It’s homecoming weekend at UCF and the Knights are hosting West Virginia on Saturday with hopes of snapping a three-game losing streak.
The Orlando Sentinel spoke with Cody Nespor of the Gold and Blue Nation to gain a deeper understanding of the Mountaineers. Here is an edited version of that conversation:
What’s stood out about West Virginia’s season?
Cody Nespor: “The big thing is just they’ve had so many injuries. There’s just been no consistency, especially on offense. There have been three different starting quarterbacks and four different starting running backs. So every time it seems like they’re figuring something out, somebody gets hurt and they have to change again. On defense, it’s been the same thing, where every time somebody has a big game, they miss the next one. So the first half of the season, they’ve just been shuffling so many guys in and out.”
What has Rich Rodriguez’s return been like?
Nespor: “Obviously, the fan base is really excited about [his return]. That goes to even people who have not given up on this season but are no longer optimistic about it. They’re still optimistic overall about this hiring and about him coming back. That’s been the biggest thing: an optimism in the fan base that hadn’t been there for five years or so.”
What’s the latest on the quarterback situation?
Nespor: “Nicco Marchiol is out for the year and Jaylen Henderson, the Texas A&M transfer, is going to be doubtful again. Max Brown, the Charlotte transfer, hasn’t really been on the field. He got banged up, so he’s also questionable. So it looks like it’s going to be Khalil Wilkins, who started at BYU and Scotty Fox, the true freshman.”
“Scotty had an excellent introduction. He ran for a 50-yard touchdown in the opener, so when people see a true freshman do that and then you struggle, everybody immediately is like, well, play Scotty. He’s had up and down moments the rest of the way. Khalil was really promising at BYU, obviously, that’s a really good team on the road in a tough environment, but I thought he played pretty well.
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“What those two bring is they have that classic freshman thing where they’re not afraid. Maybe that’s the best thing for the team right now. They’re not as good as they thought they were going to be. Just go out and play and see if you can make it happen.”
Who else should UCF pay special attention to?
Nespor: “On offense, Cam Vaughn, the receiver. He’s been really good, but this offense doesn’t throw the ball a lot, so he hasn’t gotten a ton of volume, but he is unbelievably dynamic, at least unbelievable by these offensive standards. He just hasn’t gotten the ball enough, but he’s a guy who almost had two huge catches at BYU that would have been touchdowns. He’s a guy who, if he gets loose, can cause problems. On defense, nickelback Fred Perry was really disruptive at BYU. He forced two fumbles. He’s one of those guys who make an impact on every play.”
What do you see as a challenge for West Virginia against UCF?
Nespor: “They [West Virginia] have not played well on the road in any of their games. As everybody knows, they went out to Ohio and they even lost there, so that’s going to be the big question: can they finally play well on the road? Rich said they really didn’t get any healthier from the bye week. The only positive, even if they didn’t get anybody back, is that the depth guys that are playing got a week of practice as starters. Now that they have a week to prepare, can they play better and raise the floor of this team?
“They’ve got to be able to tackle in space. UCF has two good receivers and then the kickoff returner, so they’ve got to be able to tackle those guys. That’s when they’ve really gotten in trouble this year. It’s because they can’t tackle in space.”
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
