UCF Knights Blog

NFL Knights: Week 7

2004-10-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

The only bright spot for UCF football this season has been the alums.

In alphabetical order

#11 QB Daunte Culpepper (Vikings): Last week I said, "You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him." Well, the Titans contained him: 24-30, 183 yards, 1 TD, 103.2 rating and 3 carries for 4 yards.

#79 OL Steve Edwards (Bears): He entered the game against the Bucs early for Mike Gandy.

#22 CB Travis Fisher (Rams): "In his first game action since suffering a broken forearm on Aug. 23, cornerback Travis Fisher performed like somebody who hadn't played in two months." (Thomas, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch): 4 tackles (3 solo).

FISH AGAINST THE FISH: Fisher made his return to the lineup after breaking his forearm against Kansas City on Aug. 23 in the second preseason game. Fisher had some good moments, but also struggled in some situations.

In addition to slipping on Chambers’ touchdown catch, he missed a chance to tackle Morris on his touchdown run. Fisher said he thought he struggled, but was more worried about aggravating his injury.

“I did get some good reps out there,” Fisher said. “Some bad things happened to me, but I had some good plays too. It (the arm) pretty much bothered me the whole game.” (Wagoner, StLouisRams.com)

#85 WR Doug Gabriel (Raiders): He made his NFL start against the Saints and had four catches for 59 yards.

#84 TE Michael Gaines (Panthers): He started against the Chargers and had a 14 yard reception.

#74 OL Cornell Green (Broncos): Inactive due to injury.

#82 WR Charles Lee (Buccaneers): Inactive due to knee injury.

#78 DE Elton Patterson (Jaguars): He made his first appearance as a Jaguar in a backup role.

#22 CB Asante Samuel (Patriots): He made his third start of the season against the Jets and had three tackles, a forced fumble and two passes defensed.

Notes:

Of the nine active players, five started in week 7.

Only Elton Patterson has never started an NFL game.

Wednesday Roundup

2004-10-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

SportsLine.com: NCAA Football Notebook: O'Leary finds UCF in shambles, not bowls

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary Press Conference - Oct. 26

Just to cover some things right away … Stanford Rhule will be out the rest of the year with a bicep tear, and he will miss the next four games. Gerren Bray and James Cook will move into that position. We were going to look at Rudy Taylor, a freshman, but he is out for the year as well. I hate to see Stanford out because he was one kid that changes a lot of things out there. (UCFAthletics.com)

He's had horrible luck the past two years. If this injury occurred earlier (like say against Penn State) he could have been medically redshirted. Speaking of that, he should have been medically redshirted last season instead of playing overweight on a bum knee. Now his career is over and that's unfortunate. Good luck Stanford.

NCAA: 2004 Graduation-Rates Report for NCAA Division I Schools

The football numbers (for the 1997-98 class) are still bad in my opinion (38%), but not as bad as last year (29%). The numbers for all student-athletes have dropped this year compared to last year as well (from 49% to 43%). Still a lot of work to be done. Oh and because of the turnaround time with these graduation reports, we won't see how Coach O'Leary's first class (2004-05) does until 2010. But with this report, we can see how his 1997-98 class at Georgia Tech did (68%).

Sentinel: Injuries force cut in practice time

Redshirt still coming?

Freshman SS Sha'reff Rashad was cleared to play by doctors after needing a pin to repair a broken thumb, but the Knights will try not to play him the rest of 2004 and will apply to get his redshirt back. Much depends on how quickly Bigby gets back up to full speed.

Bigby played in reserve against Miami and was still hobbled. Rashad stayed in Orlando.

"I'm not sure if I want him to play," O'Leary said. "We can get a whole year [back] for him. It all depends on how much Bigby comes back."

In addition, coaches also were pleased at the improvement shown by the safety tandem of Brandon Marshall and Renford Parkes.

Rashad got hurt on the first play of his first start, the third game of the year at Penn State. The timing of the injury gives him a chance to get the redshirt. In an 11-game season, the NCAA allows for a redshirt if a player gets hurt in the first three games. (Schmadtke)

I asked Alan about this a month ago. That's what I hoped would happen. No sense in burning a 17 year old freshman's redshirt for a couple games. And since it will be a medical redshirt and not a regular one, it will be much easier for him to get a 6th year if he ever needs it.

Culpepper a Moffett fan

Even though his job as Minnesota Vikings quarterback takes up much of his time, former UCF QB Daunte Culpepper keeps tabs on his alma mater -- and on Knights QB Steven Moffett.

"He just needs to continue to work," Culpepper said. "He'll be fine. He has nice skills. He throws the ball well. He needs to continue to work on his strength, and he'll be fine." (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

I'm a big fan too. He has the look of a future NFLer.

Recruiting central

UCF received two more non-binding verbal commitments before Saturday's game: Lake Brantley LB Kyle Fowler and Milford Academy FB Shane Smith.

Fowler (6-2/196) picked UCF ahead of Louisville, Temple and East Carolina. Smith (6-2/235) rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior at Honesdale, Pa., in 2003. He has gained 20 pounds since high school and is expected to join the Knights in January as a mid-year signee.

In addition, Pompano Beach Ely CB Rodney Etienne is not considered tied to UCF any longer. Etienne is said to be considering other schools. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

When it comes to recruiting I'm not concerned about rankings anymore (look where that got us), but I do like to look at size and projectability and it looks like they are recruiting players with good size, frames, speed and quickness. They're also recruiting heavily at the prep schools, mainly Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, VA) and Milford Academy (New Berlin, NY).

The 2005 Commitment List:

T.J. Harnden, OLB, 6-4, 215, 4.6, Tallahassee-Lincoln
J.R. Sandlin, TE, 6-5, 250, 4.73, Tuscaloosa (AL)-Northridge
Travis Ferrer, TE, 6-5, 230, 4.7, Tallahassee-Lincoln
Joe Burnett, CB, 5-10, 175, 4.5, Eustis
Alex Thompson, QB, 6-1, 200, 4.56, Gainesville-Bucholz
Terrell Skinner, WR, 6-3, 190, 4.5, Gulfport-Boca Ciega
Justin Warr, MLB, 6-1, 235, 4.6, Winter Garden-West Orange
Shane Smith, FB, 6-3, 220, 4.5, Honesdale (PA) / New Berlin (NY)-Milford Academy
Kyle Fowler, OLB, 6-2, 200, 4.65, Longwood-Lake Brantley

QUOTES

I think these quotes are appropriate for our current predicament.

Hill told Zaret that had he stayed, "Things would have gone on as normal. ... We would have been just good enough to be mediocre -- to just get to the first round and not get over that hump. The best way to get better is to get bad." (Sharp, Detroit Free Press)

Grant Hill certainly made me feel better after reading that. The first part sums up most of the Kruz era. As for the second … I hope we get really good, because we're really bad right now. I could deal with a winless season this year, but next year I want to see at least one win (@ UWCF).

"Brick and mortar doesn't make you play better, but it sure helps when you're committing a program to excellence," [Chuck] Amato said. (Chavez, The [Raleigh] News & Observer)

This one kinda put things into perspective for me, mainly because I've been dumbfounded by how bad we've been the past two season with vastly improved facilities. I guess we'll see the benefits of having great facilities when the coaches are out there recruiting to dig UCF out of this horrible mess we're in.

While I'm hopeful, I'd be lying if I said I didn't look at the success of Mike Price (UTEP) and Bobby Ross (Army) and wonder why GOL couldn't turn around our wayward program this year as well.

NFL Knights: Week 6

2004-10-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

In alphabetical order

#11 QB Daunte Culpepper (Vikings): You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him. 26-37, 425 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 125.6 rating and 7 carries for 13 yards against the Aints. This was his third five TD performance of the season, which breaks the season record previously held by Dan Marino.

AP: Culpepper named NFC Offensive Player of the Week, again
NFL.com: Vikings thriving on third down
Star Tribune: Culpepper's torrid five-game start could overhaul NFL records
AP: Culpepper on pace to break Marino's records for season

#79 OL Steve Edwards (Bears): He started at left guard against the Redskins for the injured Ruben Brown and did a good job pulling and leading up the hole for running back Thomas Jones.

#22 CB Travis Fisher (Rams): Out indefinitely (broken arm - 8/27/04). The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Healing Fisher is eager to return to lineup

#85 WR Doug Gabriel (Raiders): He had a 17 yard reception, returned three kicks for 44 yards and injured his hamstring against the Broncos.

#84 TE Michael Gaines (Panthers): He started against the Eagles and had a two yard reception.

#74 OL Cornell Green (Broncos): Inactive due to injury.

#82 WR Charles Lee (Buccaneers): He started his third game of the season against the Rams and had three catches for 31 yards.

#78 DE Elton Patterson (Jaguars): Inactive (they just signed him on Friday).

#22 CB Asante Samuel (Patriots): He made his second start of the season against the Seahawks and had four tackles.

Notes:

Of the nine active players, five started in week 6.

Only Doug Gabriel and Elton Patterson have never started an NFL game.

Knights-Zips Gameday

2004-10-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: UCF secondary turning corner | Akron at UCF

FLORIDA TODAY: UCF hopes patience pays off

FLORIDA TODAY: Knights be missing Haynes against Akron

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Golden Knights hoping to right their listing ship

Central Florida: The Golden Knights (0-5, 0-2 MAC) seek their first win of the season when they host Akron (2-4, 2-1) in the Citrus Bowl.

UCF is coming off a crushing loss last week, 30-28, to Northern Illinois. The Huskies kicked a 39-yard field goal with no time remaining to once again deprive coach George O'Leary of his first win at UCF.

Alex Haynes, UCF's leading rusher, is doubtful with a shoulder injury. If Haynes is unable to play, Dontavius Wilcox and Curtis Francis will fill in for him. Wilcox rushed four times for 18 yards and scored two touchdowns against Northern Illinois.

"I think Dontavius went in and really did a good job for Alex," O'Leary said. "He's just a guy who doesn't have enough reps because Alex has had a good year for us. I'm very comfortable with him.

"Curtis is a freshman that I guess the more he plays, the more he sees. He's a slasher. He has good vision and he hits the hole pretty quick."

Akron won last year's game 38-24. (The Palm Beach Post)

AKRON AT UCF, 6

Last weekend's 30-28 loss to Northern Illinois was painful, but the Golden Knights (0-5, 0-2) played better in the second half than they have most of the season and will try to build on that performance. UCF is hoping for its first Mid-American Conference victory and a little revenge: Akron beat the Golden Knights 38-24 in Akron last year. Senior running back Alex Haynes needs 198 yards to become UCF's all-time rushing leader. The Zips are led by Brett Biggs, who had a career-high 165 yards and three touchdowns last weekend in a 44-21 victory over Buffalo. (Ginn, St. Petersburg Times)

The [Akron] Beacon Journal: Another win key for Zips | Akron at Central Florida [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

``Central Florida had that game won,'' Brookhart said. ``They are the best 0-5 team out there.''

I think we're the only 0-5 team out there.

NFL KNIGHT

For the second consecutive day, the Bengals lost a young player from their practice squad.

Jacksonville signed second-year defensive end Elton Patterson to its 53-man roster.

A Bengals seventh-round draft pick in 2003, Patterson played in two games this season.

"It's a good opportunity for Elton," Lewis said. "They need a guy who can come in and play right away. He was excited about it. There was not much we could do about it." (Curnutte, The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Defensive end Elton Patterson was signed to a contract after being claimed from Cincinnati.

Defensive end Lionel Barnes, who had started three games, was placed on injured reserve with an injured shoulder.

Patterson, 23, was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft and spent the entire season on the Bengals roster. He was inactive for all 16 games. He spent the first five weeks of this season on the practice squad. The 6-2, 271-pound defensive end from Tallahassee was a three-year starter at Central Florida where he recorded 30.5 sacks. He will wear jersey No. 78. (The [Florida] Times-Union)

Elton Patterson's Jaguars Bio

Good luck Elton.

Coach Speraw receives contract extension

2004-10-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Kirk Speraw Receives Three Year Contract Extention

Sentinel: UCF signs basketball coach to new contract (October 14 2004, 1:52 PM EDT)

Sentinel: UCF signs Speraw to 3-year deal

Days before his newest team begins fall practice -- and seven months after his leading UCF to its third NCAA Tournament -- men's basketball Coach Kirk Speraw signed an incentive-laden contract that could be worth more than $235,000 a year.

[…]

Speraw's annual compensation includes $135,000 in base salary, $10,000 more for radio and television appearances, $5,000 for speaking engagements, a family membership at Tuscawilla Country Club, a premium courtesy car, six season football tickets and 12 season basketball tickets.

[…]

In sum, the incentives are:

$25,000 each for winning a regular-season title and a conference tournament.

$25,000 for each NCAA Tournament victory.

$20,000 for his program scoring 70 percent or higher of the points in the NCAA's new graduation-rate calculation or $10,000 each year the program's graduation rate exceeds that of the overall student body.

$5,000 for a National Invitation Tournament bid and another $5,000 for each victory in the NIT.

$5,000 for being named conference coach of the year.

$5,000 for averaging more than 1,800 for home games.

Another $5,000 for averaging more than 2,500.

UCFAA's buyout is $150,000 for each year left on the deal. (Schmadtke)

FLORIDA TODAY: Knights reward Speraw

AP: Speraw receives three year extension at UCF

The Sports Network: Central Florida's Speraw receives contract extension

FOOTBALL

Sentinel: Moffett: Learning process continues

The Knights landed another recruit when West Orange MLB Justin Warr (6-1/223) committed on Thursday. . . . UCF players on Thursday voted Haynes, WR Luther Huggins and LB Stanford Rhule as its permanent team captains. They'll represent the team at midfield the rest of the season. . . . Walk-on TE Shane Jarmin and walk-on DB Mike Maltesta were scout team players of the week and will dress Saturday. . . . Baltimore Ravens MLB Ray Lewis' visit on Tuesday was not limited to watching. He also addressed the team before the workout, telling them, among other things, to trust their teammates and coaches. Lewis, who has a home in Windermere, has been to UCF three times this season. (Schmadtke)

Oh shit, they pulled out the Ray Lewis motivational speech. It's on now Akron.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF's QB Moffett is quickly coming of age

UCF's 0-5 record bothers ex-Knights

Sometime before Monday night's showdown at St. Louis, WR Charles Lee will see CB Travis Fisher across the field at the Edward Jones Dome, and the two former UCF standouts will great one another.

And it won't take long before the subject will turn to their alma mater.

"We might be the worst team in college football,'' Lee said of the 0-5 Knights. "I mean, we lost to Buffalo! What is that?''

It's bad.

"What happened?'' Lee said, shaking his head at how the promise of George O'Leary's hiring has resulted in zero victories. "All the hype and hoopla about getting a second chance and developing a program ... man, it's just frustrating.''

For Lee, the ancillary anxiety provided by UCF's woes merely added to his current professional situation that a few weeks ago seemed uncertain. Entering the final year of his contract, Lee was slowed by a pulled hamstring during training camp, but he rested it back to health toward the end of the preseason. Or so he thought.

"Depends on who you talk to,'' Lee said.

The Bucs chose to go with Tim Brown earlier in the season, with Lee inactive for the season opener and with only one reception (one for 35 yards) in each of the next two games.

But the last two weeks, Lee has been on the field more and combined for nine catches for 123 yards, proving to be a nice complement to blossoming rookie Michael Clayton. Together, they'll try to do their part Monday when the Bucs (1-4) face the Rams (3-2) and try to put together a winning streak.

"We know the kind of character that we have on this team and the kind of guys we have in here,'' Lee said. "Nobody is going to quit, so I am pretty sure we'll have a good outing.''

Of course, The same can't be said for sure about the Knights, who will play Akron at home Saturday night. Whatever the outcome, Lee and Fisher, who is out with a broken arm, will break down their broken-down former team.

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll talk about it,'' Lee said. "We're pathetic. We lost to Buffalo.'' (Harry, Sentinel)

It bothers me too.

MORE RECRUITING

Here are some stories from the past couple of days:

UCFSports.com: UCF Among Favorites for Georgia WR

Sentinel: Burnett stays close to home with UCF

Eustis' Burnett commits

UCF picked up another oral commitment over the weekend from QB Joe Burnett of Eustis, Burnett confirmed to the Sentinel on Monday. Burnett (5 feet 10, 180 pounds) is fourth in Florida high school history in career interceptions (28). He is being recruited as a cornerback. Rivals.com reported that Gainesville Buchholz QB Alex Thompson (6-2/194) and QB Terrell Skinner (6-3/190) of St. Petersburg Boca Ciega also committed to the Knights. Skinner will be a receiver. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

Hmmm, Asante Samuel also played QB in high school. I hope Joe's career turns out to be just as good.

And, here is an article about Terrell Skinner that I posted about a month ago.

The 2005 Commitment List:

T.J. Harnden, OLB, 6-4, 215, 4.6, Tallahassee-Lincoln
J.R. Sandlin, TE, 6-5, 248, 4.73, Tuscaloosa (AL)-Northridge
Rodney Etienne, S, 6-1, 170, 4.68, Pompano Beach-Ely
Travis Ferrer, TE, 6-5, 230, 4.7, Tallahassee-Lincoln
Joe Burnett, CB, 5-10, 175, 4.5, Eustis
Alex Thompson, QB, 6-1, 197, 4.56, Gainesville-Bucholz
Terrell Skinner, WR, 6-3, 190, 4.5, Gulfport-Boca Ciega
Justin Warr, MLB, 6-1, 220, 4.6, Winter Garden-West Orange

BASEBALL

The Future: Conference-USA proves helpful for recruiting

NFL Knights: Week 5

2004-10-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

In alphabetical order

#11 QB Daunte Culpepper (Vikings): Another fine game. 36-50, 396 yards, 5 TDs, 128.4 rating and 6 carries for 30 yards against the Texans. Wow! This was his second five TD performance of the season, which ties the season record held by Dan Marino and he still has 12 games to go. I'm pretty sure he wasn't named player of the week because he already has two of them.

#79 OL Steve Edwards (Bears): BYE

#22 CB Travis Fisher (Rams): Out indefinitely (broken arm - 8/27/04).

#85 WR Doug Gabriel (Raiders): He had a 24 yard reception and returned four kicks for 78 yards with a long of 41 yards against the Colts.

#84 TE Michael Gaines (Panthers): It looks like he's the Panthers starting TE (third consecutive start). He had 2 catches for 18 yards.

#74 OL Cornell Green (Broncos): Inactive due to injury.

#82 WR Charles Lee (Buccaneers): He started his second game of the season and had four catches for 76 yards, with a long of 28. New `Dynamic Duo' Comes Through

#22 CB Asante Samuel (Patriots): He made his first start of the season and had five tackles (one for a loss), a forced fumble and a pass defensed.

Notes:

Of the eight active players, four started in week 5.

Only Doug Gabriel has never started an NFL game.

Wow, what a sucky week!

2004-10-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

I should have known it was going to be a bad one after that ass kicking Buffalo gave UCF. No, I didn't abandon the blog because we suck. My laptop went missing on Monday (I didn't post on Sunday because I was still in the Denial stage) and to cut a long story short, I had to buy a new one and I'm just now getting back into the swing of things. Fortunately, I backup my files every Friday to a Zip® drive so I only lost about two days of school work. And all the important things on the old one were PGP encrypted so I'm not too worried about that.

Usually when I'm away from the blog I recap from the time I was away … ha, not this time. I didn't read most of the stories following that loss and I don't plan on doing so. I went through the whole "Five Stages of Grief" and I'm now in the Acceptance stage. UCF has a horrible football team and it's going to be that way for a while so I might as well make the best of it. At least it can't get any worse. Losing doesn't have to be depressing, so I'll find the humor in it. I'll be damned if I go through a weekend like the Buffalo one again. A winless season wouldn't shock me at this point, so I'm getting ready for one.

P.S. Why is it that as our football facilities improve, the performance on the field declines? It should be the other way around. What happens next year when they get an indoor practice facility?

Knights-Bulls Gameday

2004-10-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: UCF set to start anew

Sentinel: UCF at Buffalo: Moffett steps back in at QB

Ignelzi impresses in initial encounters

The culture shock began as soon as Dominic Ignelzi entered the stadium.

Ignelzi never had played in front of a crowd larger than 6,000 while attending St. Lucie West Centennial. Now the offensive lineman was making his college debut in front of 82,116 fans screaming for the opposing team.

Ignelzi considered that environment cause for celebration instead of intimidation.

"It was an eye opener because I'd never played in front of that many people," the Central Florida freshman left guard said. "But I knew I'd done the best I could to be prepared. The crowd kind of wowed me. But that was it. Other than that, I was going to work just like in high school."

That attitude allowed Ignelzi to earn a spot in the starting lineup less than three months after graduating from high school.

He's received quite a welcome into big-time college football.

UCF opened the season at Wisconsin, then played host to West Virginia before traveling to Penn State.

The Knights didn't beat any of those highly-regarded opponents, but Ignelzi impressed his coaches with his improvement each week.

"He reacted as well as any true freshman could have," UCF offensive line coach Joe Gilbert said. "He's a quick learner. He works hard. He's got a great work ethic. It's important to him."

Ignelzi sprinted after every workout this summer and dropped 10 pounds while adding muscle and losing fat. Although he's listed at 310 pounds in the UCF media guide, Ignelzi says he now weighs 295.

Ignelzi believed he had a shot at earning immediate playing time because UCF lacked depth on the offensive line.

"I set that goal for myself a long time ago," Ignelzi said. "I told myself I was going to come in here and work hard. I knew they were struggling to find offensive linemen."

The Knights believe they've found a quality lineman in Ignelzi.

They like what they've seen from Ignelzi every Saturday. And they're even more impressed with his effort each weekday as he strives to improve.

"After every game I always feel I can do better," Ignelzi said, "but I'm kind of proud of myself for coming into college and doing well." (Megargee, Vero Beach Press-Journal) [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

FLORIDA TODAY: UCF opens MAC against winless Buffalo

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF desperate for win

Buffalo News: UB's offense tries to escape early funk

The Clarion-Ledger: Sad but so true: Deck stacked against quality non-BCS teams

Gridiron Roundup

2004-10-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: UCF Geared Up for Buffalo

Sentinel: Marshall's switch gives Turner a lift

Sentinel: Mike Bianchi: Believe it or not, UCF must get win at Fluffalo

RECRUITING

FlaVarsity.com: Miramar defender picks up offers

OPPONENT NEWS: BUFFALO

Buffalo News: Piskorik suspension leaves UB lacking at QB

UCF Sports Roundup

2004-09-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Defense takes on the option again

Sentinel: In college football, moving up isn't easy

Ocala Star-Banner: O'Leary says Moffett will be UCF's quarterback

AP: O'Leary's MAC debut will be Central Florida's last

The Future: Buffalo down 'n' dirty

The Future: Sinking Bulls provide opportunity for Knights

The Future: Division play begins in MAC

NFL KNIGHT

Winston-Salem Journal: Solid Gaines

GOLF

The Future: Newest class top in nation for men's golf

Philadelphia Inquirer: For Unionville's Davis, golf's a way of life [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

Tuesday Roundup

2004-09-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary MAC Teleconference Quotes - Sept. 27

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary Press Luncheon Quotes - Sept. 28

UCFAthletics.com: Football Game Notes - The Buffalo Game

Sentinel: UCF begins farewell tour

Sentinel: Marshall no stranger to playing on defense

FLORIDA TODAY: Knights' hopes up at Buffalo

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Injuries take toll on Golden Knights

Quarterbacks under the gun

Quarterback play at the state's five Division I-A schools hasn't exactly been stellar. Florida's Chris Leak is regarded as the best, but not even he has been immune from criticism, for Coach Ron Zook wasn't happy with Leak's three interceptions against Kentucky.

Still, Leak's play has been vastly better than any other quarterback in the state. Florida State, UCF and USF have full-fledged quarterback controversies, and the thought is that Miami's Brock Berlin hasn't been benched only because the Hurricanes don't have anyone ready to play behind him.

A closer look at the quarterbacks:

[…]

UCF

Kyle Israel: The true freshman is 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) for 96 yards, no TDs and one interception for the 0-3 Knights.

Steven Moffett: The sophomore is 16-of-31 (51.6 percent) for 204 yards, no TDs and one interception.

Brandon Sumner: The junior is 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) for 128 yards, one TD and no interceptions. (Huguenin, Sentinel)

The Future: Safety hazard

The Future: MAC Preview

BASKETBALL

UCFAthletics.com: Men's Basketball Announces 2004-05 Schedule

NFL Knights: Week 3

2004-09-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

In alphabetical order

#11 QB Daunte Culpepper (Vikings): Another fine game. 19-30, 360 yards, 2 TD, 127.1 rating and 6 carries for 13 yards and a TD against da Bears. Update - 09/29/04: He also earned his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

#79 OL Steve Edwards (Bears): He made his first start of the season at right guard.

Rex Grossman generally had a good deal of time to survey the field and make plays in the pocket. Steve Edwards started at right guard for the injured Mike Gandy. He had a generally good game blocking both the run and pass. The sack he allowed to Williams at the end of the game was one of his few poor plays, although Quinn held the ball a bit long. (Nudo, BearReport.com)

#22 CB Travis Fisher (Rams): Out indefinitely (broken arm - 8/27/04).

#85 WR Doug Gabriel (Raiders): He had a 30 yard reception and returned 4 kicks for 145 yards with a long of 64 yards (which he fumbled away at the end) against the Bucs.

#84 TE Michael Gaines (Panthers): BYE

#74 OL Cornell Green (Broncos): Inactive due to injury.

#82 WR Charles Lee (Buccaneers): One catch for 11 yards.

#98 DE Elton Patterson (Bengals): He made his NFL debut against the Ravens. No stats.

#22 CB Asante Samuel (Patriots): BYE

The top five prides of Florida in the NFL

From Ray Lewis to Rex Grossman, there's no shortage of former Sunshine State college football stars playing in the NFL. FLORIDA TODAY's Jeff D'Alessio ranks the five who are off to the best starts this season:

1. Daunte Culpepper, QB, Minnesota Vikings (UCF). Eight TD tosses, just one pick and the No. 1 NFL ranking in quarterback rating (124.8) and passing yards (945). (D'Alessio, FLORIDA TODAY)

Personnel Shuffle

2004-09-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: No pressure: UCF still without a sack

Thompson unplugged Josh Stephens at middle linebacker and put him back at defensive end. Stanford Rhule, last year's middle linebacker, moved back to the middle from the weak side, replacing Stephens. Ty Kalandyk was made the top weakside linebacker, and linebacker Randy Dozier was moved to defensive end, the position he played throughout high school. (Schmadtke)

Sentinel: Marshall switches to safety to fill void

OL Eric Hodge has left the team for good, O'Leary confirmed. (Schmadtke)

I've never seen a football team suffer so many injuries at one position.

Randy Dozier's move is an interesting one. He certainly has the speed (10.8s in the 100m) to be a great pass rusher, so we'll see how that turns out.

And Hodge is the third offensive lineman from the 2004 recruiting class to quit. I said this after Frank Reina quit and I'll say it again, it's a good thing they signed so many.

NFL KNIGHT

The Cincinnati Post: Patterson signed from practice squad

Now there are nine former UCF players on a 53-man roster.

Finally, Moffett is starting again

2004-09-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary Names Moffett Starting Quarterback

Sentinel: Moffett back to starting QB

It's about time.

Sentinel: Rashad 5th safety to be lost by team

Well that sucks. At least Peter Sands plans to return next year, so the article wasn't a complete downer. It doesn't surprise me that O'Leary is looking forward to having him back next year. He did have this to say about a month ago:

Sands, a senior, has already become one of the favorite players of new UCF coach George O'Leary. O'Leary is known for his disciplined, no-nonsense style of coaching and it's easy to see why Sands suits him. To a man, Sands is considered one of UCF's smartest defensive players. He had little trouble with the transition to the new system implemented by the coaching staff. And he prides himself on knowing what other offenses are going to do with his avid film study in the days leading up to games.

"Peter comes to practice every day with a great work ethic and great work habits," O'Leary raved. "He has the size that you are looking for from safeties. And he really studies the game. He gets really annoyed at himself when he makes a mistake.

"He's just one of those guys that you can see that football is very important to him. It's evident when you talk to him and watch him play that he really wants to be successful. Guys like that have a chance because football is a priority in their life." (Denton, FLORIDA TODAY )

The Future: Bye week blues

The Future: Falcons, Huskies hit the airwaves for MAC

I like to keep track of where former UCF signees and players ended up. Here is some news about two of them from the football Class of 2003.

