Blue White Illustrated

on hold Saturday "You have to apBILL BELTON night when the proach this game Knights visit just like any other Beaver Stadium for game. You don't a 6 p.m. kickoff in want to get too front of a White high, you don't Out student secwant to get too low. tion. You want to make "This is UCF vs. sure you're nice Penn State," and calm." O'Leary said. While UCF's of"This has nothing fense carries the to do with us. banner, its defense [O'Brien] knows can't be overthat. I'll say hello to him before the game looked. The Knights have only surrenand say, 'Stay healthy,' after the game. dered one touchdown this season and Otherwise, it's all business." shut out Florida International in their O'Leary's squad is led by junior quar- most recent game. FIU only rushed for 31 terback Blake Bortles. Bortles was listed yards. on almost every preseason award watch O'Leary is still trying to gauge the callist that acknowledges the country's top iber of his pass defense, which has been QBs, and on Tuesday O'Brien referred to difficult to evaluate considering that FIU him as a "pro prospect." Not a bad plug, and Akron weren't necessarily passsince it came from a former NFL offen- happy offenses, but UCF has a developsive coordinator. ing pass rusher in Deion Green, a 2012 So far, Bortles has lived up to his repu- Conference USA All-Freshman team tation. In UCF's first two games, both member. Green has tallied two sacks so victories, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder far this season and is expected to cause averaged 264 yards and two touchdowns. problems for Penn State's offensive line. Perhaps more remarkable, however, is "UCF is going to be a tough matchup, " the fact that Bortles hasn't thrown an in- junior running back Bill Belton said. "It's terception since Oct. 27, 2012. That is 217 probably the best team that we've played pass attempts without a pick, a program so far, so we're going into it this week record. And as a team, UCF has yet to preparing for them. They look tough. turn the ball over this season. They're big, and it's going to be a physical The sure-handed talent that surrounds matchup." Bortles is what helps him be so effective. O'Brien had similar comments, specifTailback Storm Johnson, a Miami (Fla.) ically about UCF's physicality. The imtransfer, helps take the pressure off with portance of a team's physicality, he said, his 4.9-yards-per-carry average. He's was one of the two most significant lesalso a receiving threat coming out of the sons that he took away from his experibackfield, while Bortles distributes the ence as an assistant under O'Leary. ball evenly among four receivers: Rannell "When you don't have that," O'Brien Hall, Breshad Perriman, J.J. Worton and said, "then you're going to struggle. " Jeff Godfrey. The combination of offenIn addition, UCF is expected be much sive weapons has helped UCF score faster and play with more intensity than touchdowns in 48 percent (10 of 21) of its last week's opponent, Eastern Michigan. offensive possessions (not counting the And it's probably going to pack a little final, kneel-down drive of the previous more of a punch and play with more of an two games). edge than week one opponent Syracuse. Penn State's secondary is expecting its "Our players had better be ready to most difficult challenge of its young sea- come and show up for a physical football son when Bortles and company visit game, because this won't be a game for University Park. the faint of heart," said O'Brien, before "It'll just test our coaching and the film giving one last recognition to the opposstudy that we put in throughout the ing head coach. "That's a Coach O'Leary week, senior safety Malcolm Willis said. trademark. " " "UCF is going to be a tough matchup. It's probably the best team that we've played so far." S E P T E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 3 2 BWI'S FORECAST NATE BAUER 2013 RECORD 2-0 The lack of penalties and turnovers indicates that UCF doesn't make mistakes. PSU will have to play its best game of the young season, which might be asking too much. It's a tossup on paper, but home field advantage could swing it slightly in PSU's favor. PENN STATE 24, UCF 23 PHIL GROSZ 2013 RECORD 2-0 UCF has a future NFL QB and two of the most explosive WRs in the nation. It will be PSU's toughest test of the season and we'll find out on Saturday how good its defense really is. PENN STATE 35, UCF 24 MATT HERB 2013 RECORD 2-0 What makes the difference when two teams of roughly equal strength meet? Turnovers. The Nittany Lions made a bunch in their first two games, while UCF makes hardly any. PSU is hoping to get a lift from the White Out atmosphere, but Bortles and company don't appear to be easily rattled. The Lions are young at some key spots and are going to make mistakes, but if they lose the turnover battle decisively this week, they're going to have a tough time staying undefeated. UCF 27, PENN STATE 24 TIM OWEN 2013 RECORD 2-0 Don't underestimate the amount of raw talent on the Knights' roster. Their RB was a four-star recruit and their QB will likely play on Sundays. And so far this season, they haven't turned over the football. Penn State has. UCF 27, PENN STATE 23 RYAN SNYDER 2013 RECORD 2-0 I think this is a bigger game for UCF than PSU. Look for the Knights to come out swinging and put up points early. PSU will begin to make a comeback, but turnovers will eventually doom the Nittany Lions. UCF 35, PENN STATE 21 B L UEW HI T E ON L I N E .COM

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