It has been more than 20 years since Daunte played his last game at 麻豆原创, and these days most recruits who visit the campus and football facility don鈥檛 know much about him or just how special he was.

As 麻豆原创 embarks on a new era under Gus Malzahn, excitement for the football season is sky high. Coaches, players and fans can鈥檛 wait to fill the Bounce House once again. The buzz for the new year has brought back some of those former Knights to meet the new coach, and some have even committed or added to their financial support of the program.

But something remains distant. Someone who played such a significant role in putting 麻豆原创 on the map and elevating the 麻豆原创 brand is rarely found on campus.

Daunte Culpepper helped build the program, but on game days and throughout the season he rarely comes home.

There is no fallout or hidden story that divides him from the program. These days Daunte keeps a low profile. He rarely makes public appearances and has dealt with a number of challenges over the years away from football.

鈥淚f you never saw Daunte Culpepper play football at 麻豆原创, then you missed one of the game鈥檚 best players.鈥�

If you never saw Daunte Culpepper play football at 麻豆原创, then you missed one of the game鈥檚 best players. He chose 麻豆原创 over the Gators and honored a commitment he and his grandmother made when every big school in the country doubted he would make grades and be eligible. When he did, those schools all came back begging him to choose them. He chose to be a Knight.

In his first game at 麻豆原创 in 1995, Daunte completed his first 12 passes and the memorable moments never stopped. At 6-4 and 250 pounds, he played quarterback but ran faster than running backs and was tougher than linebackers. He had a rifle for an arm and was the most accurate passer in the country throughout his career.

He was the face of a 麻豆原创 team that was making its transition into the highest level of competition in college football and led the charge of so many Knights鈥� road games in big stadiums against more famous brands.

In 1997, Daunte led 麻豆原创 into Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, against legendary coach Tom Osborne and the Cornhuskers. Nebraska had won the national title in 1994 and 1995. They were ranked 6^th in country that Saturday afternoon. Daunte Culpepper was the best player on the field and every Nebraska player and fan knew it before the first quarter ended. His 10-yard touchdown run gave 麻豆原创 a 7-0 lead and the Knights led 17-14 at the half against a Nebraska team led by quarterback Scott Frost 鈥� yes, the same Scott Frost who would serve as 麻豆原创鈥檚 football head coach from 2015-17.

The Knights lost that game, 38-24, but a sold out stadium of almost 80,000 gave a standing ovation to Daunte and the Knights for their performance that day. It wasn鈥檛 the first time Daunte won over fans of the opposing team to cheer for him. He was that electrifying to watch.

Today, his name is still all over the 麻豆原创 record book. He remains the 麻豆原创 record holder for touchdown passes, passing yards, 300-yard games and completion percentage. He still sits in the top 10 of almost every other passing or running category.

While 麻豆原创 had numerous players drafted into the NFL before Daunte, his first-round selection of the Minnesota Vikings in 1999 became the biggest draft moment for the program. In total, Daunte played 11 seasons in the NFL.

He has come back for an occasional golf tournament or an alumni event. But as we have watched and cheered the growth of the 麻豆原创 program reach heights many thought was not possible years ago, it seems that Daunte Culpepper should be more visible.

All players eventually stop playing. They start a family and raise children and venture into things away from the football field. They sometimes come back to rekindle the memories and meet up with old teammates and share stories about the past. They remind us of what once was and what now has become.

Daunte Culpepper is the greatest athlete I have ever seen at 麻豆原创 in my 27 years. I have watched others come and play the quarterback position and play it well. Daunte was just different. He was special. He was one of those players who come along every 25 years 鈥� or at least you hope they do.

He gave us so many highlights and played such a big part as one of the pioneers of the 麻豆原创 football program. Part of what makes Knight Nation so special is how we treat our own. As a new season filled with so much excitement is about to begin, it鈥檚 time to for Daunte Culpepper to come home again to a place he helped build and be part of the celebration.