There are five NCAA Division I transfers waiting in the wings (and working on their academics). They are linebackers Craig Harvey and R.J. Pullings from Central Florida … (Spradling, Charleston Daily Mail)

New C-USA teams looking bad:

Conference USA has one member ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 football rankings this week (Louisville), and two more (Memphis and Southern Miss) knocking on the door. Enjoy it, because it may be a while before that happens again.

In case you haven't noticed, the incoming members of this league aren't tearing it up these days. Marshall is 0-3 with losses to Troy, Ohio State and Georgia. At least its losses have come by a respectable total of 15 points.

Central Florida is 0-3 with drubbings administered to it by West Virginia, Penn State and Wisconsin. Tulsa, SMU and UTEP are a combined 1-8 this season. Only Rice is on the winning side of the ledger with a 2-0 record.

These schools just might flourish in C-USA when they join next season, but I have to wonder if it's too late for C-USA to say thanks, but no thanks, to some of its new members. (Norris, The Birmingham News)

It's hard to argue when you're stinking up the joint, but I know UCF will get better (this year and most definitely next year).

Update - 2:30 PM

In the latest installment for his diary on MLB.com, Mike Maroth talks about UCF football:

If it's fall, I'll always follow UCF football. I was there when Daunte Culpepper was the quarterback. I'd like to see them make improvements after last year. With George O'Leary running the show and Steve Orsini the athletic director, all indications tell the alumni there's going to be drastic improvement in the direction the football program's going. It's kind of similar to what the Tigers were going through.

When you rebuild, you do it from the ground up. A lot of it has to do with recruiting, and when you go up against the rest of the Florida schools, it's not easy. (Maroth, MLB.com)

And just like Mike, UCF will go from a horrible year to a good one.

NFL Knights: Week 2

2004-09-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

In alphabetical order

#11 QB Daunte Culpepper (Vikings): He had a fine game passing the ball against the Eagles, but that goal-line fumble was huge. 37-47, 343 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 95.3 rating and 8 carries for 41 yards and that previously mentioned fumble.

#79 OL Steve Edwards (Bears): He replaced right guard Mike Gandy in the first quarter and is likely to start next week.

Edwards likely starter

Steve Edwards, likely to start Sunday for injured right guard Mike Gandy, started 16 games last season. Edwards accepts how quickly people forget that. "I've always been in the background my whole career, so it's something I'm used to," Edwards said. "All I know is how to work."

It worked out well for the Bears when Edwards replaced Gandy in the first quarter after Gandy pulled his hamstring covering Paul Edinger's pooch punt. The Bears ran for 182 yards, and offensive coordinator Terry Shea said Edwards had a lot to do with that.

"Especially considering the amount of preparation he had," Shea said.

Edwards remains the Bears' top backup at four positions, versatility he knows will serve him well. "People have told me that's how I'll be able to stay in the league for a while," Edwards said. (Haugh, The Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Daily Herald: Edwards' experience will pay off for Bears

#22 CB Travis Fisher (Rams): Out indefinitely (broken arm - 8/27/04).

#85 WR Doug Gabriel (Raiders): Jerry Rice wasn't the only Raider without a catch this week.

#84 TE Michael Gaines (Panthers): He made his first real NFL start against the Chiefs (he also started last week against the Packers when the Panthers opened in a set with two tight ends), but he didn't record any stats … he's more of a blocking tight end right now.

On the progress of rookie tight end Michael Gaines: Mike is a big guy who has got excellent athletic ability and excellent hands. He is a 280 (pound) plus blocker, so he is very capable of doing what we ask of him in our blocking schemes. He is a good, young player that we think is just going to continue to improve. (Panthers.com)

#74 OL Cornell Green (Broncos): Inactive due to injury.

#82 WR Charles Lee (Buccaneers): His 35-yard reception was the only big play by the pathetic Bucs offense.

#22 CB Asante Samuel (Patriots): 2 tackles (all solo) and a pass defensed. He also had a nifty interception nullified because defensive tackle Richard Seymour jumped off sides.

Tuesday Roundup

2004-09-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary MAC Teleconference Quotes

Sentinel: UCF's starting quarterback still a mystery

Sentinel: Quarterback woes hinder Knights, O'Leary

FLORIDA TODAY: Knights look to sunnier pastures after dismal start

St. Petersburg Times: Got a Minute: Alex Haynes, UCF Tailback

The Future: Sacked

The Future: Digging deeper

MISC.

The [Fort Myers] News-Press: State schools getting picky

Penn State Recap

2004-09-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

"You Play to Win The Game" - New York Jets Head Coach Herman Edwards

So why isn't Moffett starting? Enough of this training camp bullshit. He's clearly our best option at QB. He's the most accurate, most athletic and he can actually throw the ball downfield and complete it to the receivers. I'm not saying we wouldn't be winless right now if Moffett started, but I'm pretty sure the Penn State game would have been more competitive. The running game was pretty effective in the first quarter, but the passing game was non-existent so the Lions had no respect for it and loaded up to stop Alex … and that was that. Then we had to sit through two quarters of Kyle Israel doing whatever it is he was doing. He shouldn't be on the field this year. I can deal with losing to solid programs, but the musical chairs at QB is frustrating. It just seems pointless. I think it's about time the coaching staff gives "100 percent nothing less." This three-headed quarterback nonsense is hurting the running game and the passing game. I also assume (you know what they say about that) that Coach Salem isn't totally incompetent and the reason the offensive game plan is simple is because of the uncertainty at QB … *keeps fingers crossed*.

It's even clear to someone who covers Penn State who should be playing:

Worst call: UCF coach George O'Leary may have waited too long to put Steven Moffett at quarterback. Moffett, who came in with 11 minutes to play, used his scrambling ability to make things happen -- too little, too late. (Biertempfel, The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review)

On to the news …

UCFAthletics.com: Penn State Stops UCF 37-13

Sentinel: Quarterbacks in chaos for UCF

Sentinel: David Whitley: Lack of depth quite obvious for Knights

Sentinel: Walker's interceptions a bright spot for Knights

The Golden Knights are scheduled to return to Happy Valley in 2008 and again in 2010.

Sentinel: The Recap

FLORIDA TODAY: Nittany Lions thump Knights

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 3 UCF QBs not better than 1

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: O'Leary satisfied to build

AP: Penn State tops UCF 37-13

SportsNetwork: NCAA Game Summary - U-C-F At Penn State

And from the Lions perspective:

GoPSUsports.com: Ivan and Zack Pass; Lions Reign over UCF 37-13
Penn State-UCF Game Notes
Joe Paterno Post-Game Quotes
PSU Player Quotes
Photo Gallery

Centre Daily Times: Turnovers a major concern for Nittany Lions, Paterno
Heather Dinich | Penn State is just not a good team
Free safety Guman disrupts offense with blitzes
Freshman linebacker starting to make an impact
Phillips' one catch sets up score

Knight Ridder Newspapers/Philadelphia Inquirer: Verdict still out on Nittany Lions after sloppy win

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: Nittany Lions win big, despite turnovers
Notebook: Tailback Scott back in action
PSU spotlight

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Despite six turnovers, Penn State cruises, 37-13
Connors gives Nittany Lions a loud wake-up call
Collier: Mills gets it done, barely

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: A 'clumsy' PSU still has it easy | Was anything really answered? No

Allentown Morning Call: Lions snap back but not out of it
Austin Scott's got a case of nerves — at last
A recap of Saturday's 37-13 win over UCF at Beaver Stadium

York Daily Record: For better or worse
Record rings hollow for Mills
Nittany Lions’ versatile Robinson used early, often
Long time coming for this Lion

The [Carlisle] Sentinel: Good, bad, ugly | PSU isn't ready for Big Ten | Lowry delivers on returns

Penn State Digital Collegian: Penn State overcomes turnovers, UCF

MISC.

Sentinel: Baseball careers separate Lake Mary's Bono twins

Sentinel: Using local players, UCF is building a strong collegiate bowling program

Knights-Lions Gameday

2004-09-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: O'Leary won't reveal quarterback

Sentinel: UCF at Penn State: UCF's murderer's row ends at 3

Sentinel: UCF at Penn State

FLORIDA TODAY: Penn State gives UCF tough road challenge

York Daily Record: 'Mighty Mites' thrive at UCF

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Central Florida might keep PSU on the run

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: O'Leary, Central Florida ready for fresh start

Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF not buying demise of Penn St.

Philadelphia Inquirer: For Lions, a chance to roar [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

The [Carlisle] Sentinel: Rebound game for Lions

Allentown Morning Call: UCF program, Coach O'Leary looking for fresh start

Centre Daily Times: Penn State refocusing after loss

Centre Daily Times: Jefferson is leading the way

Centre Daily Times: Ron Bracken | Boston College told us more about this team than Akron did

Friday Roundup

2004-09-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: UCF Looking For First Win In Happy Valley

Sentinel: Injuries at safety force UCF to start 17-year-old

Sentinel: Special teams give players extra time

Daytona Beach News-Journal: Former Mainland teammates to face off in college game

Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF hasn't chosen quarterback

phillyBurbs.com: 'Smashing' return for UCF coach

Centre Daily Times: O'Leary's fresh start is building up UCF

[Wilkes Barre] Times-Leader: O'Leary cries mercy for UCF

AP: Penn State needs to stop run to beat improving UCF

Penn State Digital Collegian: UCF not dwelling on 2002 game results

Penn State Digital Collegian: Lions, Knights ready to battle

Rocky Mountain News: Pipeline to NFL (It's about the MAC)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: PENN STATE

Centre Daily Times: WR Smith uses emotions to inspire teammates after first loss

Centre Daily Times: Heather Dinich | Every word counts when Zemaitis talks

Centre Daily Times: Nothing personal ... but PSU needs to dominate UCF if they want to prove anything

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: Alford's in a rush (hopefully)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PSU fullback fumbles away his anonymity

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Cook: Start Morelli? It's right move for Penn State

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Football Q & A with Chico Harlan

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: WR Scott making good on second chance

York Daily Record: A different team

FLORIDA TODAY: Former Gator coach back with Penn State

Penn State Digital Collegian: Changes evident in PSU's attitude

Penn State Digital Collegian: Mills should be remembered better

Today's UCF-PSU stories

2004-09-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary Penn State Press Conference Quotes

Sentinel: Penn State is like family for Orsinis

Sentinel: Paterno, Penn State find themselves at a crossroads

York Daily Record: Orsini family reunites at PSU

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Former TE for Steelers just a coach

The Future: A toss-up: Struggles over picking a QB

The Future: Take it back, ref

The Future: Between the lines - UCF vs. Penn State MATCHUp

Penn State Digital Collegian: O'Leary prepares for tough first season

The Sports Network: U-C-F (0-2) at Penn State (1-1) Preview

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Schneider holds on to football dreams

Buffalo News: Struggle is common theme for MAC teams

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lee likely to start in Galloway's place

UCF (+21.5) at Penn State

After opening with a blowout win at home over Akron, Penn State took to the road and was drubbed by Boston College, 21-7, turning the ball over five times in the process. Austin Scott and Tony Hunt both got over the 100-yard rushing barrier in the opener, but Scott did not carry the ball against B.C., apparently due to a missed meeting. The Eagles held Hunt to 41 yards on 14 carries. The key for the Nittany Lions will be to re-establish a consistent running game and take the pressure off of QB Zack Mills. With the running game corralled, Mills threw four interceptions in last week's loss after tossing two TD’s and no picks in the opener. Safety Andrew Guman had a great game against Boston College, leading the team with 14 tackles, but a safety leading in tackles is rarely a good sign. Central Florida continues an impressive early-season schedule after opening at #21 Wisconsin and hosting #10 West Virginia. After missing the Wisconsin game to attend his mother's funeral, George O'Leary made his UCF debut in the 45-20 loss to the Mountaineers. RB Alex Haynes rushed for a career high 134 yards last week. He'll need to carry the load again this week, as UCF has already used three players (Steven Moffett, Brandon Sumner, and Kyle Israel) and two starters at QB (Moffett and Sumner) in two games.

Brad: George O’Leary’s teams are known for defense and toughness and the Nittany Lions are no offensive juggernaut. However, the home crowd and UCF’s inability to resolve a sticky QB situation will allow the Lions to head into conference play a winner. Penn State 24, UCF 14.

Tom: Penn State beat UCF only 27-24 when the Golden Knights visited Happy Valley to open the 2002 campaign. The Lions should have a slightly easier time of it this weekend, but George O'Leary's team will battle. Penn State 27, UCF 10. (Leshyn and Evans, Collegefootballnews.com)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: PENN STATE

Centre Daily Times: Paterno: Mills not solely to blame for interceptions

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: Mills tries to look for positives in his game

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: No blitz startles PSU vs. BC

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: Hopefully, PSU will be fun sometime

Allentown Morning Call: PSU looks to bounce back from BC loss

Philadelphia Inquirer: A Lion with a lot of heart [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

Penn State Digital Collegian: Lions ready to prove they can stop run

Penn State Digital Collegian: Jefferson to make the most of senior season

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

Big foot

Cantonment Tate senior Graham Gano kicked a state-record 65-yard field goal in a 42-23 loss to Fort Walton Beach on Sept. 9. He said afterward UCF is his only scholarship offer to date. The old record was 62, set by Grant Harley of Bartow in 1999. (Collings, Sentinel)

St. Petersburg Times: Tate kicker sets state mark

Wednesday Roundup

2004-09-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: 3 quarterbacks competing to start

Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals add rookie to practice squad (Mike Mabry)

The Dallas Morning News: Many of NCAA's top football coaches come with NFL experience [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: PENN STATE

BlueWhiteIllustrated.com: Check out BWI Xpress for game with UCF

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: PSU more upbeat this year after loss to BC

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: Notebook: Scott caught napping

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PSU players remain upbeat after BC loss

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Notebook: Paterno has his reasons for not using Scott at RB

Centre Daily Times: Nittany Lions not 'moping' heading into UCF game

Philadelphia Inquirer: For promising sophomore RB, punctuality is a problem

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: Paterno sends wrong message

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: Paterno: Scott missed meeting

Allentown Morning Call: Paterno says Scott not better than Hunt

The [Carlisle] Sentinel: Paterno: It's not deja vu

York Daily Record: Scott still trailing Hunt in backfield

AP: Paterno: Despite conviction, Humphrey might return to team

AP: Paterno feels team will bounce back after this BC loss

Penn State Digital Collegian: Penn State secondary in need of tune-up

Penn State Digital Collegian: Paterno not discouraged after loss to Eagles

Penn State Digital Collegian: Media members can only report on what's seen

[Wilkes Barre] Times Leader: Paterno upbeat concerning team, rest of season

NFL Knights: Week 1

2004-09-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

In alphabetical order

#11 QB Daunte Culpepper (Vikings): What a game! 17-23, 242 yards, 5 TDs, 147.1 rating and 6 carries for 25 yards against the Cowboys. Outstanding game against last season's number one defense. He was also named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

#79 OL Steve Edwards (Bears): He's a backup guard/tackle and blocker on special teams. Bears caught flat-footed on FG return.

#22 CB Travis Fisher (Rams): Out indefinitely (broken arm - 8/27/04).

#85 WR Doug Gabriel (Raiders): 3 catches for 81 yards and a TD (a 58 yarder) in a loss the Steelers. He's rotating with the great Jerry Rice.

#84 TE Michael Gaines (Panthers): No stats, but he got his first NFL action on Monday Night Football against the Packers.

#74 OL Cornell Green (Broncos): Inactive due to injury.

#82 WR Charles Lee (Buccaneers): Inactive due to injury.

#22 CB Asante Samuel (Patriots): 3 tackles (all solo), one pass defensed and a bogus pass interference call in a win against the Colts.

MISC.

EXTRA POINTS

The 1,696 players on 2004 Kickoff Weekend came from 251 schools.

The 10 schools with the most active NFL players on Kickoff Weekend were:
1. Miami, Fla. (43)
2. Florida State (39)
3. Notre Dame (38)
4. Tennessee (38)
5. Florida (36)
6. Georgia (36)
7. Ohio State (36)
8. Michigan (35)
9. Penn State (32)
10. LSU (31)

The most players from one school at a position are:
Tackle: Notre Dame (five)
Guard: Nebraska (five)
Center: Boston College (four)
Tight end: Michigan, Penn State and Washington (four)
Quarterback: Michigan and Washington (five)
Running back: Miami, Fla., Notre Dame (six)
Wide receiver: Florida (seven)
Defensive tackle: Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M (five)
Defensive end: Georgia (six)
Linebacker: Miami, Fla., Purdue, UCLA (seven)
Cornerback: Florida State, Ohio State, USC (five)
Safety: Virginia Tech (five)

On Kickoff Weekend, 339 players weighed in at 300 pounds or more. Of the 339, 236 were offensive linemen. That's a lot of meat. Leonard Davis, an O-lineman for the Cardinals, was the heaviest (384 pounds).

On average, Tennessee (6-foot-2 and 1/4) and Green Bay (6-foot-2 and 1/8) were the tallest teams.

Twenty undrafted college free agents made a final 53-man roster on Sept. 5, 2004. The Vikings had the most rookies in general on their roster with 11. Eight of them were draft picks, and three were undrafted rookies. The Chargers were second with 10.

In total, 220 rookies (drafted and undrafted) made a 53-man roster as of Sept. 5, 2004. (Brandt, NFL.com)

FYI, "active NFL player" refers to players on a 53-man roster. UCF has eight players (listed above) that made a 53-man roster and two more on the Bengals' practice squad: Elton Patterson and Mike Mabry.

Football and Basketball News

2004-09-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Hall presents UCF with uncertainty

Ocala Star-Banner: Winless UCF faces challenge

WESH.com: Pat's 2 Cents: Moffett's Progress Stalls

The Future: Grounded, WVU run too much for knights

The Future: Israel's big shot

The Future: MAC woes continue to pile up

UCFAthletics.com: Football Webcast Links For Coach's Show & Gamedays

The [Lakeland] Ledger: Colleges, Leave Out Fridays

SI.com: Mike Fish: Athletics, academics in separate universes

BASKETBALL

From the Sentinel's "College Sports" e-mail newsletter:

Football practice wasn’t the only sport affected at UCF by Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Frances, storms that both closed the campus in recent weeks. Every sport saw its schedule re-arranged, and men’s basketball is just now getting into a routine with individual workouts.

By NCAA regulations, the Golden Knights can have two hours of individual instruction a week and eight hours total of that, weight training and other non-practice work.

Assistant coach Craig Brown said UCF’s three transfers --- Mike O’Donnell from NC State, Dave Noel from UNC-Wilmington and Carlton Christian from Marquette --- have set a standard for the team’s three junior-college transfers to follow.

“They’ve brought a lot of effort and energy,” Brown said. “That’s been great for the new guys to feed off of. They’ve come in and are approaching things in a way that’s been great for everybody else to see.”

That’s good news, bad news for the Knights. The three transfers aren’t eligible to play in 2004-05. But if they can rub off positively on junior-college transfers Marques Johnson, Justin Rose and Anthony Williams, the Knights should be the better for it.

Coach Kirk Speraw’s team looks to integrate Johnson, Rose and Williams as quickly as possible into a group that returns two starters (Gary Johnson and Anthony Avant) from last year’s NCAA Tournament team.

Individual drills are focusing on footwork, ball-handling and other technique work Speraw likes to instill.

“Smart basketball, pin-point passing -- all the things we did a good job of last year is what we’re stressing to the new guys. I think all the returning guys have picked up right where they left off last season.” (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: PENN STATE

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: The Hot List

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: Wisconsin's looking huge now

The [Harrisburg] Patriot-News: Lions' poor decisions stand out

BlueWhiteIllustrated.com: Paterno doesn't expect major changes

GoPSUsports.com: Coach Paterno Press Conference from September 14, 2004

GoPSUsports.com: PSU-UCF Game Notes [PDF: 199KB]

Gridiron Roundup

2004-09-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Football Game Notes - The Penn State Game

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary MAC Teleconfernce Quotes - PSU

Sentinel: Secondary now primary problem

Sentinel: O'Leary facing familiar dilemma

BlueGoldNews.com: Excuse The Inconvenience - UCF Edition

playboy.com / on campus / mascots talk back: Knightro

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: PENN STATE

York [PA] Daily Record: PSU's season is not lost yet

West Virginia Recap

2004-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Knights no match for Mountaineers

Sentinel: Jerry Brewer: 2 aspirins and some wins will cure O'Leary

Sentinel: Battle is on for UCF's top quarterback spot

Sentinel: O'Leary, looking for progress, sees improvement in Game 2

Sentinel: The Recap

Sentinel: Haynes up to 2nd on UCF rushing list

Peoples gone for good

The Knights' offensive line won't get an injection of experience from OT Larry Peoples. UCF Coach George O'Leary said Peoples' indefinite suspension will be permanent.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's done," O'Leary said. "He won't be back with the football program."

Peoples, a redshirt sophomore from Jacksonville, came out of spring practice listed as the Knights' starting left tackle. O'Leary suspended him just prior to the start of preseason camp for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Peoples' exit, combined with the decision of OT Seth Ulsh to leave the program after respraining his knee in preseason, forced offensive line coach Joe Gilbert to move G Dan Veenstra to tackle and insert freshman Dominic Ignelzi as a starting guard. With Ignelzi and classmate Josh Sitton starting, UCF's offensive line is the youngest in the Mid-American Conference with a combined 26 career starts before Saturday. The next-youngest is Western Michigan (41). (Schmadtke)

FLORIDA TODAY: West Virginia spoils O'Leary's UCF debut | O'Leary goes with Sumner instead of Moffett at quarterback

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: New-look Knights fall again | UCF's O'Leary has headache after loss

Tampa Tribune: Harris Injured In West Virginia's Win At UCF

Naples Daily News: Overwhelmed UCF no match for West Virginia | UCF's Prater relieved to lose punting duties [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

UCFAthletics.com: No. 10 West Virginia Defeats UCF 45-20

AP: W. Virginia Downs Central Florida 45-20

SportsTicker: (10) West Virginia 45, UCF 20

SportsNetwork: NCAA Game Summary - West Virginia At Central Florida

UCFSports.com: UCF vs. West Virginia Photo Gallery I

And from the Mountaineers perspective:

Sunday Gazette-Mail: Plan B works for Mountaineers

Sunday Gazette-Mail: WVU notebook: Poor tackling, penalties bug Rodriguez

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: Harris hurt in WVU victory | WVU spotlight

MSNsportsNET.com: Marshall Masterful | UCF Notebook

BlueGoldNews.com: Not A Good (K)night | Players of the Game - UCF | Central Florida Photo Gallery

Knights-Mountaineers Gameday

2004-09-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

UCF-West Virginia Audio

Sentinel: Finally, O'Leary calls shots for UCF | Can the Knights pull an upset? | 3 things to watch

FLORIDA TODAY: UCF continues early season gauntlet

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Sports: UCF gets another test

Saturday Gazette-Mail: UCF minds its P’s & Q’s

Saturday Gazette-Mail: WVU-UCF game notes

Saturday Gazette-Mail: WVU notebook: Home-away-from-home game for record-setting Harris

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Central Florida wary of WVU run

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: Rodriguez trys to keep team's sights set on UCF

Top 25 (Week 2)

8. West Virginia – Kay-Jay Harris ran for a school record of 337 yard and four touchdowns as the Mountaineers ran all over East Carolina in a 56-23 victory. Harris had 25 carries and looks like he will be the next star at running back and will most likely become the Mountaineers ninth straight 1,000 yard rusher. If this team needs to improve on anything before they go down and take on George O’Leary’s team in Central Florida it would be the elimination of the penalties. The Mountaineers had 141 yards in penalties and can’t afford that many mistakes in every game. They only had a 143 yards passing but QB Marshall doesn’t need to throw much when you have a ground attack that is in full force. This team as a great chance of going undefeated, so keep your eye out as the season pans out and don’t forget that the Montaineers don’t have to play Miami and the Virginia Tech game this year is a non-conference game! (GoBlueWolverine.com)

BlueGoldNews.com: Fearless Picks - Central Florida

BlueGoldNews.com: Bits and Bytes - Central Florida

One more day until Coach O'Leary's debut

2004-09-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

AP: W. Virginia to Play Central Florida

FLORIDA TODAY: Grades bench UCF's Sands

I hope he redshirts, because it would be a mistake to enter the draft after missing the season when his stock wasn't that high to begin with.

Charleston Daily Mail: UCF star lauds O'Leary's impact

UCFAthletics.com: No. 10 West Virginia Visits UCF

MSNsportsNET.com: UCF Preview

BlueGoldNews.com: WVU vs UCF Game Preview

AP: Things don't get any easier for MAC teams this week

West Virginia (1-0) at UCF (0-1), 6 pm EST

Why to watch: The George O'Leary era finally begins at UCF as he'll get a chance to coach after missing last week's game at Wisconsin due to the death of his mother. The Golden Knights have had to deal with hurricane weather and a long trip to Madison, but those might seem tame compared to the West Virginia running game. The Mountaineers looked every bit the Big East favorite it is steamrolling over East Carolina 56-23 and looks to survive this road trip before dealing with arch-nemesis Maryland. O'Leary wants to create an intimidating home field atmosphere and it can start with a major upset over the Mountaineers.

Why West Virginia might win: UCF gave up 230 yards on the ground to Wisconsin last week. While that's hardly a huge shock considering how strong the Badger ground game is, it's still not a good sign before facing the nation's number two rushing offense (even though it's only after one game.) UCF's offense doesn't have the playmakers to keep up if the Mountaineers start scoring.

Why UCF might win: This is a distraction-filled game for West Virginia. Not only is the Maryland game coming up next week, but going to Orlando, even with all the weather issues, is always an interesting trip. On the field, UCF showed against Wisconsin that it's going to battle from start to finish. If West Virginia isn't taking this game seriously, the Golden Knights could make this very interesting.

Who to watch: All eyes are on Kay-Jay Harris coming off his 337-yard, Big East record performance against East Carolina. The production comes from the great Mountaineer offensive line with talented veterans paving the way for Harris and Jason Colson, so the key will be if the UCF defensive line can hold up against the Mountaineer front wall. It couldn't against Wisconsin.

What will happen: Chalk up 350 rushing yards for the West Virginia ground game and another easy win. UCF simply needs more time and a few games against teams it can actually beat.

CFN Prediction: West Virginia 38 ... UCF 20 ... Line: West Virginia -20 | Discuss this game with experts

Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 Father of the Pride) ... 3 (Collegefootballnews.com)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WEST VIRGINIA

A Mountain Of Penalties

For a team that's supposed to be sound and solid, No. 10 West Virginia had its problems Saturday in a 56-23 victory over East Carolina.

No, the game wasn't close, and big ups to Kay-Jay Harris for a Big East-record 337 yards rushing to go along with four touchdowns.

But when the competition gets a little tougher and scores and yards are more difficult to come by, the Mountaineers could face serious penalties if the defending Big East co-champs don't straighten up.

On Saturday, West Virginia was penalized 14 times for 141 yards. That's almost triple what East Carolina gained rushing (59).

"We were pleased with the win, pleased with the effort of the young men, not particularly pleased with some of the execution and really disappointed in particular with the penalties," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "It was embarrassing to have that many, but they're all correctable errors."

That's a good thing. What isn't so good is that experienced players committed some of the penalties.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Rodriguez said. "... Some veterans made some mistakes that you don't expect out of veteran players and hopefully we get that corrected this week."

The Mountaineers are expected to get more of a challenge at Central Florida Saturday. (Conner, The Hartford Courant)

The Parkersburg News & Sentinel: WVU looks for second win against UCF

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: Rodriguez wants more from Marshall

Naples Daily News: Liebig, Montinar say West Virginia happy with being the favorite [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

The Charleston Gazette: Kicking woes could haunt Mountaineers

The Charleston Gazette: Jury still out on WVU passing game

Charleston Daily Mail: WVU's Henry not happy with ECU effort

Kay-Jay is kinda old

2004-09-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

I think some of our NFL guys should suit up this Saturday. It wouldn't be unfair either because most of them are younger than him (25).

And I wonder how come it's okay for these guys (Weinke was another one) to play pro baseball and college football, but Jeremy Bloom can't accept endorsement money for his skiing and play college football.

