UCF Knights football

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For current information on this topic, see 2009 UCF Knights football team.
UCF Knights football
First season 1979
Athletic director Keith Tribble
Head coach George O'Leary
3rd year, 26–35
Home stadium Bright House Networks Stadium
Stadium capacity 45,301
Stadium surface Grass
Location Orlando, Florida
Conference C-USA
Division East
All-time record 166–156–1 (0.522)
Postseason bowl record 0–2
Conference titles 1
Division titles 2
All-Americans 2
Colors Black and Gold            
Fight song UCF Fight Song
Mascot Knightro
Marching band Marching Knights
Website UCF Athletics

The University of Central Florida Knights are a NCAA Division I FBS college football program. The team began playing in 1979 as a Division III program and completed their ascension to Division I-A, now Division I FBS, in 1996. The Knights are a member of Conference USA and their current head coach is George O'Leary, who formerly led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team.

Contents

[edit] Stadium

Until 2007, the Knights had played all of their home games at the Florida Citrus Bowl. In 2005, the university proposed building a stadium on campus for the first time. Bright House Networks Stadium was originally planned to open in time for the 2006 football season, but neighborhood opposition delayed the time frame over a year.

The stadium on opening day at halftime. The Knights hosted the #6 Texas Longhorns, losing 35–32.

Stadium construction began in 2006 and was finished in time for the first 2007 UCF Knights football team home game on September 15, 2007 against the Texas Longhorns. The seating capacity of the stadium is 45,301 with plans for an expansion to 65,000 seats in the coming years. Although the Knights lost their first on-campus home game, they finished the remainder of the stadium's inaugural season undefeated, including the Conference USA home opener against Memphis. They hosted and won the 2007 C-USA Championship, defeating Tulsa.

[edit] Program history

[edit] Early years

The program began at the Division III level in 1979, when the school was known as Florida Technological University. Don Jonas, a former professional football player and Orlando dignitary, became UCF's first head football coach on a volunteer basis.

UCF would move up to Division II in 1982. Gene McDowell took over as head coach and athletic director in 1985. During his tenure, the program moved up to Division I-AA in 1990 and was a playoff team in 1990 and 1993.[1].

[edit] I-A independent

In 1996, the program made its foray into Division I-A. In the wake of a federal fraud scandal revolving around improper cellular phone benefits and use[2], McDowell resigned as head coach on January 20, 1998 and was replaced by Mike Kruczek on an interim basis. He would receive the position permanently later in 1998.

Kruczek guided the team as a Division I-A independent until 2001 and UCF Knights proved to be a scary team on the road. Close losses included 6–10 at Auburn in 1998, 24–23 at Georgia in 1999, and 21–17 at Georgia Tech in 2000. Kruczek's biggest victory would come in 2000 against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, winning 40–38 on a last-second field goal by Javier Beorlegui. After finishing 9–2 in 1998, UCF received a tentative verbal agreement to play in the Oahu Bowl. However, the arrangement fell through in the final week of the season, when Miami upset undefeated UCLA. The unexpected result stole UCF's hopes for their first bowl appearance.

[edit] Mid-American Conference

After six difficult years as an independent, UCF played its much-anticipated first season as a member of the Mid-American Conference in 2002. They finished runner-up in the East division with a 6–2 record. They finished the season 7–5 overall, completing their 14th winning season in the past 17 years. The excitement however, was short-lived.

After signing a three-year contract extension to begin the 2003 season, Kruczek was fired following a 3–7 start. He was replaced on an interim basis by Alan Gooch before the program hired George O'Leary for the start of the 2004 season. An increasing travel cost burden, and overall disdain with the midwest-based MAC saw UCF begin to explore the possibility of a different conference affiliation. The difficult coaching transition for 2004 saw the team hit rock bottom, going 0–11, blasted even by perennial basement dweller Buffalo. It would be their final season in the MAC.

