Aug. 16, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF football team spent most of Saturday afternoon's practice session in scrimmage mode as the offense and defense squared off against each other for the better part of an hour. In all, the Knights worked out for two hours, first spending time on some individual and tackling drills before settling in for what turned out to be a 65-play scrimmage in front of nearly 200 fans at the Nicholson Fieldhouse.
"I thought I saw some good things today, but there are still areas we need to work on," head coach George O'Leary said. "This is going to be a good tape to go in and look at afterwards to see how the team is progressing. The offense still has a lot of work to do and areas to improve on, but they are showing signs of getting better. I thought the defense came out and did what they had to do. They did a nice job with the scrimmage today."
The defense held the offense out of the endzone as the first, second, third and fourth team units on each side of the ball saw action in the scrimmage. Sophomore safety Reggie Weams had the lone turnover of the scrimmage, picking off a pass along the sidelines for the second-team defense. Junior defensive tackle Rashidi Haughton blocked the only field-goal attempt of the session for the same unit.
The Knights will practice early Sunday, hitting the field around 2:20 p.m. so the squad can participate in UCF's annual player picture day. The free event is set to start at 4:30 p.m. at Bright House Networks Stadium. The event will give fans an opportunity to meet, greet and receive autographs from the 2008 Knights.
UCF Athletics representatives will be on hand in the lobby of the Roth Tower on the west side of the stadium from 1-6 p.m. to provide information about season tickets.
? The annual UCF Community Kickoff Luncheon is slated for Aug. 28 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. For more information on the event, visit www.orlando.org.
UCF's season opener is set for Aug. 30 against South Carolina State at Bright House Networks Stadium. The Knights will play six contests at the on-campus facility in 2008.
Season tickets are currently available. To order season tickets, or to learn more about attending games at Bright House Networks Stadium, call 407-UCF-1000.
The Knights went 10-4 last season, captured the Conference USA Championship and participated in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.