In UCF Knights Football hiring Scott Frost to return to Orlando in order to coach the team in 2025, there is the hope — no matter the slightness of its glimmer — that the magic of that 2017 undefeated season can at least in some small portion be captured. Sean Beckton has returned as his associate head coach as did his quarterback McKenzie Milton to help Frost bring back winning culture and establish the offensive philosophies that could translate to on-field success. However, from all the returning
coaching names and NFL representatives from the receiving corps from the previous Frost era, none of it happens without the run game.
During UCF’s National Championship year, running backs Adrian Killins and Otis Anderson were an essential part of the Knights offense. Then sophomore Killins carried the ball 122 times for 790 yards and 10 touchdowns for 6.5 yards per carry with 25 catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns receiving. Anderson showed he was more than just a sidekick as a freshman contributing 494 yards on 69 carries at 7.2 yards per carry with four touchdowns as well as 30 catches for 351 yards receiving and three touchdowns in the air.
Before Knight Nation can believe this team can re-establish success at UCF under Frost, Knight fans would need to be asked if their twin Doak Walker Award Watch List candidates, Myles Montgomery and Jaden Nixon if they can be the next Killins and Anderson.
If that is taken to mean that the duos need to be carbon copies, the answer is an obvious “no” — as it should be. For one, Killin’s was 5’8” and 164 pounds while Anderson was 5’11” and 174. While Anderson is as tall as Montgomery at 5’11, both Montgomery and the 5’8” Nixon are heavier than both of the 2017 running backs at 205 and 185, respectively.
After all, Killins and Anderson weren’t playing in a Power Conference back then as members of the American Athletic Conference. While both of the current UCF running backs are veterans in the Big 12 where the players are generally bigger and faster athletes. The question is more accurately meant to ponder whether this pair, along with the rest of the Knights running back corps, can not only continue the tradition of strong running back play (especially after a nearly 1,600-yard ground gainer in RJ did what he did last year), but also perform with the same versatility to be a threat in the passing game.
Can they be not just running backs, but multifaceted weapons that can hurt defenses in a way that they aren’t prepared for while providing enough balance to make plays in the air as a threat that can blow a game open or pull their team back into striking distance at a moment’s notice?
Granted, an element of whether this is attainable also depends on the poise of the quarterback and the protection of the offensive line. But, if those things are established as decent at best, it would do a lot to put this running back duo in a position where maybe they won’t be the same spectacle as Killins and Anderson, but they can offer the chance to help UCF return to a bowl game.
