What We Learned Against Memphis

The Knights got their first conference victory of the season, as they downed Memphis, 32-14 on Saturday afternoon at Bright House Networks Stadium. Let's see how our keys to victory played out.

Keys to the Game for the Knights:

1.) Establish the run and then don’t abandon it- Brynn Harvey had his best game of the season as he finished with a career high 219 yards rushing on 42 carries.

2.) Wrap up- After some early missed tackles, the Knights did a much better job of bringing Memphis ball carries to the ground in the second half.

3.) Get the crowd behind you early- The crowd tried to get behind the Knights, but red zone inefficiency gave them little to cheer about. Those who were in attendance did come alive in the second half.

4.) Fluster Bass- Tyler Bass was more of a weapon with his feet than his arm, as he completed just 10 of 15 mostly short passes and was replaced in the third quarter by Will Hudgens.

5.) Play with urgency- UCF came out and moved the ball fairly well, but couldn't finish drives early on.

What to Look For:

Look for Rob Calabrese. Hodges was more than good enough to stay on the field, as he managed the offense well with the exception of one bad interception.

Look for some defensive changes. The Knights began with Derrick Hallman playing linebacker and made some personnel moves, playing Justin Boddie more as well as A.J. Bouye. Kemal Ishmael also started at free safety.

Look for Memphis to take plenty of shots down field. The Tigers took their shots and hit on a few big plays. Duke Calhoun had four catches for 162 yards including a big 61-yard touchdown. Memphis also tried a couple gadget plays against the Knights defense.

Look for a hostile crowd. The crowd wasn't a huge factor, one way or the other.

Look for massive nose tackles. Torrell Troup was his usual dominant self in the middle, while Memphis' Dontari Poe wasn't much of a factor.

Predictions:

1.) Harvey surpasses the century mark- Harvey was over 100 early in the third quarter and finished with more than double that number (219 yards on 42 carries).

2.) Hodges bounces back- Brett Hodges numbers don't look all that fantastic, but his play was much greater than the stat sheet as he led the team back from behind to a pair of scores. Hodges completed 16 of 28 passes for 214 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

3.) Bruce Miller wakes up- It was Miller-time again as Bruce logged 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Miller finished with five tackles in total.

4.) Option time- The Knights ran the spread option early on for a few nice gains with both Brett Hodges and Brynn Harvey, and it kept the Memphis defense a little soft in the middle so Harvey could gain big chunks late the game.

5.) UCF wins- It wasn't nearly as much of a blowout as the final score indicated, as UCF ran off 23 unanswered points to cruise to the victory. Memphis was a game opponent and even led with just over two minutes remaining in the third period.