NCAA Football FanHouse

Something Is Rotten In Orlando

Charles Rich — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:02:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, NCAA FB Campus, NCAA FB Injuries, UCF Football

It didn't get a lot of attention last month. After all, it wasn't at a major school and it wasn't some star player. Still, a college football player for the Central Florida Knights collapsed during spring practices and died. And there are a lot of questions swirling around his passing.

Ereck Plancher was 19 and was finishing his freshman year at UCF. During spring practices on March 18, the receiver collapsed at the end of a conditioning drill called the "mat drill." About an hour later, Plancher was pronounced dead. Preliminary reports have proven inconclusive as to the cause of death. The full autopsy results are not yet ready.

According to UCF Coach George O'Leary, the conditioning drill was not particularly strenuous and he did not recall seeing Plancher struggling. Other coaches said similar things. Players, however, are quietly saying different things.

They said those drills, conducted in the Knights' indoor fieldhouse, came after players lifted weights for an hour, also a supervised activity.

"Everybody was struggling at times," one player said. ". . . But he [Ereck] was running, and I could tell something wasn't right. His eyes got real dark, and he was squinting like he was blinded by the sun. He was making this moaning noise, trying to breathe real hard."

The four players said Plancher fell during the final sprint and members of the UCF coaching staff yelled at him to finish the drill.

Plancher did pass 2 physicals that met the NCAA minimum requirements.
With players speaking anonymously and the school suddenly very reticent to talk much, Plancher's father is getting a little frustrated.

His father said Friday evening he is troubled by the lack of information he has received from the university about his son's death. The Plancher family also was concerned about the story in Friday's Sentinel citing four UCF football players who said Ereck Plancher showed signs of distress during the workout before he collapsed and died. The players said the workout was far more intense than the university initially indicated and said coaches cursed at Plancher for lack of effort while he struggled through mat drills.

"We had heard there was more to the story than what the university told everyone, but it was still very hard to read," Enock Plancher said. "My wife saw it and started crying. It was very sad, and we are worried the university is trying to cover something up."

To some extent, the lack of information is natural since there is nothing right now. The preliminary autopsy proved inconclusive. The full autopsy takes much longer.

The fact that the school doesn't appear to be doing a good job in communicating with the family is just dumb. The less they talk to the family. Make it clear what steps are taking place. Just explain what is happening at every step, the more it looks like they are trying to hide something. That, in turn, encourages the Plancher family to pursue legal options. If for no other reason than to force UCF to reveal what they have learned.

The school very publicly announced that they were going to pay for the funeral and memorial service for Ereck Plancher. Yet, the Plancher family indicates no one from UCF has talked to them about it. A UCF spokesman could only say they are processing the expenses as they receive them.

Add in the fact that the only UCF review of the events surrounding the death of Ereck Plancher was an internal review conducted by the UCF Athletic Association itself, and did not actually interview any of the players. Players were only "encouraged" to speak to the coaches about what they saw and it would be passed along. Otherwise, the players were not supposed to talk too much about what happened.

Whether intended or not, that sort of investigation only looks like legal liability ass-covering by the athletic department. Not actually investigating what happened and if there was anything that was missed or could have been done.

Something Is Rotten In Orlando originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man Who Broke George O'Leary Resume Exaggeration Story Dies

Brian Grummell — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: Notre Dame Football, UCF Football, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB Scandal, The Word

John 'Doc' Hussey, a longtime journalist in New Hampshire, died Friday at the age of 65.

Among many other items in a notable career, he broke the story that forced Notre Dame to ditch football coach George O'Leary just days after hiring him.

Hussey provided the Union Leader with one of its biggest scoops when he detected something was amiss in the public-relations biography of University of New Hampshire graduate George O'Leary, named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.
Seeking to do a local-angle story on the new head of the world's most storied college football program, Hussey spoke with several players and the man who coached the UNH football team at the time O'Leary was said to have earned three varsity letters. None of the men remembered O'Leary playing football.
Hussey shared his information with colleague Jim Fennell, whose reporting ultimately revealed that O'Leary had falsified his resume, and the coach -- since named head coach at the University of Central Florida -- was forced to step down at Notre Dame. The Union Leader's coverage of the story earned numerous awards and national acclaim.

