UCF gets a mention.

Looks worse than we did against Rutgers 😂

Former UCF offensive tackle signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad.

So mad, I had this whole thing written up and lost it so this is now the 2nd take which is never as good as the first…

It truly amazes me how UCF can be so dominating in a game and then flip the script to the complete opposite and get dominated in the same game. It would be one thing if this game was an outlier but we have seen this play out numerous times over the last few years including last year in the same stadium against usf. It is just hard for me to understand how we look the way we did in that first quarter, score 14 pts in a blink of an eye, don’t let Tech even get a yard of offense on their first few possessions, literally drive 98 yards for our 2nd score and then muster only 3 more pts the rest of the game? How is that possible? It is one thing if we were playing good and then bad but we were playing out of our minds incredible and then went the complete opposite direction. We appeared to have more talent, speed, size, etc… it is hard for me to process and this is becoming a trend for Gus. My only thought is that when any bit of adversity hits we don’t fight through it like we should. We tighten up, we start playing nervous like we are expecting bad things to happen and then they do. Basically the opposite of how we played in 17 with Milton. In this game we were about to go up 21 and we had the Harvey fumble, then dropped TD from Hudson, then missed fg and squandering pts for half, then forego fg for 4th and 13 after converting it only for it to get reversed with holding call. It is like we kept punching ourselves in the balls instead of just putting the BS behind us and playing hard. It is a crazy thing to behold. NOTE I watched game in person, I did not watch it back yet so may have missed some pts so keep that in mind…

UCF Fast: Would have been a lot different had I given these out after the first quarter…

• Javon Baker: I have felt all season that he has been a mismatch in UCF’s favor and even though he has had decent stats we could have used him more. He always seems open between his size, speed, route running, hands, catch radius. I know he is a lot off the field but on the field he is really really good. I am just perplexed why we didn’t continue to go to him after he made it look like he was being covered by a High School kid in the 1st quarter. Glad he is coming back.
• 
  
• Decorian Patterson: I know it wasn’t the season we had all through it would be for him but he played really solid tonight filling in for Thornton. He tackled well, had to make a lot of run support tackles unfortunately. Covered well, thought he played a solid game. In the end whether it was him or Thornton not sure it would have changed anything this year though.
• 
  
• Hard Rock Craps: I am a craps player, first time in my life I was able to play legitimate craps at a Florida Casino. I always said that was the dumbest ass law that the casino could have black jack and roulette but no craps. Glad that stupidness is done. Went up big in the afternoon prior to leaving for the game. Came back late that night played into the early morning spewing it all back and then some. Fun as hell though.

UCF Slow:

• Harvey Fumble: He is too damn good to fumble as much as he does. He just cant fumble there. If he didn’t we would have had 1st down with in 30 yards of Tech endzone up 14-0. Complete momentum shift and started the crap flowing downhill that i alluded to above. We literally scored 3pts for the rest of the game. This fumble likely cost us points. Other then the fumble he had a solid game, avg 8 yards a carry, only got 15 carries which is another issue. Totally abandoned the run for some unknown reason, playing like we were down 14 when we were down 3.
• 
  
• Kobe: Much like my note about Harvey above, Kobe is too damn good to drop so many passes. That was a HUGE drop in the endzone. Great ball from JRP, we do end up making that field goal but that is a 4pt swing. It all added up in this game.
• 
  
• Boomer: Another really confounding thing for me is how this kid looks automatic, cant miss EVER to what we are dealing with now where we cannot even trust him from anywhere on the field. How the hell did this change so much in the matter of a few games. I know we joke about having the yips but he went from one of the strengths of the team to a liability. Boomer cost us at least 6pts today. I wish I had the backstory on this, is it really in his head or is there an injury or what? Even his kick offs were so short, I thought maybe that was by design but he routinely put those in the back of the endzone and then last night and in other games they have come up lame. Ever since Texas Tech he has been a different player.
• 
  
