Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

The UCF Knights football team (2-1; 0-0 CUSA) took control of the game late last Saturday securing a 24-10 victory against the Buffalo Bulls. Although the Knights struggled during the first half, they were able to pull ahead late in the third quarter to bring UCF their first road victory of the season. Below are video highlights of this week’s matchup at Kansas State and a recap of last week’s win at Buffalo (courtesy Orlando Sentinel):

LET’S LOOK AHEAD: UCF (2-1) plays arguably its toughest nonconference game of the season at Kansas State (3-0). The Knights’ defense faces a big challenge in the Wildcats’ dynamic senior RB Daniel Thomas, who ranks second nationally in rushing with 184 yards per game. Thomas, who has experience playing quarterback, can effectively run the wildcat and has helped carry Kansas State to a 3-0 record, beating UCLA, Missouri State and Iowa State.

LET’S REVIEW: The Knights shook off a sluggish first half, using a strong fourth quarter for a 24-10 win at Buffalo. True freshman QB Jeff Godfrey got his first career start against the Bulls, but UCF coach George O’Leary said he fell back into some bad habits as the rushing attack sputtered. Junior QB Rob Calabrese played the first two possessions of the third quarter with little success, then Godfrey came off the bench to lead UCF on a 15-play, 90-yard scoring drive that helped the Knights secure the win.

INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore RB Brynn Harvey will likely go through full-contact workouts for the first time since injuring his knee during spring football. O’Leary said Harvey might be back for the UAB game Oct. 6. Senior LB Lawrence Young may have suffered a slight concussion at Buffalo and his status is known for the Kansas State game. Redshirt freshman OL Chris Martin is expected to return to the lineup after missing the Buffalo game with a knee injury. 

After dominating South Dakota 38-7 on last Saturday in-front of 33,000 fans at Bright House Network Stadium, the UCF Knights take-on the Wofpack of NC State from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday. Junior quarterback Rob Calabrese had his best game ever for UCF, leading the Knights on four scoring drives. He was 12-of-15, passing for 176 yards and one touchdown. N.C. State is coming off a 48-7 win home win over Western Carolina. Junior quarterback Russell Wilson took six months off from football to play college and professional baseball, but he made a smooth transition back to running the Wolfpack offense. Wilson was 21-of-31, passing for 306 yards and four touchdowns Saturday. The Knights have been practicing all-week for a high-octane offense powered by a NC State’s very mobile quarterback. The Tailgate Party for the Colleges of Nursing and Health & Public Affairs will begin at 2:30pm in Lot E5 (Softball Lot). All are welcome to attend. Hopefully the Knights will repeat the performance they gave back in 2007 when they beat NC State in Raleigh. Take a look at a GREAT video of the final seconds of that game and below:

 The UCF Knights football team will take to the field at Bright House Networks Stadium this Saturday to mark the beginning of the 2010 Football Season. UCF is expected to be a major contender in Conference USA with a squad of mainly returning players. The Knights will take on the Coyotes of South Dakota on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 6:00pm.

The Knights went 7-5 in 2009, losing to the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl in the post-season. This year, the goal is Conference USA’s flagship Bowl: The Liberty, which pits the C-USA Champion against a team from the SEC. UCF played in the Liberty once before, in the 2007 season losing to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The College of Nursing is again teaming-up with the College of Health & Public Affairs for Tailgate Parties for each game. This year, the Tailgates will take place in the Softball Lot (E5). This Saturday’s tailgate begins @ 1pm.

Below, take a look at the eldest member of the UCF Marching Knights, 48 y/o Don Cuopo, who is returning to UCF to finish his college education. The Marching Knights are under new direction this season, with former Georgia Tech Band Director Donny Allen taking over the reins from Director Ron Ellis (who departed in July to take a position with the University of Texas @ San Antonio). The Marching Knights are expected to have over 300 members this year and it should be great to see a change in leadership that will hopefully yield positive results. See-you on Saturday and GO KNIGHTS!!! 

