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Ryan O'Keefe cemented his place in UCF Football history with his memorable performance in the 29-17 Gasparilla Bowl victory against Florida. The offensive athlete and return specialist earned the game's Most Valuable Player award with a bowl record 251 all-purpose yards, including seven receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown while carrying the rock four times for 110 yards.

During his 54-yard touchdown catch trot late in the third quarter to build UCF's lead, O'Keefe flashed the "deuces" as a tribute to former player Otis Anderson who had tragically passed just a few weeks prior.

In the month-plus since the game, O'Keefe said he's definitely felt the outpouring of love from the fanbase.

"I love Knight Nation," O'Keefe said. "I feel they're the best fans in the nation. I feel like no matter what they're gonna ride with us. I so much appreciate it. I feel I did my thing in the game, but at the same time it wouldn't have happened without my teammates. Without the blocks, without Mikey (Keene) throwing the ball, I wouldn't have done what I did. It's a team game."

Here's more from from O'Keefe's interview:

UCF just added another playmaker at wide receiver in Kobe Hudson, who was Auburn's No. 1 target in 2021. That's a big boost to the room which includes O'Keefe and Jaylon Robinson returning as well.

"I love it," O'Keefe said. "Like you said, with me, Flash and Kobe, those are names that are already known, but we've got young guys in the room too just as talented, just waiting their turn."

O'Keefe will be a senior this upcoming season. Can he believe it?

"Sometimes I talk to my dad about that," O'Keefe said. "He always told me college is gonna go fast. I was like, yeah, yeah, whatever. But now I look up and I feel like I got here a year ago. Now I'm a senior."

Mikey Keene returns as UCF's starting quarterback, but there's more competition in the mix this spring following the midyear additions of Ole Miss transfer John Rhys Plumlee and highly-touted freshman Thomas Castellanos.

"We love it," O'Keefe said. "We feel competition breeds success. With them competing, we're gonna get the best version of each quarterback. It's gonna help improve their game and help our overall game improve."

O'Keefe said the quarterbacks and receivers throw and catch three times per week during the offseason and at times they'll put in some individual work too.

"They're all coming along," O'Keefe said. "It's gonna be fun to watch them battle."



How does O'Keefe want to improve in 2022?

"My game IQ," he said. "I want to get a little smarter, figure out different things to help me get open. The top end of my routes, I want to improve. Just being confident each and every week."

He called wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt a "father figure" and is thankful Gus Malzahn hired him back into the program.

After winning nine games in spite of a rash of injuries, O'Keefe says year two under Malzahn is going to be even better.

"I feel like we're gonna run the table," O'Keefe said. "I feel we're gonna be one of the best offenses in the nation. That comes with preparation. We've got the talent to do it. We've got to get one percent better each and every day to become the best version of ourselves."

Being this should be UCF's final year in the American, O'Keefe wants to finally get that ring.

"I talk to Zay (Isaiah Bowser) about that all the time," O'Keefe said. "I'm like bro, we've only got one year left. Let's win it all. We've got the talent, but talent can only take you so far. It's the preparation and the work ethic you need to complete what you want to do."

O'Keefe loves being in a program led by Gus Malzahn.

"I feel like we're one big family out here," O'Keefe said. "Coach Gus is really a major part of that. He preaches family. He always wants us to do the right thing. Be the right person every day. I feel like the sky is the limit for this team."

UCF is in the midst of winter workouts before beginning spring practice next month. This will be the first full offseason working under head strength coach, Chris Dawson.

"Coach Dawson will get you right," O'Keefe said. "When he first came in I was like woo! It was way different. I was throwing up. I had never thrown up in workouts. My bench jumped 50 pounds. My squat has been going crazy up. Coach Dawson, I feel like he's one of the best in the country."

As a former high school quarterback, O'Keefe occasionally was utilized for some trickeration plays. He was a perfect 3-for-3 on pass attempts in 2021, two of which went for touchdowns. He's one of several players on the team that were former prep quarterbacks.