He may not have been a big player in national college football media, but his fact-checking thoroughly tarnished O'Leary's otherwise solid reputation and Notre Dame's football program has yet to settle on a reliable coach since.

Man Who Broke George O'Leary Resume Exaggeration Story Dies originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:31:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UCF Wide Receiver Dies After Drills

Brian Grummell — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:56:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, UCF Football, The Word

Terrible news from Orlando this afternoon as UCF is reporting that redshirt freshman wide receiver Ereck Plancher died shortly after conditioning drills this afternoon.

[Plancher] was pronounced dead shortly before noon Tuesday at a hospital, said Joe Hornstein, UCF's associate athletics director for marketing and communications. He said Plancher took a knee, became unresponsive and was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

"We're still gathering some of that information at this point," Hornstein said.

Here's hoping that for both Plancher's family and UCF, the cause of his death can be determined and the parties can move forward. These events sadly happen on occasion in the sporting fields across America. Sometimes they're due to negligence, other times harmful supplements, and other times just a dangerous and undiagnosed condition.

UCF Wide Receiver Dies After Drills originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:56:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Cowbell? Memphis WIll Have Plenty as Bulldog Fans Pack Liberty Bowl

Andy Katzer — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, SEC, Bowl Games, UCF Football, Mississippi State Football

My old high school football coach was fond of saying he couldn't make chicken salad out of chicken... excrement, but there's a reason Sylvester Croom was named SEC coach of the year: he can come close. Not long ago, like a couple of months actually, the only time we'd post about Mississippi State here at FanHouse would be to tally their blowout losses, speculate on the next Crooming, or mention in passing that their next opponent could take the day off. Things change quickly. In Sylvester Croom's fourth season, State ended up being a solid football team on their good days and tough out at worst (OK, at worst they were picked off six times and blown out by LSU, but after that).

The Bulldogs' reward for putting together a pretty good year is a trip a couple hundred miles north to Memphis to play Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. Many SEC teams see the Liberty as just a little better than the Independence Bowl in Shreveport and overall a pretty "meh" consolation prize. But for MSU fans who haven't seen their boys in a bowl game since 2000 and haven't even won more than three games in a season over the last six years, this trip to Memphis might as well be the Sugar Bowl. State fans have bought more than 30,000 tickets to the game, and many more than that will probably show up in Memphis on Dec. 29. State AD Larry Templeton says Bulldog fans "now look forward to coloring the city of Memphis maroon." Good, Memphis could use a fresh coat of paint.

What the Bulldog faithful might find when the game kicks off, however, could be something completely different than what they expect. Central Florida features the nation's leading rusher in junior Kevin Smith (188 yards/game, 29 TDs), while State gives up a middle-of-the-road 159 yards rushing per game. MSU also gave up over 4.5 yards/carry in games against Auburn, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas. State's ability to stop UCF's running game could be the main factor in how this bowl game turns out.

More Cowbell? Memphis WIll Have Plenty as Bulldog Fans Pack Liberty Bowl originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mr. 2000: Tulane Tailback Matt Forte

Brian Grummell — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:59:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, UCF Football, The Word, Rice Football, SMU Football, Tulane Football

Here's a nice moment from the weekend: Tulane tailback Matt Forte has crossed the 2,000 yard threshold this season. Forte entered Saturday with 1813 rushing yards and added another 195 today against Rice for good measure. That leaves Forte with 2,008 yards. For good measure, five touchdowns were among those 39 carries.

Forte was lightly recruited out of high school, with Tulane his only I-A offer. He's made a lot of people look foolish in notching 4,146 yards and counting over his career.

Forte may not be the only back to notch 2,000 yards this year, as UCF's Kevin Smith has 1947 yards after an impressive 179 yard, three-touchdown performance of his own today against SMU.

It's a passing era in college football, but the days of the 2,000 yard back aren't dead yet. Update: Forte is just the 12th back in D-I history to surpass the 2,000 yard mark, and the first since 2004.

Mr. 2000: Tulane Tailback Matt Forte originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USF Takes Things Out on UCF

Charles Rich — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:05:00 EST

Filed under: Big East, Conference USA, UCF Football, South Florida Football

South Florida followed up its huge win over West Virginia and a top-10 ranking with a less than impressive win over Florida Atlantic. In return, BC moved ahead of them in the polls and the talk started about USF being overrated. Some unhinged homers even began suggesting upsets.

