Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Conference USA officials announced on Monday that UCF earned two of its three weekly football awards following the final weekend of the regular season. Junior running back Kevin Smith (Miami, Fla./Miami Southridge) was named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week, while junior linebacker Cory Hogue (Naples, Fla./Naples) earned C-USA Defensive Player of the Week accolades for their efforts in the Knights' 36-20 victory over UTEP on Nov. 24.
With the pair of awards, UCF's total of weekly C-USA honors increased to nine for the season, which is the most by any squad in the 12-team league. It was also the second time this season that the Knights had a pair of players honored in the same week (Smith and Michael Torres; special teams on Sept. 1 vs. NC State).
Smith's offensive honor was his fourth of 2007, marking the first time that has been done since Louisville's Chris Redman earned four offensive honors in 1998.
Taking on the Miners, Smith took over the national lead in rushing and became the first back in the state of Florida to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a season with a 219-yard effort. His total gave him 2,164 this year, which is the fourth highest single-season yard total in NCAA FBS history.
For his career, Smith has racked up 4,276 rushing yards to move past Florida' Errict Rhett for first on the all-time charts in the Sunshine State. Smith reached 219 yards on a school-record 46 carries, breaking the C-USA single-season record with his 11th 100-yard rushing effort of the season. The Miami native also recorded a touchdown run and 30 receiving yards on three receptions to lift UCF to its sixth-consecutive win.
For Hogue, it was the first weekly honor given to him by the conference and he is the third Knights to earn the league's defensive honor this season. Hogue registered a career-high 13 tackles as the UCF defense held UTEP to just 28 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Hogue's 13 takedowns were the most by a Knight this season, and he also finished with a half-tackle for a loss to bring his season total to 5.5 in that category.
The performances of Smith and Hogue enabled the Knights to claim the C-USA East Division and to host the C-USA Championship game Saturday at Noon vs. Tulsa. To purchase tickets, fans may call (407) 823-1000 or visit www.ucfathletics.com.
Great seats to this Saturday's Conference USA Football Championship showdown vs. Tulsa can be purchased through Ticketmaster by calling (407) 839-3900 or by going online at UCFAthletics.com.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports photos.
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