Orlando, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - How will you respond?
That's the question UCF head coach Scott Frost is asking the Knights (1-1) this week as they prepare for Saturday night's matchup against the Maryland Terrapins (2-0). The Knights are coming off a 51-14 loss to No. 5 Michigan. Frost said the Knights out-hit their counterpart, but didn't execute as well as the nationally-ranked Wolverines.
The matchup with Maryland will be the first time this season the Knights will be looking to bounce back from a loss and Frost expects the Knights to come out determined to earn their second win of the season.
"We need to be able to handle success [and] we need to be able to handle challenges," said Frost during his Monday press conference. "My impression is last year when some of these things went wrong the team fractured. I saw a couple of hints of that on the sideline and we're not going to allow that around here. If things are going good, we're a team. If things aren't going well, we're a team."
Junior Jamiyus Pittman feels it will be easy for the team to find that determination on Saturday. The Terrapins come into this game without a turnover in two games this season. The Knights hope to change that this weekend.
"We're trying to win the turnover battle every week," said Pittman. "I know we'll be reaching for it."
Frost feels turnovers will play a huge factor in this contest.
"We emphasis turnovers all of the time," he said. "Trying to take care of the ball on offense, trying to get it away on defense. We played a really good team that's good at taking care of it last week. We're playing another one this week and if there are opportunities, we have to make some big plays with turnovers."
To hear more of what Coach Frost and the players said on Monday, check out the video above. For complete audio, check out the SoundCloud links below.
Press Conference: Scott Frost
Press Conference: Adrian Killins and Jamiyus Pittman
