Linam and Weaver grabbed the Captain鈥檚 Awards after the seniors were voted as captains by their teammates during the season. Linam also was named as 麻豆原创鈥檚 Outstanding Linebacker and the winner of the Academic Excellence Award, while Weaver was the Knights鈥� Outstanding Offensive Back.

Murray secured the Outstanding Offensive Player and MVP awards thanks to leading the team with 860 all-purpose yards 鈥� 549 rushing and 242 receiving along with a 69-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Southern Miss. Along with eight rushing touchdowns, he posted the fourth-best rushing performance in 麻豆原创 history when he raced for 233 yards at UTEP. In that victory over the Miners, Murray accounted for three overall touchdowns as that effort is now up for the Marines National Running Back Performance of the Year presented by Intersport.

On the defensive side of the ball, Ishmael carried home the Outstanding Defensive Back and Outstanding Defensive Player trophies. 麻豆原创鈥檚 free safety paced the Knights in tackles for the second-straight year, recording 81 in 2011. That was highlighted by four games where he amassed 10 tackles or more. Ishmael also had three break-ups and one forced fumble.

Voted on by the coaching staff, the complete list of awards is below.

2011 麻豆原创 Football Awards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was the fumble just before halftime and the botched punt return against FIU. There was the kickoff return allowed and another muffed punt return against BYU. Then, came the last-second field goal allowed in the two-loss loss at UAB. 麻豆原创 couldn’t convert from the 5-yard line against Tulsa and didn’t hit on a two-point pass at Southern Miss, both miscues resulting in two more losses. And finally, 麻豆原创 twice tied the score in the second half last Saturday, but couldn’t get a key stop in the final three minutes of the game and lost yet again to East Carolina.

Only the SMU loss where 麻豆原创 was overwhelmed on both sides of the ball and fell 38-17 was the lone game that the Knights didn’t push for a win in the fourth quarter. What was left was six losses by a combined 31 points, leaving the Knights to wonder what could have been this season had they been able to make a few more plays and get a few more defensive stops.

“I think it’s a very frustrating season,” O’Leary said. “I think the kids have played very hard, but I think when you build a program on not making mistakes, no penalties, not beating yourself, we really — I’m talking about coaching staff and players and I’m not pointing at the players — but we really haven’t gotten that accomplished.

“Every game has been like the old saying, `Same movie, different movie theater,” O’Leary continued. “That’s very frustrating as a coach because these things are being covered, but we’re just very immature at some areas. We’ve just hurt ourselves in a lot of areas.”

The pain of a frustrating season will end Friday when 麻豆原创 (4-7 overall and 2-5 in Conference USA play) hosts UTEP (5-6 and 2-5) at 7 p.m. at Bright House Networks Stadium. The Knights were eliminated from having any shot of winning the C-USA title two weeks ago and were knocked out of contention for a bowl game with last Saturday’s loss. UTEP is playing for a bowl game, while the Knights are left simply hoping to end the season with a victory.

“After our meeting on Sunday, coach told us that the team was going to try and win this game and send the seniors out on a positive note. That would be nice,” senior wide receiver A.J. Guyton said. “(Fellow senior) Darius Nall asked me how I was feeling and I don’t even know how to feel. This is our last week out here on the practice field. We just have to make the most of it now and try to go out with a positive note.”

麻豆原创’s 15 seniors will head into the finale with a 27-23 record with two bowl appearances over the past four seasons. Because many of the players redshirted in 2007, they were technically a part of C-USA championships in 2007 and 2010. They helped the Knights author the finest season in school history last year, one in which they won 11 games, captured a C-USA crown and beat Georgia in the Liberty Bowl.

“I feel like our Knights family here has left a legacy and a good impression in these first five years of Bright House Networks Stadium,” said senior tailback Ronnie Weaver, one of the team captains along with linebacker Josh Linam. “We’ve set an example for the young guys to carry into the future. This program can still grow in leaps and bounds. It’s up to the guys to take heed to the coaching and get better from this season.”

