UCF will make a significant jump in competition Saturday when the Knights travel to Pittsburgh for their first road game of the season.<\/p>\n
The Panthers opened their season with an offensive explosion, routing Miami (Ohio) 59-14 behind a record-setting performance from quarterback Mason Heintschel. The sophomore completed 31 of 41 passes for 453 yards and seven touchdowns, tying Pittsburgh\u2019s single-game school record, with all seven scores going to different receivers.<\/p>\n
After cruising to a 73-6 win over Bethune-Cookman in its opener, UCF now gets a much better indication of where it stands against a Pitt team Frost called \u201cone of our toughest tests all year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s everything Frost had to say at his Monday press conference: <\/p>\n
After reviewing the film from last Thursday night against Bethune-Cookman, what were your ultimate takeaways and what do you see as the biggest need for improvement?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think overall it was a pretty good performance. It\u2019s kind of what we asked them to do. They played really hard and fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe execution was pretty good. There\u2019s still obviously things we can get better at, but I thought it was a really good first game in regards to what we asked the guys to show up and try to do in Game 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
Were there some areas you saw that needed to improve or be refined heading into Pittsburgh?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean that\u2019s going to be the case all year. There\u2019s going to be things in each game that we look back at and say, \u2018We\u2019ve got to get better at this.\u2019 Every game\u2019s going to be harder than the first one.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot a ton of respect for Coach Narduzzi and Pitt, and I think this will be one of our toughest tests all year. So we\u2019re going to have to be ready to play at a really high level and we\u2019re going to need a higher level of execution than we had last week.\u201d<\/p>\n
You guys are riding a nine-game road losing streak. How do you break that? How do you shake that off and try to find ways to win on the road?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to make a big deal out of that. Half of that didn\u2019t have anything to do with me. Most of it doesn\u2019t have to do with most of our players.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a coaching staff, we\u2019re going to look for the best way to get our guys ready. You guys can make a big deal of it. It doesn\u2019t have anything to do with our players. They weren\u2019t here last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of them weren\u2019t here two years ago. So this is a completely different team, and we\u2019ll do the best we can to get them prepared and go try to play our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
What are the challenges of going on the road and facing a team like Pitt?<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think the quality of the opponent is the biggest factor, and the quality of our team and being able to play well is the second-biggest factor. I do think our team, with the character of players that we have on this team and the level of competitiveness that we have on this team, I expect a higher level of execution away from home.\u201d<\/p>\n
You mentioned expecting a higher level of execution for a tough matchup. How much more of the playbook are we going to see opened up? How much of it was opened up against Bethune-Cookman?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we try to be unique every week. I think you\u2019ll see different plays every week. We have the majority of what we want to run throughout the year in the playbook right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just depends on what we think are the best things to work week by week. I\u2019ve coached against Coach Narduzzi\u2019s teams a few times. They\u2019ve been unbelievable games and good battles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they do a great job on defense. We\u2019re going to have to try to find some things that can work.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve talked about this team needing to earn respect out on the field. What do you think you accomplished or earned from Thursday\u2019s victory?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we earned much yet. We did what we were supposed to do last Thursday and really nothing more. Our chances to go out and earn anything are still ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your scheduling philosophy? How do you think you benefit from a game like Bethune-Cookman? Would you rather have a tougher opponent in Week 1?<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nothing to do with the scheduling, so I don\u2019t know how my philosophy is relevant. These games were scheduled a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
But if you could, what would you want to play?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s some beauty in some tough games early on, but I also think it\u2019s probably best for the team to get a game under their belt in Week 1 that you\u2019ve got a good chance to win. Hopefully that did enough to prepare us for a tough game Week 2.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every team is different and you\u2019re still learning your team. What did you learn about this team\u2019s identity coming out of Thursday\u2019s game and then looking back at the tape?<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I said, we did what we were supposed to do Thursday. I don\u2019t know how much I\u2019ve learned yet. I think there will be tougher tests, and when we go through some adversity we\u2019ll learn more about our team.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that was Game 1. We played an opponent that we probably should have beat, and we did. We did play really hard and fast, and I think having that identity and embracing that identity is going to be important for us throughout the whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason Heintschel threw seven touchdowns against Miami (Ohio) to seven different receivers. When you look at the tape, what are your first impressions of what Pitt is able to do in the passing game?