With a career-best rushing day from junior tailback Latavius Murray and some smothering play from its defense, UCF totally overwhelmed UTEP 31-14 at Bright House Networks Stadium in what proved to be the season finale for both teams.

Unfortunately for the Knights (5-7, 3-5 Conference USA), the resurgence came too late and there will be no bowl game in December. UCF was an impressive 5-1 at home this season, but its downfall was a 0-6 mark on the road. Six of the Knights’ seven losses this season were by seven or fewer points, leaving them wondering what could have been this season had a few extra plays gone their way.

“This win means everything in the world to us because me and my teammates fought hard this year but lost some games by close margins. But for us to play like this in the last game means a lot to me,” senior wide receiver A.J. Guyton said. “Everything happens for a reason and it just wasn’t our year this year. But at least we ended on a positive note.”

UCF head coach George O’Leary said a game as good as Friday’s made him think even more about how the season could have transpired differently. O’Leary said he was happy most of all that the most successful senior class in school history went out with a victory in its last game.

“I’m happy for the senior class on Senior Night to go out winners. As I told the team, I thought they played hard all year, but we just weren’t as successful as we’d have liked to have been,” O’Leary said. “We just came up a possession short or a stop short in each of those games. But our kids executed today and made plays.”

Murray, who made another late-season charge similar to last season when he earned Most Valuable Player honors in both the Conference USA title game and the Liberty Bowl, ran for 233 yards and two scores and caught another touchdown in the lopsided victory.

Murray’s rushing total ranks as the fourth most in school history and was UCF’s first 200-yard rushing day in two seasons. He vowed early in the week that UCF would play hard in the final game to honor the 15 seniors who have meant so much to the program.

“I wanted to help the seniors a lot because I would hope if I was a senior the underclassmen would do the same for me,” said Murray, who will return next season as the starting tailback. “We did what we had to do, and the seniors did what they had to do, and we went out on a great note.”

UTEP (5-7, 2-6 C-USA) entered Friday’s game with with a bowl bid on the line, but the Miners never stood a chance against a determined UCF team. Because UTEP did not reach six wins, Conference USA is unable to fill its six bowl slots. Remarkably, the Miners have never won a game played in the Eastern Time Zone. They are 0-17-1 all-time in such games with the tie coming in 1949 against West Virginia.

UCF pitched a shutout for three-plus quarters before allowing a meaningless 2-yard touchdown pass with 11:23 to play in the game. The Knights were hoping to post their third home shutout of the season, which would have been the most of any team in the country.

The game was the final one at UCF for noted seniors Josh Linam, Cliff McCray, Darius Nall, Adam Nissley, Nick Pieschel, Ronnie Weaver and Guyton. Linam had nine tackles and a third-quarter interception. Nall registered the 16th sack of his career and tipped a pass and Guyton added a 29-yard reception. McCray, Pieschel and Nissley opened holes all night for Murray. That senior class helped UCF reach two bowl games (2009 and ’10) and win two C-USA titles (2007 and ’10).

“Looking at this game, this was about the best thing that could have happened for the seniors,” said McCray, whose younger brothers – twins Jordan and Justin – return next season. “Me and the seniors have been talking a lot, all of us who have played here since 2007. … The main thing that I wanted to do was tell the guys that I played with that I love them. I said a little prayer to myself thanking God because UCF has meant a lot to me and I was so grateful.”

Sophomore Jeff Godfrey started at quarterback, and redshirt freshman Blake Bortles ended the game. Bortles threw for 158 yards and a TD, while Godfrey hit on five of six throws for 53 yards. O’Leary said he fully anticipates using both quarterbacks next season.

Wide out J.J. Worton had three more catches, giving him 41 for the season and the new UCF record for receptions by a freshman. He broke the previous mark of 40 set in 1987 by Sean Beckton, now UCF’s defensive backs coach.

Fellow redshirt freshman Josh Reese had a 43-yard grab in the second quarter, while true freshman Rannell Hall had two grabs for 17 yards. The position with the most question marks prior to the season, UCF heads into next season knowing it has plenty of returning playmakers at wide receiver.

“For three guys coming in, they really did play well,” O’Leary said. “Reese made a great catch on that broken play that we threw deep and Worton continues to catch everything near him. They’re only going to get better. And Rannell Hall really needs to come on this offseason and understand the game better and what’s going on. But they had terrific freshman years in terms of catching balls and making plays.”

