⚡ CFB Dashboard

Podcast: Locked On UCF - Daily Podcast on the UCF Knights Football & Basketball Episode: USF Thinks The War on I-4 Will Help Their Rep? ---Yeah No... I UCF Podcast Transcript: It's the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Your daily college sports fix just got a lot smoother with the Everydayer Club. The energy of the college season is relentless, and we know your passion does not stop on Saturdays. The Everydayer Club is designed to keep you locked into the conversation with a completely ad-free listening experience. Whether it's the road to the playoffs, the chaos of the transfer portal, or a deep dive into the latest recruiting class, you get the insight without the interruptions. You also get a seat in our private Discord to talk sports with us in real time. Make your daily routine even better. Join the club by tapping the Everydayer Club link in the show notes. The war on I-4, who needs it more, USF or UCF? It's USF. They need it more. You are a locked on UCF, your daily podcast on the UCF Knights, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome on in to Locked On UCF, your daily UCF podcast. I'm your host, Mike G. Turn us on, turn us up. We'll turn it out. I'm here with my good friend, Kyle Nash, senior writer, Locked, I'm sorry, ucfnightzone.com. Talk a little UCF football on today's show. We're talking the war on I-4, baby. We're gonna check in on Alonzo Barnett, and then we're gonna talk about something Scott Frost said about sorting out the depth chart. Today's show is brought to you by our title sponsor, Indeed. Head on over to indeed.com slash podcast to get your premium job the premium status it deserves with Indeed sponsored jobs. We'll talk about that later in the show. Kyle, sorting out the depth chart. Do you forgive me, Mike? I'm still getting over one of the best cold opens I've ever seen. Go ahead. I can't wait to get into that. I actually am gonna speed through these first two topics so we can get to the war on I-4. But in the most recent episode of The Rise, Scott Frost talked about how they weren't gonna have a depth chart. They weren't gonna put any depth charts together after the spring. Now, I think this has to do with helping to foster an environment of competition headed into summer workouts and eventually into fall camp. But they have an idea. They have an idea about who's ahead of who, at least at this point. You have to sort some of that out because you're gonna have to narrow down reps pretty quickly come fall camp. Talk to me, man. What stage do you think they are at, though, at least internally, in sorting out the depth chart based on what we saw in that last practice? I would say wide receiver's pretty sorted. You know who your quarterback's gonna be. Right. You know, is there really a whole lot of competition going on at O-line, or do we know essentially who four out of the five starting O-linemen are gonna be? Dylan Wade is the best tight end on this team. At least offensively, I don't know that they have a ton to sort out. Well, and here's the thing. Whether or not you're writing your starters in ink or pencil, Mike, there's something here I see in a lot of similarity. And I hate to bring up the Duval Dive here, but people will think, Kyle, you cover the Jags. You're just seeing what you wanna see. No, no, no, Mike. It's not the Jags I'm referencing. It's the L.A. Rams. Because if you remember, Scott Frost has time there. That was his last official coaching stop, right? Liam Cohen of the Jags also came from the Rams. James Gladstone, the GM. Jimmy Stones, the GM of the Jacksonville Jaguars, also formerly of the Rams. What am I all putting together here that all these things have in common? The Jaguars last year, who improved by nine games in the NFL from one year to the next, did so by creating an environment in training camp of, are you ready, Mike? Competition. And that's the same exact concept you're seeing here. Now, also with the Jags, what do we also see? We already know that their quarterback was Trevor Lawrence, just like we know UCF's quarterback is already Alonza Barnett. I think this is a lot of Sean McVay mentality leaning and leaking in to both of these organizations. I think Scott Frost is building up this competition method to get the best of the best, because inevitably at some point, you're gonna need to use depth, whether it's because you're tired, because you're running a high tempo, or God forbid somebody actually needs to miss some time because they get hurt, you need to put on that scuba certification, get the diving gear on, and go in, get into the depth, and have guys who can fill in and truly execute next man up. And a great way to do that is competition. And Mike, last time we talked, we mentioned the ones and ones in spring, when you mean, were all there. This is all part of that, in my opinion. Of course, he's not labeling depth charts now, because it kills the competition vibe in the room, Mike. Yeah, one v one. And so people, I need to make this designation because some people get this confused when we talk about this. Not one on ones. One v one. First string versus first string. Right. So a lot of coaches, and this may seem so nonsensical to some of our listeners because they're like, why wouldn't you go ones versus ones? A lot of coaches don't like to do this for injury reasons. Your previous head coach among them, UCF fans, by the way. Yeah, he took a lot of heat at another school for having that same philosophy. I've been following this methodology for a long time. I think it hurts you because if you have recruited the best, why wouldn't you want to put them up against the best in practice? That's what they're going to face once you get the conference play. So I thought UCF did a really good job based on what we saw in that final practice of kind of weeding down and sorting out. So while you may not be putting a depth chart together, they understand where everybody ranks for the