UCF running back Otis Anderson admits Cincinnati caught them off guard by employing a completely new defensive look they specifically designed for last week's game.
The Bearcats weren't the first team to try something different, but were the most successful. They took away UCF's bread and butter of deep balls and run game, while forcing four turnovers in the process. As a result, UCF had their lowest scoring output since 2016 and also saw their American Athletic Conference winning streak of 19 games come to an end.
"That's something we deal with a lot," Anderson said. "Not just them. A lot of teams come out with a completely different package just to deal with the different ways we can attack them. They had a great scheme. That's something we didn't expect to see. We've been practicing against four down (linemen). We had a couple three down plays in, but that was only for special occasions. For them to come out in a 3-3-5, that caught us off guard. Their players are pretty big. Their linebackers were able to fill gaps in the run game. They had a nickel that looked like the size of a d-end. They had a pretty good package. It was something we didn't expect. We went into halftime and made a few adjustments... I don't feel we lost. We just ran out of time."
Many players, Anderson included, had only known perfect regular seasons at UCF so this is new territory for some.
"We don't like losing," he said. "I think we've got a team full of sore losers. I feel like that's the best way to have a team, honestly. You don't want to lose. You're going to do everything you can to win. This bye week came at a perfect time. We have people that are getting over nicks and bruises. We're not killing each other in practice. We're making sure we're getting the mental things done. This bye week came out a perfect time. We need it. We need to come together as a brotherhood."
