Aug. 17, 2005
ORLANDO - The first scrimmage of preseason camp for the UCF football team ended on a sobering note. Senior defensive end Paul Carrington sustained an injury to his head/neck area and was airlifted from the UCF practice field.
"After talking to the medical staff, Paul Carrington suffered an injury to his head/neck area," stated UCF head coach George O'Leary. "He was airlifted to the hospital for further evaluation." Carrington was in stable condition when he left the practice field and had some movement.
As for the scrimmage, both the offense and defense looked good at times. "Both sides had their moments tonight," stated O'Leary. One player who looked sharp was junior quarterback Steven Moffett. The first team quarterback was 11-of-14 passing for 174 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Moffett's 55-yard touchdown pass to Mike Walker down the sideline came against the first team defense. "I thought Steven really looked sharp tonight," O'Leary added. "He had a couple passes dropped, but I thought he looked sharp throwing the ball and sharp directing the offense."
The head coach of the Golden Knights was pleased with the team's effort. "It was a pretty thorough scrimmage for all three units," O'Leary continued. "I was pleased to see the kids all have some success, meanwhile they still did enough wrong that we have a lot of coaching to do."
UCF scored three touchdowns and a field goal on the night. Junior tailback Dontavius Wilcox scored on a 25-yard touchdown run vs. the second team defense. Wilcox finished the scrimmage with eight carries for 36 yards. The other UCF touchdown came on a 25-yard pass from sophomore Kyle Israel to freshman walk-on wide out Jabez Mitchem. Israel worked with the third team offense and ended the night 3-of-4 passing for 49 yards.
The first team defense yielded just one touchdown. Middle linebacker Ronnell Sandy and outside linebacker Chris Welsh both combined on one sack while senior defensive tackle Frisner Nelson also had a sack with the first team unit. On the second team defense, senior defensive end Glenroy Watkins recovered a Wilcox fumble and sophomore cornerback Travis Holmes broke up two passes.
Redshirt freshman safety Jason Venson had the scrimmage's only interception.
UCF returns to the practice field Thursday evening from 7:30-9:30 p.m. An update on Carrington will be issued Thursday.
Unofficial Scrimmage Statistics
PASSING: Steven Moffett 11-14-146-1-1; Ed Marynowitz 5-13-65-0-0; Kyle Israel 3-4-49-0-0
RUSHING: Dontavius Wilcox 8-36 (1 TD); Jason Peters 8-10; Kevin Smith 8-24; Curtis Francis 8-23; Steven Moffett 4-17; Chris Strother 5-14
RECEIVING: Brandon Marshall 4-56; Mike Walker 3-81 (1 TD); Willie Thornton 1-10; Brooks Turner 1-8; Kevin Smith 2-24; Javid James 1-10; Darcy Johnson 1-15; Sinclair Brown 1-12; Sergiori Joachim 2-33; Jason Peters 1-2; Jabez Mitchem 1-25 (1 TD)