• Gus: I think he had two especially bad calls during the game, the first was not running another play before half with 8 seconds. We had 3 yards to first down and not that much further to endzone. I realize we have squandered these possessions in the past and that is likely what factored into his decision making to kick the fg but the fact we missed it was just brutal. In my opinion you got to roll out JRP and give him 2 reads and he throws it away if it isn’t there and you kick. You had plenty of time to do that and even if a bone headed play resulted in getting tackled short of the endzone you likely have time to spike it because clock would stop for first down although it would be tight. Again, if he makes the kick this isn’t as brutal of a decision but we have to get points there. 2nd was to forego the field goal and go for it on 4th and 13. I get why you would do that down 21 but at that point we were down just 3 pts. That is a very makeable field goal. Obviously, he lost all trust in Boomer but it is a 3pt game, it is the 3rd quarter. I rather Boomer miss it then to go for it in that position, I think it looked like a panicked decision. Like we had to get a TD or the game was over type thing. Bad for team psyche in my opinion and even with Boomer kicking badly the chances of converting 4th and 13 vs. a 40 something yard fg cannot be that great, if it was 4th and short obviously you go for it like we did the play before. This is just another decision that plays into the whole game script of letting things continue to fall apart playing tight.
• 
  
• Run Defense: Another confounding point for me is HOW we are still unable to stop the run. It has been an issue all season and we haven’t been able to fix it or even look like we have made strides to fix it. Tech completed 7 passes. It was like watching Navy. They ran it every time and we knew it was coming and could do nothing to stop it. This is with a DL that was fully healthy and playing as far as I could see, Hunter, Barber, Brash, Celiscar, had all the LBs out there, I get they have struggled all year to stop the run but this had to be a major point of focus AND we went up 14-0 which usually means the opposing team will need to pass and we let them off the hook. Painful to watch us get gashed for 10 yards every time, another 290 yard rushing performance, 175 in the second half!!! How?
• 
  
• Karen Trying to Kick me Out of Suite: Went into a Tech suite to say high to GOL. I was invited in, with a bunch of x players for Tech but was wearing UCF gear. I was not eating or drinking anything nor was I cheering or being belligerent. I was just standing in the back talking to the guys. This lady aggressively came up to me said I had to leave for wearing a UCF logo on jacket. I thought she had to be kidding at first, so did everyone else, but she kept getting crazier and crazier about it. Came at me multiple times over the course of 10 or so minutes. Such an odd moment. She gets a slow for being an imbecile. Mind you UCF was losing by 10+ at this point, early 4th quarter.

When they first announced the ball game was likely going to be against Duke I was completely indifferent to it, just happy we were in a bowl. When I heard it was going to be Tech in Tampa I was much more fired up. I have a lot of friends form the Oleary UCF days that would be in town that we could catch up with which was fun. Got to see coach, and several buddies and the game meant more then one would have against Troy or Duke or whatever. GOL was undefeated last night, sat on UCF side in first half and Tech side in 2nd half. Glad we made a bowl in our first season in the Big 12, had a great time at the bowl game, had a great time playing craps. I am excited for next year with Baker and RJ coming back. We need to focus on bolstering that run defense for sure and whatever we need to do in the offseason to get the team to respond better to adversity needs to be the focus. Big picture the team did respond with the late run to make the bowl game but on an individual game basis we didn’t get it done. Hoping with the key guys coming back next year we can figure out a way to get over that hump. Go Knights!!!

PS: I may do a post season awards Fast & Slow if I get time this week.

A look around the conference here..

Cure Bowl benefited moving from ESPN to ABC and Drew 1.9 Million viewers this year (up from 1.4 Million previous year on ESPN).

Boise St/UCLA won last Saturday (for college games) with 2.38 Million viewers for that late game.

Welcome to The Knighted One’s Podcast, Episode number 18. We are the ONLY podcast that features a former UCF National Champion, a former UCF radio host, and several podcasters shooting the breeze, talking UCF Sports.

This week we Complain, Reflect, Celebrate, and Calibrate. Join us in our fandom

Please comment for subjects that we should cover in our Intern Re-Education segment!