UCF opened the game with its most dominant half of football in weeks, racing to a 24-0 lead by intermission. The Knights held a whopping 303-94 advantage in yards in the first two quarters and held the Miners to just five first downs.

The Knights started the game well with a 38-yard touchdown sprint from Murray and closed the half with a 6-yard touchdown lob from Bortles to Murray. In between, Bortles had a touchdown dive from one yard and a 23-yard field goal from senior kicker Nick Cattoi.

Raved UTEP coach Mike Price, referring to Murray: “Number 28 was fantastic. He looked like Eric Dickerson the way he was running the ball all over us.”

Bortles was spectacular in the first half, hitting on seven of eight passes for 139 yards. He got plenty of help from Worton and Josh Reese. Reese had a dazzling 43-yard catch in the second quarter, while Worton had a diving 34-yarder to get the Knights inside the 10-yard.

Murray, a starter at tailback the past two weeks, rumbled off left tackle in the first quarter and ran untouched past the secondary for a 38-yard score to put the Knights up 7-0. Murray’s run was set up by a 29-yard catch and run by Guyton.

Said Murray: “I know the line was doing a great job and there were some big holes there. As a back you just have to hit the holes when they are blocking like that. We just got it going early and kept it rolling.”

UCF pushed the lead to 14-0 when Murray ripped off runs 13 and 20 yards to set up Bortles’ 1-yard sneak.

But this night was all about UCF’s senior class. After weeks of frustration and close losses, the seniors were finally able to walk off the field with a feeling of happiness.

“It finally hit me Thursday night because I was quiet all day and had some alone time,” Nall said. “Coming into this game, I had so many emotions running through my head. … I’m disappointed with how the season went, but I’m just so happy with us pulling out this last win.”

Unfortunately for UCF, its chances of becoming the fourth team to pull off a C-USA repeat ended Saturday night at the hands of Southern Miss and a heart-breaking final play on a failed two-point conversion pass.

UCF redshirt freshman quarterback Blake Bortles fired a 25-yard touchdown on the final play of regulation, but his potential game-winning two-point conversion pass was swatted down to end the game and resulted in a heartbreaking 30-29 loss to Southern Miss.

With momentum clearly on the Knights’ side at the end of the game, UCF coach George O’Leary decided to go for the victory instead of the tie at the end. Bortles completed 24 of 34 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. But his final pass of the night was batted down by Southern Miss safety Jacorious Cotton to set off a wild celebration scene.

“We made the decision two minutes before that if we scored that we were going for two points to win this game,” O’Leary said. “We came to win the game and that gave us the best opportunity to win. But we came up short.”

UCF’s players seconded O’Leary decision to go for the victory rather than chance it in overtime.

“I loved the call because we had the momentum at the time and we had just put together a great drive,” said tailback Latavius Murray. “We punched it in for the touchdown, but we didn’t finish it off with the two-point conversion. But I was happy that we went for it and I was excited.”

Added senior linebacker Josh Linam: “I loved it and I thought that’s what (O’Leary) should do. We had a chance to win a game, but we didn’t finish it.”

UCF rallied to take a one-point lead with 8 minutes to play, but it was eliminated from contention for a third C-USA East Division title in the past five years Saturday night when Southern Miss marched for a go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown. Austin Davis, repeatedly a UCF killer throughout the past three years, threw a 4-yard TD pass and a two-point conversion to down the Knights at M.M. Roberts Stadium. His two-point pass-lateral to Lamar Holmes on a tackle-eligible play proved to be the game-winning points.

UCF (4-6 overall and 2-4 in C-USA play) must now win its final two games to become bowl eligible for a third consecutive season. Southern Miss (9-1 and 5-1) has only UAB and Memphis ahead of them before playing in the C-USA title game against either Houston or Tulsa.

The Knights play their final road game of the season next Saturday against East Division-rival East Carolina. The kickoff is at 7 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports. UCF closes the regular season at home on Nov. 25 against UTEP.

“From a morale standpoint, I feel like we came together as a team. But I’m still not happy about the loss,” tailback Ronnie Weaver said. “We’re going to do what we can now to get that sixth win and get to a bowl game.”

