Nov. 21, 2008
Knights Football Central
UCF Game Notes
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UCF at Memphis
Saturday, Nov. 22 ? Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium ? 2:00 p.m.
Television: None
Radio: UCF ISP Sports Radio Network ? Marc Daniels (play-by-play), Gary Parris (color), Jerry O'Neill (sideline reporter), Scott Adams (reporter)
WQTM 740AM - Orlando, WMMV 1350AM Cocoa, WDCF 1350AM - Dade City, WROD 1340AM - Daytona Beach, WMMB 1240AM - Melbourne, WLVJ 1040AM/WKAT 1360AM - Miami, Fort Lauderdale, South Palm Beach), WPSL 1590AM - Treasure Coast/North Palm Beach, WZHR 1400AM - Zephyrhills
Internet: Live video, audio and statistics at UCFAthletics.com
When UCF (3-7, 2-4 C-USA) has the ball
After collecting a key conference victory at Marshall last weekend, the Knights are back on the road as they get set to take on Memphis Saturday afternoon. In the win over the Herd, freshman running back Brynn Harvey became the Knights' second back this season to top 100 yards in a game. Harvey finished with 150 yards on 33 carries, the most carries by a UCF running back since Kevin Smith in 2007 in the Liberty Bowl. The offensive line held its blocks and created holes for the running backs to charge through, which led to 213 yards on the ground. Sophomore tight end John Lubischer recorded his first career catch on a two-yard touchdown reception to put the Knights up by double-digits in the second quarter. Freshman quarterback Rob Calabrese made the most of his sixth career start and managed the game well. The Knights will now face the fourth-ranked defense in Conference USA Saturday. The Tigers come into the contest only allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete just 53 percent of their pass attempts. Trying to put a clamp on the UCF running game will be defensive lineman Clinton McDonald. The senior leads the team with 7.5 tackles for loss, and seven sacks.
When Memphis (5-5, 3-3 C-USA) has the ball
When the Tigers take the field Saturday, they will be attempting to become bowl eligible and stay in contention for the Conference USA East Division title. With the Knights relishing the role of spoiler last week, they will look to do so again against a Memphis team which UCF has not lost to since joining C-USA. The Tigers have been snake bitten at the quarterback position with injuries and are now down to junior Brett Toney. He led Memphis to its 31-26 victory over SMU, while throwing for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Pacing the Tigers on the ground is running back Curtis Steele. The junior averages 100 yards per game for the Tigers, and cracked 1,000 yards for the season in his last game. One thing the Tigers do not lack is size at the wide receiver position. The top three receivers on the team are 6-foot-4 or taller. The leading receiver out of the corps is 6-foot-8 Carlos Singleton. The junior has collected 740 yards on 48 receptions this season, including five touchdown catches. The number one defense in C-USA will have their hands full trying to stop the Tiger attack. After its 16-game interception streak was snapped against Southern Miss, the Knights started a new one last weekend when senior defensive back Sha'reff Rashad picked off two passes.
Game changers
The ground game for the Tigers has been one of the best in C-USA this season. With 1,002 yards coming into this week's game, Steele is ranked second in the conference in overall yards on the year. The Tigers would like to tote the rock well against the Knights because when Steele runs for over 100 yards in a game, the team is 5-0 on the season. Clogging up holes in the middle for the Knights all season has been defensive tackle Torrell Troup. The junior has constantly taken up two blockers and has given the outside rushers better opportunities to make a play on the quarterback. He has also collected 11 tackles for loss and two sacks this year. For the latest news on the Knights, log on to 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 UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.