Orlando's Hometown National Champions

[spenser1058]

UCF president Dale Whittaker says CFP expansion is likely to happen before the current contract ends in 2026:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/fiesta-bowl/os-sp-ucf-fiesta-bowl-mike-bianchi-1231-story,amp.html

From the Sentinel 

[jrs2]

So, based on my prior criticisms of UCF's uni's, this may be my favorite version.

[spenser1058]

The ones with Pegasus on the sleeves are definitely my favorites.

I also like the McDowell-era helmets.

Edited January 1, 2019 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

ESPN reports Houston will hire WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen. This is significant to us because a G5 team is outbidding a P5 team for the hire.

As I’ve been saying, the rules are changing everywhere you look. It’s important to realize that, in FBS football, past performance is no longer a guide to future success.

Charge On!

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25659219/houston-cougars-finalizing-deal-dana-holgorsen-west-virginia-mountaineers?platform=amp

 

[spenser1058]

Your Hometown National Champions take Manhattan!

https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20181231/knight-time-as-ucfs-football-reputation-has-grown-so-has-fan-base?template=ampart

From the News-Journal 

[spenser1058]

Spending every dollar wisely: comparing UCF with LSU -

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2018/12/31/lsu-vs-ucf-comparing-finances/amp/

From Forbes

[spenser1058]

The end of the rural outpost as nirvana for college football - if you’re a head coach, would you rather be with the Big 12 in Morgantown or the AAC in Houston?

The monopoly begins to break down...

https://www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football/2019/1/1/18153591/dana-holgorsen-hired-houston-coach-west-virginia

From SB Nation

Edited January 1, 2019 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

The orangutan at the Phoenix Zoo is with the Knights:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/orangutan-selects-ucf-to-take-home-fiesta-bowl-title/

From CBS Sports 

Charge On!

[spenser1058]

Paul Finebaum finally gets it:

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/paul-finebaum-explains-why-ucf-will-beat-lsu-in-the-fiesta-bowl/amp/

From Saturday Down South 

[Dale]

First thing’s first: 25 straight wins is noteworthy on any level. 

To UCF fans crowing about ‘National Champs’, by your logic: Congrats LSU! You’re National Champs!

Edited January 1, 2019 by Dale

[jrs2]

56 minutes ago, Dale said:

First thing’s first: 25 straight wins is noteworthy on any level. 

To UCF fans crowing about ‘National Champs’, by your logic: Congrats LSU! You’re National Champs!

Not so fast.  UF beat LSU, and LSU beat UCF, so UF are National Champs!  Woo Hoo!

[Dale]

6 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Not so fast.  UF beat LSU, and LSU beat UCF, so UF are National Champs!  Woo Hoo!

Hey, forgot about that! Arguably, LSU is the sixth or maybe the fifth-best team in the SEC.

Now, UCF fans will argue that had Milton played, it would have been a different story. 

To that I’d argue that had LSU’s corners would have played they’d have had Milton for lunch.

 

 

[jrs2]

2 hours ago, Dale said:

Hey, forgot about that! Arguably, LSU is the sixth or maybe the fifth-best team in the SEC.

Now, UCF fans will argue that had Milton played, it would have been a different story. 

To that I’d argue that had LSU’s corners would have played they’d have had Milton for lunch.

 

 

Yeah, LSU was missing not only the players like Greedy Williams that went early, but the injuries, and they were -1 on ejected players compared to UCF; very similar to the injuries UF suffered all year in the secondary.  So, by comparison, although Michigan was undermanned a tad, UF was without 8 secondary players, it’s starting RB, Cleveland at WR,  and it’s backup turned starting QB, Trask.  And, UF allowed 2 blocked punts and they still beat Michigan 41-15.  That was impressive.  They say the loss to TOSU was the worst in Michigan history.  That loss was by 23.  UF beat them by 26.

Anyway, I watched the LSU game.  UCF played well.  They botched a perfect onside kick though, or, it was a great heads up play by LSU.

What I’d like to know is where’s the peanut gallery?  I mean, I’d be pissed too, but we go from UCF hype on just about every aspect of college football related items to...nothing?  It just illustrates my point.  The winning streak is really all that UCF has/had.  Once that’s over, there’s nothing but a hollow thud.  I expected more.  I guess the bright spot is that Milton will make a return by 2020.  UCF will have Mack & Gabriel next year and by 2020, they will be very deep at QB.  All my keep-UCF-in-check posts were met with fiery resistance and blind denial.  Yet, this win by LSU did way more to silence that train than anything I ever wrote (and just for the record, everything I wrote were facts and some opinion based on my following college football over the decades).

