ORLANDO — All season long, while its offense has seen plenty of ups and downs, UCF has been able to count on its defense.
And for good reason.
The Knights are among the best in college football in several defensive metrics, especially the most important one, scoring. UCF ranks 13th in the nation and second in the American Athletic Conference in points allowed per game at 14.6.
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Diving deeper into the numbers, here are five mind-boggling stats that explain the Knights’ defensive dominance near the midpoint of the 2022 season.
26.4% is the conversion rate of the opponents to the third
One of the main reasons the Knights slowed down SMU’s blistering offense and kept the Mustangs on the scoreboard for most of the second half was running money downs.
SMU went 4 of 16 on third downs — 1 of its first 12 — with three fourth down failures in the early stages of the fourth quarter as the Knights scored 31 unanswered points.
On the year, UCF’s first five opponents have converted just 19 times on 72 third-down chances, good for 10th-best in the FBS. The Knights also made 10 stops in 15 fourth-down situations — the same success rate as Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma and Oregon, among others.
Next week, these indicators may also improve. Temple, the Knights’ Thursday night opponent, has the fifth-worst offense on third down (26.1%) — and a not-much-better conversion success rate of 28.1% on fourth down.
15 — Opponents failed to score a TD in the red zone
UCF leads the nation in red zone defense, allowing just 47.4% of its possessions inside the 20-yard line.
More importantly, most of those points allowed were field goals.
“Our whole defense, when we get down near the goal line, we’re in the same mindset — they’re not scoring, we’re getting stops,” leading rusher Tremon Morris-Bresh said after the team’s win against Florida Atlantic.
Opponents entered the red zone 19 times and were forced out of the end zone 15 times. Nine of those drives went for nothing, including Wednesday night’s Brandon Adams field goal on UCF’s fourth-and-19 — a one-on-one matchup with SMU’s top receiver, Rushie Rice.
UCF’s secondary shined, in particular, with its back against the wall. The Knights are one of just six teams in major college football — Illinois, Miami, Texas State, Alabama and USC are the others — to surrender one or fewer touchdowns in the red zone.
17 — Tanner Mordecai’s TD streak ends at the Bounce House
Entering Week 5 as the nation’s third-leading passer in yards, SMU’s Tanner Mordecai has scored at least one touchdown in 17 straight games.
That streak, which dates back to Halloween 2020, ended Wednesday night. Mordecai completed 28 of 45 attempts for 295 yards and had one interception during a Hail Mary to end the first half.
“The corners were on an island,” defensive coordinator Travis Williams said. “Even if you give up a play, you have to have the mentality of the next play.
“Everybody’s watching them. When a defensive lineman or a linebacker messes up, it’s kind of invisible. When a corner messes up, everybody in the world sees it. I’m proud of how these guys are progressing.”
In those 17 contests, Mordecai threw 52 touchdown passes. He lit up UCF last November for 377 yards and three scores.
108.64 — UCF ranks in the top 15 in the nation in pass defense efficiency
With all five starters returning from the Knights’ Gasparilla Bowl triumph over Florida, the secondary was expected to be one of the team’s strongest. And it has not disappointed so far.
UCF ranks 14th in the nation in pass defense efficiency, three behind defending AAC champion Cincinnati and two behind national title holder Georgia. That’s an impressive feat considering the Knights have only secured two interceptions — only Alabama and Auburn have fewer, but they’re in the top 30 nationally.
The Knights defenders registered 25 pass breakups, led by Corey Thornton with five.
UCF is allowing 208.4 passing yards per game, averaging 6.2 yards per attempt. The run defense has been a bit more lenient (137.2 ypg), though the Knights also have 35 tackles for loss.
Maurice-Breche has a team-high 6½ TFLs, Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste has 3½ and Josh Seliskar and Walter Yates have three each.
119 — UCF’s fourth-quarter shutout streak ends
Few defenses have finished games better than UCF since last November. Entering the SMU game, the Knights had not allowed a fourth quarter touchdown for 105 straight minutes.
And it looked like that streak would continue when William Wells tackled Mustangs running back Kamar Wheaton for a loss at the 1-yard line. The clock appeared to be running out and UCF players came onto the field to shake hands after the play, but Rhett Lashley sneaked into a timeout with 1 second left.
Backup quarterback Preston Stone broke loose with a 2-yard run on the final snap of the night, officially ending UCF’s 119-minute, 31-point streak.
UCF has outscored its opponents 52-9 in the final period this season. Morris-Bresh was involved in some of those scores when he sacked and stripped Mordecai in the end zone for a safety at 12:41 on Wednesday.
