Advertisement
Published Nov 22, 2024
Opponent Breakdown: UCF Knights
circle avatar
Wesley Shoemaker  •  WVSports
Staff Writer

West Virginia (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) host UCF (4-6, 2-5 Big 12) in their home finale on Saturday. WVU is coming off a loss to Baylor while the Knights are coming off a bye week.

Advertisement

Head Coach

Gus Malzahn is in his fourth season at UCF, compiling a 28-22 record with the Knights. In his 13-year coaching career, Malzahn is 105-60. Against Neal Brown, Brown is 0-1 and UCF is 0-3 all-time against WVU.

Offense

UCF has deployed four quarterbacks this season but seems to have finally found their guy. Dylan Rizk will get the start who has played in the last three games, starting the previous two.

Rizk has completed 73 percent of his passes for 625 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception. He also has 19 rushes for 75 yards on the season.

At running back is the best back in the Big 12 this season in RJ Harvey. Harvey leads the Big 12 in touchdowns with 21 on the season. He has 196 carries for 328 yards and has 15 catches for 225 yards.

Harvey has 47 carries for 311 yards and six touchdowns in his last two games.

UCF ranks first in the Big 12 in total offense, with an average of 465 yards per game, and its rushing offense is also first in the league.

There is a trio of wide receivers for Rizk to throw the ball to, headlined by Kobe Hudson, who has 38 grabs for 623 yards and three scores. Jacoby Jones has 20 catches for just over 300 yards and two touchdowns, while Randy Pittman Jr. has 25 catches for 328 yards and two touchdowns.

UCF is completing 43 percent of their third downs this season, while they are completing 57 percent of their fourth downs. In Big 12 play, though, that number on fourth down has increased to 71 percent conversion rate on fourth down.

Defense

Defensively, there are a lot of injuries that have made guys move around on that side of the ball.

The biggest name is Brandon Adams, who is tied for the team lead in interceptions. He has missed the last two games with an injury. Also, Deshawn Pace has moved to a nickel spot recently, and he has 48.0 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and two interceptions as they try to fill voids in that area on defense.

UCF parted ways with their defensive coordinator earlier this season as they are 10th in the Big 12 in scoring defense, but they are second in the Big 12 in rushing defense. One spot UCF has struggled is on third down, as they have allowed opponents to convert 44 percent of the time, which is second-worst in the league.

Ethan Barr leads the team in tackles with 53, while Quadric Bullard is right behind him with 52 total tackles on the season.

Malachi Lawrence has the team lead in sacks with four, while he also has five TFLs.

UCF has let opponents move the ball 355 yards per game on average, and their 17 sacks rank 10th in the Big 12.

Special Teams

Grant Reddick is the kicker for UCF and he is 6-for-9 on kicks.

Two of his misses came in UCF's last game against Arizona State, with him missing from 57 yards and 46 yards. His long on the year is 47 yards and he is 4-for-7 on field goals in Big 12 play.

Kickoff between WVU and UCF is set for 3:30 p.m. from Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, with the game set to be televised on ESPNU.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe

•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok

Advertisement