The Â鶹ԭ´´ defense forced four UTEP turnovers and also came up big following a few special teams miscues to help keep the Miners at bay. Leading the defensive effort were Ray Shipman with 14 total tackles, Kemal Ishmael with 10 stops and an interception and E.J. Dunston with seven tackles, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Â鶹ԭ´´ led 24-10 in the fourth quarter. But a pair of UTEP touchdowns, one on a Blair Sullivan 2-yard run and one on a 69-yard Nathan Jeffery gallop tied it at 24-24 with less than seven minutes remaining. On the ensuing possession, the Knights moved inside UTEP territory on a pass interference call. One play later, Murray squirted up the middle, broke loose and sprinted 46 yards for the game-winner.

With the game tied 7-7 early in the second quarter, UTEP blocked a Â鶹ԭ´´ punt and took over at the Knights’ 1-yard line. But the Knights’ defense stood tall, stonewalling two run plays and forcing an overthrow on third down. The Miners converted on a field goal to take a 10-7 lead with 12:48 left in the first half.

A muffed punt on a fair-catch attempt midway through the second quarter gave UTEP possession in Â鶹ԭ´´ territory. But the Knight defense came up big again, forcing and recovering a fumble.

Â鶹ԭ´´ opened the scoring on the first possession of the game. Blake Bortles scrambled to his left and found Jeff Godfrey free in the secondary for a 46-yard touchdown pass, giving the Knights a 7-0 advantage. Nathan Jeffery capped a 75-yard drive for UTEP to answer the Knights midway through the first period. A two-yard touchdown plunge for Jeffery tied the game at 7-7.

Bortles gave Â鶹ԭ´´ the lead late in the second quarter. He capped an 18-play, 88-yard drive with a 2-yard bootleg around the left end to put the Knights on top 14-10 with 28 seconds left until intermission. But the Knights weren’t done for the first half. A UTEP fumble was recovered by Â鶹ԭ´´â€™s Troy Davis at the Miners’ 35-yard line. Â鶹ԭ´´ converted that turnover into a Shawn Moffitt 30-yard field goal to take a 17-10 advantage at halftime.

Â鶹ԭ´´ had a field-goal attempt blocked late in the third quarter. But the Â鶹ԭ´´ defense once again made plays when they had to. UTEP’s ensuing possession stalled, forcing a 47-yard field goal attempt that was wide left.

Â鶹ԭ´´ widened the margin to 24-10 early in the fourth quarter. The Knights drove 71 yards in four plays, highlighted by a Bortles-to-Rannell Hall 56-yard completion. Rob Calabrese took the snap, handed it to Quincy McDuffie, who then pitched it to Bortles, who was lined up as a wide receiver. Bortles then tossed it to Hall, who was finally dragged down inside the UTEP 20. Three plays later, Bortles scrambled 15 yards for the TD, diving across the goal line between a pair of Miner defenders.

UTEP answered that score with a 10-play, 79-yard drive. Miner QB Sullivan rushed for a two-yard score one play after a Â鶹ԭ´´ interception in the end zone was taken away due to a pass interference penalty. UTEP’s Nathan Jeffery tied the game at 24-24 the next time UTEP touched the ball on his 69-yard scoring run with 6:49 remaining.

That set up Murray’s sprint up the middle to give Â鶹ԭ´´ the lead for good.

Ruling the gridiron and the classroom, the Â鶹ԭ´´ football team has plenty to boast at the start of the 2012 season. Living up to the title of student-athlete, 11 Knights who have already earned their bachelor’s degree have Â鶹ԭ´´ among the leaders in graduated players.

In a survey that went out to all 124 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, the Knights are tied for third with Florida State and trail only Virginia Tech (15) and Pittsburgh (12). In all, eight teams across the nation boast 10 or more graduates.

The stellar group for the Knights includes Rob Calabrese, Rey Cunha, Lyle Dankenbring, Kevin Garvy, Billy Giovanetti, Theo Goins, Brendan Kelly, Latavius Murray, Jordan Rae, Ray Shipman and Phil Smith.

Along with the 11 graduates who each play a significant role on the team, Â鶹ԭ´´ earned an all-time high 79 rating in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate earlier this year and received the Conference USA Sport Academic Award for boasting the highest team grade-point average of all 12 C-USA football programs.

Over the past three years, the Knights have been well represented on the C-USA Honor Roll with at least 35 student-athletes carrying a GPA of 3.0 or better. In the same time span, the football program has also had two or more members of the team earn C-USA Academic Medals while boasting GPAs of 3.75 or higher.

The Knights (1-0) will make their return to the Buckeye State on Saturday when they head to Columbus for a noon showdown with No. 14 Ohio State (1-0) on ESPN2.

Running back Latavius Murray rushed for 108 yards, 86 of which came in the first quarter. In his Â鶹ԭ´´ debut, running back Storm Johnson rushed for a pair of touchdowns. In the first start of collegiate career, Blake Bortles was an efficient 13-of-16, for 168 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Rannell Hall caught four passes for 94 yards and two scores. Kemal Ishmael racked up nine tackles and a fumble recovery to lead the Knights’ defense.

