A year of experience can do wonders for a young player.
The confidence of experience changes a person’s demeanor. It changes their confidence. It changes their leadership.
For UCF, the first year after the team’s breakthrough Fiesta Bowl win fell on a quarterback battle won by a freshman. It was a shaky situation and their quarterback play left at least something to be desired despite the team’s success.
As the Knights approach the 2015 season though, the quarterback is set. This is his team. He is its leader, as he told Shannon Green of the Orlando Sentinel.
If they need instruction, they can come to me. I’m kind of sweet with the hips,” said Holman, while laughing. “I can loosen up on the field, but when it comes to dance moves, I’m pretty alright.”
Coach George O’Leary noted in the article about how Holman has improved his touch on his throws and is no longer “Nolan Ryan” throwing bullets at receivers. Holman credited working on his footwork for some of this change.
No doubt experience helped him out too.
Last year, Holman was up and down for sure, but came through in some big moments — most notably his Hail Mary touchdown pass to Rashad Perriman to defeat East Carolina.
He ended up throwing for 2,952 yards on 56.9 percent completion percentage with 23 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. The Knights were 80 percent in the red zone on touchdowns and scored 52 percent touchdowns in red zone opportunities.
It was a good season, but one that certainly had room for improvement.
With a leadership element under his belt now, there seems to be some stability with UCF. That will be key for the Golden Knights.
The media selected UCF to finish fourth in the AAC this year. The losses on defense will be key as well as the loss of Holman’s favorite target, Perriman. Rannell Hall and Josh Reese together made up just eight more yards than Perriman gained last year at receiver.
Holman will have to take more control of the offense for UCF to find success. He and William Stanback will be carrying a very large load.
It is not easy to turn a team completely over like this. These transitions are not easy. It hapens every year and the continuity at quarterback should help UCF’s offense stem some of the loss of Perriman. But Holman will have to prove himself too.
Judging by his reactions earlier in practice and the way Holman has stepped into and owned the role at quarterback, it seems Holman is ready to take that step.
