Oct. 14, 2011
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By Marc Daniels
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - As the football team heads to SMU for a big conference game, school officials in Dallas are asking fans to wear red and there is a special mascot ceremony. Peruna VIII is passing the reigns to Peruna IX.
The pony tradition dates back to 1932. Peruna VIII is not retiring. The school's press release said the 17-year old is just cutting back on travel, kind of like baseball announcing legend Vin Scully not doing many games on the east coast. Peruna IX has spent the summer practicing with the SMU band and is ready for the torch passing and excited about the debut against UCF this week. While Peruna VIII is slowing down at 17, I believe Knightro, at age 435 remains as vibrant as ever.
Knights notes and more: SMU has over 1,500 yards of offense the last three games. UCF's defense has allowed 888 yards the entire season...UCF-SMU have played three games and the Knights have won all three and in each game both teams have scored fewer points than the previous game. In 2007 UCF won 49-20. In 2008 UCF won 31-17 and in the 2010 C-USA title game UCF won 17-7...SMU is last team to throw a touchdown pass on UCF. It is the only TD pass allowed in the last 28 quarters by UCF's defense...SMU kicker Chase Hover was a junior college teammate of Cam Newton in 2009. Both were at Blinn Junior College. Hover was set to kick for Blinn this year, but after his dad saw an article in the Dallas Morning News that SMU was having kicking problems, Chase decided to try and walk-on at SMU. He did and is the team's starting kicker...UCF has won seven straight against C-USA West Division teams...Brynn Harvey is 46 rushing yards away from 2,000 in his career...UCF is +10:22 in time of possession. That is a big reason the Knights have run 69 more plays than their opponents...Top records in C-USA since 2009? UCF 15-3 followed by SMU 14-5...Final thought: What's the rule on food samples at the supermarket? If the deli counter offers samples, do I have to be ordering something from the deli or can I take a sample with no plans to get anything?
Marc Daniels' From the Press Box runs several times per month on UCFAthletics.com. Listen to Marc during UCF football, men's basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the UCF Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts The Beat of Sports on ESPN Radio 1080 in Orlando.