Joey McGuire talks going 1-0 against UCF after last week's big win
Last week’s matchup against Texas Tech and BYU will go down in Red Raider history. With students camping out a week before the game, College GameDay coming to town, and Jones AT&T Stadium sold out, the 29-7 victory for Tech will be one to remember.
Now with one of the biggest games of the year out of the way, the Red Raiders will host UCF on Saturday for senior night. Despite a 1-5 conference record for the Knights, head coach Joey McGuire is completely focused on going “1-0” this week and focusing on “what’s next” after a huge momentum win against the Cougars.
“I’ve been a part of this at different places like you have such a huge game of momentum, and the emotion was so high, you know, you have a letdown. And my job is to make sure that we don’t have a letdown,” McGuire told the media on Monday. “I think I have great leaders in that locker room that will help me do that. We will have a great practice plan and game plan for UCF…it’s senior night, and we have some great seniors that will play their last game in this stadium, you know. You start thinking about it. JRod (Jacob Rodriguez), Behren Morton, you know, and some of the new guys, Lee Hunter, just guys that have, have done a lot for this university in a long period of time and a short period of time. So can’t wait to get there. We’ve got a big week in front of us. We will be ready to go.”
Continuing to concentrate on the task at hand
Drops by the wide receivers have continued to be an issue, especially on passes right in their hands that they can’t seem to pull down. However, everyone on the team needs to continue to stay locked in and focus on one game at a time. Even though the Red Raiders have a bye next week, beating UCF needs to stay their number 1 priority.
“The concentration level has got to continue to go up. I talked to the offensive staff and (James) Blanchard and we’re talking, you know, like, we’ve got to create some competition. And, you know, it’s, it’s never a bad thing to pull somebody off the field and put somebody else in there if you’re not getting the job done,” McGuire said. “Jacob Rodriguez said to me in the locker room ‘coach this wasn’t our goal, other than to go 1-0. It wasn’t about beating BYU, it was about what we have in front of us.’ That’s why you preach and preach and preach 1-0 and what’s next?”
What McGuire sees from UCF
UCF has struggled in conference play so far this season, with just one win. However, they have continued to grow and have started to play good football. Their defense now ranks amongst the top in the Big 12 and almost pulled out a win against 8-2 Houston last week. The record doesn’t mean anything to McGuire, so the Red Raiders still have to be locked in on handling business.
“That’s one of the top defenses in the Big 12…they have guys that when you look at the numbers, part of our scouting analytics is how fast these guys run on a continuous basis,” McGuire said. “It’s probably the best two edge rushers that we faced all year long. You know in #51 and #9, they’re deep in the D-line, and so it’s going to be a great game.”
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