Well UCF was in it for the first quarter. Then the Knights offense stopped moving and turning the ball over. What had been a 12-7 USF lead after the first quarter turned into a 29-10 halftime deficit. From there, it became a 64-12 pasting while producing over 500 yards of total offense. The USF defense completely humiliated UCF. Holding them to under 100 yards passing and rushing each -- only 145 total yards.

USF QB Matt Grothe had his typically solid dual-threat game -- 200+ yards passing, 100 yards rushing and 4 TDs in total. Even after QB Matt Grothe was taken out of the game after 3 quarters, USF never stopped pouring on the abuse. The Bulls added 21 more points in the 4th quarter before finally taking a knee inside the UCF 10 in the final seconds.

USF Takes Things Out on UCF originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Major College Athletic Departments Issued Subpoenas in Loan Probe

Brian Grummell — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:49:00 EST

Filed under: Auburn Football, Georgia Tech Football, Kansas Football, Louisville Football, Oregon Football, Pittsburgh Football, UCLA Football, UCF Football, Rutgers Football, NCAA FB Scandal, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Texas, Arkansas State Football, Bowling Green Football, Central Michigan Football, Colorado State Football, East Carolina Football, Florida Atlantic Football, Houston Football, Ohio Football, Oregon State Football, South Florida Football, TCU Football, Tulane Football, UAB Football, UTEP Football

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas for 39 collegiate athletic departments in a probe of their relationships with student loan providers. At its most basic, this investigation is asking whether or not cash, kickbacks, gifts and other bribes or misleading measures were communicated between various student loan providers and the cited athletic departments.

Cuomo is investigating whether athletic departments at these universities agreed to promote SFS loans to students in exchange for kickbacks.

"Students trust their University's athletic departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers around supporting the home team," said Cuomo. "To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue, especially when Division I schools already generate tremendous revenue from their student athletes. Today's action is an important new step as we continue to examine the unethical conflicts that pervade the student loan industry.

"The Attorney General's office is specifically investigating whether athletic departments evaluated UFS interest rates before recommending their federal loans, or if their endorsement of UFS was based purely on payments from the lender. Such an arrangement would constitute revenue sharing, which is a violation New York state consumer protection laws, as well as a violation of federal law.

D-IA football schools named (prominent schools in bold): Arkansas State, Auburn, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Colorado State, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Ohio, Oregon State, Rutgers, TCU, Tulane, Alabama-Birmingham, UCLA, UCF, Houston, Kansas, Louisville, Oregon, Pittsburgh, USF, UTEP. See link for complete list.

Of note: USC and Texas have also been scrutinized in a similar probe, but to my knowledge it has not been linked to their athletic departments but rather the university-wide financial aid offices of the schools.

It's good that athletic departments have an awareness of and working relationship with loan providers, but obviously there's a problem when that relationship gets too cozy and bad loan options are pressed upon students and student-athletes.

(Via: Yahoo!)

Major College Athletic Departments Issued Subpoenas in Loan Probe originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:49:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UCF Fans Rejoice: No Game Day Booze Ban

Brian Grummell — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:37:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA, NCAA FB Fans, UCF Football

The University of Central Florida has instructed area and campus police to disregard open container laws on football game day.

The University of Central Florida's new football stadium has endowed the student body with more than just a sparkling new football field. The new stadium has also led the school to create a new set of game-day rules, one of which calls for police to disregard open-container laws. That means that on days of Central Florida's home games students can walk around campus openly drinking beer.

There are some exceptions to the new rule. Students cannot drink from a common source (like a keg), and beer funnels are not allowed. There will also be no drinking allowed in university buildings, so a pre-game Power Hour in the library is out of the question. The drinking can start at 11 a.m. and last until two hours after the game ends.

The Golden Knights are christening their new stadium with a visit from Texas.

Although there are always concerns about alcohol when disregarding open container laws, the school's fans and students will appreciate the new policy given the area's intense heat and humidity in September.

(Via: SIOnCampus)

UCF Fans Rejoice: No Game Day Booze Ban originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nothing Gold Can Stay: Central Florida Re-brands, Now Just 'Knights'

Andy Katzer — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:03:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA FB Campus, UCF Football

Telling Johnny, Ponyboy, and Robert Frost to shove it, Central Florida is dropping "Golden" from its nickname and will be just the plain ol' "Knights" as of June 14. The re-branding ostensibly dovetails with UCF opening new on-campus football and basketball stadia this year after playing home games at the Citrus Bowl for several seasons.

