A Knight to Shine

By: Jason Smith

Energetic fans arrived to Bright House Networks Field chanting cheers of “Black” and “Gold” as the feeling of excitement with the start of the new UCF football season was in the air of the night. Among the crowd and pre-game chatter you could sense many of the thoughts and concerns among the thirty-four thousand plus fans. Thoughts of a new season, new hope and high expectations littered the hallways on a perfect September evening.

After last seasons disappointing 4 – 7 record, the Golden Knight fans are hungry for something proven, steady and reliable. The Knights had the services of several offensive starters including up and coming Sophomore Brynn Harvey on offense and Linebackers Jordan Richards and Cory Hogue who anchor a defense that lead Conference USA in rushing defense from a year ago.

This is the sixth season of Coach George O’leary’s tenure with the Golden Knights. His overall coaching record coming into last nights game was 78 – 69 overall, with a 26 – 36 at UCF.

The opening quarter of football produced little excitement for either sideline. Missed opportunities, mistakes and a lot of special teams play, equally a total of six punts between both teams were the only notable statistics.

The Knight’s opening season offensive drive stalled at midfield after an unimpressive opening play incompletion from sophomore quarterback Rob Calabrese. From the start, running back Brynn Harvey looked explosive and electric in his start for the Knights after rushing for 519 yards in 2008 as a true freshman.

UCF’s rushing defense looked in mid-season form in the opening half against the Bulldog’s rushing attack. Samford, led by Junior Chris Evans, averaged 172 yards per game last season was held to a total of 19 yards in the first quarter. UCF’s pass defense was also able to cause disruption to the Bulldog’s passing game sacking quarterback Dustin Taliaferro and limiting him to four completions for a total of nine yards.

UCF’s first opportunity to score and take the lead was nullified by a missed 36 yard field goal that was hooked slightly right hitting the top of the goal post by kicker Nick Cattoi.

After an excellent drive deep into Bulldogs territory, Samford would take advantage of a fumble by wide receiver Rocky Ross which rolled into the end zone only to be recovered by the Bulldogs. UCF’s defense held the ground attack to minimal gains and was poised to once again force the Bulldogs into a punting situation until an offside penalty gave Samford a fresh set of downs. The momentum shift was painfully obvious and once again Samford capitalized on two great throws by Taliaferro who threw a twenty-nine yard touchdown pass to the corner of the UCF end zone to wide receiver Riley Hawkins capping off an eight play eighty yard drive.

On the Knights next possession with 6:30 left in the half, Senior Brett Hodges replaced struggling quarterback Rob Calabrese. On the first play from scrimmage, running back Brynn Harvey broke for a game high twenty yard run. At this point in the game his longest rush from scrimmage was six yards in route running for fifty yards in the first half. On a crucial third and two the Knights were once again forced to punt giving away another golden scoring opportunity.

After a great defensive stop by UCF’s defense Samford was once again forced to punt setting another chance for Hodges and the struggling Knights offense to gain momentum and even the score. After receiving the ball with just under three minutes left to play the offense began an impressive drive aided by an important third and short conversion by Harvey with a tough run up the middle of the Bulldogs defense. With :57 left to play in the half, UCF’s Harvey once again carried the team on his young shoulders and scored on a one yard touchdown run.

UCF’s speedy freshman Quincy McDuffie returned the opening kickoff 95 yards to begin an electrifying third quarter.

The following Samford possession showed the future talent of the sophomore quarterback as Riley Hawkins caught a beautifully timed pass and scored 67 yards later. The scoring continued for the Bulldogs when senior Ryan Anderson returned an interception for a touchdown for 41 yards. With about thirteen minutes left in the third, the dejected crowd seemed to be taken directly out of the game.

I admire the poise from UCF’s quarterback Hodges after the next possession 1st down pass for 21 yards to begin the Knights drive. On this drive he alone was 4 out 5 for 59 yards. This drive set up another UCF rushing touchdown by Harvey from one yard. This was the first time he has rushed for multiple touchdowns while wearing the Knight Black and Gold. After a successful and gutsy call from Coach O’leary to go for two points the game once again looked manageable at 21 – 21.

A wild quarter indeed ended with a 41 yard field goal from Samford’s Cameron Yaw. To give you an idea of just how wild the third quarter was:

First half point totals for both teams – 14
Third quarter point total – 31

Makes you wonder what a coach might say during halftime doesn’t it?

After a 72 yard kickoff return by Darin Baldwin the UCF offense once again looked poised to score with a drive starting on the Bulldog’s 17 yard line. With a few mistakes and miscues including a key holding penalty on second down the Knights were forced to kick a 33 yard field goal that Jamie Boyle missed because of a deflection from Samford’s Bruce Miller which forced the kick to hit the bottom of the crossbar.

Samford’s next possession was stopped short by a great defensive play by Kehmal Ishmael to force a Bulldog punt with about thirteen minutes left in the game. Rocky Ross’ remarkable return on the ensuing punt for 39 yards set up the UCF offense with great field position.

The Knights great field position was nearly disastrous after a holding penalty on second down after Harvey rushes for a clear first down on his way to rushing for a game total 111 yards and two touchdowns. Once again, Brett Hodges comes up with a spectacular scramble and passes into the end zone to Jamar Newsome for six yards with just under eleven minutes left in the game. Hodges hit six different receivers on this scoring drive keeping the Samford defense off balance.

Samford’s following possessions were all met with opposing force by UCF’s defense forcing key dropped passes and stops on defense to end drives that originally looked to have potential for the Bulldogs. However, UCF’s defense held strong and bent but did not break for the remainder of the half helping the offense to seal up this back and forth battle between the two teams.

After the game Coach O’leary credited the Bulldogs in saying, “Samford played a good game” and this game, “was a character building type game with a lot of correctable opportunities.” The quarterback change made in the first half was due to Calabrese being “stagnant” at that point in the game. He also mentioned that he does not see any type of quarterback controversy between Calabrese and Hodges going forward.

The Knights next game will be on September 12, 2009 at Southern Miss at 7pm.

Jason Smith covers the University of Central Florida Knight football for the West Orlando News. He can be reached at doverjase@hotmail or on twitter at twitter.com/doverjase.