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UCF's offensive line saw massive improvement in the victory over Georgia State, allowing the ground game to get going and establish the run. A major contributor to that effort is team leader Preston Cushman. He knows the Knights have another major test ahead in their conference home opener against TCU. (Photo: Bryan Byerly/ISI Photos / Contributor, Getty) On Jacob Maiava starting at center and Connor Meadows shifting to right guard: "Starting with Jacob, it's always a pleasure just to be around him. He's a fireball, and his energy permeates to the whole offense—offensive line especially. We know the skill set he has: he's a really athletic young player. It was just getting him in the right mental space, and he was dialed in during the game, so there were no worries there... And then being next to Connor was a familiar feeling that I had last year, so that was always a pleasure... Jacob didn't even need any of our help. There was no doubt in my mind—he's so athletic, he can recover so well, and do what he needs to do." On leaning heavy on the run game to finish against Georgia State: "Like Coach said, we were leaning on the run game. I want to throw the ball around to the skill guys, but it's always great when you can lean on us to just finish the game. That's how you win football games: a dominant run game. We definitely put an emphasis on it for this last game." On opening Big 12 play at home against TCU: "It's another game, another opportunity to put us on the map and beat all the expectations, per se. People still have us down, so just go prove everyone wrong and earn it... My big thing is: win your one-on-one matchup every time. If someone does screw up, we've got enough playmakers on the field to make somebody right. But every rep's a one-on-one matchup—just win it... Excited to be here at home in front of Knight Nation." On bouncing back after film study from the Pittsburgh loss: "We had a fire under our butt after the Pitt game—might not have put on the best performance that we could have. So we buckled down and put our best foot forward last week in practice... Like people say, you learn more from a loss than you do in a win. It wasn't like a beatdown session, but it was taking every single minute detail and everything we could have done better... We emphasized some things in practice—specifically pass blocking drills, playing with length, and playing with extension." On Duke Watson's second-half touchdown run: "Coming out in the second half and getting a quick touchdown play like that just rejuvenates everyone—defense, whole team... It's fun to block for him, because shoot, you don't even need to block everyone! He'll just make two, three, or four people miss. He's really, really shifty, and there are not many better feelings than watching that guy run down the sideline and the crowd go wild." On Keyone "Lights" Jenkins' leadership in the huddle: "Lights, as we call him, walking into the room—he's like Jacob, just a 'juice' guy. He walks in the room and everyone smiles; everyone wants to be around Lights. When he walked in the huddle, we knew he's played a ton of ball and was just going to do what he needed to do. In our eyes, there was no drop-off." On pre-snap penalties and taking personal responsibility for false starts: "I jumped offsides during Pitt, and I jumped offsides during Georgia State, so I take a little bit of that on myself—getting a little jumpy... I'm not happy with two false starts in the last two games—it's not good enough, and I'll definitely be more detailed and firm-footed during practice this week to fix that. But everyone else is doing great in that aspect, and we're using the count as a weapon." On being the blind-side blocker for a left-handed quarterback: "To be honest, I didn't even think about it! It was during a walkthrough when we didn't have helmets on the other day, and I was like, 'I guess I am the blind-side guy now.' But in full honesty, nothing changed." On wide receiver perimeter blocking downfield: "Watching the film on Sunday, some of those wide receivers were coming in pushing and cracking safeties. The safeties weren't even looking at the running back—they were looking at the wide receivers coming in trying to crack them in the box! They do a great job." On whether the team relaxed after taking an early 10-0 lead: "When Coach said that, I didn't feel that at all... Personally, being up 10, it's just playing fast, physical, and free. As an offensive line and offense, we were like, 'We're going to go win this game with the ball in our hands.'... I don't think we let our foot off the gas, but being up 10 points, I could take an extra deep breath." For more UCF coverage, follow Knights247 on X, Instagram, and Facebook! Sign up for our FREE UCF Knights Newsletter