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UCF still after four-star CB Jakeem Jackson

Jackson updates his overall recruiting process after his official visit to Kentucky.

OT: NFL & Amazon announce annual "Black Friday" NFL game starting in 2023

Amazon and the National Football League announced today that in 2023, Prime Video will exclusively stream a newly scheduled "Black Friday" game the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. The first-ever NFL Black Friday game will take place Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 with an expected kick off of 3 p.m. ET. The participating teams will be announced when the 2023 schedule is released.

"Thanksgiving is synonymous with football and we're excited to give our fans another day of NFL action during this holiday weekend," said Hans Schroeder, Chief Operating Officer for NFL Media. "Amazon is uniquely positioned to partner with us for this game as Black Friday is one of the most important days of the year for their business."

"Thursday Night Football has already proven tremendously successful on Prime Video, delivering millions of viewers every week, and we're excited to expand our relationship with the NFL with the inaugural Black Friday game, starting next year," said Jay Marine, Global Head of Sports, Prime Video. "Black Friday is the unofficial start of the holiday season, and we're thrilled to kick it off with a gift for football fans across the country with this new game."

"We are gratified by the NFL's support, and by the incredible reaction we've had from viewers to our broadcast, and are thrilled to give fans another game with Al, Kirk, Kaylee, and the entire TNF crew on Black Friday in 2023," said Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video, Amazon.

Through the first five games of its inaugural season on Prime Video, Thursday Night Football is averaging 10.8 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research and is up +48% from the first five TNF games in 2021 among viewers in the hard-to-reach adult 18-34 demographic, and up +25% in adults 18-49.

The NFL is the most valuable content across the sports and entertainment landscape with NFL games making up all 34 of television's most-watched programs since the start of September. Through Week 5 of the 2022 regular season, NFL games are averaging 16.8 million viewers per game.

The NFL and Amazon first partnered on game distribution as part of a Tri-Cast distribution model (along with NBC, CBS and NFL Network) of Thursday Night Football during the 2017 season. That relationship expanded in the spring of 2021 when, in the NFL's first ever all-digital package, Prime Video acquired the rights to be the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football.

Prime Video is the first streaming service to air a season-long exclusive national broadcast package with the NFL, with new pregame, halftime, and postgame shows as well as fan-favorite interactive features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats powered by AWS. Viewers can stream from the web at amazon.com or by using the Prime Video app, which is available on phones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles, smart TVs, and on phones and tablets with NFL+. Each Thursday Night Football game also streams live on Twitch and is available on over-the-air TV stations in the two home markets of the competing teams, as well as in Spanish language on Prime Video. The Thursday Night Football broadcast team includes legendary play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and five-time Emmy-winning analyst Kirk Herbstreit in the booth, with award-winning reporter Kaylee Hartung on the sideline.

@Brandon, HBD and how did you get started in all of this?

Happy Birthday B! Your radio reminiscing got me thinking... in the 15 years I've been here I can't ever remember hearing your story. How did you make this a career? Were you a fan first who decided you needed more in depth coverage? Are you an alum? If so what did you study and what drove you to make a career out of this?

ECU observations

Memphis lost the game last night due to turnovers. ECU has a really tall receiver that is pretty good and a running back that can hit the hole, but is better on the edge. The DL is pretty stout, but they don't have much depth. That QB runs hot and cold...hard to tell what to make of him. He should be a lot better given he is a 6 year player. If we play our game and the defense stays focused with their assignments...this is a very winnable game. My prediction (given continued improvement) UCF 42 EZU 17.

***Hawaii OL excited about UCF offer***

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Florida and the surrounding states will always be the recruiting focus under Gus Malzahn, but UCF is still going to recruit Hawaii.

Over the weekend, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach GJ Kinne issued offers to a pair of offensive linemen at Honolulu's St. Louis School, Laakea Kapoi and Jonah Savaiinaea. Both players were also offered by the previous staff.

UCFSports.com caught up with Savaiinaea to talk more about the offer.

"Coach Kinne introduced me to the new offensive line coach, Coach (Herb) Hand," Savaiinaea said. "He told me I will love UCF and I agree."

Savaiinaea is very familiar with UCF's Hawaiian ties. It all started with quarterback McKenzie Milton in the Class of 2016. That eventually paved the way for current starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel and offensive lineman Lokahi Pauole, both members of the 2019 class.

"I was a freshman when Lokahi played at Kamehameha as a senior and Dillon was at Mililani," Savaiinaea.

Another Hawaii player is set to arrive later this summer: Four-star wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala.

"Titus is my cousin," Savaiinaea said.

Due to the pandemic, it's been about a year since recruits were allowed to visit colleges but there is optimism that could change by the summer.

"I've always wanted to visit Florida and to receive a scholarship from UCF," Savaiinaea said. "Now I really have to visit."

Savaiinaea said he's really taken notice of UCF the past few years.

"Absolutely, I’ve seen UCFs offense dominate," he said.

In addition to UCF, Savaiinaea said he's been hearing the most from Arizona State, Notre Dame, Cal, USC and Fresno State.

