UCF opens fall camp with focus on teamwork, position battles

PUBLISHED July 31, 2023 at 5:09 p.m. | UPDATED: August 1, 2023 at 11:02 a.m.
There’s been plenty of excitement surrounding UCF’s move to the Big 12, but now coach Gus Malzahn wants the Knights to shift their attention to the upcoming football season.
“We’ve talked about the Big 12 a lot. OK, that’s great, but now it’s time just to play football.” Malzahn said following the team’s first fall practice Monday. “To be honest, we’re worried about ourselves right now.”
UCF enters its first season in the Big 12 with much to prove as demonstrated by the Knights’ projected eighth-place finish in the conference’s preseason media poll. However, with 12 returning starters, including fifth-year senior quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, UCF believes it has plenty of talent and depth to surprise some people.
Malzahn wants his players to focus on building a solid rapport among themselves, which could be a pivotal element to their success.
“It’s going to be about us being able to count on the guy beside us,” he said. “We’re going on the road six times, we’re going up a level in competition and there’s a good chance there’s going to be a lot of close games that come down to the fourth quarter.
“Our goal in this fall camp is to develop that trust. Trust the guy beside us so when the game is on the line, we can count on the guy beside us and everybody will be together.”
Added senior running back RJ Harvey: “We’ve got to be able to trust each other and the whole team. It’s a big part of winning games. Without trust, I don’t feel we can win.”
Fall camp is also a time for the Knights to develop, another critical element that Malzahn believes will pay dividends with an arduous travel schedule ahead.
“We probably have a lot more depth than we’ve had the last two years, which is a good thing,” he said.
The Knights are set to travel more than 15,000 miles over their six road games with trips to Boise State (Sept. 9), Kansas State (Sept. 23), Kansas (Oct. 7), Oklahoma (Oct. 21), Cincinnati (Nov. 4) and Texas Tech (Nov. 18).
The additional depth also provides ample competition for some position battles, which take center stage over the next month before the opener against Kent State at FBC Mortgage Stadium on Aug. 31.
While Plumlee is cemented in as the starting quarterback, there is plenty of uncertainty regarding who steps into the backup role. Mikey Keene (Fresno State) and Thomas Castellanos (Boston College) transferred in the offseason, leaving UCF with USF transfer and Seminole High product Timmy McClain and Charlotte transfer Xavier Williams as the most likely options. Gunnar Smith (USF) and freshman Dylan Rizk will also push for the job.
“We’re trying to get them all reps right now and trying to see how they respond with different groups,” Malzahn said. “Timmy was our No. 2 guy that got most of the No. 2 reps [today], but we’ll rotate that a little bit as we go. After that second scrimmage, we’ll have an excellent idea about the pecking order. But we’ve got guys that are desperate out there fighting for that position.”
As UCF begins camp, the Knights are expected to benefit from the return of several players who were out during spring camp. Offensive linemen Tylan Grable, a transfer from Jacksonville State, and Adrian Medley took part in Monday’s practice.
“He’s [Grable] full go and it’s good to see him out there today,” Malzahn said. “Adrian Medley was the same way. It was good to see him out there. Most of our guys were out there doing their thing that was injured in the spring.”