Central Florida vs. Baylor
January 1, 2014
University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, AZ)
Central Florida Season Review
The Golden Knights were one of the more shocking teams this season. UCF finished their season 11-1, with their only loss being a tight 28-25 game against South Carolina, where the Knights were leading at halftime. Big wins included Penn State and a final minute victory over Louisville in a primetime Thursday Night game between the two.
The team was led by quarterback Blake Bortles, who has used this season to propel him to be projected in the Top-5 of the 2014 draft, and running back Storm Johnson, who rushed for 1,015 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Baylor Season Review
Like UCF, Baylor surprised everyone. Their offense was supposed to be electric as it has been the past few seasons, but not-record setting like it turned out to be. Baylor was statistically the best offense in college football behind quarterback Bryce Petty and a slew of running backs and receivers.
Over halfway through the season, the Bears were in serious contention for the National Title. However, they suffered a devastating loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater that cost them an appearance in the last-ever BCS Championship game, and almost lost them the conference. Fortunately for them, Oklahoma beat the Cowboys on the last week of the season to help give the Bears the Big XII title.
Game Matchup
Defense: Both defenses need to be ready to play, because both Bortles and Petty will tear the them apart if they don’t bring their “A-game” Bortles has shown he can be a great decision maker, completing 68-percent of his passes and throwing 22 touchdowns, compared to seven interceptions. Petty, on the other hand, threw for 3,844 yards, 30 touchdowns and only two interceptions, while completing 60-percent of his passes.
Both quarterbacks will likely be first round picks when they decide to come out (Petty has already stated he will return). So mixing up schemes and not giving them time to throw will be of the utmost importance to winning this game.
Ahmad Dixon: Dixon, safety for the Bears, plays a lot in coverage and in the box, and will be the key defender for Baylor. He has the ability to help slow down the running game and the passing game, and with Bortles and Johnson in the Golden Knights’ backfield, Dixon will need to play smart and not make any mistakes.
Draft Impact
Blake Bortles (QB, UCF): Bortles has played incredible this season, possibly well enough to get himself into the first round of May’s draft. He has the ideal size and arm strength, showing the ability to make any throw, and has shown accuracy.
Storm Johnson (RB, UCF): Storm Johnson is built like an NFL-back at 6’2”, 215 and runs with power, but has the speed to hit the holes and make big plays.
Lache Seastrunk (RB, Baylor): Seastrunk is considered to be near the top of the running back class for the 2014 draft. He’s been compared to LeSean McCoy, which is obviously incredibly high praise. Seastrunk shows good vision, speed and ability to cut. What will hurt him come Draft Day is his lack of use in the passing game, having not caught a pass all season.
Tevin Reese (WR, Baylor): Reese is the prototypical mid-late round receiver that has decent, but not great hands, and ran very few styles of routes, but has incredible speed. He’s the type of player teams take late in the draft and hope to develop into a dynamic playmaker.
Ahmad Dixon (S, Baylor): As mentioned before, Dixon has shown the ability to play in coverage, as well as in the box and defend the run. He is in contention to be the first strong safety drafted.
Shawn Oakman (DE, Baylor): Oakman is a physical freak of nature. He is incredibly athletic and fast for his size (6’9”, 270). And as a pass rusher, with the right development, could be one of the more dominant pass rushers in football.