"I feel I'm the Lamar Jackson of the team because I can run and throw," O'Keefe said. "Out of all the non-QBs, I'm the best quarterback. It's fun. It's something special because you can surprise teams."

Bengals or Rams - what's his Super Bowl pick?

"I'm gonna say the Rams because of the Bengals' o-line, but I feel Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are freaks," O'Keefe said. "I feel it can go either way."

Who are his favorite players in the NFL right now?

"I love Deebo Samuel," O'Keefe said. "He's probably the top dude right now for me. I love watching him play. I feel I emulate his game a little bit. Tyreek Hill, he's one of the shorter fast guys. But for me, Gabe (Davis). Watching Gabe is probably the funnest for me because I personally know him. I saw him work every day. Seeing the amazing plays he did this past season, I knew it was gonna happen because he works so hard."

UCF alum and Buffalo Bills' second-year player Gabriel Davis just set a NFL Playoff record with four touchdowns in the epic Bills-Chiefs game a couple weeks back, including a clutch 19-yard catch to put the Bills on top with 13 seconds left. The Bills inexplicably lost however as Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs marched down the field in two plays to set up a game-tying field goal, then won the game in overtime.

"They've got videos of me running around the house going crazy just because (Gabe Davis) is doing crazy stuff," O'Keefe said. "Fourth and 13 and he caught a touchdown. I going crazy. I thought he was going to win. Gabe's a special player."

Seeing Gabe's success at the next level is also big-time motivation for O'Keefe, who hopes to have the same opportunity.

"It inspires me a lot," O'Keefe said. "I just saw Tre (Nixon) and Gabe today. They're back working. There's no offseason for them. They understand what it takes to be the best. I'm hopefully gonna get to where they're at."

Per UCFKnights.com website:


1,093 fans came out to witness an incredible opening night, the second highest attended game during the Ball-Malone era and highest for an opening night matchup. The crowd was just 69 spectators shy of becoming the highest attended game since 2019 and 144 shy of breaking the all-time attendance record of 1,236 which was set on Apr. 4, 2018 in a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Florida.

The Knights earn their first win in three tries against Georgia, with the last meeting being a close 2-0 decision back in 2017. Head coach Ball-Malone is just three wins shy of reaching 100 at UCF and four of reaching 200 in her career. The Black and Gold finished the evening with 10 total walks drawn, two shy of tying the team record in a single game.

UP NEXT
UCF is right back in action on Friday night as they host Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. The Golden Gophers, like the Knights, began the season receiving votes in the NFCA Preseason Top 25.


Lets Go Ladies!!!!!..

My wife is putting together a UCF themed basket in support of our 4th grader's elementary school. Does anyone have any new/unused UCF items they would be willing to donate towards this? We could also use cash donations to buy items.
@Mike_Lee @wardfamily do you think there is a chance I could get any players to sign a football or something? Figured it was worth asking.

I've been chasing StockX for a lost shipment for a few months now, my dumbass trusted it wouldn't happen again and a second shipment was lost - truthfully I think the employees at the UPS store are stealing high value shipments based on some odd behaviors when I dropped three things off and only one went missing.

Long story short, StockX says your packages are insured as a seller - they pay for shipment. Through this, they had this unpublished policy apparently where if the item doesn't leave the UPS store they wipe their hands of doing anything. in Dec they published this new phrasing - this was after the first shipment was lost, but before the second one.

UPS says the item left, but got lost in the distribution center - they say the claims are approved but that is where I sit stuck. StockX won't finalize the claim, they tell me to work with UPS, UPS says I can't do any more as I wasn't the shipper.

I'm out like $3500. Was thinking small claims court is my only option, but not sure if I have any possibility to win there.

New published language for clarification - this is what they are hanging their hat on saying they won't follow through with the claim:

"My item never left drop off / It’s been more than 3 business days, and I haven’t seen an update to the tracking information:

If your tracking information indicates that your package has not left the drop-off location, it is best that you reach out to that exact location for more information or to retrieve your item. Your item should still be at that location because there are no other physical scans."