Marc Daniels is the radio play-by-play voice for 麻豆原创 Athletics and serves as director of broadcasting for the Knights. He can be reached at听mdaniels@athletics.ucf.edu.

The听麻豆原创 Forum听is a weekly series of opinion columns from faculty, staff and students who serve on a panel for a year. A new column is posted each Wednesday on听麻豆原创 Today听and then broadcast on W麻豆原创-FM (89.9) between 7:50 and 8 a.m. Sunday. Opinions expressed are those of the columnists, and are not necessarily shared by the 麻豆原创.

Wide receiver Kamar Aiken听has floated between the 53-man roster and the practice squad for New England. The Patriots went 12-4 and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. They will be in action again Jan. 13 at 4:30 p.m.

In his second season in the NFL, Bruce Miller听appeared in all 16 games with the San Francisco 49ers, including 13 starts at fullback. The two-time Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year had 18 yards rushing as well as 12 catches for 84 yards, as his 11-4-1 49ers grabbed a first-round bye and will host a divisional playoff game Jan. 12 at 8 p.m.

In the kicking game, Matt Prater听had another impressive season with the 13-3 Denver Broncos. Connecting on at least 80 percent of his field goals for the third time since 2007, he went 26-for-32 while sporting a perfect 55-for-55 mark in extra points. Earning a first-round bye and home-field advantage, the Broncos get back to work Jan. 12 at 4:30 p.m.

A starter in the last seven games of the regular season for the 10-6 Baltimore Ravens, offensive guard Jah Reid听celebrated a division title and will go up against the Indianapolis Colts at home during Wild Card Weekend Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. Reid played in all 16 games as a rookie in 2011, but this year is the first time he has started on the line.

A third-round draft pick in 2012, Josh Robinson听quickly rose up the Minnesota Vikings depth chart to start six games and appearing in all 16 as a rookie. The cornerback totaled 55 tackles and two interceptions to lift the Vikings to a 10-6 record and a date with the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin Jan. 5 at 8 p.m.

Tied for seventh in the NFL this year with five interceptions, Asante Samuel听continues to be an intimidating figure for NFL quarterbacks during his 10th season in the league. In his first year as a cornerback with the Atlanta Falcons, he has 36 tackles and 19 passes defended, highlighted by one of his interceptions being returned for a touchdown. The Falcons went 13-3 to earn home-field advantage, and will host a divisional playoff game Jan. 13 at 1 p.m.

Samuel owns two NFL postseason records with four interception returns for touchdowns as well as 227 interception return yards. He has seven-career postseason interceptions overall, which is two shy of the NFL record.

For the third time in five years with the Packers, Josh Sitton听started all 16 games in 2012, and the offensive guard assisted Green Bay in edging the Vikings for the division title with an 11-5 record. The Packers will entertain the Vikings Jan. 5 at 8 p.m.

麻豆原创 has boasted at least one player in the AFC or NFC Championship Games in nine of the last 11 seasons, and six Knights have Super Bowl rings. That list features Mike Gruttadauria with St. Louis, Cornell Green with Tampa Bay, Samuel with New England (two rings) and Atari Bigby, Michael Greco听and Sitton with Green Bay.

When the NFL Playoffs conclude, 麻豆原创 will still be represented in the 2012-13 season when reigning Pro Bowl MVP and current Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall suits up yet again in Hawaii Jan. 27. It will be his fourth trip to the Pro Bowl in his career, tying Samuel for the most appearances by a Knight. Daunte Culpepper also received spots in the postseason all-star game, earning a Pro Bowl roster spot three times with the Minnesota Vikings.

For complete coverage of 麻豆原创 Athletics, visit the Knights’ website at听.

This marks the first season in NFL history that 麻豆原创 had the highest draft pick among all schools in the state of Florida.