In reality, the move was probably made because some focus group determined that people are more likely to buy t-shirts that plainly say "Knights." Personally, I would be more likely to buy paraphernalia with UCF's original nickname, the "Knights of Pegasus," if for no other reason than uniqueness. Central Florida adopted "Golden Knights" in 1993 under the athletic directorship of Steve Sloan, who had also worked for the Crimson Tide, Red Raiders, Yellow Jackets, and Blue Devils. You see a theme. I would venture a guess that Sloan eats Lucky Charms for breakfast.

UCF will also unveil a new logo as part of its "The Knights Are Coming Home" campaign.

Nothing Gold Can Stay: Central Florida Re-brands, Now Just 'Knights' originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitt-UCF: The Liveblog

Charles Rich — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Pittsburgh Football, Big East, Conference USA, UCF Football

It's Pitt at Central Florida at the old Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Bracing for bad play-by-play action. Sure enough in pregame, Trevor Matich makes reference to the offseason workouts/conditioning as bonding time for Pitt and how well it worked.

Tina Dixon, the sideline girl, kind of strikes me as Erin Andrews-lite.

Time to see what happens after the jump.Pitt receiving the opening kickoff. Lowell Robinson at 3 and busts it for a TD up the right sideline.

XP good.

Pitt leads 7-0 and it's 14:42 left in the quarter.

How can they review after the extra point is kicked? Doesn't really matter, score stands. Rekick the extra point. Aaaand it's still good.

Still 7-0 Pitt.

Yup, already showed a mousetrap. No chance to get into it yet, and you know they will be coming back to it.

Pitt now kicking off. Touchback. 14:38.

UCF First Possession.

Throw over the middle for 27 yards to the TE.

Kevin Smith runs for 5. Smith stuffed for 0.

Moffet passes for 6 yards to Mike Walker, 1st down.

Underthrown pass to wide open Walker

Smith runs for 3.

Clint Session with the strip/sack and Rashaad Duncan comes up with it.

Pitt takes over at the 47.

Pitt Second Possession.

Palko throw to TE Buches for 9 yards.

Screen to Turner for a couple and 1st down. Measurement for no good reason. Good by a yard.

LaRod Stephens-Howling runs for 6 yards.

Overthrow Collins wideopen over middle. Looked like Palko was trying to aim it too much. Scramble, backfoot throw to Buches for 15 yards to 23.

Buches drops short pass.

LaRod Stephens-Howling just ran it through for the TD, virtually untouched on the right side.

Extra point good.

Pitt leads 14-0, 9:58 left in 1st quarter.

UCF Second Possession.

Pitt kicks off. to 5 missed tackle Graessle saves the TD by shoving him out of bounds at Pitt 38.

Kevin Smith runs for 4.

End around works for 14 yards. Great block to spring him.

Smith runs for 3.

Smith busts the middle for 7 yards.

Smith gets maybe 1 on the run. Inside the 10.

Moffet's pass picked off by LB Tommie Campbell at 2 yard line. Returned to UCF 37

Pitt dodged a bullet.

Pitt Third Possession.

Palko scramble, toss to Kinder for first.

Stephens-Howling just busted another 26 yard run, to the left for a TD. Wow.

Extra point good.

21-0 Pitt, 6:08 left in first quarter.

I can't believe the way Pitt is taking it to UCF. I knew the UCF Defense was shaky, but this is absurd. Helps to get two turnovers and convert on both chances. The real bad news if this gets as out of hand as it appears to be on the verge, the ESPN crew will be talking about anything else. I fear that.

UCF Third Possession.

Kick returned to 21.

Moffet ends up scrambling for about 3.

Screen to Smith goes for 9.

Smith stuffed. Draw to Smith for 11 yards.

Pitt's defense isn't exactly looking good yet, but UCF is doing what it can with crucial turnovers.

Moffet's pass, broken up by Revis at just the last minute. Great move (also looked like he hooked his arm in Walker's).

Moffet forced to keep, but gets 5. UCF at midfield.

Tight throw that's right on the yellow line. 1st down.

Smith up middle for 4.

Smith bounced it outside, but holding brings it back. 2nd and 17.