I’m curious to see whether UCF remains Florida’s highest ranked team when the next poll comes out.  The 10-3 Huskies (now 10-4) were ahead of 9-3 UF and they just lost.  UCF was right behind 10-2 Michigan, who lost to UF.  So, 9-3 LSU was ranked just below UF, and I reckon after today both 10-3 UF and 10-3 LSU will be ranked higher than 12-1 UCF.  I’m also curious to see whether Michigan, at 10-3,  stays ranked ahead of UCF (they were ahead of them before today with an SOS of #15 (compared to #108 for UCF) and lost to a higher ranked team than UCF did).  For that matter, where does Washington (with SOS of #21) end up being ranked?  They were right behind UCF and lost to No.6 TOSU, and UCF lost to No.11 LSU.  I’d say that the Top 6 stays as ranked (if UGA beats Texas), then you have No.7 UF, No.8 LSU, No.9 Washington, and then just maybe, Kentucky comes in at No.10 ahead of UCF with their win over No.12 Penn St.  But, we also have Wash St, now 11-2, having beaten No.24 Iowa St in their bowl game.  Kentucky had the better win.  So, UCF may drop to No.12.  That will illustrate just how hollow that 12-1 record actually is.  Now that they have a loss, UCF’s ranking is very vulnerable; even by the inflated standards of the Colley Bias Free Matrix poll, UCF’s greatest ally.  

[HankStrong]

I watched the whole game and it was very obvious that UCF wasn't even playing in the same world as LSU.  To give credit where credit is due, though, UCF certainly made a good game out of it SOME OF THE TIME.

I was very impressed by how resilient UCF was and how they kept trying up to the end, but it was like men fighting kids most of the game.  Sometimes those weren't the best men (like maybe some wimpy men) but they were men.  If someone makes excuses, they aren't living in the real world.  Even if Milton is your #1 player, LSU was basically without most of their starting defense.  Those have to balance at some point, even in the most blinded person's eyes.

The offensive play-calling by UCF was horrid.  Beyond awful.  I don't care for college football for the amateur hour ball you see played so often, but this was beyond that.  This was disgusting.  The RPO on basically 95% of plays is basically not even trying.

[jgardnerucf]

I won a lot of money on a prop that espn would say UFC at least once during the broadcast. So that's cool for me.

Still waiting for overnights and viewership for a extremely bias lsu heavy crowd/dancers/band view ratio. That's the joke.

59k at the citrus bowl in beautiful weather was nice to see on terrestrial tv.

[jrs2]

6 hours ago, HankStrong said:

I watched the whole game and it was very obvious that UCF wasn't even playing in the same world as LSU.  To give credit where credit is due, though, UCF certainly made a good game out of it SOME OF THE TIME.

I was very impressed by how resilient UCF was and how they kept trying up to the end, but it was like men fighting kids most of the game.  Sometimes those weren't the best men (like maybe some wimpy men) but they were men.  If someone makes excuses, they aren't living in the real world.  Even if Milton is your #1 player, LSU was basically without most of their starting defense.  Those have to balance at some point, even in the most blinded person's eyes.

The offensive play-calling by UCF was horrid.  Beyond awful.  I don't care for college football for the amateur hour ball you see played so often, but this was beyond that.  This was disgusting.  The RPO on basically 95% of plays is basically not even trying.

Yeah, LSU held them to a little over 200 yds offense while piling on over 500 yds themselves.  That’s the magic of turnovers and pick sixes- not knocking it; UF has lived by that standard many times the past few years when their offense sucked.

UCF started out played too overzealous until the sympathetic refs were no longer sympathetic to their cause and started slapping them with penalties.  That much was obvious.

LSU is a team where you may get a leg up on them early, but you’ve got to realize that they’ll start digging in and turning it up- you’ve just got to withstand the onslaught.  I agree that UCF did pretty well.  But I also think that LSU sat on the ball too much in the 4thQ to run out the clock and it almost backfired.  That’s on Orgeron.   Kentucky did that against Penn St.  Mullen did not do that against Michigan-but he was careful not to put Franks in risky plays (he had a bunch).

But that’s the point- it’s not about one player; it’s about the entire team.  I do think that if Milton were in the game, it would’ve progressed differently.  BUT, what I also mean is that the LSU defense would’ve approached defense differently as well, and the offense would not have sat on the ball.

Play an SEC schedule and you also factor in the letdown game following a loss.  Play only patsies, and you never have to deal with that mindset, and you can get up to play anyone anytime without having that loss in the back of your mind messing with you.  

I still can’t believe that UCF’ers on these boards don’t have anything to say or share since this loss except for jgardnerucf’s comments above...

[Dale]

4 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

Yeah, LSU held them to a little over 200 yds offense while piling on over 500 yds themselves.  That’s the magic of turnovers and pick sixes- not knocking it; UF has lived by that standard many times the past few years when their offense sucked.

UCF started out played too overzealous until the sympathetic refs were no longer sympathetic to their cause and started slapping them with penalties.  That much was obvious.

LSU is a team where you may get a leg up on them early, but you’ve got to realize that they’ll start digging in and turning it up- you’ve just got to withstand the onslaught.  I agree that UCF did pretty well.  But I also think that LSU sat on the ball too much in the 4thQ to run out the clock and it almost backfired.  That’s on Orgeron.   Kentucky did that against Penn St.  Mullen did not do that against Michigan-but he was careful not to put Franks in risky plays (he had a bunch).