“The players played with great effort, made some plays and we got some turnovers,” head coach George O’Leary said. “That was important. Overall, it was good effort. A lot of people played tonight, which was what we wanted to do. We were very productive in a lot of areas.”

“We got some things done offensively,” Bortles said. “But there’s still room for improvement. I know, personally I made some mistakes that I shouldn’t make and I can’t make. But overall, we had a good night as an offense and as a whole team. It’s definitely something to build on.”

Murray rushed for the first 68 yards of Â鶹ԭ´´’s 73-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the season. Â鶹ԭ´´ grabbed the early lead on a 5-yard TD pass from Bortles to a wide-open Chris Martin. The Knights racked up 154 yards of offense and controlled the ball for 10:06 in the first period, yet led just 7-0 as the second quarter began. But the floodgates opened in the second quarter.

Â鶹ԭ´´ went up 14-0 on the second play of the second stanza, when Murray plowed in from the 2-yard line. The Zips later fumbled a punt on a fair-catch attempt, giving Â鶹ԭ´´ possession at the 9-yard line. Two Johnson runs later, Â鶹ԭ´´ led 21-0. The Knights took advantage of a short field to go 45 yards for their next score, capped by a Bortles-to-Rannell Hall 18-yard scoring strike.

The lead ballooned to 35-0 just before the intermission, when Â鶹ԭ´´ took advantage of another turnover. Defensive back A.J. Bouye forced a fumble deep in Akron territory and Cam Henderson recovered with just 24 seconds left in the first half. Johnson ran it twice, punching it in from 3 yards out. The Shawn Moffitt PAT made it 35-0 at the break.

“It was a good night for turnovers and that’s what you need to be doing when you’re aggressive on defense and aggressive on your special teams,” O’Leary said.

Akron got on the scoreboard for the first time on the opening possession of the third quarter. A 10-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a Dalton Williams-to-L.T. Smith touchdown pass of 18 yards. But the Knights answered quickly. Bortles went over the middle to Hall, who broke one tackle and out-ran the Zips defense for a 56-yard TD to make it 42-7. Â鶹ԭ´´ went up 49-7 late in the third quarter when backup quarterback Tyler Gabbert connected with wide receiver Rob Calabrese for a 12-yard TD strike. It was Gabbert’s first career pass attempt and Calabrese’s first career reception.

Akron added another score with just more than nine minutes left in the contest to make it 49-14. Â鶹ԭ´´ reserve running back Cedric Thompson capped the scoring with a 4-yard plunge late in the contest.

Calabrese suffered a torn ligament to the same (left) knee that he injured last October on a touchdown run against Marshall, effectively ending his season again. Because Calabrese was serving dual roles throughout training camp, the Knights are now down a veteran receiver and their third-string, emergency quarterback.

But on Tuesday, the thoughts were not so much about the position shifts as they were for Calabrese, one of Â鶹ԭ´´’s most respected players and leaders on and off the field. He’ll soon undergo another surgery to repair the ligament that popped on a non-contact play in which he was simply cutting. He could use a redshirt season and possibly return in 2012.

“He’s a great kid,” Â鶹ԭ´´ coach George O’Leary said of Calabrese. “I just feel bad for him. Same thing. He just was stopping and all of a sudden the knee went out again. He tore the same knee, the ACL. He’ll probably want to come back, knowing him. He’s such a great competitor, but that hurts because he had so many roles on the team.”

The Knights lost their top three receivers from last season and are young and inexperienced on the outside. Calabrese was shifted from quarterback to receiver in the spring in hopes of giving the receiving corps more size and a solid athlete.

Now, more of the focus shifts to senior wide out A.J. Guyton and junior speedster Quincy McDuffie. Losing Calabrese could also open up playing time for freshmen Josh Reese, J.J. Worton and Rannell Hall, all of whom have opened eyes in training camp with their sure hands and ability to make plays.

“Losing Rob was real big blow because he was one of the vets who really helped us out with the rotation. He’s also played a big role in motivating our young players as well,” McDuffie said. “It just causes us to step up to the plate, lead by example and make plays. We have to push those young guys and help them push through.”

Added senior tight end Adam Nissley: “We know somebody has to step up now and fill that void. Rob was getting to the point where he was an asset in this offense. He was catching balls and making plays and we were getting used to seeing him out there. We have some guys who can step up. If it takes A.J., Quincy or me stepping up and catching passes, we’ll do it.”

The Knights also have to develop a plan to find a third quarterback behind standout Jeff Godfrey and blossoming redshirt freshman Blake Bortles. One option, O’Leary said, could be using Guyton, a quarterback at Homestead High School during his prep days five seasons ago. The fifth-year senior has already told the coaching staff of his willingness to work at quarterback and he’s confident that he could direct the run-heavy offense from a “Wild Knight” formation.

