NCAA Football FanHouse http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com NCAA Football FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif NCAA Football FanHouse http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Say Good Knight to Keenum, Houstonhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/14/say-good-knight-to-keenum-houston/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/14/say-good-knight-to-keenum-houston/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/14/say-good-knight-to-keenum-houston/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Case KeenumORLANDO, Fla. - Good Knight, Case.

Case Keenum's late-game dramatics -- not to mention his Heisman Trophy consideration -- wilted under a brilliant Florida sun and an inspired Central Florida defense Saturday afternoon. Despite throwing two touchdowns in the closing minutes, Keenum and 13th-ranked Houston ran out of time in their 37-32 defeat to a band of merry Knights who clinched the program's first win over a nationally-ranked team.

"Whether it was making mistakes or them playing really hard ... they did a good job of covering down field and putting pressure on me," said Keenum, who had led Houston to consecutive victories over Southern Miss and Tulsa last week on last-minute scoring drives.


"We could never get it going."

The game pitted Houston's strength (No. 1 in the nation in pass offense and scoring) against UCF's biggest weakness (No. 114 in the nation against the pass). Advantage, Knights, who helped a small but boisterous crowd of 34,437 celebrate homecoming in sunny, 75-degree style at Bright House Networks Stadium.

Certainly not forgotten in the equation was that UCF (6-4) entered leading Conference USA in total defense and fewest points allowed despite its struggles against the pass.

And let's also not forget crafty veteran Knights coach George O'Leary, whose team is bowl eligible for the third time in four years and remains in Conference USA contention.

On Friday night, O'Leary showed his team highlight clips of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, explaining how the three-time World Heavyweight champion could throw a punch, take a punch and overcome adversity. The Cougars (8-2), who no longer control their destiny in Conference USA's West Division, ended up on their haunches.


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Keenum, ranked a close second in three of four Heisman straw polls conducted by ESPN, USA Today Scripps Howard and CBSSports.com and fourth in USA Today's version, finished 33 of 56 for 377 yards and three scores.

Keenum, who had more than 500 yards in each of the previous two games, threw for 325 of his 377 yards in the first and fourth quarters.

"Give them credit for knowing their stuff and playing hard against us," Keenum said, pushing back a faded,worn Houston cap.

Actually, that was an oft-repeated theme from the Cougars.

Frustrated players credited the Knights, dressed in new black jerseys, for playing with more effort and emotion.

UCF trailed 10-0 and 17-3 midway in the second quarter before it scored 20 unanswered points and played keep away with the Cougars' normally quick-strike offense. The Knights held a huge advantage in time of possession (39:30 to 20:30, and Houston only ran four plays in the second quarter) and committed just one penalty.

"They were flying around to the ball," said Houston receiver Tyron Carrier, who had nine receptions for 149 yards and two scores.

"They acted like they wanted it, and we couldn't hold them back. They were rushing our quarterback, getting to our screens. They did a good job of preparing for us. We were fired up to play; we kind of started laying down a little bit. A good team sees a team laying down, they are going to come back and pull out the win, and that's what they did."

Carrier sighed, and continued.

"I really don't know what it was," he said. "If a team wanted it more than the other team, the team that wants it the most is going to get it. That's what they did. The game plan was great; it's just on us as a team. We didn't execute. You don't want to give any team at home something to cheer."

The Knights had plenty to cheer.

Knights running back Brynn Harvey rushed for 139 yards -- his fourth career 100-yard game -- and a career-high three rushing touchdowns.

Quarterback Brett Hodges, a transfer from Wake Forest and a Florida native, completed 21 of 25 passes and tossed 12 consecutive completions at one point. He recorded the highest completion percentage in a game for his career (84.0) and out-played the Heisman hopeful in the process.

"That was the plan going in, and it really just came down to execution," Hodges said.

"We controlled the ball because we executed."

And let's not forget about UCF's defense, anchored by a small but athletic line and a young secondary that refused to blink. The unit was torched last week by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who threw for 470 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-7 non-conference romp.

When Justin Boddie picked off Keenum in the fourth quarter, it ended his streak of 123 straight passes without an interception.

"They out-played us; flat out-played us," said disgruntled Houston right guard Chris Thompson.

"Mostly, they just gave good effort at what they did. They were pretty good up front -- we knew that coming in. They threw a couple blitzes in, a couple slants -- but that wasn't the problem -- they out-played us out front. Had a real good plan coming into the game.

"When we turn on film Monday ... the team that played harder than the other team ... and it seemed like they played off the crowd and emotion and had things going their way."