Smith on delay for 2 yards. TE dropped the pass. Time to punt.

Pitt Fourth Possession.

Revis fair catches at 14. 1:23 left.

Back to the winter conditioning stories. Oy. Matich: "... so the leaders could lead." Shoot me.

Stephens-Howling for -1. False start on Buches, 2nd and 16.

Screen to Turner for 5. 3d and 11.

End of 1st quarter.

Pitt has had the ball for less than 5 minutes in this quarter. Time of possession is not much of a factor at the moment.

Palko scrambles for 14 and the first.

Up top deep for Kinder, but pass interference (overthrow). Gilmore says Kinder pushed off (the replay doesn't show much of either).

Turner in flat for 4 yards.

TD pass on play fake to Oderick Turner!! Right on the money for 54 yards.

Rod Gilmore keeps calling him "Odessa."

Extra Point good.

28-0 Pitt, 14:03 left in half.

The wife just asked me at what point I will stop liveblogging. I am saying it's over at 45-0 or if Pitt is up by more than 30 by the end of the 3d quarter. Which ever comes first. Not that I would stop watching, just that there seems little point in liveblogging a non-rivalry rout.

UCF Fourth Possession.

Graessle kickoff out of the back of the endzone.

Fumble by Jason Peters, Pitt -- H.B. Blades -- recovers. Pitt ball.

Pitt Fifth Possession.

Pitt takes over at 20.

Offsetting penalties on first play, repeat 1st down.

Stephens-Howling for 5.

Direct snap to Dickerson, not fooling UCF. No gain.

Palko keeps and picks up 1st down.

1st and goal at 10.

Stephens-Howling runs for 3.

Stephens-Howling for 2.

Palko overthrows, TE Darrell Strong in endzone.

Conor Lee for 22 FG, is good.

31-0 Pitt. 9:57 left.

UCF Fifth Possession.

Kickoff is another touchback.

Kyle Israel gets to try to be QB for UCF.

ESPN crew is already discussing other games.

Throw to the wrong side of receiver -- he had his back to it and was turning away from it.

Sharp pass for 16, receiver hammered but holds on.

Smith runs outside for 9.

Smith again for a few.

Incomplete pass under pressure. Moffet punished on the sack, from a Safety blitz. A blitz? From Pitt?

Underneath pass, 7 yards short.

Pitt sixth possession.

Punt fair caught by Revis at 6? Why? You let that bounce.

Stephens-Howling busts a 17 yard run.

Stephens-Howling for another 16 yards.

Joe Thomas is looking tremendous in run-blocking.

S-H for 2 yards.

S-H runs for 10, and that takes Stephens-Howling crosses the 100 yard mark.

S-H runs for a couple.

Short pass for Turner, then picks up the first.

T.J. Porter on an end around for 7 yards.

S-H for 0. Palko a bullet over the middle to Strong, who falls backwards for a couple more --9 yards.

TO Pitt with 2:26 in half, at the 20.

S-H wide open, stumbles and not able to hold onto TD pass.

S-H gets a yard.

Blades scrambles, for about 9. Just short of the first. Go for it!!

Well, they are at least going to try and draw them offside.

Short pass to Conredge Collins on left side, takes it in for the score!!

38-0 Pitt, 1:24 left in half.

UCF sixth possession.

UCF starts at the 20.

Israel pass good for 7 yards. UCF is not even calling time outs.

Pass complete for 1st down, and gets out of bounds.

Israel Scrambles for -1.

Sack and fumble. Pitt ball at 32

Pitt Seventh Possession.

Stephens Howling for 7 yards and gets out of bounds.

Strong gets 1st and out of bounds to 14 yard line.

Palko scrambles for 4.

27 yard FG attempt ....... no good!

End of the half, Pitt clinging to a 38-0 lead.

Halftime,

Pitt Hall of Famer Mark May has a big old s--t eating grin about this game. in the ESPN studio Can't say I blame him.

Good grief what can you say? UCF stinks. The Pitt offense looks like world beaters against the Golden Knights defense.

The Pitt defense isn't looking that good, but the UCF offense keeps killing itself with turnovers. And complaining about a 38-0 lead is just ridiculous.

I expect the second team to be playing sometime in the third quarter.

Start of 3d Quarter

UCF Seventh Possession.

