It was at times brilliant, it was at times ugly. It was pretty much everything that I had expected it to be. In the end, it matters none as The Buckeyes still won and an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.

My concerns about this game turned out to be very valid. UCF has a stingy D. Putting up 31 points on this D is a good thing. It really is. Having said that, this game also showed that The Buckeyes have a few things to work on. The bright spots are bright, but it just makes those dim spots look even dimmer. I’m looking at you, secondary. Too many big plays were given up to the Knights. Meyer was visibly angry at times with his secondary, as he should be. They did create some turnovers, picking off Bortles three times, but the lapses were pretty much inexcusable.

Braxton Miller, who Urban Meyer had said would not run nearly as much as he did last week, ran just about as much as he did last week in racking up 141 yards on the ground. Of course, he needed to as Carlos Hyde was taken out of the game with a knee injury. While OSU is far from thin at RB, it would be nice if Brax didn’t have to carry the load vacated by the veterans. The return of Jordan Hall will help substantially, but Miller can’t continue to take that many hits throughout an entire season.

Speaking of Miller, Meyer got quite the gift for his offense and probably owes Tress a hug. His passing has improved substantially from his wounded duck looking messes of last year. He is blossoming into a true dual threat and will continue to be a headache for D coordinators as his progression continues. If he continues to produce, he will no doubt be in the Heisman conversation. He won’t win it this year, but he will definitely be mentioned. Of course, that hinges on him staying healthy, which means someone else needs to up their running game.

While the D was suspect at times, there is reason for hope for the future. Freshmen Adolphus Washington and Noah Spence got some solid time on a stacked D-line. Washington even got his hands on an extra point. The future of the D-line is bright and will provide the speed Meyer loves as they continue to develop. While we’re on the topic of hope, Travis Howard now has three interceptions on the season, which surpasses his total of two for the entire 2011 season. Howard Island is real and it is fabulous. Howard takes a lot of heat for his game, but it is nice to see him stepping up somewhat. If he learns to turn around in coverage, he could be one of the top DBs in the B1G.

OSU gets to stay at home again next week and will face Cal. There are just two tune-ups remaining before the B1G season and, hopefully, they will be enough.

• Tomorrow is the first ever gridiron face-off between Ohio State and UCF.
• This is only UCF’s 34th year of football.
• Ohio State has a 58 game regular season win streak when facing non-conference teams not ranked in the AP Top 25 at home.
• Ohio State is asking fans to Scarlet And Gray The Shoe this weekend.
• This is UCF’s final season in Conference USA. They are moving to the Big East next year.
• UCF is coached by George O’Leary. You might remember him from this.
• Joey Galloway is returning home to provide the color commentary on ESPN2.
• Ohio State is ranked 14th in the AP. They are unranked in the coach’s poll due to NCAA sanctions, more specifically the bowl ban.
• Speaking of bowl bans, UCF has one of those too, but unlike OSU they are appealing it.
• The two-deeps can be found here.
• Going to the game? Parking info is here.
• Skull Session is slated to begin at 9:40AM. Doors to St. John will open 4 hours prior to kick.
• The halftime show will feature funk music from artists such as Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown.
• There will be a Double Script Ohio. The I-dotters will be Mitch Findley and Ric Reinhold.
• Killing time prior to kick? Here’s a Fan Fest map.

Location:
Orlando, FL

Driving Distance from OSU Campus:
959 mi, 16 hours 14 mins per Google Maps

Founded:
1963 – It initially opened as Florida Technological University. It was founded to train personnel to send to the Kennedy Space Center. The name was changed to the University of Central Florida in 1978 after confusion between the school and the Florida Institute of Technology.

Number of students:
50,002 Undergrad
8,517 Post-grad
(Per Wikipedia)

Nickname:
Knights. Their mascot is Knightro.

Fun fact about nickname:
Knightro will sometimes drive around town in a car referred to as Chariot II. It was deigned and built by engineering students from UCF.

Things to do in Orlando:I almost feel silly answering this one.

So, uh…Disney World, Universal Studios Orlando and Sea World. You can probably find out a little bit about these places on the internet and possibly within the depths of your childhood memories.

Notable UCF Alumni:
Terence Trent D’Arby – Singer/songwriter
Daniel Tosh – Comedian and host of Tosh.0
Vienna Girardi – The mentally unstable winner of Bachelor season 14 (Bachelor = Jake)

Conference:
Conference USA (moving to Big East in 2013)

Record Vs. OSU:
First meeting

Current Line:
OSU -18

Returning Starters:
6 offensive, 8 defensive

Outlook:
UCF and OSU have a bit in common. Both teams are reeling from a terrible season with the NCAA and both have received bowl bans. UCF has appealed theirs, however, so I am saying there is a chance. Regardless, these are both teams that want nothing more than to come out swinging and make a lot of noise.

