Lance Leipold addresses how injury to John Rhys Plumlee, QB rotation affects Kansas defense

UCF suffered a big blow early against Kansas on Saturday as quarterback John Rhys Plumlee limped with injury off on the first drive. Plumlee later returned to the game, but didn’t appear to be at full strength as the Knights have continued to rotate between him and Timmy McClain.

Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold addressed the situation during a sideline interview to start the second quarter. Although he expects UCF to stick with Plumlee for now, he noted the Kansas defense has to be ready for what both players bring.

“I think right now if they’re going to rotate, it’s what kind of emphasis they’re gonna have with each guy in there,” Leipold said. “I think they’ll stay with the starter. I think he just kind of tweaked it early. We’ve tackled well so far. We haven’t allowed them to get much of a rhythm and that’s gonna be key here in the second quarter.”

Shortly after Leipold’s interview, McClain again led the Knights offense out on to the field to start a drive in the second quarter. So far Plumlee is 3-of-7 passing for just 33 yards, while McClain has seen his only pass attempt fall incomplete.

The FOX broadcast later provided an update on Plumlee with a few minutes remaining in the first half, saying he will be sidelined for the remainder of the game.

Plumlee had missed the past three games for UCF with a leg injury, but worked his way back to start Saturday’s game. Unfortunately, it appears he tweaked the injury and it appears the Knights are at least will have to make do without him going forward.

Prior to the injury, Plumlee had thrown for 553 yards, three touchdowns and four interception while rushing for 163 yards and a touchdown on the season.

McClain started each of the past three games with Plumlee out as UCF has gone 1-2 in those contests. He had thrown for 819 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions in those games.

So far Kansas leads 24-0 with just minutes to go before halftime as the Knights have managed just 50 yards passing in the first half through their QB struggles. The Jayhawks have had no issues moving the ball so far as they’ve totaled 220 yards of offense. They’ve gotten most of their work done on the ground with 142 yards rushing and a touchdown.

We’ll see if UCF can turn things around in the second half, but it’ll have a tough task already down three touchdowns without its starting quarterback