Everything Scott Frost said after UCF's 34-9 win vs. North Carolina
Scott Frost credited his team’s focus and execution following a tough week off the field, calling UCF’s 34-9 win over North Carolina a strong step forward, but emphasized there’s still plenty of room to grow with Big 12 play looming.
Here’s everything he had to say:
Opening statement
“I don’t have much to say. I’m happy for our team. We had a lot of unfortunate things kind of happen around our UCF football family this week.
“And I thought everybody did a good job of staying focused while realizing that football isn’t the most important thing in life. Faith and family are. I thought everybody did a good job working through those things in the bye week and showing up ready to play.”
On the importance of scoring a touchdown at the end of the first half to extend the lead to 20-3, which came at the conclusion of an 83-yard drive
“It was really big. It made it a whole different game to be able to score there. First of all, holding them to a field goal on the other side and then using timeouts.
“I thought Tayven had an excellent drive on that. He took what they gave him. They busted a coverage at the end that gave us a touchdown. But we got the benefit of a couple penalties there, too.
“I’ve got three young kids. Sometimes they amaze me with what they can do. And other times I’m like, what the heck are you doing? We’re growing as a team. That’s what I feel like.
“There was a lot of really good with the two-minute drive, the way we started the game. And there’s still some things that make me scratch my head. But that’s comforting in a way because we can keep getting better.”
On what they learned in the win
“Learning that we’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go. That’s what I want our team to take away, and I think they will. We’re a lot better team than we were against Jacksonville State.
“But we’re going to have to be a better team than we were tonight to go to Manhattan and win. And I think it’s just going to get tougher from there. So we’ve got to keep pushing forward and rising and conquering.”
On whether the bye week aided in their preparation
“I don’t know. Our offensive staff did a great job. Steve Cooper. I want to say a lot about Alex Farah taking over for Coach (Shawn) Clark and keeping the o-linemen going. We got in the game, and it was a little different than what we expected, which is kind of what we expected. (Belichick is) as smart a guy as there is, and Steve’s smart too.
“It was just little things here and there. Every time we got in condensed sets, they were really coming after us. We kind of got lucky on a couple and got the ball outside it.
“When we thought it was man, sometimes they had eyes inside and cost us a couple plays where they got us. So I have a ton of respect for Bill and North Carolina. They’re starting fresh like we were, so I know they’ll keep getting better, and he’s the right guy for that.”
On the defense’s consistent pressure on UNC
“I really liked the intensity our defense came out with to start the game. Good thing on that side of the ball, we’ve got a lot of guys that can make game-changing plays and impact the game. I want to highlight, as good as the pass rush was, Lewis Carter had a heck of a game coming back off suspension.
“I think ten tackles and two TFLs and a sack. But he’s one of many, I think, who played well on defense. We can’t jump off sides on third downs and hard counts anymore.
“We can’t play as well as we played and then go out and lose our intensity for a drive. It kind of felt like on the one drive we might have. But overall, I can’t say enough about the job Coach (Alex) Grinch did and has done.
“He’s got a chip on his shoulder like I do, and he wants to be great. I think you’re starting to see what he can do with the defense. But again, we’ve kind of done what we should do to this point and the challenges are going to get tougher.”
On the play of QB Tayven Jackson
“Tayven made some plays that a lot of people might not notice. With blitzes coming off edges and hanging on the ball and throwing it over their head. Seeing some things that maybe weren’t first on his progression and getting the ball to him.
“He made some really good quarterback plays today. That being said, we’ve got some good players. Jacurri (Brown), when he goes in there, is a spark plug for us.
“We’ve got to keep finding the right formula every week. But I’m really impressed and happy with the progress that Tayven’s made. He can be a great player if he stays on that path.”
On the play of the tight ends, and the status of Dylan Wade who left the game with an injury
“Yeah, I compliment our recruiting guys. Jeff Love and others did a good job getting us some talent.
“Dylan’s going to be alright. He had a little bit of a separated shoulder, so he’s going to be fine. But we held him, and mostly we held him because we trust Caden (Piening) and Kylan (Fox) and (Thomas) Wadsworth and Max (Drag). We got a little bit of depth there, so we don’t have to completely change what we’re doing if somebody gets nicked out.”
On whether it “means more” to beat Coach Belichick
“Yeah, I think it does to me personally, and that’s no knock on him. That’s respect to him for everything he’s accomplished. He was my position coach and coordinator for two years, my first two years in the NFL.