“I told (offensive coordinator) coach (Charlie) Taaffe during the walk-through today that I could fill in at quarterback and he just looked at me,” Guyton said with a laugh. “But if they need me to get back there just in case something happens to Jeff or Blake, I’d be happy to do it. I love quarterbacking. My junior and senior years we ran the spread offense. I loved quarterback a lot.”

When Calabrese injured his knee last season he impressed coaches and teammates with his willingness to stay around the team and help out as much as he could. He was in most every quarterback meeting and he often suggested ideas to Godfrey, then a freshman, along the sidelines during games. Nissley said he fully expects that Calabrese will do what he can to help out once again.

“It was just a freak accident. He was just running the route, made a plant and it buckled up under him. As a team we feel really bad about it because Rob worked so hard to get back from the last injury,” Nissley said. “But Rob’s a real strong-willed kid. He’ll still have the attitude to help this team win and he’ll be with us in the meetings. He’ll still be an asset and help us win.”

But because the speedy Godfrey is just 5-foot-11 and 182 pounds, the big boys viewed him as an “athlete.” They said they’d “try” him at quarterback, but would more likely move him to receiver or defensive back.

Their loss.

On a spring morning inside Nicholson Field House, the indoor practice facility at the Â鶹ԭ´´, one could watch from the sideline as Godfrey zipped pass after pass in stride to a receiver. On some plays, he took the shotgun snap, scrambled away from pressure and turned a potential throwaway play into a positive gain. That quick release coupled with those quick feet are the primary reasons Â鶹ԭ´´’s rising sophomore star is poised to become the next Kellen Moore or Andy Dalton — a big-time quarterback who happens to play in a non-AQ conference.

“Some guys have those special qualities where you disregard the height, and Jeff has that,” said Â鶹ԭ´´ offensive coordinator Charlie Taffe, formerly of Maryland and head coach of two CFL teams. “He’s got tremendous physical gifts, he’s football smart, he understands defense. He’s not just an athlete playing quarterback, he’s a quarterback that happens to be a special athlete.”

Godfrey, a former standout for prep power Miami Central, became one of the most high-profile signees of coach George O’Leary’s eight-year tenure when he joined the Conference USA school, and he wasted no time delivering on the hype. Taking over as starter four games into his freshman season, Godfrey finished 2010 as the nation’s 15th-ranked passer while leading the Knights to an 11-3 record, a conference title and a Liberty Bowl win over Georgia, the program’s first bowl victory.

For Â鶹ԭ´´ fans, Godfrey brings to mind decorated dual-threat quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who played for the Knights in their infant days as a Division I-A program back in the late ’90s. For O’Leary, the more apt comparison is to another college standout from that period whom he happened to coach.

“[Godfrey] reminds me so much of Joe Hamilton,” the former Georgia Tech coach said. “They both had the knack for taking a bad play and making a good play out of it. How much can you coach that? That’s really instinctive. That’s what he has a great knack of.”

O’Leary’s tutorship of Hamilton, the 1999 Heisman runner-up who stood 5-10, was a major reason Godfrey found his way to Orlando after initially flirting with Florida State and South Florida. “I was like every other kid — who is Â鶹ԭ´´? What conference are they in?” said Godfrey.

That didn’t stop O’Leary from pursuing Godfrey.

“Everyone was telling him they wanted him, but he was going to be an athlete,” said O’Leary. “I said no, you’re going to be a quarterback at our place, and you’ll never move from quarterback until you walk into my office and tell me, ‘Coach, I’d be happier at another position.’ He hasn’t told me that yet.”

He has no reason to.

After graduating from high school a semester early to participate in spring practices at Â鶹ԭ´´, Godfrey started the 2010 season behind junior Rob Calabrese, but O’Leary gave the freshman playing time in the opener against South Dakota. After leading the Knights to two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 28-21 loss to N.C. State, Godfrey made his first start the next week at Buffalo and engineered a 15-play, 90-yard go-ahead touchdown drive that included several key scrambles and third-down conversions. The next week he struggled through the air (though ran for 99 yards) in a 17-13 loss at Kansas State.

And then he led the Knights to a 9-1 record the rest of the way, finishing with a 66.8 completion percentage, 2,159 passing yards, 566 rushing yards, 23 total touchdowns and eight interceptions.

“He definitely had some pretty big moments last year to help us win games,” said senior tight end Adam Nissley. “When he started getting comfortable and started realizing he had 10 other guys to help him out, he started to do some real impressive things and take control of the offense. It’s what we needed.”

Now he’s become the face O’Leary needed to sell his upstart program.

After a fall from grace when Notre Dame hired, then fired O’Leary in 2001 for stating false claims on his résumé, the rough-edged Long Island native has found redemption building a program that went 0-11 in his first season in ’04 into a competitive mid-major. The Knights have won two C-USA titles and played for another during O’Leary’s tenure and are currently vying for an invitation from the Big East. (A recent New York Times article alleging possible NCAA violations in Â鶹ԭ´´’s recruitment of several high-profile basketball players and one football player did not help the school’s cause.)

