Game Preview: UCF vs. SMU

The University of Central Florida Knights (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) arrivein Dallas after defeating Marshall 16-6 last weekend in Orlando. Jeff Godfrey threw his first touchdown pass of the season to A.J. Guyton while Latavius Murray notched the other offensive touchdown. Defensive tackle Victor Gray was held by a Marshall offensive lineman in the end zone, which resulted in a safety for the Knights.

The Southern Methodist University Mustangs (4-1, 2-0 C-USA) host the Knights after beating arch rival Texas Christian University 40-33 in overtime on the road. J.J. McDermott threw four touchdowns in a breakout game for the senior signal caller.

More about SMU

Series Record: UCF is 3-0 all-time against SMU, including a 17-7 win in Orlando in the Conference USA championship game last season.

Head Coach: June Jones (20-24 at SMU, 96-65 overall in college) is the most well-known proponent of the run and shoot offense, which he learned at Portland State as a quarterback for the inventor of the offense, Mouse Davis. He had stops in various college and pro leagues until he landed in Atlanta with the NFL's Falcons as the offensive coordinator in 1990, where his offense took the league by storm. He eventually would become the Falcons head coach, then left the pros and landed at Hawaii in 1999. Jones was hired to be the Mustang head coach in 2008 after leading Hawaii to the Sugar Bowl.

Offensive Style: Run and shoot. This is an offense made famous by June Jones at Hawaii and the NFL's Falcons, and features a smaller playbook than most offenses, but relies on many option routes by the wide receivers, who adjust depending on how the defense reacts after the snap of the football.

Defensive Style: 3-4.

Statistical Leaders

UCF

Passing: QB Jeff Godfrey, 73-109, 67% Comp, 887 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

Rushing: RB Brynn Harvey, 61 attempts, 326 yards, 0 TD

Receiving: WR Quincy McDuffie, 18 receptions, 175 yards, 0 TD

Tackles: MLB Josh Linam 28 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 INT, 2sacks, 1 recovered fumble

Sacks: ( tied ) WLB Jonathan Davis, MLB Josh Linam, 2 sacks

Interceptions: CB Josh Robinson, 2 INT

SMU

Passing: QB JJ McDermott, 109-189, 57.7 Comp %, 1482 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT

Rushing: RB Zach Line, 99 att, 583 yards, 5.9 avg/rush, 11TD

Receiving: WR Darius Johnson, 39 receptions, 550 yards, 14.1 avg/rec , 4 TD

Tackles: LB Taylor Reed, 39 tackles,3.5 TFL, 2 sacks

Sacks: DE Taylor Thompson, 5 sacks

Interceptions: LB Ja'Gared Davis, 1 INT

Key Statistics

-SMU's yards per pass attempt differential: + 1.6

-UCF's YPPAD: + 4.5

-UCF's pass/run ratio 37/63

-SMU's pass/run ratio 61/39

-SMU is 14th in total defense, but only 47th in passing defense.

-UCF is ranked 2nd in total defense, and 2nd in scoring defense.

Two Key Matchups

UCF wideouts vs. SMU defense. The key difference in this matchup versus the C-USA Championship game last December is the loss of the three senior, experienced wideouts for UCF. Kamar Aiken, Brian Watters, and Jamar Newsome combined to pull down 10 key catches last year, a lot of them by finding the open areas of zones as Jeff Godfrey scrambled. A.J. Guyton has already proven this ability against another 3-4 defense this year at BYU (9 receptions for 163 yards). Josh Reese emerged last week, and J.J. Worton has made a couple of spectacular catches. But can the freshmen evolve more this week?

Edge defenders vs. Zach Line. The draw play is a key fixture of the run-and-shoot offense, and Zach Line runs it perfectly. Snap to the quarterback, the offensive line pass blocks, and hand off to Line to ram down field. More often than not, the triangle defenders (both DTs and MLB) will be accounted for by the interior linemen. Making the tackle will be up to the outside linebackers peeling off of the inside wideouts to make an open field tackle. Sure tackling by Jonathan Davis, Leilon Willingham, Troy Gray, Kemal Ishmael and others will be the difference between another low yardage day that Line had against UCF last year or the normal bludgeoning he dishes out to C-USA opponents.

What to Look For

Margus Hunt, The Kick Blocker. 6-foot-8 junior defensive end Margus Hunt has blocked seven field goal attempts and six extra point attempts in less than three seasons, including a FG attempt by UTEP kicker Dakota Warren in September. UCF kickers are 5-of-8 on the year, with freshman Shawn Moffitt missing his only attempt on the season during the torrential downpour last week against Marshall.

What's on the Line

UCF: Continuing the physical brand of Knights football that has only lost 2 out of the last 13 games against C-USA western division foes.

SMU: Avenging the 2010 C-USA Championship game loss to the Knights, and serving notice to next week's opponent Southern Miss that SMU is for real.

The Line

SMU is favored by 3.5.