April 17, 2005
ORLANDO - For the final time this spring, the UCF football team practiced Sunday afternoon at the practice fields at the Wayne Densch Sports Center. The Golden Knights hit the field for 90 minutes in helmets and shoulder pads, just one day after their final scrimmage of the spring Saturday.
"I thought our contact level has really improved," stated UCF head coach George O'Leary on Saturday's scrimmage. "Overall, I thought some of the kids got better and I really thought we had a better presence on the field this spring. I was pleased with the spring and I thought we had three good scrimmages."
UCF lost two players for the spring due to injury in the scrimmages. In the first scrimmage of the spring, junior college transfer Jason Peters broke his foot and missed the rest of spring drills. The tailback showed promise through the first week of practice as the big back showed the versatility to run in between the tackles and have enough speed to run outside.
In the second scrimmage of the spring, sophomore quarterback Kyle Israel suffered a stress fracture in his right leg, the same injury that forced him to miss the final three games of the 2004 season.
Outside linebacker Chris Welsh was the other Golden Knight of note to go down with an injury in the spring as he broke his hand on the first day of drills. Welsh practiced with the team the entire spring, but was limited to no-contact drills. Welsh is one of several Golden Knights learning new positions, switching from defensive end to linebacker.
"It is important now for the team to focus on academics and get into the off-season workout program," O'Leary continued. "I hate to see the injuries to Peters and Israel since they could have used the experience, but I think we got better in a lot of positions that I thought we needed to get better in."
UCF opens the 2005 season in primetime on ESPN September 1 at South Carolina. The Golden Knights begin their fourth consecutive season on ESPN. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. in ESPN's first college football broadcast of the season.