Sorry it took me so long to post this but it took me several nights to write the whole thing, I wanted to make sure it was done right…
Fast:
· Shaquem Griffin: I am going to miss watching him play for UCF. I am sure I will see him in the league, you find a spot for a guy like that. He was a fixture for the “UCF Fast” every week. He maybe my favorite UCF player of all time. I strongly believe he single handedly (I know) won several games for us these last two seasons. He was that disruptive on defense and if you go back and watch the game on every big play he is involved in some way. Throwing that huge block, applying pressure on the last pick of the game (two games in a row by the way), getting TFLs, forcing QB out of the pocket, etc… He is the player we will miss most next year. Not sure how you replace that motor and what he did was contagious. Thank You Shaq for everything you have done for UCF. You are truly an inspiration.
· Burkett: Loved to see him play so well in his last game. He struggled at times this season and the knock on him was lack of speed, athleticism, size, etc… but he played huge against a massive Auburn team. He looked every bit the part. It wasn’t just the pick 6, he was involved in a lot of big time plays. Very deserving. He is going out like every player wishes they could.
· Milton: He started off rough. Was high on his passes and at one point I think he was 2-14 or something crazy like that but he was no doubt the X factor. Auburn totally underestimated him and didn’t plan at all for him scrambling. Big time coaching error on Auburn. For every time MM ran the ball there was another time he didn’t but could have. It was almost like you could call whatever play you wanted and then just tell MM to take off. It was there all day. Then MM does the pump fake flip TD to Snelson that was just sick. That kind of stuff is special and it makes watching him so much fun. We were spoiled this year having MM and Griffin making each side of the ball so fun to watch.
· Offensive Line: I was worried that missing Evans was going to hurt the line especially against such a stout front but the O line did great. Brown who filled in for Evans was incredible, didn’t notice Auburn’s DL anymore then any other team we played. Neutralized by our guys keeping MM up right. This is the single biggest improved unit for our team. Loved hearing Wyatt talk about the comradery at the event last night. Makes me feel good about continued improvement into next year. Great job boys.
· UCF Knight Nation: We absolutely represented this weekend. I started off the first night in Savannah (which somehow is 4hrs from Atlanta) and was doing a black and gold chant in some pirate restaurant during lunch on Friday, LOL and then I get into Atlanta for the weekend and we do snow mountain with the kids, aquarium, Avalon, etc… and everywhere we go I see Black & Gold. It was at least 50/50 in the stadium if not 60/40 UCF and the UCF fans were definitely louder. I used to hear all the time that UCF was kept out of the big conferences because of the fan base, weak traveling, etc… and if that wasn’t shot to hell last weekend I don’t know what could convince them. On the ride home on Tuesday every single rest stop, gas station, chickfila, zaxbys, etc… (my God the South likes their fried chicken and biscuits) my wife and kids made me stop at was packed with UCF fans so much so that I heard a women complaining to her husband in Valdosta, that every place they have gone has had long lunch lines because of these “Central Florida Fans in town for some football game”. It felt great repping the colors and getting noticed. Honking the horn at all the cars on 75 with black and gold. We should all be very proud of how we represented. Well done.
· George Oleary: Say what you want about George but I have always been a big Oleary fan and was very happy to get to see him get a standing O at the game. Oleary built the foundation of the program to be able to take the steps we did this season. We should all recognize this and I hope to see Oleary around more in the future. He deserves more praise then he gets.
· Frosty: I have mixed emotions about Frosty. Feels like a hot one night stand you never see again. Two years went by super quick and I cannot believe it is over. One thing I give Frost credit over everything else is the recruiting. In two years to be able to get players to contribute on the field the way he did was incredible. Now the real test comes… does UCF recruit itself more then we think or was it all Frost? Do we think Frost would have had this same success in two years at Marshall? Likely a combination but if we can keep this culture going I think the recruits will keep coming. Frost will do great at Nebraska and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for what he did for UCF and wish him all the luck.
· Danny White: I cannot give DW enough credit in this post. Not only for finding Frost and Dawkins and getting things turned around but continuing to navigate this program in the right direction, even beyond where the fans may think we should go. This whole National Champions deal is brilliant. I have heard the folks that think it is bullshit but if you were downtown last night that was as real as it gets. Church Street was packed, people were loud and this was a week later after the Disney parade and folks still came out to party. DW gets it and he should have all of our full support. He hasn’t been wrong yet. I hope he takes his own advice and doesn’t jump ship for a bigger program. We can build everything we want right here and from the feel of the Excellence Fund after party the donors are ready to. People are going to step up now more then ever. Well done sir.