Added Victor Gray, who had four pass breakups from his defensive tackle position: “We play the way we did tonight in the next two games I feel we’ll get them and get to a bowl game.”

UCF took a 23-22 lead midway through the fourth quarter when redshirt freshman quarterback Blake Bortles found Ronnie Weaver for the first touchdown pass of the senior tailback’s career. But the lead would be short-lived for UCF as Davis and Southern Miss marched 80 yards in just 2:32 to go back ahead.

Bortles, who played the entire second half in relief of starter Jeff Godfrey, was effective throughout, but was intercepted by defensive tackle Deddrick Jones with 4:58 to play.

Undeterred, Bortles drove UCF’s offense down the field by completing seven consecutive passes. Facing a fourth-and-six with two seconds to play, Bortles hit J.J. Worton for a dazzling 25-yard touchdown that he went high into the air to haul in despite heavy traffic all around him.

“Blake has ice water in his veins,” gushed Weaver. “We were all depending on him to make plays for us and he came through. He came in with some adversity and in a tough situation playing here at “The Rock” and he played really well.”

Whereas UCF’s offense struggled most of the night in the red zone, the defense seemed to play its best football when Southern Miss drove into scoring territory. UCF’s defense, statistically ranked first in C-USA, held Southern Miss to five Danny Hrapmann field goals to stay within striking distance.

Said Linam: “The way our defense played speaks to the resolve that we have as a team. We came up short in this game, but we played our butts off.”

As they have all season, special teams’ woes again hurt the Knights. Trailing just 16-9 early in the fourth quarter, Worton fumbled a punt return deep in UCF territory. UCF’s defense held tough, but four plays later Southern Miss had a fourth field goal that pushed the lead back to 19-9.

“When J.J. came off the field (after the touchdown catch) he said he had to get one back because of the fumbled punt,” O’Leary said. “That was a great catch by Worton on the touchdown. There were a lot of momentum changes and the kids played their hearts out.”

Worton finished the game with a career-high 11 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown to lead the UCF receiving corps.

UCF responded with a big play of its own on the ensuing kickoff, making Southern Miss pay for its decision to pop up the kick. Junior Latavius Murray ran through a tackle and broke into the clear for a 69-yard return to draw UCF back to within 19-16.

UCF has now returned at least one kickoff for a touchdown in each of the past five seasons.

Senior kicker Nick Cattoi booted three field goals, the final one getting the Knights within 16-9 late in the third quarter. UCF moved the ball up and down the field all night, but repeatedly stalled near scoring position because of penalties and struggles in pass protection.

UCF got a bad break late in the third quarter despite a replay ruling going in its favor. Referees wiped out a pass interference call when a UCF challenge showed that a pass was tipped at the line. However, referees retroactively called UCF safety Kemal Ishmael for defensive holding on the play prior to the pass interference, resulting in a Southern Miss first down.

UCF and Southern Miss were flagged for a whopping nine penalties in the third quarter alone. Southern Miss had six penalties in the period, four of them for holding.

UCF drove across the 50-yard line and into Southern Miss territory on four of its first five drives, but managed just two field goals and trailed 13-6 at the half. The Knights drove inside the 35-yard line four times, but had to settle for Cattoi field goals of 48 and 38 yards.

Southern Miss had scoring drives of 96, 80 and 67 yards in the first half. The final one just before the half was kept alive when Southern Miss caught UCF off guard with a fake punt. Punter Peter Boehme hit Emmanuel Johnson for a 28-yard gainer. Strangely, Southern Miss didn’t convert a third down on six tries in the first half, but twice converted on fourth downs.

As promised by O’Leary earlier in the week, UCF rotated quarterbacks in the first half, alternating series with Godfrey and redshirt freshman Blake Bortles. Godfrey completed seven of 10 passes for 68 yards in the first half, while Bortles hit on six of eight throws for 49 yards. Worton set a career high for catches in the first half alone with five grabs for 49 yards.

The noise inside Roberts Stadium clearly got to the Knights early in the game. UCF’s offensive line was whistled for four false start penalties in the first quarter alone. The first two penalties stalled a drive, while the fourth one preceded a fourth-and-inches play and forced the Knights to punt.

