TAMPA - Georgia Tech has not had a ton of recent offensive success against Central Florida.
The Yellow Jackets (6-6) will try to change that at 6:30 p.m. Friday when they take the field against a UCF defense that has some holes to it.
“Overall team speed, right? They’re very fast,” Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said Tuesday. “They do a good job of covering, do a good job of getting after the quarterback. We gotta know where (Tre’Mon Morris-Brash) and (Lee Hunter) are up front. Their linebackers can run. Their corners can play man coverage. I know they’ve had a couple (of bowl game) opt-outs, but they still got good players and are a well-coached team. We’re excited to play and (about) the challenge that we have.”
Tech and UCF are meeting for the third time since 2020 and in each instance the Jackets have failed to keep up offensively in 49-21 and 27-10 defeats. The Jackets have averaged a respectable 461.5 yards in those two losses, but turnovers and missed opportunities ultimately doomed them each time in the two previous matchups.
In the Sept. 19, 2020 defeat at Bobby Dodd Stadium, the Jackets lost three fumbles, threw two interceptions, missed a field goal and turned it over on downs twice. Two years later, in Orlando, Tech missed two more field goals, lost two fumbles and turned the ball over on downs twice in a 27-10 defeat.
Of course, those results have little, if anything, to do with Friday’s matchup outside of a few familiar faces from each roster being leftover.
“They’re similar, still have the same (defensive coordinator) and a lot of the same coaching staff so they’re similar in that aspect,” Tech tight end Dylan Leonard said. “They have new kids, some kids we have played in past years.
“They’ve got us the past two (times) so it’s definitely a get-back game for us. I was excited to see that we’re playing them for that specific reason, to get back at ‘em. I’m looking forward to it. We’ll get after ‘em Friday for sure.”
Leonard has been part of an impressive Tech offensive under the direction of co-offensive coordinators Buster Faulker and Chris Weinke. The Jackets go into Friday needing 26 points to become the first Tech team since 2018 to reach the 400-point plateau.
Faulkner’s forces also needs just 166 yards of offense (currently with 5,149) to finish the season with the most offensive yards since the 2014 team racked up 6,671 – and that team played 14 games.
Led by quarterback Haynes King, an offensive line that has come of age late in the season, running back Jamal Haynes – who has had a breakout season – and a bevy of capable wide receivers, Faulkner has had his choice of weapons at his disposal throughout the past three months.
“Obviously it’s been exciting, some of the things that we’ve done. You’re still searching for more consistency out of us,” Faulkner said. “The best thing about it, I do believe, is we were able to find our identity. We’ve got a lot of these guys coming back for the future which is exciting. It’s been a lot of fun to coach this group, just overall, just from the way they bring it every single day. That part was consistent, right, all the way back from, really, when we got here.”
Tech will face a UCF defense that has seen better years.
The Knights have one of the nation’s worst rushing defenses in allowing 186.8 yards per game, have given up 262 first downs and have only recorded 15 takeaways. However, UCF had the Big 12′s best passing defense (205.8 yards per game allowed) and only surrendered 14.67 yards per completion, a mark that ranked 10th nationally.
So even without starting cornerback Corey Thornton opting to transfer out of UCF, the Jackets will still face a stout secondary.
Should the Jackets score 20 points on the UCF defense they’ll become the first Tech team since 2014 to score at least 20 points in every game. In six losses this season, the Knights are allowing 37.8 points per contest.
“Very hungry group, eager to learn,” Faulkner said. “Through all the ups and downs they stayed even-keel and realized it was a process. They’ve taken everything we’ve asked ‘em to do and they’ve done it. They’ve given us everything they’ve had and it’s been a lot of fun to coach this group from top to bottom.”
“I think we got a good thing going here. We gotta continue, obviously through this week, and into the offseason of building around what we got going. It’s really exciting to be here.”
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