麻豆原创 has now had at least one player taken in seven-consecutive NFL Drafts dating back to 2006. Since 1987 when Ted Wilson and Elgin Davis became the first Knights to be selected in school history, a total of 29 麻豆原创 student-athletes have heard their name called by NFL organizations.

麻豆原创 currently leads Conference USA with 10 NFL Draft picks since 2006, as East Carolina stands in second with eight (as of Robinson鈥檚 selection). Entering the 2012 draft, 麻豆原创 and ECU were the only two C-USA schools which produced at least one draft pick every season from 2006-11.

The Black and Gold鈥檚 highest selection in the NFL Draft occurred in 1999 when Daunte Culpepper was nabbed in the first round with the 11th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings. Robinson joined Culpepper as the only two Knights who have been taken by the Vikings in school history. Meanwhile, Robinson will suit up alongside former 麻豆原创 offensive lineman Patrick Brown (麻豆原创 from 2005-08) in Minnesota.

Recording the fastest 40-yard dash of any athlete to compete in the NFL Combine this spring, Robinson officially clocked in with a time of 4.33 seconds. The 5-foot-10, 199-pound Robinson also tied for first in the broad jump, second in the 3-cone drill, fourth in the 20-yard shuttle and 14th in the vertical jump (second among defensive backs).

A member of the C-USA All-Freshman Team and the All-C-USA Second Team in 2009, Robinson also was voted onto the league鈥檚 first team as a sophomore and as a junior. In 38-career games for the Knights, he amassed 176 tackles and ranked second in 麻豆原创 history with 36 pass break-ups and fifth with 10 interceptions.

Football Knights in the NFL Draft

Player Pos. Team Year Round Pick

Whether that first pick is Jah Reid (Haines City, Fla.), Bruce Miller (Canton, Ga.), Jamar Newsome (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Kamar Aiken (Miami, Fla.), David Williams (Lexington, S.C.) or another Knight remains to be seen but they will be entering into a strong fraternity of NFL Knights by the end of the weekend.

麻豆原创 is tied with East Carolina for the most NFL Draft selections since the Knights joined the conference in 2005. With a pick in each of the past five drafts and in eight of the last nine years, 麻豆原创 joins BYU and Fresno State as the only schools from outside of the automatically qualifying BCS conferences which can make this lofty claim.

The program started with exceptionally humble beginnings as a Division III squad in 1979 but just eight years later 麻豆原创 entered the draft when Ted Wilson and Elgin Davis were taken in the 1987 draft by Washington and New England, respectively. A year later, the Knights too a big step forward with a pair of draftees in the top five rounds as Bernard Ford went high in the third round to Buffalo and Corris Ervin became a fifth-round selection by Denver.

麻豆原创 had at least one player taken in four out of the five drafts from 1991-96 before cementing its place on the national scene I 1999. That year the dynamic Daunte Culpepper became 麻豆原创’s first-ever first round pick. The quarterback was taken at No. 11 overall by Minnesota and that pick would prove wise as Culpepper went on to play in three Pro Bowls for the Vikings. That 1999 draft, which also included Paul Miranda in the fourth round to Indianapolis, started a great trend for 麻豆原创 as the Knights have had a player picked in 10 of the 12 drafts starting in 1999.

Amongst the many 麻豆原创 draft highlights of the 2000s was Travis Fisher going in the second round to St. Louis in 2002; future Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion Asante Samuel going in the fourth round to New England in 2003; receivers Mike Sims-Walker (2007) and Brandon Marshall (2006) going in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, to Jacksonville and Denver; and three Knights being selected in 2008 led by Kevin Smith atop the third round to Detroit.

Last April Torell Troup became the second-highest pick in 麻豆原创’s NFL history as a massive nose tackles went early in the second round, No. 41 overall, to the Buffalo Bills. At some point tonight through Saturday, several of his teammates as a Knight will look to join Troup in the league. Which one will go first and become 麻豆原创’s 27th all-time NFL Draft pick remains to be seen.