Houston also suffered three turnovers in the game, and not even Keenum's late-game dramatics were enough to save the day.

"I thought they did some things physically ... they turned it into a physical game and we didn't respond the way we should have," Houston coach Kevin Sumlin said.

"I didn't see anyone quit or anything like that, that's not it. In a game like that, where there's a contrast of styles, turnovers become important with ball-possession offense. When it's a physical game you have to match that play, I didn't think we matched it consistently all day."

Say Good Knight to Keenum, Houston originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Case KeenumCaseKeenumJim HenrySat, 14 Nov 2009 17:57:00 EST UCF Slows Keenum, Topples Houstonhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/14/ucf-slows-keenum-topples-houston/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/14/ucf-slows-keenum-topples-houston/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/14/ucf-slows-keenum-topples-houston/#commentsFiled under: ,

ORLANDO, Fla.(AP) -- Central Florida not only found a way to slow down Case Keenum and No. 13 Houston, the Knights didn't give the nation's most prolific passer a chance to pull off another improbable comeback.

Brett Hodges outplayed the Cougars quarterback and Brynn Harvey rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, leading UCF to a 37-32 upset that stopped a five-game winning streak Keenum had kept alive with a pair of last-minute rallies.

Harvey scored on runs of 1, 41 and 7 yards, the last set up by an interception that stopped Keenum's streak of consecutive passing attempts without a pick at 123. Hodges completed 21 of 25 passes for 241 yards and one TD.

Keenum threw for two TDs in the closing minutes, cutting into a 17-point deficit. He finished 33 of 56 for 377 yards and three scores. He had more than 500 yards in each of the previous two games.

UCF entered the game leading the conference in total defense and fewest points allowed despite ranking near the bottom of the league against the pass. The Knights gave up 470 yards passing to Colt McCoy in a 35-3 loss to Texas the previous week, but did a nice job against Keenum after yielding a 51-yard TD throw to Tyron Carrier that gave Houston a 10-0 lead.

After a quick start, Houston (8-2, 4-2) sputtered on offense, and the Cougars added to their woes by not being able to stop Hodges and Harvey after Central Florida (6-4, 4-2) was outgained 179-40 in the first quarter.

Keenum threw a 31-yard TD pass to Carrier to finish a 94-yard that trimmed Houston's deficit to 37-26, then led an 80-yard to score again on a 15-yard TD pass to Chaz Rodriguez. Carrier had nine receptions for 149 yards.

Central Florida had the ball for more than nine minutes of the opening quarter, but couldn't take advantage. Houston produced a field goal and Keenum's first TD pass on its first two possessions, then lost fumbles at the UCF 9 and 20 on its next two drives.

Amazingly, the Cougars clung to a 17-10 lead at the half after Central Florida's offense and special teams, which yielded Devin Mays' 100-yard kickoff return, managed to keep Keenum on the sideline for all but the final 1:18 of the second quarter.

Hodges was 6-of-6 for 45 yards passing on a 15-play, 62-yard drive that ended with Nick Cattoi's 35-yard field goal, then the Knights ran the ball nine times on a 10-play, 62-yard march that freshman Jonathan Davis finished with a 4-yard run for his first career touchdown.

UCF's domination of time of possession continued in the third quarter, with the Knights forcing two three-and-outs to start the period and Harvey scoring touchdowns after each stop to put Central Florida up 23-17.

Hodges, who was 12-of-12 for 135 yards on UCF's first four scoring drives, threw 24 yards to Quincy McDuffie to make it 30-20. The Knights went up 17 midway through the fourth quarter when Harvey scored his third TD after Justin Boddie intercepted Keenum and ran the pick back 22 yards to the Houston 7.

For Keenum, who's thrown for 31 TDs, it was only his sixth interception of the season.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

UCF Slows Keenum, Topples Houston originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:16:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>case keenumcolt mccoyFanHouse NewswireSat, 14 Nov 2009 16:16:00 EST Keenum's Heisman Campaign Heats Uphttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/11/keenums-heisman-campaign-to-heat-up-at-central-florida/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/11/keenums-heisman-campaign-to-heat-up-at-central-florida/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/11/keenums-heisman-campaign-to-heat-up-at-central-florida/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Case KeenumIf Central Florida's maligned pass defense is looking for motivation, well, here it is: The last time Case Keenum did not throw a touchdown pass was on Nov. 10, 2007, in a 56-7 defeat at Tulsa.

So it can be done.