Since 2006, Â鶹ԭ´´ has invested more than $200 million in facilities, including the 45,000-seat on-campus Bright House Networks Stadium, and an array of newly constructed dorms and shopping areas. The upgrades have helped attract a higher caliber of recruit.

“That’s when you start getting some depth in your program, you’re more athletic, you’re just trying to replace some positions rather than rebuild a whole bunch of them,” said O’Leary. “Now, every game on the schedule, we have an opportunity if we play well to win.”

But Godfrey gives Â鶹ԭ´´ a more tangible identity than an indoor practice facility.

“Jeff is a special player,” Culpepper told the Orlando Sentinel after watching last year’s Homecoming game against Rice from the sideline. “… [He] has the ability to lead this program far beyond where it has ever been.”

Godfrey, whose father, Jeff Godfrey III, was also a standout Miami high school quarterback who drilled and coached his son since childhood, seems to belie his youth. He wasted no time taking control of the Â鶹ԭ´´ huddle as a freshman, and he’s certainly not lacking for confidence. Asked about the comparisons to Culpepper and Hamilton, the 19-year-old said, “They did a lot of good things, broke a lot of records. That’s what I’m trying to do, too.”

To this point, the sport’s “BCS busters” — Utah, Boise State, Hawaii and TCU — have all come from the Mountain West or WAC. With the Utes and Horned Frogs moving to major conferences and the Moore era in Boise set to end after this season, the door could be open for a new Cinderella, this time from the East.

Â鶹ԭ´´, which cracked the Top 25 last season for the first time in school history, brings back much of its offense this fall, including a trio of accomplished tailbacks (Latavius Murray, Brynn Harvey and Ronnie Weaver) and a veteran offensive line. The defense must replace several key players, including two-time Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year Bruce Miller, but O’Leary is confident heading into 2011. “We have a lot of pieces in place to be a very good football team,” he said.

The schedule, which includes Boston College and a trip to BYU, may be a bit too daunting for the Knights to entertain thoughts of a BCS bowl this season. But with Godfrey likely around for another three seasons, there’s no rush.

Source: SI.com, Inside College Football, Rising star Jeff Godfrey putting Central Florida on non-AQ map, by Stewart Mandel. Posted: Monday June 20, 2011 12:11PM ; Updated: Monday June 20, 2011 2:01PM

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 Â鶹ԭ´´ 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 Â鶹ԭ´´ 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,” Â鶹ԭ´´ 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.

Â鶹ԭ´´ 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

The Knights stormed out to a 28-0 lead on the strength of big plays from freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey and sophomore safety Kemal Ishmael and did just enough in the second half for a resounding 42-7 whipping of UAB.

“Bouncing back the way that we did shows a lot about the character of this team,” said senior wide receiver Brian Watters, who caught a four-yard touchdown just before the half. “Losing to K-State was a setback for us, but we took responsibility for it as a team. It showed that we might hit a few stones along the way, but we came back with one goal and that was to win the game, and we did just that.”

The blowout victory was also sweet revenge for a Â鶹ԭ´´ team that was shutout 15-0 by UAB two seasons ago at Bright House Networks Stadium. The Knights were reminded of that loss all this past week with “15-0” signs plastered all over their locker room, weight room and meeting spaces.

“It was `15-0′ all week … in our hotel rooms, our locker rooms and in the lobby of the hotel. And then when we got in the locker room (before Wednesday’s game), the signs changed to Â鶹ԭ´´ 56, UAB 0,” Hallman said. “You get tired of (15-0 talk) and that motivated us a lot. The 56-0, that’s what we were aiming for. I’m just disappointed that we didn’t get the shutout.”

Rotating Godfrey and junior Rob Calabrese effectively at quarterback, Â鶹ԭ´´’s offense grinded out 399 yards and 23 first downs in its finest all-around performance of the season. And the defense, which entered the game as Conference USA’s best unit in total defense and pass defense, made it stand up by getting two big turnovers from Ishmael, a fumble return for a score by Josh Robinson and another touchdown from freshman defensive tackle Troy Davis.

“All areas offense, defense and special teams played a really good ballgame,” Â鶹ԭ´´ head coach George O’Leary said. “They were very focused all week. It’s a good group with good senior leadership. We have a lot of ability on all facets of the team.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ (3-2 overall and 1-0 in C-USA play) showed no lingering effects from the crushing 17-13 loss to Kansas State 10 days ago, putting together its best effort of the season on both sides of the ball. The Knights held a player’s only meeting in the days after the faltering against K-State, stressing to one another that there was still plenty to play for this season – namely a C-USA championship.

“To open Conference USA play like that, make a statement and put together a complete game was really special for us,” senior defensive end Bruce Miller said. “We put a statement out there and this is how we’ll have to play every week.”

UAB (1-4 overall and 0-2 in C-USA play) has had a knack for falling behind early in games and coming back, and Wednesday night was no different. The Blazers trailed Florida Atlantic by 13 points, Troy by 23 points and Tennessee by 16 points and rallied back into all three of those games. On Wednesday, the Blazers were down 28 points just after halftime before mounting a brief rally. But Â鶹ԭ´´ ultimately put a stop to the comeback and exerted its dominance.