Introductions

Text Talk, The Toilet Bowl. - 00:02:40
- Colton Obarski, Dead Leg, and Kicking Grenades
- No Cap and No Game Prep
- Stacking The Box
Techtastrophy! – 00:18:00
- Tip Toeing On Defense
- Playing Complementary Football And Playing To Their Strengths
- Player Productivity Vs Adjustments
- Offensive Offense Analysis
- A lot To Say But Not Much To Say
- The Rush Defense, Over and Over Again - Analyzing Tech's Offense
- Lessons In Defensive Futility
- Fundamental Faux Pas
- Adjustments And The Lack Thereof
- Strategic Injuries
- What Does This Game Mean For Next Season
- Have We Improved This Season And What Is Our Trajectory
- Allen And Tre Take Turns Yelling At Clouds
Brief Signing Day Review – 01:08:00

Listener Love And Old Guy Rap Battles – 1:16:00

Hoopin' And Hollerin' – 01:21:00
- FAMU Review
- Skylwalker Is Back
- Transition Offense
- Pressing For Wins
- Turnovers
- Allen Is Picking Up His Game
- Challenges In The SEC Of Basketball

Allen's Oxymoronic Depressing Stats Of The Week – 1:32:00
- Tre Calls Himself NGE

UCF Athletic Sports Update – 1:37:00

Big 12 Bowl Recap – 1:38:00
Final Thoughts –
#ucf, #ucffootball, #UCFsports, #TK1, #ucfhoops, #ucfwomensbasketball, #ucfvolleyball

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Welcome to The Knighted One’s Podcast, Episode number 18. We are the ONLY podcast that features a former UCF National Champion, a former UCF radio host, and several podcasters shooting the breeze, talking UCF Sports.

This week we Complain, Reflect, Celebrate, and Calibrate. Join us in our fandom

Please comment for subjects that we should cover in our Intern Re-Education segment!

Introductions

Text Talk, The Toilet Bowl. - 00:02:40
- Colton Obarski, Dead Leg, and Kicking Grenades
- No Cap and No Game Prep
- Stacking The Box
Techtastrophy! – 00:18:00
- Tip Toeing On Defense
- Playing Complementary Football And Playing To Their Strengths
- Player Productivity Vs Adjustments
- Offensive Offense Analysis
- A lot To Say But Not Much To Say
- The Rush Defense, Over and Over Again - Analyzing Tech's Offense
- Lessons In Defensive Futility
- Fundamental Faux Pas
- Adjustments And The Lack Thereof
- Strategic Injuries
- What Does This Game Mean For Next Season
- Have We Improved This Season And What Is Our Trajectory
- Allen And Tre Take Turns Yelling At Clouds
Brief Signing Day Review – 01:08:00

Listener Love And Old Guy Rap Battles – 1:16:00

Hoopin' And Hollerin' – 01:21:00
- FAMU Review
- Skylwalker Is Back
- Transition Offense
- Pressing For Wins
- Turnovers
- Allen Is Picking Up His Game
- Challenges In The SEC Of Basketball

Allen's Oxymoronic Depressing Stats Of The Week – 1:32:00
- Tre Calls Himself NGE

UCF Athletic Sports Update – 1:37:00

Big 12 Bowl Recap – 1:38:00
Final Thoughts –
#ucf, #ucffootball, #UCFsports, #TK1, #ucfhoops, #ucfwomensbasketball, #ucfvolleyball

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Looking for between 1 and 3 tickets to the game on Friday with club access. Not looking to spend a lot but the rest of the family decided they wanted to go after I already got my tix.

Daylan Dotson had a standout FCS career and now he's looking to prove himself at the FBS level.

The All-American defensive end from UT-Martin recently entered the transfer portal and visited UCF last weekend. The Savannah, Ga., native spent four years with the Skyhawks, earning All-Conference honors in 2022 and 2023. He combined for 16.5 sacks the past two seasons.

Dotson said he was appreciative of his time at UT Martin.

"I had a lot of guys from my high school go to big schools, but I didn't have many offers," Dotson said. "I was committed to Alabama A&M and the day before signing day they pulled my offer. Then UTM hit me up on Twitter that night and offered. I committed on the spot.

"I didn't know anything about UTM, but it was a chance to play so I wanted to make the most of the opportunity. I didn't really know the difference between FCS and FBS. I signed on the Wednesday in February and then went the following weekend on an official visit."

