2 in 127. $200 for the pair.

Listen, I know they had an interim HC and they finished 6-7 after losing to us and we played against Emory Jones and it was a neutral site but…..

You don’t have a 9-month swing in Spring and Fall practice and beat a top 10 team with scrubs. Obviously AR15 is a man, the Swamp is daunting and belief is a hell of a drug but that Gasparilla bowl win means something.

Anyone got depth charts of starters for both games?

I’m going with UCF -4.5.
I don’t think the cards are nearly as bad as they showed last night. That transfer RB from Tennessee looks like the real deal.

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btw is Marcus Jordan's new Trophy Room open in Disney Springs? I went there 2016 and got myself an Air Jordan 1 Chicago. This is pretty cool

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LOL - Great opponent at home yet BOGO attendance.

Not to beat a dead horse on the attendance thing, but I will be there… bringing some friends… hoping for that Cincy game type environment.. can some of you trackers share some updates on how things are looking ticketwise? Want to see the place completely filled and rocking

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It was quite the debut for quarterback John Rhys Plumlee and the UCF offense against South Carolina State.

Plumlee, a transfer from Ole Miss, passed for 308 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 100 yards and one more score. In all, the Knights racked up 605 yards of total offense in the 56-10 victory.

A day after the game, offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey talked about the performance.

Recap from the interview:

In a first game, you always learn about your team and how guys respond. The guys had early energy and played fast. He was disappointed though in tempo and says they didn't line up as fast as they should.

At times, the offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and others time they made mistakes. They got some different looks. He said Coach Hand and those guys did adjust.

The skill positions dropped too many passes, three or four drops. But there were some big-time catches.

Gus has emphasized they need to play better without the ball - blocking the right guys and finishing.

The running backs ran hard and protected the ball well.

JRP "did a lot of good things." Mentioned the fumble, but said five guys showed great effort in tracking the guy down. "That's something as a coach you're really proud of." He did some good things, but there are some things he needs to clean up. Passing wise, did a "great job" with some touch throws on wheel routes for touchdowns. With the exception of 2-3 plays, JRP got the ball out pretty quickly. Also made plays with his feet.

Overall, some things to clean up and learn from.

Lindsey said JRP needed the live reps. In practice, they usually get 4-5 plays in a row, then another group comes in. After 1.5 years of not playing QB, he did a great job of handling the information, checked protections and just got more comfortable in the offense.

Lindsey mentions how JRP does play physical.

Lindsey mentioned Gus brought the Wildcat formation to the SEC.

On WR Javon Baker, Lindsey mentioned how he made an unbelievable catch during one of his first practices. He's got great ball skills, plays the ball in the air as good as anybody, is physical. For a first time with a lot of game action, he can be special. He just has to play better without the ball.

Asked if anything pleased him or brought a smile to his face, he liked how TE Zach Marsh-Wojan's first career catch was also a touchdown. He was excited for him. He was also excited for JRP playing QB again and doing well. He liked seeing the new WRs, including Xavier Townsend.

Mentioned the old football cliche of making the most improvement from game one to game two.

Isaiah Bowser and Johnny Richardson are the only primary RBs that saw action. He was asked about R.J. Harvey and Mark-Antony Richards not playing. He said it was flow of the game. Isaiah is a "proven guy" who needs to get carries and Johnny can also carry a workload.

Asked about OL improving, Lindsey thought they played hard. Live reps are just different. Mentioned the veteran guys and newcomers, just working together and becoming cohesive.

On the tempo, Lindsey said their pace needs to be quicker. Get to the line quicker.

On TE Kemore Gamble, "what a great catch on the wheel route." A scramble play by JRP got him the ball and fell down, could have maybe scored. He can run for a man his size. The sky is the limit for him.

On Louisville, Lindsey said he didn't know much yet. He knows Malik Cunningham, who is from Alabama. This interview was Friday at 12 noon.

More on WR Xavier Townsend, Lindsey said it was evident early on when the freshmen got here that was "more mature" and might be ready to play early. His approach is great, very even keel with a calm demeanor. Came from a good high school program and had confidence.

On his first game in the Bounce House, Lindsey complimented the atmosphere and the student section.

I asked about the limited reps QB Thomas Castellanos got when he finally made his debut. He had five plays with "two minus plays." Had a good run on a draw. "It's fun watching young players get in the game. It's like watching your own kids, they're so excited. Tommy is going to be a really good player."

I have together in section 232.

