ORLANDO – The UCF offensive line is one of 23 listed on the 2023 midseason honor roll announced today for the Joe Moore Award for the most outstanding offensive line unit in college football.
Here’s what the UCF offensive line has accomplished so far in 2023:
--The Knights are third nationally in rushing offense, averaging 246.3 rushing yards per game.
--UCF is fourth nationally in total offense with 516.7 yards per game, and both of those marks lead the Big 12 Conference.
--According to PFF Stats, the Knights’ offensive line has graded out at 86.8 in pass blocking, which is fourth best in the country. UCF’s run-blocking grade of 68.9 also ranks among the nation's top 25.
--Behind UCF’s offensive line, running back RJ Harvey is tied for the conference lead with six rushing touchdowns. Harvey is also sixth in the league in yards per rush with 5.74.
--UCF’s 723 total yards in the season opener against Kent State are still the most of any FBS team this season.
--The offensive line unit is led by captain and fifth-year guard Lokahi Pauole, who was a first team All-American Athletic Conference selection last season.
UCF has an impressive recent history in terms of running the football. The Knights in 2022 ranked ninth nationally in rushing (228.4 yards per game), 19th in 2019 (223.8) and eighth in 2018 (265.2).
The 2023 UCF line gained the attention of the Joe Moore Award voting committee as it moves closer to announcing the selection of semifinalists on Nov. 14 and finalists on Dec. 5. Selection of the 2023 Joe Moore Award winner will be made public after a surprise visit to the winning university’s campus in late December.
Presented since 2015, the Joe Moore Award voting committee judges solely on six criteria: toughness, effort, teamwork, consistency, technique and finishing. Evaluations for the midseason honor roll were made solely through weekly review of actual game film and offensive line coach-provided cut-ups.
The Joe Moore Award voting committee comprises 10 individuals who are highly knowledgeable about offensive line play, including former linemen, coaches, talent evaluators and media analysts. This group conducts in-depth analysis by reviewing game tape every week of the season to assess both the fundamentals and subtleties of overall offensive line performance.
The 2023 voting committee includes Chairman Cole Cubelic (Auburn, SEC Network); Charles Arbuckle (UCLA, Indianapolis Colts); Randy Cross (UCLA, San Francisco 49ers); Gerry DiNardo (Notre Dame, head coach at LSU); Mike Golic, Jr. (Notre Dame, ESPN); Duke Manyweather (Humboldt State, player and coach); Geoff Schwartz(Oregon, Carolina Panthers); Phil Steele (publisher of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, ESPN); Aaron Taylor (Notre Dame, Green Bay Packers); and Lance Zierlein (NFL draft analyst, NFL.com).
Past recipients of the Joe Moore Award include the offensive lines at Alabama (2015), Iowa (2016), Notre Dame (2017), Oklahoma (2018), LSU (2019), Alabama (2020/first repeat winner) and Michigan (2021 and 2022/first back-to-back winner).
The Joe Moore Award is named after Joe Moore, widely regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in college football history, most notably for his work at Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Over 18 seasons, Moore sent 52 players to the NFL, including Bill Fralic, Mark May, Russ Grimm and Jimbo Covert.