Andy Mitts asks Adam Eaton about the biggest challenge for the UCF Knights defense as they prepare to face the Kansas Jayhawks.
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00:00 fairly curious about this defense because this is a defense that I think, well, let
00:06 me, let me ask this. Is this the kind of defense you were expecting to have coming into here?
00:11 It was, it was, and it's, it's a first year defensive coordinator and Aston Williams,
00:15 who I think is still trying to find his way. He's admitted openly in press conferences
00:18 that he's still learning. He goes back and thinks that he didn't put the team in right
00:22 positions. He should have been more aggressive at times. So it is the defense. I expect that
00:27 out of a first year D coordinator. I'm curious to see how he responds as he gets more games
00:32 under his belt and as a D coordinator. But, you know, you said something earlier in the
00:36 previous segment about the offensive line and kind of wearing down. That's been the
00:39 bugaboo for UCF defense, in my opinion. I mean, UCF touted itself as having a really
00:44 deep defense, deep on the lines, you know, deep in the secondary. But in my view, one
00:50 or two things is happening. And either one UCF does not have the depth they thought they
00:54 have or two, they're not as well conditioned as I thought they have, because I think you'll
00:58 see a defense, particularly in the D line that wears down as the game goes on first,
01:03 you know, first, second quarter, there'll be in your backfield.
01:06 There'll be guys getting over the, after the quarterback, it will bring in some fresh guys
01:09 and they'll make some plays. There'll be disruptive. They'll play in the backfield, but third and
01:13 fourth quarter, it seems like those guys wear down a ton. And that's, I think the growing
01:16 pains of coming to the big 12 is having those multiple hockey line rotations that you can
01:21 kind of roll in there. There's also an injury on the D line, Ricky Barber, who is probably
01:26 the best defensive lineman we have on the interior has played 13 and 14 snaps respectively
01:31 the last two games. So his health is going to be a big issue. So that D line, I think
01:35 will wear down our secondaries is okay. I think there's some young players there. They've
01:39 stepped up, they played well, where UCF is deficient, in my opinion, on the defense is
01:43 the linebacker. They have one stud linebacker and Jason Johnson, who gets a lot of tackles.
01:49 But this is the way I describe it to people. He makes plays, but he's not a playmaker.
01:54 He's not going to, you know, third and five, pop the ball loose from a defender. He's not
01:57 going to blitz the quarterback and get a strip sack fumble, but he'll make a solid tackle.
02:01 So he makes plays. He's not a playmaker. And the other linebackers have rotation throughout
02:06 the entire year. You know, the Kansas state game, they were consistently out of their
02:10 run fits. They overran gaps. They overran their, their assignments. I, in Kansas state
02:15 ran for, I think Giddens ran for 200 yards himself against UCF. So that, that rush defense
02:20 for UCF is going to be suspect, particularly as the game wears on that D line's got to
02:24 stay fresh. The linebackers, you need someone to really kind of step up and step in there.
02:30 I think secondary wise, it's okay. But those, those first six for UCF, UCF usually plays
02:35 a four to five, those first six, that's where you're going to see as the game wears on Kansas
02:40 fans, keep an eye on those first six. If you see those guys get knocked down or not get
02:44 any pressure out of gaps, if you're wearing blue and red and have a bird on your shirt
02:50 of some sort, you're probably going to feel good about what's happening.