Facing a University of Houston program that knows a thing or two about passing the football, Godfrey passed for 294 yards, accounted for three touchdowns and converted big third and fourth down plays again and again as 麻豆原创 throttled past Houston 40-33 at Robertson Stadium.

Once down 24-23, 麻豆原创 responded with three scores to surge into the lead. The Knights had to hold on in the final minute as Houston tried driving for a tying score. But the Knights got a big pass break-up from starting cornerback听Emery Allen to hang on for the win.

“That was a great, great win for our football program. It wasn’t always pretty, but we made enough big plays,” O’Leary said. “The defense came through and made some plays when we had to have them. This win really cements some stuff for us as far as the conference is concerned.”

Playing before a nationally televised audience on ESPN2, Godfrey showed why he is one of the most dynamic freshmen in the country. The Miami product completed 15-of-19 passes, ran for another 105 yards and routinely riddled Houston’s defense with his escapability against blitzes. Godfrey became just the second quarterback in school history to run for at least 100 yards, joining Vic Penn in 1999.

“Coming back how we did says a lot about us,” said Godfrey, who broke听Daunte Culpepper’s freshman touchdown rushing record with his sixth score. “I kept telling our offensive line that we’ve been in this situation before and they did a great job of giving me time to throw.”

Just as it was a week ago in the convincing 49-35 whipping of East Carolina, 麻豆原创 was virtually unstoppable on the ground and through the air. The Knights rolled up 522 yards of total offense, picked up 26 first downs and basically did as it pleased on a cold and windy night.

How dominant has 麻豆原创’s offense been of late with Godfrey running the controls? The Knights have punted just twice in the past eight quarters. The Knights scored on seven of their first 11 drives on Friday, a week after scoring on seven of eight drives in which they didn’t down the ball to stop the clock.

麻豆原创 put itself in position to earn a national ranking for the first time in school history. The Knights were ranked 29th and 32nd in the two polls this week and have never been ranked higher than 27th in school history.

“We want that ranking so bad. It would be beautiful for our school and our team,” senior wide receiver听Jamar Newsome said. “(A ranking) is something that we’ve never had, but it would be glorious.”

With its fifth-straight win, 麻豆原创 improved to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in Conference USA play, putting it firmly in control in the East Division. The Knights have now won 11-consecutive conference games over the past two seasons and have beaten Houston each of the past two seasons.

麻豆原创 hosts East Division rival Southern Miss (5-2, 2-2) next Saturday at noon in the final regular-season home game at Bright House Networks Stadium. The Knights could very well play at home again in the Conference USA title game on Dec. 4 – likely against either Houston or SMU.

“This was another big step toward our goal of winning the conference championship,” said linebacker听Josh Linam, who had 17 tackles and picked up the slack when fellow linebackers听Derrick Hallman and听Lawrence Young went down with injuries.

Godfrey’s passing day proved to be the second-most efficient passing day in school history, trailing only a Culpepper masterpiece in October of 1995 against Sanford. Eleven of his 15 completions went for double-digit yards and three of the passes were for more than 40 yards.

“We’ve taken the training wheels off of him and he’s riding on the high bicycle right now,” O’Leary said. “He made so many plays out there for us and he’s playing with great poise. … Some of the stuff that he’s doing is starting to rub off on other players. He’s such a contagious player.”

Newsome, a rising star in the eyes of NFL scouts, caught five passes for 123 yards. Reserve tailback听Latavius Murray ran for a score and kicker听Nick Cattoi booted two field goals for the Knights.

Houston scored two touchdowns just after halftime to briefly storm ahead 24-23, but 麻豆原创 responded immediately behind their charismatic freshman leader. He ran for seven yards on a third down, passed for seven more yards on fourth down and remarkably escaped the blitz to get free for a 25-yard pass to Newsome. Two plays, later Godfrey recovered his own fumble on a sneak play and scored to put 麻豆原创 up 30-24. The 12-play, 76-yard response was easily one of 麻豆原创’s best drives of the season.

