Rivals has FIU ranked above UCF

[LunchTimeBully]

I am not a fan of Oleary but as others have posted they 'he is running the program into the ground' is exaggerating...I think he's making the program stagnant in my opinion...we shall see what the future holds...UCF is too big a school w/ great facilities now to ignore forever...get any conference commissioner to do a campus tour when that time comes and I'll feel good about our chances

The bottom line is that George O'Leary has won a C-USA championship while others have not, so that argument is fiction.

C-USA Champs lost 64-12 to a mid-level BCS team... that pretty much tells me how difficult it was to win that conference that year. :

[UCFChad]

I am not a fan of Oleary but as others have posted they 'he is running the program into the ground' is exaggerating...I think he's making the program stagnant in my opinion...we shall see what the future holds...UCF is too big a school w/ great facilities now to ignore forever...get any conference commissioner to do a campus tour when that time comes and I'll feel good about our chances

The bottom line is that George O'Leary has won a C-USA championship while others have not, so that argument is fiction.

C-USA Champs lost 64-12 to a mid-level BCS team... that pretty much tells me how difficult it was to win that conference that year. :

Bully, good thing you guys bagged out this year.  Look for the Knights to dismantle Miami and then make a close out out of it in Austin.  This is our make a statement year to those naysayers.  Just my view.

[Bull Dozer]

I am not a fan of Oleary but as others have posted they 'he is running the program into the ground' is exaggerating...I think he's making the program stagnant in my opinion...we shall see what the future holds...UCF is too big a school w/ great facilities now to ignore forever...get any conference commissioner to do a campus tour when that time comes and I'll feel good about our chances

The bottom line is that George O'Leary has won a C-USA championship while others have not, so that argument is fiction.

C-USA Champs lost 64-12 to a mid-level BCS team... that pretty much tells me how difficult it was to win that conference that year. :

Bully, good thing you guys bagged out this year.  Look for the Knights to dismantle Miami and then make a close out out of it in Austin.  This is our make a statement year to those naysayers.  Just my view.

Texas is going to Curb stomp UCF, they will be a national championship contender and UCF is just a speed bump to them.  Colt McCoy has a monster game in this one.   

Miami on the other hand i can't really get a read on.  Their young talent could mature and they could make some real strides this year or Shannon could be as bad as advertised and it could be another "down" year for them. 

The bad thing for UCF (and USF too for the UM game) is both of these games are in the middle of the season so both Texas and Miami will have worked out all the early season kinks by the time they have to play UCF. 

[UCFChad]

I am not a fan of Oleary but as others have posted they 'he is running the program into the ground' is exaggerating...I think he's making the program stagnant in my opinion...we shall see what the future holds...UCF is too big a school w/ great facilities now to ignore forever...get any conference commissioner to do a campus tour when that time comes and I'll feel good about our chances

The bottom line is that George O'Leary has won a C-USA championship while others have not, so that argument is fiction.

C-USA Champs lost 64-12 to a mid-level BCS team... that pretty much tells me how difficult it was to win that conference that year. :

Bully, good thing you guys bagged out this year.  Look for the Knights to dismantle Miami and then make a close out out of it in Austin.  This is our make a statement year to those naysayers.  Just my view.

Texas is going to Curb stomp UCF, they will be a national championship contender and UCF is just a speed bump to them.  Colt McCoy has a monster game in this one.   

Miami on the other hand i can't really get a read on.  Their young talent could mature and they could make some real strides this year or Shannon could be as bad as advertised and it could be another "down" year for them. 

The bad thing for UCF (and USF too for the UM game) is both of these games are in the middle of the season so both Texas and Miami will have worked out all the early season kinks by the time they have to play UCF. 

Why I disagree:

Our front 7 on D will be the best in history with 2 NFL caliber players at D-tackle and D-End, the SAME group of guys for the most part who stuffed Colt in 2007.  Now, if you want to say our offense may get stuffed by them, I won't disagree, but know we WILL be improved from last year.  We field a hearty and talented group of linebackers as well. My feeling is that game has the chance to be a little closer than you think.  Texas needs to be careful as Miami found out last year.  6 point with against us in their house and we had no offense.  Miami also needs to watch it because as you and Texas both know (granted you won), UCF is a tough place to play and we will be improved from last year.  The U has more talent, no doubt, but that is a trap game and I think we actually will win. 

[813knight]

The U has some incredible speed and talent....if they can't win w/ that roster full w/ blue chip athletes entering their sophomore years...it will just prove what a lot of fans have been saying...Shannon is a horrible coach...if they lose to USF or UCF then you know they will be on their way to another losing season and Shannon gets canned..it won't help Miami that they have one of the toughest schedule in America, their first 4 games are brutal, FSU, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech

[Bullpride08]

Chad, Troup is a late rounder at best.  You've got a good front 7, but not a dominating one by any stretch.  They never dominated Texas, nor the C-DOA.  Again, they're very strong solid group, but there is no dominant all-american there either.

Texas is going to be really good, possibly a darkhorse national champion contender with Colt back, and 4 out of 5 starting OL returning, and a 15 starters returning. 

Miami is anyone's guess for both our teams.  I don't 'think' Shannon is a bad coach, I 'know' he's a bad one but is it bad enough that his talent differential will still prevail against our teams?  We shall see.

