Gus gets his transfer QB 🏃♂️💨 and strong finishers
John Rhys Plumlee might just be the perfect fit for Gus Malzahn's system in Orlando, plus UCF women's basketball is clutch in closing time.
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Today’s read is 3.5 minutes ⏲️
Trending in the Kingdom: In comes Plumlee 🔄
There’s a new acronym to familiarize yourself within the Knights’ QB room: JRP. UCF finally landed its coveted transfer quarterback, with Gus Malzahn luring two-sport star John Rhys Plumlee to Orlando.
Looks like he’ll be UCF’s version of Bo Jackson 👀.
Here’s the scoop: It wasn’t Bo Nix or Michael Penix. No, not Cameron Ward either. UCF landed the perfect athlete at quarterback for Malzahn’s gimmicky-offense in Plumlee, who comes over from Ole Miss where he played multiple positions in Lane Kiffin’s system, but played QB in 2019.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Plumlee, a former four-star recruit, made his decision to pick the Knights after a trip to campus this past weekend, but he’s been connected to UCF since entering the portal last week. He was a virtual lock.
Malzahn and current UCF OC Chip Lindsey tried to sign Plumlee out of high school while at Auburn, but they were late to offer at quarterback.
He’s also a hell of a pianist and musician, crediting his grandmother for inspiring him to pursue music.
He’ll have two years of eligibility left, factoring in the free year given to every college athlete due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two-a-day springs 🏈⚾️: Plumlee spoke with UCFSports.com’s Brandon Helwig and confirmed he’ll be playing both football and baseball at UCF. He’s also going to wear No. 10, which of course was made famous by McKenzie Milton, but KZ doesn’t seem to mind.
“Just coming down here and being around the staff was just really exciting,” Plumlee told Helwig. “I was able to sit down and talk with them, really break down the offense and what their plans are. Obviously the trajectory of this program with a really young fanbase and young school is exciting. UCF has the potential to make some big waves."
Back to QB: Plumlee has always wanted to return to his roots at quarterback, making that clear to any team that wanted him in the portal. Man, was he impressive in 2019, especially with his feet.
He was a freshman All-American, appearing in nine games with eight starts and set the Ole Miss freshman record for rushing yards (1,023) and total touchdowns (16).
He was the sixth Rebel ever to surpass the 1,000-yard plateau and finished eighth in the country with 113.7 rushing yards per game, best for any freshmen.
Plumlee can throw the ball, too, passing for 910 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions.
His best game came against No. 1 LSU on Nov. 16, 2019 when he broke Ole Miss’ single-game rushing record for a QB with 212 yards and four touchdowns.
He also had 109 yards rushing and a touchdown against No. 2 Alabama that season.
A graceful exit 👋🏻: To his credit, Plumlee handed the position change with grace and did the same on his way out of Oxford. He didn’t cop a fit when Kiffin and a new coaching staff came in with a new offensive scheme, instead swallowing his pride to help the team win.
“Whatever that may be, whatever that may look like, whether it’s receiver, running back coming out of the backfield, a little bit of quarterback,” Plumlee said this summer. “Whatever helps the team win, I think is the phrase he used. Whatever will help the team win is what we’re going to do. It was a good conversation. I prayed on it, and I thought it was the right thing to do. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
His mentorship is well-documented, and it’s going to be needed at UCF, which features a young quarterback room of returning starter Mikey Keene, redshirt freshman Parker Navarro, transfer Joey Gatewood and incoming true freshman Thomas Castellanos.
Malzahn didn’t reference Plumlee directly, saying he can’t discuss any incoming transfers just yet, but did say the portal is helping the staff restock their roster.
“The game’s changed,” Malzahn said. “With the portal, it’s just changed everything. You lose a few players and roster management is so important, you’ve got to replace them. I’ve said this before, but I think this is such an attractive place for transfers. Now that it’s the new norm, if we handle it right it could be a huge advantage for us.”
So, who wins the job this spring? 👀
I’d have to say the favorite would be Plumlee, given his skillset seems to be a perfect match for what Malzahn wants to run at quarterback. Keene played well during his true freshman season, but wasn’t as great as a runner, which limited what Malzahn could call offensively.
He loves the threat of run-first, true RPO quarterbacks, which is why you saw a lot of Joey Gatewood or Parker Navarro in situations this season (although they were mainly used to run), so Plumlee fits right in with the traditional Malzahn game plan. Take a look at how Malzahn used Cam Newton and Nick Marshall at Auburn. Plumlee fits into that mold, but he’s faster, which I’m sure had Malzahn salivating to snag him.
I could see Thomas Castellanos thriving in the Malzahn system as well, but even if he impresses this spring, I can’t see the staff burning a year of his with the Big 12 on the horizon.
Clutch in Closing Time 🕓
Under Coach Abe, UCF women’s basketball has been known for their stout defense, but they’ve been lock down late in games this year.
Fill me in: The Lady Knights picked up their 10th win of the season on Saturday, suffocating ECU in a 52-43 win to move to 2-0 in conference play. UCF held the Pirates to a season-low 43 points, which is now the ninth time they’ve held an opponent under 50 points this season, in 12 games.
Closing time 🕓: UCF hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts in games this year, having trailed at the end of the first quarter in 10 of their 12 games, but they’ve been able to win despite that because of their fourth-quarter play.
The Knights have outscored their opponents, 394-295, in the second half of games this season.
UCF has scored 207 fourth-quarter points this season, while holding their opponents to less than 10 points in that final frame three different times.
Up next 📆: Tuesday, Jan. 11 - UCF vs. Houston, 6 p.m. (Orlando, Fla.) on ESPN+