Sentinel: WVU brings in veteran defense

FLORIDA TODAY: Knights' woes get plentiful in a rush

St. Petersburg Times: UCF, disgraced coach start over

BlueGoldNews.com: WVU - UCF Matchups

The Future: The defense keeps pounding away

The Future: BETWEEN THE LINES

The Future: MAC coming off terrible week

The Future: Setting the tone for the season

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WEST VIRGINIA

Sentinel: Mature back Harris real find for West Virginia

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: West Virginia ready to quit UCF

Charleston Daily Mail: Harris was exceptional, coach says

Charleston Daily Mail: Colson won't be forgotten tailback

The Charleston Gazette: Big numbers are no big deal for WVU’s Harris

The Charleston Gazette: Mountaineers get used to the weather

Gridiron News

2004-09-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: O'Leary MAC Teleconference Transcript - WVU [Listen to the teleconference]

Sentinel: O'Leary says team must stick to basics

Ocala Star-Banner: UCF braces for return of Harris

The Charleston Gazette: Sticking together: UCF shakes off hiatus, preps for WVU

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Mountaineers next opponent: Hurricanes, opponents test UCF

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: O'Leary has strange start to UCF career

The Parkersburg [WV] News & Sentinel: Status of WVU game in doubt

The Future: Mental errors cloud opener

The Future: Bring it on, Ivan

Knights need a home

Changed my mind.

While I don't have the answer of how it gets done, I now think UCF would be better off with an on-campus football stadium that would hold 40,000 than playing in a Citrus Bowl that seats 65,000. An on-campus stadium would draw an audience to the campus, eventually creating an appreciation for the massive school that most of us never see because of its location.

Then there's George O'Leary's recent comment: "It's not a lot of fun to walk into a half-empty stadium."

Think about it. The Knights could draw 32,500 for Saturday's game against West Virginia -- and still be playing in a half-empty stadium.

OK, I've done my part. Now somebody suggest how to pay for it. (Greene, Sentinel)

Will George O'Leary inspire UCF to greatness this year?

PP: George Gipp couldn't inspire UCF to greatness this year. O'Leary will build a good program at UCF in about three years, but this year the Knights will be 4-7; 5-6 if they're lucky. (Bianchi, Sentinel)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WEST VIRGINIA

ESPN.com: Harris takes offbeat path to overnight success

Tuesday Roundup

2004-09-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: UCF banking on attendance boost

Sentinel: WVU finally gets a handle on UCF

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WEST VIRGINIA

Charleston Daily Mail: WVU takes lots of shots to the ears

"The only thing I saw was that their team chemistry wasn't there," Lynch said. "Their center was sort of down and out. Their quarterback told him he sucked in the middle of the game."

Oh wow, Ryan told Cedric that he sucked. Ryan Schneider of all people, just wow.

The Charleston Gazette: With O’Leary, UCF a mystery

Charleston Daily Mail: Mountaineers' Lynch plays through the pain

The [Pittsburgh] Tribune-Review: WVU still planning for trip to Orlando

St. Petersburg Times: Mountaineers look to spread success

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Hurricane Frances plays havoc with opponent's work schedule

Labor Day Roundup

2004-09-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

I didn't bother posting yesterday because I was busy with some other stuff. I have family and friends in Florida, so I was reading and watching all the news I could find. The Sentinel's Frances web log was pretty cool. I hope all of you that were in the path of Frances are doing OK, relatively speaking of course.

Now on to some UCF football news …

I was pretty pleased with the performance on Saturday, they played hard and didn't quit. The game went pretty much as I expected. We have a lot of youth on both lines and the Badgers are loaded with really good veteran players on both sides … men against boys. Mike Huguenin sums up my feelings perfectly: "Actually, UCF's loss at Wisconsin was to be expected. UCF's lines are going to struggle -- at least for the first half of the season -- so the 34-6 defeat really wasn't that bad."

Today

UCFAthletics.com: Football Game Notes - The West Virginia Game

Sentinel: UCF copes in Wisconsin, looks to West Virginia

Sentinel: David Whitley: Replay system definitely worth another look

The Sports Xchange: Golden Knights report: Inside slant | Notes, quotes | Strategy and personnel

Sunday

UCFAthletics.com: No. 21 Wisconsin Defeats UCF 34-6

Sentinel: Wisconsin wears down young Knights

Sentinel: UCF caught off guard by Wisconsin's balance

Sentinel: Replay causes instant debate

Sentinel: O'Leary away, but he keeps calling

Sentinel: UCF vs. Wisconsin recap

Sentinel: David Whitley: Knights better prepare for stormy season

AP: Wisconsin Dominates Central Florida 34-6

The Chicago Tribune: O'Leary back on his feet (your Sentinel user/pass will work)

And here are the news stories from the Badgers perspective:

UWBadgers.com: UW Opens Season With 34-6 Rout of UCF

The Chicago Tribune: Replays, not Knights, slow Badgers

BadgerNation.com: Sunday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Monday Bucky Newsstand

Knights-Badgers Gameday

2004-09-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

Listen to the UCF-Wisconsin game. Coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET with the pre-game show.

Sentinel: Sands, UCF's leading tackler, lost to academic ineligibility

Man this sucks. At least he can redshirt and come back next year if he wants to. I think he'll be back, because he needed a great season to get drafted and not playing obviously won't help his stock. Michael Gaines was rated as one of the top 25 senior NFL prospects going into last season and he fell all the way to the 7th round because of his ineligibility. Also, Michael got his degree so he didn't need to come back for that either.

In related news, Georgia Tech recently admitted to eligibility violations. They certified 17 student-athletes over the past five years to compete in sports when they weren't academically eligible.

Sentinel: Stopping run is No. 1 priority for UCF

Sentinel: Big-time challenge

Tampa Tribune: Knights Eager To Get Started

UCFAthletics.com: Football Visits Wisconsin In 2004 Opener

BadgerNation.com: Golden Knights look to slay Badgers

BadgerNation.com: Wisconsin/Central Florida pregame notes

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Knights want to lift program

FLORIDA TODAY: UCF keeps focus on Wisconsin

FLORIDA TODAY: College football is finally upon us

UCFAthletics.com: UCF Reaches Deal With College Sports Online

The [Madison] Capital Times: Central Florida scouting report: O'Leary, Moffett experience growing pains

Central Florida deals with distraction

A road game probably never looked so good to the beleaguered members of the Central Florida football team.

The Golden Knights' plane landed in Madison at 11:15 a.m. Friday, without head coach George O'Leary and with Hurricane Frances bearing down on their home state. That capped a chaotic couple of days for the team, which must focus on the challenge of opening the season today against the University of Wisconsin.

"We're going to do the best we can, rally together as a group of coaches and as a football team, come out and give it our best shot and see what we can do," linebackers coach Dave Huxtable, who is the acting head coach, said before a walk-through at Camp Randall Stadium.

O'Leary is in Central Islip, N.Y., attending the funeral of his mother, Margaret O'Leary, who died Wednesday morning.

Asked if the UCF players supported O'Leary's decision to miss the game, Huxtable said: "I don't know. I haven't really asked the players, but they seem to have responded pretty well. They've been great on the trip and I think they're ready."

In addition, the Golden Knights will be without starting senior free safety Peter Sands, their leading tackler last season. Sands was trying to clear up an apparent academic or administrative problem, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and did not make the trip. Huxtable said O'Leary would comment on the situation later.

It already has been a stormy year for the Knights, who have had their practice schedule during their first camp under O'Leary constantly interrupted by storms. But Huxtable said the players have not lost their focus.

"The kids have been resilient," he said.

"Our whole preseason has been interrupted with weather, missing practices, going out on the field for 10 minutes, getting run off the field with lightning and storms and having to go to the weight room. This is just another setback before this first game, that we've got to turn into a comeback."

At least the UCF coaches know their families are safe - O'Leary offered to put up all the families at a hotel in Atlanta. Huxtable said four or five of the families left Orlando about 3 p.m. Thursday. What is normally a 7-hour drive took almost 15 hours.

Despite everything going on around them, Huxtable believes the players' minds will be on today's game.

"It'll be easy for them to be distracted, but these kids have been working really hard since this staff arrived in January," he said. "I think they're focused and they're ready to play. We'll find out. Up until this point, they've handled everything really well."

The mass for O'Leary's mother will be early enough this morning that he could catch some of the game on television. O'Leary has chartered a plane to bring him to Madison and he is scheduled to arrive after the game, around 6 p.m.

Huxtable admitted this was not a bad time for a road game.

"It's nice to be out of the state for a couple days while Frances is coming through," he said. "We're here, we're going to enjoy it and go play some football." (Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal)

What the magazines are saying

THE SPORTING NEWS

Scouting UCF: The Golden Knights get an 'A' grade for hiring George O'Leary as coach, as do Mississippi State (Sylvester Croom), UTEP (Mike Price) and Arizona (Mike Stoops). . . . It won't be in the league much longer, but UCF gets the nod as the MAC's ascending program. "It might not be ready to rise past heavies Marshall and Miami (Ohio), but the arrival of O'Leary has energized the program." . . . UCF picked to finish third in the MAC.

[…]

STREET & SMITH'S

Scouting UCF: DB Atari Bigby is a first-team All-MAC selection. . . . "Don't be surprised if George O'Leary and Brian Kelly (Central Michigan) have unexpected success in their first MAC seasons." . . . UCF is picked to finish third in the seven-team MAC East Division.

[…]

ATHLON SPORTS

Scouting UCF: The Golden Knights rank 90th in 117-team Division I-A in Athlon's rankings. . . . Orlando's Kyle Israel, a quarterback, is the MAC's second-best recruit. UCF-bound DT Keith Shologan of Edmonton, Alberta is No. 13. . . . In the 14-team MAC, UCF gets low positional grades on the offensive line (13th), defensive line (12th) and running back (12th). D'Alessio, FLORIDA TODAY)

Dennis Dodd's latest Mailbag has two UCF related questions (one from a UWCF fan).

From: Mark

I just read your article regarding George O'Leary's resurrection at UCF (Aug. 30) and cannot believe you characterize the lies on his resume as "a couple of small erroneous entries in his resume."

Give me a break! Does honesty not count for anything anymore? Would you retain a reporter who lied that they had graduated from Harvard when they didn't -- I would think so! Better yet, would you tolerate a reporter who included a "few small erroneous entries" in a story knowing them to be false. Of course! Get with the program!

Marky Mark:

The resume entries were lies, they were erroneous and they were intentional even if they were put in 20 years ago. But they were not a fireable offense.

I re-submit that Notre Dame is the only place where this would matter. Notre Dame considers itself a moral and ethical leader. While Kim Dunbar might snicker at that one, it's true.

That's not to say Notre Dame and O'Leary didn't handle the situation badly. O'Leary should have been on top of this from the beginning -- how about re-doing your resume, dude? But ND overreacted and lost a good coach.

Just like Mike Price, O'Leary shouldn't have been fired for what he did. Or didn't do.

[…]

From: Ed

I usually enjoy reading your columns, but when you suggested that Central Florida will be the State's next football powerhouse, it definitely raised an eyebrow in Tampa.

Coaches coach and players play. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, UCF is losing all the recruiting battles with USF, who is already enjoying a banner year in recruiting due to its new BCS conference affiliation.

Of course I am biased, but I often mention that USF's rise from nothing to BCS conference membership in eight years is one of college football's biggest secrets.

Mr. Ed:

Gee, I missed all those New Year's Day bowls that USF has played in. Look, they're both in the same bag. USF probably has a leg up because it is heading for the Big East. But it will have to WIN the Big East to get one of those BCS berths.

The programs are basically even, right now. First one to a major bowl has the inside track.

Thank you Dennis. Someone needs to slap them back to reality. They are getting a little too uppity for a do-nothing program that hasn't even produced a player of significance yet.

And, I guess I missed all those recent head-to-head battles. O'Leary and Leave-it don't seem to be bumping into each other very often on the recruiting trail anyway. TheJim has no problems recruiting nonqualifiers and the UWCF admissions office eagerly admits them.

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Saturday Bucky Newsstand

TheMilwaukeeChannel.com: UW Football Strategy: Give Opponents The Blues

Sentinel: Alvarez walks tall at Wisconsin

Barry Alvarez has built a moribund Badgers program into a Big Ten contender.

Hopefully, in a few years we can say the same about Coach O'Leary and UCF: "George O'Leary has built a moribund Knights program into a Conference USA power."

MISC.

Sentinel: FHSAA miffed at UM, FSU | Mike Bianchi: High schools upset with 'Noles, 'Canes

That's why I'm glad UCF turned down ESPN's offer to move the West Virginia game to Friday. I hope UCF never plays home games on Fridays when high school football games are scheduled.

23 more hours …

2004-09-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

The team plane landed at 11:22 AM CT.

Sentinel: Huxtable confident he can guide UCF

Sentinel: Mike Bianchi: O'Leary makes indisputable call from the heart

Sentinel: Team plane was full, but that's changed

St. Petersburg Times: O'Leary, UCF starting all over

AP: O'Leary's UCF debut delayed by mother's death

St. Petersburg Times: Doing the conference shuffle

Sentinel: It pays to be pummeled

UCFSports.com - Message Boards: UCF_Knights_Fan's Q&A with Javier Beorlegui (9/2/04)

The [Manchester, NH] Union Leader: The Unbalanced Line: Sympathize with the MAC, not Mike Williams

Lots of fresh story lines

The college season kicks off with a full schedule Saturday. Here's a look at five of the biggest games

[…]

2. Central Florida at Wisconsin, 11 a.m., ESPN
Coach George O'Leary returns to college football, but only in spirit. O'Leary will miss his UCF debut to attend his mother's funeral in New York. (Greenstein, Chicago Tribune)

Central Florida (+23) at Wisconsin

The return to health of RB Anthony Davis should stabilize the Badgers offense and make life easier for new QB John Stocco. The Badgers also return five offensive line starters, but sophomore Joe Thomas will start at LT, and former LT Mike Lorenz will move to the right side to battle Morgan Davis. All-Big Ten WR Lee Evans will be hard to replace, but Brandon Williams and Jonathon Orr got plenty of experience when Evans missed the 2002 season with a knee injury. On defense, the Badgers will be led by new coordinator Bret Bielema. The heart of the defense will be tackles Antajj Hawthorne and Jason Jefferson. FS Jim Leonhard is a ball hawk in the secondary and a dynamic punt returner.

Central Florida looked like a program on the way up heading into last season, but that ship crashed and coach Mike Kruczek was launched. He was replaced by short-time Notre Dame coach George O'Leary. After Kruczek's pass-heavy offense, the Golden Knights will likely feature a more balanced attack this year. QB Steven Moffett got a couple of starts late last season, but he was not terribly effective. Running back Alex Haynes rushed for over 800 yards last year, and will be relied upon heavily this year. UCF will have eight starters back from a defense that allowed more than 30 points and 400 yards every time out.

Brad: Badgers fans will rejoice the return to health of Anthony Davis, who will carry early and often. If Davis stays healthy this year, a Heisman trophy is not out of the question. George O’Leary will eventually get the Knights defense back in order, but not this week. Wisconsin 28, Central Florida 13.

Tom: The Badgers will try to make life easy on Stocco by controlling the ball on the ground and will try to shorten the field by forcing turnovers. They should be able to handle the transitioning Golden Knights. Wisconsin 31, Central Florida 10. (Leshyn and Evans, Collegefootballnews.com)

Big Ten replay system starts Saturday

Saturday's Central Florida-Wisconsin college football matchup (noon ET, ESPN) will be the first televised game using the Big Ten Conference's experimental instant-replay system.

Unlike the NFL system, in which a coach usually has to signal to challenge an official's call, a technical adviser in the press box will determine whether play should be stopped to review calls.

"Everything has to happen in a hurry," game analyst Bob Davie said. "The adviser has to have indisputable evidence to overturn the call. Some miscalls could be missed, but you've got to give the Big Ten credit for doing this." (Martzke, USA TODAY)

And for you folks in Central Florida.

And finally, ESPN Radio (1060 AM) will start a new show called ESPN Sports Saturday Showcase running from 10 a.m. to noon. Robert Segal and former UCF linebacker Michael O'Shaughnessy will host a show that during football season will center mostly on state college teams. (Andera, Sentinel)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Friday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Punting role still in the air?

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

St. Petersburg Times: Talented QB gives Pirates high hopes (WR target, Terrell Skinner)

Again, be safe and good luck to all of you in the path of Frances.

Two more days …

2004-09-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

My condolences to Coach O'Leary and his family.

UCFAthletics.com: O’Leary to Miss UCF’s Opener at Wisconsin

Sentinel: O'Leary will miss the opener

The Future: O'Leary's big debut delayed

FLORIDA TODAY has their UCF football section up again, check it out from time to time and show them there is interest. The FT link in the Links section (right column) now points to it.

FLORIDA TODAY: Fired-up UCF has great expectations

FLORIDA TODAY: Moffett gives Knights a run

FLORIDA TODAY: Will O'Leary stay awhile?

Plenty of questions surround powerful colleges' coaching

Motoring south, we make a stop in Orlando. We normally wouldn't stop here because there wouldn't be a reason. But now you have to wonder if you had one state coach to build your team's football future on, would George O'Leary be your man? A lot of people who know college football say yes. O'Leary -- the former Notre Dame coach, if only for a week -- is well-respected around the country for his coaching acumen. His résumé skills leave a little to be desired. But few question his Xs and Os.

If anything, O'Leary is making UCF an interesting team to keep tabs on. The Golden Knights only won three games last year under fired coach Mike Kruczek. That will improve. But real improvement is years down the road. In the meantime, don't expect O'Leary to toss the ball around as much as Kruczek did. But expect a solid ground game and defense. Oh yeah, his teams also will be disciplined -- on and off the field. (Kerasotis, FLORIDA TODAY)

Sentinel: Kasper's progress a dream come true

Tampa Tribune: It's Not The Same Old Ballgame At UCF

The Palm Beach Post: O'Leary begins rebuilding task at Central Florida

The Future: Badgering the defense

The Future: Wisconsin has advantage in Saturday matchup

Mid-American Pivotal games: Miami (Ohio) at Mich., Sept. 4; Miami at Marshall, Sept. 29; Toledo at Miami, Nov. 2; Marshall at Ohio St., Sept. 11; Marshall at Ga., Sept. 18; Bow. Green at Toledo, Nov. 23.

Rk East Player to watch Outlook

1 Marshall QB Stan Hill Marshall returns veterans on defense and a balanced offense led by Hill. Marshall will find out a lot early, playing outside the MAC at Ohio State and Georgia.

2 Miami (Ohio) LB Terna Nande QB Ben Roethlisberger will be missed, but the Red Hawks still should thrive with a balanced offense and an attacking defense that forces offenses into mistakes.

3 Central Florida QB Steven Moffett New coach George O'Leary - Mr. Resume - hopes to steer UCF to consistent MAC contention. By the way, when did Orlando become part of Mid-America?

4 Akron QB Charlie Frye Expect offensive improvement from the Zips under new coach J.D. Brookhart, of the fine Pitt units of recent years. Frye averaged 320 yards total offense in '03.

5 Kent State WR Darrell Dowery Jr. Kent State has a new head man. Offensive coordinator Doug Martin was promoted after the departure of Dean Pees, who left for the New England Patriots.

6 Ohio LB Dennis Chukwuemeka Coach Brian Knorr, a former AFA wishbone QB, has scrapped his beloved triple option for a one-back, pass-oriented attack after going 7-28 his first three seasons.

7 Buffalo QB P.J. Piskorik After finishing 1-11 last year, the Bulls probably will have another rough fall. Coach Jim Hofher is 5-30 there; he added five new assistants in the off-season.

Rk West Player to watch Outlook

1 Toledo QB Bruce Gradkowski The Rockets could crack the national top 25. Gradkowski threw a school-record 29 TD passes last year, and the defense should be solid with a corps of veteran LBs.

2 Northern Illinois QB Josh Haldi Star RB Michael (The Burner) Turner is gone, so the rushing attack must be rebuilt. The Huskies will be hard-pressed to match last year's 10-2, but could surprise.

3 Bowling Green RB P.J. Pope Gregg Brandon, who moved up from offensive coordinator, led the Falcons to an 11-3 season, the best record among first-year I-A coaches last season.

4 Western Michigan P Adam Anderson Not a good sign when your best guy is a punter. Anderson put 20 punts inside the 20. A third losing season in a row, and coach Gary Darnell could feel some heat.

5 Ball State WR Dante Ridgeway Much depends on Joey Lynch's progress at QB and the Cardinals' improved performance against the run. But second-year coach Brady Hoke has a good plan.

6 Central Michigan RB Jerry Seymour The Chippewas need vast improvement on both sides of the ball to move up in the MAC. Coach Brian Kelly, in his first year, is the man who hopes to turn it around.

7 Eastern Michigan RB Anthony Sherrell First-year coach Jeff Genyk, a former Northwestern aide, will rely heavily on QB Matt Bohnet, a transfer from Iowa. Sherrell ran for 1,531 yards last year. (Holtz, Rocky Mountain News)

The Palm Beach Post: Who's number one?

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Thursday Bucky Newsstand

ESPN.com Chat with Anthony Davis

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Colleges like aggressive lineman (OL target, Tyler Rice)

Finally, be safe and good luck to all of you in the path of Frances.

Three more days …

2004-09-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Sports Xchange: Golden Knights report: Strategy and personnel | Notes, quotes | Inside slant

UCFAthletics.com: UCF Football Practice Report 19

Sentinel: Players preparing for noisy crowd

FLORIDA TODAY: Running the ball crucial for UCF

The [Appleton, WI] Post-Crescent: O’Leary a Knight in tarnished armor

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Comparisons: Badgers vs. Golden Knights

SportsTicker: O'Leary makes debut for Central Florida

UCF at Wisconsin, 12 pm EST ESPN

Why to watch: The George O'Leary era at UCF begins as he gets back on the sidelines after a tumultuous last few years. Wisconsin has the talent and the team to come up with a big season, but no one is flakier than the Badgers when it comes to playing average teams. Last year Akron pushed Wisconsin to the limit as it took a big Lee Evans touchdown pass to finally put the Zips away. UNLV came to Camp Randall and won 23-5. Can UCF pull off the same magic?

Why UCF might win: This is a program full of talent that had everything fall apart last season with off-the-field issues and injuries. There's still a great deal of athleticism on both sides of the ball and with O'Leary coaching, the team is sure to play hard. Eight starters return to an offense that should be able to score on the average Badger D, while the Golden Knight defense has a good enough secondary to slow down the UW passing game. However ...

Why Wisconsin might win: ... UCF doesn't appear to be that strong against the run. Oh yeah, Wisconsin likes to run the ball. The veteran front line should have its way with the Golden Knight front seven as Anthony Davis should hit the 100-yard mark in the first half.

Who to watch: While they aren't Sean Taylor-sized and they aren't going receive a whole bunch of recognition from the NFL scouts, there might not be two better safeties in America than Wisconsin's Jim Leonhard and UCF's Atari Bigby. Both are sure tacklers always finding their way around the ball. Expect to hear each of their names called several times as the two should combine for 20 tackles.

What will happen: Wisconsin might be looking ahead a bit to the UNLV revenge game next week, but it won't matter. The Badger running attack will control things if they get tight on the way to an easy win.

CFN Prediction: Wisconsin 38 ... UCF 13 ... Line: Wisconsin -25
Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 Plan Star Jones' wedding on The View) ... 2 (Collegefootballnews.com)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Wednesday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Big Ten teleconference: Barry Alvarez verbatim

PENN STATE

GoPSUsports.com: Joe Paterno Press Conference, August 31, 2004

C-USA

The [Jackson] Clarion-Ledger: League, ESPN dickering over contract

Tuesday Roundup

2004-08-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

SportsLine.com: Forget the Monkey; it's the Year of Redemption

UCFSports.com: UCF Fan Day Photo Gallery

Sentinel: O'Leary no fan of instant replay

The [Leesburg] Daily Commercial: UCF trading in futures market

Wisconsin State Journal: O'Leary back in the (college) game

The [Madison] Capital Times: Mike Lucas: O'Leary, UCF both in rebuilding mode

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Remember him? O'Leary begins new chapter

Next opponent: Central Florida

OFFENSE

First-year coach George O'Leary has vowed to improve the team's running game. Central Florida averaged 97.9 rushing yards per game last season at an average of 3.3 yards per carry. The per-carry mark was down from 3.6 yards per carry in 2002 and 3.5 in 2001. The last time the Golden Knights averaged at least 4.0 yards per carry was 1995. Central Florida has several tall, talented receivers, but O'Leary wants to use more sets with two tight ends and two running backs. Tailbacks Alex Haynes and Dontavius Wilcox have talent. Haynes has rushed for 2,502 yards in three seasons and needs 630 to become the school's all-time leading rusher. O'Leary likes Wilcox's ability to catch passes out of the backfield. Central Florida's biggest problem this season could be inexperience. O'Leary is set to start a freshman at each of the guard positions, and quarterback Steven Moffett is a tremendous athlete but played in only three games last season.

DEFENSE

The focus here is also on the run - stopping the run, to be precise. A year ago, the Golden Knights allowed 191.6 rushing yards per game. Only 24 Division I-A teams surrendered a higher average. The Golden Knights' front seven didn't play well last season, which meant ridiculous workloads for free safety Peter Sands (113 tackles) and strong safety Atari Bigby (112 tackles). The Central Florida coaches hope that junior-college transfer Glenroy Watkins will provide much-needed help at end.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Matt Prater was the star of these units last season. He led the nation in punting with a 47.9-yard average and made 10 for 13 field-goal attempts, including all four between 40 and 49 yards. O'Leary didn't care for Prater's habit of rolling out to his right before punting, so he gave the punting job to walk-on Aaron Horne. Prater will handle the kicking and drilled a 68-yard attempt during practice this summer. (Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

THE MAC FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

Sizing up the Mid-American Conference (in order of predicted finish):

EAST DIVISION

Marshall -- If quarterback Stan Hill is fully recovered from last season's knee injury, he should lead his team to the MAC Championship game.

Miami -- Life in Oxford without Ben Roethlisberger starts with junior Josh Betts, who saw limited action last season.

Kent State -- An improved secondary should help a pass defense that ranked last in the conference in 2003.

Akron -- Charlie Frye's arm could make coach J.D. Brookhart's first year in Akron a lot smoother.

Central Florida -- Coach George O'Leary will need more than one off-season to turn around the Knights, but it will happen.

Ohio -- Say good-bye to the option offense, and hello to a new one-back spread offense. And to the defense, say good luck.

Buffalo -- The Bulls can't get much worse after allowing four teams to score 40 or more points, and three to score more than 50.

WEST DIVISION

Toledo -- Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski and receiver Lance Moore connected 103 times for 1,194 yards as Moore led the nation in receptions.

Northern Illinois -- High-powered offense leads effort as Huskies aim for third consecutive West Division title.

Bowling Green -- Running back P.J. Pope and receiver Cole Magner topped 1,000 yards last season, but that was with now-departed quarterback Josh Harris, who ranked third in nation in total offense.

Western Michigan -- Running game playing catch-up to passing. The quarterback competition between Blayne Baggett and Rutgers transfer Ryan Cubit is too close to call.

Central Michigan -- MAC Freshman of the Year Jerry Seymour is back after an impressive 1,117-yard performance at running back.

Ball State -- All-Conference safety Justin Beriault hopes to improve team's run defense but needs an undersized defensive line to do its part.

Eastern Michigan -- Tailback Anthony Sherrell accounted for more than half of the Eagles' offense last season. (Estwick, The [Akron] Beacon Journal)

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hinshaw back in Gatorland

Philadelphia Daily News: Our view from the 50

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Tuesday Bucky Newsstand

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Potrykus: Monday's chat transcript

Wisconsin State Journal: Baggot: Does seeing blue make you a wuss?

Gridiron News

2004-08-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: MAC Teleconference Quotes (8/30/04)

UCFAthletics.com: Wisconsin Game Notes [PDF: 348KB]

The Future: Bugs in the system

The Future: And so it begins

The Future: Rockets fueled to win MAC West

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Monday Bucky Newsstand

UWBadgers.com: UCF Game Notes [PDF: 155KB]

UWBadgers.com: Alvarez Addresses Media Monday

AP: Alvarez worried all eyes may be on scoreboard

Sunday Roundup

2004-08-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Consistency, not distance, key factor for Knights' Prater

Sentinel: The Cheap Seats: Jerry Greene: UCF's new coach really gets around

Sentinel: Suit may help walk-ons

I'm surprised Goodson is still a walk-on. I thought he would be on scholarship this year since he's actually starting.

