Aug. 9, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF football team concluded a busy day with its first evening practice of fall camp on Saturday night. The session was the second of the day for the Knights, who also practiced indoors this morning at the Nicholson Fieldhouse. It was the first of three two-a-day sessions the Knights will participate in during camp.
The evening practice was spent on fundamentals and tackling drills before the team held its first extended scrimmage of the preseason. The morning was spent fine-tuning various aspects of the offense and defense as the team worked out in shoulder pads, helmets and shorts.
Head coach George O'Leary was pleased for the most part with what he saw in both sessions, but after the evening scrimmage said there are always things to continue to work on.
"I think we are ahead of where we have been in past years at this point," O'Leary said. "Both sides of the ball still have things they need to improve on. Defensively, we missed some tackles that need to be made and our offense needs to work on execution, but I was pleased with some things that I saw. We are going to be fine."
The defense, which returns 18 of 22 players from the 2007 two-deep did not allow a touchdown until O'Leary concluded the scrimmage with some goalline work. The unit did force the offense into three turnovers during what was about a 50-play scrimmage.
O'Leary challenged both sides of the ball at the end of the scrimmage giving the offense one last chance to score from the one-foot line. The defense prevailed as they stopped quarterback Michael Greco just short of the goalline.
? With the weekend, came the most fan fare the Knights have seen out at the practice fields during fall camp. More than 100 fans crammed the West sideline of the Nicholson Fieldhouse for the morning practice, while well over 200 Knight supporters watched the evening scrimmage.
? UCF's sideline reporter Jerry O'Neill, who hosts an afternoon radio show on 1080 ESPN here in Orlando with Brady Ackerman, was in attendance watching the Knights in action. O'Leary has been a guest on O'Neil and Ackerman's show numerous times already this summer.
? The practice facility was able to hold the evening scrimmage despite suffering some minor damage on Friday when strong winds blew through East Orlando. The tents in the middle of the field and goalposts were back in their rightful spots for the evening session.
UCF's season opener is slated 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.