UCF Coach Emphasizes Detail Ahead Of Big 12 Home Opener

UCF coach Scott Frost said during his weekly press conference Monday that it fell upon him that the Knights "didn't execute very well" in their loss to Kansas State.

"We just didn't keep drives going and give ourselves opportunity to hit big plays often enough, didn't protect long enough, made some bad decisions. Our plan going in was to try to keep the defense off the field, and it completely went the other way on us, and the defense played well for a long stretch of that game," Frost said. "We just left them on the field too long and gave them opportunities that we didn't have, but all that comes down to a little better execution on offense, and we keep some drives going and give ourselves chances to call more plays that eventually hit. It's the detail, and usually, when you're not really experienced, the detail can be lacking, so we got a fast track."

The way offensive coordinator Steve Cooper described it, the offense could not find a rhythym during the first half.

"Typically, we get a couple conversions on the first series of the game, and then you kind of get off and rolling and find a rhythm, but that's just something we have to learn from," Cooper said on Tuesday. "There's plenty of opportunities in the first half to get in a rhythm, and we didn't play our best, and that was every position across the board."

Running back Myles Montgomery said following the Kansas State game that it was "a learning experience, more than it is heartbreak," but that the Knights could not afford to start slow, especially during away games.

"We want to win every game, but the reality is that's hard," Montgomery said. "It's really hard to do. So, the only thing you could do is look at it with a fine-toothed comb and figure out where we can get better at."

For his unit's part, offensive lineman Carter Miller said it needed to "come off the ball harder" and "harder with lower pad level," which would be worked on in practice.

However, despite the setback in Manhattan, Miller remains optimistic ahead of the Knights' Big 12 home opener on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Kansas.

"We can come in and any given Saturday, you know, we can win any ball game that we're in," Miller said. "We just got to correct the details. We got to fix little things and have a great week of practice for Kansas."

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