FLORIDA TODAY: First three games could make or break Knights

UCFAthletics.com: Say Cheese! (Fan Day photos)

UCFAthletics.com: 2004 UCF Depth Chart [25.5KB Word doc]

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Sunday Bucky Newsstand

Football: Two-Deep Depth Chart

2004-08-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Knights make themselves right at home on campus

Sentinel: Many newcomers in 2-deep lineup

So, the two-deep looks like this.

OFFENSE:

QB
9 Steven Moffett, 6-3, 200, So
12 Brandon Sumner, 6-3, 220, Jr*

TB
4 Alex Haynes, 5-10, 225, Sr*
20 Dontavius Wilcox, 5-9, 210, So*

FB
32 Goodson Ohaegbulam, 6-0, 235, So*
47 Tommy Kasper, 5-11, 225, Jr

WR
5 Luther Huggins, 5-9, 190, Sr*
81 Brandon Marshall, 6-4, 220, Jr

WR
7 Tavaris Capers, 5-8, 170, Sr*
19 Al Peterson, 6-0, 195, Jr*

TE
84 Darcy Johnson, 6-5, 245, Jr*
86 Antonio Eldermire, 6-3, 235, Jr

LT
67 Dan Veenstra, 6-5, 290, So*
68 Brad Williams, 6-5, 280, Fr*

LG
69 Dominic Ignelzi, 6-4, 310, Fr
58 Adam Toeniskoetter, 6-3, 290, Jr*

C
53 Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, 6-2, 280, So*
79 Kyle Smith, 6-3, 295, Fr

RG
70 Josh Sitton, 6-5, 295, Fr
62 Mike Lavoie, 6-5, 293, Fr

RT
66 Sean Gilhuly, 6-5, 310, So*
78 Ryan Karhut, 6-4, 280, Fr

DEFENSE:

LE
49 Glenroy Watkins, 6-2, 240, Jr
90 Trenton Jordan, 6-4 240, Sr*

LDT
98 Frisner Nelson, 6-2, 290, Jr*
91 Leger Douzable, 6-5, 270, Fr

RDT
74 Keith Shologan, 6-2, 275, Fr
71 Emeka Okammor, 6-1, 300, Fr

RE
95 Paul Carrington, 6-7, 250, Jr*
96 Chris Welsh, 6-4, 246, So*

SLB
48 James Cook, 6-3, 210, Jr*
50 Ronnell Sandy, 6-0, 210, So*

MLB
94 Josh Stephens, 6-1, 255, Sr
22 Gerren Bray, 5-11, 225, Sr*

WLB
18 Stanford Rhule, 5-9, 240, Sr
57 Ty Kalandyk, 6-0, 215, So*

LC
11 Mike Walker, 6-2, 190, So
3 Rovel Hamilton, 5-11, 185, Sr*

SS
24 Atari Bigby, 5-11, 210, Sr*
46 Jason Venson, 5-11, 195, Fr

FS
29 Peter Sands, 6-3, 230, Sr
39 Sha'reff Rashad, 6-1, 180, Fr

RC
40 Travonti Johnson, 6-2, 185, So*
26 Ron Ellis, 5-11, 190, So

* redshirted previously

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Saturday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Camp complete, work remains

2004 Sentinel UCF Football Preview … and practice reports

2004-08-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 17

Sentinel: Depth chart likely won't change much

FLORIDA TODAY : UCF safety anchors the defense | Brevard connection mans UCF secondary

SENTINEL UCF FOOTBALL PREVIEW

The Sun-Sentinel requires registration for the preview section, so I might as well post Orlando Sentinel links (just use BugMeNot.com if you don't have an account already).

Big man on campus | How UCF can get some respect | UCF on the sidelines

'Time for a wake-up call'

Getting down to business

O'Leary lays down the law

UCF 2004 roster breakdown | A look at UCF's coaching staff

Sentinel football special section wallpaper

MAC: It's a game of inches | Mid-American Conference preview | Our projected all-MAC team

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Friday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Sun sets on Smith’s UW career

Today's Gridiron Roundup

2004-08-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 16

Sentinel: Final scrimmage productive, sloppy

The [Lakeland] Ledger: Knights Start Search for Credibility

The Future: Marshall enters season as conference favorite

MAC-sports.com: Detroit's Ford Field to Host MAC Football Championship Game

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

UCFSports.com: Tallahassee Tight End Commits to UCF!

FLORIDA TODAY: Stopwatch can dash dreams | Plenty of variables that can affect 40 times

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Thursday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: UW notes: secondary depth rings true

NFL KNIGHTS

The Cincinnati Post: Young linemen learning (Elton Patterson)

The [San Jose] Mercury News: Raiders' Gabriel makes great strides [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

Steven Moffett's development … and practice reports

2004-08-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: O'Leary seeks 'get tough' mentality for Moffett | Steven Moffett: A closer look

Well, we have to remember that Steven is a true sophomore with only three starts under his belt. And, he has a very young offensive line, so he might have to run around a bit. It will take some time, but he has good coaching so it shouldn't take too long. Passing wise, I expect his year to go like Daunte's true freshman year:

ATT  	CMP  	PCT  	YDS  	TD  	INT 	RATING



294  	168  	.571  	2,071  	12  	10	122.98

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 15

Sentinel: Rain perfect time for mind games

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Wednesday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: August weather, stadium wind baffling

Football practice reports, TV games and future schedules

2004-08-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 14

Sentinel: O'Leary wants UCF to pick up the pace

UCFAthletics.com: Sunshine Network To Air Two Football Games

Two games? You have got to be kidding me. The Penn State game was already on ESPN Regional, so they didn't have to show that one. I'll only be able to watch three games this year. Man, that sucks. Hopefully, if they perform better than expected, Sunshine will broadcast more games.

UCFAthletics.com: C-USA Announces Football Cross-Over Opponents

Conference USA has determined the 2005 and 2006 cross-over opponents for football, Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today. The scheduling model, which was approved during the Athletic Directors meeting last week, calls for each team to play four home and four away games in league play. In addition to playing every team in its division once, each school will play three games against opponents from the opposite division.

Cross-Over Opponents

UCF - Houston/Rice/Tulane

[…]

In addition, the following home and away opponents were selected for 2005 and will be reversed for 2006.

UCF Home: Houston/Marshall/Memphis/Tulane
Away: ECU/Rice/Southern Miss/UAB

I really like this schedule. The home schedule is attractive, but not too attractive that it weakens the 2006 home schedule. And, each season has at least two teams that will be good draws.

The complete 2005 schedule should look like this:

Home: Louisiana Tech/Houston/Marshall/Memphis/Tulane
Away: NC State/South Florida/East Carolina/Rice/Southern Miss/UAB

UCF: George O’Leary’s first edition of the Central Florida Golden Knights could be top-heavy with freshmen.

True freshman Kyle Israel is pushing sophomore Steven Moffett at quarterback. Two true freshmen, Dominic Ignelzi and Josh Sitton, could start at the guard spots. Another freshman to watch is Blake Carter, nephew of former NFL receiver Cris Carter.

The linebackers are much more experienced, as senior Josh Stephens has taken over at the middle. That pushes Stanford Rhule to the outside. The already-fleet Rhule reported to camp 13 pounds lighter.

UCF didn’t miss a beat when Hurricane Charley rolled through Orlando, moving one practice up to 5 a.m.

The Golden Knights come to Huntington on Oct. 30. (Smock, The Charleston [WV] Gazette)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Tuesday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Tough preparation

BadgerNation.com: Fall camp photo gallery

NFL KNIGHTS

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fisher breaks arm, could miss season

Damn, that sucks. He was poised to have a big, breakout year too.

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Daunte Culpepper: The complete package [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

Tell me something we don't know :).

Football and facilities news

2004-08-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Future: Alexander the great

The Future: Raising the bars

Sentinel: Freshman Francis a surprise at RB

The Herd's 2005 Conference USA schedule, which was planned last week during league meetings in Dallas, includes home games against East Carolina, Southern Methodist, Alabama-Birmingham and Southern Miss.

In C-USA road games, Marshall will travel to Texas-El Paso, Central Florida, Tulane and Memphis. (Landon, Charleston [WV] Daily Mail)

I figured we would host them in 2005 since we visit them this year.

Construction is scheduled to start in September on campus housing with about 500 beds by the UCF Arena. Site work for a new, 10,000-seat convocation center, which will host sporting events, concerts and graduation ceremonies, is scheduled to begin in January. (Binette, UCF Report Online)

Eggcellent!

NFL KNIGHTS

The Future: Charles is in charge

Alameda Times-Star: Vertical game starts with Gabriel

The Cincinnati Bengals waived five players Monday, leaving them with 74 on a roster that must be trimmed to 65 by Aug. 31.

The players include second-year punter Eddie Johnson, from Idaho State; first-year center Mike Mabry, from Central Florida; rookie free agent quarterback Scott Rislov, from San Jose State, and rookie free agent wide receiver Lance Young, from Iowa State. (Associated Press)

Good luck Mike.

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Monday Bucky Newsstand

Sunday Roundup

2004-08-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Stephens crams for linebacker job

Sentinel: Newcomers will get some playing time

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 13

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

Sentinel: Jarrell makes big improvements

NFL KNIGHTS

The Dallas Morning News: Culpepper, Moss hit prime time

Contra Costa Times: Gabriel showing potential [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Sunday Bucky Newsstand

MISC.

FLORIDA TODAY: Media 101 is players' new course

Saturday Roundup

2004-08-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: C-USA title-game site not tough choice

Keeping their attention

O'Leary spent a considerable part of Friday's practices preaching about speed and smarts. QB Steven Moffett got an earful.

O'Leary moved in freshman QB Kyle Israel to work with the first unit after he became frustrated by Moffett's quiet laid-back demeanor in the huddle. In a red-zone skeleton drill, Israel threw touchdown passes to Luther Huggins and Tavaris Capers.

"I like to change guys on the field who don't have the sense of urgency as they should," O'Leary said. "That keeps the competition good."

Etc.

UCF's West Division opponents in its first two C-USA seasons will be Houston, Rice and Tulane, Orsini said. Which of the years those teams come to Orlando hasn't been set. . . . Friday was the final set of two-a-days. Today's workout will include sets of live scrimmaging. Assistants hinted that this practice will go a long way toward shaping the two-deep for the season-opener at Wisconsin. . . . UCF will practice Sunday afternoon. Starting Monday, practices will be closed to media and boosters as UCF installs Wisconsin-specific fits. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

So, the 2005 schedule looks like this:

OOC
Louisiana Tech
@ South Florida (home-and-home series)
@ NC State (home-and-home series)
@ West Virginia (final game of a 2-1 series -- will probably be dropped)

C-USA
East Carolina
Houston
Marshall
Memphis
Rice
Southern Miss
Tulane
UAB

In addition, UCF's 2005 entrance into Conference USA has given C-USA leaders a thought that the Tangerine might be a good postseason destination for one of its teams. FCS has had the same thought. (Huguenin and Schmadtke, Sentinel)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Saturday Bucky Newsstand

PRO BASEBALL

[Salem, OR] Statesman Journal: Volcanoes' Timpner finds permanent home in center field

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: O'Leary rebuilding UCF, career

2004-08-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

O'Leary has Central Florida thinking big

By TONY BARNHART
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 8/20/04

ORLANDO -- When George O'Leary held the first meeting with his University of Central Florida team, his initial request was simple and to the point.

"Guys, if you give me a clean slate, I'll give you one, too," the former Georgia Tech coach said. "We'll all start over together."

O'Leary is trying to rebuild the UCF football program while resurrecting a college coaching career that seemed dead when he was forced to resign at Notre Dame because of false information in his rŽsumŽ.

After two years as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings, the tough-talking Irishman believes he can turn the Knights -- 3-9 last season -- into a consistent Top 25 program.

"I just wanted one more chance to build another program," O'Leary said. "I think everything is in place here to do that."

Central Florida, however, is hardly Notre Dame.

In December, 2001, O'Leary reached what he believed was the pinnacle of his profession when he was introduced as coach of the Fighting Irsh. For a Catholic kid from Central Islip, N.Y., life just didn't get any better.

Five days later, O'Leary was forced to resign. Everything he had worked for was gone.

Then came a chance for redemption. On Dec. 8, 2003, O'Leary was named the eighth coach in the undistinguished history of Central Florida football, which began in 1979.

"I think this is the right opportunity," O'Leary said.

Perfect setting

With a student body of 44,000 and located in one of the world's premier tourist destinations, UCF is convinced it can stand toe-to-toe with the state's big three universities -- Florida, Florida State and Miami. What it doesn't have is big-time football. UCF President John C. Hitt wants to change that.

"The fact is that successful athletics raises the profile of the entire university," said Hitt, who has been UCF's president since 1992. "If you want to be taken seriously as a major public institution, particularly in the Southeast, you also have to have a presence in Division I-A football. People expect to see that."

In 1997, UCF got a taste of what it could be like. Behind quarterback Daunte Culpepper, it began the season with close losses at Ole Miss (24-23) and South Carolina (33-31). UCF led Nebraska 17-14 at halftime in a 38-24 loss.

UCF went 5-6 that season and 9-2 in 1998, Culpepper's senior year. But there was no bowl invitation.

It joined the MAC in 2002 hoping to improve its bowl chances. But in 2003, when UCF was projected to contend for the conference title, the program collapsed under a wave of disciplinary problems. Coach Mike Kruczek was fired with two games remaining in the season and the Golden Knights finished 3-9.

The UCF football program had reached a crossroads.

"We had to make up our mind if we were going to stay on this same path or if we were really going to make the commitment to play at a higher level," UCF athletics director Steve Orsini said. "Fortunately, Dr. Hitt had already made that decision. He wanted us to go for it."

'Only one candidate'

Orsini, a former fullback at Notre Dame, became UCF's athletics director in June of 2002. Before that, he had spent three years as the senior associate athletics director at Georgia Tech.

So when UCF went looking for a football coach, "I only had one candidate in mind," he said. "Everybody else was a distant second."

The first concern was how Hitt would react to O'Leary's misstep with Notre Dame.

"Dr. Hitt told me that it wasn't a deal breaker, but that he would have to meet the man and make his own decision," Orsini said.

Orsini, Hitt and board of trustees chairman Dick Nunis flew to Minneapolis for their first meeting with O'Leary. "What George had done was make mistakes as a very young man and not correct them," Hitt said. "What I had read in the media after the Notre Dame situation was not the real George. He had suffered for his mistake and was genuinely sorry. I had no misgivings about giving him another chance."

The second goal of that visit, Orsini said, was to get a blunt assessment of what it would take for UCF to reach its goal of being a consistent Top 25 program.

Nobody does blunt better than O'Leary.

"They said they wanted to be a Top 25 program," said O'Leary said. "I told them with the size of school they had and the location, they should be thinking top 10."

The UCF officials were hooked. O'Leary mapped out in great detail what he felt it would take in terms of improved facilities, increased support staff and financial commitment.

"I figured we'd have the meeting and that would be that," O'Leary said.

But on the way back to Orlando, Orsini and Hitt began crunching the numbers. It would take a three-year bridge loan from the university's auxiliary funds to pay the bills while O'Leary built the program. But they determined the long-term benefits to the university would be worth the financial risks.

O'Leary received a salary of $700,000, about three times what Kruczek was making. Incentives could push that total to $1.1 million.

New facilities

The $7 million Wayne Densch Sports Center is a state of the art football facility that would be welcomed on any ACC or SEC campus. Per O'Leary's orders, every square foot of the facility is spotless.

In the back of the building O'Leary points to a huge pile of dirt where soon there will be a new indoor practice facility. To the right of that are trees which will be removed to build three new practice fields. It is all part of a $250 million plan to improve the school's athletics facilities.

"Once we get those things in place, we'll have everything we need," said O'Leary, who has lost about 30 pounds thanks to a walking regimen since he suffered a heart attack last December. "Now we just have to get guys to come here and visit. We've really got something to sell here."

O'Leary's impact on the program already has been dramatic. When he arrived in December, 26 football players were on academic probation.

"He made it clear right away that things were going to change in every way," said Alex Haynes, a senior running back. "We had gotten slack in a lot of areas. He basically told us that it was going to be his way or the highway."

"I told him we had problems with guys missing class," Orsini said. "He said, 'Oh, I know how to handle that.' "

O'Leary had the UCF academic support staff move its tutoring program to the Densch Center so he could keep an eye on the players.

Spring semester, 29 UCF football players made dean's dist. Seventy-three players attended summer school and 40 posted a 3.0 GPA or better. No players are on academic probation going into the fall semester.

O'Leary hired Ed Ellis, his former strength and conditioning coach at Tech, and implemented an offseason program that has yielded significant improvement for every player on the team.

"A lot of us thought we knew what it meant to work in the offseason," said Atari Bigby, an All-MAC strong safety from Miami. "Coach O'Leary has taken us to a completely different level."

Tough first steps

The residual effect of UCF's days as a Division I-A independent are contracts which will provide a arduous nonconference schedule for years to come. O'Leary's first three games -- at Wisconsin, home against Big East favorite West Virginia and at Penn State.

"What I've told the guys is that we're not going to worry about wins and losses right now," O'Leary said. "Our goal this year is to walk off the field every game saying we played hard for 60 minutes. And if you have think about it, then the answer is probably no, we didn't."

Even with that daunting early schedule, the excitement level has risen around UCF. Season ticket sales are up, as is overall giving to the school's athletics program.

"The reaction really has been overwhelming," said Phyllis Klock, a UCF trustee and chair of the school's athletics capital campaign committee. "Thanks to George, people are finally beginning to understand the commitment necessary for us to play at the next level. Now that George is here and they see what he is doing, we feel there are a lot of people ready to step up and help us do that."

This will be UCF's final season in the MAC. Next year the Golden Knights will join Conference USA, clearly a better geographical fit.

There are even rumblings that if O'Leary can work some magic with the football program, UCF might be an attractive candidate should the Big East feel the need for future expansion. The Big East -- which has lost Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the ACC -- has already added South Florida (in Tampa) for the 2005 season.

Those, however, are larger issues for another day. Right now, O'Leary's 37th season as a football coach is set to begin.

"You start each year with a clean slate," said O'Leary. "Then you have a chance to write your own script."

AJC story link

Today's Football News

2004-08-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 12

The Sports Network - UCF Football Preview

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 11

Sentinel: Focus is on getting, retaining possession

Sentinel: C-USA plans football title game

O'Leary featured

Kirk Herbstreit visited football coaches Mike Price (Texas-El Paso), George O'Leary (Central Florida), Sylvester Croom (Mississippi State), Mike Stoops (University of Arizona) and Bill Callahan (Nebraska) for SportsCenter's five-part "Resurrection Week" series, which starts Monday.

Herbstreit's segment on O'Leary, who was forced to resign at Notre Dame because he falsified his resume, airs Tuesday.

"The administration is giving him the resources he needs to be competitive, and his goal is to be a top 25 team," Herbstreit said. "He's using the same principles he used to develop the Georgia Tech program: player work ethic and commitment." (Sarni, Sun-Sentinel)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: MAC

The Sports Network - NCAA Football Previews:

Akron Zips

Ball State Cardinals

Buffalo Bulls

Kent State Golden Flashes

Marshall Thundering Herd

Miami-Ohio RedHawks

Northern Illinois Huskies

Ohio University Bobcats

WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: Friday Bucky Newsstand

BadgerNation.com: Sixth starter?

BadgerNation.com: Punters could have dual role

NFL KNIGHT

JOSEPH WAIVED -- Safety Ricot Joseph was waived on Thursday in a move that should soon be followed by his being placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Joseph has a torn triceps muscle in his left arm and his recovery time is expected to be lengthy.

The team could have given him an injury settlement but due to the lengthy nature of his prognosis it was easier to place him on injured waivers, wait for him to clear the list and then move him directly to injured reserve. The team made a similar move with offensive tackle Belton Johnson on July 2.

The Bengals are now down to 79 players on their roster. (Goheen, Cincinnati Post)

Good luck with your recovery Ricot.

PRO BASEBALL

Lowell [MA] Sun: Bono didn't have the edge

Gridiron News

2004-08-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Offensive line is going to be young

UCFAthletics.com: Rhule Named To Butkus Award Watch List

Coaching situations are distinct story line

But the most intriguing coaching change and perhaps the best hire of any program in the off season was George O'Leary at Central Florida.

His reputation was damaged by his faulty resume, but O'Leary hasn't forgotten how to coach football. He turned Georgia Tech into a national power, which got him the Notre Dame job (however short-lived), and his last two seasons in exile, with the Minnesota Vikings, gives him NFL credibility with recruits in the Sunshine State who believe it is their birthright to be the next Deion Sanders or Daunte Culpepper.

Central Florida is a huge school, located in the middle of the state, with plenty of resources. Even though the Golden Knights are surrounded by the University of Florida to the East, Florida State to the West, and Miami to the South, O'Leary's real resume can hold its own with Ron Zook, Larry Croker, and even Bobby Bowden.

Earlier this year, CBS Sportsline wrote that UCF has "the look of Florida State in the mid-1970s, when it was about to explode into a college football dynasty."

Dreaming? Certainly.

But new programs with new coaches always dream big. (Melick, Birmingham Post-Herald)

FOOTBALL MAC ATTACK: 2004 Conference Preview

4. Central Florida -- About to join Marshall in an exodus to the supposedly greener pastures of Conference USA, the Golden Knights hired George O'Leary (hopefully after double-checking his resume) to reverse last year's 3-9 dabacle. He hopes to develop sophomore quarterback Steven Moffett into the school's next star quarterback. Senior Alex Haynes has over 2,500 career rushing yards, and Tavaris Capers is the top returning pass-catcher. The defense struggled about as much as Ball State's in stopping the run. (Genet, The Ball State Daily News)

C-USA

CollegeSports.com: Conference USA To Introduce Football Championship Game in 2005

This is good news. For a while there I thought they might actually decide not to have a championship game.

NFL KNIGHT

CB Asante Samuel is working opposite Terrell Buckley with the second team defense behind Tyrone Poole and Ty Law, but after missing the early part of training camp, Samuel has picked up where he left off a year ago when he showed a nose for the ball while winning the team's nickel back job. He had a pair of interceptions during a practice last Thursday and could start to push Poole for his starting job. (PatriotsInsider.com staff)

Q: How is Asante Samuel doing so far this season?

BB: Good. Asante, I think, has really come on strong recently. He missed a few days there at the beginning of camp, but he has come back strong. Kind of like he was last year, every practice he's knocking down a couple of balls, he's got his hands on them or intercepting them or knocking them down. He's been very active in practice. I thought he had a good start last week against the Eagles. Now that he's really into it and has been consistently out on the field, he has shown up on the ball a lot, and it's been good.

Q: Last year Asante Samuel was used a lot as the fifth defensive back. Do you see a bigger role for him this year?

BB: I think he's certainly competing for one. Again, it will all depend on how his playmaking stacks up against every one else's and his performance and consistency, not just in the passing game but also in the running game in terms of run force and open-field tackling, relative to some of the things we talked about there with Tom (Brady)'s question. I think he's certainly competing for it, absolutely.

Q: How nicely has Asante Samuel fit in with this team?

BB: He's been a good contributor for us. He really has. He's one of those guys that gets his hands on a lot of balls. Some defensive backs play a lot, and they might be close to it, they might make a lot of tackles, they might have some big hits, but they don't intercept or knock down very many passes. There are other guys that it just seems like the ball comes to them somehow. They are in the right place. They anticipate things well. They have good reactions and can get their hands to where the ball is being thrown. He seems like one of those guys.

Q: Could Asante Samuel be a starter right now, or is he a few years away from that?

BB: I don't know. I think he's competing for it with everybody else. We'll play the best guys. (Patriots.com)

The Boston Globe: Samuel turning corner

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

BadgerNation.com: 2004 Wisconsin Badgers Football Season Preview

The Sports Network: NCAA Football Preview - Wisconsin Badgers

AP: Badgers hope experience pays off in 2004

BadgerNation.com: Badgers preparing Stocco for blitz

BadgerNation.com: Sanders getting to know position

BadgerNation.com: Thursday Bucky Newsstand

Offensive line woes and more

2004-08-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Offensive tackle Ulsh decides to leave team

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 9

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 10

UCF mixed the first team offensive line with two true freshmen Wednesday. At left guard, freshman Dominic Ignelzi (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Centennial) was with the first team while Josh Sitton (Pensacola, Fla./Pensacola Catholic) was at right guard. Sophomore Dan Veenstra (Largo, Fla./Largo) moved to left tackle to complete the position switches up front for the Golden Knights. (UCFAthletics.com)

Man, this sucks. In the spring it seemed like the offensive line was looking up with three returning starters. Now they are talking about starting two true freshmen (on the inside where Wisconsin is strongest)? Holy shit, I wouldn't want to be in Steven's cleats against the Badgers. That game might get ugly really fast.

And, Larry People's indefinite suspension sucks. Indefinite … I hate that word -- make a decision already -- he's either on the team and suspended for X amount of games or he isn't. Come on Coach, don't let Steven get killed out there. Free Larry Peoples!

Finally, Frank Reina (Miami/Palmetto) left the team. He's the second member of the 2004 OL class that won't be on the UCF roster. Carlo Rossi (Lakeland/George Jenkins) decided he didn't want to play football anymore and didn't report. It's a good thing they signed so many (10, now down to 8).

Sentinel: Versatile Walker pulls double duty

UCF picked up a third commitment over the weekend. DB Rodney Etienne (6-1/170) of Pompano Beach Ely pledged to UCF, according to Floridavarsity.com. He joins Tuscaloosa, Ala., TE J.R. Sandlin and Tallahassee LB T.J. Harnden as commitments. (Schmadtke)

USA TODAY: Toledo's QB follows in line of former NFL greats

USA TODAY: Frye stays at Akron despite challenges

The Brewton [AL] Standard: Fountain lands assistant coaching position at Middle Tennessee State

ChicagoSportsReview.com: Bears Trade For DE Dorsey; Waive WR Fryzel

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WEST VIRGINIA

The Sports Network: NCAA Football Preview - West Virginia Mountaineers

PENN STATE

The Sports Network: NCAA Football Preview - Penn State Nittany Lions

PRO BASEBALL

The [Toronto] Globe and Mail: Good news brewing for Jays down on the farm

And, here are some links if you are interested in tracking the Diamond Knights drafted this year:

Kyle Bono [Lowell Spinners Profile]

Jaime Douglas [Provo Angels Profile]

Matt Fox

Clay Timpner

I'm back

2004-08-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

I hope you folks in Central Florida are doing fine.

Here are all the stories that I missed -- you probably read most of them already -- for reference purposes.

August 16th

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 8

Sentinel: UCF offices warm but operational

The Future: King George readies

The Future: Walker to take on new role

AP: Marshall Looks for One Last MAC Title

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: No. 2 QB Donovan making big gains

August 15th

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 7

Sentinel: Walk-on takes roundabout route to starting role

Sentinel: Hurricane disrupts UCF's movie night

August 14th

Position Spotlight: Defensive backs

We'll rank the five state schools and also look at the conferences in which those schools play.

One thing to keep in mind: This ranking incorporates talent level and how comfortable coaches should be entering the season.

State schools

1. Florida State: The Seminoles have all four starters back. But this unit doesn't compare to marquee FSU units of the past. There is no one real standout, just a bunch of solid guys. One positive: There are a lot of big guys, with seven of the eight players on the two-deep at least 6 feet and four at least 6-2. And only one of the eight weighs less than 190 pounds.

2. Miami: Only one starter is back, but that is CB Antrel Rolle, the best player at his position in the nation. The other corner will be Kelly Jennings, who has started at various times in his career. SS Greg Threat should be fine. That leaves free safety, where former Apopka star Brandon Meriweather is expected to start. Depth is iffy.

3. UCF: Three starters are back, headed by SS Atari Bigby and FS Peter Sands (Titusville Astronaut). The Golden Knights desperately need some playmakers to emerge at cornerback. Maybe converted WR Mike Walker, a sophomore from Edgewater, will help. UCF had just five interceptions last season, which ranked 114th (of 117) in the nation.

