Gus Malzahn: 'We slopped around on offense, you saw it in the first quarter'

UCF pulled off a convincing 57-3 win over New Hampshire in their season opener in the Bounce House. The Knights should have won that game convincingly going up against an FCS opponent. That is nothing against FCS opponents, but UCF came in as the big favorite adn was able to get the job done.

However, things were not looking good offensively in the first half and a lot of that seemed to be because of poor quarterback play from KJ Jefferson. In his halftime interview before heading into the locker room, Malzahn was blunt saying the offense was the problem and changes needed to be made. After the game, he echoed that sentiment.

"I wasn't happy, we slopped around on offense," Malzahn said in a post-game press conference, "you saw it in the first quarter."

Malzahn talked about the struggle of coming in with 50 news guys on a roster and trying to unite as a team. Even though Jefferson's play was not up to par, Malzahn took a lot of the blame saying he didn't call up the best plays to put Jefferson in a good position.

Jefferson's poor first-half play was not the only storyline of the game. The Arkansas transfer did pick it up as the game went on and that was good to see, but the true star of this game was the run game.

UCF finished with 454 rushing yards, which set a single-game record for the program. RJ Harvey was the leader in rushing yards with 11 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns, which included a 60-yard run that almost resulted in a touchdown.

"I think everybody sees we got real running backs," Malzahn said.

This running back group can truly argue they are one of the best in the country. Malzahn spoke highly of each back saying Penny Boone runs like a man and can run through anyone, Mile Montgomery has been the star of fall camp, Johnny Richardson is who he has always been, and Harvey is elite.

Defense and special teams can't be forgotten in this game either with an interception, a blocked punt, and allowing just three points to New Hampshire. Now the question is how UCF will improve in Week 2.

"The good teams from game one to game two improve more than any other time," Malzahn said.

There are a lot of things that can be improved on, but the biggest is play from the quarterback position. Malzahn spoke about how Jefferson needs to be more efficient going forward and just get more comfortable in the offense. Some rust had to be knocked off, but now he has to go forward and perform better than he did in Week 1.