Row 11 seats 1-2
Row 12 seats 1-4

Make offer

Looking for 2 tix to GT game. Taking my 6 year old girl to her first game. Go knights!

Imagine this offseason if UCF was coming off the Gasparilla Bowl victory against UF and then would be opening the 2022 season with UF in Gainesville TODAY.

After Danny White left, Terry Mohajir basically accepted the same 2-for-1 deal that DW rejected. But 2.5 years had passed and UF already filled their 2022 hole with Utah (that series was signed in 2019).

Of course, if this UF game had been on the 2022 schedule, I kind of think the Gasparilla Bowl matchup wouldn't have happened, but who knows.

Remember this from Mike Bianchi and the Orlando Sentinel in December 2018?

UCF AD Danny White to Gators AD Scott Stricklin: Help put an end to playoff monopoly, unfair scheduling​

In an email exchange between UCF athletics director Danny White and Florida Gators athletics director Scott Stricklin, White not only lobbies for Stricklin to schedule a neutral-site game with the Gators but encourages Stricklin — a member of the College Football Playoff Committee — to help him fix a “broken” system.

The Orlando Sentinel obtained the email exchange between White and Stricklin via a public-records request regarding scheduling a UF-UCF series.

The controversial back-and-forth between the two schools started right after the College Football Playoff selection committee announced the bowl matchups (Florida vs. Michigan in the Peach Bowl and UCF vs. LSU in the Fiesta Bowl) and vocal UCF fans on social media accused the Gators of ducking UCF in the Peach Bowl.

Stricklin then mentioned to members of the media that he would be open to scheduling UCF, which prompted White to send an email on Dec. 7 to Stricklin that read, in part, “I was excited to read that you are open to playing us in football and would like to talk more about that. We are looking for a home-and-home series beginning in 2021. ...We would also consider a neutral-site game if that would expedite the process of getting a game scheduled between our two programs.”

White went on to give Stricklin a list of future dates during which the two schools might be able to begin a home-and-home series, including the season opener on Sept. 3, 2022.

Stricklin emailed back and said he was aware of White’s philosophy of only scheduling home-and-home series with Power 5 opponents but reiterated UF’s long-standing scheduling philosophy regarding schools outside the Power 5.

“UF isn’t in the market for home-and-home or a neutral site games against non-Autonomy 5 opponents,” Stricklin wrote. “However, we would be open to a series similar to what we’ve agreed to with USF … two games in Gainesville and one in Orlando. We are in need of a home opener for the 2022 season, so the 9/3/2022 date you mention would be a perfect date to begin the series, and we can fill in the remaining games from there.”

White then seemed to take umbrage with Stricklin grouping UCF in with other “non-Autonomy 5 opponents” and sent a lengthy email urging Stricklin to help him change an unfair system.

“You mention not playing a neutral site contest versus a non-autonomy 5 opponent, but a UF vs. UCF game held in our state would certainly be a sellout, which would be a positive for both of us financially,” White wrote. “I think that our team has shown on the field that we are far from a typical ‘non-autonomy 5’ opponent.”

White continued and even went as far as comparing the College Football Playoff to a “monopoly.”

More here:


Florida hosts Utah tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

We handed them their first loss of the season by winning in 5 sets. Very exciting match. Way to go ladies!

Fun in season topic. Which state has a better group of college football teams at the moment.

UCF
Florida
Florida State
Miami
FAU
FIU
usf

UNC
NC State
Duke
Wake Forest
ECU
App State
Charlotte

Seriously. I’m sure it has probably been covered, but this situation sucks.

I get when we play on Thursdays for TV - but this is SC State. We could have opened up on one of the premium weekends in all of the fall and we instead choose to play on a Thursday.

TMo and team - fix this in the future (again premium and TV games I totally get having no control vs a Body bag game like this one).

Considering that Scott Frost will likely be fired at the end of year and that Jeff Scott will be as well, do you think this is a possible pairing?

With week 1 closed out here are my thoughts for the AAC

1 at least one team will get into the championship with 2 losses.
2 our hardest road game is ECU
3 Houston will likely not be in the championship game thanks to road games at SMU and ECU
4 Cincy was only competitive this week because ARK secondary couldn’t handle man coverage.
5 AAC championship likely to be UCF v Cincy or SMU with a slight chance of an appearance by ECU
6 usf only gets 1 AAC win this year Temple

Looks like Shaun King (long time USF assistant isn't being retained).

