passionate and intense he was...See you Saturday at the stadium, and Go Knights!
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 Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts The Beat of Sports on ESPN Radio 1080 in Orlando.