But that’s the point- it’s not about one player; it’s about the entire team.  I do think that if Milton were in the game, it would’ve progressed differently.  BUT, what I also mean is that the LSU defense would’ve approached defense differently as well, and the offense would not have sat on the ball.

Play an SEC schedule and you also factor in the letdown game following a loss.  Play only patsies, and you never have to deal with that mindset, and you can get up to play anyone anytime without having that loss in the back of your mind messing with you.  

I still can’t believe that UCF’ers on these boards don’t have anything to say or share since this loss except for jgardnerucf’s comments above...

The SEC is just too fast and physical.

[jrs2]

3 minutes ago, Dale said:

The SEC is just too fast and physical.

It’s not hype; it’s true.  What’s funny is that Miami started that fast and physical trend in the ‘80’s and everyone else was just trying to play catchup.  That is, until, Bama in ‘92 smacked them around in the Sugar.  Miami became a shambles, and FSU, Bama, and UF followed suit.  So did Tennessee and Auburn.  Then Sagan went to LSU and transformed them out of their ‘90’s doldrum.  Nebraska also followed suit, and then so did OU with Stoops at the turn of the decade.  It’s been like that ever since more or less.  Just look at Kentucky under the other Stoops... who’d a thunk it?

[Dale]

24 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

It’s not hype; it’s true.  What’s funny is that Miami started that fast and physical trend in the ‘80’s and everyone else was just trying to play catchup.  That is, until, Bama in ‘92 smacked them around in the Sugar.  Miami became a shambles, and FSU, Bama, and UF followed suit.  So did Tennessee and Auburn.  Then Sagan went to LSU and transformed them out of their ‘90’s doldrum.  Nebraska also followed suit, and then so did OU with Stoops at the turn of the decade.  It’s been like that ever since more or less.  Just look at Kentucky under the other Stoops... who’d a thunk it?

Ironically, too-fast-for-you came from Nebraska, by way of Miami. The orthodox narrative had the Huskers demolishing the Gators, in 1996, because ‘Big ‘ol corn fed boys.’ Fact: the Gators were actually the larger team. But the Huskers were faster at key positions, most notably DE and LB. Spurrier took note and speed followed.

[dcluley98]

UF was vastly different than Nebraska. Nebraska worked because of a combination of good athletes and the spread/option offense and 4-3 defense. It came at a time when other old guard power conference schools were still playing big-boy football and run it down their throat strategies. UF game changer was a whole other strategy to combat both. Fun n' gun, that emphasized wide receivers and trying to outscore everybody. 

"If you want to be successful," Spurrier told S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated in 1995, "you have to do it the way everybody does it and do it a lot better -- or you have to do it differently. I can't outwork anybody and I can't coach the off-tackle play better than anybody else. So I figured I'd try to coach some different ball plays. . ." 

These two genius coaches in Tom Osborne and Steve Spurrier knew they probably couldn't beat the old guard at their own game, so they innovated in different ways to change the game. It worked. Problem is, it only works for so long, and then you have to innovate again or develop the staff and recruiting chops to become one of the perennial "haves" to keep it going. The game changes, and the competitive advantage usually is fleeting, when others start to pick up on it and the playing field levels again. When it happens, it is beautiful, though. 

[Dale]

Gator fans used to howl when I said this, but Nebraska was a finesse team. Sure, their linemen would ‘put a hat on you’, but it wasn’t like they brutalized their foes. With their speed and misdirection, they’d run by you.

[tennis32801]

That unsportsmanlike penalty by that overzealous and dumb freshman killed UCF momentum. 

 

9 hours ago, jgardnerucf said:

I won a lot of money on a prop that espn would say UFC at least once during the broadcast. So that's cool for me.

Still waiting for overnights and viewership for a extremely bias lsu heavy crowd/dancers/band view ratio. That's the joke.

59k at the citrus bowl in beautiful weather was nice to see on terrestrial tv.

It surely looks like UFC with all the ejections.

[dcluley98]

37 minutes ago, Dale said:

Gator fans used to howl when I said this, but Nebraska was a finesse team. Sure, their linemen would ‘put a hat on you’, but it wasn’t like they brutalized their foes. With their speed and misdirection, they’d run by you.

They did run buy you, but it was scheme too. Tommie Frazier (from my hometown) was an amazing athlete, and the perfect weapon for what they drew up. Their linemen were not big uglies, they were athletic guys that could pull and run with the play. Their conditioning was amazing. Their skill guys were also great athletes and could block downfield as well as run and catch. That's how they beat everybody. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by dcluley98

[Dale]

1 hour ago, dcluley98 said:

They did run buy you, but it was scheme too. Tommie Frazier (from my hometown) was an amazing athlete, and the perfect weapon for what they drew up. Their linemen were not big uglies, they were athletic guys that could pull and run with the play. Their conditioning was amazing. Their skill guys were also great athletes and could block downfield as well as run and catch. That's how they beat everybody. 

That’s what I’m saying, deception and misdirection enabling them to find holes and open field.

[spenser1058]

Our Knights improve to 11-2 tonight after a close win over Temple 78-73 at CFE Arena.

Charge On!