[edit] Conference USA

Bright House Networks Stadium

In 2005, UCF started their first season as a member of Conference USA. Not expected to improve much over 2004, they surprisingly won their first conference game against Marshall, 23–13, and finished 7–1 in C-USA games, winning the East Division and hosting the first ever C-USA Championship game, which they lost, 44–27, to Tulsa. Shortly thereafter, UCF was invited to play in their first ever bowl game, the Hawaii Bowl, losing to Nevada 49–48 in overtime.

After an anemic 2006 which saw the Golden Knights go a mere 4–8, the team rebranded in 2007 in preparation for its move to its new on-campus venue, Bright House Networks Stadium. They dropped the "Golden" from their name, becoming the "UCF Knights". After defeating a BCS school for the second time ever, the NC State Wolfpack, they inaugurated their new stadium by hosting — and almost beating — the No. 6 ranked Texas Longhorns. The Knights lost to regional rival South Florida 64–12 in Tampa, but went on to have a 5–1 regular season at home and won the C-USA East again, hosting the Championship game against Tulsa once more. This time, the Knights won, 44–25, and clinched their first Conference USA football title and a berth in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. The Knights lost the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN; 10–3 to Mississippi State.

In 2007, Kevin Smith rushed for 2,567 yards, placing him 2nd on the NCAA's all-time single season rushing list behind Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders.

[edit] Ereck Plancher tragedy

On March 18, 2008, running back Ereck Plancher died after conditioning drills. According to four UCF football players interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel, Coach O'Leary verbally abused Plancher throughout the workout, and continued to push the young man to perform despite what they reported to be obvious physical signs that Plancher was in no shape to continue.[3] According to the four unnamed players, O'Leary cursed at Ereck Plancher in a post-workout huddle. Plancher collapsed shortly after the workout and was immediately attended by UCF athletic trainers. He was then transported to a nearby hospital where he died approximately one hour later. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the story told by each of the four players was identical. The Orlando Sentinel granted the players anonymity, citing a fear of backlash from O'Leary and the coaching staff. Many have blamed the Orlando Sentinel of fabricating the controversy by releasing the supposed hard-hitting interviews yet citing anonymous sources. This caused many supporters of UCF and George O'Leary to discontinue their subscriptions with the paper, which, in turn, affected the Sentinel's income. This resulted in more layoffs for the paper.[4] While attempting to renew their contract with UCF to carry the newspaper on university newsstands, the Sentinel requested a sharp increase in its pricing rate, which caused the UCF Student Government Association to discontinue their contract. As a result, the Orlando Sentinel is no longer carried at the university. [5]

Subsequent to the Orlando Sentinel article, ESPN's "Outside The Lines" program on November 2, 2008 interviewed players who were at the training session at which Plancher became ill (and after which he died) and stated that the session was around 50 minutes longer and far more rigorous than O'Leary and other UCF Athletics officials have admitted to publicly. They also alleged that O'Leary and other coaches had initially warned players off from providing assistance to Plancher when he became visibly distressed. UCF medical records appear to indicate that UCF coaches and trainers knew that Plancher had a sickle-cell trait which could lead to problems, and even death, during high-intensity workouts.[6]

[edit] Rivals

UCF, being a relatively young Bowl Subdivision team, has yet to establish any major long-term rivals. South Florida had a rivalry with UCF from 2005–2008, called the The War on I-4. UCF hopes to continue a rivalry within the state seeking short-term contracts with the Miami Hurricanes and the FIU Golden Panthers. The Miami Hurricanes signed for a 2 game series with UCF, the first game in Miami and the second game in Orlando. The Hurricanes and the Knights met for the first time on October 11, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium. Miami won 20–14. The two teams will face off again on October 3, 2009 at Bright House Networks Stadium. There has been no talk of continuing the series. The FIU Golden Panthers have signed a 2 game series with UCF as well. The two teams will have their first meeting at Bright House Networks Stadium in 2010. The second game will be played at FIU Stadium in 2011.

[edit] South Florida Bulls

See also: The War on I-4

UCF played the South Florida Bulls in a four year home-and-home series, from 2005 to 2008. UCF has been defeated at each game, including two home heart breakers in which UCF tied the game late in the fourth quarter only to watch South Florida secure the win. USF has declined to continue the series. However, fans of the series look to the Bowl Season to see a future match up between the two schools. The St. Petersburg Bowl has both the Big East and C-USA as tie-ins.