Some of 麻豆原创’s seniors, such as Adam Nissley, Nick Pieschel, Weaver and Guyton, have been on hand for just about every home game at Bright House Networks Stadium over the past five years. They all said that running onto the field for the final time on Friday will be emotional.

“The emotions will be mixed. I’ll be excited to play, but it will be bittersweet because of the season that we’ve had,” Linam said. “I’ve had a lot of good memories in there. I’m just hoping that (the last game) will be good overall.”

Added Guyton: “It’ll be crazy knowing that it’s my last time to play on that field, especially since I was one of the first ones to play on that field back in 2007 against Texas in that first home game. I’ll try to hold my emotions in and just go out and play.”

Weaver, who rose from being a walk-on to one of the Knights’ two team captains, said it will take him some time to get over how sour this season has turned. 麻豆原创 entered the year with hopes of being a BCS-buster, and those beliefs were buoyed early on by a 30-3 whipping of Boston College. But too many missed opportunities resulted in close losses that sabotaged 麻豆原创’s season.

“I think back on this past season and try to figure out what we could have done better, but hindsight is 20/20. You can always correct things when you see them on film, but games come down to execution,” Weaver said. “We didn’t execute when we needed to. A play here and a play there and this season could have been drastically different for us.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In some respects, last Saturday’s open date came at a good time for a 麻豆原创 team battered and bruised physically and spiritually. But the bye week also came after frustrating losses to FIU and BYU, meaning the wait to get the season back on track has been interminable for several of the 麻豆原创 players.

With the Knights sitting at 2-2, emotions of late have spanned the entire spectrum – anger, frustration, sadness and finally acceptance that there is still plenty to play for this season. 麻豆原创 practiced three days last week, helping the team shift the focus from the BYU defeat to the highly anticipated showdown against C-USA rival Marshall (2-3).

“We had been grinding for four weeks, so it was good to take a week off. But we’re so ready to get back on the field now against Marshall,” 麻豆原创 senior tight end Adam Nissley said. “We can still get to what we want to be. We feel like in our conference we determine our own fate by going out and winning games. That sets us up at the end of the season to be champions, so we can’t wait to get back at it.”

麻豆原创 certainly has some experience of being in this situation. In 2009, the Knights were 2-2 following an early-season loss at East Carolina, but they rallied to an 8-5 finish and a spot in the St. Pete Bowl. And last season, 麻豆原创 shook off a 2-2 start to author the finest season in school history. 麻豆原创 won five in a row and nine of the last 10 to climb to C-USA champions and winners of the Liberty Bowl.

“After that (BYU) loss we had a team meeting and coach told us that we were in the same position last year and 2-2 going into conference play. We just have to buckle down now and get ready,” senior wide receiver A.J. Guyton said. “Our goal now is to win Conference USA and it starts on Saturday against Marshall.”

As defending C-USA champs, 麻豆原创 is the hunted team in a conference full of squads looking to dethrone the Knights from the top perch. Foremost amongst those teams is Marshall, arguably 麻豆原创’s biggest and nastiest rival in C-USA’s East Division. The two schools have met each of the past nine seasons – with 麻豆原创 winning the past six games. The Knights smashed Marshall 35-14 last season in a nationally televised game, and 麻豆原创 knows what to expect with the Herd rolling into Orlando following a 17-13 defeat of Louisville.

“We don’t really have a rival game, but I guess if we had to pick one because of the length of the (series) that 麻豆原创 has played Marshall from the MAC, this is the one we’ve played the most,” 麻豆原创 coach George O’Leary said. “We’re anxious to tee it up with them. We’ll find out what (Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato) is about and they’ll find out what (麻豆原创 quarterback Jeff Godfrey) is about.”

