Tag: ucf football

BYU 49, UCF 23: Boca Raton Bowl 10 Things To Know

BYU 49, UCF 23. The 10 ten things you need to know about BYU win over UCF in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl.

BYU 49, UCF 23. The 10 ten things you need to know about BYU win over UCF in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl.

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BYU 49, UCF 23: Boca Raton Bowl

10. Was there a more underappreciated running back in the country than Tyler Allgeier? The BYU sophomore started the season hot, ended the season hotter, and finished with 1,130 yards and 14 touchdowns averaging 7.5 yards per carry – and he missed the San Diego State game. Zach Wilson is the superstar of the show, and the offensive line opened up a whole lot of big holes, but Allgeier was brilliant.

9. It’s been a really, really rough run for the Boca Raton Bowl. This was the seventh all-time game and none of them have been closer than 15 points. The seven-year all-time score is 323-138 – an average of 46-20. BYU was up 49-10 with just under 20 minutes to play.

8. No, this isn’t an indictment on UCF football, and for all the great things the program has done over the last few years, this doesn’t mean things are slipping … yet.

Remember, the Knights had a whole slew of player opt out before the season,  they still beat Georgia Tech by 28 – don’t mock it; there weren’t many Group of Five over Power Five wins this year if you take out Liberty and the Sun Belt – and the explosion was still there.

The losses? 50-49 on the road in a heartbreaker against Memphis, Tulsa, Cincinnati, and BYU. The two AAC championship combatants, a BYU team that was painfully close to being in a New Year’s six game, and a wild shootout.

7. All season long, BYU had a knack for ripping off big plays early and taking the heart out of a game. It did that against UCF, but UCF was supposed to be able to keep up. The first BYU scoring drive went 87 yards in under two minutes, and the second went 72 yards in four plays. The Cougars out-UCFed, UCF with a 14-0 lead four minutes in.

6. A 35-7 lead late in the first half, no turnovers, over 33 minutes of possession, and just one punt on the night. This was as perfect a bowl game as BYU could’ve come up with. As it showed throughout the season, when the lines were able to take over and the team was on a mission to make a statement, it was able to do it.

5. BYU didn’t do anything fancy defensively but 1) not let the UCF speedsters gets into space like Coastal Carolina could, and 2) it got off the field. It didn’t generate any takeaways, there wasn’t any pressure from the line, and it allowed UCF to hit 50% of its third down tries. However, it came up with the early stops it needed to, the offense did its thing, and it was 21-0 in the blink of a first quarter eye.

4. It was a bad day for UCF. BYU was totally focused, too physical, and it had an NFL franchise quarterback have an NFL franchise quarterback day. To put how rare this loss was into perspective, it was the first defeat by more than eight points since dropping the 2016 Cure Bowl to Arkansas State four years ago.

3. This was a complete and total disaster for the American Athletic Conference. Not only did Tulane lose big in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to Nevada earlier in the day, but UCF was playing in Florida in a game that should’ve been the type of shootout it likes, and it was out of it two minutes in.

Considering Coastal Carolina beat BYU, it was a bad look that UCF didn’t look like it belonged on the same field as the Cougars, who started out the season rocking Navy from the AAC.

2. If you’re an NFL GM and you didn’t already have a hard opinion and scouting thought on Zach Wilson, you’re a bad NFL GM. However, if it’s possible, Wilson just helped himself in a huge way with his 26-of-34, 425-yard, three-touchdown, two touchdown run performance.

He was flawless, he didn’t make any mistakes, he was calm, and he was in command from the start. Now, with this, get ready for the buzz that the Jets might go with him over Justin Fields.

1. Considering what BYU had to do just to get together a schedule, this was a miraculous season. It rolled through it, the only blip was a wonderful game against Coastal Carolina that was put together at the last second, and it turned out to be an 11-1 campaign with a totally dominant performance against a brand-name UCF team. Zach Wilson might be off to the NFL, but it’ll be interesting to see what the program is capable off in normal times now that it showed it could do this.

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Georgia CB Divaad Wilson picks transfer destination

Georgia Bulldogs cornerback Divaad Wilson will be transferring to UCF over Florida, Miami, and more.

Georgia Bulldogs cornerback Divaad Wilson is currently in the NCAA’s transfer portal and will be transferring to the University of Central Florida. Wilson was expected to compete for the starting nickel role at Georgia, but now he’s headed to Orlando, Florida.