Said senior tackle听Jah Reid: “That’s the tone of a good team – coming back and finding a way to win. It says a lot about this team.”

麻豆原创 entered the game ranked 13th in the nation defensively against the run, but had trouble all night stopping Houston’s quick backs from spread formations. Houston ran for 198 yards, and had 532 total yards and 27 first downs in the game. Houston back Michael Hayes ran for 110 yards, while Piland – Houston’s third-string quarterback entering the season — passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns.

Playing with the poise of a player well beyond his years, Godfrey went to work in the second quarter on picking apart Houston’s defense through the air. Facing a critical third-and-six, Godfrey found H-back听Ricky Kay on a drag route for an 11-yard touchdown. However, Houston’s Wesley Scourten blocked the seventh kick of his career, leaving 麻豆原创 ahead 13-3.

It wouldn’t stay that way long as 麻豆原创’s defense got a three-and-out and speedster听Josh Robinson returned a Houston punt 35 yards. One play later, Godfrey settled into the pocket and found听A.J. Guyton streaking down the middle of the field for a 44-yard touchdown. Cattoi’s kick put the Knights up 20-3.

Houston got back within 20-10 when freshman quarterback David Piland hit Patrick Edwards for 33-yard touchdown pass. Edwards would later catch a 32-yard touchdown that put Houston up 24-23. Edwards has 20 career TD catches and six in the past five games.

But 麻豆原创 did not sit on its lead just before the half, perfectly moving the ball 80 yards in 14 plays to the 1-yard line. Godfrey had a 41-yard strike to听Brian Watters on the drive, and he ran for five yards for a critical first down with five seconds to play in the half. A spike to stop the clock left just enough time for Cattoi to boot an 18-yard field goal that put the Knights up 23-10 at the half.

Godfrey was nearly flawless in the first half, hitting on 11 of his 14 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran eight times for 50 yards and his calmness helped the Knights convert five of seven third downs in the first two quarters.

麻豆原创 moved the ball at will early in the game, driving to the 15-yard line and the 4-yard line on its first two possessions. But the Knights failed to get points out of either drive when they went for it on fourth-and-three from the 15-yard line and failed and later standout tailback听Ronnie Weaver fumbled the ball at the 2-yard line.

麻豆原创 instead relied on its defense to strike first. Miller made a phenomenal play when he rushed off the left edge, ducked back inside and picked off Piland’s short pass. But Miller was just getting started as he stiff-armed a Houston offensive lineman, tight-roped the sideline and ran over a would-be Houston tackler at the goal line for a touchdown that put 麻豆原创 up 7-0. Miller also returned an interception for a touchdown against Buffalo, making him the only player in 麻豆原创 history to return two interceptions for touchdowns in the same season.

“That just came from watching film, recognizing the play and making a play for our defense,” Miller said. “Coach (Dave Huxtable) always has us prepared, and I recognized the play from watching film.”

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

Long Drive The Knights’ second-quarter scoring drive was the longest of the season. 麻豆原创 took 9:06 off the clock as they capped a 17-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by Ronnie Weaver. The drive was the longest for the Knights since the team had an 18-play drive at Southern Miss on Sept. 12, 2009.

14 and Counting Adam Nissley’s 3-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter helped put the Knights up by four scores headed into the half. Nissley became the 14th different 麻豆原创 player to score a touchdown this season with the catch. The score also gave the team a 27-0 lead at halftime, the largest lead at home since Sept. 22, 2007 when 麻豆原创 held a 42-0 lead over Memphis at the break.

