UCF head coach Gus Malzahn reviews the New Hampshire season opener, what he wants to see from his team going forward and he also previews Saturday's opponent, Sam Houston, a recent newcomer to FBS and member of Conference USA. The Bearkats are coming off a 34-14 season-opening win at Rice.

Opening statement:

"First of all, we're glad to be 1-0. Playing at home again, playing Sam Houston. They're an impressive looking bunch. Their coach (KC Keeler) is one of the more successful coaches in college football. I think he's taken three different teams to national championships, won two national championships at different schools. So he's a real coach, he's got a real staff.

"The defensive coordinator, Skyler Cassity, was actually with me at Auburn. He's one of the young up and coming guys. His dad was a big-time coach back in the day.

"You look at them on film, they got playmakers on defense, they were flying around. They had some guys on the back end that gloved guys up. They beat Rice convincingly, it wasn't even close.

"Offensively, their quarterback (Hunter Watson), I think he won a national championship in junior college. Good runner, good passer. They had a big receiver (Qua-Vez Humphreys) back, I think it was injured the year before.

"They look like a solid team, special teams also. So this will be a good test for us. We're looking forward to it.

"We practiced last night. We really focused on cleaning up, really focused on us. We made a lot of mistakes in that first game, really in all three phases. And so we really worked on the corrections and focused on us. And then, of course, today, we're transitioning into Sam Houston."

Coach, when you look at KJ Jefferson and his first start last Thursday, looking at the film, what stood out to you, especially early on? Was it maybe first-game jitters? What are you looking for this week for him to improve going into start No. 2?

"Yeah, it was a combination. I mean, it's his first rodeo, any time that you got a new offense with new teammates. We didn't do a great job around him early either.

"We hit Johnny (Richardson) right down the seam. We didn't hit him, we overthrew him, and we had a bust up front in our protection. We had a chance to get off to a better start with that. He didn't play his best the first quarter. He knows that and he'll respond.

"Second half, he settled down. You could see that, and that was good. And he'll get more and more comfortable each game out. The great thing about KJ, he's a veteran. He's been there and done that. And so really looking forward to watching him play this weekend."

Myles Montgomery said the running backs group is a bunch of alpha males. What did you see from that unit now that you got a chance to look at the tape and everything?

"We got four real guys. I think they're all a little bit different, which I think is good. We're going to have the luxury this year to keep guys fresh. And I think you saw a little bit of that. Even Peny Boone came in the second half and busted off a really long run right there.

"There were good things. They did a good job playing without the ball. They did a good job catching the bal, too. And they protected the ball. So it was a good outing from our running backs."

Coach, you mentioned the first game. This is where you really hand the keys to the players, let them start to lead a little bit more on the field. That's when you hope to see the biggest improvement. How well do you think that transition went, and what do you think they have to work on?

"Well, first of all, our players, I think did an outstanding job the way we handled ourselves on the field, on the sideline. We didn't face a lot of adversity. It was a little bit uncomfortable when it was early, but nobody was acting like somebody stole their lunch and all that stuff. We had bright eyes. We'll get it done next series. Guys complimented each other.

"You're talking about 50 new players, how they'll respond. And so I was pleased with that. The penalties, we had three. We got to correct that. But that's a completely different story than it was last year. So there was a lot of good things to build upon.

"The execution, I always say that's on coaches. We got to coach guys better to get the execution. They just need to line up, play hard, play physical, and have great body language, be a great teammate. We're looking forward to watching these guys, and we do need to improve from game one to game two."

How do you evaluate your pass rush for the first game?

"I thought we did a good job. They were getting (the ball) out pretty quick. And, you know, a lot of times when you play a lesser opponent, they're going to get it out. And we did hit the quarterback quite a few times, but give them credit, man. He was getting the ball out, and we had pretty good coverage, too."

What do you think the team needs to execute more against Sam Houston?

"Just execute. As far as defense goes, whatever it's called, we need to execute it. Be cleaner as far as that goes offensively. And there's a lot of things that, looking on that film, we got to clean up. And our guys understand that. We're working hard to do that. But really the execution part, the physical approach offensively, I thought we could have been more physical, really, in a lot of different positions. So we're going to keep building up on that, too."

You mentioned Sam Houston's performance last week. They struggled to score last year. So what stood out in the way they were able to hit the ground running offensively and score quick in that game?