Wilson is talented, as he displayed with a key interception against Notre Dame last year, and should boost the UCF Knights secondary. It’s anybody’s guess if he’ll be ruled immediately eligible.

Wilson is from Miami, Florida and wanted to be closer to home. Best of luck to Wilson at UCF. He’ll be missed in Athens, but the loss isn’t devastating to Georgia’s secondary for this season, which is absolutely loaded. His transfer certainty thins future depth for the Bulldogs.

Divaad Wilson also considered transferring to Miami, Florida, Florida State and more. Wilson will be fun to watch moving forward at UCF.

Wilson should be immediately eligible since he wants to be closer to home, but the NCAA is not consistent on transfer eligibility rulings. We’ll update fans on his eligibility status as soon as we hear about it.

Divaad Wilson announced his transfer to UCF via his Twitter account:

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Boise State, UCF Should Move Up Its Series To This Year

Boise State and UCF each need to add games, so why not move the series up a year and play this season.

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Boise State, UCF Should Move Up Its Series To This Year

Top tier G5’s should move up the schedule a year.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Make it happen this year.

To say lightly that there is a beef between Boise State and UCF fans would be an understatement. The Broncos have been a really, really good program since joining the FBS ranks back in 1996.

The Broncos have averaged 10.04 wins per year with just two losing seasons and .500 or better season in 22 straight years. Plus, there are the conference titles and three Fiesta Bowl wins with the most notable being the 2008 victory over Oklahoma.

UCF came to the FBS ranks as the Broncos 24 years ago and their average win total is seven wins per year, and a cyclical up and down success. Going through the entire catalog of each school is not the point.

Boise State has had more consistent long-term success but over the past few years, the Knights have claims the throne as the best from the Group of Five by being the only undefeated team in 2017 and claiming a national title despite not making it to the College Football Playoff. Including 2017, UCF has gone 35-4, winning two American titles and going 1-1 in New Year’s Six bowl games.

This led to a lot of twitter fighting (including us) about how UCF is new to the party, has a fake national title — something Alabama has done many as well, so… — and pointed out multiple times, the Knights have two seasons with zero wins. Both sides claiming superior to the other.

There was a call for a game to be played between the best of the Group of Five and we all got our wish as the two scheduled a home and home for the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

This series would at the very least provide bragging rights for these two years, and be a really good game between consistently the best Group of Five teams over the past few years.

Well, there is now a chance to move up that game since COVID-19 has basically cleared all games between Power 5 and Group of Five teams. This game could be moved up one year and be played on Sept. 19. Boise State lost its game vs. Florida State at Albertsons Stadium and the UCF game at Georgia Tech featured the same fate.

The 2021 game is scheduled to be at Boise State between these two schools and it could keep that for this year. The Broncos lost a home game and UCF lost a road game so neither team would be losing out on much or be disadvantaged with the location of the game. The only loser would be fans who would want to be at the game in person because that is not likely to happen this year.

Both teams need to add to their schedule this year and with most of the Power 5 pushing their seasons back to the final week of September, so putting a UCF vs. Boise State game arguably would be the best matchup of the season during September if all of the games are Group of 5 vs. Group of 5.

Let’s make it happen.

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College Football News Preview 2020: UCF Knights

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the UCF Knights season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the UCF Knights season with what you need to know.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– UCF Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

2019 Record: 10-3 overall, 6-2 in AAC
Head Coach: Josh Heupel, 3rd year, 22-4
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 35
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 19
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 39

No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.

5. College Football News Preview 2020: UCF Knights Offense 3 Things To Know

– The machine isn’t slowing down. No, UCF might not have cranked up the 627 points of the 2017 team, but under head coach Josh Heupel over the last two seasons, and the O continues to work at warp speed and lethal efficiency.

The Knights were second in the nation behind LSU averaging 541 yards per game, and they were fifth in scoring averaging 43.4 points per outing. And it’s all going to keep on going.

CFN in 60 Video: North Carolina Preview
North Carolina at UCF, Sept. 4
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– The Knights are once again great at quarterback. It didn’t quite happen like it was supposed to – Darriel Mack and former Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush were expected to provide a fantastic quarterback punch – but injuries led to the rise of Dillon Gabriel, a 6-0, 186-pound sophomore who stepped in and bombed away for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns with seven interceptions, and he ran for four scores.

Wimbush is gone, but Mack is back after suffering a broken ankle that cost him most of last year. McKenzie Milton is still trying to work his way back from the frightening leg injury from a few seasons ago, but the team has to count on Dillon and Mack.