Touchback, starting at 20.

Smith runs for 9 yards, flag, holding, comes back. 1st and 14

Walker catch for 5 yards.

Incomplete, and offline. Blitz and sack by Blades. Moffet off the field and being treated. Looks like he got concussed.

3 and out.

Pitt Eighth Possession.

Punt, Revis picks up ball for a few yards.

Scramble and dump-off to Kinder for 11 yards.

Stephens-Howling for 3 yards.

S-H for 4 yards.

Short pass -- 5 yards -- to Marcel Pestano who then has wide open field to go down to 12 yard line, 26 yard gain.

Stephens-Howling runs for 5 yards.

Stephens-Howling runs untouched up the middle for TD.

Extra point is good.

45-0 Pitt.

10:26 left in the 3d quarter. That's it.

I'm done liveblogging. This is beyond a rout. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy a Goose Island Oatmeal Stout while watching the rest of the game.

Pitt-UCF: The Liveblog originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 13 Oct 2006 20:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Looking Past the Blackened Golden Knights for Pitt

Charles Rich — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:34:00 EST

Filed under: Pittsburgh Football, Big East, UCF Football

Not withstanding the bad symbolism Coach Wannstedt employed during the week, he seems very concerned about Pitt looking past this game. After a practice, he gave an exceptionally fiery speech about preparing for this game.

Wannstedt said he knows he has been a little more on edge this week than in recent weeks, but he wants to make sure his team brings their A-game.

"We have good leaders; I like this team's personality and I'm fairly certain we'll come out and play a good game," he said. "We have a lot of guys from Florida, though, and there could be some distractions. My main motivation this week was to just make sure these guys keep their heads in the game. I just want them to focus on this game, not look ahead, not look behind.

"We've taken the approach -- one week at a time -- and done a good job with it and I'd expect us to continue that this week."

Arguably there are lots of good reasons Coach Wannstedt should push his team -- though, none involve UCF going dark:

It is an ESPN game and the team wants to impress, not to mention a bad history last year in national games
A quarter of the scholarship roster is from Florida, so they have friends and family to possibly distract want to show off to
Bowl eligibility with this win plus more wins then last year
It isn't hard to look past UCF
A win will make it more likely that Pitt's Homecoming game with Rutgers next week will be moved to 5:45 and air on ESPN2

Most of the focus for stopping UCF is on their running game and Kevin Smith.

On offense, the Golden Knights are a little easier to figure out. They have two running backs that average 4.7 yards per carry. Kevin Smith leads with 403 yards rushing and two scores, while Jason Peters has 237 and one.

"These kids were both highly recruited kids," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "I remember talking about Smith, and they were waiting on his academics. A lot of schools were interested in him, but I think he signed with Central Florida in June."

Florida and FSU both wanted Smith, but didn't think he could get his academics straightened out in time (and encouraged him to go to prep school for a year).

No Looking Past the ~~Blackened~~ Golden Knights for Pitt originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitt and UCF Prefer the Early Strike

Charles Rich — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:45:00 EST

Filed under: Pittsburgh Football, Big East, UCF Football

In college football, often the team winning the toss will defer to the second half. Not likely for Friday's Pitt-UCF game. Coach Dave Wannstedt still has more of the NFL approach of taking the ball first. In this game, arguably it actually matters to both Pitt and UCF who scores first.

Pitt has scored first in every game this season, and has outscored opponents 55-3 in the first quarter -- the only score came on a FG in the first quarter by Virginia. Pitt is 5-1 so far this season.

UCF under George O'Leary is 8-1 when they score first or lead after the 1st quarter. Scoring first and often will be very important for UCF, as their defense has not been very good this year. 107th on total defense; 69th against the run; 113th versus the pass; and 107th on passing efficiency defense.

Pitt and UCF Prefer the Early Strike originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UCF Friday Night Home Field Strategy: Keep the Fans Invisible

Charles Rich — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:47:00 EST

Filed under: Pittsburgh Football, Big East, UCF Football

I realize black is one of their colors, and there is the whole Friday the 13th vibe, plus it's October so you can go with the whole spookiness thing. That said, when your nickname is the "Golden Knights," not "black knights or simply "knights" this just seems silly.

UCF will wear black jerseys for the Friday night game aganst Pitt. Just part of their overall "blackout the bowl" effort.