I thought last year it really helped fill the gaps. Bowser, Big Kat. This year maybe not so much losing our star QB. The good news the revolving door has not stopped yet maybe we can strike gold.

And sustainable, clean energy.

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This probably means that Joe will sign an EO to shut down 14 of our nuclear power plants.

I agree...as why should a school have to pay for an entire semester of tuition, room and board when a player can enter the transfer portal in mid Sept? (And can't enroll at the new school till Jan).

I like having a calendar for transfer portal announcements.

Magic get Bol Bol, PJ Dozier (both injured/out for the season) a 2nd rounder and Cash at deadline for a 2nd Rounder....basically nothing plus cash for nothing....come on Magic, give Tacko a chance

CDC and Johns Hopkins released a study on natural immunity and it provides years long lasting immunity . Its time for public policy to recognize the 50 million previously infected people don't need vaccines .

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The 18th Judicial Circuit is hiring a full-time programmer. If you're looking to be a part of the Great Reassessment, this might be a great option for you or someone you know. Feel free to share far and wide. A little TL;DR, but there's some nuance beyond the salary.

This is a government role with low-cost, high quality healthcare. You can earn a pension in this role. I do not foresee any weekend work in this role or overtime. This is a mostly remote role, but there will be times that you'll need to travel on-site to Viera or Titusville. It's a family-friendly workplace. You will get more than the traditional days off, like Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

The salary is $75k and it's non-negotiable.

I work here and took a near $40k drop in salary to do so. The work environment and benefits are worth every penny of that potentially lost income.

Could you tell me a little bit about your background and how you came into this job?

I got really interested in space when I was young, just watching shuttle launches on the TV — it felt like astronauts were superheroes. And then that interest just kind of grew as I went through school. I went to the University of Central Florida for engineering, had an internship at the Kennedy Space Center while I was in school and I fell in love with it. Then I came out here to work on the crawler about two and a half years ago when I graduated.


I mean, it sounds exciting. It’s not something that most people ever get the chance to do. I’m kind of wondering what it’s like to drive a crawler, compared to driving a regular car or truck?

The first thing that hit me is we drive standing. And there’s a lot of different visual points that you’re checking. So in a car, you’re looking at the road in front of you, but on the crawlerway there are not a lot of reference points ahead of us. So we’re looking to the sides for different fixed points on the crawler in reference to the sides of the crawlerway. And so we’re keeping those in our viewpoint a lot.

The front right corner is where the cab is; it’s not in the middle. And so we’ve got one of our four sets of tracks directly below us, and one behind us. So a lot of times we’re checking where our front tracks are looking in reference to the front of the crawlerway ahead of us. And we’re also looking behind us to see how our rear tracks are tracking. Because the crawler steers from the middle, but we’re driving from the front right.

On the Sons of UCF LIVE Show #55: Former UCF LB Antoine Poe talks about the Knights' Linebackers and BJ Taylor joins the conversation about Men's Basketball ... both ONLY on the Sons of UCF!

Thanks for clicking here to watch.

He basically made the sport what it is today:

Nm

Why?

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He cant be 17 can he?

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I know this is probably a long shot, but does UCF keep an archive of research and term papers written by students, including undergrads? Back in the early 90s, I did a term paper on Russian/Ukrainian relations for my Eastern European Politics course. Given the current situation, I would really love to see what I wrote back then.

Some dude managed to steal a K9 patrol vehicle, went on a high speed chase and then ended up smashing into a car that was waiting for a train, pushing both vehicles into the train. Both guys and the dog were all killed. Guess the innocent guy was an elementary school teacher.

Man, when some people go crazy they REALLY go crazy.

Just curious to see what people think, given that we have a long history with some of these teams (ie East Carolina) from back in our CUSA days.

‘He’s a Military Genius’: Commanders’ Jonathan Allen Says He’d Like to Have Dinner with Hitler, Apologizes

Yea, I know they're no longer the Skins, but I'll call them that anyway. BTW, Hitler was NOT a genius. In fact, he was an out-and-out **** up.