As a senior at Savannah's Jenkins High School, Dotson played mostly linebacker, recording 73 tackles and 12 TFLs while forcing seven fumbles and recovering five.

UTM thought he could develop into a defensive end.

"I had a successful career," Dotson said. "It came with a lot of work. We didn't have the same resources. All the big-time schools have nutrition and meals and stuff like that. We didn't. It gave me the habit of working hard. It really made me get better at my game.

"Coming into it, I didn't really know about playing defensive end. I played as a freshman which helped me going into my sophomore and juniors years. They let me play my game. At first our defense was sit and hold your blocks, then when I started playing they let us slant and play free."

Dotson, who is 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds, says his ultimate goal during this portal process is to choose a school to improve his NFL prospects.

"This is my last year so I'm transferring up to get my draft grade higher," Dotson said. "Some people go in the portal for money. I'm going strictly to develop. I want to improve my draft grade from like a 6th or 7th round to a Day 1 or 2 guy, top 3-4 rounds.

"At UTM, we played teams like Georgia, Boise State and Tennessee and I played well in those games. I think a full season of playing teams like that will help my draft stock."



UCF has an immediate need for a playmaking defensive end.

"My discussions with UCF have been great," Dotson said. "They're losing Tre'Mon Morris-Brash. They need a veteran guy to come in and play. Not just walk on the field, but try to replace the production they're losing. I was watching their bowl practice and I really feel I could play with them.

"Coach (Kenny) Ingram thinks I can be an every-down edge that can rush the passer. He said he he could tell I have great football knowledge so I'd fit in right away. I was impressed that he did his research on me. I want to come in and be an impact, not just a third-down guy."

What stood out about the visit?

"I like the campus," Dotson said. "It's big, but you have everything you need right there. You don't really have to leave campus unless you want to. The weight room and facilities were great. They have everything you need. Orlando is a beautiful city."

The recruits stayed at the Grand Bohemian in downtown Orlando and dined at the Capital Grille on International Drive.

"I had a good time hanging out with the guys," Dotson said. "I was with Kervins Choute, Keshaun Hudson and John Walker who was a freshman All-American. One of the linebackers, Walter Yates, he played at Savannah State. Troy Ford is from Savannah too."

The highlight was being able to meet UCF head coach Gus Malzahn.

"Growing up, I was a diehard Auburn fan," Dotson said. "I had a Cam Newton jersey. It felt supernatural meeting him. Him telling me that he feels I can play and go to the next level, that he can help me achieve my NFL dreams, that was supernatural."

Dotson's other offers include Troy, Ball State, Coastal Carolina, FAU, Liberty, Tulsa, Western Kentucky, Texas State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, FIU and Tulane.

He is planning to visit the Green Wave this weekend.

"I'll be making my decision soon," Dotson said. "I'm enrolling in January."

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The UCF Knights Men's basketball team got a nice pre-Christmas break win over Florida A&M, 69-56, to notch their 8th win of the season. The Knights welcomed back senior forward CJ Walker, who made his season debut after missing the first 10 games with an injury. While Coach Johnny Dawkins and his players are excited about the win, the Knights know they'll have to play better once they get into Big XII conference play.

Just one more game until Conference play begins.

How do you grade the Knights so far?

Thanks for clicking here for the work of student correspondent Andrew Cherico for the Sons of UCF.

Join Eric Lopez and guest host Andrew Gluchov as they debate some of the current topics surrounding UCF Athletics.

In this episode, the guys recap the tumble in Tampa as the Knights get beat soundly in the Gasparilla Bowl. Not all the news was bad though, as UCF got word two key players will return on offense, how does this help the 2024 Knights?

Plus: Was this season really a success, what is JRP's legacy, is the new double transfer rule a good thing, and what about that lazy river?

Click here to watch from the Sons of UCF.

UCF vs GT is replaying on ESPN

Sophomore 6’3” 220lb

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recent youtube vid

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Curious what the dungeons thoughts are on what we should do with our football coaching staff

speechless...



Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year about all I can share...

Guess UCF will face him one more time. Bet he might even have his AARP Card by game time.


PS. He is not the same QB who's Dad is the PA announcer, right?*

Seriously. Medical. He just told us.