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Despite Loss, Knights Earn Some Respect

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By BILL FAY

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 7, 2008

ORLANDO - Well, at least it wasn't a 52-point beating.

Searching for something - anything - positive to say about a series that dies with few moments worth remembering, UCF took a little solace in they didn't get routed this time.

The Knights' 31-24 overtime loss to No. 17-ranked USF Saturday night at Bright House Networks Stadium was a huge improvement over last year's humiliating 64-12 loss to the Bulls.

"I saw where Coach Jim Leavitt said if they had a chance to run it up on us again they were going to run it up on us, but we didn't give them a chance this time," said UCF cornerback Joe Burnett, whose 91-yard kickoff return in the first quarter lit a fire under the Knights. "Our goal was to fight right to the end and earn some respect and I guarantee we earned some respect from them this time."

"We finished second again, but we gave ourselves an opportunity this time," UCF coach George O'Leary said. "But you've got to make plays when you get an opportunity, but we didn't make enough big plays. Give them credit, especially Matt Grothe. He makes big plays and I have a lot of respect for that."

The Knights came up inches short of a first down that would have continued their drive in overtime, but O'Leary only half-heartedly blamed officiating.

"We started on a line and I thought we finished on a line and that ought to be 10 yards and a first down," he said. "I wasn't real happy with the officiating, but that's not the reason we lost the game. We lost because we couldn't make more big plays than they did."

UCF's offense had a hard time getting out of its own way for the first 31/2 quarters. The Knights finished with 226 yards of total offense, but half of that came in the fourth quarter when they rallied from a 24-10 deficit. The Knights had 31 rushing yards on 19 carries through the first three periods and finished with just 76 rushing yards for the night.

"We've got to find a way to make more big plays, more chunk plays offensively," O'Leary said. "They made a lot of chunk plays against our defense, but we didn't do that until the end when our quarterback started throwing the ball where he was supposed to throw it. There's no real magic in that, you've just got to execute and we finally did in the fourth quarter."

The Knights also had a hard time controlling their emotions. At one point in the fourth quarter, UCF had more yards in penalties (134) than total offense (112). The Knights had seven personal fouls of 15 yards, and one of the penalties negated a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown by Johnell Neal. That return would have given UCF a 14-10 lead in the second period.

"We were the better team tonight and should have won this game, but we beat ourselves with penalties," said wide receiver Rocky Ross, whose 31-yard touchdown reception sent the game into overtime. "You should play the game with emotion, but we let our emotions get the better of us. We killed ourselves with those penalties and it cost us the game."

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