Has interviews with seniors Gianna Mancha and Denali Schappacher as well as Head Coach Cindy Ball-Malone

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UCF head coach Gus Malzahn met with the media on Wednesday to talk about the transfer class and other topics. Spring practice begins in March.

Opening statement:

"First of all, I'd like to start out by thanking everyone that has prayed for my wife and prayed for our family during this time. It means the world to us. She's been back home close to a week now which is a true blessing and continuing to improve. Really want to give a shout out to our staff too. They've done a great job in my absence, allowed me to be with my wife which I needed to be. They've done a super job with that. I really appreciate our staff.

"The eight transfers, I wanted to say something brief about each one of those guys. We had our signing class and we were very excited about. We felt like we needed to identify a few positions to give us help. We definitely have done that. Our staff did a super job recruiting these guys.

"Starting off with (tight end) Kemore Gamble, a guy that's so versatile. I had a former player, C.J. Uzomah, who is fixing to play in the Super Bowl (with the Cincinnati Bengals). I think there's a lot of similarities. He's very versatile. He's like a receiver, but he's very physical too. We're very excited to bring him on board.

"Kobe Hudson, a wide receiver. I think I started recruiting him in the eighth grade. I know his family extremely well. Wonderful family. He led his team last year in receiving yards. He's a very talented young man that has a lot of leadership ability too.

"Lee Hunter, a defensive tackle. He's a guy that I recruited for a long period of time too. He's got a lot of talent. He's a wonderful person. He's got a wonderful family too.

"Terrence Lewis, a linebacker. Me and Travis actually recruited him real hard at the school we were at previously. We knew a lot about him. That really helped with the transition as far as that goes. Getting him here, that relationship with T-Will, him and his dad. We think he has a chance to be a phenomenal player.

"KD McDaniel, a defensive end, transfer from Kentucky. He's from the area that Big Kat Bryant is from. We recruited him at the previous school we were at, so we knew a little bit about him. He came on an official visit. We think he's got a real chance to really help us too.

"Koby Perry, a defensive back from Austin Peay. I think he was the Defensive Player of the Year in their conference. Bryson Armstrong, I think there's some similarities with that story. He's got a great spirit about him. He's a very talented young man. We're excited about him.

"(Quarterback) John Rhys Plumlee, he's a guy I recruited at the previous school I was at. Recruited him really hard as a matter of fact, to play quarterback. I just think he's got an unbelievable skill set to do a lot of great things.

"Ryan Swoboda, an offensive tackle. He could have gone to the NFL this past year and he chose to get in the portal. He's a local guy which I think is important. You remember how important I said that was the first day I was hired about keeping our local talent here. He's an NFL guy. He's going to really provide a lot for us. Even leadership.

"Then I wanted to throw in Colton Boomer. He's a five-star kicker. I know he's a walk-on. He's a scholarship-type player. There's no doubt about that. Now that he's enrolled, I can brag on him. He's got a huge leg. He's a really good athlete. He runs a 4.4, 4.5 which you don't see that in a kicker very much either. We're really excited about him.

"Overall, it's exciting to be back. I love our team. I missed our team. I'll tell you that. We've got some wonderful human beings, players. We've got a chance to be really good next year too. That's real exciting. They know that. We've got to work. They understand that. We're a year into this. Last year at this time, we were just trying to figure out our players. What we had, what we didn't have. We hit the ground running. We learned about our players during spring ball and they learned about us. Fast forward another year and it's completely different now. Real excited about this coming season."

What more can you say about the staff holding things down when you needed to be with your wife? I know there was a big recruiting event a couple weeks ago, plus getting those transfers in and getting ready for spring.

"Our staff is family. That's who they are. They didn't miss a beat. Lot of these guys, we've been together a long time. It was very comforting to me to be able to be my wife which I really needed to. It was in good hands. Our staff just did an unbelievable job with that. We're still working on '23s and '24s now. That period of time in January, that's what you're doing these days. We're off to a good start with that."

