For all the acclaim the UCF Knights offense received last year, the defense and run game received just as much attention for all the wrong reasons. With the focus of improving the team being to stop the run game, there is a lot of good and bad to do on the defensive line.
The good news is that defensive tackles are once again the best position on that side of the ball. That may seem counterintuitive for a team that has struggled to stop the run, but Knights defensive tackle coach Kenny Martin talked about what a joy it is to coach his talented group of Ricky Barber, Lee Hunter, John Walker and Matthew Alexander, who average 310 pounds.
“These guys as a unit — honestly, it’s like coaching from a rocking chair,” Martin said. “These guys are really good at what they do. They treat everything like professionals, they try to be professionals, and they really try to cram every single day. These guys are really good and I enjoy coming to work with them every day.”
Despite all the improvements made to the linebacker corps through transfers, the defensive tackles’ job is to maintain blocks so the backs can make one-on-one tackles against the Big 12 running backs so the offense can get back on the field.
But as part of the mantra of stopping the outside run, the defensive ends come into play. This is the part of the defensive line that is causing concern, as both 2023 starters, Josh Celiscar and Tre’mon Morris-Brash, have left the team. However, Malachi Lawrence has settled well into the leadership role among the ends.
As a rotation player, Lawrence still accounted for 7.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss. As a 2024 starter and team captain, he made his approach as a leader clear by example.
“I try to be more of a vocal leader now, but I also like to show my leadership skills,” Lawrence said. “Not making mistakes in training is exactly the kind of leadership role I like to take on – the little things that I want to go into detail about…”
Dylan Dotson, Nyjalik Kelly and Kaven Call will all compete to be Lawrence’s counterpart or contribute as a rotational player on the edge. Lawrence’s promotion to the top player at the position represents a slight change in the philosophy that relies more on speed than power that Celiscar was known for. Lawrence weighs 20 pounds less than his predecessor and may not produce the same sack numbers, but he will be able to contain outside runs and escaping, mobile quarterbacks. If he has more tackles for loss than last year, that would be an indication that the goal of containing the outside run up front was better executed in the 2024 season.
If that run can be stopped, some of UCF’s close losses from last year could be turned into convincing wins. And that would start with the Big Four at the top.