The UCF football team hosts Pittsburgh this Friday and all Golden Knight fans are encouraged to "Blackout the Bowl." All fans attending the 8 p.m. game at the Florida Citrus Bowl are urged to show their support for UCF by wearing black.
The contest will be aired live nationally on ESPN.

Because nothing creates a great effect on TV or in the stands like thousands of people dressed like empty seats. That's intimidation.

UCF Friday Night Home Field Strategy: Keep the Fans Invisible originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:47:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitt DC's Conflict of Impulse and Opponent

Charles Rich — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:33:00 EST

Filed under: Pittsburgh Football, Big East, UCF Football

Pitt Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads may have a mental breakdown this week.

His first urge on defense -- going back to his roots as a defensive backs coach -- is to stop the pass, prevent the big play and keep the offense in front of the defense. This has hurt Pitt in the recent past in defending the run, as the D-line has struggled with stopping the run. DC Rhoads has stubbornly refused to let the linebackers play closer to the line, bring up safeties and even corners in helping against the run, for fear of getting burned on a pass play. Despite the talent on the defense the last few years being in the secondary, Rhoads has loathed the idea of having the secondary play one-on-one or not have any support.

This season, Pitt has been noticeably improved against straight running attacks. There is no question the D-line is improving, but the linebackers are definitely up more to stop the run. There have even been instances where the safeties have crept closer. Credit for this tends to go to Head Coach Dave Wannstedt's insistence on doing better against the run no matter what.

I don't disagree.The problem starting with this game is the loss of starting strong safety with a season ending injury. How does DC Rhoads reconcile an understandable urge to protect and shield the strong safety position from being forced to do too much without hurting the run defense?

The Central Florida Golden Knights want to run the ball. They have a very good running back in sophomore Kevin Smith, and an excellent back-up with senior Jason Peters. 640 yards rushing between the two. Almost as much yardage as the top three receivers for UCF have accumulated (675).

Pitt has done very well against running games that are traditional this season. The exception has come against Michigan State which killed Pitt with the option.

The Panthers have held four teams to less than 100 yards rushing and have allowed a team to rush for more than 200 yards only once. By contrast, last season the Panthers held only one team -- Ohio -- to less than 100 yards rushing in 11 games and had four teams rush for more than 200 yards against them. And teams averaged 185.2 yards rushing and 4.3 yards per carry.
"We got a lot of things corrected this year, no doubt," said Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades, who leads the Big East and is fourth in the NCAA in tackles (11.3 per game).

"A lot has to do with experience. This team is the best equipped to stop the run since I've been here because the defensive line is the best it has been. And the linebackers, with Clint, Brian [Bennett] and myself, are all seniors, so we can just fly around the field and make plays and play football because we're not having to think so much about what we're doing."

The only glitch was against Michigan State, which rushed for 335 yards and handed Pitt its only loss. Take that game out of the equation and the Panthers have held their other five opponents to only 71 yards rushing per game and 2.3 yards per carry. Pitt has yielded only five rushing touchdowns this season, three to the Spartans.

UCF does not run an option. Their starting QB Steve Moffat is a more traditional quarterback.

The issue is, though, for the UCF game and beyond is how much trust does Rhoads have in Mike Phillips and the other safeties to step up and do more run support? Phillips has not shown the form yet, he had before his injury last year.

This seems like the game for Phillips to be worked in and see if he can handle playing more run defense at the safety. UCF is not a particularly strong passing team, or a team with a particularly accurate QB. They depend heavily on the running game, and Pitt will know it's coming.

Pitt DC's Conflict of Impulse and Opponent originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Basic Info in Advance of Pitt-UCF

Charles Rich — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:33:00 EST

Filed under: Pittsburgh Football, Big East, UCF Football

It's a Friday night ESPN game for Pitt, so it's a short week. It's the second Friday night game of the season for Pitt.

UCF has spent the past month playing weekday games that have been on the Mouse Monopoly stations. Until the UCF win last week against Marshall, the Golden Knights were 0-18 on ESPN channels. UCF has an 0-7 record against present Big East teams.

The big focus of the UCF offense is the running game. Last week, against Marshall, UCF had two 100+ yard rushers. Sophomore starter Kevin Smith racked up 166 yards until leaving with an injury in the 3d quarter -- he's expected to start on Friday. In relief, Senior Jason Peters, picked up 108 yards.