UCF had been regarded by many as the favorite to win their division of Conference USA. Many others have tabbed them as a team to watch as a potential BCS buster this season. UCF rolled Akron 56-14 in their first contest of the year.

I find the fact that OSU is an 18 point favorite a bit suspect. They return 8 starters on a defense that held their opponents to a mere 18.3 ppg last year. In an offense-happy C-USA, that’s nothing to sneeze at. Sophomore quarterback Blake Bortles has seized the starting job, which was the major question mark entering the season, and he looked just fine against Akron. UCF is no pushover and should not be looked at by any of the Buckeye faithful as a sure win.

Having said that, UCF’s first test was Akron. Much like I could also say that Ohio State was just playing Miami of Ohio. Putting up 50 or more on another NCAA FBS team is no small feat, mind you, but it is hard to really judge either team too much on those performances. For UCF, they have the added pain of traveling to Ohio on two consecutive weekends. Granted, this trip might be just a tad bit more intimidating than playing a Thursday night in Akron, but the Knights claim to have no jitters.

This is a game that is a much better measuring stick for how The Buckeyes will perform this season than the dismantling of the RedHawks. This is a far superior D with a faster Offense than Miami. It is in Columbus, and Ohio State is pulling out the gimmicky Scarley and Gray The Shoe thing (more on that another time) so the Buckeyes will have a strong home field advantage, as per usual in Ohio Stadium. Unfortunately, if the players hear they are 18 point favorites and try to rely on that home crowd to push them it will not end well for The Buckeyes.

While I don’t think Urban will let them buy into their own hype, and this Sr. leadership should also know better than to fall into that trap, this game scares me a little. If Ohio State can come out and absolutely dominate The Knights then I like how the season stacks up. If not, well, get ready to hear how much the B1G sucks for the next 10 weeks or so.

Results of EA Sports NCAA 2013 Sim (PS3 Version):
OSU 53 – UCF 50 2OT

Yep…the sim had this bad boy as all UCF until the third quarter with UCF coming back to tie it in the 4th. They then proceeded to head into 2OT possessions with OSU winning on a 6 yard Miller to Stoneburner pass. Oh, yeah, and UCF missed a FG so this could have been a much different sim.

Both teams have fast offenses, so this wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. However, I think both Ds are good enough to hold each other under 50 points. Would it be a shock if OSU could only win this game by a FG? It shouldn’t be, though I have a feeling it could take some off-guard and spell the end of the Meyer honeymoon. OSU will not be able to have a sluggish first quarter against UCF like they did against Miami, however, and that is what happens in the Sim.

I try to not take too much stock in what happens on these things, but it does serve to justify my nervousness around this game. I kind of wish the Sim had ended in a beatdown to increase my sense of hope.

Sim Stat Leaders – Offensive:

Passing – OSU
Braxton Miller – 28/49 344 yards, 6TD
Kenny Guiton – 0/2

Passing – UCF
Blake Bortles – 38/74 532 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT
Jamie Boyle – 0/1

Rushing – OSU
Carlos Hyde – 130 yards, 4.4 avg
Braxton Miller – 86 yards, 3.9 avg, 1TD

Rushing – UCF
Brendan Kelly – 49 yards, 3.4 avg
Storm Johnson – 44 yards, 3.6 avg, 1TD

Receiving – OSU
Devin Smith – 172 Yards, 15.6 avg, 3TD
Jake Stoneburner – 79 Yards, 11.2 avg, 1 TD

Receiving – UCF
JJ Worton – 189 Yards, 17.1 avg, 2TD
Quincy McDuffie – 98 Yards, 13.9 avg, 1TD

Sim Stat Leaders – Defensive:

OSU -
Curtis Grant – 9 Tackles, 3 Solo, 6 ATK
Travis Howard – 7 Tackles, 1 Solo, 6 ATK
CJ Barnett – 6 Tackles, 3 Solo, 3 ATK

UCF -
Jonathan Davis – 15 Tackles, 6 Solo, 9 ATK, 1 TFL
Terrance Plummer – 7 Tackles, 3 Solo, 4 ATK,
Josh Wofford – 6 Tackles, 2 Solo, 4 ATK, 2 TFL, 1 Sack

Kicking:

OSU -
Drew Basil – 1/1, 4/4 XPM, FG LNG 45

UCF -
Shawn Moffitt – 3/4, 5/6 XPM, FG LNG 44