In week 13, UCF and West Virginia will face off in Morgantown.
The Knights are 4-6 (2-5 in conference play) coming off a bye week and will need to win both of their last two games to become bowl-eligible. UCF head coach Gus Malzahn previewed their upcoming matchup with the Mountaineers.
“Looking forward to playing a very solid West Virginia team. They got a lot of guys back that we played last year,” Malzahn said.
Last year, in Orlando, WVU defeated UCF 41-28 in the two teams first conference game. Malzahn highlighted quarterback Garrett Greene when speaking on West Virginia’s strengths.
“Starts with their quarterback. He is a good runner. He can create things when things break down,” Malzahn said of Greene.
Malzahn also broke down West Virginia’s defense and what he had seen on tape.
“Their defense is an odd front defense, for the most part, that does a lot of blitzing, a lot of different things on the back end,” Malzahn said. “I mean, they’re primarily odd front with some different kind of pressures. They’ll mix in some even front they got us a couple of times (last year) on some even front pressures that I’m sure we’ll see again. Back end they try to keep a lot of things in front of them, to try to eliminate the big play.”
Besides home-field advantage, another aspect of Saturday’s that may work in West Virginia’s favor is the weather. The forecast currently projects cold temperatures around game time, something that UCF, as a team from Florida, can’t simulate and may not be used to. Malzahn noted that the ball may not travel as far and his team would have to emphasize ball security.
Kickoff on Saturday is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, with the game being televised on ESPNU.