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Is it me or did we struggle running the ball against SC State? Bowser didn’t seem to be able to find room to run. Johnny looked pretty good when he got the ball. Why didn’t they rotate the backs and get touches for our supposedly deep running back room. It seems like rotating would help to build depth, keep Bowser fresh for the 2nd half and limit his injuries.

Long time member, rare poster here.

My family of 6 is trying to make our first UCF home game in 6-7 years. Our oldest kid is 9, and youngest is just under 2. Do we have to buy the 1 year old a ticket?

We are planning on heading down from the panhandle for the UCF/SMU game (hopefully to watch a couple of top 25 teams).

I know this has been a topic in the past, but just watching the highlight video from Thursday’s game and noticed how terrible the lighting is. When you’re in the stands you can’t tell as much, but on video the dimness and shadows of the players is almost embarrassing. Each player has four shadows, good lighting shouldn’t even cast a shadow. Holy crap, it’s so bad.

against UCF's schedule. ECU and Cincinnati are going to be monster games. Both have winning cultures and good head coaches. Haven't seen Louisville yet, but I am sure it will be a tough game as well.

Go get it Gus!

I love cfb

Hoping to rewatch UCF's win over UF last December! GO KNIGHTS!

Alright, I'm back after a hiatus part of last year.

8/28/2022 SC State Edition:


It's here. The season has started week 0...which they just need to call week 1...

You can smell the bermuda grass, grill cleaner and Cinnamon brooms creeping out at home depot.

The Halloween stores have just opened...

Ok, moving on...

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SC State Fun-Facts:

SC State is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina.

During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, many students participated in marches and rallies aimed at ending segregation. The struggle came to a climax on the night on February 8, 1968, when three students were killed and 27 others were wounded by state policemen at the height of a protest that opposed the segregation of a nearby bowling alley. The tragedy, known as the Orangeburg massacre, is commemorated by a memorial plaza near the front of the campus.

In an attempt to resurrect the shootings of the "Orangeburg Massacre", filmmaker Dan Klores made a short film entitled, "Black Magic" that debuted on ESPN March 16, 2008. Also set to broadcast on PBS in fall 2008, is the documentary film "Orangeburg", by Bestor Cram and Judy Richardson, both activists from the 1960s. Both films set out to shine light upon an incident that lacked media coverage on the night it occurred and days following. Since it commenced at night, no one expected the shootings and therefore limited pictures or television images were available to the general public. The little attention that this tragedy received was not all accurate either. It was originally perceived that this confrontation was fueled by "black power advocates" and that gunfire was exchanged between the law enforcement officials and the protesters. Later it was discovered that the victims were in fact all unarmed. The recent media awareness and film interest regarding this event may influence the passing of a bill that was introduced in 2007 to reopen the investigation into Orangeburg.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_State_University


UCF has beaten SC State before 38-0, twice...in 3 games since 2008.
----

Players to watch for SC state:

Zion Keith - DB, 6'1", 190. was a 3 star prospect recruited by Wake Forest.

Alex James - RB, 5' 11", 200. Transfer from Coastal Carolina.

Corey Fields - QB, Senior quarterback, actually very shifty, and can throw pretty well.




***Onto the REAL Beef*** (Or marinaded jerk chicken and grilled chili-oil-marinaded asparagus)

Weather forecast at 7PM Eastern kickoff:
Sunset: 8:52pm
Temp: 82F
Chance of rain: 60%
There COULD be chances of lightning delays...like last year. Because Florida.
PLAN ACCORDINGLY!!!
BRING YOUR DAMN PONCHO, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO MELT.


I ran 12 CPU simulations for a good math spread. Half with Rain, half without to simulate approximate rain chance. SC State was the HBCU championship winner. Also has a few FBS transfers. They will score at least once, early. We will start seeing more of the parity caused by the transfer portal this year.

SC State seems to score more during rain games in the sim. Let's hope for no rain. I also believe UCF should not defer the kickoff. I do expect UCF Offense to start somewhat slow, then will start scoring at-will. Including Corey Fields Jr, UCF will face at least 5 Dual-threat QBs in a row first 5 games.


Average of 12 simulation results:

UCF 58
SC State 28

Sim Avg Spread:
UCF -30 (Vegas: n/a 1:22PM 8/28)



"Heart" Prediction:

UCF 45
SC State 17

"heart" spread:

CENTRAL FLORIDA: -28 (Vegas be damned as they have NO line for this game)