[Bull Dozer]

I am not a fan of Oleary but as others have posted they 'he is running the program into the ground' is exaggerating...I think he's making the program stagnant in my opinion...we shall see what the future holds...UCF is too big a school w/ great facilities now to ignore forever...get any conference commissioner to do a campus tour when that time comes and I'll feel good about our chances

The bottom line is that George O'Leary has won a C-USA championship while others have not, so that argument is fiction.

C-USA Champs lost 64-12 to a mid-level BCS team... that pretty much tells me how difficult it was to win that conference that year. :

Bully, good thing you guys bagged out this year.  Look for the Knights to dismantle Miami and then make a close out out of it in Austin.  This is our make a statement year to those naysayers.  Just my view.

Texas is going to Curb stomp UCF, they will be a national championship contender and UCF is just a speed bump to them.  Colt McCoy has a monster game in this one.   

Miami on the other hand i can't really get a read on.  Their young talent could mature and they could make some real strides this year or Shannon could be as bad as advertised and it could be another "down" year for them. 

The bad thing for UCF (and USF too for the UM game) is both of these games are in the middle of the season so both Texas and Miami will have worked out all the early season kinks by the time they have to play UCF. 

Why I disagree:

Our front 7 on D will be the best in history with 2 NFL caliber players at D-tackle and D-End, the SAME group of guys for the most part who stuffed Colt in 2007.  Now, if you want to say our offense may get stuffed by them, I won't disagree, but know we WILL be improved from last year.  We field a hearty and talented group of linebackers as well. My feeling is that game has the chance to be a little closer than you think.  Texas needs to be careful as Miami found out last year.  6 point with against us in their house and we had no offense.  Miami also needs to watch it because as you and Texas both know (granted you won), UCF is a tough place to play and we will be improved from last year.  The U has more talent, no doubt, but that is a trap game and I think we actually will win. 

I noticed you conveniently left out your secondary.......

[UCFChad]

Chad, Troup is a late rounder at best.  You've got a good front 7, but not a dominating one by any stretch.  They never dominated Texas, nor the C-DOA.  Again, they're very strong solid group, but there is no dominant all-american there either.

This front 7 with be the mother of all C-USA defenses.  A guy I know ran into O'Leary in the liquor store ;D recently and asked about the '09 team.  O'Leary looked over sternly and said "We are going to shut some people up" and walked out without a smile.  That speaks volumes in my view.  Lok at the front 7 and our O-Line.  The O-Line is young, but massive.  One thing to remember, FAU gave up a ton of weight on the O-Line to Texas.  Miami won't push anyone around, either.

http://ucf.rivals.com/cdepthtext.asp

[Bullpride08]

that's right dozer it is always the sum of the parts that matters most.   They ranked 38th on defense against the run, and lost a few guys, nothing spectacular.  But many of their returning linebackers and DE's never impressed me as overall top level impressive athletes like Hogue, Miller, Hallman, and Richards...strong guys, not dominant guys.  They were 58th last year against the pass, which will drop somewhat losing all 4 secondary starters, and 45th overall on defense.

On offense your best RB averaged 4ypc, and as a team you average 3ypc...not very impressive.  Your starting QB had a 38% completion percentage playing in 9 games...that's not just 'getting acclimated' that's plain atrocious.  The guy is going to have to prove he can master some level of a passing game before you can even think about beating Texas, and Miami....let alone contending for the C-DOA title.  I actually failed to see how your offense is going to be significantly better from last year.  Patrick Brown was an all-conference competitor three straight years on the OL, and you lost three starting OL with Nissley moving back to TE.  Jah Reid is so slow footed it isn't even funny, and you've got some nice looking young OL but they're still young.  AJ Guyton is still an unknown from a return standpoint.  Richard Jackson is a waste, he was never the same player he was as a junior in HS with some personal physical issues.  Kamar Aiken is a great athlete that should be playing safety, and has a knack for dropping balls but still a nice player, Watters is pretty good too, and Rocky Ross-- I have no idea how he does it but the kid is productive/not spectacular but productive.

Given all that I just don't see how UCF is going to be noticably better.  I mean substantial improvement in your offense at this point is your QB throwing 50%, and your new OL finding some type of consistent running game, and your defense strong enough to keep it interesting still without giving up to many big plays on opposing offenses who will concentrate on picking on your weaker newby secondary.  Basically a mildly better version of your 2008 team with a tougher schedule.  Unfortunately for UCF if they don't do it this year it will be some mild rebuilding again, with Hogue, Henderson, Thompson, Richards, Troupe, Timmons, Geather, Allen, and Shaeed gone, or 7 defensive starters.  The offensive will return most except Ross, and Rabinski, but if it'sCalabrese returning as QB maybe returning isn't always a good thing.

[UCFChad]

Pride,

  One thing you are forgetting is that we had an entire spring to get better with a brand new offensive coordinator.  Our RB in my opinion is very good.  Kevin Smith? No.  Talented? Yes.  Impossible and I mean impossible not to improve much.  Now, will we be Texas Tech? No.  But to think we won't get better is dishonest. The question remains, how much better.

I also think you underestimate our linebacking corps and our secondary has talent as well.  Our linebackers are deep, deep, deep and if one falter's another will find their mojo.  Our secondary has athletes. Sure, no Joe Burnett, but talent none the less.  We dominated Miami's O-line last year with the exception of 1 long run that misrepresents the actual stats.  Our D got us 4 wins by themselves and got close to you and the U.  This year it only gets better, no question in my mind.