Scrimmage Update with Gus Malzahn

UCF was back in the Bounce House on Saturday for their first scrimmage of spring. All in all, a very successful day according to head coach Gus Malzahn.

"It was close to 100 plays," Malzahn said. "We had the emphasis on trying to throw the ball vertically and playing fast. We rotated everybody. Everybody got a chance to play, all three groups. Defense did a really good job stopping the run. That was an emphasis this spring.

"Offense made some explosive plays down the field. Had a few touchdowns, which was really good. Watching those receivers do their thing. Overall, no serious injuries. That's real important. We did some special teams in the middle, live punt/punt return reps. That's good for the new guys, just making sure and confirming everything. We did some live field goal at the beginning.

"Overall, the energy was really good. I let the quarterbacks, all but KJ (Jefferson) go live. There's nothing like that. KJ is a veteran and has played a lot of football and all that. The other guys did a good job. I think the defense had two or three turnovers which is always good. Overall, I think it was a really good scrimmage with the defense doing some good things and the offense doing some good things. I'm not going to say either side really won. It was just a good overall evaluation scrimmage."

Saturday was also the first opportunity for transfer quarterback KJ Jefferson to play wit his new teammates in a competitive environment.

"He's got really good command of the offense," Malzahn said. "The game is slow for him. He knows. There's nothing like getting out there with the coaches on the sideline, taking charge of an offense with the communication. He did a really good job with that. Did a really good job moving and directing the offense."

UCF rotated the other quarterbacks among the other teams.

"They've done a really good job," Malzahn said. "Timmy (McClain) and Dylan (Rizk), you can tell they're a step ahead from where they were last year. Letting them play football today was really good. It'll be really good competition. Riley (Trujillo) got a chance to play significant time (today) really for the first time all spring. He did some good things too. It was good for him to get out there and experience what it feels like."

Malzahn was impressed with the defensive line and linebackers.

"Running back wise, we held RJ Harvey," Malzahn said. "He was limited for the most part. Not because of anything other than being wise. I thought the defensive line did a really good job. Our linebackers did a really good job vs. the run. There was some really good timing with the blitzes. They disrupted a lot of things up front in the run game."

With RJ Harvey seeing less reps, that afforded more opportunity for the other running backs including Johnny Richardson and newcomer Myles Montgomery, who is a transfer from Cincinnati.

"Johnny is Johnny," Malzahn said. "He's a real running back. Everybody knows that. Myles is a very physical guy. You can tell he's a veteran. He's real competitive. He made a couple really good north/south runs, finished some runs which is really good. Kam Ingram, he got some good work today with the twos. I think he even got in there once with the ones. He's been coming on and doing a good job."

With the influx of experienced transfers on the defensive side, Malzahn says you can certainly feel the veteran leadership.

"You can sense it when you're over there," Malzahn said. "Experience, confidence... There's some playmakers over there too."

With Javon Baker moving on to the NFL and UCF opting to rest Kobe Hudson, the other wide receivers will have ample chances to impress. Malzahn liked what he saw today from Xavier Townsend.

"X pulled his hamstring before spring practice, so he's been coming back," Malzahn said. "He did a really good job today with a couple explosive pass plays. He's not 100 percent, but he's a guy we can move around and do some things with. He had a good day."

Asked about standout plays within the scrimmage, Malzahn liked the multiple sacks on the quarterback. Offensively, there were several explosive touchdown passes. The defense also disrupted the run game.

"Each quarterback did a few good things with touchdown passes," Malzahn said.

The next scrimmage is scheduled for next Saturday.