4. Florida: The Gators are replacing all four starters. SS Cory Bailey will be fine, but the other spots are iffy. CBs Reynaldo Hill and Dee Webb need to nail down starting spots quickly to alleviate some concern. Some freshmen will see time.

5. USF: The only returning starter is CB D'Juan Brown. It's likely the other three starters will be seniors -- but none has started in the past. FS Javon Camon could be surprisingly good.

[…]

MID-AMERICAN: Miami (Ohio). All four starters return, and Darrell Hunter and Alphonso Hodge are a nice duo at cornerback. SS Matt Pusateri is a big hitter. The RedHawks barely edge Marshall, which has a nice pair of Florida-bred corners in Roberto Terrell (Dunnellon) and Willie Smith (Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer). (Huguenin, Sentinel)

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 6

AP: O'Leary, Barnett want to leave scandals behind

Sentinel: Lights help Golden Knights beat Charley

Sentinel: Trio return after missing 2003

New players

Hollywood Chaminade LB Rudy Taylor is the final addition to UCF's scholarship freshman class. Taylor, 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, was brought in late this summer after FB Dee Brown decided to concentrate on baseball and gave up his football grant-in-aid. Taylor had committed to Auburn

One of the recruited walk-ons in camp is WR Blake Carter, nephew of former star NFL receiver Cris Carter. Knights receivers coach D.J. McCarthy is friends with the older Carter. He invited the Carters to visit UCF, and they did this summer. Blake Carter, 6-2, 215, played at famed Moeller High in Cincinnati.

Etc.

P Scott Sevin will not return because of an unspecified injury. He is not just taking a medical redshirt, he is taking a medical hardship, which means his career at UCF is over, school officials said. . . . Lake Howell's Chris Narsesian will miss 2004 while rehabilitating a surgically repaired knee. Narsesian, who redshirted last year, hurt his knee in the spring. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

UWBadgers.com: A.P. Ranks Badgers 21st

August 13th

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 5

Sentinel: Walker candidate for double duty

Tallahassee Democrat: Streeter tries to show he's more mature

August 12th

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 4

Sentinel: Returning players don't sweat the heat

Bradenton Herald: No lie: O'Leary relishes the challenges at UCF

Naples Daily News: College Football: Less multi-tasking for UCF's Prater

ESPN.com: O'Leary gives UCF instant credibility

WESH.com: Pat's 2 Cents: O'Leary Brings New Attitude To UCF

August 11th

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 3

Sentinel: QB or not QB ...

SportsLine.com: Think Tank: Trio dissects upcoming season

AP: COLLEGE FOOTBALL '04: ACC and USC rising while BCS tries new approach

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

UWBadgers.com: Football Media Day Takes Place As Camp Begins

AP: UW football begins practice

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

GatorCountry.com: RECRUITING: In-depth interview with Jon Demps

August 10th

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 2

Sentinel: No-shows causing trouble with depth

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF opens with tough talk, foes

NBCSports.com: O'Leary will sharpen resume at Central Florida

AP: UCF Makes the Grade, Starts to Focus on Field

The [Leesburg] Daily Commercial: Knights going to work

August 9th

O'Leary introduces discipline to Knights

After Central Florida stumbled to a 3-9 record in 2003, the Knights decided it was time for a change.

And that's exactly what it got.

While the Knights' lack of discipline cost several players their careers and coach Mike Kruczek his job, with new coach George O'Leary, a known disciplinarian, in town, there already is a new attitude for UCF, which reports today and will hold its first practice Monday.

"I didn't ask them how they wanted to be treated," O'Leary said. "That is the way I run the program and the players have bought into that. Some of the things I saw when I arrived, I am not going to tolerate. They have to do it one way if they are going to be successful."

O'Leary, a longtime Georgia Tech coach, was briefly coach at Notre Dame before resigning over a disputed rsum. He worked for the Minnesota Vikings last season. (Nelson, The Palm Beach Post)

UCFAthletics.com: Football Practice Report No. 1

Florida Today: Knights expect to be tested

UCFAthletics.com: Prater Named To Lou Groza Watch List

UCFAthletics.com: Football Enjoys Summer Success In The Classroom

The [Fort Meyers] News-Press: Colleges cope with crimes of players

The Cincinnati Enquirer: Meet the Bengals: Elton Patterson

August 7th

Position Spotlight: Linebackers

This week, our position spotlight shines on linebackers.

We'll rank the five state schools and also look at the conferences in which those schools play. One thing to keep in mind: This ranking incorporates talent level and how comfortable coaches should be entering the season with these guys.

State schools

1. FSU: There are three new starters, but this group is potentially better than last season's. Junior A.J. Nicholson will be one of the best at this position in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and big things are expected from sophomore Ernie Sims. Sam McGrew is expected to be strong in the middle. Depth could be a bit iffy unless a true freshman or two steps up.

2. Florida: In sophomore Channing Crowder, the Gators have the best linebacker in the state. Fellow sophomore Earl Everett (South Sumter) needs to add bulk, but he's a star on the rise. There's no depth, and one of two freshmen who signed likely will play a lot this season. It may be Brandon Siler (Evans).

3. Miami: The Hurricanes have three new starters, and a lot is expected from junior middle man Leon Williams, a big-time prep stud who hasn't done much yet. Coaches also are high on junior Roger McIntosh, who needs consistency. And expect to see a lot of true freshman Willie Williams.

4. USF: Sophomore Stephen Nicholas is the only returning starter, but he's a good one. Devon Davis should be solid in the middle.

5. UCF: The Golden Knights' defense was a mess last season, and improved linebacker play is a must this season. UCF lacks size and speed across the board at this position.

[…]

MID-AMERICAN: Northern Illinois. The Huskies have all three starters back, including Brian Atkinson (108 tackles, six sacks, 13 tackles for loss, two interceptions last season), who's the best in the league. (Huguenin, Sentinel)

The Sports Xchange: Golden Knights report: Inside slant | Strategy and personnel | Notes, quotes

I'm on vacation.

2004-08-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this a couple of days ago, but my net connection wasn't cooperating. I'll be back next week though.

Have a good week boys and girls.

Football News

2004-08-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Knights use O'Leary to help boost ticket sales

Sentinel: UCF will get a taste of instant replay

DraftBoardInsider.com Column: Atari Bigby Hitting It Big

College football's new guys

Including UCF's George O'Leary, there are 14 new coaches in Division I-A this season. Here's a breakdown of how we think they'll do in their new jobs:

[…]

George O'Leary, UCF:
O'Leary knows how to coach. The Golden Knights' talent level, especially in the lines, isn't what it needs to be, and O'Leary and his staff must remedy that. O'Leary's hard-nosed attitude is a big-time departure from the previous regime. It's hard to imagine a winning record this season, but when UCF moves to Conference USA next season, it should do so as a program on the rise. (Huguenin, Sentinel)

Putnam spreads six players among Florida colleges

Darcy Johnson

A redshirt junior, Johnson (6-foot-5, 245 pounds) is coming off a 2003 season in which he caught 14 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. He's one of seven returning starters inherited by first-year UCF coach George O'Leary, who, coincidentally, worked with Johnson's brother, Willie Offord, last season as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.

"He's a legitimate tight end that can run and is an extremely good blocker," said O'Leary of Johnson. "He's going to need to be a factor in the passing game, especially controlling those safeties." (Hall, Palatka Daily News)

Another hot topic of the three-hour plus session was the departure of Marshall University next year to Conference-USA. The University of Central Florida will also leave the conference, forcing Ball State University and Bowling Green to shift over to the East Division in 2005.

Somewhat ironically, the two departing school's head coaches weren't present with Marshall coach Bob Pruitt missing Tuesday's session due to a family situation. UCF coach George O'Leary was absent due to a prior engagement, but defensive coordinator Lance Thompson tried to fill the void.

"I have a lot of respect for the conference," said Thompson, sporting a national championship from his coaching duties at LSU last year. "We'll play against some real good quarterbacks." (Narang, The [DeKalb] Daily Chronicle)

PRO BASEBALL

Minor-League Spotlight Eric Riggs

Position, Team, Affiliation: INF, Las Vegas 51s, Class AAA (Dodgers).

Central Florida connection: UCF.

Background: Hit .340 in his senior season at UCF and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1998 amateur draft. . . . In 1999, led California League champion San Bernardino with 105 runs, tied for the team lead in triples with 10 and was second in homers with 16. . . . In 2000, had 25 multiple-hit games for Class AA San Antonio. . . . Voted the Southern League's best defensive third baseman in 2001. . . . Named to 2002 Southern League all-star team as a shortstop. . . . Enjoyed his best season in 2003, hitting .280 with 31 doubles, six triples, eight home runs and 58 RBIs in 125 games played in Class AAA Las Vegas.

The Buzz: Riggs has seen limited action this year because of the emergence of shortstop Antonio Perez. Though he has only appeared in 30 games, he has managed to tally 21 hits, including three homers, and drive in 10 runs. He is rated as the Dodgers' 36th-best prospect. (Wells, Sentinel)

C-USA

Houston Chronicle: C-USA eyes '05 title game

UCF Roundup

2004-08-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

FOOTBALL

O'Leary ready to win in MAC

He could be the answer to trivia questions for college football fans nationwide:

Name the coach whose tenure at Notre Dame was actually shorter than Randy Moss' commitment to the Fighting Irish?

The answer is new University of Central Florida Coach George O'Leary.

O'Leary was the coach -- after seven successful seasons including five bowl trips at Georgia Tech -- caught up in the resume discrepancy that had Notre Dame changing its tune quicker than a jukebox.

After two years as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings, O'Leary takes over the Mid-American Conference program that deteriorated last season under the volatile Mike Kruczek.

UCF lost 19 scholarship players from the spring to November of last season, and Kruczek was fired with two games remaining in a 3-9 season (2-6 MAC).

"I never even asked them about last year," O'Leary said Monday as the MAC preseason media session opened. "I took over, walked in Jan. 5, said here's what we're going to do. Really, there's nothing I can say. When you have a transition, obviously there have been problems. You hope to minimize them."

O'Leary is glad to be back in the college ranks.

"I told my agent I didn't just want to come back to college unless it was in a situation where I thought I could win," said O'Leary, who turns 58 in two weeks. "I wanted to make sure I was in a situation with two things.

"The people I was dealing with made the commitment to do the right thing. It's one thing to say it, another to do it as far as wanting to compete with the big dogs. I liked the people I was dealing with.

"The other thing is taking a job in an area where you have a chance to win with from a weather standpoint and a football standpoint. I believe it's easier when you're in a state that plays football. You can get there quicker because you don't have to travel as far to recruit."

The Knights, like Marshall headed for Conference USA after a final MAC season, are the only team this season that will face MU and West Virginia University.

"I've faced the WVU offense before, at Clemson," said O'Leary, recalling a previous stop by WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez. "I have an idea about what they're doing there. They're certainly a very good football team. Marshall, just their record and what they've done ... they're both good teams. We'll have our work cut out for us.

"We play WVU here (in Orlando, Fla.), and I'm sure they'll bring a ton of fans down to the game. But I look at 11 games like 11 seasons. Each game is one season. Once one is over, I go right to the next season."

O'Leary said chemistry for UCF is tops on his list, due to the new offense and defense he implemented upon arrival. With skill players plentiful, he feels the Knights can make big plays. The line of scrimmage is an area of concern, particularly in its lack of size and range of speed.

He added hasn't done anything differently with Conference USA on the horizon.

Although UCF did sign 16 linemen, many of which could switch to defense in an effort to fill a void.

"There are no quick fixes in football," O'Leary said. "It takes time to get the right players in and the right system in. I tell the players I expect four things: play hard, play smart, play together and play to win. I don't ever want to come off the field saying we didn't play hard.

"If I can say that each game, then we have a chance to get better each game."

O'Leary said the Knights have "improved a lot, but there's only so many sunrises to sunsets. It's all relative to where you started from. They feel that they've improved. They're walking around better. When I first got there, they wouldn't take their shirts off. Now they're walking around like Chippendale's." (Spradling, Charleston Daily Mail)

Game Eight: UCF-October 30, Huntington 4:30 p.m. (Possible TV-Sunshine or Fox)
Nickname: Golden Knights
Colors: Gold and Black
Conference: Mid-American* (C-USA 2005-06)
Last (at Orlando, Fla., 11/19/03): MU-21 UCF-7
All-Time Series: Marshall 2-0
2003 Record: 3-9/2-6
Head Coach: George O'Leary (first season; 52-33 in 8 years at Georgia Tech); Defensive Coordinator for Minnesota Vikings last year
Defensive Watch List (7 starters return):
Sr. SS Atari Bigby, 5-11, 210; 1st team All-MAC in 2003 and pre-season All-MAC in 2004; number 2 on team last year by one with 112 tackles; also posted 5 passes-broken-up, 4 tackles-for-loss and a sack; 104 tackles in 2002
Sr. FS Peter Sands, 6-3, 220; leading tackler for UCF with 113 stops, along with 6 passes-broken-up, 2 interceptions and a sack and tackle-for-loss; 119 tackles and 3 interceptions in 2002; dbs only accounted for 2 interceptions as UCF had 5 INT for against 19 thrown by Knight QBs
Offensive Watch List (8 starters return):
Sr. WR Tavaris Capers, 5-8, 170; leading receiver last year, with 67 catches for 585 yards (only 8.7 ypc) and 7 TD; also led team in punt returns with 17/133 (7.8 ypr) and TD; 43 catches (10.6 ypc) in 2002
So. QB Steven Moffett, 6-3, 200; 3 starts at end of last season as true freshman, blowing red-shirt season, after 2003's QB Ryan Schneider was hurt then suspended for rest of season; threw for 168 yards (41-21-2, 2 TD) and rushing for 165 yards; O'Leary changing offense to option versus former passing look, perfect for Moffett and senior backup Jon Rivera
Stadium: Citrus Bowl (seats-70,188; surface-natural grass)
2004: 9/4 @ Wisconsin; 9/11 WVU; 9/18 @ Penn State; 9/25 OPEN; 10/2 @ Buffalo*; 10/9 No. Illinois*; 10/16 Akron*; 10/23 @ Miami*; 10/30 @ Marshall*; 11/6 Ohio* (HC); 11/13 @ Ball State*; 11/23 (Tuesday) Kent State*
Of Note: Former Vikings assistant, George O'Leary, in town to straighten mess of 2003 season (players quitting, being suspended, academic ineligibility); He has implemented a "quick-huddle" attack for the offense, geared more towards the run, with fewer reads for young QB; offense averaged only 18.7 ppg in 2003 and turned ball over 22 times in 12 games; since 1997, UCF has 41-38 mark, with a best of 9-2 in 1998; predicted to be one of the most improved teams in the nation by "Phil Steele's 2004 College Football Preview" (Woodrum, Herd Insider)

College Football's Crucial 10

7. Will George O'Leary be forgiven and turn UCF around or is the Knights' program his proper punishment?

O'Leary has proven he is a winner as a coach, resume aside. He made Georgia Tech a legitimate threat to FSU in the ACC in the mid 1990s. Now, he gets a chance to build his own legacy at a program that is best known for being the school that Vikings' quarterback Duante Culpepper attended. (Brown, The [Lakeland] Ledger)

Jaguars.com: Editorial: We had Green all wrong

2004 Football Media Guide (PDF)

PRO BASEBALL

Tops in his class

Jim Callis of Baseball America notes that the $432,000 bonus the Sox gave University of Central Florida pitcher Kyle Bono was a record for an eighth-round draft choice. Bono, who was a draft-eligible sophomore, went 8-2 with a 1.94 ERA for UCF with five shutouts, and was a Cape Cod League All-Star this summer, pitching 15 2/3 scoreless innings with seven saves for Chatham. Opposing batters hit just .100 (5 for 50) against the 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pounder. (Edes, Boston Globe)

Baseball America: 2004 Draft: Boston Red Sox

The second professional appearance and first pro start for Spinners right-hander Kyle Bono cautiously lasted 27 pitches. Bono's restricted pitch count got the eighth-round draft pick from Central Florida, who began the summer in the Cape League, through two hitless innings. He walked one and struck out three before the call went out to Hertzler, who pitched the final seven innings. (Pevear, Lowell [MA] Sun)

Lowell Spinners Statistics

NFL KNIGHT

Contra Costa Times: Gabriel is living up to his offseason hype [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

C-USA

The Jackson [MS] Clarion Ledger: C-USA officials wrestling with details of restructuring

The Clarion Ledger: Door remains open for renewing series with departing schools

The Clarion Ledger: Coming ... Going; Who's in? Who's out?

Christian transferring to UCF

2004-07-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

UCFSports.com: Christian to Transfer to UCF

Sentinel: Christian chooses UCF for 2nd time

Better late than never :). Kirk is assembling a pretty good looking team for our first year in C-USA.

Christian, a 6-foot-5 guard, is the final piece of a six-person class that recently added Barton County (Kan.) Community College forward Justin Rose.

Rose, 6-8, averaged 11.7 points and 5.1 rebounds for a team that reached the junior college national tournament. He and fellow JuCo transfers Marcus Johnson, a 6-8 forward from Romulus, Mich., and Anthony Williams, a 6-8 forward from Omaha, Neb., are immediately eligible.

[…]

In other basketball news, Speraw said next year's schedule is almost done, and it includes a surprise entry in the Alaska-Fairbanks tournament and a rare non-conference home-and-home series. Mississippi State has replaced Winthrop in the Alaska event, toughening it considerably. Utah State, New Mexico State and Western Michigan are among the field of eight.

The Knights will play Missouri-Kansas City twice this season, once in Orlando.

"We've got that long [20-game] conference season again, so we only have seven games to play with [out of conference]," Speraw said.

After this season, Speraw said he has great interest in scheduling Miami, South Florida, Stetson, Jacksonville and Florida Atlantic as annual non-conference games. UM and USF have shied away recently from UCF, which sports consecutive 20-win seasons. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

FOOTBALL

Position Spotlight -- Defensive Line

This week, our position spotlight shines on the defensive line.

We'll rank the five state schools and also look at the conferences in which those schools play. One thing to keep in mind: This ranking incorporates talent level and how comfortable coaches should be entering the season with these guys.

State schools

1. Miami. Some pundits say UM will suffer a big drop-off without mammoth DT Vince Wilfork, but they're wrong. Junior Orien Harris -- the younger brother of NFL OT Kwame Harris -- is the next great 'Canes defensive tackle. The ends aren't big names but -- no surprise -- they can move. DEs Baraka Atkins, Thomas Carroll and Javon Nanton (a former walk-on) should combine for 25 sacks.

2. Florida. The Gators are strong up the gut but mighty questionable on the outside. Sophomore Ts Ray McDonald and Marcus Thomas should be fixtures for a while, and depth is good, too. The ends have potential, but none has done anything yet. Hopes are high for sophomore Joe Cohen (Palm Bay). True freshman Derrick Harvey and junior-college transfer Jeremy Mincey bring reputations as top-flight pass rushers.

3. Florida State. The 'Noles will have three new starters, but they have eight lettermen returning to the line. If Ts Travis Johnson, a senior, and Brodrick Bunkley, a junior, perform up to snuff, everything will be fine. Senior E Eric Moore should get 10 sacks easily.

4. USF. This should be an OK unit for the Bulls, who were helped when T Lee Roy Selmon Jr. was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA because of past injuries. There are five seniors in the two-deep, so experience isn't an issue.

5. UCF. The Knights had trouble stopping the run and mounting a consistent pass rush last season, big reasons why they lost nine games. Sophomore T Frisner Nelson looks to be the standout. He'll need some help from some here-to-fore undistinguished teammates.

[…]

MID-AMERICAN: Bowling Green. The Falcons return all four starters, with junior E Mitchell Crossley and junior T Mike Thaler the standouts. (Huguenin, Sentinel)

Yeah, that's about right. The defensive line concerns me a bit.

Projected Two-Deep (spring measurements):

LE
95 Paul Carrington, 6-7, 250, R-Jr
94 Josh Stephens, 6-1, 255, Sr

LDT
98 Frisner Nelson, 6-2, 290, R-Jr
97 Marcus Hubbard, 6-3, 290, R-Fr

RDT
92 Dennis King, 6-2, 250, R-Fr
93 Ben Brinson, 6-4, 275, R-Jr

RE
90 Trenton Jordan, 6-4 240, R-Sr
96 Chris Welsh, 6-4, 246, R-So

Tids and Bits

2004-07-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Indoor practice facility on hold

School officials had hoped for an August debut but were delayed by a lengthened search process and eventually had settled on an October opening.

"They tell me the reason is the steel won't be in," O'Leary said of the delay. "What can you do? I told them if we're waiting until October we might as well wait until December when we can do it up right. The time that we'll really need it will be gone anyway."

August and early September -- when the region typically finds itself deluged by afternoon storms -- is one of the primary reasons for the facility. UCF has already cleared land adjacent to the new Wayne Densch Sports Center and the football practice fields and brought in new dirt to help with the foundation for the building.

When O'Leary built his preseason schedule, he scheduled afternoons off the field during two-a-days. On days the Knights practice twice, they'll practice first at 9 a.m. and for the second time at 7:30 p.m.

UCF's scrimmages are tentatively scheduled for Aug. 21 and Aug. 25. Players report Aug. 8 for preseason practice.

All on board

For the first time in recent memory, all of UCF's February signees are expected on campus when recruits show up next week. The lone signee whose eligibility was in question -- OL Eric Hodge from St. Petersburg Northeast -- achieved a qualifying test score on his last attempt and will report. Hodge received news of his test within the past week. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

That's great news … the school in West Central Florida didn't fare so well.

Moment, an All-Broward County cornerback from Miramar, is the fifth player among USF's 28-player recruiting class, including three who signed last year but count toward this year's class, who did not qualify.

The others who did not qualify: Jacksonville Trinity Christian offensive lineman Rashid Lavergne, Armwood defensive lineman Jarriett Buie, Blake defensive end George Kearse and Sarasota Booker running back Terrance Jones.

Miami Edison running back Chad Simpson hasn't qualified yet, but still might. USF's remaining 22 freshmen signees are expected to participate in the Bulls' first practice Aug. 9. (McMurphy, Tampa Tribune)

Etc.

Dexter Lyons is among the athletes who will graduate this weekend. (Schmadtke)

Congratulations to you Dex!

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS: WISCONSIN

UWBadgers.com: Badgers Start at No. 22

AP Wire: Smith expected to be eligible for Badger opener unless convicted

Knights pick up first football commitment

2004-07-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

Tallahassee linebacker choses UCF

Tallahassee Lincoln linebacker T.J. Harnden announced Thursday he would play college football for UCF.

He is the Knights' first commitment for the Class of 2005. Commitments are non-binding and he must sign with UCF on Feb. 2, 2005.

Harnden (6-4/215) made his decision after taking an unofficial visit to see UCF's facilities.

"I was able to talk to Coach (George) O'Leary. He and all the coaches made me feel comfortable, just like the coaches at Lincoln. That was most important. The coaching staff treated me with respect," he said.

Harnden is projected to play outside linebacker for the Knights. He will play some defensive end as well as linebacker for Lincoln, one of the state's top programs.

He is the first Lincoln player to choose UCF since the Gene McDowell era.

"He is a great kid," Lincoln assistant coach Tone Collins said. "He never comes late. He never misses practice. He has over a 3.1 in core courses and 1090 on the SAT."

Collins said Harnden picked the Knights over South Florida, Tulane, Memphis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marshall and Middle Tennessee State.

As a junior, Harnden was credited with 85 tackles, four for loss plus four sacks, 14 QB hurries and eight pass breakups. (Buchalter, Sentinel)

T.J. Harnden's Rivals.com Profile | TheInsiders.com Profile

Welcome aboard T.J.

BASEBALL

And, here is a summer league baseball article (from the Mount Vernon [VA] Gazette) about Kevin Richmond, Matt LaFleur and their Herndon, Virginia host family.

New Football Unis

2004-07-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Football Unveils New adidas Uniforms (photo gallery included)

Sentinel: Knights unveil updated armor | UCF's new uniforms (photo gallery)

UCFSports.com: New Adidas Football Uniforms - Photo Gallery

I think they look cool.

MORE FOOTBALL

The Future: Fast, hard, deep - Wide receivers look for success in new system

BASKETBALL

UCFAthletics.com: Men’s Basketball Represented On Tour Through China

MISC.

Sentinel: UCFAA gets help for ticket operation

UCFAthletics.com: UCF Hires Jeff Allen as Head Athletic Trainer

Washington [NC] Daily News: McFarland has lots of shoes to fill on O-line (Hey, he's a former coach and I like him.)

Football and Baseball News

2004-07-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

FOOTBALL

Matt Prater was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by the College Sports Report.

And here is CSR's short UCF Preview:

Offensive Star: Tavaris Capers, WR
Defensive Star: Atari Bigby, SS
Key Player: Alex Haynes, RB

UCF's season was shot dead in the water before it even began last year. With a parade of performers declared academically ineligible, the Knights never got any steam and were quickly and easily dispatched by foes. Looking to a bright future in C-USA, the administration decided to ditch Mike Kruczek while extending an olive branch of sorts to George O'Leary to coach UCF to the next level. Of course, it really helped when they added a cool million to the football budget. Offensively there is not much punch to the Knights attack. Inconsistent line play dooms the skills to mediocrity although both back Alex Haynes and receiver Tavaris Capers are capable performers. With O'Leary sure to place more of a load on the ground game, Haynes needs to become more motivated. On defense UCF did not perform all that bad considering they got no support from an anemic offense. Atari Bigby is a hitting machine, but he also needs to keep his head up and make the right play instead of trying to make the big play. Loaded with toughs, the schedule is not kind, but it is conducive to growth. UCF came into the MAC like a lion, but they are stepping out more like a lamb. (College Sports Report)

The rest of the MAC …

Tice keeps goals simple

He has a new defensive coordinator, Ted Cottrell.

George O'Leary, who held the job last season, is back in college. He's the head coach at Central Florida.

O'Leary is where he belongs, running a college program. It is the best thing for him. And for Tice.

Tice and O'Leary go way back. So far back that O'Leary was Tice's high school coach.

"I love George," Tice said. "He's like an uncle."

Not every nephew agrees with his uncle on everything, and that is sometimes what happened with Tice and O'Leary. Tice wanted things done a certain way.

O'Leary had his own ideas. Because of their history, because of the respect he had for O'Leary, Tice often backed off.

"I'm a gambler, aggressive, an obnoxious New Yorker. George is old school. He's tough, organized, stubborn. I want to get after them and he wouldn't get after them," Tice said. "George is a head coach. George is a college head coach. George did wonders for the organization and development of young players. But Teddy is a better fit."

It's not a knock. It's just the way it is.

"George and I have two different personalities and two different ways to approach the team and development of the defense," Tice said. "Did I learn a lot from George? Hell, yeah. I learned organization, preparation, how to handle the media. But it was time for George to be a college head coach again and it was time for me to exert my personality throughout the entire staff. It was time for me to cut the umbilical cord."

It is time for a lot of things, including reaching a few goals. (Sansevere, St. Paul Pioneer Press)

A first look at the future C-USA stars

WITH 14 MONTHS until Marshall’s first Conference USA football game, let’s attach a few names to all these new schools.

Here is a team-by-team look at some of the better underclassmen, players expected to make a big impact this fall, and in 2005:

[…]

Central Florida: Marshall and the Golden Knights have one more Mid-American Conference game left, Oct. 30 in Huntington. Before new coach George O’Leary brings in his first full recruiting class, take a closer look at sophomore QB Steven Moffett, sophomore tailback Dontavius Wilcox, among others. The Knights’ offensive line has no seniors.

[…]

The assistant coaches under deposed UCF coach Mike Kruczek are spreading out among C-USA. Bill D’Ottavio, Kruczek’s defensive coordinator, will coach defensive backs at Tulane. Offensive line coach Robert McFarland moves to East Carolina after four years in Orlando.

O’Leary pillaged the MAC a bit, bringing defensive back coach Mile Aldridge and running backs coach Brian Polian from Buffalo, offensive line coach Joe Gilbert from Toledo and offensive coordinator Tim Salem from Eastern Michigan. (Smock, The Charleston [WV] Gazette)

Former defensive line coach, Lorenzo Costantini is also at Tulane.

PRO BASEBALL

Minor-League Spotlight: Justin Pope

Position, Team, Affiliate: RHP, Trenton Thunder, Class AA, New York Yankees.

Central Florida connection: UCF.