Helping the cause is another loaded receiving corps. Leading receiver Gabriel Davis is now a Buffalo Bill, but veteran Tre Nixon is back after averaging close to 17 yards per grabs with seven touchdowns, and senior Marlon Williams is back after finishing second on the team with 51 grabs. Former WKU transfer Jacob Harris has one year left after averaging 24 yards per catch.

Throw in TE Jake Hescock – a former Wisconsin transfer – 6-4 new-recruit Ja’Cyais Credle and former Oklahoma transfer Jaylon Robinson, and there’s great-looking depth.

– Adrian Killins is gone from the running back rotation, but Otis Anderson is back after leading the way with 726 yards and five scores – he’ll work at a wide receiver at times, too – and Bentavious Thompson and Greg McCrae are both back after combining for 1,133 yards and 15 scores. There’s even more young talent waiting in the wings.

The offensive front wasn’t great in pass protection, but it did a great job for the running game – and it was all just getting going.

Losing C Jordan Johnson hurts, but three starters are back including 6-6, 335-pound junior Samuel Jackson at one tackle spot and 6-4, 312-pound guard Cole Schneider at guard. Getting Tennessee transfer Marcus Tatum to help at tackle is a good thing, and years of good recruiting has improved the depth.

NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: UCF Knights Defense 3 Things To Know

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Group Of Five Teams In New Year’s Six Bowl Chase: 20 For 2020 Offseason Topics No. 10

20 for 2020 key college football offseason topics: The top Group of Five teams that should be in the New Year’s Six bowl chase.

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20 for 2020 key offseason topics: No. 10 The top Group of Five teams that should be in the New Year’s Six bowl chase.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Okay, so we whiffed in last year’s preseason 5 Teams In the New Year’s Six bowl chase piece – didn’t get Memphis, and didn’t have Appalachian State on the list – but that’s a good thing. It’s more fun when it’s not an automatic call.

Houston, Boise State, Western Michigan, UCF twice, and then Memphis. Those are your Group of Five champions who got the automatic bids to the available New Year’s Six game in the College Football Playoff era.

It’s not the CFP, but it’s still a high honor.

All five teams represented themselves well, with the Group of Fivers going 3-3 since the bowl slot was created.

This year, the highest-ranked conference champion from the American Athletic, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt will automatically get one spot in either the College Football Playoff, GoodYear Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl or Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

To be the team that gets the job done, unless things go totally wacky, 1) it has to go unbeaten or finish with one loss, 2) it will need at least one signature win, and 3) as part of the requirement, it has to win its Group of Five championship.

Which six teams this season have the best shot at getting into the spotlight game?

6. San Diego State Aztecs

Brady Hoke is inheriting a nice team to play around with.

The Aztecs might not have the defense of the last several seasons, but the offense should be stronger, Georgia Tech’s Lucas Johnson is transferring in to battle for the quarterback job, and the offensive front should be among the best in the Mountain West.

Last year’s team had a few whiffs along the way when the offense didn’t work, but all three losses came by six points or fewer.

Going to Toledo won’t be easy, and a run of four road games in six will be tough, but the one Power Five game is at home against UCLA, and there’s no Boise State to deal with in the regular season.

The road games at Nevada, Utah State, Wyoming, BYU and Fresno State might be too much to go unbeaten, but the team should be in the hunt throughout the year.

– San Diego State Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Group Of Five Teams In New Year’s Six Bowl Chase, No. 5

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Meet Gabriel Davis, UCF’s fast-rising WR prospect

Check out Draft Wire’s exclusive interview with UCF wide receiver Gabriel Davis

The 2020 NFL draft is loaded with talent at wide receiver, which could give all 32 teams some fantastic value outside the first round.

One pass-cather who has his draft stock moving in the right direction? UCF’s Gabriel Davis, who made tons of big plays for the Knights throughout his career.

Davis recently spoke exclusively with Draft Wire about his decision to leave school early, the toughest competition he’s ever faced, and what fans can expect from him at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine.

JM: You recently declared for the 2020 NFL draft, despite having one year of eligibility remaining. Can you walk me through your decision?

GD: I just felt like I’ve progressed every single year. It was an easy decision for me. I’ve been around the pro’s since high school. I feel like I’m ready to compete at the highest level.

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Thank you UCF for Everything! #ChargeOn ⚡️⚔️

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JM: What do you mean when you say you’ve been around pros since high school?