More on the post-signing day transfer additions, they happened to be four offensive players and four defensive players. Was that the plan or just how it happened?

"We're in a unique time in college football now. Roster management is so important now with the guys that left, you have a few departures, well you've got to look at the big picture. We've got some excellent freshmen coming in too. We're going to continue to build the foundation with that. You've also got to look, let's plug in in, what are our needs? That's really what we did. That was by design. We're blessed to have these guys. They're all what I'd say are real players. I'll say this: They're good people. We're not just bringing in a big-time player if he doesn't fit our culture. If he's not a good person. That's really important to us."

Can you talk about how you worked with UCF baseball coach Greg Lovelady on the recruitment of John Rhys Plumlee?

"Obviously they played Ole Miss last year anyway, so Coach (Lovelady) knew about him. He knew about this program. Baseball is very important to him. He's gonna do both. I'm excited about it."

A lot of these transfers are coming from the SEC. What does it say about your program that they are taking into that and how can that help your guys and benefit them working together especially?

"I think it says a lot about the program here and where the program is going. That people want to be a part. These weren't just backups that transferred. These were leaders in their specific category at their position. I just think that people know something special is going on here. We've been dreaming. We've been dreaming since Terry hired me. We're going to continue to do that. People want to be a part of that. That's real exciting. Like I said, we've got a chance to have a really good football team next year."

You talked a little about Colton Boomer. You had some kicking inconsistencies lsat year. Does he add to the competition for the starting position?

"I think you just said it. Competition brings out the best in everybody. Daniel (Obarski) did some good stuff. Played really good in the bowl game. Set some sort of record and helped us win. Colton in that competition, he's a real guy I think. We're looking forward to the spring and fall. Competition brings out the best in everybody."

John Rhys Plumlee and Thomas Castellanos were both added to the quarterback room. What kind of competition between them and Mikey Keene, Joey Gatewood and Parker Navarro?

"There's going to be great competition. There's no doubt about that. The two guys you just talked about, they're capable of creating when things break down which I think is very important in college football. Extending plays. Both those guys can do that. That's exciting. You can never have enough quality depth in the quarterback room. It'll be a great competition."

I know the transfer portal can go both ways. This being the first year of immediate eligibility, we saw it in full action, so how do you like it? You needed experience in the quarterback room, you got one. You needed a receiver and you got a leading receiver from the SEC. It seemed like it really worked to your advantage this year.

"I think it's a learning process for everyone. It's new. The great thing about here is it's a very attractive place. There were a lot of guys that are really good players we didn't decide to go on. It says a lot about this place and a lot about the future. It's something you've got to adjust. You hear some of these coaches, oh I like it, I don't like it. It doesn't matter whether you like it or not. This is the new reality in college football. The ones that can adjust, they're going to be successful. The ones that are all jacked up about it, it's gonna be tough on them."

Next week marks a year since you were hired at UCF. Does it feel longer? What do you think you've learned about yourself as a coach over the past year?

"First of all, I love this place. I knew it was a really good job. My comfort knowing Terry and working with him, that was real exciting to me. Now being here a year, it's even better than I thought. It's a wonderful place with wonderful people. Our fanbase is just so fun. So good. The administration here is unbelievable. Everything is in alignment. It starts with our president to Terry on down. That's really a huge key to having a chance to win a championship when you're the football coach. I love our players. I just told them a minute ago in our team meeting, I missed them. I just love who they are. Love being around them. It's set up and that's not coach-speak. That's not some kind of pipe dream. This place is set up. This place is a goldmine. I'm just blessed to be part of it."

You just said you can never have enough depth. Are you satisfied with the quality of depth?

"Oh yeah. I'm excited. You look at what Mikey (Keene) did last year and he was learning on the go. He did a wonderful job. Then the two new guys coming in. Parker did some good things with his feet. Joey played. It's going to be an exciting spring and exciting fall."

Speaking of spring, how will this team improve in this stretch coming up?

