Central Florida begins the 2010 college football season with a renewed belief in their system and a new quarterback under center. The Golden Knights missed the opportunity at a division title when the ECU Pirates topped the Houston Cougars to win the conference in the closing weeks of the 2009 season. The G-Knights had a successful season going 8-5 and 6-2 in the conference, including a 37-10 win over then No. 15 Houston in Week 10. They may have fared much better had they not dropped to 0-2 to start the season. However, they stormed back with six consecutive conference wins, but then concluded the campaign with their third bowl loss in as many years, falling to the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers 45-24 in the St. Petersburg Bowl.
Consistency seems to be the name of the game for UCF, and if they get some, they could very well win the C-USA East crown in 2010.
Here's a closer look at the 2010 Central Florida Golden Knights to help make your College Football wagers winners.
Offense:
With the exclusion of a few key components, including quarterback Brett Hodges, the Golden Knights offense remains mostly intact. It will be the job of offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe to blend together returning veterans and new freshman in an attempt to recapture the essentials of an offense that was ranked fourth highest in scoring, while allowing the fewest points scored in the conference last season.
The offensive push will start with newly minted QB Rob Calabrese, who appears to have the starting job going into fall practice. The sophomore started in three games, along with four other appearances last season completing 25 passes for 265 yards with three TDs. He showed his leadership skills by leading a 10-play touchdown drive, where he completed 5-of-7 passes, with five minutes remaining in last year's bowl bid. His quest for a starting position will be challenged by freshman Jeffrey Godfrey who will keep the coaches looking, should Calabrese run into any unforeseen problems.
The ground attack will be led by returning RB Brynn Harvey. As a freshman Harvey rushed for 1,100 yards and 14 TDs on 261 attempts. A knee injury threatens to delay his 2010 start for up to four games. If that happens running backs Brendan Kelly and Jonathan Davis could get more opportunity to prove themselves early on.
Calabrese will have a pair of capable receivers to help bolster his passing stats in 2010. The first is junior wide out Kamar "Hollywood" Aiken who drug down 36 receptions for 610 yards last season. On the opposite side will be all-around wide receiver, A.J. Guyton. Despite his small frame, standing just 5-11, he plays much larger. The sophomore standout averaged 13 yards on 44 receptions, contributing a total of 572 yards for the G-Knights offense.
Defense:
Derrick Hallman, Lawrence Young, Kemal Ishmael, Josh Robinson and conference Defensive Player of the Year, defensive end Bruce Miller are just a few of the defending jewels that return to a very good Golden Knights squad that led the conference in total defense and sacks, as well as scoring defense, rushing defense and tackles for loss.
With the departure of Corey Hogue, Josh Linam and Chance Henderson, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, will need to be prepared to hold down the middle second row. They will get some help from Young on the outside.
The secondary looks solid with junior safety Derrick Hallman right in the thick of things.
2010 Prediction: First in the C-USA East: UCF return 19 seniors and 17 players who started at least once a year ago. Most would guess that his alone should be enough to get it done in 2010. While that factor alone does afford them a distinct advantage over other teams within the C-USA, a lot of the Golden Knights success will rest on their ability to bring back last year's defense, keeping the score low enough to overcome a sometimes-anemic offense. With other teams in the East retooling this coming season, the Golden Knights cannot afford to give up this "golden" opportunity.
For a detailed look at the 2010 Conference USA predictions check this out.
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