O’Leary gave his team five consecutive days off last week following the 24-17 loss at BYU and then had the Knights practice three times. Rather than harping so much on the negatives of losing two games, O’Leary stressed to his squad that it was still doing plenty of good things, but had to eliminate turnovers and special teams gaffes. Despite its 2-2 record, 麻豆原创 still ranks first in the nation in pass defense, second in total defense, fifth in scoring defense and 15th in rush defense. Offensively, the Knights are averaging 420.2 yards a game.

O’Leary also stressed to his coaching staff to lighten some of the intricacies of the game plan because the team has so many young players filling critical positions.

“There are always areas where you can improve on, but we’re doing a lot of things well, too,” O’Leary said. “We don’t spend a lot of time harping about mistakes because there’s a lot of good. We can’t take those three or four plays out of those (FIU and BYU) games and say that’s the whole season. We have to improve in those areas if we’re going to be successful. In these last couple of days of practice we’ve gotten better.”

Senior tailback Ronnie Weaver, who highlighted last season’s defeat of Marshall with 150 rushing yards on 30 carries, said he’s been particularly vocal with teammates during the week off about there still being plenty to play for this season. He knows that another conference title will dictate which bowl the Knights play in at the end of the season.

“The mood has been up because we’re trying to stick together and keep our camaraderie. We have a working mindset to get back on track. We understand from our background the last couple of seasons that we started off 2-2 and we’ve expressed to the younger guys through team meetings and group meetings that we still have a lot of football to play,” Weaver said. “These conference games are very important to us having a successful season. Our goal from the beginning has been to win the conference championship, and it’s still very much attainable.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unfortunately for the Knights such an option was not available last Saturday night. 麻豆原创 lost 17-10 to FIU because it allowed six sacks, committed 10 penalties and turned the ball over twice leading directly to 14 points.

Here’s聽 five things that we learned from 麻豆原创’s frustrating loss to Florida International on Saturday night in Miami.

