Knights offense explodes in first spring practice. Continuity and veteran experience fuel a potent attack, showcasing early signs of explosive deep passes.
White helmets, red and black practice jerseys and loud music blasting on the speakers; spring football is back in action for the UCF Knights, and the offense clicked on all cylinders.
Coach Scott Frost noted that the offense operated better this year than it did last year, and a part of that is the removal of the spring portal. Frost said he and his coaching staff could mentor the players without worrying about losing them after spring.
It builds continuity for the team, which, with the returning players from last year, is already paying dividends in the first practice.
"We have a lot of guys that have been through this and are experienced in our scheme and our system," Frost told reporters. "DT's [Duane Thomas Jr.] run all the routes that we're asking them to run, so there's never a mistake there. Caleb Rollerson, Connor Meadows, [Preston] Kushman and a lot of these guys have been there, done that. That limits your catastrophic mistakes."
Penalties were UCF's Achilles heel last season, erasing good plays or pushing the team farther from first-down territory. The Knights led the Big 12 in penalties with 91 in the regular season, but Cincinnati, Arizona State, and Texas Tech surpassed them in their bowl games.
Although UCF can't fully eliminate penalties from occurring, the players having an additional year in Frost's scheme can help greatly reduce those chances in several months when the season starts.
One improvement Frost noticed from last spring to this spring is in completing deep passes. The deep ball took a while to develop in spring and fall camp last year, but it is off to a great start in the first practice.
Quarterbacks Rocco Marriott, Keyone Jenkins and Kaleb Annett took the field running multiple plays. Alonza Barnett III was active, but did not participate in running plays.
Frost said he is taking a cautious approach with Barnett III because he is dealing with some minor injuries. He reaffirmed that he'd be available this spring, as UCF has 14 more practices, but Frost doesn't want to push his starting quarterback.
"We're going to take it slow with him, just kind of out of caution," Frost said. "He's just dealing with a couple of little things, and we don't want to push it. He's been doing an unbelievable job in offseason workouts with the guys and getting himself ready, and he'll be back up and ready to go at some point during spring, but we're gonna kind of ease him into it."
Despite initial concerns with Barnett III, the Knights had a good first spring practice, and the experience of the returning players bodes well for potential improvement when the season starts against Bethune-Cookman on Sep. 3.
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