Offensive/Defensive Rankings @ the Halfway Mark

We’re officially at the halfway point of the season after our first 6 games, so let’s see where UCF ranks statistically against all the other FBS teams so far.

#5 in Total Offense
#13 in Scoring Offense
#97 in Red Zone Offense
#49 in Passing Offense
#4 in Rushing Offense

#26 in Total Defense
#8 in Scoring Defense
#1 in Red Zone Defense

#44 in Passing Defense
#41 in Rushing Defense

***OC Chip Lindsey recaps big win vs. Temple, expects rowdy atmosphere at ECU ⚔🏈

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With 70 points scored and 737 yards, UCF's win against Temple might have been the most dominating performance in school history. Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey talks about the big night and also the upcoming challenge at East Carolina.

Recap:

Good win vs. Temple. They were able to recruit after the game. They executed at a high level. Some things to clean up.

Dominated the line of scrimmage. The OL is doing better every week. Coach Hand is doing a great job with them. Temple's defense had been playing well. Those guys played with an edge.

The WRs did a better job blocking on the perimeter. Helped with some long runs and passes. The backs ran hard. Protected the ball.

John Rhys Plumlee had his best game. Decision making was on point, his reads were really good. He understood trajectory on how to throw some of the balls.

Complete effort by the offense, though still a few things to clean up.

On ECU, they've got an athletic team so they need to continue to improve.

The success against Temple started with a great week of practice. He said Gus Malzahn emphasized to the team about being one of the teams that improves as the year goes on.

On things to improve, he mentioned a miscommunication between the QB/OL that led to a bad snap. Always looking for perfection.

JRP is getting more comfortable at QB. Several of his big throws were making the right read. He was most pleased with his decision to throw the swing route to Bowser, that was the last read of the progression. That shows his development of playing within the pocket. They know he can play outside the pocket.

WR Kobe Hudson has had a few good weeks of practice and it's starting to pay off. He had a smile on his face after the game. They need him to play well.

QB Thomas Castellanos, there was enough time for him to run some offense and make some throws. Future is bright with him. He had a couple things to clean up. Really talented, has a great attitude. It was great to see him have a breakout. He's going to be a good player.

On OL Tylan Grable's run, Chip mentioned he was a former TE. Played QB in HS. It was a fun play they had been working on for a long time. Almost scored. He's athletic. Grable said, "Next time I'll score." Herb Hand said that was the last play.

On ECU, their defense is athletic. They run to the ball. Play hard. He doesn't really know their staff, but has read about their HC and where he's been. Give a lot of different looks. He knows last year's game was close. It'll be a tough game on the road. They need to play well.

I asked about QB Timmy McClain over on the scout team, how he's been doing. "He's doing a great job, giving them a great look. He's an athletic guy. Timmy is in our meetings and then goes over to the scout team. Great attitude, tries to be a leader. Really pleased with him."

The reaction on the recruiting trail has been good. Playing the weekday games gives them great exposure. Recruits love the Space Game. Going to the Big 12, a lot of buzz.

Penalties haven't been as much of an issue as they were earlier in the season. Have to continue making that an emphasis.

On playing a road game, communication is important. ECU has a great tradition. He's heard about their stadium and support. It will be loud. The easiest way to handle those situations is playing well early so you're not fighting an uphill battle. Limit turnovers and penalties.

Chip doesn't believe in "trap games." That's a fan thing, he said. Mentions how last year's game was close.

Can you have a letdown after scoring 70? Talked about never being too high or too low. Said they scored 14 points in a game earlier this season. Every week is different.

What was the last UCF football game only available on radio? 📻

Was just thinking about this tonight... reminiscing about the early days of C-USA and some of the interesting viewing options.

In the first few years of C-USA, if the game wasn't on CSTV or a rare game on ESPN2, there was CUSA All-Access: An internet stream that usually had radio announcers + video board feed. Cost $9.95 month or something like that. Around 2005/06, a few of those games were aired on some random Dish Network channel which was better for viewing since it was a satellite feed and not a low-res internet stream. I remember watching the 2005 game at ECU on Dish Network, and I think I went to Wackadoo's for a similar broadcast of the Southern Miss game. Maybe Bright House was able to pick up those games.

Tulane, since they played in the Superdome and not their own stadium, never participated in C-USA All-Access. At least that was their excuse. The last game I remember listening to on the radio exclusively was the 2006 game at Tulane, a 10-9 loss.

In 2010, when UCF made their next visit to Tulane, they still weren't complying with C-USA All-Access so I think that game was radio only. There was some sort of local New Orleans TV station doing a broadcast, maybe for replay purposes, but it wasn't available outside of the city. I was at the game in person.

So I think the 2010 road game at Tulane was the last UCF game that didn't have a TV or video streaming broadcast?

@UCF_Video, do you remember?

OT: Nashville & Titans to Build $2.2 Dome, Final 4s and Super Bowl will follow

Nashville and Titans are expected to build a $1
2 Billion Dome with a translucent roof so that the city coukd easily host Final 4s and an almost guaranteed Super Bowl too.

Titans current Nissan Stadium is 23 yrs old.

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