2009 UCF Knights football team

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]

2009 UCF Knights football
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionEast
Record8–5 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorCharlie Taaffe (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorDave Huxtable (2nd season)
Home stadiumBright House Networks Stadium
Seasons
← 2008
2010 →
2009 Conference USA football standings
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

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

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Coaching staff

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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

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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

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Bright House Networks Stadium, the Knights home field.
 
The field at Bright House Networks Stadium.
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 57:30 pmSamford (FCS)*BHSNW 28–2434,486[6]
September 127:00 pmat Southern MissL 19–2627,456[7]
September 197:30 pmBuffalo*
  • Bright House Networks Stadium
  • Orlando, FL
BHSNW 23–1733,689[8]
September 263:30 pmat East CarolinaBHSNL 14–1943,210[9]
October 33:30 pmMemphis
  • Bright House Networks Stadium
  • Orlando, FL
BHSNW 32–1440,408[10]
October 177:30 pmNo. 9 Miami (FL)*
  • Bright House Networks Stadium
  • Orlando, FL
CBSCSL 7–2748,453[11]
October 243:30 pmat RiceW 49–710,196[12]
November 18:15 pmMarshall
  • Bright House Networks Stadium
  • Orlando, FL
ESPNW 21–2035,676[13]
November 712:00 pmat No. 2 Texas*FSNL 3–35101,003[14]
November 1412:00 pmNo. 13 Houston 
  • Bright House Networks Stadium
  • Orlando, FL
CBSCSW 37–3234,437[15]
November 212:00 pmTulane
  • Bright House Networks Stadium
  • Orlando, FL
BHSNW 49–031,390[16]
November 281:30 pmat UABW 34–2713,381[17]
December 198:00 pmvs. RutgersESPNL 24–4529,763[18]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

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Samford

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

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

Southern Miss

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

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

Buffalo

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

UCF and Buffalo last met in Orlando in 2003.

East Carolina

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

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

Memphis

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

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

Miami

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

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

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

UCF and Rice last met in 2006.

Marshall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

St. Petersburg Bowl

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

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

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  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. ^ a b 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.