Slow:
· Field Goal Unit: The block and the miss were tough. We got up 10 there the game is pretty much over. We have to figure out a way to convert that. I thought the game was going to end up in overtime for sure. Especially after that BS call on Akins that took away our first down. I felt the whole time UCF was in control and had faith after the season we had that we would figure it out but we certainly made it harder on ourselves then we needed to with those misses.
· Finebaum & Every Other Stupid National Media Talking Head: Maybe the best moment was the Joey Galloway and Booger clip where Booger says the old line of “no way UCF is national champs, don’t sit there and tell me they could beat Bama or Georgia”. He said it like it was a broken record on repeat without even pausing and realizing how down he was for saying it when Galloway instantly said “well they beat Auburn who beat both of them”. For a moment it looked like Booger was a deer in the head lights then like the script says he goes right into questioning Auburn’s motivation. These people are an excuse factory. I watched that game in person like many of you did. We all have watched a lot of football. Auburn got BEAT, they didn’t mail it in. They were trying to win that game. Anyone that says otherwise is an idiot. It was a New Years Six bowl 2hrs from Campus not the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl. Give me a break.
In conclusion, this past 45 days have been the best football experience of my life. Watching UCF beat USF, Memphis and Auburn to cap off an undefeated season and claim a National Title was incredible. Being able to witness all of these games in person amongst my friends and family was just priceless. I also got the added bonus of seeing my Bills make the playoffs for the first time since Clinton was in office and personally attend the Jacksonville game Sunday (Thank you Mary Oleary for the hook up). I am not used to this type of football success and it feels pretty awesome. UCF has always played the underdog well. We were used to never getting respect and always being left out, mostly from the days of being excluded from the Big East. UCF is now positioning itself to take that role with the CFP. We are the best non-Power 5 team fighting the system begging for respect. I know we don’t want the one and done deals but with a team like ours if the right game opened up next year (like a 1 and done in Gainesville with their two lousy FCS opponents) I am all about taking that game. At least put it out their in the media so people know we tried. It’s a win/win for UCF. We have an apex predator team right now so let’s go get us some respect. Just keep winning Baby, Go Knights!!!
Fast:
· Shaquem Griffin: I am going to miss watching him play for UCF. I am sure I will see him in the league, you find a spot for a guy like that. He was a fixture for the “UCF Fast” every week. He maybe my favorite UCF player of all time. I strongly believe he single handedly (I know) won several games for us these last two seasons. He was that disruptive on defense and if you go back and watch the game on every big play he is involved in some way. Throwing that huge block, applying pressure on the last pick of the game (two games in a row by the way), getting TFLs, forcing QB out of the pocket, etc… He is the player we will miss most next year. Not sure how you replace that motor and what he did was contagious. Thank You Shaq for everything you have done for UCF. You are truly an inspiration.
· Burkett: Loved to see him play so well in his last game. He struggled at times this season and the knock on him was lack of speed, athleticism, size, etc… but he played huge against a massive Auburn team. He looked every bit the part. It wasn’t just the pick 6, he was involved in a lot of big time plays. Very deserving. He is going out like every player wishes they could.
· Milton: He started off rough. Was high on his passes and at one point I think he was 2-14 or something crazy like that but he was no doubt the X factor. Auburn totally underestimated him and didn’t plan at all for him scrambling. Big time coaching error on Auburn. For every time MM ran the ball there was another time he didn’t but could have. It was almost like you could call whatever play you wanted and then just tell MM to take off. It was there all day. Then MM does the pump fake flip TD to Snelson that was just sick. That kind of stuff is special and it makes watching him so much fun. We were spoiled this year having MM and Griffin making each side of the ball so fun to watch.
· Offensive Line: I was worried that missing Evans was going to hurt the line especially against such a stout front but the O line did great. Brown who filled in for Evans was incredible, didn’t notice Auburn’s DL anymore then any other team we played. Neutralized by our guys keeping MM up right. This is the single biggest improved unit for our team. Loved hearing Wyatt talk about the comradery at the event last night. Makes me feel good about continued improvement into next year. Great job boys.
