Nov. 10, 2006
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF football team opens a two-game road trip on Saturday at Memphis when the Golden Knights and Tigers face off in a Conference USA East Division match up. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET as UCF will appear on national television for a school-record seventh time this season.
The teams have met only twice previously with the home team winning each of those contests. Memphis (1-8, 0-5 C-USA) won the first meeting between the two schools in 1990, 37-28, when the Knights (2-7, 1-4 C-USA) were a Division I-AA member. Last year was the first time the schools met as conference rivals as UCF defeated Memphis 38-17 at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
UCF wide receiver Mike Walker had a career-day against the Tigers a year ago, catching 10 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. The senior from Orlando has since eclipsed both of those marks during the 2006 season when he caught 13 passes for 169 yards against Rice.
Both head coaches in the contest are no strangers to facing each other on the gridiron. UCF's George O'Leary and Memphis' Tommy West were both head coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 1990s. O'Leary led Georgia Tech to a pair of victories over West's Clemson squads and has won three straight in the head-to-head series to equal it at three wins a piece for both coaches.
UCF continues it two-game road swing at Tulane next Saturday before returning home for the season finale against UAB on Nov. 25.