1. 麻豆原创’s errors and mental mistakes were uncharacteristic for this team. Maybe the most shocking aspect of the Knights loss was that they were their own worst enemy. Rarely ever does an O’Leary team beat itself with penalties and turnovers, but that was the case Saturday night. The offense could never find its rhythm because of motion penalties, some of which have to be attributed to FIU’s tremendous speed off the edge. But 麻豆原创’s two turnovers – quarterback Jeff Godfrey fumbling as he was hit by a blitzing cornerback and Josh Robinson bobbling another punt at the 6-yard line – were simply a matter of players trying to do too much on a play. Sometimes it’s simply better to take a loss on a play and live to play another down than it is to gamble and risk a turnover. Without those two 麻豆原创 gaffes, FIU might have never found the end zone and 麻豆原创 could have escaped South Florida with a narrow victory. But two high risk, high reward plays proved costly for the Knights and they cost them a shot at getting to 3-0.
2. Teams will continue to blitz Jeff Godfrey until 麻豆原创 proves it can stop it. Godfrey came into Saturday’s game having not been sacked in the first two games, but he was dropped six times by FIU. And quite frankly, that number could have hit double digits if Godfrey weren’t so cat-quick in the pocket and able to avoid pressure. 麻豆原创’s offensive line didn’t do a good job picking up the pressure off the edge, but it’s not all on them. Godfrey held onto some passes too long, allowing the blitzers to get home. And on the play where Godfrey was hit, bobbled the ball and FIU returned it 51 yards for a touchdown, a wide receiver blew a hot route read, forcing Godfrey to try and improvise. Assuredly, teams will see the game film and notice the success that FIU had pressuring Godfrey. College football is a copycat sport, so expect BYU to do the same thing on Friday night. If 麻豆原创 can figure out a way to pick up the pressure, there should be opportunities for big plays down the field.
3. Josh Robinson’s punt return woes are baffling. There’s not a more physically gifted player on 麻豆原创’s football team than Robinson, who has played like an All-American cornerback through the first three games of the season. But things just haven’t clicked for Robinson as a punt returner. He fumbled two punts against Charleston Southern, but none were as costly as the one that got away Saturday at FIU. First, Robinson let the short punt hit the ground and then tried fielding the rolling ball at the 6-yard line. He was never in possession of the ball, getting hit just as it hit his hands. Two plays later from the 4-yard line, FIU scored the first touchdown against 麻豆原创’s defense this season and pushed across what proved to be the game’s winning points. Robinson was replaced late in the game as 麻豆原创’s punt returner by redshirt freshman J.J. Worton. 麻豆原创’s coaches want Robinson to win the return job because his speed and shiftiness make him a threat to score on any play, but his decision-making on fielding punts has to be better.
4. 麻豆原创 never established its running game to keep FIU off balance. 麻豆原创 had plans of negating FIU’s speed by pounding the ball inside with its big offensive line and its three standout running backs. While 麻豆原创 did put together one of its longest scoring drives in years – 18 plays, 94 yards and 10 minutes, 40 seconds – the Knights had little success running the ball the rest of the way. Ronnie Weaver ran for just 34 yards on nine carries, while Brynn Harvey (31 yards on six carries) and Latavius Murray (13 yards on six carries) also struggled to find much room inside. Godfrey ran 19 times for 81 yards, but his total was hurt severely by his 40 loss yards on sacks. The Knights were forced to play from behind much of the second half, negating the run game. And penalties and sacks kept the Knights in bad down-and-distance situations so that running the ball wasn’t feasible.
5. The Knights must rebound on a short week. A great amount of frustration was coursing through the team after the game because of the feeling that it had beaten itself more than anything. Sure, FIU played well, but 麻豆原创 knows it likely would have won without the two turnovers and the penalties. Here’s to hoping that the anger will carry over to this week as the Knights prepare for BYU in a nationally televised showdown. The short week of preparation is a concern with the Knights not arriving back to town until early Sunday morning and the team flying to Utah on Thursday. 麻豆原创’s coaching staff used the ride home from Miami to break down film and the team was back on the practice field Sunday night, which is usually a day off. To win in Provo, Utah, 麻豆原创 knows it will have to avoid critical mistakes, run the ball better and execute in crunch time. Last Saturday was an uncharacteristic night for the Knights and here’s to hoping that they take out their frustration on BYU before the ESPN audience.

Riding a wave of success from last year’s championship-filled season and a stellar summer, 麻豆原创 got three rushing touchdowns from standout quarterback Jeff Godfrey, two from Latavius Murray, a triumphant return from Brynn Harvey and delivered a dominant defensive effort in a 62-0 rout of Charleston Southern at Bright House Networks Stadium.

A crowd of 39,752 saw the Knights (1-0) run for 316 yards, grind out 25 first downs and gain 560 total yards in the season-opener. 麻豆原创 scored on its first five possessions and built a commanding 35-0 bulge by halftime. 麻豆原创’s eight rushing touchdowns is a new school record, breaking the previous record set in 2007 against Memphis.

“Everybody gave great effort, played with great enthusiasm and everybody did their job,” said senior defensive end Darius Nall, one of 麻豆原创’s captains for the game. “We played all four quarters and just dominated and made sure everybody did their job.”

The only intrigue was deciding which 麻豆原创 unit – the offense or the defense – was more dominant on the muggy, 84-degree night? 麻豆原创’s defense entered with questions following the graduation of all-time sacks leader Bruce Miller, but passed its first test Saturday night. The Knights smothered Charleston Southern all night, giving up just 119 yards and six first downs.

“Obviously it was a good first game because everybody played and for a first game we kept the execution mistakes to a minimum,” 麻豆原创 head coach George O’Leary said. “I thought there was consistency out there. There were a couple of plays we’d like to have back with formations and wrong coverages, but for the most part both quarterbacks did what they have to do to help us make plays.”

