UCF Golden Knights football

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Central Florida Golden Knights football

Head Coach

George O'Leary

3rd Year, 10-21

Home Stadium

Bright House Networks Stadium

Capacity 45,000 - Grass

Conference

CUSA - East

First Year

1979

Team Records

All-time Record

152-146-1

Postseason
Bowl Record

0-1

Awards

National Titles

Conference Titles

Heisman Winners

All-Americans

Pageantry

Colors

Gold and Black

The UCF Golden Knights are a Division I-A college football program. The team began playing in 1979 as a Division III program and completed their ascension to Division I-A in 1996. The Golden Knights are a member of Conference USA and their current head coach is George O'Leary, who formerly led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team.

1 Home Field
2 Program History
3 Conference Championship Appearances
4 Bowl Appearances
5 Golden Knights in the NFL
6 Rivals
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Home Field

The Golden Knights have always played their home games at the Citrus Bowl. In 2005, the school proposed putting a stadium on campus for the first time. Bright House Networks Stadium, formerly known as UCF Stadium, was originally planned to open in time for the 2006 football season, but neighborhood opposition delayed the time frame.

Stadium construction began in 2006 and is scheduled to be finished in time for the September 15, 2007 home game against the Texas Longhorns. When it opens, the stadium is expected to seat 45,000. Plans for the stadium include the ability to expand the venue to a capacity of 65,000 in the future.

[edit] Program History

The program began at the Division III level in 1979, when the school was known as Florida Technological University. Don Jonas, a former professional football player and Orlando dignitary, became UCF's first head football coach on a volunteer basis. UCF would move up to Division II in 1982.

Gene McDowell took over as head coach and athletic director in 1985. During his tenure, the program moved up to Division I-AA in 1990 and was a playoff team in 1990 and 1993.^[1]. In 1996, the program made its foray into Division I-A. In the wake of a federal fraud scandal revolving around improper cellular phone benefits and use[1], McDowell resigned as head coach on January 20, 1998 and was replaced by Mike Kruczek on an interim basis. He would receive the position permanently later in 1998.

Kruczek guided the team as a Division I-A independent until 2001 and the Golden Knights proved to be a scary team on the road. Close losses included 6-10 at Auburn in 1998, 23-24 at Georgia in 1999, and 17-21 at Georgia Tech in 2000. Kruczek's biggest victory would come in 2000 against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, winning 40-38 on a last-second field goal by Javier Beorlegui.

UCF played its first season as a member of the Mid-American Conference in 2002 and finished runner-up in the East division with a 6-2 record. The Golden Knights finished the season 7-5 overall, completing their 14th winning season in the past 17 years.

After signing a three-year contract extension to begin the 2003 season, Kruczek was fired following a 3-7 start. He was replaced on an interim basis by Alan Gooch before the program hired George O'Leary for the start of the 2004 season.

In 2005, UCF started their first season as a member of Conference USA. Not expected to do much after a 0-11 record in their last MAC season, they won their first conference game against Marshall 23-13, and finished 7-1 in Conference USA games, winning the East Division and hosting the first ever Conference USA Championship game, which they lost 44-27 to Tulsa.

In 2006, UCF finished the season with a record of 4-8 and were not eligible for a bowl game. Some UCF fans and members of the Orlando media have begun to question the 10-year, $10M extension the school offered to George O'Leary prior to the 2006 season[2].

[edit] Conference Championship Appearances

2005 Conference USA Football Championship

[edit] Bowl Appearances

2005 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

[edit] Golden Knights in the NFL

Atari Bigby - Safety, Green Bay Packers
Daunte Culpepper - Quarterback, Miami Dolphins
Steve Edwards - Offensive Tackle, Chicago Bears
Travis Fisher - Safety, St. Louis Rams
Doug Gabriel - Wide Receiver, New England Patriots
Michael Gaines - Tight End, Carolina Panthers
Cornell Green, Offensive Tackle, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Alex Haynes, Running Back, Carolina Panthers
Brandon Marshall - Wide Receiver, Denver Broncos
Elton Patterson, Defensive End, Jacksonville Jaguars
Asante Samuel - Cornerback, New England Patriots^[2]

[edit] Rivals

UCF, being a relatively young Division I-A team, has yet to establish any major long-term rivals. Nevertheless, many see the Marshall Thundering Herd as UCF's main rival due to the amount of meetings and the comparable size of the programs. Both teams also joined Division I-AA a year apart and made the switch to C-USA from the MAC in 2005. The similarities and histories between the two programs gave UCF's victory over Marshall, which ended the Golden Knights' 17-game losing streak, even more significance.

Many at UCF consider thier future rival to be the South Florida Bulls football team, a member of the Big East Conference. Both programs are rather new to Division I-A and are large state colleges in Florida, situated less than 100 miles away from each other.