UCF... AU defense has holes

[aubiefifty 18,398]

UCF receiver: Auburn defense has 'holes' Knights can attack

Updated Dec 28, 2:56 PM; Posted Dec 28, 2:32 PM

Central Florida wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith, left, catches a pass in front of South Florida cornerback Deatrick Nichols (3) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. (AP/John Raoux)

By James Crepea

jcrepea@al.com

Auburn may rank in the top 15 nationally in pass defense, but UCF believes it has found some "holes" to exploit in the Peach Bowl.

Knights freshman receiver Gabe Davis complimented Auburn's secondary, but also feels there are areas No. 12 UCF (12-0) can take advantage of.

"That whole secondary looks a good, solid, strong secondary," Davis said. "There are some holes in their defense, just like every other defense in the country. You're always going to find somewhere you can get 'em. We plan on attacking those and getting the ball in the air."

Davis said UCF has looked at both of Auburn's games against Georgia and Mississippi State specifically, but the Bulldogs were the "main one" the Knights were looking at.

"They were really finding the different holes and openings in their defense and were attacking them and were executing really well," Davis said. "They also cover the outside receivers because they got good corners, I know (Carlton Davis) is an All-American. They were just making big plays and also attacking the easy stuff."

No. 7 Auburn (10-3), which ranks 14th in pass defense (177.8) and 20th in pass efficiency defense (113.05), held Georgia to just 183 passing yards with a touchdown during their first meeting of the season and 184 passing yards with two scores in the SEC Championship Game. Against Mississippi State, Auburn allowed 157 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Auburn starting CB absent from Peach Bowl practice

Starting cornerback Carlton Davis was absent due to sickness

It's unclear if Davis was confused and meant Ole Miss, which threw for 346 yards, most allowed by Auburn this season, and two touchdowns.

"They're a fast and physical team. We can see - they're a great team, actually," said Davis, who has 25 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns. "We know we're going to have to really fight hard to win this game. We give them all their respect, as they should give us, and it's going to be a good game."

UCF ha the nation's leading scoring offense and ranks seventh in passing, with McKenzie Milton ranking as one of the most effective quarterbacks on deep passes.

Davis credited the UCF's coaching staff with putting players in position to make plays on deep throws.

UCF is fourth nationally in 30-plus yard passes (34) and tied for fifth with 20 passes of 40-plus yards.

While Auburn has allowed 18 passes of 30-plus yards, tied for 68th, it has allowed just five passes of over 40 yards.

"They're good at a lot of different positions," outgoing UCF coach Scott Frost said. "I don't think they're too complicated on defense, they just have really good players doing it and they're sound, which is what you want to do. We're going to have to win some one-on-one matchups and we're going to give the quarterback time and be smart with the plays run."

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.

[AuburnNTexas 7,350]

No bulletin board material here. I much prefer the remark by the UCF running back. He gives our D credit for how good they are but as any player should he believes there are holes they can exploit. If our D line plays up to expectations they won't have any time for big plays and we play tight against the short game.

[selias 2,398]

2 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

"There are some holes in their defense, just like every other defense in the country. You're always going to find somewhere you can get 'em. We plan on attacking those and getting the ball in the air."

In other breaking news: The sky is blue and water is wet.

[FoundationEagle 637]

I really hope they are expecting the same team that UGA beat. That team had was playing the third top 5 team in four weeks, was banged up and tired. That is the only reason the holes were there. They are in for a seriously rude awakening if they expect a tired and banged up defense to show up. Seriously rude awakening.....

[PowerOfDixieland 3,236]

2 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

Davis said UCF has looked at both of Auburn's games against Georgia and Mississippi State specifically, but the Bulldogs were the "main one" the Knights were looking at.

What??

 

2 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

It's unclear if Davis was confused and meant Ole Miss, which threw for 346 yards, most allowed by Auburn this season, and two touchdowns.

Oh.  

[FoundationEagle 637]

11 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

What??

 

Oh.  

May be even better if they studied Ole Miss. We won that game by 21 and OM has better overall talent than UCF.   Also almost all of Ole Miss's points came after the game was over. We were up 38-3 and put the brakes on. Please study that film for holes ?

[I_M4_AU 9,022]

4 minutes ago, FoundationEagle said:

May be even better if they studied Ole Miss. We won that game by 21 and OM has better overall talent than UCF.   Also almost all of Ole Miss's points came after the game was over. We were up 38-3 and put the brakes on. Please study that film for holes ?

Yes, please study all the games up to and including the LSU game, all the games prior to Gus’ epiphany.  Especially the 2nd half of those games, I completely agree, we have holes in our defense.