 UCF announced that two more football games during the 2010 season will be broadcast on national television. The Knights will play N.C. State at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 and Southern Miss at noon Nov. 13 on CBS College Sports. UCF is hosting both games at Bright House Networks Stadium. In addition to the two CBS College Sports games, UCF will be playing three games airing on the ESPN family of networks. The Knights host UAB Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. on ESPN. UCF will play at Marshall Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. on ESPN and at Houston Friday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

 The UCF Knights Basketball program has hired a new Captain. Donnie Jones is leaving Marshall University to become the next coach at UCF. Jones has only been the head coach at Marshall for 3 seasons; but the Tundering Herd rose quickly to success on the court, landing in the top of Conference USA and ended 2009-2010 with a 24-10 record. Marshall made their first postseason appearance for the first time in 22 years. Prior to his position at Marshall, Jones was an Assistant at the University of Florida. UCF parted ways with long-time coach Kirk Speraw, who finished this season with a losing record (15-16) at the bottom of Conference USA. UCF Athletic Director Kieth Tribble praised Jones for his strong recruiting skill and cited Jones’ abilities to bring strong recruits to Huntington. Tribble also mentioned to Jones that UCF is strongly pursuing a position in the Big East should the league expand in the not-too-distant future.

  The UCF Knights’ 2010 Football Schedule was released today. 3 games for the Knights will be nationally-televised on ESPN. UCF will play 6 games at home, beginning with September 4th’s season opener against South Dakota. The Knights take-on the ACC’s Wolfpack of NC State at home on September 11th. The Knights beat NC State back in 2008 in an exciting game in Raleigh. Certainly NC State will be looking for revenge when they come to Orlando. UCF also has an away trip planned to Manhattan, Kansas to take-on Kansas State on September 25th. UCF has 3 ESPN televised contests, more than any team in Conference USA. Those games include matchups with UAB, Marshall, and Houston.

2010 UCF football schedule:

Congratulations to the Crimson Tide of Alabama for their victory over the Texas Longhorns Thursday night in the National BCS Championship Game. However, we must never forget:

  vs.  

Today, officials from the St. Petersburg Bowl (8/19, 8pm on ESPN) offered the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers the Big East spot of the game to take on the UCF Knights! UCF was offered the Conference USA slot last week. The Scarlet Knights (8-4; 3-4 Big East) ended their regular season of play on Saturday with a close (24-21) loss to #16 West Virginia. UCF (8-4; 6-2 C-USA) finished their regular season with a defeat of the UAB Blazers (34-27) last Saturday. The way the two teams’ seasons ended, the UCF Knights will have an extra week under their belt to rest and prepare for final exams, which begin at UCF this week. Rutgers, on the other hand, immediately enters practice. Plus, the game will be in the middle of their final exam week. The Knights actually stack-up fairly well against each other:

– The Scarlet Knights rank No. 20 nationally in rushing defense (109 yards allowed per game), No. 42 in passing defense (203 yards allowed per game) and No. 19 in total defense (312 yards allowed per game).

– UCF ranks No. 4 nationally in rushing defense (83 yards allowed per game), No. 70 in passing defense (210 yards allowed per game) and No. 46 in total defense (348 yards allowed per game).

A big advantage for the UCF Knights is that the game is only 126 miles from their campus; and UCF has already sold over 12,000 tickets to the game, selling-out their student ticket allotment in just 2 days. Tickets for the St. Petersburg Bowl are cheap at only $30 (plus service fees and taxes) Tickets should be purchased only through the UCF Athletics Ticket Office (ucfbowl.com). This game is going to be exciting and it is going to be great to get the chance to cheer-on the UCF Knights one more time this year! GO BLACK & GOLD!!! BEAT RUTGERS!!!

 The UCF Knights football team has a post-season destination but their opponent is yet to be named. Sources close to the St. Petersburg Bowl (December 19th, 8pm on ESPN) have confirmed that the Knights will be given a bid to the Bowl today. UCF will hold a press conference at 2pm to accept the bid. UCF will play an opponent from the Big East Conference. As of now, their three possible opponents are Rutgers, Connecticut, and USF. The Big East concludes its regular season this Saturday so UCF may not learn which team they will face until after Saturday. The St. Petersburg Bowl is the second best bowl tie-in for Conference USA and carries a $1 million payout. Only the Liberty Bowl, which pits C-USA’s Champion against an SEC opponent, pays more at $1.7 million. The UCF Colleges of Nursing and Health & Public Affairs Alumni Chapters will hold a Tailgate Party for the event. More news to follow.Congrats to the Knights for securing C-USA’s second best bowl game!