March 23, 2011
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Jeff Godfrey rolled out to his right, looked for an open receiver and contemplated for just a second taking off for what surely would have been a sizeable rushing gain.
It would have been understandable for the standout UCF quarterback to pull the ball down and run since he dazzled last season as a runner who was able to move the chains and keep UCF drives alive with his feet. But this is new and more patient Godfrey, and instead the quarterback pumped the ball twice and then found Khymest Williams break open late for a 20-yard gainer along the sideline.
The poised play was one of the first indications of the strides that UCF's blossoming quarterback has made this spring in the start of his second season with the Knights.
``That's something I want to develop - staying in the pocket longer,'' Godfrey said following UCF's first spring practice in full pads on Tuesday. ``I know sometimes if I can just hold onto the ball a little longer that we can get those big plays down the field. I have to use my arm to get the receivers the ball down the field. That's something that can be big for our offense.''
Godfrey was plenty big time for UCF in his true freshman season last year, leading the Knights to an 11-3 record, a Top 20 national ranking and Conference USA and Liberty Bowl championships. The 5-foot-11 Godfrey threw for 13 touchdowns and ran for another 10 scores last season to finish as the highest rated freshman quarterback in the country.
It was so much in one season that even the ultra-confident Godfrey admitted on Tuesday that he's still a little taken aback by the instant success he enjoyed. He's certainly enjoyed the spoils of that success, receiving hundreds of congratulations from fellow UCF students and friends and family back in south Florida.
``Really, I exceeded what I thought I'd do. I thought I'd play a few games behind (former starter) Rob Calabrese, but unfortunately he went down and I had to take over and I think I did a pretty good job with it,'' Godfrey said. We won the conference championship and we won the Liberty Bowl, so doing all of that as a freshman, it was pretty amazing.
``I have people coming up to me all of the time, telling me, `Great job,' Godfrey continued. ``But in my mind last season is over, I'm looking forward to this season. I'm focused on trying to get better and do it again.''
Part of the growth that Godfrey is looking to make is showing more poise in the pocket. He knows that he can get big gainers with his feet at just about any point, but the emphasis is on this spring for him to read his receivers and the defense more and look to throw deep before deciding to run.
UCF head coach George O'Leary said that most of last season Godfrey was asked to read just one side of the field to simplify the offense. The move now will be to have Godfrey analyze the whole field in attempt to get more big plays down the field.
``He has to understand his pocket presence more,'' O'Leary said. ``When he drops back, he has to have some sense of protection in the pocket. That's where he'll grow up and mature. Faking is another phase where he needs vast improvement on. He had an awfully terrific season for a freshman, but there's always room for improvement.''
With UCF losing 19 seniors, Godfrey said he's looked to by some of his teammates now as ``a veteran,'' and he knows that he has to take on more of a vocal leadership role now. And Godfrey said he stopped and thought early on in spring practice how much further along he is now than he was this time last year as a true freshman in his first spring practice.
``I laugh about it how much different I am now,'' Godfrey said. ``Last year, I was on the second team and I was just sort of laid back out there. Now, I'm on the first team and I'm being more assertive. It feels so good being back out there and trying to get better.''
Godfrey said during downtimes this offseason he's happily thought back to the C-USA Championship Game when he won the first title of his football career. And he's smiled for days at a time when thinking about UCF pulling off a major upset to beat Georgia and win the school's first-ever bowl game.
``I've caught myself thinking back to what we did a lot,'' Godfrey said with a smile. ``But I knew all along that anything was possible for us as long as we executed and did what we were supposed to do. My teammates helped me a lot and we beat Georgia. I know not a lot of people thought we could do it, but we did.''
And now, Godfrey is ready to put those memories in the past and get better at his craft. He knows that attacking down the field with deep passes will only make the UCF offense more dangerous next season.
``I'm already better with my pocket presence and staying in there to find the guys down the field,'' he said. ``My reads are better and I feel like I'm doing a great job spreading the ball around.''
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John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.