Joshua Kenneth Heupel is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Tennessee. Previously he served as head coach at the University of Central Florida, where he compiled a 28–8 record.
The UCF Knights football team represents the University of Central Florida (UCF) in the sport of American football. The Knights compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are a member of the Big 12 Conference, making UCF the youngest school among the Power Five conferences. Their head coach is Gus Malzahn. The Knights play their home games at the 45,301-seat FBC Mortgage Stadium, which is located on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida, United States.
The 2007 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, in his fourth season with the school. The season was highlighted by the completion of their new on-campus stadium. The Knights moved out of the aging Citrus Bowl in downtown Orlando, and began playing their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium, located on the main campus of UCF in east Orlando, Florida. In addition, the team changed its nickname from "Golden Knights" back to simply "Knights." From its inception in 1979 to 1992, the football team had been known as the Knights, then used the name "Golden Knights" from 1993 until 2006.
The War on I-4 is a college rivalry between the University of Central Florida Knights and University of South Florida Bulls. The rivalry is best known for its college football matchup which originated in a series of football games played from 2005 to 2008 and now takes place on Thanksgiving weekend, the de facto "rivalry weekend" for FBS football. In 2013, when UCF joined the American Athletic Conference, the schools began competing annually in all sports. In 2016, the schools officially adopted the "War on I-4" as an official competition series. Each year, the team with the most wins across all sports receives a gold trophy styled after an Interstate 4 (I-4) road sign with the logos of each school. The winner of the annual football game also receives a similar trophy.
The 2009 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, in his sixth season with the team. Coaching changes included new offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe. For the third season, the UCF Knights played all of their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium on the school's main campus in Orlando, Florida.
The 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl was the second edition of the college football bowl game and was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game began at 8:00 PM US EST on Saturday, December 19, 2009, was telecast on ESPN and featured the UCF of Conference USA and Rutgers of the Big East. Rutgers defeated UCF 45–24 in a game where Mohamed Sanu, the game's MVP, caught 4 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in addition to rushing 14 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Through sponsorship from the Beef O'Brady's restaurant franchise, the game was officially known as the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's.
The 2010 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, who was in his seventh season with the team. For the first time in program history, the Knights were nationally ranked following a nationally televised rout of Houston on November 5. For the third time in six years, UCF won the Conference USA Eastern Division and later, became Conference USA champions for the second time in four seasons. As a result, the Knights appeared in the Liberty Bowl, in which they defeated Georgia 10–6, for the first bowl victory in program history. UCF finished the season ranked in both final national polls, 20th in the Coaches Poll, and 21st in the AP Poll.
The 2011 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights played in the East Division of Conference USA, and played their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Knights were led by head coach George O'Leary, who was in his eighth season with the team. They finished the season 5–7, 3–5 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the East Division.
The 2000 UCF Golden Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. Their head coach was Mike Kruczek, who was in his third season with the team. The 2000 season marked the Golden Knights fifth year since ascending to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in 1996.
The 2005 Conference USA Football Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 3, 2005 at Citrus Bowl in Orlando. This was the 1st Conference USA Championship Game and determined the 2005 champion of the Conference USA. The game featured the UCF Golden Knights, champions of the East division, and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, champions of the West division.
The 1998 UCF Golden Knights football season was the twentieth season overall for the team, and third season as an NCAA Division I-A Independent. After the resignation of Gene McDowell, Mike Kruczek became the new head coach of the Golden Knights. Kruczek led UCF to a 9–2 record in 1998, the program's best season at the time. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper finished 6th in the Heisman Trophy voting and set a then-NCAA record for completion percentage (73.4%). UCF received a tentative verbal agreement to play in the Oahu Bowl. However, the arrangement fell through in the final week of the season.
The 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, the fifth edition of the game formerly known as the St. Petersburg Bowl, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 21, 2012 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, as part of the 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season.
The 2013 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights were members of the American Athletic Conference, and played their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The Knights were led by head coach George O'Leary, who was in his tenth season with the team.
The 2014 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights were members of the American Athletic Conference, and played their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The Knights were led by head coach George O'Leary, who was in his eleventh season with the team.
The 2015 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights were members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference, defending conference co-champions, and played their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The Knights were led by head coach George O'Leary, who was in his 12th and final season with the team. After starting the season 0–6, O'Leary resigned as UCF's interim athletic director, a position he had held since June when Todd Stansbury left for the same position at Oregon State. Following UCF's 59–10 defeat by Houston on homecoming, dropping the Knights to an 0–8 record, O'Leary resigned as head football coach. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The South Florida–UCF football rivalry, better known as the War on I-4 is an American college football rivalry between the South Florida Bulls football team of the University of South Florida and UCF Knights football team of the University of Central Florida. As of the 2022 meeting, the Knights hold a 8–6 lead in the series.
The 2017 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights played their home games at the newly renamed Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and competed in the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by second year head coach Scott Frost.
The 2018 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats play their home games at Nippert Stadium, and are members of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference. They are led by second-year head coach Luke Fickell.
The 2021 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida (UCF) during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights were led by first-year head coach Gus Malzahn and played their home games at Bounce House in Orlando, Florida. They competed as members of the American Athletic Conference.