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, they threw it all over the place. I thought the quarterback played \u2014 Mason played really well. He does a great job extending plays, keeping things alive, running when he has to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they did a good job protecting for him. It\u2019s certainly a different style than we\u2019ve probably seen in a while. These guys have a lot of different pass routes, do a good job protecting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a quarterback that can throw it all over the place. I think we\u2019ve got to earn our right to rush the passer by making sure that we do a good job against the run game, and then try to hold on. They\u2019re certainly going to get their share of passes on you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s what they do. 480 yards and seven touchdowns was like a year for me when I was in college, so it\u2019s impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much do you lean on a veteran secondary in a game like this, especially against a pretty young group of receivers that Pitt has?<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought the receivers, young coming into the year, looked really good in their game. They did a great job with backs out of the backfield and tight ends on pass plays and delays. The quarterback knows when to take a chance with it and when to check it down, so we\u2019re going to have to do a lot of things well to try to slow them down.\u201d<\/p>\n
We know Duane Thomas Jr. didn\u2019t get any action last game. How is it looking for him to be back for Pitt?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a few guys that I think are going to be waiting to see. We haven\u2019t really seen him do anything yet this week, so I don\u2019t really have an update. We\u2019ve got our fingers crossed for DT and RJ Jackson and Bruno (Dall), and it\u2019s too early to tell. We\u2019ve got to see them this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was there anybody further down the depth chart who changed your perception of what their role could be after Thursday?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I was pleased with several performances. Particularly in this era, when you get so many new guys in the portal and through other ways, you\u2019ve got to wait and watch them play before you really see what you have. There were several guys that I thought played up to our expectations or better.\u201d<\/p>\n
With having a general manager in Trent Mossbrucker, how has that helped you better lead this program now a year into his tenure?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think you have to have someone smart there, and you have to have someone on the same page as the head coach as far as what we\u2019re trying to acquire and what we\u2019re trying to build from a roster standpoint to fit what you\u2019re trying to do schematically.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrent, above all else, is a really, really smart guy. I think if the coaching staff or head coach tries to do all of it by himself, I think there\u2019s just too much on your plate to try to get it done at a high level.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I think having him leading into the portal this year certainly gave us an advantage over where we were a year before, and I think it showed up by what we have on our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the difference when you look back over game film from a game situation versus just having training camp film to look at?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s live football. It\u2019s real. The tackling\u2019s live.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to see how guys play in a little bit of heightened, pressure situations. So it\u2019s a game versus practice, and for the most part I thought our players handled it really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Have you seen anyone in particular really flourish in that in-game situation?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I saw a few, like I said, that I thought met or exceeded our expectations. You can look at it as maybe there\u2019s someone that\u2019s going to perform well in those situations, and you can also look at it as maybe they weren\u2019t giving us everything they had in practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s a double-edged sword, and I certainly hope several of those guys keep playing to the level I saw last Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Against Bethune-Cookman, you guys had very few penalties and no pre-snap penalties. Is there something that stood out on film about the discipline with which your team played, and how important is that to keep going?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I thought that was impressive, having so few careless mistakes in that game. I hope that\u2019s a sign of things to come. Obviously the environments and the situations will get harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be in more pressure-filled situations, we\u2019re going to be on the road with more noise, so we\u2019ve got to make sure that we lean on that discipline. It\u2019s definitely better than it has been, and I hope it continues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at the offensive line, what were you pleased with from the performance and what are some areas you\u2019d like to see improvement from that group?<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody looked pretty good in that game, but we were playing a smaller school and we moved people pretty well. These guys this week are going to be a lot harder to move up front, so we\u2019ve got to do it when the other team hits back a little more. But for the most part, I was impressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really impressed with the second and third group when we got other guys in there and how the level of play didn\u2019t fall off very much.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side, the defensive line is facing a quarterback who threw the ball 41 times last week. Is their ability to get pressure on the quarterback maybe the biggest area where the team has to step up from one opponent to the next?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, and pressure isn\u2019t just sacks. Watching their tape, they do a great job of max protect when they\u2019re going to take shots and making it hard to get home. They do a good job of dumping it off when there starts to be pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe certainly works the pocket really well and made a couple really good throws for touchdowns after he broke out of the pocket and started to scramble. Did a great job keeping his eyes downfield and made some really good throws. Making him uncomfortable and keeping him contained is just as important as sacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope we have the guys that are able, at least, to apply some of that pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
