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Gasparilla Bowl 2021: 3 reasons why the UCF Football will beat Florida

By Jacob Ellerbee

Gus Malzahn, UCF Football Head Coach (Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports)
Gus Malzahn, UCF Football Head Coach (Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports) /
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MIkey Keene, UCF Football (Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports) /

Freshman QB Mikey Keene found his stride in the second half of the season

The engine of this UCF offense (for most of the season) has been true freshman Mikey Keene. The young quarterback was in a trial-by-fire situation as he was called on by Malzahn to be the starter after Dillon Gabriel went down with an injury.

Gabriel was never suited back up for the Knights and is not playing in this bowl game because he has transferred to UCLA to play for Chip Kelly.

It’s probably a good thing Gabriel moved on because Keene started hitting his stride after struggling early on.

Starting with the game at Temple on Oct. 30, Keene completed more than 70% of his passes, totaling 229 yards, five touchdowns, and only one interception.

Keene never threw another interception after that game. He finished the final five games of the season with 89 for 136 on 955 passing yards to go along with 11 passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and zero interceptions.

Keene will look to continue his momentum to see if he can keep taking care of the ball against a strong, fast SEC defense.

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