· UCF Knight Nation: We absolutely represented this weekend. I started off the first night in Savannah (which somehow is 4hrs from Atlanta) and was doing a black and gold chant in some pirate restaurant during lunch on Friday, LOL and then I get into Atlanta for the weekend and we do snow mountain with the kids, aquarium, Avalon, etc… and everywhere we go I see Black & Gold. It was at least 50/50 in the stadium if not 60/40 UCF and the UCF fans were definitely louder. I used to hear all the time that UCF was kept out of the big conferences because of the fan base, weak traveling, etc… and if that wasn’t shot to hell last weekend I don’t know what could convince them. On the ride home on Tuesday every single rest stop, gas station, chickfila, zaxbys, etc… (my God the South likes their fried chicken and biscuits) my wife and kids made me stop at was packed with UCF fans so much so that I heard a women complaining to her husband in Valdosta, that every place they have gone has had long lunch lines because of these “Central Florida Fans in town for some football game”. It felt great repping the colors and getting noticed. Honking the horn at all the cars on 75 with black and gold. We should all be very proud of how we represented. Well done.
· George Oleary: Say what you want about George but I have always been a big Oleary fan and was very happy to get to see him get a standing O at the game. Oleary built the foundation of the program to be able to take the steps we did this season. We should all recognize this and I hope to see Oleary around more in the future. He deserves more praise then he gets.
· Frosty: I have mixed emotions about Frosty. Feels like a hot one night stand you never see again. Two years went by super quick and I cannot believe it is over. One thing I give Frost credit over everything else is the recruiting. In two years to be able to get players to contribute on the field the way he did was incredible. Now the real test comes… does UCF recruit itself more then we think or was it all Frost? Do we think Frost would have had this same success in two years at Marshall? Likely a combination but if we can keep this culture going I think the recruits will keep coming. Frost will do great at Nebraska and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for what he did for UCF and wish him all the luck.
· Danny White: I cannot give DW enough credit in this post. Not only for finding Frost and Dawkins and getting things turned around but continuing to navigate this program in the right direction, even beyond where the fans may think we should go. This whole National Champions deal is brilliant. I have heard the folks that think it is bullshit but if you were downtown last night that was as real as it gets. Church Street was packed, people were loud and this was a week later after the Disney parade and folks still came out to party. DW gets it and he should have all of our full support. He hasn’t been wrong yet. I hope he takes his own advice and doesn’t jump ship for a bigger program. We can build everything we want right here and from the feel of the Excellence Fund after party the donors are ready to. People are going to step up now more then ever. Well done sir.
Slow:
· Field Goal Unit: The block and the miss were tough. We got up 10 there the game is pretty much over. We have to figure out a way to convert that. I thought the game was going to end up in overtime for sure. Especially after that BS call on Akins that took away our first down. I felt the whole time UCF was in control and had faith after the season we had that we would figure it out but we certainly made it harder on ourselves then we needed to with those misses.
· Finebaum & Every Other Stupid National Media Talking Head: Maybe the best moment was the Joey Galloway and Booger clip where Booger says the old line of “no way UCF is national champs, don’t sit there and tell me they could beat Bama or Georgia”. He said it like it was a broken record on repeat without even pausing and realizing how down he was for saying it when Galloway instantly said “well they beat Auburn who beat both of them”. For a moment it looked like Booger was a deer in the head lights then like the script says he goes right into questioning Auburn’s motivation. These people are an excuse factory. I watched that game in person like many of you did. We all have watched a lot of football. Auburn got BEAT, they didn’t mail it in. They were trying to win that game. Anyone that says otherwise is an idiot. It was a New Years Six bowl 2hrs from Campus not the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl. Give me a break.
In conclusion, this past 45 days have been the best football experience of my life. Watching UCF beat USF, Memphis and Auburn to cap off an undefeated season and claim a National Title was incredible. Being able to witness all of these games in person amongst my friends and family was just priceless. I also got the added bonus of seeing my Bills make the playoffs for the first time since Clinton was in office and personally attend the Jacksonville game Sunday (Thank you Mary Oleary for the hook up). I am not used to this type of football success and it feels pretty awesome. UCF has always played the underdog well. We were used to never getting respect and always being left out, mostly from the days of being excluded from the Big East. UCF is now positioning itself to take that role with the CFP. We are the best non-Power 5 team fighting the system begging for respect. I know we don’t want the one and done deals but with a team like ours if the right game opened up next year (like a 1 and done in Gainesville with their two lousy FCS opponents) I am all about taking that game. At least put it out their in the media so people know we tried. It’s a win/win for UCF. We have an apex predator team right now so let’s go get us some respect. Just keep winning Baby, Go Knights!!!