most part, and they understand which guys have work to do. And it gives you a good coaching and teaching point for these summer workouts and these player-led practices that they'll have and workouts that they'll have, the throwing sessions that the quarterbacks are going to have with the wide receivers. You player-led teams are the best teams. Oh, yeah. Player-led teams are the best teams where you have strong player leadership and they can gather their guys in the summertime and say, hey, look, we got to get organized. We got to stay focused. We got to stay in shape. We have to create elite habits right now that will carry us into the fall. And, you know, having spent a little time around them, I got to say, I think they're on their way. I really do think they're on their way. Look, let's get to our first break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about the guy, the man, the man who hopefully will be one of UCF's most beloved quarterbacks when it's all said and done, even if it's only for a year. It's Alonzo Barnett. He was missing this spring. We'll check in on him right after a quick word from our sponsors. This episode of Locked On UCF is brought to you by our friends at Indeed and Indeed sponsored jobs. Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, your inbox is overflowing, but the one position you have to fill is still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed sponsored jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience, location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate just stumbles across your post. Now, here's a stat that says it all. In the minute we've been talking, companies just like yours made over 27 hires on Indeed in, according to Indeed data worldwide. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all the boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just head to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard it right here on Locked On UCF. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms apply, guys. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Locked On UCF listeners, we've got a deal for you. It's the UCF Everydayer Club. Head on over to LockedOnUCF.Supercast.com to sign up today. Our Everydayers get an ad-free feed of the show as well as access to a Discord where you can chop it up with UCF fans just like yourself every single day. It's the Everydayer Club. Only $5. All that we ask that you do here is listen. But if you want to go a step further in supporting the show, the Everydayer Club is a great way to do that. Again, LockedOnUCF.Supercast.com to get signed up today. We appreciate your support. Alonzo Barnett III. Sources tell me he is feeling good, good, A-okay. And I think this is a great sign for UCF headed into summer workouts. There was some concern that he may not be okay. We spoke with him in that final kind of media scrum with all the quarterbacks. And, Kyle, he looked great. He looked in great shape. He looked upbeat. He wasn't fainting. didn't bring anything when he walked. He looked healthy. He sounded healthy. He looks like a guy who's chomping at the bit to be the starting quarterback at UCF next year. And I can't wait to see him in gold. Talk to me about Alonza Barnett, man. And if you're coaching Alonza Barnett, what are the top three things you want him to accomplish this spring— this summer, I'm sorry. Yeah, absolutely. First of all, get over whatever butterflies you may have, you know, from whatever things you were recovering from, right? So when you're actually getting back onto the field, trying to get right, you know, maybe when you're running, do some cutting and do that sort of thing. And I know that's tougher to do when there's not contact, Mike, because we don't see him at their first potential. And that's the good news. This is the reason why, folks, UCF will have a schedule probably perpetually, or at least for a long time, where the first game or two of the first three games are going to be a little less, shall we say, competition-driven and more tune-up games, right? In a world where you're bringing in a lot of transfers and you're trying to get guys up to speed, like Alonza Barnett or like anybody else that's coming in, you know, your Dukes. I know the running back room is part of that. You know, whether it's—maybe even G1 Jenkins if he comes in in garbage time, right? I wanted to give James Duncan his love. What can I say? But all of the above to say, Mike, these are the opportunities. You've got to get his legs right. You've got to get him feeling okay with cutting again and getting into that part of the world. The other piece is continue to see that accuracy concept, right? Now, believe it or not, the most accurate quarterback in UCF history, Mike, is a dude that was also a run threat as well in Dante Culpepper. What? Even more so than Blake Bortles? I said what I said, UCF fans, okay? So, that all being said, I'm not saying he has to be as accurate as Dante. That's— That's tall, okay? But it would be nice to see him be at least as accurate as his quarterback coach, McKenzie Milton, was in his time here. Now, granted, KZ threw the ball over—what was it? 430 times or something? Yeah, yeah. And got 61%. But I'm not throwing shade at KZ. I'm just mentioning the fact. While he did hit some bombs down the field, the Scott Frost 1.0 offense featured a lot of screen and things that got Otis Anderson, may he rest in peace, and also Adrian Killens open in space to do things, right? I don't know that this—that's this offense. I'm not saying the running backs can't catch, but the point we've made a lot of times here, Mike, is this receiver core is ready to take care of business in a way that receiver cores haven't done in a while here for the Knights. Yeah, I agree. Look, last year, Alonza 2,800 yards and 23 touchdowns. He added almost 600 yards rushing and 15 additional rushing touchdowns. So we're talking a lot of guys that scored 38 touchdowns