UCF punter David Bohner pinned Southern Miss down at the 4-yard late in the first period, but it didn’t matter to a Golden Eagles offense that has made a habit out of stringing together long drives. Davis completed five passes on a 96-yard drive – first on a 60-yard fly route down the middle of the field and lastly on a 1-yard touchdown throw to Bruce Johnson that put Southern Miss up 7-3. It was Southern Miss’ fifth scoring drive of the season of at least 90 yards.

UCF jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the game when Cattoi booted a 48-yard field goal, the second-longest kick of his career. UCF drove to the 28 yard line, but set itself back with three false-start penalties. Godfrey had a 9-yard screen pass to Ronnie Weaver on third down to get the Knights in position for Cattoi’s boot from 48 yards out. Coincidentally, Cattoi’s career long kick of 50 yards came at Southern Miss in 2009.

A week after losing to Florida International because of a botched fumble return and a lost fumble, UCF saw an early lead disappear when it again bobbled a punt return, later fumbled the ball away and threw an interception in a confounding 24-17 loss to BYU at Lavell Edwards Stadium.

“This is really tough because we had the lead coming into halftime and we just folded in the second half,” defensive tackle Victor Gray said. “The mistakes keep catching up with us. We made them last week and we made them this week again. We won’t be a championship caliber team if we keep making these kinds of mistakes.”

A UCF team that had dreams of going through the season undefeated and morphing into BCS busters, continues to be its own worst enemy with errors at the wrong time. The Knights have now lost consecutive games for the first time since 2008 and must try and regroup before Conference USA play begins in two weeks. UCF, who led 10-3 at the intermission and 17-10 late in the third quarter, also lost for the first time in 10 games when leading at the half.

UCF played well enough offensively and defensively to win, but was done in by three turnovers. J.J. Worton’s fumbled punt return at the 8-yard line with 11:47 to play put BYU in position for the game-winning touchdown. Worton was replacing Josh Robinson, who similarly fumbled a punt inside the 10-yard line last week in the 17-10 loss to FIU. BYU scored three plays after the turnover, breaking a 17-all tie and breaking the Knights backs.

“We turned the ball and you just can’t do that,” UCF coach George O’Leary said. “We had receivers dropping the ball. We had our opportunities but we didn’t take advantage. It’s a shame and then the kickoff coverage hurt us too. Sloppy coverage and a bad kick. We didn’t make plays and in the second half we had some bad decisions. But we have to move on and it’s a long season for a reason.”

UCF saw another scoring opportunity disappear late in the game when Dontravius Floyd was hit from behind and fumbled the ball at midfield. Quarterback Jeff Godfrey put UCF in position for some late-game heroics with a 58-yard pass to A.J. Guyton (163 receiving yards), but he was picked off with three minutes to play when intended receiver Latavius Murray tripped and fell.

Godfrey finished 15-of-23 for 260 yards, but threw his first interception of the year. The Knights still do not have a touchdown pass on the season.

“We’re mistakes that we shouldn’t be making and that’s how we are losing these games,” Godfrey said. “Close games like this, we have to finish like we started. We’re making mental mistakes, and on my play where I threw the interception I have to be smarter and throw the ball out of the end zone. I have to learn from that.”

Both teams entered the game feeling they had something to prove after self-inflicted losses a week earlier. UCF was penalized 10 times, yielded six sacks and turned the ball over twice in a 17-10 loss to Florida International last Saturday night in Miami. Meanwhile, BYU, in its first season as an independent, lost seven fumbles and allowed 47 unanswered points in a 54-10 loss to rival Utah.

Clearly fatigued from playing two games in seven days, UCF now gets a much-needed off week before hosting Marshall on Oct. 8 at Bright House Networks Stadium. It’s the start of league play for the Knights, the defending champions of Conference USA.

UCF endured a major scare late in the third period when Godfrey was dropped on a sack and didn’t immediately get to his feet. Godfrey appeared to have gotten poked in the eye on the sack and also injured his left arm.

Redshirt freshman Blake Bortles, an Oviedo native who grew up dreaming of directing the UCF offense, got his big chance and delivered immediately. He completed his first four passes, the second of which was a 15-yard strike to J.J. Worton on third-and-13 with the BYU crowd roaring. The drive ultimately stalled and UCF came away with no points when Nick Cattoi hooked a 35-yard field goal, keeping the game tied at 17-all.

