UCF football: 3 takeaways from War on I-4 victory over USF in Week 13

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TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 27: Head coach Jeff Scott of the South Florida Bulls looks to the replay board during the second quarter against the UCF Knights at Raymond James Stadium on November 27, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

2. Jeff Scott needs to improve game management

Are you an aggressive coach or are you a conservative coach? Is this the right time to burn a time out? Who should be in the game right now? These are just a few of the laundry list of questions that a coach needs to answer on the fly during a game. It’s easy to get those answers wrong, which Jeff Scott found out throughout the game against UCF.

Early in the game, USF had the ball on the edge of the redzone. They were down by a touchdown, but could clearly move the ball on the Knights. He took a timeout when fourth down came up, seemingly to get the right play to go for it.

After all, from the same spot he faked a field goal to open the game. In fact, there were several failed, out of place trick plays throughout the game by USF. Instead of going for it here, though, USF kicked a field goal. No good, and two plays later UCF blew the game open 21-7. Momentum had shifted.

Issues kept creeping up for Scott in the second half. USF was cutting through the UCF defense like butter and had just intercepted Dillon Gabriel. They had the ball on the one yard line, but instead of just finishing the drive, Scott challenged the call. It wasn’t particularly close, though, and USF lost a key time out-only to score on the next play anyways. Later, running back Kelly Joiner fumbled for the second time when he shouldn’t have even been in the game as Brian Battie was dominating the Knights up the gut.

Game management isn’t easy, and Scott is a first year coach, but those little mistakes add up to cost teams games all the time.

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