UCF Football: Knights out to prove they’re here to stay in 2019
By Kyle Grondin
Run game will be major strength
Despite the loss of McKenzie Milton for at least a season, UCF still has enough talent that the quarterback might not matter as much for the Knights.
UCF has one of the strongest running back groups in the country with Adrian Killins, Greg McCrae and Otis Anderson. While Killins gets all the hype as the fastest man in college football, McCrae was the better running back at the end of the season last year, and the former walk-on rushed for 1,182 yards last season, to pair with Killins electric speed and big play ability.
McCrae has a real chance to take over as bell-cow from day one in 2019, as he rushed 467 more yard on 14 less carries than Killins last season. His last six games of the season were staggering, getting 90 carries for 798 yards and eight touchdowns — that’s nearly 9.0 yards a carry.
Anderson, meanwhile, is a versatile back, who Josh Heupel uses all over the field on offense. He’s actually just listed as a utility player on the roster, becoming the Ben Zobrist of college football. He’ll be an important weapon again for the offense.
The receiving corps brings back its top two targets from last season, as Gabriel Davis and Tre Nixon combined for 1,377 yards in an offense built to spread the ball around the field. Davis was an All-AAC receiver last season and is the biggest outside threat for the Knights once again.
One player to keep an eye on is junior tight end Jake Hescock. He projects as the new starting tight end for the Knights, and his 6-foot-7 frame could be an interesting piece for the short yardage situations.
The skill position talent is also married to one of the best offensive line groups in the country. The offensive line returns four starters, three of which were All-AAC players last season. They’ll make life very easy for a new quarterback behind center.
Which brings us to the quarterback situation. Darriel Mack is now recovering from a broken ankle, and figures to miss at least the first half of the season. That paves the way for seemingly graduate transfer Brandon Wimbush to win the job after coming from Notre Dame.
Wimbush was a highly-rated recruit who struggled at times with Notre Dame. He started all of 2017 for the Irish, and then lost his job to Ian Book early into the 2018 season. He has a good arm but struggles mightily with turnovers. In his first three games last season, he threw four interceptions and only one touchdown before losing his job. The hope will be the system at UCF creates more open and easier throws that will help make his job easier.
One dimension Wimbush adds is his gifted running ability, and pairing him with the aforementioned running back group could create one of the best running teams in the country.
The Knights ran the ball nearly 60 percent of the time last season, and with Wimbush I expect that to increase slightly in 2019. If Wimbush can’t get the job done, Mack will be back by October or November, and freshman Dillion Gabriel has had a ton of hype coming out of camp, he could push for the starting job.