What We Learned Against Memphis

InsideKnights.com will now compare our keys to victory to what actually occurred in the Knights big 28-21 road victory at Memphis.

Five most important things for UCF:

1. Run the ball. UCF ran the ball well in the first half, but when Brynn Harvey went out with a concussion, the running game suffered. The Knights finished the day with just 73 yards on the ground (they had 75 yards rushing at the half).

2. Control time of possession. Memphis actually won the TOP battle, 32:05-27:55. Shows that our keys weren’t that important.

3. Catch the football. They Knights wide receivers finally did that. Kamar Aiken made some nice plays in the passing game and all of the receivers made all of the routine catches.

4. Dominate the first half. The Knights did just that as they entered the break with a 21-7 advantage.

5. Play 60 minutes of football. UCF played about 40 minutes of very good football, but it was enough against a Memphis team that struggled to move the ball consistently and made big mistakes.

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What to look for:

1. Look for it to be a battle of who wants it the least. The Knights committed no turnovers and effectively let Memphis hand them the ball game.

2. Look for Torrell Troup to dominate. Troup played much bigger than his stat line of four tackles and 1.5 TFL suggests.

3. Look for the Knights offense to return to old form. They scored 21 of the 28 points offensively but still managed to only have 194 total yards.

4. Look for Johnell Neal to have an active day. Neal was challenged quite a bit and Memphis made out as Duke Calhoun caught a 54-yard touchdown pass over Neal.

5. Look for field goal kicking to decide this one. Both teams missed their only field goal attempts, and both teams were perfect on extra points.