ASU's Anderson familiar with beating UCF

Blake Anderson was an offensive coordinator when he got his introduction to Central Florida football.

At the time, Southern Miss -- where Anderson worked for four seasons under Larry Fedora -- and Central Florida were rivals in the Conference USA East Division, where they met annually. The teams played every year from 2008-11, all Southern Miss victories decided by 11 points or less.

"It was a brutal, physical battle," Anderson recalled. "We got the best of them and beat them four times in a row, but there was nothing easy about it."

Anderson will get reacquainted with his old rivals at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, when Arkansas State (7-5) plays the Knights (6-6) in the Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

Plenty has changed for the Knights since the last time Anderson coached against them in 2011. They've won a Fiesta Bowl in 2013, bottomed out in a 0-12 finish last year, then hired one of college football's top offensive coordinators in Scott Frost.

"They're built well, they can run, and they will hit you in the mouth," Anderson said. "It's a huge challenge for our guys."

ASU's quest for an eighth victory and their first bowl victory in three seasons comes against a team that looks familiar both to what Anderson remembers and to what ASU has been this year: a team with an experienced defense carrying the load for an inexperienced offense.

Under Frost, who brought an uptempo attack from his years as offensive coordinator at Oregon, the Knights started over on offense. He installed a Spread-option offense.

On Saturday, Central Florida will start true freshman quarterback McKenzie Milton, while a true freshman running back and true freshman linemen will get plenty of snaps, too.

The youth on offense has led to inconsistency, with the Knights scoring 31 points or more four times but being held to 24 points or less six times. The freshman-led offense ranks seventh in the American Athletic Conference in scoring (30.1 points per game) and 10th in total offense (361.5 yards per game). It lost 22 turnovers, fourth most in the conference.

But a 3-4 base defense run by coordinator Erik Chinander, whom Frost brought with him from Oregon, that includes 10 junior or senior starters has carried the Knights back into a bowl game. Led by linebacker Shaquem Griffin, the AAC's defensive player of the year, the Knights held teams to 24.1 points, third in the AAC, and to 381.7 yards per game, fourth in the league.

That starts with Griffin, a senior who was moved from safety to linebacker in UCF's 3-4 defense to tally 85 tackles and a league-best 11 sacks. Griffin and his twin brother, Shaquill, a cornerback, were two of four Knights to be named to all-AAC teams.

"It didn't work out for them last year," Frost told reporters earlier this season. "But we definitely weren't without players."

That's not a surprise to Anderson, who for four seasons was familiar with the program that had access to a deep recruiting base.

"All they have to do is go out their back door and there are players on every corner," Anderson said. "They don't have to go far."

Frost, hired Dec. 1, 2015, took advantage, putting together a recruiting class that Rivals.com ranked second in the AAC. That was added to classes that were ranked third in 2015 and fourth in 2014. The talent isn't near what Frost had to work with at Oregon, he said last month, but it's enough to give ASU concerns.

Both Anderson and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner mentioned Griffin as a player who stood out on film. Defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen pointed out receiver Tre'Quan Smith, a junior who caught 54 passes for 808 yards and 5 touchdowns. Cauthen said he's the best receiver ASU has played since Southern Cal's JuJu Smith.

"I wouldn't compare him to JuJu," Cauthen said, "but he's the best since then."

But the strength of the Knights is found in their defense.

"Their nose guard can play, the defensive end can play, they've got length at corner," Anderson said. "It's a huge challenge for our offense. And we have not played as well as we want to offensively. So, yeah, we're going to have to step it up and play well."

Sports on 12/14/2016