Keenum's aerial show visits the Sunshine State on Saturday, when No. 12 Houston meets UCF in a key Conference USA showdown in Orlando. Better yet, it's also another great opportunity for Keenum, who has thrown for more than 1,000 yards in his past two games alone, to impress Heisman Trophy voters. That's if Keenum cares.

"I don't know what the Heisman voters are thinking," Keenum said.

"My goal right now is to beat UCF. My goal is not to win the Heisman or break records. Any individual award is a team award. If you're not being successful and winning games, those team accolades are not going to come your way."
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For the poor Knights, who were carved like a Thanksgiving turkey by another Heisman hopeful last week -- Texas quarterback Colt McCoy threw for 470 yards -- it might be a case of jumping out of the roasting pan into the fire.

The game pits Houston's strength (No. 1 in the nation in pass offense and scoring) against UCF's biggest weakness (No. 114 in the nation against the pass).

The Knights are surrendering 267.6 passing yards per game -- a mark that Keenum usually reaches, and surpasses, by the third quarter.

Keenum's on pace to break almost every Cougar passing and total offense record, and he's the runaway national passing leader while directing the Cougars to their best start (8-1) since 1990 and highest national ranking since 1991.

And remember, this is a program that produced Kevin Kolb, David Klingler and 1989 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware.

"They have a very dynamic offense, but we feel like we're up for the challenge," UCF safety Derrick Hallman said. "It's a big opportunity and I can't really explain how excited I am to be facing a team that throws the ball 50 or 60 times a game."

Keenum's heroics last Saturday helped Houston avoid a major upset on the final play against Tulsa. Keenum led the offense to nine points in the final 21 seconds, and completed 40-of-60 passes for 522 yards and three touchdowns in the 46-45 victory.

It marked the third time -- and second in a row -- that Keenum led the Cougars on a last-minute scoring drive in the fourth quarter to win the game.

"His character -- he is the same on and off the field. A great leader and I know he will lead us to victory," senior receiver Tim Monroe said when asked to describe Keenum's best attributes.

"The past game he didn't show any feelings. He had it in his head and believed we were going to win that game. Now we are winning games, with his numbers, there shouldn't be any reason why he shouldn't win the Heisman Trophy this year."

Houston and Conference USA have begun trying to drum up publicity for Keenum in what has turned out to be a wide-open Heisman race.

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In ESPN's weekly Heisman Watch, Keenum ranked second this week behind Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who has rushed for 1,148 yards this season, 719 coming against four ranked opponents.

Ingram had 144 yards on 22 carries, 16 in the second half, in the Tide's 24-15 home win over LSU last Saturday that clinched the SEC West.

Keenum was listed fourth behind Ingram, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska and running back C.J. Spiller of Clemson in SI.com's weekly countdown.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is trying to become the only player other than Archie Griffin (Ohio State 1974 and 1975) to win two Heismans, while McCoy is trying to win his first in his final season.

Keenum, who is a one pass-at-a-time and one-game-at-a-time player, says he's more worried about the big picture than an invitation to the Nokia Theater Times Square, home to the Heisman presentation in New York City next month.

Don't worry that he has had at least 359 yards passing in every game but one, he's topped 500 yards three times and he's thrown at least three touchdowns in six games this season.

At this rate, he's on pace to throw for 5,087 yards (just under three miles) and 37 touchdowns.

Overall, Keenum has thrown at least one touchdown in 30 of 32 career games. If UCF is counting, the only other game, besides the Tulsa contest, that Keenum didn't throw a scoring pass was in a 56-48 win over Rice in October 2007.

Keenum cares more about wins than numbers.

"We have to be careful about patting ourselves on the back and getting a big head," said Keenum, who is averaging 434.44 yards of total offense per game, 423.89 of it passing.

"It's nothing if we don't win on Saturday. UCF is a tough football team, so we have our work cut out."

Houston coach Kevin Sumlin agrees, pointing to a UCF defense that actually ranks first in Conference USA in total defense and is one of the country's top units in delivering pressure.

"It means something to me, but they're also sixth in the country in sacks and total tackles per loss," Sumlin said in reference to UCF's struggling pass defense.

"Some people aren't getting the ball off, so there are some other issues too. If you can get it off, maybe those statistics mean something. They're one of the top teams in the country in pressuring the quarterback.

"That ought to tell you a little something about their philosophy. When you start looking at total defense and averaging out those numbers, they're still top in our league."