Multiple Men听For the first time this season, two members of the Knights had multiple sacks in the same game. Darius Nall and Troy Davis both had 2.5 sacks in Saturday’s win, marking the first time in 2010 that more than one 麻豆原创 player got to the quarterback on more than one occasion. Only Nall had previously recorded two sacks in a game this year, when he got to the QB twice at Buffalo on Sept. 18. Victory Gray joined his two teammates as he recorded the Knights’ other sack, bringing the total to six in the game for 麻豆原创. Gray’s sack was the first of his career.

Weaver’s Magic听Ronnie Weaver scored three times on Saturday afternoon. He has now managed to find the end zone multiple times in three of the last five games for the Knights. Prior to Weaver’s three-touchdown effort against the Owls, the last Knight to rush for three scores in a game was Brynn Harvey against Tulane on Nov. 21, 2009.

They Did Protect This House听The Knights are now 17-7 all-time at Bright House Networks Stadium. 麻豆原创 also improved to 7-0 against C-USA opponents at home since the beginning of the 2007 season with the win over Rice. Overall, the Knights are 12-3 against C-USA opponents at Bright House Networks Stadium.

Potent Offense, Solid Defense听This season, 麻豆原创 is outscoring C-USA opponents, 118-35. In each of the last two home games, the Knights have scored more than 40 points as they put 42 on the board against UAB on Oct. 6 in the conference opener. The 麻豆原创 defense has done its job as well, allowing conference opponents just over 11 points per game. The Knights have allowed just one opponent in seven games this season to reach the 20-point mark.

4-of-4 on Fourth听Entering the game, 麻豆原创 had converted on 4-of-8 fourth-down conversions. Against the Owls on Saturday afternoon, the Knights were a perfect 4-of-4 on fourth down. Three times after converting on fourth down, the Knights would cap the drive with a touchdown.

Late Score听L.D. Crow hit Ricky Kay with a 40-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter. The TD pass was the first for Crow at 麻豆原创 after transferring from Stanford prior to last season. The 40-yard touchdown reception was a new career high for Kay as he ran into the end zone with the final 麻豆原创 score of the day.

Final Score听麻豆原创 41 Rice 14

Up Next听The victory pushed the Knights to 3-0 in Conference USA play and set the stage for next Saturday’s huge showdown against arch-rival East Carolina (5-2 and 4-0). The Pirates defeated Marshall 37-10 on Saturday, setting up Saturday’s showdown.

Two of the jerseys, Densch (1986) and Culpepper (1999) have previously been recognized, and will be joined in 2010 by the monumental accomplishments from Smith and Burnett during their respective collegiate careers. Current criteria to commemorate a jersey, while not removing the number from usage by a current student-athlete, includes those who earn prominent national first-team All-American honors, while gaining conference player of the year recognition and have brought positive recognition and prominence to the university and themselves through their accomplishments.

#1 – Wayne Densch: On Oct. 22, 1986 a plaque was placed in the middle breezeway of 麻豆原创 Athletics Department thus renaming the complex the Wayne Densch Sports Center. The plaque was adorned in honor and recognition of the benevolence shared by one of the Central Florida region’s greatest philanthropists. The gift to 麻豆原创 Athletics would be the start of a long-standing relationship with the Densch family and the Wayne M. Densch Charitable Trust, whose name also marks the front of the current 麻豆原创 football offices and athletics training center. In gratitude for this monumental gift in 1986, 麻豆原创 Athletics retired jersey #1 in honor of Densch.

#8 – Daunte Culpepper: In March 1999, Daunte Culpepper, who just completed his trailblazing career at 麻豆原创, saw his #8 retired during the team’s postseason awards banquet. Culpepper’s collegiate career would see the Ocala-native leave 麻豆原创 at the top of virtually every quarterback record chart (more than 30 in all), while setting an NCAA record for single-season completion percentage (.736). Culpepper would accomplish a career feat equaled by only two others in NCAA history when he passed for 11,412 yards and rushed for 1,020 yards over his four seasons. He would finish his career sixth on the NCAA’s all-time total offense list for all divisions with 12,459 yards and was responsible for 108 touchdowns (84 passing, 24 rushing). He won the 1998 Sammy Baugh Trophy as the passer of the year in college football and was chosen along with Ricky Williams from Texas as the national Co-Player of the Year by The Sports Network.