GD: I’ve worked out with Tom Shaw down in Orlando. If you’re familiar with him, you know he’s trained a lot of guys for the combine and what not. He’s trained some superstars such as Derrick Henry, Dak Prescott, Saquon Barkley and so on. I’ve been blessed to spend a lot of time around guys like that. I was able to watch them and study them. It gave me great insight into how a pro should conduct himself. I’ve tried to take those things and incorporate them into my lifestyle. I feel like I’m ready for what’s next.

JM: How did playing at UCF help prepare you for what’s next?

GD: From a knowledge standpoint, I had some great coaches in my time there. Once you’re comfortable with the mental part of this game, everything happens so much faster for you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still learning to this day. You can never know too much. I do feel like once you’re comfortable with the mental part of football, it makes you a better player. Those are the things I focused on at UCF. It taught me a lot. That’s what I took away from my time there.

JM: You mentioned the coaching staff. What’s the greatest lesson any coach there ever taught you?

GD: Two lessons come to mind. The biggest thing for me was, and this came from [wide receiver] coach [Darrell] Wyatt, he taught me to be relentless. He taught me to never be satisfied by any of my accomplishments. You can always work harder and you can always improve. I was also taught to practice like a pro. In every aspect of life, handle yourself like a pro. I’ve applied that to my every day life. I was blessed to have so many great coaches around me from a young age. I observed how to be a pro, I learned to be relentless and I learned to never be satisfied.

Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

JM: You’re about to go through a process that will lead to your dreams coming true. It’s a long process, but it’s incredibly rewarding. What are you most excited for?

GD: I’m excited to continue playing the sport that I love to play. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was nine years old. I’ve been telling my mom and anybody that would listen to me since I was nine that I was going to play in the NFL. The fact that I knew at that age what I wanted out of life, it helped me lead a life of determination. I’ve worked hard to get here and it’s finally happening. I’m very excited for what’s going on right now. I can’t wait to be around some of the greatest football players in the world. I’m incredibly blessed.

JM: What’s your favorite part about playing wide receiver?

GD: The competition, first and foremost. It’s very often a 1-on-1 matchup out there. I might see a double team or even a triple team, but I just love every opportunity to go out there and compete with the man across from me. I’m out there to make plays and that’s the best thing about it all. We compete against each other and we’re both out there trying to make plays.

JM: Speaking of competition, I wanna throw a little scenario at you. Say you get someone in man coverage, you have the corner on an island and you can run any route of your choosing. What are you running?

GD: A lot of receivers, we like to say the deep ball. We’re confident in that deep ball, I’m confident in my ability to go up and get it. We love running those go routes. I’m a physical, big receiver so I love to run a good slant as well. I like making them believe I’m going deep and I can make a big play underneath on a third-and-five for example. I like hitting them with something a little different. Those can be great plays, as well.

JM: Who are some of the best defensive backs you’ve ever gone up against?

GD: I have to say Brandon Moore from UCF, first and foremost. He’s a very technical defensive back. He’s a long, physical guy that can make plays. Mike Hughes is probably one of the most patient corners I’ve ever gone up against or been around. He’s just such a patient guy. You can even pull up some of his NFL film, watch him go up against guys like Amari Cooper and he remains patient and true to his craft. It’s very impressive to watch. Paulson Adebo would be another one. I really studied his game. He’s a great player. I would say he’s the best cornerback I’ve ever faced off with in an actual game. He was also patient and has great footwork. I really tried to study his game as best I could. He’s a great corner.

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

JM: If you could catch an NFL pass from one quarterback of your choosing, who would it be and why?

GD: One NFL quarterback playing right now? I gotta go with Aaron Rodgers. I’ve been watching him my whole life. My grandfather is actually a big Green Bay fan. We’ve been watching Green Bay games together dating back to the Brett Favre days. That’s why I’m going with Aaron Rodgers. There’s so many other great quarterbacks as well. Guys like Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson. All of those guys are so great to me but Aaron Rodgers would be my choice.

JM: You might catch one of those famous Aaron Rodgers “Hail Mary” throws one day.

GD: Wouldn’t that be something? He has more than a few of those on his resume (laughs).

JM: I’ve heard rumors that you have the potential to put up an eye-popping number in the 40-yard dash. Any predictions?

GD: I know what I gotta do (laughs). I’m excited to show people that I can run fast. As long as I do that, I’ll be able to really surprise some people at the combine. I’m not gonna put any numbers out there. You’ll have to wait for the performance itself. I might just do something special out there.

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