UCF lost speedster Quincy McDuffie when he suffered a seriously sprained ankle on the final play of the third quarter. McDuffie, who finished with five catches for 50 yards, was hurt on an 11-yard gainer as he was tackled.

UCF delivered one of its most important drives of the season in the third quarter just minutes after BYU had knotted the game at 10-all. Godfrey found A.J. Guyton for a 54-yard pass down the sidelines for the longest play of the season. Five plays later, Godfrey outran the BYU defense to the corner for a score that gave UCF a 17-10 lead.

However, BYU answered right back with its first kickoff return for a touchdown in 13 years. Cody Hoffman took a kickoff on the right hash, broke left and scampered 93 yards untouched for the tying touchdown.

“All phases of the game, we have to win all three of them and that’s something we didn’t do,” Robinson said. “We’re questioning ourselves right now because too many people are making mistakes, myself included. We just have to (eliminate) those mental errors.”

A UCF defense that entered the game first in the nation in pass defense, second in total defense and third in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense made some major changes. Ray Shipman, a former basketball player at the 海角直播 of Florida, got his first career start at outside linebacker in place of true freshman Leilon Willingham. Fellow freshman Troy Gray, a Kennesaw, Ga., native, also started in place of junior Jonathan Davis.

UCF’s defense held yet another opponent without a touchdown in the first half, helping the Knights build a 10-3 lead. UCF came into the game having given up just one touchdown all season and it followed a fumbled punt return in which the possession started at the 7-yard line. That meant from the Conference USA title game last December to Friday’s first half, UCF’s defense had yielded just one touchdown in 18 quarters.

BYU took advantage of great field position and tied the game up at 10-all midway through the third quarter. After forcing UCF to punt from its own end zone, BYU marched 38 yards in five plays and tied the game on a 16-yard sprint by JJ Di Luigi on a third-and-one play.

Just before that play, UCF was a victim of a bad break. BYU receiver McKay Jacobson bobbled a pass into the air, which was intercepted by UCF safety Clayton Geathers. After a replay review, officials ruled that the pass to Jacobson hit the ground, negating the interception.

UCF’s defense produced a huge turnover late in the first period when junior cornerback Josh Robinson picked off the 10th pass of his career. The play was set up when redshirt junior Lyle Dankenbring tipped Jake Heaps pass into the air and it was intercepted by Robinson, who returned the ball 17 yards to the 17-yard line.

Three plays later, the Knights were in the end zone when Godfrey kept on a belly play and scored from 10 yards out on the final play of the first quarter.

For a second time in as many weeks, UCF drove methodically on a 10-play drive for its first score. The Knights got runs of 17 and 7 yards from Ronnie Weaver and Godfrey throws of 19 yards to A.J. Guyton and 13 yards to Dontravius Floyd during the drive. But the march stalled at the 17-yard line and the Knights had to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Cattoi.

UCF’s defense came up big on BYU’s first drive of the game to turn away the Cougars. Robinson dived to break up a pass at the goal line, a play that forced BYU to settle for a field goal and a 3-3 tie early on. BYU receiver Ross Apo sustained a concussion on the play after being drilled by Kemal Ishmael following Robinson’s pass breakup.

Robinson, who fumbled a punt last week, bounced back with a solid effort. In addition to his interception, he had two more pass breakups, giving him 27 for his career. That ranks seventh all-time in UCF history.

One of UCF’s most valuable weapons in the first half was senior punter David Bohner, who routinely pinned BYU deep in its own territory. Bohner had three boots stop at the 11, 11 and 7-yard line in the first half.

“We still have all of our conference games and still have our goals in hand,” Robinson said. “We can still make our goal (of winning another C-USA title). We just have to stay together as a family and encourage one another.”

In a moment that was emblematic of the season when it came to the kicking, the point-after was a wobbly, knuckling liner that cleared the crossbar by just inches. It was a success, but it made more than a few hearts skip a beat inside of Memphis’ Liberty Bowl Stadium that afternoon.

After enduring a rocky junior season, Cattoi is hoping to rid himself of such cliffhanger moments and shore up UCF’s kicking responsibilities. And if he can’t, there’s backup this time around to come to the rescue.

