Scrimmage Update with Gus Malzahn

Saturday was a scrimmage day inside the Bounce House for Gus Malzahn's football team. The Knights are heading into the final phase of spring practice with the spring game coming up next Friday.

"Good scrimmage today," Malzahn said afterward. "The weather was perfect. We had a lot of our top boosters there. The atmosphere was great. Offensively, we did some good things. Randy Pittman and Trent Whittemore had touchdown passes from KJ Jefferson. Ran the ball a little bit more than we did the scrimmage before. Ricky Barber on defense really stood out with what he did. I think he had two sacks and played in the backfield. Had a couple turnovers.

"Big picture, I do like where we're at as a whole. Our defense is flying around and making plays. It was really good the offense ran a little bit more today to see stopping the run and blocking for the run."

KJ Jefferson wasn't allowed to be tackled, but the other quarterbacks were. Malzahn says the former Arkansas quarterback is becoming well acclimated to his new team.

"The meshing with the teammates, definitely," Malzahn said. "He's getting more and more comfortable with the offense each time we go out there. Obviously he's in a gold (no-contact) jersey. I like his approach. I think his teammates are doing a good job around him too."

Spring is always the big evaluation period and Malzahn said they've been experimenting with different lineups to see how players respond.

"With our ones and twos, we've mixed and matched," Malzahn said. "We wanted to see some of the twos go with the ones and vice versa. The young guys, some of them have moved up from working with the threes, two and ones. It's been really good. We're learning a lot about our guys. Overall, I think we're in a good spot in all three phases."

What's the biggest difference from last year?

"I would say probably quality depth," Malzahn said. "That's probably the thing that stands out. We've got some playmakers on defense that have played a lot of football and played successfully. Then some offensive guys we've brought in too that have played a lot of football. Probably the veterans. That's what I really feel like sticking out the most on both sides of the football. That's always a good thing."

Asked about offensive line vs. defensive line during the scrimmage, Malzahn noted he liked what the defense did at times.

"There was a really good play on the goal line by one of our linebackers," Malzahn said. "Ricky Barber had two sacks and played in the back field all day."

Is the competition at center becoming clearer?

"Caden Kitler has been doing a very solid job," Malzahn said. "Jabari Brooks, he's playing. Waltclaire (Flynn), we moved him up. He's been with the twos the whole week. He got some reps with the ones today. We're still in the process of determining that. Caden Kitler has got the majority of the reps with the ones."

Beyond RJ Harvey, Johnny Richardson and Myles Montgomery have been seeing the most action among running backs.

"I thought they made some good runs," Malzahn said. "There were a couple explosive runs, a smoke draw and things like that. We ran a little more gap than we did last week. That's always good for the defense too with the fits. Our running backs did a solid job."

Malzahn said the spring game format will be similar to last year.

"We'll go two 12-minute quarters, just like a regular football game," he said. "I know we have some fan experiences with kicking and catching things. We'll have fun with it. It'll be pretty good football for a good half and then after half we'll have more of the games like fastest man, strongest arm, those type of things. A little bit more fun for the fans. We've got a little surprise for everybody too."

Wide receiver Kobe Hudson was dinged up during the first week of spring, so UCF made the decision to hold him out for the duration. That's allowed more opportunity for the others.

"We're being very wise with (Hudson)," Malzahn said. "He's going to be fine long term. We've been able to get some of those guys developed too. Jarrad Baker has had a really solid spring. Chauncey Magwood has had a solid spring. Xavier Townsend, we're moving him around to all positions. He's playing some X to the boundary. He's a guy we've got to get the ball to. It's been good for him to get those other positions down in the spring."

Has one position group stepped up this spring?

"If I had to pick one, the linebackers," Malzahn said. "We have quality depth at linebacker. The physicality and everything that goes with it, that group is really standing out in a good way from my standpoint."