“I know how smart he is and how good a coach he is. This isn’t all on him. When you take over a new program in college right now, I did it too. It just takes a while to get the team together. I feel like we got a little head start on it, getting here a little earlier and maybe getting involved in the portal earlier.
“It means a lot to me to win for these guys, but I got so much respect and admiration for Coach Belichick. He’s going to get them going. There’s just no question.”
On his communication to the team about Coach Clark’s condition
“Yeah, we feel like honesty is the best policy. We’ve had open dialogue about what’s going on with Coach Clark for a week and a half. We’ll keep updating the guys while at the same time respecting the privacy of his wife and kids.”
On Tayven Jackson’s running ability
“Tayven can run. It’s funny when you have a guy like Jacurri, sometimes he thinks he needs to throw it because he’s such a good runner. He needs to prove he can throw it.
“Tayven thinks he needs to run it to prove he can run it because he throws it really good. I just want those guys to be them. If we have plays for Jacurri going forward, we want Tayven to be able to run them.
“Whatever Tayven’s running, we want Jacurri to be able to run, and Cam (Fancher). I really like all three of those kids. You can see why we were impressed with all three in camp.”
On what this win does for his team’s confidence
“Momentum is a powerful thing. Like I said, I don’t want our kids to think we’ve done anything. We haven’t done anything yet. We started the way we probably should have started with the hands that were dealt to us. It’s going to get a lot harder from here.
“I coached in Manhattan, Kansas, my first coaching job. I know what kind of environment that is. I coached with Coach (Chris) Klieman. I know what kind of coach he is. They have a bye week now.
“That’s going to be a huge challenge. We’ve got to keep getting better if we’re going to have a chance to win up there. This is just the start.”
On how he feels about coaching at UCF
“I just have fun coaching here. There’s pressure like anywhere else, but it’s not the same. It allows me to be better because I can just be free to care about the kids and try to put them in the best position to be successful. I thank Terry (Mohajir) and everybody else for moving me back here. It’s a lot of fun.”
On the 19-play drive in the fourth quarter that took over 10 minutes and put the game away
“Yeah, going back to my reference about my kids, the two-minute drive was awesome. That last drive was awesome. Even buckling down and getting a fourth down.
“They have some big players now. For us to be able to sustain it on the ground for a long drive at the end speaks to us getting better at execution. There are some other drives. We look like a three-ring circus out there, dropping balls and putting our knee down on things. We can still get better, I guess is my point.
“I think the offensive line really played with some passion today. A lot because they love Coach Clark like I do. They wanted to fight for him. I think that was a great way to finish off the game for those guys. An unbelievable job sustaining that drive.”
On their intensity to start the game
“The guys were just ready to play. Assistant coaches did a great job getting them ready and the guys were ready. We’ve had two broken warm-ups. We had weird warm-ups for the first two games. This was kind of normal, or what will become normal. I don’t know what led to the hot start for sure, but we need to try to duplicate it.”
On what Jacurri Brown brings to the offense
“First and foremost, I can’t say enough about him as a human being. Jacurri is just awesome to have in our program. He’s a leader.
“If he has to take a bunch of plays for us, I’m going to feel great about it. If he can keep providing us a spark, we’re going to keep finding ways to let him do that.”
On whether this team has an “edge”
“Yeah. This is only my third season coaching at UCF, but I’ve been around Coach Beckton a lot and Travis Fisher a lot. That kind of seems like the MO for UCF, going a long way back.
“A little disrespected. We’re not Central Florida. We’re UCF.
“People picking us last. Not having any confidence in several people on the coaching staff. Like I said, we haven’t done anything yet, but I think it fits with what UCF has been for a long time if we play with a little chip.”
On the play of DT Rodney Lora, a UNC transfer and team captain today
“You won’t get a lot of emotion out of Rodney most of the time. He’s a pretty steady guy. I love him. He’s been an important piece for us. It’s really been a four-man rotation inside with Horace (Lockett) and RJ (Jackson), and him and John (Walker). If we can keep those guys healthy and they keep getting better, they can be a real force for us.”
On the defense
“Most of football comes down to if you can win the trenches or not. We’re going to get challenged with that in the Big 12 as good as offensive and defensive lines are in the Big 12. I feel like we probably won that battle tonight.”
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