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The next football game for the UCF Knights will take them to the state of Tennessee to play the Memphis Tigers on Nov. 5. Which quarterback will be behind center for the first offensive snap for the Knights?
When starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee left the game with what was presumed to be a concussion, there were many questions about the UCF offense. Moving to today, just four days ahead of the Knights playing the Tigers, not much more is yet known about Plumlee’s status.
“Yeah, we’re just going to go day-to-day with it,” head coach Gus Malzahn answered about Plumlee’s status during Monday’s press conference. “We’re going to go check on him in a little bit. I know he’s been with the trainers and all that. So we’ll just take it day-by-day this week. We’ll see where he’s at (for Saturday’s game).”
That's not much to go on, but it is an expected answer. With modern protocols in place to protect players from further injuries in general, let alone a concussion that impacts the human brain, college football coaches have all but been eliminated from making decisions about a player coming back to practice or a game.
That does place things in a unique situation for Malzahn, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, as well as the entire UCF offense. There needs to be a direct answer about whether it will be Plumlee or Mikey Keene being the starting quarterback versus Memphis.
Playing quarterback is about rhythm. Not just the signal caller being in a rhythm, but everyone in the offense being in a groove with a quarterback’s passing, hand offs (remember Keene’s missed hand off in the red zone versus Cincinnati?), and all the intricacies of that person handling the football and making decisions.
Thankfully Keene is accustomed to working with the offense and has 10 games of starting experience dating back to the 2021 season, plus the time versus Cincinnati this past game. Barring something unforeseen, this week’s UCF practice schedule is going to need to be primarily based on Keene handling the snaps.
Note: This is one man’s opinion. It’s just hard to imagine Plumlee getting full clearance already after that hit against Cincinnati.
Regardless of whether it ends up being Plumlee or Keene, that player needs all the No. 1 quarterback reps during practice this week. That’s how football works.
A quarterback cannot truly have enough passes thrown to his intended targets during a week of practice, and a short week with Plumlee coming back, on say Wednesday or Thursday, just doesn't cut it. That’s why it’s a good bet that Keene is the starter versus Memphis.
He's healthy and ready to roll, so he's the likely starting quarterback.
Yes, that’s speculation. It’s still grounded in logic. Let’s see how it all shakes out. Hopefully there’s already clarity with the starting quarterback and the game plan is already soaking in with all of the offensive players.
At the very least, it’s been proven that Keene can be thrown into the fire and do well. He should be even better while practicing throughout the week as the No. 1 quarterback while UCF prepares to play at Memphis.
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