Spring Practice Report - Day 2

The Knights took to day two of spring practice with similar energy and enthusiasm as day one. For a team looking to find an offensive identity, it was a promising session as UCF gets ready to put on pads and go full-contact on Saturday.

With a young group of quarterbacks, the Knights are trying to add stability and consistency to the position. Early on, it appears to be Rob Calabrese’s job to lose and he looked solid again today. While he isn’t dropping jaws, the up and coming sophomore has been steady the past two days. The biggest surprise at the position today was Andy Slowik. The redshirt sophomore has been delegated to scout-team duty for his career, but he was impressive today completing nearly all of his passes, he also had the most impressive throw of the day connecting on a 50-yard pass hitting the receiver in stride. Joe Weatherford, who was really on his game Thursday had a dismal day and will look to bounce back this weekend.

The receivers are easily the most improved group early on. They are consistently hauling in passes, and while there are still more drops than you’d like to see, there is definitely some strong signs of improvement. They all looked the same today though, nobody is really separating themselves on ability.

On defense, Torrell Troup is looking even better than last year…scary, right? He is dominating the young guards early on and cannot be stopped by double-teams. We’ll see just how great he is when the pads come on, but he looks like a legitimate firs-day pick right now. The starting front seven was pretty dominant today with the exception of Travis Timmons who seemed to struggle all day long. Darius Nall was a pleasant surprise as he made several plays.

The secondary, which was the biggest defensive concern heading in, is justifying reasons to be nervous right now. Yes, it is an inexperienced group that should improve with repetition, but right now Emory Allen is the only player showing consistency. Derrick Hallman is adjusting to his position change and could be a natural free safety, but he still has to get comfortable back there. Josh Robinson has shown bursts of brilliance early on but he has been picked on at times.

We’ll get a great glimpse of what Brynn Harvey and the linemen on both sides of the ball can do tomorrow when the pads come on. Full-contact isn’t expected, but the coaches will see what they are working with in terms of running and stopping the run on Saturday.