Background: Selected by St. Louis Cardinals in the first round (28th overall) of 2001 amateur draft after a strong career at UCF. . . . Went 10-5 with a 1.95 earned-run average over his first two minor-league seasons. . . . In 20 games, including 18 starts in 2003 at high Class A Palm Beach, went 4-11, with 4.92 ERA and .289 opponent average in 106 innings. . . . Traded to the New York Yankees, along with Ben Julianel, for Sterling Hitchcock on Aug. 23, 2003.

The Buzz: Because of his inconsistency, Trenton has used Pope almost solely as a middle-reliever. In 10 appearances, he has gone 1-1 with a 4.88 ERA. He has struck out 19 hitters while walking just four. The Yankees hope to groom Pope as a set-up man. He is ranked as their No. 18 minor-league prospect. (Wells, Sentinel)

Good luck to him.

State Media Day Recap

2004-07-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sentinel Column: Bianchi: UCF finally has a star among state's coaches

Florida Today: Coach brings aura to UCF

UCF May Shorten Series Against UF

Central Florida is going to have to start doing things the right way, according to head coach George O'Leary.

And for starters, the right way could shorten a future three-game series with Florida.

The Knights are scheduled to play road games at Florida in 2006 and 2007, and are tentatively scheduled for another future road game against the Gators, most likely in 2011.

However, the Knights' coach is asking for one of those games to be played in Orlando.

"We need to have six home games as well," O'Leary said. "If we're in a situation where we're playing three games, at least one should be at our place."

Central Florida and Miami will play a three-game series between 2008 and 2010. The 2009 game will be in Orlando.

"I think that should be the way we go about business," O'Leary added. (Long, The [Lakeland] Ledger)

TURF WARS: Central Florida also faces an ambitious schedule, opening on the road against Wisconsin and then hosting Penn State two weeks later.

Coach George O'Leary welcomes the challenge. He said it will prepare UCF for tougher schedules in the future.

In two years, the Knights will add Florida, Miami and South Florida to their docket. O'Leary likes playing the state's top teams. He just wishes they were equal home-and-away series.

Currently, UCF travels to Gainesville three times in a six-year period but never hosts the Gators.

"We need to change one of those games to our place," O'Leary said. "To build our program we need to play games like that at home."

O'Leary is OK with the fact that the Hurricanes only come to Orlando once in a three-year deal. (Hanson, Naples Daily News)

Citrus Bowl renovations

One of new UCF Coach George O'Leary's biggest challenges in recruiting lies in the Citrus Bowl. The "home field" technically isn't on campus, which makes educating potential recruits about the real UCF a little harder.

O'Leary is also keenly aware of the fact that the aging stadium needs renovations, and he didn't tiptoe around who should take the responsibility for financing the upgrades.

"The Mayor and the people working on making improvements know what needs to be done," he said. "We need to have the city of Orlando on target with our program. The UCF program cannot improve by itself. It needs the support of the community and the corporations in the community." (Badger, Sentinel)

BIGGER IS BETTER: University of Central Florida coach George O'Leary said he's looking for bigger football players during his first session for the Sportswriters Association.

"We have to control the line of scrimmage and I believe we need big guys to do that," O'Leary said. "I know they say you can have a small guy with a big heart, but the big guy with the big heart is going to win."

O'Leary also said he's in good health after suffering a heart problem that put him in the hospital for two days following the NFL season.

"Football is a stressful job," O'Leary said. "You have to take care of your health and I have been doing that." (Pacitti, Vero Beach Press-Journal)

Heart of a Golden Knight: After being hospitalized for two days because of a mild heart attack in December, new University of Central Florida coach George O'Leary said he is in good health as the Knights prepare for their Sept. 4 opener at Wisconsin.

"Football is a stressful job, but you have to take care of your health and I've been doing that," O'Leary said. (Nelson, The Palm Beach Post)

Survey of Florida's Best & Brightest Sports Writers

1. The first question was to predict the number of regular-season victories each Florida school will get this year. Here are the averages for Florida's Big Four (Hey, it's my survey):

Miami 9.5 victories. FSU 9.1. Florida 8.0. And UCF 5.3.

It was amazing how many writers picked eight wins for the Gators, perhaps believing they will win eight games until the end of time. One wag predicted 12 regular-season wins for Miami, which is a challenge when the 'Canes play 11.

The other schools: Bethune-Cookman 6.9; Florida A&M 4.5; South Florida 6.8; Florida Atlantic 5.6; Jacksonville 4.7; Florida International 6.1; Edward Waters 2.9; and Webber 4.0.

2. Name the funniest head coach in the state. Easy win for FSU's Bobby Bowden with 24 votes, far ahead of Bethune's Alvin Wyatt with 9. Note, Florida's Ron Zook got six votes, some suggesting his humor is unintentional.

3. Name the toughest head coach. This was closer, with South Florida's Jim Leavitt winning the steel-cage match with 15 votes. UCF's George O'Leary got 12, Florida Atlantic's Howard Schnellenberger got 10 and Zook got 9.

4. Name the state player who will finish highest in the Heisman voting. A real runaway for Florida QB Chris Leak with 30 votes, well ahead of Chris2, FSU QB Chris Rix, with 14. Getting one vote each were Miami QB Brock Berlin, FSU WR Craphonso Thorpe and, uh, Sentinel WC (Wide Columnist) Jerry Greene.

5. Your opinion of the BCS. This was tight. Coming in third with 12 votes was "Everyone connected with it will burn in Hades." Second place with 15 went to "I love it because it's so whacked." But the No. 1 choice with 18 votes was "Not having a playoff is a crime against humanity." (Greene, Sentinel)

"Every college coach should be able to sit down and say who the five or six yahoos on the team are, and you keep an eye on them," said new UCF coach George O'Leary, a noted disciplinarian. "It [sic] you can't do that, you're not doing your job." (Badger, Sentinel)

The University of Central Florida's new head coach, George O'Leary, agrees that there needs to be more communication between players and coaches year round.

But he said even then there's no controlling what happens after midnight — summer or winter.

"I've never had someone call me at 8 p.m. and tell me there's a bar brawl," O'Leary said. "But you know who the yahoos on the team are. You know the five or six guys you need to watch that have the potential to get into trouble. So you have to keep an eye on them." (Hanson, Naples Daily News)

Central Florida's new coach, George O'Leary, agreed with Zook.

"The NCAA says you can't be with your players after a certain time of year, they don't let you near them, and then they wonder why there's so much trouble," O'Leary said. "They need to look at what they're doing with the coaches and let them be around the kids more." (Branom, Associated Press)

NFL KNIGHT

Speaking of players switching agents, Drew Rosenhaus and Jason Rosenhaus landed their second young veteran cornerback of the offseason, when St. Louis starter Travis Fisher opted for a change of representation. A two-year veteran and second-round pick in the 2002 draft, Fisher is an emerging player, who, at age 24, already has 26 starts on his resume. The former Central Florida standout tied for the team lead in interceptions (four) and passes defensed (12) in 2003, and totaled 75 tackles. Fisher is set to earn a minimum base salary of $380,000 and, not surprisingly, Drew Rosenhaus has already approached Rams officials about upgrading the deal. The team's other young starting cornerback, Jeremetrius Butler, got a new $15 million deal this spring because Washington signed him to a restricted free agent offer sheet and St. Louis matched it. Most personnel people view Butler and Fisher as equals. Earlier this spring, Rosenhaus Sports was retained by Denver corner Lenny Walls, another young defender on the rise, and a guy slated to start opposite Champ Bailey in the Broncos secondary. (Pasquarelli, ESPN.com)

RECRUITING

The hottest name in Central Florida is Olympia DE Brendan Deska (6-4/230), who is becoming a national recruit. Deska currently has a dozen offers: Stanford, Northwestern, Boston College, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Maryland, Mississippi State, UCF, Louisville, Duke, East Carolina and Temple. He already has taken unofficial visits to Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest and has scheduled an official visit to Boston College next month.

The Cucci brothers of Winter Springs are preparing to make names for themselves. Pat Cucci, who will be a college freshman this season, has been lifting concrete in the morning and weights in the evening and will report to Illinois State this month as a 232-pound fullback. Younger brother Vinny (6-0/200), who will be a high school senior, has camped at Wake Forest, Duke, UCF and USF to demonstrate he can make the transition from linebacker to strong safety. (Buchalter, Sentinel)

Well, that about wraps it up.

Gridiron and Hoops News

2004-07-24T01:20:00.000-07:00

FOOTBALL

Calling UCF potential 'dynasty' a bit absurd

UCF received a nice plug recently on the CBS Sportsline Web site, with a writer saying the Golden Knights have "the look of Florida State in the mid-1970s, when it was about to explode into a college football dynasty."

That's a nice sentiment.

It's also ridiculous.

There is one huge difference -- huge --between UCF now and FSU in the mid-1970s: Back then, no school in this state was consistently good. Now, there are perennial top-25 programs at Florida, Florida State and Miami.

That means UCF is at least fourth in its own state right now. But USF also is in the mix. The Bulls have done a better job recruiting than UCF of late, and right now at least, USF has a stronger program. Plus, while UCF is moving into Conference USA, USF is moving into the Big East. Will there be that much difference between the leagues? No. But the Big East gets a Bowl Championship Series bid and C-USA doesn't, and that means a lot.

There also will be recruiting competition from Florida Atlantic and Florida International, which are in the midst of full-fledged moves to Division I-A. If UCF (or USF, for that matter) actually blossoms into a powerhouse, it's going to take a few things: unbelievably ramped-up recruiting, superb coaching and another state school (or two) falling on mighty hard times.

Is there room for five winning programs in the state, five teams that annually go to bowls? Of course. But to say UCF could explode and become a "dynasty" is a little over the top. (Huguenin, Sentinel)

FWIW, this is the blurb (No. 24) that gave Hugueninny a hard-on. He's a sad little (err fat) man. I'll leave it at that.

This week, our position spotlight shines on the offensive line.

We'll rank the five state schools and also look at the conferences in which those schools play. One thing to keep in mind: This ranking incorporates talent level and how comfortable coaches should be entering the season with these guys.

A look at the state:

1. Florida State. The Seminoles return all five starters, though the legal situation of G Bobby Meeks may change things. The strength is on the outside with senior Ts Alex Barron -- a legitimate All-American candidate -- and Ray Willis. Depth looks good, but that depth would be tested if Meeks were to miss significant action.

2. Miami. The Hurricanes look good up front, too. G Chris Myers and T Eric Winston are the players to watch; both should be preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference choices, and both have All-American potential. C Joel Rodriguez is the other returning starter.

3. USF. For the second season in a row, all five starters return for the Bulls; three are seniors, and the other two juniors. Senior T Derrick Sarosi (Titusville Astronaut) is the standout. Depth appears OK.

4. Florida. C Mike Degory (Palm Bay) is one of the nation's best and is an interior force. But there are concerns elsewhere. It's not a stretch to say the line's performance will determine how good UF ultimately will be this season.

5. UCF. This group struggled big-time last season, and George O'Leary and his staff signed eight linemen in February. O'Leary wants to run the ball far more than his predecessor, so this unit must jell quickly.

[…]

MID-AMERICAN: Bowling Green. The Falcons also return all five starters; four are seniors, and the other returnee is a junior. C Scott Mruczowski is one of the best linemen in the conference and one of the 10 or so best centers in the nation. (Huguenin)

State Walk-Ons Of Distinction

Reginald Doster - UCF (1995-98) - DB/WR - Earned pre-med degree, NFL tryouts and now plays for Orlando Predators.

Ryan Flinn - UCF (1999-03) - P - Didn't play until fifth season at UCF, but signed with Dallas Cowboys.

[…]

Ricot Joseph - UCF (1998-01) - S - 261 career tackles; now a CB with Cincinnati Bengals. (Carlson, Tampa Tribune) - [Chasing A Dream]

BASKETBALL RECRUITING

Sentinel: Broken foot sidelines Taylor [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

The [Leesburg] Daily Commercial: Knights’ Hay honored at camp

Update - 12 PM

BASKETBALL

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Addition of Bulldogs caps Top of the World

Kyle Bono signed with the Red Sox

2004-07-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Kyle Bono of Chatham and Central Florida, a Boston Red Sox eighth-round selection, is tied for the league lead in saves with seven but will not play today as he's expected to sign with Boston today and be assigned to the Lowell Spinners. (Charpentier, Cape Cod Times)

The Red Sox signed Chatham's and Central Florida's Kyle Bono, an eighth-round pick who hadn't allowed a run and had a 22/2 K/BB ratio in 15 2/3 innings. (Gammons, ESPN.com)

Congratulations and good luck to him. I'm disappointed that he won't return, but happy that he got paid. The numbers haven't been released yet, but I would be surprised if the signing bonus isn't more than $500K (his asking price was supposedly in the $600K - $1M range).

More baseball news …

UCFAthletics.com: Summer Baseball In Full Swing

Update - 8:50 PM

The UCFAthletics.com version: Bono Inks Contract With Boston

Tids and Bits

2004-07-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

BASEBALL

The Hewitts housed Central Florida's Mike Maroth in 1996 and part of 1997. Today, Maroth is in the starting rotation for the Detroit Tigers.

"We visited him in March at spring training," Peggy Hewitt said. "We talk to him or his wife on and off throughout the year. We hear from a lot of the boys, especially around Christmas. It's been a really good experience over the years."

They went to Richmond recently to watch former Brave Jason Arnold pitch for Syracuse, the Triple-A farm team of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Hewitts have become the official home to Central Florida players. It started with Craig Cozart in 1994 and '95, and continues today with Darren Newlin.

"Craig was a very special young man," Hewitt said of the current assistant coach at UCF. "He usually chooses our boys because he knows what we expect." (Grim III, The [Staunton] News Leader)

That's the UCF portion, but the entire article is a good read. Joining Newlin on the Braves roster are: Derek Abriola, Bridger Hunt and Drake Wade.

FOOTBALL

Our position spotlight this week shines on receivers, which includes tight ends. We rank the position at each of the state's five Division I-A schools, look at that position in the leagues in which the five state teams play and also give a national overview.

Next week, it'll be offensive lines.

One thing to keep in mind: This ranking incorporates talent level and how comfortable coaches should be entering the season with these guys.

A look at the state:

1. Miami. TE Kellen Winslow is gone, but this still is a dangerous group. WR Ryan Moore, a sophomore from Dr. Phillips, has all the tools but must be more consistent. Roscoe Parrish has excellent quickness and is impossible to handle one-on-one in the open field. Sinorice Moss, Devin Hester, Darnell Jenkins and Akieem Jolla round out a solid crew. TE Kevin Everett has skills and will surprise some people.

2. Florida State. WR Craphonso Thorpe will be one of the best in the ACC, as long as he is 100 percent after last season's broken leg. He's the reason the 'Noles are ranked No. 2 in this grouping, ahead of Florida. A 75-catch, 13-touchdown season is a legitimate goal for him this season. Chauncey Stovall, Willie Reid, Dominic Robinson, DeCody Fagg and Lorne Sam should be nice complementary types. The wild card is sophomore Chris Davis, who is supremely talented but has had injury problems.

3. Florida. The top three receivers are gone, but the Gators have some speedy guys ready to step in. UF won't be able to replace TE Ben Troupe, but there are five wide receivers with the potential to be the go-to guy. It's time for junior Dallas Baker (New Smyrna Beach) to finally live up to the hype. Senior O.J. Small is steady and has great hands. Sophomores Jemalle Cornelius and Andre Caldwell have big-play capabilities. Tight end is a concern.

4. UCF. The passing game will be emphasized less under George O'Leary, but that doesn't mean the Golden Knights will abandon it. Tavaris Capers, Brandon Marshall (Lake Howell) and Luther Huggins should be an effective trio. And look for the tight ends to take on a greater role this season. All in all, though, these guys won't be as important as they were under Mike Kruczek.

5. USF. Brian Fisher has great speed and is a big play waiting to happen. But no other returning receiver had more than eight receptions last season. The passing game is a big-time concern for the Bulls.

[…]

MID-AMERICAN: Toledo. The MAC is loaded with good receivers, and the Rockets have the best. Starters Lance Moore and Steve Odom conceivably could combine for 150 catches for 2,000 yards and 18 touchdowns. And TE Andrew Clarke is one of the best in the nation. (Huguenin, Sentinel)

This is the second part of the series. I didn't post the first last week, so here it is for reference purposes.

We'll rank the positions at each of the state's five Division I-A schools, look at that position in the leagues in which the five state teams play and also give a national overview.

Today we look at running backs. Next week, it'll be wide receivers, followed in order by offensive line, defensive line, linebackers and secondary. Finally, we'll rank the quarterbacks at each of the 117 Division I-A schools.

A look at the state:

1. Florida State. TBs Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker should be an excellent 1-2 punch. And the backs will be running behind a line that should be one of the nation's best. FSU's running game last season wasn't that good (77th nationally, at 133.2); expect the 'Noles to average at least 160 rushing yards this season. A strong running game will take pressure off QB Chris Rix -- and if you're a 'Noles fan, that's a mighty good thing.

2. Florida. The Gators have a nice stable of tailbacks, with Ciatrick Fason and DeShawn Wynn the key guys. Depth looks good. And each of the tailbacks should be a receiving weapon, too. But the line remains iffy.

3. Miami. If TB Frank Gore (two major knee surgeries in two years) were healthy, this would be the best group in the state. But if Gore can't go, Tyrone Moss is the guy. And in that scenario, the backups are true freshmen. Those newcomers are supposed to be talented, but who really knows?

4. UCF. New Coach George O'Leary will place far more emphasis on the run than predecessor Mike Kruczek. That means the onus is on Alex Haynes (Evans) and Dontavius Wilcox (Rockledge) to produce.

5. USF. The running game was inconsistent last season, and it could be that way again unless JC transfer Andre Hall -- considered one of the top three or four junior-college backs in the nation last year -- makes a big impact.

[…]

MID-AMERICAN: Bowling Green. The Falcons figure to count on their running game a bit more this season with the loss of star QB Josh Harris. That will be fine with TBs P.J. Pope and B.J. Lane, who combined for 1,503 yards and 11 TDs last season. And, those guys will be running behind the best line in the MAC. (Huguenin)

BASKETBALL

UCF G Marcus McGee won't return for his sophomore season, Coach Kirk Speraw said McGee left in good academic standing but didn't meet other program requirements. McGee, who redshirted one season at UCF, will transfer, perhaps to a junior college. (Huguenin)

"Other program requirements"? Jeez!

Revisiting the Recruiting Class of 2002

2004-07-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

23 Signees

Joe Blackard, 6-6, 320, OT, Anchorage, Alaska, Service HS/College of the Canyons (Calif.)
° Earned a letter in 2002.
° Retired due to injury in 2003.
° +/-: +

Chad Breeden, 6-1, 180, S, Mayfield, Ohio, Mayfield HS
° Earned a letter in 2003.
° Dismissed in January 2004.
° +/-: -

Ben Brinson, 6-5, 270, DE, Orlando, Evans HS/Southwest Mississippi CC
° Junior-to-be
° Projected backup right defensive tackle.
° +/-: +

Travonti Johnson, 6-1, 190, DB, Miami, Crop HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Backup free safety.
° +/-: +

Trenton Jordan, 6-4, 230, DE, Pasadena, Calif, John Muir HS/Glendale (Calif.) CC
° Senior-to-be
° Projected starting defensive end in 2004.
° +/-: +

Tywin Kalandyk, 6-2, 210, LB, Live Oak, Suwanee HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Backup OLB in 2003 … projected starting weakside linebacker in 2004.
° +/-: +

Brandon Marshall, 6-5, 195, WR, Winter Park, Lake Howell HS
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Third-leading receiver in 2003.
° +/-: +

Larry Peoples, 6-6, 290, OT, Jacksonville, Bolles HS (Update: 09/23/2004)
° Earned a letter in 2003.
° Starting left tackle in 2003.
° Dismissed from team in fall 2004.
° +/-: -

Matt Prater, 5-11, 175, K, Estero, Estero HS
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° One of the top kickers in the nation … entering his third year as the starting placekicker … led the nation in punting in 2003 … will focus on placekicking in 2004.
° +/-: ++

Ronnell Sandy, 6-1, 210, LB Titusville, Titusville HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Backup linebacker in 2003 (one start) … projected backup strongside linebacker in 2004.
° +/-: +

Brennis "Big Country" Smith, 6-5, 267, TE, Ebro, Vernon HS/Hinds (Miss.) CC
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Andre Sumpter, 6-0, 175, WR, Jacksonville, Englewood HS
° Sophomore-to-be
° Recovering from knee surgery after missing all of 2003.
° +/-: +

Seth Ulsh, 6-5, 290, OT, Ocala, Vanguard HS (Update: 09/23/2004)
° Projected to start in 2003 before injuries derailed his season.
° Projected to start again at left tackle, but he suffered a knee injury and quit football during fall camp.
° +/-: -

Dan Veenstra, 6-5, 285, OG, Largo, Largo HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Starting right guard in 2003 … projected starter in 2004.
° +/-: +

Kyle Watkins, 6-8, 340, OT, Keller, Texas, Keller HS/Tyler CC (Texas)
° Earned letters from 2002-03.
° Two year starter at right tackle.
° +/-: ++

Chris Welsh, 6-5, 235, DE, Cocoa, Cocoa HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Backup DE in 2003 … will battle for a starting job in 2004.
° +/-: +

Dontavius Wilcox, 5-11, 202, RB, Rockledge, Rockledge HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Backup running back in 2003 … more of the same in 2004.
° +/-: +

Players enrolled at UCF in January

David Ashkinaz, 6-4, 307, OG, Oak Grove, Calif., Oak Grove HS/De Anza (Calif.) CC
° Earned letters from 2002-03.
° Two year starter at left guard.
° +/-: ++

Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, 6-3, 280, OG, Sherbrook, Quebec, Champlain HS
° Earned letters from 2003-Present.
° Sophomore-to-be
° Starting center in 2003 … projected starter in 2004.
° +/-: +

DeMarcus Johnson, 6-4, 295, DT, Tallahassee, Rickards HS/Southwest Miss. CC
° Earned letters from 2002-03.
° Starting DT in 2002 … part-time starter in 2003.
° +/-: +

Chad Mascoe, 6-2, 250, LB, Kissimmee, Osceola HS/Southwest Mississippi CC
° Earned a letter in 2002.
° Starting MLB in 2002 … failed out in 2003.
° He's available for the NFL supplemental draft (July 20, 2004).
° +/-: +

Alex Mendez, 6-6, 320, OT, Selma, Calif., Selma HS/Reedly (Calif.) CC
° Earned a letter in 2002.
° Failed out in 2003.
° +/-: -

Roy Williams, 6-2, 275, DE, DeLand, DeLand HS/Southwest Mississippi CC
° Earned letters from 2002-03.
° Important backup defensive lineman from 2002-03.
° +/-: +

° No. of signees that enrolled in Spring or Fall '02: 22
° No. of signees that never enrolled: 1
° No. of enrolled signees that earned letters: 18
° No. of enrolled signees that have graduated, or are on track to graduate: 17

. . . . . . . .

FOOTBALL & RECRUITING

50 most relevant people in college football

24. George O'Leary, Central Florida Coach

"Don't put him on that bus." That's what a source close to O'Leary said when the coach's name was lumped in with recent rogues Mike Price, Larry Eustachy and Jim Harrick. All O'Leary did was fudge on his resume. That transgression seems minor compared to alcoholism or a wild visit to a strip club. After a couple of years with the Vikings, O'Leary has rehabilitated his image. Central Florida came along at the right time in December. Tired of mediocre football and about to jump to Conference USA, the school needed to make a splash. O'Leary brought a solid coaching resume, if not a healthy heart. He suffered a heart attack shortly after being hired but looks the picture of health after changing his diet and exercise habits. Central Florida has the look of Florida State in the mid-1970s, when it was about to explode into a college football dynasty. Several players were kicked off the squad because of academic failings, so it might be a while before the explosion. Still, O'Leary is telling friends to give him two to three years to get his players in there, and the Golden Knights will win. The other stuff is in place. O'Leary got a new athletic complex, indoor facility and increased budget. The school is a sleeping giant with huge enrollment and now a solid coaching staff. O'Leary will succeed, but maybe not just right away. The Golden Knights start with Wisconsin, West Virginia and Penn State. (Dodd, SportsLine.com)

The Carolina Panthers now have half their draft picks under contract, after reaching a deal with seventh-round pick Michael Gaines.

Gaines, the 232nd overall choice in the draft, signed a three-year, $948,000 deal. He received a $28,000 signing bonus and minimum salaries of $230,000, $305,000 and $385,000 the next three seasons.

The Central Florida tight end impressed coaches during the summer camps with his work ethic and natural talent, and he has an excellent chance to become a contributor this year.

Veteran Kris Mangum and second-year Mike Seidman appear slotted for the first two spots on the depth chart, but given the Panthers run-first offense, they often used three tight ends in games last year. (Gantt, The [Rock Hill, SC] Herald)

HawgSports.com: Recruiting picking up for Florida receiver

Revisiting the Recruiting Class of 2001

2004-07-14T08:52:00.001-07:00

31 Signees

Lemec Bernard, 6-0, 190, LB, Fort Myers, Bishop Verot High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup weakside linebacker from 2002-03 … will battle for a starting job in 2004.
° +/-: +

Willie (Dee) Brown, 5-11, 238, FB, Brooksville, Hernando High School
° Earned letters from 2001-03.
° Solid performer.
° Quit football to concentrate on baseball.
° +/-: +

Adam Butcher, 6-3, 285, C, St. Petersburg, Admiral Farragut Academy
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup center from 2002-03 … could be a starter at either guard or tackle in 2004.
° +/-: +

Paul Carrington, 6-6, 235, DL, Springfield, Ga., Effingham County High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup DE in 2002 and starter in 2003 … will battle for the starting job again in 2004.
° +/-: +

Marcus Clemons, 6-5, 270, TE/DE, Titusville, Astronaut High School
° Earned a letter in 2001.
° Dismissed in 2003.
° +/-: -

James Cody, 6-1, 210, S, Naples, Butler (Kansas) Community College
° Earned letters from 2001-02
° Backup safety and special teams performer from 2001-03.
° Graduated in 2004.
° +/-: +

James Cook, 6-3, 210, LB, Jacksonville, Trinity Christian High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup strongside linebacker from 2002-03 … will battle for a starting job in 2004.
° +/-: +

Jeff Harper, 6-8, 305, OT, Palm Bay, Palm Bay High School
° Retired due to injuries.
° +/-: +

Andrew Harris, 6-2, 215, QB/S, St. Petersburg, Northeast St. Petersburg High School
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Andra Hoston, 6-2, 220, LB, Tampa, Hillsborough High School
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Rashad Jeanty, 6-3, 220, DE, Miami, Carol City High School
° Failed out in 2003 and signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL and is a starter.
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° Part-time starter as a true frosh and a starter as a sophomore.
° +/-: +

Darcy Johnson, 6-6, 220, TE, Palatka, Palatka High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup TE in 2002 and starter in 2003 … projected starter in 2004.
° +/-: +

Omar Laurence, 5-11, 175, CB, Largo, Largo High School
° Earned letters from 2002-03.
° Arrested in 2003, dismissed and turned pro.
° Starter as a redshirt frosh in 2002 and again in 2003.
° +/-: +

Matt Lundy, 6-5, 230, TE, Orlando, Cypress Creek High School
° Earned a letter in 2001.
° Dismissed
° +/-: -

Mike Lynche, 6-0, 260, NG, St. Petersburg, Gibbs High School
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° Quit in Summer 2003.
° +/-: +

Mike Mabry, 6-2, 280, C, Dayton, Texas, S.W. Mississippi Community College
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° 2 year starter and leader of the offensive line.
° Drafted by the Ravens in the 7th round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Currently with the Bengals.
° +/-: ++

Alex Mendez, 6-6, 305, OT, Selma, Calif., Reedley (Calif.) Community College
° Enrolled in January 2002, so he's a member of the Class of 2002. Will discuss him with that class.