[edit] C-USA rivalries

The Marshall Thundering Herd has been considered UCF's main rival due to the amount of meetings and the comparable size of the programs. Both teams joined the FBS a year apart and made the switch to C-USA from the MAC in 2005. The similarities and histories between the two programs fuel the fire in this rivalry. UCF's first football victory over Marshall in 2005, ended the Golden Knights' 17-game losing streak. In 2008, UCF played spoiler to Marshall, beating them to allow East Carolina to jump the Herd for the C-USA Eastern Division lead. Since 2002 the two teams have faced off 7 times and UCF currently leads the series 4–3. UCF has not lost to Marshall as C-USA opponents.

Date Played Marshall UCF Location
Mid-American Conference from 2002-2004
September 20, 2002 Marshall 26 UCF 21 Joan C. Edwards Stadium
November 19, 2003 Marshall 21 UCF 7 Citrus Bowl
October 30, 2004 Marshall 20 UCF 3 Joan C. Edwards Stadium
Both teams join Conference USA East Division in 2005
September 24, 2005 Marshall 13 UCF 23 Citrus Bowl
October 4, 2006 Marshall 22 UCF 23 Joan C. Edwards Stadium
November 3, 2007 Marshall 13 UCF 47 Bright House Networks Stadium
November 15, 2008 Marshall 14 UCF 30 Joan C. Edwards Stadium

Some see a potential rivalry between the Knights and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The teams played each other twice in Conference USA title games and split. The record between the two teams is 2–2, with each team winning once in the regular season and once in the title game.

Date Played Tulsa UCF Location
December 3, 2005 Tulsa 44 UCF 27 Citrus Bowl
October 20, 2007 Tulsa 23 UCF 44 Bright House Networks Stadium
December 1, 2007 Tulsa 25 UCF 44 Bright House Networks Stadium
October 26, 2008 Tulsa 49 UCF 19 H.A. Chapman Stadium

Another possible rivalry lies with a division rival, the East Carolina. In 2007, UCF's only conference loss came to a blowout at the hands of the Pirates. UCF later won the conference title that year. In 2008, UCF was looking like they were going to ruin East Carolina's dreams of the Eastern Division title like they did to Marshall, but with a late rally, the Pirates won in overtime making the Pirates the first C-USA team to beat UCF in BrightHouse Networks Stadium.

[edit] Division history

Year Division Conference Affiliation
1979-1981 NCAA Division III
1982-1989 NCAA Division II Sunshine State Conference(1975-1984)
1990-1995 NCAA Division I-AA
1996-Present NCAA Division I-A/FBS Independent (1996-2001)
Mid-America Conference East Division (2002-2004)
Conference USA East Division (2005-Present)

[edit] Conference Championship appearances

  • 2005 Conference USA Football Championship
  • 2007 Conference USA Football Championship

[edit] Conference Championships

  • 2007 Conference USA Conference Champions

[edit] Bowl appearances

[edit] All-Americans

[edit] Retired numbers

[edit] Knights in the NFL

[edit] Knights in the Pro Bowl

[edit] Knights in the Super Bowl

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  • ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete history of the Game (ISBN 1-4013-3703-1), pp.194–198.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Division I-AA Playoffs and Facts
  2. ^ PLUS: COLLEGE FOOTBALL - CENTRAL FLORIDA; Coach Quits After Guilty Plea - New York Times
  3. ^ "Report: Plancher showed signs of distress at end of workout". ESPN.com. 2008-04-25. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3341341. Retrieved on 2008-06-26. 
  4. ^ Orlando Sentinel layoffs under way again?
  5. ^ Sentinel Now Off Campus
  6. ^ "Report: Conditioned for death: Could UCF have prevented the Ereck Plancher tragedy?". ESPN.com. 2008-11-02. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=3672808. Retrieved on 2008-11-02. 
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ Current NFL Players
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