"In spring, we know what we have now. We can start building around those strengths. We were learning last year. We know what we have. We can be a lot more specific. We can improve and will improve. Give us that summer part to tweak things and get better. We're in a good spot. Last year, we won nine games and some of them were tough wins that probably weren't real pretty wins. But our guys found a way to win. You couple that with experience we've got coming back. We've got some real guys, some NFL guys coming back before these transfers. I probably need to talk about them even more. The guys coming back that helped us win that big bowl game and all that. It's all going in the right direction."

Kemore Gamble, he did very well and played against you guys in the Gasparilla Bowl. What can he offer and what do you expect his veteran presence can do with the tight end room?

"He's played in big games and played well in big games. He knows what that feels like. I think leadership wise can do that. Like I said, I think that's a pretty big compliment about C.J. Uzomah, one of my favorite players to coach. Just a true winner and obviously playing in a Super Bowl this coming week. I think there's some similarities just watching their film. When you turn on what C.J. did in college there's some similarities. That's real exciting."

I know you haven't worked with him on the field yet, but John Rhys Plumlee, what do you like about his skill set and does he remind you of anyone you've ever coached?

"I coached Nick Marshall. I don't know exactly, but there's some similarities. That 2019 year we played against them and he started against us. He was like a video game against some really, really good people. LSUs, Alabamas. So, yeah. He's got a very good skill set."

Lee Hunter, defensive tackle you just added from the transfer portal. A guy you recruited previously. Can you talk about more about him and what he provides to your interior line?

"Lee is a big athlete. I'll just say that. He's not your traditional tackle. He's an athlete. Lee's a really good person. He's one of those guys when I was recruiting him, he was just a joy to recruit and getting to know him on a personal basis. He's a very competitive guy. He's high school coach is a wonderful person. His mom is. We're blessed to have him. I think he's going to do real good. He'll fit in really good with what we're doing. It's going to be exciting to see what he does."

Who do you have on Sunday? Any former players you'll be rooting for?

"Honestly, I've not kept up or gotten a chance to watch any professional football with everything that was going on with Kristi. Obviously C.J. is a guy that I'll always root for. Hopefully I'll get a chance to watch the game."

How does Chip Lindsey's previous coaching experience benefit you and your staff?

"The thing about T-Will and Chip, we're really close. We've been together a long time. Been through the ups and downs, the heat of the battle. We've been on championship teams together too. Just the fact Chip is here is really good for me. He's a guy that we know each other well. We think alike. He is very, very talented. He is a great coach. He's a great quarterback developer. He's been a head coach. I think that's important at this level too. Just a great compliment to our staff."

You added Tre'Von Moore, he popped up on UCF's Instagram in January. What does he add to the team?

"We'll see. We'll see how the spring goes and I can get a little more specific."

How have the transfers integrated with the team and who has stood out in their limited time on campus?

"I think even last year, we brought in some transfers last year. Our team really embraced them. They took them in and extended that family hand right off the bat instead of, 'Oh, that guy is coming in to take my position.' There wasn't any of that. That says a lot about the leaders that we have on our team. It says a lot about our program. Like I said, I inherited some really fine individuals. Some fine football players. I told the last coach, I really appreciate him recruiting these guys. It's a blessing for me to coach. It's a great thing for new guys coming in."

Beating Florida in a bowl game and going to the Big 12 next year, what is that going to do in recruiting? A lot of recruits are starting to talk about those two things. How will that help your program?

"The biggest thing we've run into since we've been here is the non-Power Five. We've tried to change the narrative. We talked about that. For this class, that's no longer the case. That's a game-changer for us. We've out-recruited people. I really believe there's quite a few that felt this was the best place for them, but they couldn't get over that non-Power Five in their mind. That's real for young kids with Instagram and Twitter. That's real stuff. That is huge for us. That will no longer be the case that we'll have us be at a disadvantage. That's where it's real exciting for me. We recruited very well this past year, this past class, but it's fixing to be a lot better."