"Yeah. I'm not for sure about last year, but you turn the film on from Saturday night, and like I said, I watched it on TV, too. They got a really solid group. Starts with the quarterback. I was impressed with him. Offensive line looked solid. The receivers are fast guys and good running backs. They've got a good offensive team.

"That head coach, you look at his history. He knows how to coach offense."

You said last week that you wanted the defense to make the crowd go, 'ooh.' Did you see that?

"Yeah, I thought so. There was one on our sideline I was real impressed with. There's no doubt about that. Guys were hungry to get to the ball. When you turn the film on, I think we played physical. On the back end, penalty free. In the secondary, I thought we had some good coverage on the guys and gloved those guys up pretty good."

I think at Big 12 Media Day you said Deshawn Pace could be an NFL guy. He made a major impact in this past game. Talk about what his addition means to your linebacker corps.

"Yeah, he's a playmaker. He's been doing that all through fall camp. He's had a couple pick sixes, and he just knows. He's played a lot of football. He knows how to make plays. Playmakers do that, and so I wasn't surprised all that happened."

You have a lot of great wide receivers. They didn't really get involved as much on Saturday. How do you make sure that they stay involved when they're even not getting the ball?

"That's part of being a receiver. The big thing for me is we got some guys that can catch the ball. There'll be games that every one of those guys will be reliable, but we got to play physical is what we got to do. We got to block. We got to play without the ball, and really, that's what I'm really focusing on because there'll be times all of them will help us with the ball."

Coach, in special teams, you had to blocked punt for safety. Xavier Townsend was all over the place moving well. What did you think of special teams?

"Yeah, we watched every special teams rep yesterday. I'm encouraged with that group. We have a chance to be better on special teams since anytime I've been here before because our personnel. It's just a matter of us getting better. All 11, everything they got, every play out there as far as physically, mentally, emotionally.

"Xavier Townsend's got a chance to be one of the better returners in all of college football, but we got to do a great job, and that needs to be a strength of ours this year. So we're still growing towards that. I think our guys want that, but we got to do it on Saturdays."

Gus, overall health for your team coming out of the game this past week?

"Yeah, we're all pretty good. Everybody practiced and all that, so that's always a good thing. We got a chance to see some of the younger guys play, and you can see we have more depth. We put our twos in there, and there wasn't a crazy drop-off. The last series on defense, we played just about everybody. It was good to get some of those other guys some reps."

Coach, was the team as disciplined as you would have liked to see against New Hampshire?

"I think so with the three penalties. Obviously, we had the face mask right there with that. We had the late hit, and then we we had a delay of game on the field goal, which that's inexcusable with that. But compared to last year, we took steps. We're still not there, but we took steps in the right direction."

How do you evaluate blocking and tackling in this game?

"Tackling, I thought we were swarming to the ball, and that's really a big part. We focused more on tackling this fall camp probably than combined the previous years here.

"Not just defensive guys, but offensive guys for special teams with tackling circuits and everything, and I thought for the most part we tackled well. The physicality, we have to keep building upon that offensively at every position, so we'll keep working on that."

Coach, what would you say impressed you the most about last week's win, and what do you want to see improve the most going into this game?

"Yeah, just our players, their overall attitude, their overall approach, you know, being a team. This day in college football, the more team that you can be, you'll have a big advantage as the season goes on, so we got to continue that, but for the first game, I liked our players' approach."

Considering the success you've had running the ball in past years and certainly last Thursday, does it make it more a priority to get the passing game in rhythm quickly against Sam Houston?

"Well, it just depends on how each game unfolds. The bottom line is being able to take what a defense gives you. And you're exactly right. We're going to be able to run the football, but defenses know that. When they bring extra guys down, you got to be able to throw the football, and so we need to be balanced. There's no doubt, against stronger opponents like this week, you're going to have to be more balanced. There's no doubt about that."

Caden Kitler at center. This is his third year here, but his first year going into a season knowing he's the starter. How would you evaluate him?

"I thought he did a solid job. He doesn't seem like a young guy anymore. He is really taking charge. He's trying to play more physical, and he knows more what's going on, so been real proud of his progress through fall camp and even through the other night."

Ladarius Tennison got the punt block. He also had a really big block on the opening kickoff. What does it say where a veteran has that kind of work ethic on special teams?

