Central Florida blanks South Carolina State, 17-0

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The phrase “moral victory” is not in South Carolina State head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough’s vocabulary. Not surprisingly, he refused to view Saturday’s 17-0 season-opening loss to Central Florida in such a manner. “We’re not in the moral victory business,” Pough said. “We’re a good enough team now where we’ve got to make some type of statement and we haven’t made it yet. The one thing we do know is that we can go in and play defense I think with pretty much anybody. We’ve just got to find a way to make our overall team come together.”

The Bulldogs stopped the Knights on three of five trips to the red zone as Markee Hamlin (#11) had eight tackles and one fumble recovery to lead the S.C. State defense.

Even though the Bulldogs’ third contest against a Football Championship Subdivision foe was less lopsided than last year’s two contests against Air Force Academy and the University of South Carolina, to a man, the outcome was seen as a missed opportunity. “Tough season opener,” Pough said. “When you come into stadiums like this you feel like you might have a chance to at least hang around. “When you do for a while, you feel really bad about not getting it done.”

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Attendance: Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, FL: 42,126 (Capacity: 45,301)

‘Four-Headed Monster’: SCSU could have its hands full with UCF backfield

ORLANDO, Fla. - The good news for South Carolina State’s defense is All-American running back Kevin Smith no longer carries the football for Central Florida. Instead, the Bulldogs will have to deal with what the Knights hope will be a “four-headed monster” out of the backfield. With four freshman tailbacks on the depth chart, head coach George O’Leary plans to use a “running back by committee” for Saturday’s season-opener against S.C. State and beyond.

“I’m going to possibly play all four of them and each and every game,” O’Leary said. “They all bring something different to the table. The freshmen have great speed and vision and that’s what I look at. The one thing I think that I was concerned about was obviously pass protection and they all bow up and put a hat on people which is what you’re looking for in the protection.”

In Ronnie Weaver (6-0, 202 lbs.), Brynn Harvey (6-1, 215), Latavius Murphy (6-3, 215) and Brandon Davis (5-9, 190), the defending Conference USA champions will try to reproduce the NCAA-leading 2,567 yards and 29 touchdowns posted last season by Smith (currently with the Detroit Lions).

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UCF Football Preview vs South Carolina State Bulldogs

The UCF football team will open its second campaign at Bright House Networks Stadium on Aug. 30, against South Carolina State. The contest will serve as the season opener for both squads.

Here is an early look at UCF's contest with South Carolina State:

Experienced Squad
Forty-four letterwinners from South Carolina's State 2007 squad are back this season. The Bulldogs went 7-4 a year ago. With a 6-2 mark, the team finished tied for second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Seventh year head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough has seven starters back on offense and nine starters returning on the defensive end.

Ground Attack
Tailback Will Ford is back to lead the ground attack for South Carolina State. Last year, the Bulldogs ranked ninth nationally, averaging 260.2 rushing yards per game. Ford, an All-MEAC First Team selection, was 11th in the country on the ground (125.18). He found the end zone four times. Against South Carolina, Ford carried the ball 17 times for 112 yards.

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SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS.

Sweat's Career-High Eight Strikeouts Lead UCF Past Florida A&M, 16-2

Brown drives in four runs, Duffy scores four times in the win over the Rattlers.

ORLANDO, Fla.- After suffering through a lengthy rain delay before first pitch, the UCF baseball team moved to 2-0 on the season with a 16-2 win over Florida A&M Saturday at Jay Bergman Field. Junior starter Kyle Sweat delivered with a career-high eight strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work for the victory.

The Knights racked up 15 hits in the win over the Rattlers (0-2), led by senior Dwayne Bailey and sophomore Shane Brown, who each posted three hits. Brown also posted a career-high four RBI, and sophomore Chris Duffy set a personal mark with four runs scored.

UCF climbed on top of FAMU and starter Anthony Espin (0-1) in the second as Duffy reached on an error and senior Ryan Richardson blasted a double high off the center-field fence. Following an intentional walk to Brown, freshman Evan Stobbs was issued a free pass with the bases juiced for the first run.

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UCF Baseball Pounds Out 17 Runs in Opening-Day Win over FAMU

Photo: FAMU starting pitcher Cirilo Manego had a difficult day on the mound pitching 2.1 innings, giving up 12 hits, 10 runs and 3 strikeouts to UCF Knights.

Knights defeat Rattlers, 17-1, to tie school record for most runs in a season-opener.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A festive crowd of 1,282 ventured to Opening Day at Jay Bergman Field Friday and had a lot to cheer about as UCF routed Florida A&M, 17-1. The Knights' 17 runs tied a school record for most in a season-opener, as they also accomplished the feat vs. Rollins in 1998.

Senior Jaager Good (1-0) got the start for the Black and Gold and gave up just two hits and struck out eight in 5.2 innings of work, including striking out the side in the first. At the dish, senior Dwayne Bailey came one hit shy of matching the school mark for hits in a game, as he went 5-for-5 with four runs scored. Meanwhile, senior Tyson Auer tied his career high by scoring four runs as well.

"As long as you win by one run, it's a W," said head coach Jay Bergman, who enters his 26th season with UCF. "I thought we played very well tonight, particularly defensively, and Jaager was in control of his game. The team played with a lot of enthusiasm and what we call synergy."

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