Football
Main article: UCF Knights football See also: 2012 UCF Knights football teamUCF has had some measure of success in football in its short NCAA history. It is the alma mater for NFL stars Brandon Marshall, Daunte Culpepper and Asante Samuel, among others. The Knights fielded an NCAA football team in Division III in 1979, moving up to Division II in 1982 and Division I-AA in 1990, finally matching the rest of its sports programs. In 1996, the program made its foray into Division I-A. The Knights play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the NCAA's Division I and in Conference USA.
The University of Central Florida fielded an official varsity football team for the first time in 1979, under head coach Don Jonas. Since then, the Knights have played in four bowl games, won two conference championships, and produced 2 All-Americans, and eleven current National Football League (NFL) players.
The Knights' most prominent current football rivals are C-USA Eastern Division foes East Carolina and Marshall, C-USA Western Division opponent Tulsa, and in-state rival South Florida from the Big East.
George O'Leary became UCF's head football coach in 2004, and his seven teams have had great success. The 2005 team won the school's first division championship, and earned their first trip to a bowl game, in the Knights first season in C-USA. In 2007, the Knights won their second division championship, and earned their first conference championship. During the 2009 campaign, UCF earned its first victory over a ranked opponent and third bowl appearance under O'Leary's watch. In 2010, the Knights cemeneted the best year in program history, earning their first top 25 ranking, second conference championship, and winning their first bowl game.
The Knights have won the Conference USA Championship Game two times in four tries since the C-USA instituted the championship game in 2005. UCF won the C-USA East Division in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012. The Knights were a leading program in Division I-AA in the early 1990s. In 1990, UCF became the first school in history to qualify for the I-AA playoffs in its first season of eligibility. The Knights once again made the postseason in 1993, and were selected as the preseason #1 to start the 1994 season.
The Knights football team plays its home games in Bright House Networks Stadium, the team's home field since 2007.
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Famous quotes containing the word football:
“People stress the violence. That’s the smallest part of it. Football is brutal only from a distance. In the middle of it there’s a calm, a tranquility. The players accept pain. There’s a sense of order even at the end of a running play with bodies stewn everywhere. When the systems interlock, there’s a satisfaction to the game that can’t be duplicated. There’s a harmony.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)
“Idon’t enjoy getting knocked about on a football field for other people’s amusement. I enjoy it if I’m being paid a lot for it.”
—David Storey (b. 1933)