all on his lonesome. And that's, I think, more touchdowns than UCF scored all of last year. So it's going to be—I think it will be fun. I think it's going to be fun to watch him. And let me tell you something. Having a 600-yard rushing quarterback makes him so dangerous with the schedule that they have next year. Now, we did a little exercise here a lot on UCF where we put together some teams and— The Battle Royale, yeah. Yeah, it sparked some controversy. But quarterback, we limited it to three teams. And the reason was picking that fourth quarterback of the fourth team was kind of difficult. I think Alonzo Barnett has to be better than all the guys on this list. Not that he—I'm not saying he is better than the quarterbacks on this list. I think he needs to have a better season than anybody on this list statistically had this coming season. I would love to see it. I would love to see his talent translate. And I think he can do it. I think he has the talent to do it. That's—that's an interesting point. I'll say this. It depends on how you mean better stats. Now, across the board, no disrespect to John Rice Plumlee. I do see that Wolverine is back on the screen behind you there. You know, he did get a touchdown for the Gamblers a couple weeks back. We could talk about that on UCF Night Zone. I've got to do the bell again. I just quoted an article. But, yeah, I think it's safe to say that Alonzo in year one has to do better than JRP in either of his individual years here at UCF. I think that's fair. I think it's a little tall to expect Alonzo Barnett to do McKenzie Milton things. And the reason why I say that is, again, Scott Frost 1.0. It's not that they didn't run the ball or couldn't run the ball, especially against the American. There was a lot of times those running backs were awfully hugely involved in the passing game where the passing game was was think early Tom Brady with the Patriots, right? Bubble screens and air quotes extended long reach handoffs. Like it wasn't a handoff for the run. It was a pass in the screen that was always a run play from moment one, right? So those pieces, again, kind of elevate numbers. This is not saying Casey is bad. That's not what I mean. I mean, the offense had a particular system that involved everybody on the field, including the Michael Coulibaly's, somebody who was also missing from the Battle Royale, by the way, Mike, no disrespect to anybody just pointing it out there. But, you know, I think trying to ask for those numbers in what is looking to be so far, at least a different system than Scott Frost 1.0. I think Scott Frost 2.0 isn't trying to get guys in space from the running back position quite the same way. They're going to do it conventionally with the receivers. Like we've talked about. Let's talk about the numbers, though. Again, having a better season than McKenzie Milton 2017 is not just about wins and losses. Right. What we're talking about here. So McKenzie had a 67.1% completion percentage. I think that's a gettable number. Right. 4,037 yards is a is a tall task. Of course, being a 4,000 yard passer is a tall task for any quarterback at any level. But let's see how close you can get to that. He averaged 10.2 yards per throw. I think that's a gettable. I think that's a gettable number. 37 touchdowns through the air. That's that's a lot. That's a lot of touchdowns versus only nine interceptions. Now, here is what the gettable number is. A four to one touchdown to interception ratio. I'll agree with that. That's a gettable number. So, you know, we may not get 37 passing touchdowns out of them, but if he has a four to one touchdown to the interception ratio, I'm going to be really, really happy. Realistically, if it's 20 and five, I don't see anyone complain. Yeah. He only got sacked 11 times in the 2017 season, which is remarkable. That's less than a sack a game for McKenzie Milton. And, you know, part of that was he was sneaky. Athletic. And he had great pocket presidents. And if Alonzo Barnett has the same, I think that he can, we can keep those. We need to keep him upright. We've got to keep him upright. So there, there are some numbers there that are attainable. Now, are they going to let him throw the ball 395 times this coming season? Because that's how that, that's McKenzie went 265 for 395. I'm not sure if he's going to get 400 pass attempts this season. Uh, if it's going well, if he does, I think it's because it's going extremely well. Right. Uh, but he can run. So it's, it, it, it is really going to be interesting. Uh, McKenzie also was a 600 yard rusher. So that is a number that I think is getable for Alonzo Barnett. And he only scored eight touchdowns on the ground. Again, another getable number for Alonzo Barnett. So could he have a McKenzie Milton type season? Yes. It's really only the passing yards that I think are the, uh, is probably the hardest going to be the hardest number to achieve. I'm not sure that he has the, the, the, the, the dogs at receiver. They got dogs at receiver, but I'm not sure he has that level. 2017 level receivers. Also not playing against the American Mike. Let's be fair, fair. And they're in the big 12. So yes, you're right. You're absolutely right. It is a tougher task. He gets anywhere near that. I think UCF is going to have one of the best seasons they've had in a few years. But let's get to our last segment. We're going to talk the war on I4, baby, right here next on Lockdown UCF. The war on I4, who needs it more? Uh, there have been some comments recently by certain individuals in the media talking a lot of crap. I'm going to say crap here because I, I don't want to. What USF is doing right now to me is tantamount to Gray Goos. DJs. You outside the club, man. Shut up. And I was, we're going to do this one with Andrew, but not so long ago, you tried to sabotage us getting in the club. I'm looking forward to that episode. I'm just saying it, Mike. Come on now. Like this is just, this is, I