2008 UCF Knights football preview

Central Florida (UCF) Knights

2007 Record: (10-4, 7-1)
Coach: George O’Leary (22-28 at UCF, 74-61 overall)

Starters Returning: 15 (5 offense, 9 defense, 1 specialist)

Offensive Starters Lost: RB Kevin Smith, QB Kyle Israel, RG L.J. Anderson, WR Sergio Joachim, C Kyle Smith, OT Josh Sitton.

Offensive Starters Returning: WR Kamar Aiken, OT Pat Brown, OG Cliff McCray, TE Corey Rabazinski , WR Rocky Ross.

Defensive Starters Lost: DE Leger Douzable, DT Keith Shologan, DE Emeka Okammor.

Defensive Starters Returning: DB Joe Burnett , DB Derrick Hallman, LB Chance Henderson, LB Cory Hogue, DT Torrell Troup, LB Bruce Miller, DB Johnell Neal, DB Sha’reff Rashad, FS Jason Venson.

Starting Specialists Lost: K Michael Torres

Starting Specialists Returning: P Blake Clingan

2008 UCF Football Overview

Central Florida was one of college football’s biggest surprises in 2007. Coming off a 4-8 season in 2006, virtually every expert believed the Golden Knights would struggle to achieve a .500 record.

UCF shocked the nation by reeling off 10 wins and capturing the C-USA title and a berth in the Liberty Bowl. The Golden Knights also featured the nation’s leading rusher in Kevin Smith, who rushed for 2,567 yards and 29 touchdowns. As a result, Smith was named as the first consensus All-American in the program’s history.

Unfortunately, Smith will not be around in 2008 to help UCF defend its title. The junior declared for the NFL draft and was taken by the Detroit Lions in the 3 rd round. Also gone are QB Kyle Israel and the core of the offensive line which opened all those holes for Smith.

Improved defensive play was a major component in UCF’s stunning turnaround in 2007. If the Golden Knights are to repeat, the defense will have to provide the foundation for a team with questions to answer on offense.

2008 UCF Offense:

The leading candidate to replace Kevin Smith at tailback, junior Phillip Smith, left spring practice in the second week with an unspecified leg injury and did not return. He is expected to miss significant time this summer. This means UCF coach George O'Leary may take a long look at the four freshmen backs expected to arrive in August, especially Latavius Murray.

Also in the mix at RB are James Jamison, Ronnie Weaver and Jayson Williams. Jamison has been a scout team running back in his two seasons with UCF, while Weaver entered fall camp as a walk-on, but was placed on scholarship prior to the season after impressing the coaching staff. Williams, a redshirt, has seen action on special teams during his tenure with the Knights, but did not see any action at running back a year ago after making the transition to that position in the spring of 2007.

The Knights will also carry the quarterback competition over into the summer after junior Michael Greco and redshirt freshman Joe Weatherford failed to win the starting job in the spring. Freshman Rob Calabrese may factor into the decision come August.

Senior LT Patrick Brown will be the bedrock of the offensive line, having started the 38-consecutive games at left tackle for the Golden Knights. His total starts are the most of any left tackle in the country. He is on several pre-season All-American lists as well.

Juniors Cliff McCray and Jeramy Devane and sophomore Jah Reid all have some level of starting experience. McCray and Devane split 13 starts at left guard in 2007, but one of the two is likely to move over to right guard following Anderson’s departure.

2008 UCF Defense:

UCF returns nine starters, including an experienced secondary that has been together for the past two seasons and a group of talented young linebackers who made significant progress late last season.

The defensive line is UCH’s main strength. The lone senior in the group, Antonio Wallace, returns at the end position. Wallace had 2.5 sacks as a junior and will be joined by a pair of C-USA All- Freshman team members in Bruce Miller and Darius Nall. Miller had seven sacks last season. Nall began the season at linebacker, but midway through made the transition to defensive end. He tallied 22 tackles and had a sack during his rookie season.

At defensive tackle, juniors Torrell Troup and Travis Timmons both return with plenty of game experience through two seasons. Both played as true freshman in 2006 and saw action in all 14 games a year ago. Junior college transfer Jarvis Geathers will provide depth on the line.

The linebacking corps returns all three starters. Cory Hogue is the lone senior and has 27 starts in his tenure with the Knights. In 12 starts a year ago, Hogue posted a career-high 72 tackles, including 55 solo stops. Junior Chance Henderson led the linebackers with 74 tackles. In two seasons, Henderson has made 15 starts at MLB. Sophomore Derrick Hallman made 10 starts as a true freshman in 2007. UCF will also have the services of redshirt junior Jordan Richards after he missed the 2007 campaign with a shoulder injury

At cornerback, seniors Joe Burnett and Johnell Neal return after being the first duo in UCF history to intercept six passes in the same season. At safety, the Golden Knights are well stocked with seniors Sha’reff Rashad and Jason Venson. Rashad led the club with 103 tackles a year ago and had four interceptions. Venson had a career-high three picks as he finished second on the team with 94 takedowns. Breon Rogers provides depth at the safety positions and has also been a contributor on special teams. Rogers has two career starts.

2008 UCF Special Teams

UCF’s first order of business on special teams will be replacing all-conference place kicker Michael Torres. Sophomore Jordan Dodds, a transfer from South Carolina, and sophomore Kyle Iketani are still competing for the starting job.

Sophomore punter Blake Clingan averaged 40.7 yards on 59 punts as a true freshman. Clingan started 13 games and placed 14 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Senior Joe Burnett will be the punt returner for the third straight season. Burnett has 926 career punt return yards, which ranks first among active players in the nation and his three career touchdowns are tied for the most among active players. His average of 13.23 yards per punt return is also tops among all active returners. Khymest Williams will return kick-offs and had a 99-yard return for a score against SMU. He averaged 35.9 yards per return on eight attempts.

2008 UCF Analysis and Outlook

Unlike 2007, the Golden Knights will not be sneaking up any of their opponents this season. In fact, there will be a bull’s eye painted on their backs. Couple that with the loss of the nation’s leading rusher and many unproven players in key offensive positions, and UCF’s reign at the top of C-USA may be a short one.

The Golden Knight’s title hopes come down to whether their veteran defense can keep the team in a position to win while the offense finds its identity. Luckily, the conference schedule works in UCF’s favor. The Golden Knights open the season at home with non-conference games against South Carolina State and South Florida. UCF then travels to Boston College.

The conference season gets under way with a road game against UTEP and a home game with SMU. UCF should be favored to win both. They close out their non-conference against Miami (Fla.).

That gives the offense six games to gel before UCF travels to Tulsa for a rematch of last year’s C-USA title game. The Golden Knights play their two prime challengers in the East, Southern Mississippi and East Carolina, in Orlando.