Like just about any college coach, Dave Wannstedt did his best to puff up the opponent. Pointing to their offensive line and their QB as threats.

On Central Florida's offensive line:

They're good athletes. You watch tape of Central Florida comparing them to Syracuse, comparing them to Virginia, whomever else we've played, certain teams have maybe an exceptional player but for the most part the offensive lines are very similar. They've got the 6'2", 6'3", 300-pound guys. Most of them are pretty good athletes.

On Central Florida's quarterback Steven Moffett:

When I pick up the paper I don't look at completions. I see how many touchdowns they've thrown to interceptions. That's usually a pretty good tale of what type of player you're going to face from an efficiency standpoint. He's been very efficient. He's a two-and-a-half year starter, he's been there, he knows the system. He's an athlete. They do movement stuff with him. You'll see him on the bootleg and the sprints. We did not do a good job of that last week at Syracuse. That quarterback scrambled for way too many yards. We have to do a lot better job up front of getting the quarterback on the ground.

He doesn't mention that Moffet has thrown all of 6 TDs versus 3 INTs. As for efficiency, Moffet is completing at 54.1% in the 5 games played.

UCF is not a particularly good offensive team. In fact, they've been quite inept at scoring.

UCF is last in C-USA in red-zone efficiency. In 20 trips, it has scored 12 times (60 percent), with eight touchdowns and four field goals. That's the biggest reason the Golden Knights are 11th in the 12-team league in scoring, at 17.8 points per game.

The 21 points Pitt scored against Syracuse this past Saturday was their lowest output of the season.

Basic Info in Advance of Pitt-UCF originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Florida 42, UCF 0

Ryan Ferguson — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:06:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Football, Conference USA, SEC, UCF Football

Actually, I predicted Florida 42, UCF 7. Guess I shouldn't have spotted them the 7.

George O'Leary is probably grateful that Florida head coach Urban Meyer decided to go to the second and third string early in the second half. Unfortunately for the UCF Golden Knights, it didn't lead to any points. But at least the margin of victory wasn't any larger.

If Meyer hadn't called off the dogs when he did, the final tally could have easily been UF 84, UCF 0. Tim Tebow saw extended playing time and it was exciting to see the true freshman on the field. However, there's definitely a drop-off in O-line and receiver talent at Florida when you reach the lower half of the depth chart -- especially at wide receiver.

Percy Harvin was electrifying as usual, notching Florida's first touchdown of the night -- and the freshman's first ever -- on a 58-yard touchdown reception thrown by Chris Leak. Andre Caldwell had two big touchdown grabs. One PAT was lost due to a poorly-fielded snap and another was badly missed by Eric Nappy, coming in off the bench for starting kicker Chris Hetland.

Florida lost the turnover battle, handing UCF the ball four separate times. Florida's defense, however, was otherworldly. UCF was completely ineffective beyond a few first downs.

Meyer eventually pulled Brandon Siler and Earl Everett, who usually stay in for the entire game no matter what the score. Evidently, even if Meyer was trying to protect the shutout, he felt his backup linebackers would hold. And they did.

Chris Leak completed 20 of 29 for four TDs and one interception off a tipped pass. Commentators raved about his 400-yard passing performance and great reads. To my naked eye, it looked like Leak was much more comfortable in the pocket. He stepped into his throws and moved forward from the shotgun position as he made his reads. Leave Chris Leak in the game and you'd likely see a 600-yard night from the senior QB.

Tim Tebow led his own touchdown drive early in the third quarter, and Florida's awesome front seven on defense turned in a safety for good measure.

"That was a bowl team we just played," said Meyer directly after the game. "A shutout against a bowl team is hard to get. I'm very proud of what we did tonight, because shutouts are just hard to get."

Give George O'Leary credit for his closing statement: "We're just not at that stage yet that Florida plays." Indeed. There has been much yapping as of late about UCF's inevitable elevation in status to the state of Florida's 4th football superpower. UCF fans, it takes more than a big-name ball coach and an erector-set starter stadium kit to build a national (or even southern) program. It takes many years of recruiting, high level coaching, and fan/booster support -- and that's just for starters.

But, we hope you enjoyed your moment in the spotlight and that a taste of The Swamp will leave you hungry for more.

Florida 42, UCF 0 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:06:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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