Heading into Saturday’s scrimmage and FanFest activities for UCF, the 6-foot-5, 224-pound Cattoi holds down the first-string kicking job. He’s had a solid training camp so far, even while being pushed by preferred walk-on Shawn Moffitt in training camp. Both kickers have been put in pressure situations at the end of practices and have been impressive with their accuracy so far, giving head coach George O’Leary some confidence in the position that was lacking last season.

“I wish it was game day because they are kicking it well right now,” O’Leary said following a practice earlier in the week. “They are making such good contact with the ball. You don’t have to see a good kick; you can hear it. I try to put them in situations where they have to make long field goals and short field goals. They’re both (Cattoi and Moffitt) hitting it pretty good.”

Cattoi worked hard this offseason to strengthen his leg and improve his accuracy following a 2010 season in which he made 11 of 19 field goals and 47 of 50 extra points. He split time with Jamie Boyle, who made all nine of his extra points, but missed on two field goal tries.

“Over the summer I really worked on field goals because I really want to have a great senior season. I’ve been working so hard on my mental state and not allowing anything to get to me,” said Cattoi, a Tampa native. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well right now. I’m very confident with my field goals and kickoffs and I was to take it into the start of the season.”

Cattoi’s confidence was tested last season as he was wildly inconsistent most of the season. He missed four field goals shorter than 40 yards, including one that was blocked. He also missed on four kicks from 40-plus yards. Distance was rarely an issue, but accuracy was a problem.

Cattoi did have a 29-yard field goal in the Conference USA title game against SMU and a 22-yard kick against Georgia in the Liberty Bowl to tie the game at 3-all. Latavius Murray scored on a 10-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter against Georgia and Cattoi’s unsightly extra point proved to be a big one because it put UCF up 10-6. Needing a touchdown instead of a tying field goal, Georgia came up short on two drives late in the game and UCF escaped with its first bowl victory in school history.

Cattoi admitted that last year’s struggles pushed him to work harder this past offseason so that he can become a weapon for the Knights this season.

“I wanted to help the team and respond from those lows,” Cattoi said. “You can’t be negative because that will just make things worse and hurt your season even more. I wanted to finish up the season right and help the team the best that I can.”

With its kicking spot up in the air, UCF recruited Moffitt, a standout kicker at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando last season. He made 11 of 16 field goals and 97 of 98 extra points last season at Dr. Phillips. He made a 52-yard field goal last season and set the Florida state record for consecutive extra points with 130 in a row.

Both kickers have been especially impressive so far, hitting pressure kicks with a lot on the line. O’Leary likes to have his kickers end practice with 47-yard field goal attempts, and there’s plenty of peer pressure involved. If they make the kick, practice is over; if they miss, the team either continues to practice or runs sprints. So far, both kickers have been accurate in those situations.

Cattoi said the experience that he’s gained over the last two seasons – he was 14 of 20 on field goals in 2009 – has helped him learn to deal with the highs and lows that come with kicking. He said UCF’s fellow kickers, punters and snappers are always there for support as are his parents, Terry and Jean Cattoi.

“Once I’m back there kicking I have my same sequence and I just try to zone everything else out. In my head, I go through the tips and reminders of the things that I have been working on. I have to keep my eyes on the ball and nothing else,” he said. “The specialist group is always there for support and helping me with what’s going wrong when we’re watching film together. My parents have always been behind me since my freshman year and they’ve been to all of our games the past two years. It’s been great having their support there.”

Cattoi hopes that his struggles are a thing of the past and he feels that he’s primed for a solid senior season. His kicking leg is significantly stronger following an offseason of weight room work and it has been evidenced in his kickoffs and long field goals. In addition to being more accurate on his field goals, he wants to once again reach double digits in touchbacks as he did two seasons ago.

“It’s a tough experience sometimes, but you just have to get used to it. You have to learn how to block out all of the fans,” he said. “Since I’ve been kicking for three years at UCF now, it’s so nice having that experience. I’m used to what it takes to be successful and I think it’s going to be a great year.”

An estimated crowd of 7,000 fans on a sun-splashed day saw Davis play well defensively, while standout sophomore Jeff Godfrey passed for 163 yards and ran for a 38-touchdown. Senior wide out A.J. Guyton had eight catches, Brynn Harvey capped his return from a knee injury with a 32-yard dash, Nick Cattoi kicked three field goals and converted linebackers Ray Shipman and Jonathan Davis were standouts.