"Last year, he was one of the better special teams guys in the country, and that just carried over. I mean, he's a heat-seeking missile on defense and special teams. When I had him as a true freshman, he was one of our better special teams player as a true freshman, so he's got the it factor as far as that goes."

Coach, you said you had a chance to watch Sam Houston this weekend. Did you watch a lot of football, and what kind of stood out to you about this new year and new age of college football?

"A lot of the head coaches are communicating, 'Hey, what was it like from your standpoint? Was there anything you did different than what we did and all that?' And just trying to find the best ways, all right, to eliminate the growing pains and be more efficient.

"You know, having the tablets, the quality of football should be higher across college football because you're actually putting eyes on it and what's there, what's not there, what adjustments. Now, the defense is the same way, and I think sometimes it's going to be maybe more of an advantage for the defense than it will be the offense. And being able to predict what they're about to do.

"If somebody's coming open, the quarterback doesn't throw it to them, well, guess what's going to happen the next series? They're going to throw it to that guy. So you just have to have that ability. It's a different deal coaching right now.

"And then the communication with your quarterback or your linebacker. What is the right amount of information? According to how your quarterback is comfortable with the offense, a veteran guy, all that. Then the defense, same way. We actually play fast, so you can talk to the quarterback just about every play. Very rarely was it under 15.

"So it's just finding that balance. I know for the guys in my tree, we try to communicate and I've asked them, hey, what they went through.

"I think the biggest deal is halftime. Halftime, you got to really have it together because the old days at halftime, you had your routine and it was set 15 years ago. Now everything's a little bit different. How much time are you going to evaluate through flipping through? How much evaluating are you going to do for third downs, base downs? And so each week, you know, we just got to get cleaner in that area. So that's a new deal for the coaches."

How many guys are in your tree that you talk to?

"Oh, I don't know. There's a few. I'm getting old."

Obviously, you're focused on winning this week, but it's the last non-conference game before you start diving into Big 12 play. Is there an urgency to clean up a lot of these mistakes?

"Honestly, yeah. All we're focused on is us and getting better this week, whether it's a conference game or not. Now we're playing a quality opponent. I think everybody knows that. This isn't your normal non-conference team. This team looks to me like they could be in the mix of winning the conference after one game. At least that's what it looks like on film.

"So we're worried about getting better and we're not looking ahead to conference games. I mean, we're going to have our hands full and really, I'm excited that we're playing a quality opponent. Let's see if we can improve from week one to week two."

Colton Boomer ended last season with the yips. What would you say about his performance against New Hampshire?

"He's back to being him. That's what he is and you can see that, just a different approach. In his defense last year, you got to understand. When he was a freshman, he had great success. Well, we asked him to kick off last year, okay, and field goals. And that may not seem like a lot, but that's a whole lot. And so just everything that goes with that.

"If you've ever played golf and you have one bad swing, the same way with a kicker. So it was a lot of all of the above. Well, we tried to be wiser with him this year. I know I'm starting to be more of a sport psychologist for him like I was his freshman year.

"He's back to being himself. I thought it was really good that he actually made a field goal when the clock ran out, we had to move it back five (yards), and he made it again. I think that's really big.

"He'll win games for us this year. There's no doubt. And so I was really excited to see him. He kicked off a few times too. And we'll try to see where that goes and we'll see if we can take a little more off of him as the season goes on."

Coach, you mentioned getting the twos out there. Jacurri Brown got a chance to play quarterback. What did you see from him in his limited experience out there?

"There's nothing like going out there and playing. He had a couple of things he'd like to have back and all that, but he was out there playing and getting quality experience.

"You got to keep in mind, he's not played a lot of football even though he's in his third year and all that. So just getting out there and seeing what it feels like, the communication, a new offense too.

"In college football, you see all these quarterbacks that are new. I mean, like, that's hard. When you put a new offense in, you got new teammates and you actually go out and play another opponent, you got to adjust and everybody's got to be clean around you. So those new quarterbacks, not just our quarterback, but I really believe that each week those guys will be more and more comfortable, especially the veterans that have played really, really good in the past."

Join the UCFSports.com Community! 30-Day free trial using promo code 30RIVALS during sign-up.

Visit the Dungeon for more news and discussion with other UCF fans.