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No. 9 Miami knows wins at UCF aren't always easy

AP file photo (2008)

Miami quarterback Jacory Harris is carried by Orlando Franklin after scoring on a two-point conversion against Central Florida in 2008.

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By TIM REYNOLDS

The Associated Press

Published: October 16, 2009

Texas escaped in 2007. South Florida rallied in 2008.

If Miami wasn't already going to take Central Florida seriously, the fortunes of the Longhorns and Bulls probably got the Hurricanes' undivided attention.

Central Florida had Texas on the ropes before falling by a field goal in its new home stadium two years ago, then took South Florida to overtime on that field last year. Now another ranked team is heading to Orlando, the ninth-ranked Hurricanes (4-1) visiting the Knights' on-campus stadium on Saturday night.

"We've got to go out there and play our hardest," Miami quarterback Jacory Harris said. "They want to take us down. They want to take down Miami."

A year ago, they almost did.

These teams met in Miami last season, Central Florida (3-2) coming out on the losing end of a miserably sloppy 20-14 game, one that saw the offenses go 23 consecutive possessions without scoring a point. In all, there were 23 punts, 13 penalties, four turnovers and a great fourth-down play by linebacker Darryl Sharpton with 1:52 left saved the Hurricanes from an upset.

"If I didn't make that play … " Sharpton said, his voice tailing off, the rest of that sentence obvious. "As long as everyone does their job, I think we'll be fine. This year, we plan to come in there and have a much smoother game, and we don't expect it to be the same kind of game."

This game has been sold-out for a while, and sure, some of those in the stands will make the 3 1/2 -hour drive from the Miami area.

But for UCF, this may as well be a championship game.

According to STATS LLC, the Knights are 0-19 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 since moving to the level formerly known as Division I-A in 1996.

Combined score of those games: Opponents 792, Knights 345.

Still, a 35-32 loss in Orlando to Texas two years ago and last season's 24-17 defeat to South Florida suggests the Knights could be on the cusp of that long-awaited breakthrough, signature win.

"Anytime you play the ninth-ranked team in the country, it would sure be a great signature win, whether it's Miami or anybody else," Knights coach George O'Leary said. "And anytime it's in-state, I think there's extra incentive to go out and make sure you have your best foot forward, too."

For that to happen, it'll like take Central Florida's two best feet.

Those happen to belong to running back Brynn Harvey, who enters the weekend as one of only 19 players averaging at least 100 net rushing yards per game. Harvey had 42 carries — the most nationally so far this season — for 219 yards in the Knights' last game, a 32-14 win over Memphis.

Against a banged-up Miami defensive line, which will be missing at least three players who entered the season as projected starters, Harvey will likely get the call for the Knights early and often again. Miami announced Thursday that defensive linemen Marcus Forston and Adewale Ojomo will miss the rest of the season, and Eric Moncur was listed earlier in the week as unavailable for Saturday's game.

"I hope we're going to do the same thing we did against Memphis," Harvey said. "Pound the ball, keep our offense on the field, keep their defense on the field and just do our thing."

UCF's plan is simple and obvious: Grind a team down for three quarters, win it in the fourth.

In the Knights' three wins this season, they've outscored opponents 30-0 in the fourth quarter, 66-24 after halftime. UCF has trailed in every game.

"Our guys aren't looking at rankings or records or anything because of what happened last year," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "They're still learning a lot of lessons from last year. And in last year's game, UCF played hard. They had great defensive backs, their front seven was older. This will be one of those games, the crowd going, the fans jumping."

In other words, the sort of game that Miami has always loved to play.

"It's going to be a hostile crowd," linebacker Sean Spence said. "So we'll be focused. We'll take them serious. … We know we'll have to play a full, complete game."

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