Jan. 22, 2011
="" alt="Knight Head" border="0" class="imported"> Read John Denton's Knights Insider | ="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported">Follow us on Twitter | ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported">Get social with the Knights on Facebook
By Leigh Torbin
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Former Knights Bruce Miller and Jah Reid stood proudly amongst some of the best seniors in all of college football as they showed off their abilities on Saturday evening at the Florida Citrus Bowl in the 86th annual East-West Shrine Game.
Both earned spots in the starting lineup and helped the East team to a comfortable 25-8 win over the West team. With Reid helping to open holes and Miller helping to fill some, the East enjoyed 169-14 edge in rushing offense, a 301-126 advantage in total offense and a 37:25-22:35 cushion in time of possession en route to the victory.
Miller's lone tackle in the game was a sack of Nathan Enderle but he was able to disrupt several plays during the game. Reid helped keep several West pass rushers off of a trio of East quarterbacks. Both of them impressed their veteran head coach, Dan Reeves who won 190 games in his NFL head coaching career.
"They're great players and you can see why their program has done so well," Reeves said. "The enthusiasm and the way those guys concentrated and worked hard paid off. This is a short week. This is tough. People don't understand how tough it is for these players to have this much thrown at them this quickly. I can't tell you how tough that is. They didn't have any problem with it at all. It shows you what kind of players they are."
"Jah Reid has a real bright future playing in the National Football League. It's hard to find guys that big that have the kind of foot quickness that he's got. I was working with the offense and guys like Bruce showed up all the time. He was one of the ones getting to the quarterback in practice. You hope that he carries that on to the game and you saw that he could do that."
Miller and Reid both were quick to credit their time with the Knights as a prime reason for why they stand on the cusp of earning an NFL paycheck.
"UCF got me here," Miller said. "My coaches and the players that I've been able to play with are the reason that I'm here. I'm very grateful for everything that they've done for me. It sure does help prepare you. The work that we put in and learning to do things the right way is what the scouts and coaches want to see when I'm out here. They want the work ethic and intensity on the practice field and I was able to show that."
"Coach O'Leary definitely prepares us for the next level with how we think about the game, how we practice, it all carried over," Reid said.
Miller for one certainly enjoyed the experience of playing in the East-West Shrine Game.
"It was a blast out there. I came over here to the stadium very excited about the week. I was able to come over here last year and watch Torell (Troup) play for the week so I knew a little bit of what it was going to be like but I was excited getting out here and running around with some of these guys that you watch on TV and then you get to meet them. It was great to get out there. The talent level was top-notch. These are the best college football players in the country and it was fun to see where you stack up against them."
Reid also relished the opportunity to play his final collegiate event in the shadow of both his hometown of Haines City and also the campus that he called home.
"It feels great," he said of the experience this past week. "I had over 30 people at will call. I had a lot of family here and friends. It was a great way to end my college career here at home in Orlando. It was so much fun. I'll never forget it."
Miller believes that he did what he needed to do this week before moving on to the NFL Combine next month in Indianapolis.
"I showed work ethic," he said. "I didn't make as many plays as I wanted to but they knew that every day I was going to work. I was going to give great effort and that was important to me."
Reid, still under consideration for a combine invitation, feels that he did well this week too.
"I think I did pretty well," he said. "There's always room for improvement. The competition was so great. To be able to play in this game with such great athletes was an honor and I had a great time."
To see UCF live in person as the Knights defend their Conference USA championship, place your deposit now for 2011 football season tickets. Contact the UCF Athletics ticket office at (407) 823-1000 for more information or place your deposit online on the main ticket page at UCFAthletics.com.