What more do you need to see from Alonza Barnett in the step-up game in Week 2?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen Alonza just continually improve and develop into what we want him to be through the course of camp. It\u2019s great that he got his first game under his belt, and I expect him to be even better this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing in an NFL stadium this weekend, what connections do you have to the city of Pittsburgh or the Steelers?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been there several times. I don\u2019t have a ton of connections. Mike Tomlin coached me in Tampa.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of my favorite guys in this business and has been for a long time. He\u2019s not there anymore. I\u2019ve never actually been to the stadium through all my traveling, so it\u2019ll be fun for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was real little when the Pirates won the World Series, and I kind of liked the Willie Stargell-Dave Parker Pirates and the uniforms. I\u2019ve always really liked Roberto Clemente as a baseball guy. I\u2019ve got a friend that is a hockey guy, so I follow the Penguins a little bit. Not a lot of ties to Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n
I know Mike Tomlin isn\u2019t there now, but did he have that spark that made you want to pursue coaching? What was it like playing under him in Tampa Bay?<\/p>\n
\u201cCoaching is funny. As a player, when you play for guys that really make an impact on you, I think that leads players to want to coach. I didn\u2019t really have a lot of interest in coaching or have a plan to coach until my last year and a half or so in Tampa.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris, who was the assistant DB coach. They told me, \u2018Frosty, you need to coach,\u2019 and Raheem gave me my first job. Both those guys are unbelievable coaches and unbelievable people, and I\u2019m grateful to both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
What about the running game? How pleased were you with that from last game, and how do you continue to sustain that success for the rest of the season?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really happy with the run game. We handed off our first run and went 60. That\u2019s not going to happen against good teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we came off the ball and finished blocks a lot better than I\u2019ve seen in the past, so I\u2019m happy with that. Like I said, this team is going to hit back a lot more than the last one did. It was a pretty easy test last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis test is going to get a lot harder, so we\u2019ve got to make sure that our fundamentals and effort match the challenge that\u2019s in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
How about linebacker Lewis Carter? Two game-changing plays in the first two drives, stopping them on third down and then forcing the hit that led to a pick-six. What kind of tone do you expect him to set heading into Pitt and how much has he emerged?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Lew, if he stays healthy and does what I\u2019ve seen him do for a long time, he\u2019s going to be one of the most productive players in our league and beyond this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really excited to see him and Jay Will both show up because they\u2019ve been showing up all through camp. I think those are going to be two guys that make a ton of game-changing plays for us this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Thursday\u2019s game, you met Antoine Griezmann. How much familiarity do you have with his game and what did you know about him? Are you a soccer fan?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m an occasional soccer fan. I love watching the World Cup. I think the pageantry of that is unbelievable.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, he had an unbelievable World Cup in 2018. The game in 2022 was one of the best sporting events I\u2019ve ever watched. I just have a ton of respect for anybody that\u2019s at the top of their game in whatever sport it is.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s certainly accomplished that and become that. It was really cool for me to meet somebody that\u2019s that highly thought of in his sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you have a favorite soccer club you support?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I don\u2019t really have a soccer club I support. I\u2019ll watch it if it\u2019s on. Mostly World Cup and an occasional game.\u201d<\/p>\n
You mentioned you\u2019ve gone up against Coach Narduzzi a few times. Is there a certain identity that his teams have that you can expect this weekend?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey haven\u2019t changed a lot. I think we played him twice when I was at Oregon and he was the DC at Michigan State in 2014 and 2015. We won one, they won one, both at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know what they do. They do it well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of adjustments to keep you guessing. I think the biggest change is they\u2019re bringing a lot of pressure, more than they used to, which is an exciting challenge for us. We have some pretty good answers to that kind of stuff if that\u2019s the type of game it becomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they were probably \u2014 I don\u2019t know the exact percentage \u2014 but way more than half the game last week was pressure. So they\u2019re playing really aggressive right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UCF will make a significant jump in competition Saturday when the Knights travel to Pittsburgh for their first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-280980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}