Johnovan Morgan, 6-4, 272, OG, Miami, Jones (Miss.) Community College
° Earned a letter in 2002.
° +/-: +

Frisner Nelson, 6-2, 310, DT, Fort Myers, Fort Myers High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup up DT in 2002 (started 2 games) … starter in 2003 and should do more of the same in 2004.
° +/-: +

Al Peterson, 6-2, 192, WR, Alachua, Santa Fe High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup receiver in 2003, more of the same in 2004.
° +/-: +

Stanford Rhule, 5-11, 230, LB, Ft. Lauderdale, Dillard High School
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Senior-to-be
° Starting WLB in 2002, backup MLB in 2003 and the projected starting MLB in 2004.
° +/-: +

Peter Sands, 6-2, 190, S, Titusville, Astronaut High School
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Senior-to-be
° Starting free safety from 2002-03 … will start again in 2004.
° +/-: ++

Lamont Stringfield, 6-0, 225, LB, Miami, Miami Jackson High School
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Craig Waters, 6-5, 200, DE, Titusville, Astronaut High School
° Either dismissed or failed out.
° +/-: -

Keith Williams, 5-10, 190, RB, Tampa, Hillsborough High School
° Earned letters from 2002-Present.
° Junior-to-be
° Backup RB
° +/-: +

Mico Williams, 6-3, 220, DE, Miami, Edison High School
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Kareem (Dee) Williford, 6-1, 211, LB, Auburndale, Auburndale High School
° Earned a letter in 2002.
° Dismissed and transferred to Valdosta State.
° +/-: -

Players enrolled at UCF in January

Terrance Bell, 6-0, 190, Jr, CB, Palm Beach Gardens, Dwyer High School, Dodge City (Kansas) CC
° Quit in Summer 2001.
° +/-: -

Doug Gabriel, 6-2, 205, Jr, WR, Orlando, Dr. Phillips High School, Mississippi Gulf Coast CC
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° Excellent two year career.
° Drafted by the Raiders in the 5th round of the 2003 NFL Draft.
° +/-: ++

Brandon Sumner, 6-4, 210, QB, Daytona Beach, Mainland High School, Georgia Tech
° Junior-to-be
° 3rd string QB from 2002-03 … projected backup in 2004.
° +/-: +

Carlos Thompson, 5-10, 180, Jr, CB, McComb, Miss., McComb High School, Southwest Mississippi CC
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° Solid two year career.
° +/-: +

° No. of signees that enrolled in Spring or Fall '01: 26
° No. of signees that never enrolled: 4
° No. of enrolled signees that earned letters: 22
° No. of enrolled signees that have graduated, or are on track to graduate: 18

. . . . . . . .

FOOTBALL OPPONENT NEWS

The [Madison] Capital Times: Mike Lucas: Palermo optimistic about defensive line's potential

Football: Revisiting the Recruiting Class of 2000

2004-07-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

29 Signees

John Andrews, 6-0, 230, LB, Atlanta, Ga., Douglass High School
° Didn't qualify … enrolled at Compton College and signed with UNLV in 2003.
° +/-: -

Atari Bigby, 5-11, 190, S, Miami, Miami Senior High School
° Senior-to-be
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Starting strong safety from 2002-03 … will start again in 2004.
° Two time 1st Team All-MAC performer.
° +/-: ++

Gerren Bray, 6-0, 205, S, Fort Lauderdale, Stranahan High School
° Senior-to-be
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Starting strongside linebacker in 2003 … should start again in 2004.
° +/-: +

Savarris Brown, 6-0, 215, LB, Fort Myers, Fort Myers High School
° Earned a letter in 2001.
° Dismissed
° +/-: -

Ben Brinson, 6-5, 255, DE, Orlando, Evans High School
° Didn't qualify … re-signed in 2002 … will discuss him with that class.

Tyewan Brown, 6-4, 300, OL, Miami, Edison High School
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Tavaris Capers, 5-9, 165, WR, Miami, Jackson High School
° Senior-to-be
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Starting and leading receiver in 2003 … should start again in 2004.
° +/-: ++

Derrick Crawford, 6-5, 270, DL, Avon Park, Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College
° Never enrolled
° +/-: -

Andreal Curry, 6-2, 240, FB, Titusville, Astronaut High School
° Earned a letter in 2002.
° Failed out in 2003.
° +/-: -

Steve Edwards, 6-5, 345, OT, Chicago, Ill., West Hills (Calif.) Community College
° Earned letters from 2000-01.
° Two year starter … starting left guard for the Chicago Bears in 2003.
° +/-: ++

Damani Fagan, 6-1, 175, DB, Fort Lauderdale, St. Thomas Aquinas High School
° Senior-to-be
° Backup safety and special teams performer.
° +/-: +

James Gerald, 5-9, 175, WR, Miami, Miami Central High School
° Didn't qualify
° +/-: -

Marcus Glover, 5-11, 170, WR, Ocala, Vanguard High School
° Earned letters in 2001 and '03.
° Backup corner and top special teams performer for two years.
° Dismissed in January 2003 and rejoined team as a walk-on … dismissed again in November '03.
° +/-: +

Alex Haynes, 5-11, 205, RB, Orlando, Evans High School
° Senior-to-be
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Top rusher from 2001-03 … on his way to being the greatest back in school history.
° +/-: ++

Alex Hernandez, 6-5, 300, OT, Los Angeles, Calif., East Los Angeles Community College
° Never enrolled
° +/-: -

Alphonzo Hopkins, Jr., 5-11, 170, DB, Cairo, Ga., Cairo High School
° Asked Coach O'Leary for his release in June 2004 and will transfer to Division II Valdosta State for his senior year (5th).
° Earned letters from 2001-03.
° Solid backup strong safety.
° +/-: +

Luther Huggins, 5-11, 180, WR, Miami, Jackson High School
° Senior-to-be
° Earned letters from 2001-Present.
° Starting and fourth-leading receiver in 2003 … should start again in 2004.
° +/-: +

Gerard Jackson, 5-8, 210, RB, Melbourne, Palm Bay High School
° Didn't qualify … enrolled at Dodge City CC … signed with Illinois in 2003.
° +/-: -

Norman Lewis, 6-3, 270, OL, Port Charlotte, Port Charlotte High School
° Retired due to injuries in January 2004.
° Earned a letter in 2003.
° Returned from a serious knee injury suffered in Spring 2002 and started a few games in 2003.
° +/-: +

Travis Muse, 6-6, 320, OL, Arcadia, DeSoto County High School
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° Quit in Spring 2003.
° +/-: -

Jon Rivera, 6-3, 185, QB, Perth Amboy, N.J., Perth Amboy High School
° Graduated in Spring 2004 and will transfer for more playing time his senior year (5th).
° Backup QB
° Earned letters from 2002-03.
° +/-: +

Freddy Saint Preux, 6-5, 265, DL, Brooklyn, N.Y., Milford (Conn.) Academy
° Failed out … enrolled at Dodge City CC in Fall 2002 … signed with South Carolina in 2003.
° +/-: -

Tracy Thorpe, 6-4, 240, QB, Melbourne, Melbourne High School
° Chose pro baseball.
° +/-: -

Keith Whatley, 5-11, 190, CB, Atlanta, Douglass High School
° Earned a letter in 2000.
° Either transferred on his own or dismissed.
° +/-: -

Players enrolled at UCF in January

Michael Gaines, 6-3, 265, TE, Tallahassee, Florida High School
° Earned letters from 2001-02.
° Solid performer as a blocker and receiver.
° Graduated in December 2003 … drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 7th round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
° +/-: ++

Patrick Jenrette, 6-7, 380, OT, Miami, Allan Hancock (Calif.) College
° Quit football
° +/-: -

Antoine Poe, 6-0, 205, LB, Lakeland, Kathleen High School
° Earned letters from 2000-01 and '03, medically redshirted in '02.
° Backup outside linebacker his first two years, starter at weakside linebacker in 2003 and team's best defender … suffered a career ending neck injury in the last game of the 2003 season :(.
° +/-: ++

Derek Ponder, 6-1, 185, WR, Ocala, Vanguard High School
° Either transferred on his own or dismissed.
° +/-: -

Chris Weeks, 6-2, 280, DL, Jupiter, Dwyer High School
° Earned a letter in 2000
° Either transferred on his own or dismissed.
° +/-: -

° No. of signees that enrolled in Spring or Fall '00: 21
° No. of signees that never enrolled: 8
° No. of enrolled signees that earned letters: 17
° No. of enrolled signees that have graduated, or are on track to graduate: 12

. . . . . . . .

BASKETBALL

The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Lyons remains optimistic about NBA

FOOTBALL

SI.com: 2004 UCF Football Preview (from Athlon Sports)

Convocation Center News

2004-07-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

UCF ponders convocation center

University of Central Florida leaders are set to consider a financing plan today for a new convocation center, parking and housing project around the existing arena.

The UCF board of trustees will hear details on a proposed lease agreement today that would hand over construction and finance duties to the UCF Athletic Association, a nonprofit offshoot of the school.

School officials recently estimated that construction on the 10,000-seat convocation center would be delayed, with an opening set for 2007. The tentative price tag for the new center is $78 million. (Sentinel staff report)

FOOTBALL

The [Huntington] Herald-Dispatch: MAC success on arms of QBs

TulaneGreenWave.com: Bill D'Ottavio Named to Tulane Football Staff (Good luck to him.)

The Parkersburg News & Sentinel: Knights big obstacle for WVU (Not the best researched article, but hey it's July.)

PRO BASEBALL

The Florida Times-Union: Riggs back for another stint with Suns

Hoops and Gridiron News

2004-07-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

BASKETBALL

St. Petersburg Times: Ex-Packer O'Donnell transferring to UCF

UCFAthletics.com: Lyons Plays For Celtics In Summer League

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

GatorCountry.com: RECRUITING: Kevin Harris

OUInsider.com: RECRUITING: Daytona Beach TE to visit Norman?

Update - 3:55 PM

FOOTBALL

UCFAthletics.com: ESPN To Televise Football Opener At Wisconsin

Birmingham Post-Herald: Orlando, El Paso second-chance towns for coaches (scroll down to the second story)

Knights Finish 2003-04 Season 72nd in Directors' Cup Competition

2004-07-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

UCF finished the 2003-04 athletic season with 238 points to place 72nd in the United States Sports Academy Division I Directors' Cup standings. UCF was the top-ranked MAC and A-Sun school (No. 2 in the new C-USA).

The United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.

Division I 2003-04 Final Standings: (As of Jun. 29, 2004)

1. Stanford 1337.3
2. Michigan 1226.3
3. UCLA 1178.8
4. Ohio State 1026.5
5. Georgia 1005.3
6. Florida 993.25
7. North Carolina 925
8. Washington 919.5
9. California 899.5
10. Texas 880.25

MAC/A-Sun Schools (Top 100 only):
72. UCF 238
81. Kent State 202.5
93. Florida Atlantic 183

New C-USA:
44. SMU 442.5
72. UCF 238
77. Tulane 222
89. Rice 191.5
97. Houston 167
114. Tulsa 141
158. Southern Miss 81.5
T163. Memphis 78
T173. UAB 74.5
179. UTEP 70
T185. East Carolina 64
T235. Marshall 25

Florida Schools:
6. Florida 993.25
22. Florida State 623
50. Miami 390.75
72. UCF 238
93. Florida Atlantic 183
135. South Florida 119.5
T168. Bethune-Cookman 75
T168. Florida A&M 75
T185. Florida Int. 64
T227. Jacksonville 30

Stepson did not score points in any NCAA tournament.

Related Post: Knights Complete Fall Season 48th in Directors' Cup

MISC.

Georgia State hires Greg Frady as Assistant Head Baseball Coach

TheInsiders.com

All premium subscriber content on the entire TheInsiders.com Network is accessible at no cost until Sunday, July 4. No registration or credit cards are required. TheInsiders.com | KnightsNews.com

Football Continues Preparations For 2004

2004-06-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

One of the first significant hires of the George O’Leary era at UCF was in the strength and conditioning program. In today’s age of college football, the strength and conditioning program is a vital part to any team’s success and with the hiring of Ed Ellis and Scott Sinclair, UCF has taken a step in the right direction. Ellis is the school’s new Director of Strength and Conditioning while Sinclair serves as Ellis’ top Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning.

Ellis, who has an established track record for success, left Georgia Tech after working there for three seasons to come and work for George O’ Leary at UCF. In 2003, Ellis was awarded the honor as Master Strength and Conditioning Coach, the highest mark of distinction given by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches’ Association.

A big reason for the team’s need to enhance its overall condition is evident by the way the Knights played during the fourth quarter all last season. In the final quarter, UCF was outscored 104-70. Furthermore, the Knights scored more than its opponent just four times during the fourth quarter in their 12-game schedule.

Ellis comes to UCF with the goal of taking the Knights to the next level. That is, helping them develop their stamina enough to play entire football games with sheer resilience. The system that Ellis operates is designed to make the players faster, stronger and quicker. It’s also designed to make the players work harder than they have ever worked before.

“I know in the past they’ve lost a lot of games in the second half,” Ellis says. “I don’t why that happened. It could be conditioning, it could be other things, but we want to make sure it’s not conditioning. We’re going to work with these guys as hard as we can and we’re going to push them hard and try to make them physically tough and mentally tough all the way through.”

Assistant strength coach Scott Sinclair believes he has seen considerable progress amongst the team’s condition in general over the past few months. “The work ethic we’ve got now is great and that’s all we can ask,” Sinclair says. “If they come in here and work hard and give their best, then it’s going to obviously help them make things run a little smoother. If they come in here and have a bad attitude, then it’s hard to get stuff out of them. They have definitely learned to work hard and it’s only getting better.”

Read more …

Chad Mottola makes it back to the majors

Former UCF standout Chad Mottola becomes the second Golden Knight to play in the major league this year, getting called up to the Baltimore Orioles today.

Mottola should join the team for tonight's game against the Kansas City Royals after the Orioles sent Jay Gibbons to the disabled list.

The former Golden Knight was batting .270 with 13 doubles, seven home runs, 29 RBI and 32 runs in 64 games with the Ottawa Lynx, the Orioles' triple-A affiliate. He played 50 games in the outfield and nine at first base.

Mottola joins the Orioles after Baltimore drafted Mottola in the 10th round in 1989 out of high school, but instead he signed with UCF. Mottola was later selected by the Reds with the fifth overall choice in the first round in 1992, the highest draft selection ever for a Golden Knight.

Mottola has seen action in 43 games in the Majors with the Reds, Blue Jays and Marlins, hitting .200 with three home runs and nine RBI. He last appeared in the Majors in 2001 with the Marlins, going 0-for-7 in five games.

Over his three-year UCF career, Mottola hit .331 with 23 home runs and 148 RBI. He is listed among UCF's all-time leaders in runs, RBI, total bases, at-bats and home runs.

One one other UCF player is currently on a major league roster -- the Detroit Tigers' Mike Maroth, currently 5-5 with a 4.47 ERA. There are 14 other former Golden Knights on minor league rosters. (OrlandoSentinel.com Staff)

UCFAthletics.com: Chad Mottola Promoted To The Majors With Baltimore | Chad Mottola (photo)

UCFAthletics.com: UCF Professional Baseball Tracker

MISC.

The Future: The lap of...luxury

A credibility problem?

2004-06-28T02:10:00.000-07:00

UCF quarterbacks and receivers are throwing skeleton drills three days a week over the summer, and the lineup is different now than it was coming out of spring drills. Brandon Sumner is the new backup to Steve Moffett, and incoming freshman Kyle Israel is No. 3.

Sumner, who was shuffled down in the depth chart during the spring when Coach George O'Leary elevated walk-on Gerry Connell, moved back up in the rotation when Connell found himself in the coach's doghouse.

"I told him when he gets his head straight and wants to be here, come see me," O'Leary said. "I haven't seen him since he was given that message. I'm not counting on him."

Reached through UCF's sports information office, Connell declined comment. It's not out of the question Connell could return to the team, but it probably is unlikely, O'Leary said.

Meanwhile, UCF has lost another upperclassman in its depth chart. Alphonso Hopkins Jr. has left the team. He was the Knights' third-team strong safety behind Atari Bigby and Renford Parkes.

Hopkins, a fifth-year senior, asked O'Leary for a release so he could transfer, possibly to Division II Valdosta State. He would be eligible immediately at any Division II school. Hopkins could not be reached for comment.

[…]

It's looking as if the Knights will miss only one prospect from its recruiting class come August. Offensive lineman Eric Hodge of St. Petersburg Northeast is awaiting results of his latest effort on the SAT. Hodge should receive his score in the next couple weeks. If he doesn't get the needed score, he can go to junior college, go to prep school or delay his enrollment at UCF until he gets a qualifying score. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

How does this not hurt GOL's credibility? So, basically, all that talk about having standards higher than the NCAA minimum was complete BS. I'm really disappointed. They would have been better off not even talking about their heightened academic requirements if they weren't going to follow it completely. I'll give them credit for signing a good class overall (they have an average GPA of 3.02 and an average SAT score of 950), but that doesn't change the fact that they contradicted themselves. If the standards are what you say they are, then it would be impossible for a player you signed to still be trying to qualify in June. Anyway, I thought he was qualified already because on Signing Day Bob Putnam of the St. Petersburg Times wrote, "… Hodge did not have a qualifying test score on the ACT until January." Oh well.

And, good luck to you Alphonso.

Knights expect Bono to return

UCF has three new alums that are primed to give back to the program, if they're inclined.

Right-hander Matt Fox signed with Minnesota for a $950,000 bonus; outfielder Clay Timpner signed with San Francisco for a $235,000 bonus; and left-hander Jaime Douglas signed with Anaheim, Baseball America reported.

Golden Knights Coach Jay Bergman had planned on losing all three, but he continues to monitor any talks between right-hander Kyle Bono and the Boston Red Sox.

Word from Cape Cod, where Bono is playing with brother Ryan for the Chatham A's, is that initial face-to-face discussions between the Bonos and the Red Sox hint that Bono will be back wearing black and gold next year. He was drafted as a sophomore-eligible.

In addition, Chatham is doing something that should help Bono and the Knights. It is limiting his innings, using him only as a closer. That rest has allowed Bono to light up the Cape Cod League. He is 1-0 with one save in three appearances. He has allowed only one hit in five innings.

Meanwhile, Ryan Bono leads Chatham in RBIs and total bases. (Schmadtke, Sentinel) [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

I hope Kyle does return, he and Meier should form another great UCF duo.

Doug Gabriel

2004-06-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

Raiders.com: On the Rise: Doug Gabriel

Working hard to achieve success is nothing new to the Oakland Raiders' young wide receiver Doug Gabriel. Coming to the Raiders organization as the 167th overall draft pick in 2003, Gabriel knew he was becoming apart of an elite powerhouse. In his first year, he earned himself the position as primary kick return specialist and is competing for an offensive position beside future Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. Gabriel hopes to join these Silver and Black legends, as his carrier is on the rise.

Rice and Brown have kept Gabriel alert and on top of his game on the field. Gabriel said, "I am coming in every day and trying to perfect what I was going to do. If they (Rice and Brown) say I do well one day, I try and come back to do it better than what I did before." With Gabriel's constant desire for personal improvement, he is quickly earning more playing time on the offense. This work ethic has allowed him to get to this point after dominating in high school and later in the collegiate game.

Read more …

Hoops notes

2004-06-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Sun-Sentinel: Noel transfers to UCF

Former Boynton Beach All-State player Dave Noel, a two-time South Florida Sun-Sentinel boys' basketball Player of the Year, is transferring to Central Florida after spending a year at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.

The 6-foot-2 guard played in 26 of 30 games for UNC Wilmington as a freshman, starting three, and averaged 3.7 points and 1.5 rebounds for the 15-15 Seahawks.

"I just wanted to get a little bit closer to home," said Noel, who will have to sit out the 2004-05 season. "Me and the coach there [Brad Brownell], I didn't think we didn't get along, but we just had different goals. I didn't fit like I thought I was going to.

"I was also looking at Miami, South Florida, Florida State, but I thought UCF was the best fit for me because of the situation they're in right now. They're going to Conference USA in two years and most of their guards will be gone, so that will be a chance for me to step in and be able to play."

Noel is joining a team that won a school-record 25 games and qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year under coach Kirk Speraw.

Noel averaged 17.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5 assists his senior season in leading Boynton Beach to the Class 5A championship game. The Tigers (30-5) lost in the title game 50-47 to Jacksonville Raines.

Sun-Sentinel story link

The Future: Speraw inks another b-ball transfer

The UCF basketball program will add another Division I transfer to its roster this fall.

Former UNC-Wilmington guard Dave Noel, a true freshman this past season from Boynton Beach, says he plans to enroll at UCF in August.

Noel actually has been in UCF's fold for a while, originally committing to the Knights a couple months ago.

"Yes, I'm transferring to UCF," Noel said. "It's closer to home, the program is coming up and I like the coaches."

Noel said his family likes the fact he'll be much closer to home.

"They're happy. My mom and dad are real happy."

He declared his intentions to leave UNC-Wilmington following the season.

"I just wanted to be closer to home," Noel said. "I was also looking at FAU, Miami and FIU. UCF was looking at me coming out of high school and we talked on the phone, but I just thought North Carolina-Wilmington was a better decision. Now I realize I made a mistake."

Read more …

UCFAthletics.com: Morentin Inks Professional Contract In Spain

FOOTBALL

Oh wise one ... with the hiring of George O'Leary, do you see UCF enjoying the possibility of a bowl game in the foreseeable future?
-- Rusty Compton, Little Rock, Ark.

Absolutely. O'Leary is a solid football coach, resume be damned. His system, combined with the recruiting gold mine that is Florida, is an ideal recipe for success, especially with the Golden Knights moving to the watered-down Conference USA in 2005. Other than Marshall and Southern Miss, no program left in that conference has been consistently successful for long. Houston and Memphis are on the rise, and East Carolina had quite a run before the past couple of seasons, but there's no reason UCF can't be in their company. (Mandel, SI.com)

I agree :)

Basketball and Football news

2004-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Returning home best choice for UCF transfer

In the end, Mike O'Donnell said, North Carolina State simply was not a good fit for him.

There's nothing like basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Lord knows O'Donnell loves basketball. But he was too far from home, practices were more difficult than games, the Wolfpack preferred a more deliberate game than a fast-paced one and, well, if O'Donnell was going to play basketball, he wanted to play a lot.

O'Donnell's self-realization benefits both UCF and his parents' bank accounts. They won't have nearly as far to travel from Largo to see their son play at UCF -- and they'll have a year to start saving, if they like.

After conversations with coaches at Western Kentucky and Florida, O'Donnell, a 5-foot-11 point guard, picked UCF as his transfer site. Although he will play some pickup games in Orlando through the summer, he plans on enrolling in the fall. He will be ineligible in 2004-05, getting back on the court for games just as the Golden Knights are ready to tackle Conference USA.

"I visited the campus there -- I'd never been there, and I had no idea they had such a nice campus. I fell in love," O'Donnell said by phone from his parents' home. "It's a great campus, and I really had some great conversations with coach Brown [Craig Brown], coach Shu [Tom Schuberth] and coach Speraw [Kirk Speraw]. I liked everything about it. I think this is going to be great for everyone."

The Knights are just as hopeful. They're coming off the best three-year run in their Division I history and off an Atlantic Sun Tournament championship.

Speraw and Schuberth had targeted post players as a recruiting priority for 2004-05 with a long-range plan of adding guards for the following season. Now, with the addition of O'Donnell and another transfer, David Noel from UNC-Wilmington, next year's recruiting is well in hand.

By the time O'Donnell is eligible, he'll be a redshirt sophomore with a year in UCF's system. He is a pure point guard, which means next season he'll be counted on both to push starting point guard Gary Johnson and to learn from Johnson.

He should have no trouble doing both. At NC State, O'Donnell discovered the meaning of intensity -- and not just on game days.

"I learned so much playing in the ACC," he said. "The biggest thing is you have to be more mentally tough than physically tough, and I'm talking about every day. You can't take any games off, because in that conference the worst team can beat the best team in any league on any given day.

"You have to mentally prepare for every practice. I'd never had to do that before. But at every school in that league, you always have somebody coming up behind you. If you're not mentally prepared for practice, you'll see people passing you by."

As a freshman, O'Donnell averaged 11.3 minutes and 2.4 points over 30 games, including NC State's season-ending loss to Vanderbilt in the Orlando Regional of the NCAA Tournament. He started seven games, all early in the season.

At 168 pounds, O'Donnell learned he needed more strength to excel in the ACC, for opposing point guards and defenses constantly push, shove and muscle point guards to take teams out of their offense. O'Donnell admittedly struggled with the physical nature of the league.

No surprise, then, than one of his goals over the next 15 months is to build his "core strength" --- legs, trunk, shoulders.

He also wrestled at times with the Wolfpack's style under Herb Sendek. Although most Division I coaches are grounded by the same concepts of good defense, good shot selection and good rebounding, Sendek's style is not conducive to guards that constantly like to fast break.

It should be noted that Speraw coaches in much the same mold when it comes to defense, but through the years he has become much more flexible to changing teams' gears according to players abilities. If the teammates O'Donnell finds himself playing with are athletic, fast and can rebound, it's a virtual certainty UCF will run.

Until then, though, UCF's newest point guard has another season of playing mental games. He'll have to cope with sitting in street clothes on the bench, knowing he can't do anything other than shout encouragement.

"I know that's going to be hard," he said. "I think the redshirt season will help me because I'll get better and I'll get to know the coaches, the system and the other players, but not being able to play I know is going to be hard. But it was going to be hard no matter where I went. But I can't wait."

Sentinel story link

The Future: Men's hoops inks new point guard

UCF's basketball program received welcome news earlier this month when former NC State point guard Mike O'Donnell announced his intention to transfer to UCF.

O'Donnell, a native of Largo, Fla., visited UCF over the Memorial Day Weekend and committed shortly thereafter. The 5-foot-11-inch, 160-pound guard was a true freshman at NC State in 2003-04 and had announced his plans to leave Raleigh in April. He had been looking the hardest at three schools - UCF, Western Kentucky and Holy Cross.

"The visit to UCF went great," O'Donnell said. "I actually took the visit and I thought it was a good fit for me and I made a commitment."

The Golden Knights' coaching staff, which includes Coach Kirk Speraw, associate coach Tom Schuberth as well as assistants Craig Brown and Dwight Evans, really seemed to make a big impression on O'Donnell.

"I really love the coaching staff," O'Donnell said. "Coach Speraw and his staff, I just felt really comfortable around them. I think their style of play fits my style of play. It's a beautiful campus and I really enjoyed it when I went up there. I was very surprised when I went up there how nice of a campus it was. I just had a really good feel when I went up there."

O'Donnell said he wasn't necessarily looking for a school a closer to his Pinellas County home, but being only a couple hours away is an added benefit with UCF.

Read more …

FOOTBALL

The Sports Xchange: Golden Knights report: Inside slant | Notes, quotes | Strategy and personnel

Update - 11:35 AM

A May 6th Sentinel article ("Players improve in the classroom") mentioned that "three players finished the semester with a 4.0 grade-point average, and 24 had GPAs of 3.0 or higher." Well, here is a list of those players (for all sports). Atari Bigby, Seth Ulsh and Dan Veenstra were the three players w/ 4.0 GPAs.

Tids and Bits

2004-06-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: UCF's new arena likely delayed year

UCF's 10,000-seat convocation center creeps closer to reality, though shovels won't hit dirt until February and a new completion date is late fall 2007, a year later than hoped.

Vice President of Administration and Finance William F. Merck told the UCF Athletics Association board of directors Thursday that $70 million in financing is nearly in place for a summer ground-breaking on 500 dorm rooms, a 700-car garage, a cafeteria and new residential shops -- the first of a three-phase project which features a convocation center as the centerpiece.

Ron Jon's, UPS, FedEx, Barnes & Noble and other businesses have inquired about leasing space in the new student complex.

"Take athletics out of it and I'm still totally for it," said UCF President John Hitt, whose school needs more on-campus housing. "It's going to have that big an impact on the university."

It will come later than expected. Athletic Director Steve Orsini had hoped to break ground on the convocation center this fall and open it in 2006.

Merck declined to speculate on the new arena's cost because final drawings have not been tweaked or approved. A working figure was $78 million.

The board also created a new non-profit entity -- UCFAA Property Corporation -- to handle financing and oversee constructions of athletics facilities. UCF plans to spend more than $250 million in facilities over the next decade.

In other news:

UCF has cleared off land behind the new Wayne Densch Athletics Center for an indoor football practice facility, and the school plans to christen it by mid-October. The price is estimated at $4.5 million.

UCFAA will use a loan from the university to pay for the multipurpose building with the expectation of donors paying it off.

Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance Rob Mathner reported 25 secondary violations to the NCAA, Atlantic Sun Conference and Mid-American Conference during the 2003-04 school year. At least three other minor violations also will be reported in the next few weeks.

One violation was that a member of former football coach Mike Kruczek's office staff gambled on the Internet using his work computer. UCF collected computers from coaches and staffers last October before determining the sports wagering did not include football players, coaches or other staffers. The staffer, who was not identified in an infractions summary, was fired.

In addition, a UCF soccer player acknowledged he wagered dinner with friends on pro sports. He performed community service as a result.

The board approved a record $20.9 million athletics budget for 2004-05. UCF will pay for a jump from a $16.9 million budget (that became $18.7 million after it hired a new football staff) with a $1.5 million loan from the university, nearly $900,000 more from projected ticket sales and an extra $320,000 from booster donations. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

Some pretty good news. The opening of the convocation center is delayed, but at least it will be a reality soon. This is a far cry from the old days when projects like Jay Bergman Field took forever. Reason No. 1199 why Orsini is better than Sloan.

Those NCAA "violations" are a joke. I needed a laugh.

Finally, the athletic budget sure is increasing rapidly. Not too long ago it was $8MM -- actually when we joined the MAC it was around $11-12MM -- and now it's almost $21MM. Good stuff.

UCF NOTEBOOK: Former executive using skills to promote UCF

One of new football coach George O'Leary's continuing messages to the UCF community is that he is not here to rebuild the Golden Knights' football program by himself.

It helps that O'Leary has the overwhelming support of one of the most prominent businessmen in Orlando.

Former Disney executive Dick Nunis has become an unabashed O'Leary supporter over the past six months, pumping the coach and the school almost everywhere he walks.

Nunis, who is chairman of UCF's Board of Trustees and a board member of the UCF Athletics Association, has gotten involved with the Knights' golf program, has helped coordinate (and promote) the UCF Kickoff Luncheon set for Aug. 31 and is gently prodding alumni and boosters to give, give, give.

"God, I just love George O'Leary," Nunis said at the conclusion of a recent UCFAA board meeting. "He knows what it takes to get where we want to get, and he knows how to get there. There's nothing phony about him."

It was Nunis, a Type-A personality and ever the marketing man, who eventually convinced O'Leary to leave the Minnesota Vikings to come to UCF. It was Nunis who introduced the coach at an Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce fund-raiser this spring. And it's Nunis who continues to ask, "Why not?" when it comes to UCF athletics.

NOTES: UCF has 26,000 students attending summer school. That's nearly as many students as the University of Tennessee has during its (usually large) fall semester. ... The $20.9 million athletics budget approved by the UCFAA board of directors includes the second half of the payoff of a $700,000 video system for the football program. It does not include a raise for baseball coach Jay Bergman, because Bergman isn't getting a raise, despite a 47-win season in 2004. Bergman retired last summer, then came out of retirement to sign a five-year contract that has no incentives or raises built in. ... UCF's last appearance at the Mid-American Conference's football media days will be a tag-team affair. Coach George O'Leary and defensive coordinator Lance Thompson will make the Aug. 2 trip to Detroit. O'Leary will combine his media interviews with an appearance in the hospitality room, but because of a previously scheduled speech in Orlando he will leave before the media portion officially begins. Thompson will be UCF's coaching representative on Aug. 3. ... Nick Clinard's follow-up to a 12th-place finish in the NCAA West Regional comes in the fall when UCF and Wake Forest co-host the Isleworth Invitational. The tournament features nine of the teams ranked Nos. 1-15 at the conclusion of 2004. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

Mr. Nunis sounds like a really cool guy.

Central Florida center fielder Clay Timpner, who prepped at LaBelle, signed with the San Francisco Giants. The fourth-round pick received a bonus of approximately $250,000. He reported to Arizona and will play short-season Class A ball in Salem, Ore. (Handel, The [Fort Myers] News-Press)

[New York] Newsday: Torres makes the most of his ability

UCFAthletics.com: Baseball America Names Fox First Team All-American | Baseball America - 2004 College All-America Team

UCFAthletics.com: Fox, Bono, Timpner Garner All-America Honors

Some older stuff from the past few days:

O'Leary has no trouble sending tough messages to his players, and he's sending them to quarterback Gerry Connell. Connell, from Titusville, went from fourth string to Steven Moffett's backup during the spring but now finds himself in O'Leary's doghouse.

He is still on the team -- but barely, O'Leary said.

"He needs to get himself together," O'Leary said.

O'Leary has hired his former Georgia Tech quarterback, George Godsey, as a graduate assistant in 2004. Godsey, a Tampa native, will help offensive coordinator Tim Salem coach quarterbacks.

Former NC State basketball guard Mike O'Donnell has signed with UCF. He is the second guard to transfer from another Division I school, joining David Noel, formerly of UNC Wilmington. Both will sit out the 2004-05 season but will be eligible for UCF's first season in Conference USA. As a freshman last season, O'Donnell averaged 11.3 minutes and 2.4 points over 30 games, seven of which he started. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

The Twins signed righthander Matt Fox, the 35th overall pick in the June 7 amateur draft, to a contract that includes a $950,000 signing bonus.

Fox, who was 14-2 with a 1.85 ERA for Central Florida, has been assigned to Elizabethton of the Appalachian League. (Neal, Minneapolis Star Tribune) [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

Gardner-Webb University head baseball coach Rusty Stroupe has been chosen by the NCAA to serve as a guest clinician at the NCAA’s Y.E.S. Baseball Clinic at the College World Series later this week in Omaha, Nebraska.

The clinic, which runs from June 17 until June 20, is part of the NCAA’s Y.E.S. (Youth Education Through Sports) Program. The NCAA chooses 12 head coaches from the Division I ranks across the country to serve as instructors for children ages 10-18 in conjunction with the College World Series. The clinic will be held on the campus of Creighton University.

Stroupe will be joined by several notable coaches, including East Carolina’s Randy Mazey, Jay Bergman from the University of Central Florida, Michigan head coach Rich Maloney and Ritch Price from Kansas.

Stroupe will be accompanied to Omaha by Gardner-Webb players Jon David “JD” Milford and Ryan Quirello, who will also serve as instructors. The group of instructors will attend the first six games of the 2004 College World Series in addition to their duties with the clinic.

Participants in the YES Clinic will be taught the fundamentals of hitting, baserunning, and defense, as well as be instructed in life skills such as goal setting and transferring skills from sports to other areas of their lives. (Ford, Shelby [NC] Star)

If there’s any tandem that has the potential to upstage Yates and Carlson, it’s University of Central Florida twin-brother battery mates Kyle and Ryan Bono.

A closer turned starter this season, Kyle Bono was a second-team all American at the UCF. He’ll revert back to his natural role, finishing games for the A’s, while defensive standout, catcher/first baseman Ryan Bono, amassed a .993 fielding percentage in 64 starts for the Golden Knights. (Adler, Cape Cod Chronicle)

Sentinel: Wandtke walks from Pirates after 1 day

UCFAthletics.com: Fox Named Second Team All-American

Knights in the Pros

2004-06-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

From Mike Maroth's diary (06/14/2004 entry):

My school, Central Florida, had four players taken in the draft last week. Before the year, I don't know where Matt Fox stood, but it was obviously not as high as he went in the supplemental first round. It was kind of the same boat that I was in. But the program gets everything out of you. The way they run the team over there, everybody strives to play well and you work really hard. (Maroth, MLB.com)

Flinn, the other little-known punter, spent four years at Central Florida, where he averaged 41.8 yards his senior season, the only year he served as a starter for the Golden Knights.

But here is the deal: Neither punter has ever kicked in an NFL game. McBriar went to training camp with Denver in 2003. He was traded to the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 22, and released about a week later.

Flinn also has been to only one NFL camp, that being last year with Seattle, too. But he was released before he even had a chance to kick in a preseason game.

"It didn't work out very well, so I took pretty much a year off just to work on . . . I thought I was ready when I was there," the 24-year-old Flinn said. "Reality kind of sets in that, being a rookie, I wasn't really ready. I wasn't where I thought I was when I was [in Seattle]. I took a year to get stronger, more consistent and more powerful with punts."

But since the Cowboys released veteran Toby Gowin early in the off-season, and made no attempt to sign a veteran punter, McBriar and Flinn have a great opportunity to win this job. And so far, their off-season punting has not only impressed members of the coaching staff, but also some of their teammates who have been watching their workouts.

Chances are both punters will head to training camp with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., on July 29 to continue the competition. Either the best man will win the job, or the Cowboys will be forced to scour the waiver wire for a veteran free agent out of work if neither kicker can perform consistently once the competition turns live.

"I need to kick well for them," said McBriar, who turns 25 next month. "I know [special teams] Coach [Bruce] DeHaven is pretty hard on guys getting the ball off in a certain time, so if I can please him by doing that and please the rest of the coaches by kicking well - that will be it, hopefully."

As for Flinn, signed after the Cowboys acquired McBriar, he just needs to keep improving.

"I feel pretty good so far," Flinn said of his practice with the Cowboys. "A few things I need to work on here and there. This is my second go around so, you know, just do the best I can. Just get stronger and more consistent."

But Hoffman, who has developed such young punters and Gowin and John Jett, along with no-name kickers such as Ken Willis, Lin Elliott, Chris Boniol, Richie Cunningham, Tim Seder and current kicker Billy Cundiff, knows nothing is settled until these guys perform adequately not only in practice with Parcells' attention bearing down upon them, but also in four preseason games in stadiums packed with 60,000 onlookers.

"I've seen their good demeanor - good mental outlook towards [practice]," Hoffman said. "They don't get nervous, they don't get rattled, they don't get too high and too low. I don't see anything in them that would make us think that they're just gonna fall apart.

"But, they've got to prove it in training camp - the first practice with a live rush and then in the exhibition games. We'll see at the end of August whether they've proven that they can handle that kind of pressure."

And we'll see if Hoffman has worked his magic with little-known punters once again. (Piland, DallasCowboys.com)

New York Post: TORRES THRILLED TO BE IN B'KLYN

A little football and baseball

2004-06-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sentinel: Israel directs Team Florida

After a week of two-a-day practices, it was finally time for Kyle Israel and his teammates to have fun.

"We're going to MGM Studios today," Israel said Friday after concluding another practice for today's Florida-Louisiana Football All-Star Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

Two-a-day practices -- at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. -- have kept Israel and the other high-school stars on Team Florida quite busy. But Israel said he and the others, many of whom he knows as old high-school rivals, have used the time to renew friendships before they begin their college careers.

As he did at University, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Israel will be the quarterback. It will be his last high school-level competition before he transitions to what he hopes will be an equally fruitful college career at UCF this fall.

Israel was the Sentinel's Orange County Player of the Year on offense after passing and running for almost 2,800 yards and contributing 30 touchdowns to the Cougars' offensive effort. He led University to the postseason for only the second time in the school's 12-year history.

Israel was not highly recruited out of high school, for the state produced a number of outstanding quarterbacks in 2003. But he did get some late looks from Florida State, Mississippi State and UCF.

"For a long time, I thought I was going to go to Florida State," Israel said. "But then I talked to Coach [George] O'Leary at UCF and I really liked what he was doing with the program."

Israel liked O'Leary's tradition of winning established as a head coach at Georgia Tech and his commitment to discipline combined with respect for his players. UCF's proximity to home helped in his decision as well.

There was another thing attractive about UCF. By going to UCF, Israel would be more likely to play earlier in his college career. Seabreeze quarterback Xavier Lee, Florida's Mr. Football for 2003, and quarterback Drew Weatherford of Land O' Lakes committed to FSU.

After UCF's tumultuous 2003 season that saw senior quarterback Ryan Schneider dismissed from the team and former Winter Park star Steven Moffett take over at the end of his freshman season, Israel knew the Golden Knights' program could be fertile ground for a freshman quarterback.

"I look forward to pushing Moffett," Israel said. "If I end up backing him up, that will be great. If I get a chance to start, that will be the icing on the cake."

It helps that Israel likes being in a leadership position and bringing pride to his school. At the end of the 2003-04 academic year, Israel was inducted into the Metro Conference Hall of Fame for his accomplishments at University, which included making the Class 6A all-state first team as a utility player.

"That was the first time anyone from University was first team all-state in anything," Israel said. "University was never known for having a good football team. I was happy that I could go there and leave the program better."

"I hope to also do that at UCF."

Former University star and UCF-bound Kyle Israel goes through drills for today's game. (photo) (Shelton, Sentinel)

BASEBALL

The Twins also have received a verbal agreement with righthander Matthew Fox, taken 35th overall. The sides spoke Friday with positive results.

"Things went very well," said David Sloane, Fox's adviser. "We had good discussions with Mike. I'm positive we will get something done very soon. During the beginning of the week, we should be getting something [announced]."

It's believed Fox will sign for around $950,000. He was 14-2 with a 1.85 ERA for Central Florida. (Neal, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

UCFAthletics.com: Meier Collects Freshman All-America Honor

FOOTBALL

UCFAthletics.com: Football Lends Time To Charity Event

Football Tidbits

2004-06-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

Dominic Ignelzi, a UCF football recruit who transformed himself from a 6-1, 320-pound ninth-grader to a 6-5, 295-pound major-college prospect through four years of high school, is melting a few more pounds in the Florida heat this week.

Ignelzi, who said he played at about 315 for St. Lucie West Centennial last fall, is on the 33-man Florida team that faces Louisiana all-stars Saturday at 7 p.m. at Disney's Wide World of Sports. He expects underdog Louisiana to bring some more heat.

"I think it will be a dogfight," Ignelzi said after Florida's first practice Tuesday afternoon. "Everyone always says Florida has the best high school football in sports. Louisiana is going to want to prove that wrong." (Collings, Sentinel) [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

NEW SIGNEES

UCF added Nassau Community College outside linebacker Glenroy Watkins to its list of newcomers for 2004, Golden Knights Coach George O'Leary said. Watkins, 6 feet 3, 230 pounds, will have three years of eligibility, according to Nassau. He is UCF's second junior-college signee, joining tight end Antonio Eldermire, a teammate from Nassau. In addition, UCF will have another new quarterback in the fall in Ed Marynowitz from Coral Springs. Marynowitz is a transfer from Division III LaSalle. (Tatman, Sentinel)

So, that Lawrence [KS] Journal-World article I posted about on March 13th was correct. Linebacker, tight end and now fullback are the positions the Knights lack returning numbers (and no incoming freshmen), so these two signings make sense.

Eldermire is also 6 feet 3, 230 pounds, but he will have two years of eligibility.

Nassau's Team Photo (#4 Antonio Eldermire, #5 Glenroy Watkins)

I'm pretty sure Ed Marynowitz is walking on like Pete Martinsen.

Update: 12:35 PM

BASEBALL

The Ironton [OH] Tribune: Angels pick ex-Pointer in draft

Dee will focus on baseball

2004-06-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

For most of his young adult life, Dee Brown has been asked when he'll settle on one sport. On Tuesday, he finally answered.

With no promise of a full scholarship for his senior season at UCF, Brown declared himself a full-time baseball player, surrendering his role as a two-year starter on the Golden Knights' football team.

[…]

He weighed two options before choosing a potential career path. Had he decided to remain in football, which pays for his schooling, he would go to summer school and go through an off-season workout plan scripted for football players. That option would have meant no summer baseball.

The second option, which he picked, includes summer baseball, likely in a wooden bat league, no weight lifting and no summer school. It also will require Bergman to invest partial scholarship money into Brown's education for the first time. (By NCAA rules, football scholarships cover tuition, books, room and board; baseball grants can be divided up among a broad number of players, and the division amounts are up to the coach.)

Brown, UCF's starting fullback in 2003, weighed up to 235 pounds as a football player. He now plans to drop 15 to 20 pounds, potentially increasing his speed and dexterity.

[…]

Shortly after meeting with Bergman, Brown informed football coach George O'Leary of his decision.

"That was out of respect," Brown said. "Coach O'Leary gave me the chance to play baseball again, but he also told me I had to do what I had to do. He understood."

[…]

Said O'Leary, "It wasn't a surprise to me. I had an idea about a month ago that this is probably what he was going to do."

Sophomore Evandall Williams is the only fullback in UCF's program with any college experience. The Knights had freshman Jared Spivey for spring practice.

The loss of Brown is the latest of several for O'Leary's program, for varying reasons. Sophomore cornerback Trae Gomes left the program after the spring semester after experiencing academic difficulties, and cornerback Rashard Johnson will not return in the fall. Like quarterback Jon Rivera, Johnson graduated in the spring but had a year of eligibility left. Rivera will not return, either. (Schmadtke, Sentinel)

I knew this day would come eventually. Baseball is clearly his best sport, so he should focus on it.

And, best of luck to Rashard Johnson, Jon Rivera and Trae Gomes.

MLB DRAFT

Caloosa Belle: Giants draft local player

UCFAthletics.com: Douglas Drafted By Anaheim In 26th Round

NFL KNIGHT

Charlotte Observer: Gaines learning from loss [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

MLB Draft

2004-06-08T02:00:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: Twins Select Matt Fox In Supplemental First Round

In all, Monday was a banner day for Florida college players, including UCF right-handed pitcher Matt Fox, a rising senior tapped by the Minnesota Twins with the 35th overall pick, between the first and second rounds.

"It's a dream come true," said Fox, who listened to the draft on his brother's computer. "I wanted to go as high as possible; I want to work my way up and get to the bigs. I know from certain articles that this is an organization where college guys can work their way up. So I think it's a good situation for me."

[…]

Ten picks later the Boston Red Sox selected UCF rising junior pitcher and former Lake Mary High star Kyle Bono in the eighth round.

Bono plans to play in the Cape Cod League this summer but is interested in the Red Sox.

"If Boston is really interested, I'll be there," he said. (Robbins and Collings, Sentinel) [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

MLB.com Comments: Matt Fox

LONG, ATHLETIC FRAME. GOOD OVERALL STRENGTH & DEVELOPMENT. GOOD PITCHERS BODY. BUILT SIMILAR TO MATT CLEMENT. NO WINDUP, HIGH 3/4 OVERHEAD ARM ANGLE. LONG, LOOSE ARM ACTION, WORKS GOOD. SOLID AVG FB VELOCITY, MOST 90-91 W/ OCCAISIONAL SMALL CUTTER ACTION. NEAR DOWNER CB W/ GOOD ROTATION & BITE, POTENTIAL OUT PITCH. FEEL FOR CHANGE W/ DECEPTION. RHP W/ GOOD ARM STRENGTH. THREE POTENTIAL AVG PITCHES. CB HAS CHANCE TO BE OUT PITCH. (MLB.com)

Two local players who were drafted as high school seniors in 2001 but chose to go to college both had their decisions validated Monday by jumping into the top three rounds, which means bigger signing bonuses.

Matt Fox, who is from Coral Springs and went to Central Florida, was tabbed by Minnesota with the 35th overall pick in the supplemental round, which comes between the first and second rounds.

Jeff Fiorentino, of Hollywood, played at Florida Atlantic and was the 79th player selected, going to Baltimore in the third round.

Both are juniors, the first year four-year college players are eligible for the draft, and both will forgo their senior years and head to the minors. Based on previous drafts, Fox could get close to $1 million and Fiorentino around $500,000 as bonuses.

"It's a dream come true to get drafted," Fox said. "Now I have to work my way up to the bigs."

Fox went to Douglas High and was the 188th pick by Arizona in the 2001 draft but chose college over the Diamondbacks and was 14-2 with a 1.85 ERA this season for the Golden Knights.

Fox said he will be reporting to the Twins minor league complex in Fort Myers later this week and then expects to be sent to play for the Elizabethton (Tenn.) Twins of the Appalachian League.

Fox (6 feet 3, 190 pounds) struck out 125 in 1112/3 innings this season. His brother Mike also played at Douglas and UCF and was drafted by the Cardinals in 2001 but is now out of baseball. (Hutton, Sun-Sentinel)

No. 35: Matt Fox, RHP, Central Florida, 6-2, 192: Fox went 11-2, 2.02 this season, his first full season not being a two-way player. He has got some things that need to be smoothed out, but the payoff could be big. He has the basic four-pitch mix (fastball, curve, slider and changeup) and has hit 96 mph on the gun. (Neal, Minneapolis Star Tribune) [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

Of the sandwich picks, right-handed pitcher Matthew Fox from the University of Central Florida was at No. 35 overall. The 39th pick was used on another pitcher -- right-hander Jay Rainville of Bishop Hendricken School in Rhode Island.

"All the pitchers we took fit in the criteria as future starting pitchers, guys that give us innings, have a mix (of pitches), have durability and big strong body guys," Radcliff said. "We feel very fortunate to get the guys in that compensation area."

Fox, 21, was 14-2 this season with a 1.85 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 17 starts. The 6-foot-2, 192-pounder was named Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, Collegiate Baseball News First Team All-America and second team All-America by USA Today/Baseball Weekly. (Sheldon, MLB.com)

Joining the trio in the opening round was Central Florida right-hander Matt Fox, who was the 25th [sic] pick by the Minnesota Twins. Fox was UCF's ace, going 14-2 with a 1.85 ERA this season.

"It is a great feeling to know all of the hard work paid off," Fox said. (Associated Press)

Seven former Staunton Braves had their names called Monday during the first day of Major League Baseball's amateur draft.

Matt Fox, a Staunton pitcher in 2002 and '03, was the first Valley Baseball League player selected. The Central Florida junior was taken by Minnesota with the 35th overall pick during a series of compensatory picks at the end of the first round.

He is the fourth first-round pick in Central Florida history.

Fox was a first-team All-American this spring, finishing with a 14-2 record and a 1.85 ERA. Opposing hitters batted .191 against Fox, who struck out 125 in 111.2 innings.

[…]

Clay Timpner, another Central Florida player, was taken 130th overall by San Francisco in the fourth round.

Timpner, a junior center fielder and a Brave in 2002, hit .371 and led Central Florida with six home runs, six triples, 20 doubles, 96 hits and 69 runs scored. (Staunton [VA] News Leader staff report)

1:58 PM ET: Matt Fox (#35 to Twins)
Righthander Matt Fox gave up playing shortstop after going 3-4, 6.60 his sophomore year at Central Florida and added a power slider as a junior to finish 14-2, 1.85 with 125 strikeouts. (Kimmey, Baseball America)

MLB.com Comments: Clay Timpner

STRONG, SOLID, WELL PROPORTIONED BODY. SQUARE SHOULDERS. GOOD OVERALL STRENGTH. PLENTY OF ROOM FOR FUTURE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, ESPECIALLY UPPER BODY. BUILT SIMILAR TO STEVE FINLEY. SLIGHT OPEN STANCE. LINE DRIVE STROKE. GENERATES GOOD BAT SPEED. DRIVES BALL TO ALL FIELDS. SOLID ARM STRENTH W/ CARRY. REACTS WELL TO FLY BALL. RUNS 6.92 60 YD . GOOD LOOKING ATHLETE WHO CAN PLAY ALL 3 OUTF POSITIONS. CHANCE TO BE SOLID DEFENSIVE OUTF. (MLB.com)

With their fourth-round pick, the Giants took Central Florida junior Clay Timpner, a speedster who stole 43 bases in 49 attempts this season. (Jonathan Okanes, Contra Costa Times)

San Francisco's fourth-round pick was outfielder Clay Timpner of the University of Central Florida, who hit .371 with 34 RBIs this season for the Golden Knights. Timpner boast a line-drive bat, can run well and plays all outfield spots.

Timpner also has great potential. He has good overall strength and generates quick bat speed. He has a build similar to Arizona's Steve Finley -- and they're hoping he can hit the same.

Timpner is fast afoot and gets good jumps on outfield flies. (Draper, MLB.com)

There is also a photo of Clay in the field at the top of the article.

Here is an interesting post about Kyle Bono by SoxScout on Sons of Sam Horn:

Well I just got off the phone with the the guy that told me about Sox wanting Fox... He said that his last few games really shot him up the draft.

He has seen UCF a few times a year, and said that Bono is the real deal... but he told eveyone [sic] that he will not be signing this year. He wasn't really special until this season, and after next year he could be a 1st or 2nd rounder (Says he, "Will end up pitcher of the year for the conference.")

EIT [sic]: He will also be playing down the Cape this summer.

Good luck fellas.

'Noles eliminate Knights

2004-06-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

UCFAthletics.com: #20 Baseball Stops #16 Florida State

UCFAthletics.com: #20 UCF Falls To #16 Florida St. In Regional Championship

Seminoles.com: UCF Forces Second Game In Sunday's NCAA Tallahassee Regional With 7-5 Victory

Seminoles.com: FSU Advances To Super Regional With 19-3 Win Over UCF

NCAAsports.com: 2004 Division I Baseball Championship: UCF 7, Florida State 5

NCAAsports.com: 2004 Division I Baseball Championship: Florida State 19, UCF 3

Sentinel: UCF, FSU split but Seminoles move on

WESH.com: Pat's 2 Cents: Baseball Gods Should Smile On Bergman

Tallahassee Democrat: Seminoles save best for last with five-homer explosion

Tallahassee Democrat: Astounding recovery

Temperatures rising

FSU and Central Florida went at it like heated rivals on Sunday. A fan was tossed out of the park during FSU's 19-3 second-game victory. And Rhett James and UCF catcher Ryan Bono had a little contact when UCF pitcher Derek Abriola threw high at James in apparent retaliation for James' double in the seventh. It was the first hit for James as a Seminole, and he celebrated after delivering it. Assistant coach Mike Futrell was tossed during the dispute that followed.

Coaches Mike Martin and Jay Bergman were quick to calm the two teams. Martin said he had no choice but to put pitchers in the lineup.He played Kevin Lynch at third. He said the other choice was to keep starters in the game after FSU had taken a big lead.

"(Bergman) and I go back 30 years and there was no way anything was going to happen, " Martin said. "Their young men were obviously tired ..." ( Ellis, Tallahassee Democrat)

St. Petersburg Times: Seminoles rout weary UCF

Daytona Beach News-Journal: FSU needs two to knock out UCF

Miami Herald: Seminoles rout UCF [Registration - BugMeNot.com]

The Palm Beach Post: Drew homers twice to lead FSU past UCF

AP Wire: UCF 7, Florida State 5

AP Wire: Florida St. 19, UCF 3

Mike Billek's Game Score vs Florida State - Game 1 (Jun 06, 2004): 42 (ND)

Brett Bordwine's Game Score vs Florida State - Game 2 (Jun 06, 2004): 18 (L 1-1)

Thanks for the great season guys.

MLB DRAFT

According to Baseball America, the players the A's have most heavily scouted are: Stanford outfielder Danny Putnam, University of Texas closer Huston Street, Miami-Ohio first baseman Mike Ferris, Central Florida right-hander Matt Fox, Arizona State shortstop Dustin Pedroia, Cal State Fullerton catcher Kurt Suzuki, University of Texas left-hander J.P. Howell, and North Carolina State right-hander Michael Rogers. (Suchon, Oakland Tribune)

It's a second consecutive thin year for pro draft prospects in Central Florida, after current Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke led a bumper crop of area players into the draft in 2002.

Apopka outfielder Michael Taylor is clearly the top prospect. He has been projected as high as the first round and is listed as a third or fourth round by talent by Baseball America. But signability is an issue. Taylor signed with Stanford, which has a history of keeping its players from the draft.

Last year's top area pick, Taylor Meier of Orangewood Christian, was picked in the 21st round by the Milwaukee Brewers and opted to instead play college ball for UCF, where his stock has soared.

Here are 10 Central Florida prep seniors with the best chance to be drafted, listed alphabetically:

[…]

Ryan Horton, Bishop Moore, LHP - UCF recruit was recruited by high majors and had a big senior year (10-3)

[…]

Pat Wandtke, West Orange, LHP/1B - Big, strong slugger (10 HR) also has pro possibilities as a pitcher (Collings, Sentinel)

Sentinel: MLB Draft plays havoc with college team's rosters

BASKETBALL

Freshman guard Mike O'Donnell of Largo, Fla., is transferring from North Carolina State to Central Florida. He played in 30 games and started seven last season. (Hodge, CollegeSports.com)

PG Mike O'Donnell is transferring from N.C. State to Central Florida. With the Wolfpack, O'Donnell had moments where his insight into the game and quickness helped make him a factor, but he wasn't big (5-11, 160) or dynamic enough to be consistent. (DeCourcy, Sporting News)

Mike will be a redshirt sophomore in 2005-06 after he sits out this upcoming season.