UCF opens Big 12 play this weekend with a road trip to Kansas State on Saturday. The Knights are hoping to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2018.
The Orlando Sentinel spoke with Tim Everson of the Manhattan Mercury to gain a deeper understanding of the Wildcats. Here is an edited version of that conversation:
What’s stood out about Kansas State’s season so far?
Tim Everson: “Not a lot on the positive end. There were quite a lot of expectations coming into the year. You have a third-year returning quarterback and you had a bunch of pieces returning that you thought would be turned into the makings of maybe a Big 12 title contender. And on almost every level, it just has not come together. They’re coming off a bye week and it seems like everyone’s scrambling a little bit and trying not just to have a complete waste of a season. The overall theme, especially for fans right now, is just disappointment.”
What do you attribute to the poor start?
Everson: “Unfortunately, it’s a multifaceted problem. First off, they had some changes on the coaching staff that may or may not be at fault. You have a new offensive coordinator and play caller in Matt Wells, the former Texas Tech head coach, and then K-State lost its long-time offensive line coach [Conor Riley], who had been there since Chris Kleiman got to K-State in 2019, to the Dallas Cowboys.
“Their best offensive lineman had a medical emergency before fall camp started and he still has not seen the field, so that’s left the offensive line to move around and try to fill gaps. If there’s been one big problem for the team, it’s that the offensive line play has been dreadful so far, especially for K-State standards, which have had fairly decent offensive lines.
“It’s been bad defensively. They switched from a three-man front to a four-man front over the offseason and it doesn’t seem to have really clicked quite yet. They had a lot of veteran pieces coming back, especially in the front seven, and it hasn’t really clicked up front. They’re not getting the pass rush they want and they’re struggling to get off the field on third and fourth down.”
Big things were expected out of quarterback Avery Johnson. Has he lived up to those expectations so far?
Everson: “He’s been good, but not great. If the other parts of the team were performing up to expectations, it would be less noticeable. He has not really shown himself to be as mobile as he’s known to be. They’ve seemed hesitant to have him really cut it loose and run the ball and there hasn’t really been a clear answer as to why. I will say, however, he’s throwing some really nice deep balls. The offensive line has put him in a bad spot. K-State has not had much of a run game, just to speak of and they’re receiving corps has been inconsistent. So, while he could definitely be better, he has played probably good enough throughout the season for K-State to be at least 3-1, if not undefeated.”
Who else should UCF pay special attention to?
Everson: “Offensively, one of the problems with the running game has been that K-State lost its star running back Dylan Edwards, on the first punt return of the season. They got him back for a little bit in the first quarter of the Arizona game, but he wasn’t quite 100%. With the bye week, they are expecting him to be full go for the UCF game, which would be huge, because the running game has been nonexistent.
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“On the defensive end, Tobi Osunsanmi, who is an edge rusher, has probably been their most consistent pass rush threat. They have a fairly young secondary or they have some guys back there that they brought in from the [transfer] portal, so they need to have a solid pass rush up front to help them out so they don’t get picked apart.”
What do you see as a challenge for Kansas State against UCF?
Everson: The big intangible thing is just the confidence. UCF has played pretty well throughout these first couple of weeks and they’re coming in with a head of steam. Kansas State has four one-score losses and barely beat a middling FCS team at the last second. Nothing has really gone right. You hope you’re back in front of a home crowd, you have a week to tinker with some things and you come out with that fire and that confidence. But right now, they’re just a team that has not really seen anything go right.”
Matt Murschel can be reached at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com
