Oct. 7, 2011
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Before there were dreams of 12-0 and visions of possibly becoming BCS-busters, UCF's first and foremost goal was always to try to repeat as Conference USA champions.
Accomplishing that feat would give the Knights some championship hardware for a third time in five seasons and set them up for a postseason bowl game. That's the path the Knights took last season while authoring the finest years in school history. Last season, UCF shook off a slow start by winning five games in a row and nine of 10 down the stretch to claim a C-USA crown and a Liberty Bowl title.
For those postseason opportunities alone, UCF head coach George O'Leary always mentioned winning the conference championship as the team's top priority before the season began.
UCF (2-2) can take a major step toward its goal of maintaining its supremacy in Conference USA on Saturday by once again whipping Marshall (2-3) and sending a message to the rest of the league. UCF won C-USA titles in 2007 and 2010, and beating the Herd for a seventh-consecutive time would establish the Knights as the team to beat once again. Big road games at SMU (Oct. 15), Southern Miss (Nov. 12) and East Carolina (Nov. 19) loom for the Knights, making Saturday's C-USA opener at Bright House Networks Stadium even more critical.
``We have a big bulls eye on our backs, and there are a lot of high expectations on us to win again,'' said UCF junior safety Kemal Ishmael, the team's leading tackler with 24 total stops. ``We have to cut down our mistakes, myself included. We've had two really good weeks of practice and we're ready to get back into conference play and show everybody what we're made of. We have to do what we do and put UCF back on the map.''
UCF is understandably anxious to play after losing to FIU and BYU and then having last week as an open date. The Knights haven't played at Bright House Networks Stadium since enjoying a 30-3 drubbing of Boston College back on Sept. 10. UCF practiced three times last week while off and spent this past week with crisp workouts while getting ready for Marshall. O'Leary was pleased with how his team responded to the extra preparation time.
``I thought we had a good week assignment-wise and last week we really went at it against ourselves,'' O'Leary said. ``I think the consistency has been there and that's what I most look at.''
The two losses, caused primarily by special teams mistakes, and untimely turnovers, ruined UCF's hopes of a 12-0 season. But the Knights know there is still plenty to play for in terms of trying to win another league title. Redshirt sophomore Victory Gray, UCF's most consistent defensive lineman so far this season, said the team had to get past the mental hurdle of losing back-to-back games, but has successful shifted the focus now to beating Marshall.
``We had some little slipups early on, but there's still a lot of season left. The goal of being conference champions is still in sight and we're gunning for it,'' Gray said. ``There was a little bit of a funk that we had to get out of because the penalties and turnovers from the FIU and BYU games were uncharacteristic of us. We have to get back out there and do what we're used to doing here at UCF.''
UCF is certainly used to beating Marshall, winning the last six games in the series. The two teams have played each of the past nine seasons, dating all the way back to their former affiliations with the Mid-America Conference.
Many at UCF consider Marshall to be the biggest rival in the conference, and the Knights took particular pride in how they beat the Herd the past two seasons. In 2009, Rocky Ross - now an Operations Assistant for the football team - caught a touchdown in the final minutes for a 21-20 UCF win. And last October, UCF pounded Marshall 35-14 on national television by getting 150 rushing yards from tailback Ronnie Weaver.
Weaver, now a senior, said the Knights head into C-USA play as the team all others want to beat after the way UCF steam-rolled the league last season. Whereas UCF was the team on the rise in the past, it is now the team on the top that everyone else wants to knock off. Knowing that, Weaver said the Knights know they have to play their best football in the next eight conference games - starting Saturday night against Marshall - if UCF wants to repeat as C-USA champs.
``We always feel like we're the hunted and that just makes us work that much harder,'' Weaver said. ``We know that we have a target on our backs and we have to go out now and live up to those expectations that we have set for ourselves.''
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.