thought it was funny. The comments from a certain USF person saying that UCF, calling UCF leeches. And then in the very next sentence said, we're trying to start a series with Miami. Calling us leeches while you are trying to leech off Miami is wild. I know, I just, it's the offseason and people are going to talk and stay relevant. I don't understand this. UCF's leadership, they made the move. They made the move they needed to make for the continued health of athletics. You needed to be in a power four conference and they had the foresight to get out when they had the chance. USF, you are still in the American. And I'll have you, your last coach left you and very pointedly said, I was never going to win a championship there. I think we all know it. I'm gonna say it again because I'm gonna say his name. Alex Golish said, you're, I'm never going to win a championship there. So we had to go. Now he's at some place that has won championships. Spoiler alert. You're not one of those places. I, I just be quiet on this one. You are talking now about this because they need to renew all this talk and this rivalry. And I man, if you need all this to be motivated, just shut down your football program, man. Like I, I don't get this. I don't understand this. I think they're chumps. I'm going to give the floor to you before we get out of here. I just don't, I just think they're chumps for all this yacking that they're doing about the war on I4. And, and, and listen, I get it. I, I, I would even agree that it's all yacking. However, and listen, you, you've heard me come to, I don't want to say come to the fence, but be as balanced as I can be in these matters, right? I'm the person that defends the offensive line from last year and all these other things. And I'm the one that comes out on the other. I don't want to say voice of reason. I'm just, I try my best to be balanced is what I'll say, Mike. Here's the defense I will give all this, shall we say, talk from West Florida, sorry, USF, okay? This is the sort of rhetoric that Danny White dealt in to get UCF into the club that is the power conferences. So I can't full on condemn it. However, and I've been on record saying this since I've worked at other outlets here before my time at Locked on and UCF Knights Zone. I look at football with USF very similar as to what my daughter used to look at the movie Frozen. Let it go. There you go. Let it go. Let it go. Do you want to participate in basketball and baseball? Listen, until recently, and not that they're bad now, but until recently, they had a pretty good women's program in basketball that was fun to watch in the American. It was a great thing when Abe did battle with that group. UCF versus USF was a big thing there too. Shout out to Gable, so I'm looking forward to his first year with women's basketball. Baseball, it's still cool. Heck, men's hoops, I'm down. Basically, anything that's not football. Let's save some money on the trip. Let's give the people what they alleged they want because I'll tell you this. It's only really Twitter jargon here that the numbers show from what I've seen about people who are actually hyped about this game. I said what I said, Mike. Right? Um, but for the most part, and again, I won't fault USF for trying to find a way into the club. I love the analogy by you, by the way. Great interview. Great from the outside. What are we doing? Great interview by you of Golish as well. I just let's throw that out there as well. Give you a year off. But at day's end, USF has to make too many leaps. But Kyle, why not do the home and home? Because USF loses too much money acquiescing to little brother. It ain't worth it fiscally. Yeah. Yeah. That's all I can say about that. Look, man, I think UCF, we won the last six, right? Like, I forget the exact number, but that sounds about right. Yeah, we won the last six. I just want to say. Until you can join the party on one side, until a conference says, you know what? You know what would make us better? Adding USF. Right? Yeah. Until I see that. You know what would make our conference more competitive? Adding USF. Until I hear that, I don't want to hear no more about this. If UCF decides to play this game and extend this charity, yes, charity, to USF, I'm all about it. But what USF is doing here, man, is I think a little hypocritical, and I don't see it. Their fans have been on an epic run of embarrassing themselves on social media. Right? Like, their once-beloved coach, all of a sudden they've turned on him because he said something that was just very true. Not going to win a national championship out of the American at UCF. I'm sorry, USF. You're not going to do it. I don't get it. I don't get it. I mean, they've got the little brother energy, if you ask me. They're the ones projecting little brother energy, but that's just my thoughts on it. Kyle Nash, a senior writer at UCFKnightsZone.com. I want to thank you for joining me on today's show. Guys, we're going to go on and get out of here. Thank you so much for making Locked on UCF your first listen of every day and for helping make Locked on the number one sports podcast network out there. We'll be back with you guys tomorrow with more Locked on UCF. Show notes: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! ROY Download Roy for iOS or Android and enter referral code LOCKED ON and you’ll automatically be entered into a sweepstakes to win $5,000 cash. Visit JoinRoy.com for additional details. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited. Get off the sidelines and into the NIL game with Roy. HIMS Hims is changing men's healthcare by providing access to affordable sexual health treatments, all from the comfort of your home. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/LOCKEDON for your personalized ED treatment options. LinkedIn These days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. COM to get started. org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)