Following UAB’s lone score of the night, Â鶹ԭ´´ responded with a 72-yard scoring drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by Latavius Murray, his first score since the 2008 season. Then, Davis – one of Â鶹ԭ´´’s most pleasant surprises this season at defensive tackle – returned an interception 29 yards for the first touchdown of his collegiate career.

The Knights will be playing on ESPN’s national platform again next Wednesday night with a game in Huntington, W.Va., against Marshall. Â鶹ԭ´´ beat the Herd 21-20 in Orlando last season in dramatic fashion. The Knights have beaten Marshall in each of the past five meetings, winning the last two times in West Virginia.

Godfrey, Â鶹ԭ´´’s freshman phenom quarterback, ran for 80 yards and completed nine of 11 passes for another 137 yards. And Calabrese, who hadn’t seen significant playing time since the second game of the season, played throughout, running for 40 yards and throwing the touchdown pass to Watters just before halftime.

Already up 21-0 at the half, Â鶹ԭ´´ effectively ended the game early in the third period when Â鶹ԭ´´ standout safety Kemal Ishmael forced a second big defensive play of the night. Ishmael’s hard hit forced UAB quarterback David Isabelle to fumble and the loose ball was returned 56 yards for a touchdown by cornerback Josh Robinson. Earlier in the night, Ishmael picked off a Bryan Ellis pass to set up Â鶹ԭ´´’s first touchdown of the game.

“Kemal made a really good hit to knock the ball loose and then I just wanted to do what the coaches are always saying – scoop and score,” Robinson said with a laugh.

Ishmael, the sophomore who O’Leary considers Â鶹ԭ´´’s most underrated player, almost had a second interception in the fourth quarter when he hauled in a Bryan Ellis pass but landed with one toe on the sideline.

Â鶹ԭ´´ dominated play on both sides of the ball and led 21-0 at the half. And the score could have been even more lopsided had the Knights not had deep scoring drives twice end because of fumbles. The 21-point lead was Â鶹ԭ´´’s biggest advantage at the half in a home game since 2007 when the Knights led Marshall 27-3 at the break.

Said UAB coach Neil Callaway: “They totally outplayed us, outcoached us and did everything better than we did and that’s my fault. In the first half they really embarrassed us.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ got touchdown runs of four and two yards from Weaver in the first half and Calabrese hit senior wide out Watters for a four-yard touchdown pass with six seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Â鶹ԭ´´’s dominance in the first half was reflected in both the score and the statistics. The Knights outgained UAB 265-75, had nine more first downs and was on the field offensively for six more minutes in the opening half.

And Â鶹ԭ´´’s defense repeatedly smothered a UAB offense that came in No. 8 in the nation in total offense. Â鶹ԭ´´’s attacking and aggressive defense dropped the Blazers for losses on six plays in the first half and didn’t allow UAB to drive the ball deeper than the 27-yard line.

“In the three years that I’ve been here we’ve never blown them out and they had never blown us out and it was always a physical grind for four quarters,” Hallman said. “The biggest margin was 15-0 and all week we talked about that loss. We talked about jumping on teams early and that’s what we tried to do being up 21-0 at halftime. We wanted to keep our foot on the gas the whole game.”

Godfrey had both the longest run (35 yards) and the longest pass play (44 yards) in the first half. He accounted for 158 of Â鶹ԭ´´’s first 226 yards on the ground and through the air before slightly injuring his neck late in the second quarter on a scramble. In a first half in which Godfrey completed seven of nine passes and ran for another 67 yards, his only flaw was a fumble on a scramble run early in the second period.

The Knights were without top wide receiver A.J. Guyton because of knee, ankle and heel injuries, but the deep and talented wide receiving corps picked up the slack. Newsome, a senior, caught three balls for 68 yards in the first two quarters, while Watters caught another three passes and Kamar Aiken and Ricky Kay each snagged two passes early on.

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on Â鶹ԭ´´Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

It was the kind of poised and pulsating drive that will go down in Â鶹ԭ´´ lore as the birth of quarterback Jeff Godfrey’s legacy as a Knight.

Sure, Godfrey opened eyes and made hearts race a week ago at Bright House Networks Stadium by directing a near comeback against NC State. But what Godfrey did on Saturday night in Buffalo – calmly and coolly directing a game-winning, fourth-quarter 90-yard drive – is the sort of stuff where legends are born.

Godfrey, Â鶹ԭ´´’s freshman phenom quarterback from Miami, converted two third downs and a fourth down on a 15-play, 90-yard drive and reserve tailback Ronnie Weaver scored from 14 yards out as the Knights defeated Buffalo 24-10.

Making the first start of his collegiate career, Godfrey looked like the dazzling, dynamic playmaker Â鶹ԭ´´ has longed for at quarterback for years. He played mistake-free football by completing 15-of-24 passes for 130 yards and he avoided pressure by scrambling for another 44 yards.

