Dec. 3, 2010
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - For months, it's all been pointed to this for UCF - a chance at a championship and an opportunity to prove that, indeed, there's a special season in the works for the Knights.
As far back as last spring, several UCF players talked of being in a position to win all of their games this season, run roughshod over their foes in Conference USA and ultimately end up in December hoisting another championship trophy overhead.
Finally, that opportunity has arrived, and not a moment too soon.
UCF has, for the most part, fulfilled its vast promise this season with some of the best football in school history. And all that's left now for the Knights (9-3 overall and 7-1 in C-USA play) is to beat SMU (7-5, 6-2) in Saturday's Conference USA Championship Game at Bright House Networks Stadium and win the school's second league title in four years.
``It's not a lot of times in life where you can reach all of your goals and we have that opportunity now. We have to take advantage of it,'' said senior wide receiver Jamar Newsome, who has three 100-yard receiving games in the last four weeks. ``It's a beautiful feeling to know we've worked so hard to get here, so now we need to wrap it up the right way with a win.''
UCF did plenty of winning this season to put itself in this position, rolling through its first five conference opponents and capturing victories in seven of the last eight games of the season. The Knights haven't faced SMU, the champs from the West Division, since 2008 and much has changed with the Mustangs' revamped run-and-shoot offense under coach June Jones.
But the Knights, nationally ranked at No. 25 for the second time this season, will head into this game with loads of confidence in their abilities to get the job done. This Knights team has been one of head coach George O'Leary's favorites in his tenure at UCF, and he said he couldn't be prouder of a team fulfilling its promise as this one has. Now, the only fitting end will be a league championship.
``I thought back in the spring we had the making of a good football team. We had to put some pieces together obviously,'' O'Leary recalled. ``The quarterback (Jeff Godfrey) having the year he had helped that situation. I think overall the expectation levels of the kids, they have played for the most part to their potential as far as getting things done on the field. I think this senior class has been a good class as far as minding the underclassmen not just on the field but off the field, and just doing the right things as far as the football program is concerned.''
There was a time back in 2007 when the Knights won the first league title in school history that this team had the look of a potential dynasty. But UCF slumped badly in 2008 and missed out on a shot at the title by a tiebreaker in 2009. Being away from the championship game has given this senior class - 19 strong and the biggest of the O'Leary era at UCF - a new appreciation for what it takes to win a title.
``It's definitely tough to get back, especially with how competitive our side of the conference is. There are a lot of good football teams and any loss could ruin your chances of getting back (to the title game). We've done a good job of working to get back to this game,'' UCF senior defensive end Bruce Miller, who is now the school's all-time leader in sacks with 32. ``When we're going through the program we can say we'll do it next year. We didn't make it (to the championship game) a couple of times, but this is the last shot for us. We want this one pretty bad.''
So too does a UCF fanbase that appears poised to pack Bright House Networks Stadium. Less than 5,000 tickets remain for Saturday's game and the hope is that the attendance will surpass the 44,128 that attended the C-USA title game in Orlando in 2007.
Workers painted the field on Thursday for preparation for the game, adorning one end zone with ``Mustangs'' and midfield with the C-USA title game logo. The hope is to give the game a neutral feel, but UCF's coaching staff and players have scoffed at that notion. They hope that there's a distinct homefield advantage for the Knights come Saturday afternoon.
``It is a home game as far as I am concerned. That is the way I look at it,'' O'Leary said. ``I don't know what the other people are being told. I think that's nice you want to stay neutral but the combination of playing at home it's not a neutral site. It's very simple. We are treating it just like a home game and that is the way it should be treated.''
UCF's senior class is looking at Saturday's game as a Senior Day re-do of sorts because the Knights lost three weeks earlier to Southern Miss in the final regular-season home game. But now the Knights' senior class gets a chance at winning their final game and finishing C-USA play the same way that they did in 2007 with a championship.
``I don't want my last memory of Bright House Networks Stadium to be walking off the field with my head down and with a loss,'' said senior linebacker Derrick Hallman, UCF's leading tackler this season. ``Even more so, I don't want another team on my field celebrating with the championship trophy.''
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John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.