“Bruce left and I feel like I need to step my game up next season and make more plays for this defense,” said Davis, who is coming off a 5.5 sack season as a sophomore. “How I’ve played is what hard work will get you. I’ve been working hard in practice every day, running and doing what the coaches ask. … Right now, it’s just about me staying humble and hungry. I feel like I can only get better from here.”

UCF coach George O’Leary feels like his Knights got better this spring, uncovering playmakers at linebacker and wide receiver while also developing depth at defensive line, secondary and along the offensive line. O’Leary thought the offense had a big advantage over the defense in Saturday’s spring game, but he feels the Knights made big strides over the past four weeks.

“I thought we were competitive out there, but obviously the day was geared toward the offense. But I thought there were individuals that made plays on both sides of the ball,” O’Leary said. “We have some things to evaluate with players, but that’s what this game and the spring are for as far as I’m concerned.”

UCF also welcomed back some of its most famous football alumni. Stars such as Brandon Marshall, Josh Sitton, Kevin Smith, Torell Troup, Miller and others signed autographs before the game and posed for pictures at halftime after being honored on the field.

Godfrey, who led UCF to an 11-win season that ended with championships in Conference USA and the Liberty Bowl, showed off his poise in the pocket by hitting on 18 of 23 passes for 163 yards. Reading defenses and not giving up on plays was an emphasis this spring for Godfrey. And when he did run he proved quite lethal, scampering for 59 yards and the 38-yard score.

There was some debate between Godfrey and O’Leary over whether he was tagged on the touchdown run since the quarterbacks weren’t tackled in the scrimmage, and the quarterback lobbied that defenders should have had to tackle him with two hands. He is confident that his third-quarter run would have been a TD regardless of the rules.

Joked Godfrey: “The referee didn’t blow the whistle so it’s a touchdown.”

Shipman, the former 海角直播 of Florida basketball player, capped off an impressive spring at linebacker for the Knights by recording five tackles and two stops for losses. He was upset with himself for dropping an interception, but was otherwise happy with how he handled the transition to football after not playing since his high school days. He thinks he’ll be ready to shine by the start of fall camp in August.

“I’m not where I want to be, but I’m making strides and getting better every day,” said Shipman, a 6-foot-5 outside linebacker who impressed with his athleticism and willingness to hit. “Going into this spring I knew I was going to be kind of rusty and have some bad practices, but I didn’t want to ever play backward. I feel like I accomplished playing forward and taking it a play at a time. … I feel like if I’m not ready to go by August I’m going to be mad at myself. Once I get this defense down like the back of my hand, I think it will be scary how good we can be.”

Harvey, who missed all last season after tearing a ligament in his knee in spring drills a year ago, once again looked like the back who was an All-C-USA pick heading into the 2010 season. On his first play from scrimmage, Harvey burst through the line, made a linebacker miss and dashed down the middle of the field for 32 yards. He finished with 39 net yards on the day and took satisfaction in knowing he had worked his way back for the Knights.

“It’s a blessing for me to come back from being down so low last year with my injury to being out there at the end of this spring and playing pretty good,” Harvey said. “It just feels good to be back with the team and playing ball again. The line made a hole and I was trying to get a burst in and I was a little surprised because it was my first play. But it was a good feeling to get my feet wet.”

UCF’s white squad, composed of the first-string offense, took a 17-0 halftime lead by getting several big plays. Senior Ronnie Weaver, who makes the Knights’ tailback position their deepest spot in the field, ran in from 4 yards out for the first score of the day.

In the second quarter, Kerlon Williams broke through the left side of the line and blocked a punt which was recovered in the end zone by reserve tight end D.J. Brown for a touchdown. Proving that it’s spring for the officials as well, the referees initially ruled the play a safety, but it was changed to a touchdown after a conference with O’Leary.

Tight end Adam Nissley, who was more involved in the passing games this spring and caught two passes for 15 yards, said the next three months are critical for the football team to build chemistry and improve off the field.

“The next few months are very important. A lot of our success last year was due to the leadership that our seniors instilled into the team,” Nissley said. “This year, the seniors have a lot on our shoulders to pick it up and do what they did last year. This offseason is critical getting into the weight room and getting better. Everything we do carries over to the field, so it’s up to us to have a good offseason now.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on UCFathletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.