Keenum's Heisman Campaign Heats Up originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Case KeenumCaseKeenumJim HenryWed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST Super Sexy Fun Time Conference Calls With George O'Learyhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/09/03/super-sexy-fun-time-conference-calls-with-george-oleary/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/09/03/super-sexy-fun-time-conference-calls-with-george-oleary/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/09/03/super-sexy-fun-time-conference-calls-with-george-oleary/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

George O'Leary is a man that lives on the edge. Clearly. So it should come as no real surprise that when Iliana Limon, a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, tried to call into a conference call, she was greeted with a phone sex line introduction.

Wait. That should be a surprise. Ah. Turns out the PR guy, whose job security is likely through the roof right now, handed out the wrong number to reporters.
When I dialed in, the voice on the other line said, "Hi sexy, you've reached the one-on-one fantasy line." I gasped, hung up and figured I must have dialed the wrong number. So, I checked the UCF news release and dialed again, but I got the same phone sex hotline complete with offers I can't really post on this blog.

It turns out Leigh Torbin, UCF's new director of athletic communications, accidentally listed one digit incorrectly when he released the teleconference information and sent the media on an amusing detour. Torbin said he feels terrible about the error and set up another teleconference with O'Leary at noon Wednesday. "Today's scheduled call was not able to occur due to my own technical mistakes for which I deeply apologize," Torbin wrote at the end of the latest news release announcing the Wednesday teleconference.
Rowwwwwr. I'm not sure whether my reaction would be "GOOD ONE, GUYS!" and then pull a Farva on someone, or whether I would just quietly hang up the phone and never speak of that again. Probably the latter.

Or as Ryan Wilson pointed out, it could simply have been O'Leary breathing heavily on the other end of the line. And I can kind of picture him as a Paul-type anyway, so that kind of works.

Super Sexy Fun Time Conference Calls With George O'Leary originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>George OLearyGeorgeOlearyWill BrinsonWed, 03 Sep 2008 00:30:00 EST George O'Leary Hates Factual Errorshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/22/george-oleary-hates-factual-errors/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/22/george-oleary-hates-factual-errors/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/22/george-oleary-hates-factual-errors/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Is there a limit on how long potshots can be taken at UCF Coach George O'Leary for lying on his resume for all of those years? I would like to think it expired, but when the same coach who spent years claiming to have degrees he didn't and cost himself the Notre Dame job is claiming he won't speak to the local media because of their errors, well it's hard not to dredge it all back to the forefront.
UCF Coach George O'Leary declined to answer questions from the Orlando Sentinel and barred his players from granting interviews with the newspaper during Conference USA media day on Sunday.

He also refused to speak with other reporters if a representative from the Sentinel was present at the UCF table during the only session for print reporters at media day.

O'Leary said last week he would not speak with the Sentinel until the newspaper corrected errors in its coverage of Ereck Plancher's death.

The newspaper has asked UCF officials to outline the mistakes, but the school has declined to discuss the errors in detail.
This should be a great source of mockery and humor. A coach refusing to talk to the media until they correct errors, yet not actually saying what the errors were. It would be, if the issue surrounding it wasn't the death of a 19-year old student.
Ereck Plancher died during spring drills. From the start there were discrepancies between what UCF was saying and what turned out to be true.

I don't expect you to care about this little hissing match between O'Leary and the Sentinel. But check out the corrections UCF has had to make.

Plancher's final workout was easy. Not quite.

He didn't appear fatigued. Don't tell that to the players.

UCF didn't know about his medical condition. Turns out it did.

O'Leary is mad at the Sentinel. At least that one is true.

He is apparently upset over a story in which four players contested UCF's version of events during Plancher's last workout.

After further autopsy tests, it was learned that Ereck Plancher had sickle-cell trait. A condition that put him at risk for sudden death when under physical stress.

The National Athletic Trainers Association in 2007 called for athletes with sickle-cell trait to be withheld from activity when symptoms arise. An athlete should be pulled from training immediately if he or she experiences such symptoms as muscle cramping, pain, swelling, weakness, tenderness, inability to "catch breath" or fatigue, the guidelines state.

Players in the workout with Plancher told the Sentinel in April that he was gasping for breath and staggering before he collapsed on the day of his death.

O'Leary and the coaches contend that the workout that day was not particularly strenuous. Even though, it was conceded that they were doing mat drills.

UCF did know about and apparently did inform Plancher of his condition. Plancher may not have shared the information with his family, however.

According to the UCF press release, they took precautions to watch Plancher for problems. In light of the descriptions of how Plancher was struggling in the drill, it hardly seems that they were watching too closely.

George O'Leary Hates Factual Errors originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Chas RichTue, 22 Jul 2008 00:51:00 EST