#19 – Joe Burnett: A record setting cornerback and returner for the Knights who was named a Walter Camp All-American as a senior in 2008, in addition to ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated. Burnett helped 麻豆原创 to its first two bowl berths in 2005 and 2007, as well as playing a critical defensive and special teams role in the school’s first ever conference championship during 2007. He earned an amazing total of eight career All-Conference USA honors, including a four-year sweep of the first-team punt returner award. In his final campaign, he was named C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year. He left 麻豆原创 as both the school and C-USA record holder for career punt return yards (1,304). He also set the 麻豆原创 record, and ranked second in C-USA history, with 16 career interceptions.

#24 – Kevin Smith: Nearly everybody’s All-American following his record-setting 2007 season, Kevin Smith is 麻豆原创’s lone consensus All-American earning first-team praise by the Associated Press, Walter Camp, the Football Writers Association of America, ESPN.com, The Sporting News, and Sports Illustrated, amongst a total of nine media entities that season. He would also go on to earn 2007 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year honors following his junior campaign which saw him rush for an astounding 2,567 yards and 30 total touchdowns, both figures leading the nation. 麻豆原创 would go onto enjoy arguably its finest season all-time in 2007, opening up a new on-campus stadium, winning the C-USA Championship in front of its home crowd and playing in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. His single-season rushing effort was the second-highest in Football Bowl Subdivision history, trailing only Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders (1989). In addition to leading the country in rushing, he paced the nation in scoring (12.86).

For the latest news on the Knights, log on to 麻豆原创Athletics.com – the official site for 麻豆原创 varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of 麻豆原创’s new online apparel store.

This time, they withstood their second weather delay of the season to beat Marshall 35-14 in their second straight Wednesday night game. The defense was dominant once again, holding Marshall (1-5, 0-2) to 37 yards on the ground. A.J. Bouye had an interception return for a touchdown, the third time 麻豆原创 returned a pick for a score this season. That is a new school record.

On offense, Ronnie Weaver delivered a career performance with 150 yards on 30 carries, and the Knights held the ball for 40 minutes. It was about as dominating a game as you will see.

Now 麻豆原创 is 4-2, off to its best start since opening 5-1 in 1998 — Daunte Culpepper’s senior season. The Knights are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2o05 and just the second time in school history.

“I thought our guys really responded to the distractions and the weather and handled it all really well,” 麻豆原创 coach George O’Leary said. “I thought we did a lot of things right on both sides of the ball. That was a tough win, because Marshall plays really well up here.”

There was some bad news among all of the good — quarterback Rob Calabrese hurt his left knee in the first quarter following a 2-yard touchdown run and did not return to the game. O’Leary seemed to suggest afterward that Calabrese had suffered a major knee injury, according to John Denton of Knights Insider: “I’m hoping that the doctor is wrong,” O’Leary said. “It wasn’t a contact thing. He went to hand the ball to the referee and as he turned there was a pop.”

True freshman Jeffrey Godfrey played the rest of the game, though he got banged up some, too. Calabrese had been coming in for a set of plays during the game to run a few Wildcat formations. Though Godfrey has supplanted him as the starter, if Calabrese is out for an extended period, his loss could be huge simply because O’Leary has been hesitant to play a true freshman for the entire game and vowed not to do that.

Stanford transfer L.D. Crow would be the backup.

麻豆原创 gets Rice next, before an important stretch that could determine whether it wins the league: home to East Carolina on Oct. 30, at Houston on Nov. 5 and home to Southern Miss on Nov. 13.

Source: ESPN College Nation Blog, , by Andrea Adelson, October, 14, 2010, Oct 1411:19 AM ET