“For a true freshman to do what he did, that’s unbelievable,” Â鶹ԭ´´ coach George O’Leary gushed. “We saw some youth out there with him at times, but he settled down and when we had to make plays he made them.”

Godfrey’s steady play combined with another stingy defensive effort from Â鶹ԭ´´’s nationally-ranked defense helped the Knights improve to 2-1 on the season. Â鶹ԭ´´ got a key defensive stop in the fourth quarter when senior defensive end David Williams stuffed the run on a fourth-and-one play to end a Buffalo (1-2) drive.

A crowd of 14,312 at University at Buffalo Stadium saw Â鶹ԭ´´ get a Bruce Miller interception return for a touchdown and two touchdown runs by Weaver. Weaver, Â鶹ԭ´´’s third back used on the night, scored from two yards out with 3:55 to play to seal the victory.

“I just applaud my offensive line for opening up the holes there,” said Weaver, who finished with 49 yards on eight carries. “When we get a mindset of working together we can really do great things.”

Â鶹ԭ´´’s defense, which entered the game having allowed just 459 total yards and just 209 pass yards in the first two games, played well again, stuffing the Bulls repeatedly. Buffalo’s lone touchdown was aided by a questionable pass interference call in the third quarter.

Â鶹ԭ´´ allowed 326 yards and 21 first downs, but just one touchdown. The Knights also picked off two passes – their first two forced turnovers of the season.

“It was a really big night for our defense, especially getting those turnovers,” said sophomore cornerback Josh Robinson, who broke up three passes. “We had to step up and make plays. I knew they were going to (Marcus Rivers) so I just tried to focus on him and play him like man-to-man. I want to be that shutdown corner for us.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ wraps up its four-game non-conference portion of the schedule next Saturday against Kansas State (3-0) in Manhattan, Kan. The Wildcats beat Iowa State 27-20 behind 181 rushing yards from tailback Daniel Thomas. Kansas State threw the ball just 12 times and instead gave the ball to Thomas a career-high 34 times. The senior tailback from Hilliard, Fla., has run for 234, 137 and 181 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and six touchdowns in three games.

Godfrey came in the game brimming with confidence after leading a second-half rally a week ago against NC State. Godfrey ran for two touchdowns and put Â鶹ԭ´´ in position for a tying score and then hung onto the starting quarterback job with a solid week of practice. Godfrey and Rob Calabrese, the starter in the season-opening win against South Dakota, split first-string repetitions during practice, and the decision was to go with Godfrey because of his ability to make plays with both his feet and strong right arm.

Â鶹ԭ´´ also made a change at right tackle with Abre’ Leggins getting the start in place of Chris Martin, who did not make the trip because of an undisclosed injury. David Bohner also replaced four-year starter Blake Clingan at punter following a strong camp and a solid week of practice.

On the drive that proved to be the difference in the game, Godfrey had a dazzling 17-yard scramble to the right for a first down. Later, he converted a quarterback sneak on a fourth and inches. Then, facing a third-and-nine from the 27, Godfrey bought time with his feet and hit Brian Watters across the middle for a 13-yard pickup. From there, Weaver barreled up the middle for a 14-yard score that gave Â鶹ԭ´´ a 17-10 lead it would not relinquish.

Raved Robinson: “We all saw what (Godfrey) did last week. Anybody willing to step up and make plays and not be afraid of the pressure is going to impress a lot of people.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ caught a tough break in the third quarter, leading to the first defensive points allowed in the second half this season. Â鶹ԭ´´ seemed poised to get a stop on a third-and-goal from the 16-yard line, but cornerback Josh Robinson was whistled for a controversial pass interference penalty. From there, Buffalo scored three plays later on a two-yard lob pass touchdown to tie the game at 10.

Calabrese, a junior from Islip, N.Y., entered the game to start the second half, but struggled in two possessions. The Knights couldn’t take advantage of a 52-yard kickoff return by Quincy McDuffie, giving the ball back after three plays.

As expected, Godfrey got his first-career start and didn’t seem one bit bothered by the road noise or the gusty 14 mile-per-hour winds. He calmly drove the Knights down the field on their first offensive possession, accounting for 49 of the 54 yards on a drive that ended in a Nick Cattoi 39-yard field goal.

O’Leary made creating turnovers a point of emphasis after Â鶹ԭ´´ failed to get a fumble or interception in the first two games. And Miller, Â鶹ԭ´´’s All-American candidate, responded to that request in the second quarter, stepping in front of a shuffle pass and returning it 30 yards for a touchdown that put Â鶹ԭ´´ up 10-3.

Defensive end Darius Nall forced the poor pass, hitting Buffalo quarterback Jerry Davis with a big hit. Nall, a junior, was one of the defensive stars a week ago against NC State with a sack and four quarterback hurries.

“That was one of those blackout plays where I just ended up with the ball,” Miller joked. “The defense forced him to pitch it early and I was in the right place at the right time. I just had to figure out which defense to run to there for a second. Fortunately we made enough plays to win the game.”

