The journey to UCF's inaugural Big 12 season has begun.

The Knights hit the practice fields on Monday for their first workout of preseason camp. Afterward, head coach Gus Malzahn gave an address to the media. Here's a recap:

In his opening statement, Malzahn said it was a "helmet only" practice with no pads.

"The focus was about meeting the standard and learning how to practice," Malzahn said. "Learning to count on each other. Overall, I really like how our team responded. I think we got better in that area. Tomorrow will be another helmet only and we'll be pushing to correct the things we need to do. The attitude was good for the first day. Guys are trying to do what's asked."

Gus was asked whether it "feels different" moving into the Big 12.

"We're focused on us right now," Malzahn said. "Our key is gonna be us being a close team. Counting on the guy beside us. We're going on the road six times. We're going up a level in competition. There's a good chance there's going to be a lot of close games in the fourth quarter. Our goal in this fall camp is to develop that trust, so when the game is on the line we can count on the guy besides us and everybody is together."

To that end, do you "prepare any differently?"

"We'll work on more end-of-the-game scenarios than we would normally," Malzahn said. "We've got some competition going on too. That's the good thing. Depth wise, we have a lot more depth than we've had the last two years. Once we identify through the first scrimmage and possibly the second scrimmage, we'll work on a lot different scenarios in regards to end of the game."

Gus was asked about the fact UCF is one of the top Big 12 teams in terms of returning offensive production.

"That's good, but like I told our players we haven't earned anything yet. We're going into a new conference. We're taking it day by day and worrying about getting ourselves better."

Kicker Colton Boomer missed spring practice with an ankle injury. He's now full go.

"He did solid today," Malzahn said. "He's been back full speed for a month. We don't expect him to be any different than he was last year."

Is there a timeline to name a starting quarterback?

"JR is our starting quarterback," Malzahn said, referring to John Rhys Plumlee. "I feel like he's in position to be one of the better quarterbacks in all of college football. This is his team. We've got competition for our backup and third and all that, but we're going with JR."

Asked about objectives this week, Malzahn said he's taking things "day by day."

"We have a goal tomorrow to be better and correct the things we did. When you get in pads, it's a little bit more about football. And that's day three (Wednesday). We'll transition more into the execution part."