2009 UCF Knights football team

2009 UCF Knights football
St. Petersburg Bowl, L 45–24 vs. Rutgers
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East
Record	8–5 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach	George O'Leary (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Charlie Taaffe (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Dave Huxtable (2nd season)
Home stadium	Bright House Networks Stadium
Seasons ←  2008 2010  →

2009 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
East Carolina x$		7	–	1					9	–	5
UCF		6	–	2					8	–	5
Southern Miss		5	–	3					7	–	6
Marshall		4	–	4					7	–	6
UAB		4	–	4					5	–	7
Memphis		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Houston xy		6	–	2					10	–	4
SMU x		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tulsa		3	–	5					5	–	7
UTEP		3	–	5					4	–	8
Rice		2	–	6					2	–	10
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: East Carolina 38, Houston 32
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

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. ^[1]

All games were broadcast live on the UCF-ISP Sports radio network. ^[2] The flagship was WYGM "740 The Game" in Orlando, which had returned to a sports talk format after a year's absence but retained UCF's rights throughout. The games were called by Marc Daniels (play-by-play) and Gary Parris (color commentary), with Scott Adams and Jerry O'Neill as field reporters.

For the season, the Knights had an 8–5 record, 6–2 in Conference USA, and placed second in the Eastern Division. The Knights finished the season with a six-game conference winning streak, after starting conference play 0–2. The season included a 37–32 Homecoming win over the Houston Cougars, who were ranked #12 in the Coaches' Poll, marking the first time in program history that the Knights had defeated a ranked opponent. ^[3] For the third time in five years, the Knights became bowl eligible and lost to Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Head Coach George O'Leary

On January 5, 2009, UCF hired Charlie Taaffe to be the team's new Offensive coordinator. ^[4] The change occurred amid a staff shake-up by Head Coach George O'Leary after a disappointing 2008 season. Tim Salem, whom Taaffe replaced, will transition to being the tight-ends coach and special-teams coordinator, 2008 quarterbacks coach George Godsey will move to be the running-backs coach, and Brent Key will move from being the tight-ends coach and special-teams coordinator to offensive-line coach. ^[4]

Recruiting class

Name [5]	Position	Height	Weight	State	High School/Junior College
Corey Ammons	-	6-1	275	Florida	Archbishop Carroll
A. J. Bouye	WR/ CB	6-0	180	Georgia	Tucker
Jamie Boyle	PK	5-10	193	New York	Monroe Woodbury
D.J. Brown	TE	6-4	225	Florida	Dunnellon
Brandon Bryant	DL	6-3	230	Georgia	Washington
Frankie Davis	DL	6-3	240	Florida	East Ridge
Jonathan Davis	RB/ LB	5-9	195	Georgia	Tucker
Troy Davis	LB	6-2	217	Georgia	Berkmar
Nico Flores	DL/ QB	6-2	199	Florida	North Miami Beach
Dontravious Floyd	WR	6-3	203	Florida	South Dade
Victor Gray	DL	6-4	235	Florida	Dr. Phillips
Javen Harris	LB	7-2	223	Alabama	Eufaula
Tay Irvin	DT	6-0	310	Georgia	Troup County
Kemal Ishmael	WR/DB	5-11	197	Florida	North Miami Beach
Abre Leggins	DT	6-3	280	Florida	Westwood HS
Quincy McDuffie	WR	5-10	160	Florida	Edgewater
Deon Simon	DT	6-4	280	Louisiana	Glen Oaks
Jarrett Swaby	WR/DB	6-1	189	Florida	Glades Day
Jim Teknipp	TE	6-5	225	Georgia	Henry County
Leon Woods	WR	-	-	Florida	Lake Gibson
Henry Wright	DB	6-1	185	Florida	Edgewater

Schedule

Bright House Networks Stadium, the Knights home field.

The field at Bright House Networks Stadium.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	7:30 pm	Samford (FCS)*	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	BHSN	W 28–24	34,486 [6]
September 12	7:00 pm	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		L 19–26	27,456 [7]
September 19	7:30 pm	Buffalo *	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	BHSN	W 23–17	33,689 [8]
September 26	3:30 pm	at East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	BHSN	L 14–19	43,210 [9]
October 3	3:30 pm	Memphis	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	BHSN	W 32–14	40,408 [10]
October 17	7:30 pm	No. 9 Miami (FL) *	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	CBSCS	L 7–27	48,453 [11]
October 24	3:30 pm	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 49–7	10,196 [12]
November 1	8:15 pm	Marshall	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	ESPN	W 21–20	35,676 [13]
November 7	12:00 pm	at No. 2 Texas *	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	FSN	L 3–35	101,003 [14]
November 14	12:00 pm	No. 13 Houston	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	CBSCS	W 37–32	34,437 [15]
November 21	2:00 pm	Tulane	Bright House Networks Stadium Orlando, FL	BHSN	W 49–0	31,390 [16]
November 28	1:30 pm	at UAB	Legion Field Birmingham, AL		W 34–27	13,381 [17]
December 19	8:00 pm	vs. Rutgers	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL (St. Petersburg Bowl)	ESPN	L 24–45	29,763 [18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	7	17	0	24
Knights	0	7	14	7	28

See also: Samford Bulldogs football

UCF and Samford last met for a Homecoming game in the 1990s.

Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	0	10	0	9	19
Golden Eagles	14	6	0	6	26

See also: 2009 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

UCF and Southern Miss last met in Orlando on November 8, 2008. UCF lost the game 17-6.

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	0	17	0	0	17
Knights	7	0	10	6	23

See also: 2009 Buffalo Bulls football team

UCF and Buffalo last met in Orlando in 2003.

East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	7	0	0	7	14
Pirates	3	7	3	6	19

See also: 2009 East Carolina Pirates football team

UCF and East Carolina last met in Orlando on November 2, 2008. East Carolina won the game in overtime 13–10.

Memphis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	7	7	0	14
Knights	0	3	12	17	32

See also: 2009 Memphis Tigers football team

UCF and Memphis last met in Memphis on November 22, 2008. UCF won the game 28–21.

Miami

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9Hurricanes	7	3	10	7	27
Knights	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2009 Miami Hurricanes football team

UCF and Miami met for the first time on October 11, 2008 in Miami. Miami won the game 20–14.

There were 48,453 fans on hand to watch the game, which was the largest crowd to watch a football game at Bright House Networks Stadium. ^[19]

Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	21	7	14	7	49
Owls	0	0	0	7	7

See also: 2009 Rice Owls football team

UCF and Rice last met in 2006.

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thundering Herd	0	17	3	0	20
Knights	0	7	0	14	21

See also: 2009 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

UCF and Marshall last met on November 15, 2008 in Huntington. UCF won the game 30–14. UCF is 5–3 all time versus Marshall. Marshall was leading 20-7 with less than 8 minutes to go in the game, but UCF staged a comeback to win the game 21-20.

Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	0	3	0	0	3
#2 Longhorns	0	14	7	14	35

See also: 2009 Texas Longhorns football team

UCF and Texas last met on September 15, 2007 for the inaugural game at Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando. #8 Texas won the game 35–32.

Houston

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Cougars	10	7	0	15	32
Knights	0	10	13	14	37

See also: 2009 Houston Cougars football team

UCF and Houston last met on October 28, 2006 in Houston. The Cougars won the game 51–31. This was the first time in the program's history that the Knights proved victorious over a ranked opponent. UCF is now 20–10 all time on Homecoming weekend.

Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Green Wave	0	0	0	0	0
Knights	7	7	28	7	49

See also: 2009 Tulane Green Wave football team

UCF and Tulane last met in 2006 in New Orleans. The Green Wave won the game.

UAB

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	10	14	7	3	34
Blazers	7	7	0	13	27

See also: 2009 UAB Blazers football team

UCF and UAB last met on November 29, 2008 in Orlando. The Blazers won the game 15–0.

St. Petersburg Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	7	10	0	7	24
Scarlet Knights	14	14	10	7	45

See also: 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl

UCF had been bowl eligible for three of the past five seasons. UCF was 0–3 in bowl games until this point. This game marked the first meeting between the two teams.

References

1. Athletics Facilities - Bright House Networks Stadium
2. "UCF ISP Radio Network". Archived from the original on February 13, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
3. "Central Florida holds off Keenum, No. 15 Houston". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
4. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-sportsfbcucf04010409jan04,0,4978498.story Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Amid shakeup, UCF taps Taaffe to lead offense
5. MaxPreps - Football Signing Day - By College - UCF
6. "Samford Bulldogs vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
7. "UCF Knights vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
8. "Buffalo Bulls vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
9. "UCF Knights vs. East Carolina Pirates Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
10. "Memphis Tigers vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
11. "Miami Hurricanes vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
12. "UCF Knights vs. Rice Owls Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
13. "Marshall Thundering Herd vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
14. "UCF Knights vs. Texas Longhorns Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
15. "Houston Cougars vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
16. "Tulane Green Wave vs. UCF Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
17. "UCF Knights vs. UAB Blazers Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
18. "UCF Knights vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
19. "UCF blown away 27-7 vs. Miami Hurricanes". Central Florida Future. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2009.