UCF is a couple plays away from being undefeated, but instead has dropped two of their last three games by a total of four points. During his bye week availability, head coach Josh Heupel reflected on last week's setback at Cincinnati, areas that need to improve and also talked about where the focus should be as they enter the second half of the season.
On a bye week when you're not necessariliy game planning for the next opponent, what do you work on?
"You get a little into the following week, but a lot of it is getting a lot of good work. Getting back to some of your fundamentals and technique stuff. Getting some guys healthy too and getting work for your young guys as well."
How much is this week evaluation?
"Some of it is. I think every week is. Based on what you saw the previous game, how guys performed, how guys are practicing. That's why you see different guys getting more opportunities or less opportunities from week to week."
What has been the focus for you as far as fixes?
"At the end of the day, you look at the two losses. We end up on the wrong side of it, four points. It comes down to turnovers. Lost the turnover battle, 6-2. In those situations, it comes down to red zone. Taking care of the football. Penalties in the red zone, getting ride of those. And being able to run the football a little bit better down there."
When you look at the red zone, what can be done to increase the efficiency?
"Run the ball better. Penalties have gotten us behind the chains. Taking care of the football. All those things add up to us not performing as well as we need to in those situations in the couple games that we've lost."
After the game you said you hadn't considered putting Darriel Mack in. What goes into your decision?
"At the time, what you feel like is giving you the best opportunity to go score points and win a football game."
Has the performance of the offensive line maybe been a little surprising with the way they've struggled handling different fronts?
"Yes and no. Last week, front, coverage was completely different than anything we anticipated or had seen on tape. At times, I felt like early in the game they actually did some really good things. We didn't do it consistently enough. We've got 56 plays, whatever it is, in the first half. Got 16 points to show for it. That tells you there were some opportunities we probably squandered. Second half we come out, I say it all the time, sometimes you guys probably don't believe what I'm saying, but it's a fine line. You start your first two drives with two penalties. First and 20, first and 22. It's hard to move the chains at that point. It's not a major overhaul. There's some things we've got to correct. We'll do that this week and continue to push for those as we go through the season."
What kind of adjustments did you make on offense when you saw they presented different things on defense?
"Changes to some of your route combinations. Changes in your run schemes. Not perfectly, but I thought staff and players did some really positive things as far as adjustments early in the football game."
Two weeks without Randy Charlton. What can you tell us about his status?
"Hoping to get him back here in the following week after this bye week."
What kind of improvement do you want to see out of Dillon Gabriel after a loss like this for a true freshman?
"Whether he's a true freshman or not, at the end of the day, take care of the football. That's important. I made the point in the team meeting room. It's not just him. There's other pieces of the puzzle. Protection. Wide receivers on routes. You watch that game unfold and there's multiple things that cause turnovers. Using his feet a little bit more, to be honest. Opportunities in the red zone to use his feet. In particular on third downs, escaping and making plays with his feet."
For where this team is on their journey, what does the open date do for them?
"As always, it gives you an opportunity to catch your breath. Analyze where you're at. Do some self scout in all three phases of the game. Also judge your personnel. Get some guys healthy. Get yourself ready for the second half of the season."
Without the opportunity for the team to get back on the winning track this week, do you worry about a lingering effect from the loss?
"It will for our fanbase. As competitors in the athletic arena, you've got to move on. And that's when it's going really well or you lose the previous game. That's the reality of where we're at. At practice today, guys had great energy and great focus. Practiced hard. Anticipate that as we continue."
Did you have a message to the guys this week, coming off the loss, making sure it doesn't spiral out.
"One, our guys are really competitive. You see that during the course of play. Nobody gave up. They continued to fight in all three phases of the game. Not perfectly, but continued to play and played hard. Our football team is resilient. They'll come back. They are competitive. They will continue to compete. I expect that this week in practice and I expected that in the previous weeks.
"At the end of the day, we're four points away from having a different record. Who controls that? We do. I'm talking about our entire program. Coaches, players, everybody inside of the building. We are where we are. We're there because of us. We have a choice. You can either lay down and quit. Or you're going to get back up and go fight. Our guys are fighters. We'll be ready."
How do you use the bye week to reflect on your performance and your coaches' performance?
"You evaluate it every week. Not just the bye week, but every week."
Do the players get a chance to go home or take a break this week?
"They will on the back end of the week. Coaches will be recruiting at the end of the week. You play a Friday night game, so the guys had a long weekend. Longer than usual I should say."
What changes when you're not in control of your season goals anymore? You need other pieces to fall.
"In reality, you're not in control of it. We talked about that. Look at the conference championship games and how many undefeated teams have been in them? We don't control that. Are there things still to play for? Absolutely. The only thing we can control is today which prepares us for our next opportunity. That is the message every single week. Whether you win or whether you lose. The message doesn't change inside of our building. If your message has to change based on a previous result, it's probably not a real sound message."