Godfrey’s first half was filled with highs and lows as he completed 11-of-18 passes for 109 yards and ran for another 17 yards. He had dazzling completions of 27 and 19 yards to Kamar Aiken on plays where he stood in the pocket and waited for the route to come open. Later, he had a fourth-down pass batted down and on a different possession he held the ball too long on a third-and-six play and took a seven-yard sack. The loss knocked the Knights out of field goal range and forced a punt.

A serious leg injury to Buffalo tackle Matt Ostrowski halted the game for some 15 minutes just before halftime. An ambulance came onto the field to take away the 6-foot-6, 298-pound junior. And a play later, Â鶹ԭ´´ safety Reggie Weems intercepted a Davis pass near the goalline to turn away a Buffalo scoring threat.

Source: John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on Â鶹ԭ´´Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

O’Leary certainly had plenty of reasoning for the positive vibes what with the way freshman phenom quarterback Jeff Godfrey had led the Knights to two second-half scores and put them into position for a potential tying or go-ahead moment.

“I had no doubt (Â鶹ԭ´´ would score) and I was asking (offensive coordinator) Charlie (Taaffe) if he wanted to go for one or two,” O’Leary recalled. “That’s the way that you need to think and that’s the way the sideline was thinking. Football is such a game of momentum and we had it.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ never got a chance to make the decision to go for the tie or the win because Quincy McDuffie took a hard hit on a Godfrey pass and fumbled the ball away at the 11-yard line with 51 seconds to play. The turnover, Â鶹ԭ´´’s fifth of the game, ended Â鶹ԭ´´’s stirring rally and left the Knights with a disappointing 28-21 loss to NC State.

In the moments after the game, the Knights couldn’t help but ponder what might have happened had they been able to eliminate mistakes and give the dazzling Godfrey a chance to make another big play from the 11-yard line.

“I can’t predict the future, but I would have liked to have the opportunity for us to keep the ball in that situation,” senior wide receiver Brian Watters said. “I felt we had their defense on their heels and anybody on our offense could have scored.”

The primary question now for Â鶹ԭ´´ (1-1) heading into next Saturday’s nonconference game in Buffalo (1-1) is whether or not Godfrey becomes the starter at quarterback. Junior Rob Calabrese played well in the opener and started on Saturday, but threw two interceptions – both of which either directly or indirectly led to NC State touchdowns.

Godfrey, a Miami product who enrolled at Â鶹ԭ´´ last January in hopes of winning the starting quarterback job, made the most of his time leading the offense even though Â鶹ԭ´´ trailed 28-7 with 5:22 left in the third period.

He directed drives of 55 and 75 yards – both of which ended in scoring runs by the cat-quick quarterback to trim the deficit to 28-21. And on Â鶹ԭ´´’s final drive, Godfrey took the Knights another 39 yards – 20 of them coming on the pass to McDuffie that ended in a lost fumble. Godfrey finished with 53 rush yards and 107 pass yards on seven of 10 completions.

O’Leary planned to meet with his offensive staff Sunday afternoon and decide whether Â鶹ԭ´´ will opt for Godfrey or Calabrese as his starter next Saturday. O’Leary said he would prefer to pick one quarterback and use that player for the duration of next week’s game.

“When Jeff’s in there, he has the ability to take a bad play and make a good play out of it, which separates him from Rob. That’s what I see and (Godfrey) is going to open up more things for us,” O’Leary said early Sunday afternoon. “We went with Rob and rightly so because he should have started the game. But I expect him to take a bad situation and get something out of it.

“I think we have a good situation and I don’t think there’s a chemistry situation or anything like that,” O’Leary continued. “When Jeff was out there, his No. 1 ally was Rob telling him what was going on. Whatever direction I go I want to talk to the offensive staff and the quarterbacks. But we’re in this game to win and I’m going to play the person who gives us the best chance to win.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ (1-1) bettered NC State (2-0) in first downs (16-15) and total yards (308-239), but the Knights were their own worst enemy with the miscues. Calabrese threw two interceptions, while converted wide receiver Nico Flores was intercepted on a reverse pass. Â鶹ԭ´´ lost possession and put the defense into a short-field situation when a punt bounced off Latavius Murray’s shin. Three of NC State’s four TDs came after Â鶹ԭ´´ turnovers, frustrating the Knights greatly.

“The kids are annoyed and angered as they should be,” O’Leary said. “The game’s too hard already to be shooting yourself in the foot and still expect to win.”

O’Leary hinted that Â鶹ԭ´´ could simplify its offense somewhat in an effort to cut down on the errors from last week. And O’Leary said that the Knights will tailor their offense to fit whichever quarterback that they choose as the starter.

“I’m not a big two-quarterback guy and I’m looking at the whole package out there,” O’Leary said. “I want to go with the guy who we have the best chance to win with with what we want to run. We’re trying to do a lot of things right now and I think we need to settle in on who we are as an offense.”

Source: John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on Â鶹ԭ´´Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.

