UCF : John Rhys Plumlee Finally Arrives
Welcome to UCF, John Rhys Plumlee. The Ole Miss transfer had a breakout performance last night against smu. Finally he seemed to have control of the offense. Plumlee looked like he was finally a quarterback and not just an athlete. pretending to be a qb. John Rhys shut up all his critics, including this writer, on national tv. This is the guy that we were promised when JRP transferred into UCF. He was dynamic. Now I get why Gus has decided to stick with the transfer instead of going with Mikey Keene.What John did against the Mustangs was beyond impressive. Now JRP needs to keep it up.
When he came to a Orlando, there were questions about John Rhys playing QB. He didn’t have the arm strength and hadn’t played qb in 2 years. No one knew what to expect from JRP this year. Initially, John seemed to look comfortable against the likes of SC State. Then came the giant buzzkill against Louisville and Georgia Tech. JRP needs to gp find that consistency that all quarterbacks have. Yea, the converted receiver is relearning the position, but he needs to get ahold of the position quickly. UCF cannot afford to allow him to having very bad games during conference play.
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Which is why the SMU game was awesome to watch. It was the turning point. John had a new swagger coming out of the locker room against the Ponies. It showed in his performance in the second half where Plumlee went off. He threw for over 200 yards and 2 touchdowns in the second half alone. This was a coming out party for the man that has been criticized up and down by the fanbase. The crowd, which was electric, boo’d John Rhys. Perhaps this was what inspired him to come out and put on a show.
Consistency is the key for John Rhys. Many compare him to Nick Marshall. They are both athletes with questionable arm strength. They can make plays with their feet and have the balls to sacrifice their bodies. However, where they differ is that Marshall knew how to command the offense. Game after game he had a clear grasp of the offense. He was consistent in his ability to make the right read and make the right decision. JRP hasn’t done that yet. We have seen the flashes of brilliance, but never in one whole game. John Rhys needs to put it together for a whole game rather than just a half. That is how Gus offense functions.
JRP is dynamic playmaker. His legs are his best asset and we have seen it time and time again. He showed it against Georgia Tech and FAU. Plumlee throws better when on the run. Gus had not utilized this skill until the SMU second half. Here we saw JRP throwing on the run. It was here that John Rhys looked way more comfortable than in the pocket. The stats back up this fact: Plumlee has a 62 percent completion rate while on the run. That’s an increase of. 7 percent from when the quarterback is in the pocket. It seems that Gus has finally figured out that getting John Rhys out of the pocket is beneficial. Hopefully this continues.
I don’t think Dillon Gabriel could have done what John Rhys did. DG would have tapped out once UCF went down 13–10. He would have quit against SMU. DG had no balls rather he was a coward. Dillon played scared and couldn’t lead a team. No one rallied behind DG. The sock salesman could not inspire confidence. Compare that to John Rhys Plumlee. Everyone seemed to rally around the Ole Miss transfer. He had command of that locker room. The team wanted to help JRP prove that he belonged at ucf. That speaks volumes. to John Rhys.
Many have criticized John Rhys Plumlee for his play this year. This was justified given how awful he had been. The boos rang out against SMU, it was reminiscent of KZ being boo’d in the Cure bowl. But like McKenzie, JRP came out with a vengeance. He had the best game UCF fans could have asked for. Now John Rhys needs to continue it. If he does, well get ready for an explosive offense.
