UCF KNIGHTS LINEBACKERS

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Coaches are searching for balance in bid to prove naysayers wrong

In three weeks, UCF opens the season at North Carolina State. Leading up to the game, expectations are expected to continue to grow for a Knights team that has filled in many of the cracks on defense that were exposed last season.

But for all the needlepoint and patchworking Coach George O'Leary and his rebuilt staff have done, questions still surround the linebacker corps.

In 2006, a lack of speed, depth and tackling ability haunted the linebackers, and UCF's defense suffered because of it. The linebackers especially were a liability against teams that used a lot of underneath crossing patterns.
Kyle Hightower: Orlando Sentinel