Godfrey nearly led Â鶹ԭ´´ back from a 21-point deficit with two dazzling rushing touchdowns and seemed poised to take the Knights in for a tying score before a fifth turnover silenced a noisy Bright House Networks Stadium crowd of 43,020. And by the end of the night, a 28-21 loss to NC State left the Knights kicking themselves for their own errors and forced to mull a blown opportunity.

“This is one of those games that you have nightmares about,” Â鶹ԭ´´ senior wide receiver Brian Watters said. “You don’t want to come out and make as many mistakes as we made because you make it impossible to be victorious. We feel it wasn’t as much what they did, but us killing ourselves early in the game. Hats off to the team for fighting back, but when you make that many mistakes it’s kind of hard to come back and win.”

Even in defeat, Â鶹ԭ´´ (1-1) had to be encouraged with the dynamic playmaking abilities of Godfrey, who entered the game in the third quarter in place of struggling starter Rob Calabrese. The Miami product finished as Â鶹ԭ´´’s leading rusher with 53 yards and two scores and he connected on seven of his 10 passes for another 107 yards.

Â鶹ԭ´´’s thrilling comeback effort died with 51 seconds to play when Godfrey scrambled to his left and hit Quincy McDuffie for a 20-yard gainer, but the ball was jarred loose and recovered by NC State’s Terrell Manning.

“It’s just a shame the way that it ended with the catch and fumble,” Â鶹ԭ´´ head coach George O’Leary said. “We had a chance there, but we just made too many mistakes. With all of the mistakes, sometimes you just can’t overcome them all.”

Calabrese, who was solid in the season-opening victory against South Dakota, threw two interceptions – both of them leading to NC State touchdowns. Wide receiver Nico Flores was intercepted on a reverse pass, while tailback Latavius Murray had a Wolfpack punt bounce off his left shin for another turnover. And Â鶹ԭ´´ made matters worse with five penalties, another lost fumble and three sacks allowed.

“We beat ourselves offensively and I didn’t get the job done. I’m very disappointed, but we have to learn from this,” Calabrese said. “(His second interception) sailed on me, I didn’t have my feet set and it got away from me. If I don’t throw that pick-six it’s a different game. I’m very frustrated and disappointed, but I have to learn from this and have a good week of practice.”

O’Leary said he wouldn’t make a decision on a starting quarterback – Godfrey or Calabrese – until after grading the game films and conferring with offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe.

Stressed O’Leary: “I’m going to play the guy (at quarterback) who gives us the best chance to win.”

The Knights hit the road for the first time this season next Saturday, travelling to Buffalo. The Knights scored 16 second-half points last season to rally past the Bulls, 23-17, in Orlando.

Â鶹ԭ´´’s four nonconference games are at the front of the schedule, allowing the Knights to spend the season’s final two months focusing on Conference USA play.

Godfrey made a strong case for becoming Â鶹ԭ´´’s starting quarterback by scrambling for touchdown runs of 6 yards and 1 yard. He routinely made potentially disastrous plays positive ones with his quick feet and quick thinking. An NC State defense that kept Â鶹ԭ´´ bottled up most of the night had little success even getting to Godfrey for contact during the Knights’ furious rally.

“What Jeff did was amazing out there,” said Â鶹ԭ´´ defensive end Darius Nall, who had a sack, a pass breakup and four quarterback hurries. “I think he went out there and showed everybody that he’s not really like a freshman at all.”

Â鶹ԭ´´’s defense played much better in the second half than it did in the first half, setting the stage for the comeback bid. Â鶹ԭ´´’s defense allowed just five first downs and only 65 yards after halftime and routinely got the ball back into Godfrey’s hands with big stops.

“In the game of football you keep fighting all 60 minutes no matter what,” said redshirt freshman defensive tackle Victor Gray, who have five tackles and two stops for losses. “You just have to be relentless and know they’ll get tired before I do. It’s a war out there. Either tighten up (in the second half) or don’t play. We tightened up.”

Â鶹ԭ´´ trailed 21-7 at the half following a frustrating first two quarters to the game. NC State’s first touchdown came following a tipped-pass interception, the second one on a blown pass coverage and a third one after a punt ricocheted off the left shin of Murray. NC State scored three plays after the punt snafu, converting a third-and-11 play from 21 yards out.

The Knights weren’t particularly sharp early in the game. They ran for just five yards in the first half, making the offense too one-dimensional. Tackle Chris Martin was whistled for a holding penalty that negated a 35-yard catch and run from A.J. Guyton

The Knights signs of life when Quincy McDuffie returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score that cut the deficit to 21-7. McDuffie, a former 200-meter state track champion followed the block of Khymest Williams and ran away from NC State’s Dontae Johnson.

But in the end, there were too many mistakes to overcome to pull off what would have been a comeback for the ages.

“Like the fans we should be annoyed because we had chances to make something happen, but made too many foolish mistakes,” O’Leary fumed. “It was little things like jumping offsides. That’s just a lack of concentration.”

John Denton’s Knights Insider appears on Â鶹ԭ´´Athletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.