麻豆原创’s defense pitched its first shutout since beating Tulane 49-0 during the 2009 season. In the first half, Charleston Southern had negative seven yards rushing, only one first down and just 21 yards of total offense. The Buccaneers didn’t drive across the 50-yard line in the first half. Charleston Southern’s lone scoring chance of the night failed in the fourth quarter when kicker Andy Brown missed from 28 yards.

“I guess you could say it was (a perfect game) in a sense, but we still have a lot of mistakes to correct,” said middle linebacker Josh Linam, who had five tackles. “(The shutout) is pretty big for us. That’s our goal every week – to shut teams out and keep them off the scoreboard. So it’s nice when you can hold a team to zero points.”

The rout was a fitting start for a 麻豆原创 team that won 11 games last season, captured the Conference USA title and beat Georgia in the Liberty Bowl. The Knights also cracked the national rankings for the first time in school history last season, ending the year ranked No. 20 and 21 in the two polls. Several Knights admitted being irked by being left out of the polls this preseason and vowed to use that as motivation all season long.

Said Charleston Southern coach Jay Mills: “We played obviously an outstanding football team that I really believe is a Top 20-caliber team.”

Dead ahead for 麻豆原创 is a great chance to prove that they belong among the elite teams nationally. 麻豆原创’s showdown against Boston College is one of the marquee games of the season for the Knights. The Eagles were 24-17 losers to Northwestern on Saturday. Kickoff for next Saturday’s nationally televised game (CBS College Sports) at Bright House Networks Stadium is 8 p.m.

“It’s a nonconference game and we want to try to start winning those as well as the (C-USA) games,” Murray said. “We need to win these nonconference games to get the looks that we need as far as the nation is concerned. We need to try and win every game on the schedule.”

麻豆原创 junior cornerback Josh Robinson pushed 麻豆原创’s lead to 49-0 in the third quarter with a dazzling interception and 32-yard return for a touchdown. The All-American candidate moved into a tie for fifth place in school history in interceptions with nine in his career.

麻豆原创’s only scare of the night came in the third period when speedy wide receiver Quincy McDuffie had a defender fall on his knee following a 32-yard run on a sweep play. McDuffie walked on the leg without a limp after the game and the injury didn’t seem to be serious.

Godfrey, C-USA’s Freshman of the Year last season, picked up where he left off last December with a magnificent night running the ball. Godfrey had scoring runs of seven, one and 16 yards in the first half. His three rushing TDs equaled the 麻豆原创 record for rushing TDs by a quarterback in a game, a mark set by Daunte Culpepper in 1998 against Eastern Illinois.

Godfrey finished with 46 rushing yards and the three scores. He completed six of 10 passes for 100 more yards.

麻豆原创’s three-headed monster at tailback proved effective all night as Weaver, Murray and junior Brynn Harvey split carries and regularly gashed Charleston Southern’s defense.

Weaver, a senior who won the battle for the starting job, went for 44 yards on the first offensive play of the game and finished with 107 yards and a score on just eight carries. Murray, the Most Valuable Player of the C-USA title game and Liberty Bowl last season, averaged six yards per carry and scored twice.

Harvey, who missed all of last season with a torn ligament in his left knee, played for the first time since 2009 and ran well. He had 62 yards on 14 carries and resembled the workhorse back that he was two seasons ago for the Knights.

“I think the coaches handled (the tailback rotation) really well and whenever we needed a substitution to keep fresh legs in there it was a welcomed sight,” Weaver said. “We’re always competitive with each other, taking every rep that we can. Every time that we’re in the game, we know that we have to produce.”

Redshirt freshman Blake Bortles made his collegiate debut in relief of Godfrey and had a couple of spectacular plays. He kept his cool after bobbling a pass and hit Josh Reese for 42 yards. He later hit Resse for another 42-yard gainer and found J.J. Worton for a 22-yard strike.

All in all, it was flawless night for a Knights team that proved themselves ready for the opener and ready to accomplish plenty more this season.

“That was a complete team effort,” Weaver said. “We did a lot of awesome things on both sides of the ball and on special teams. It’s something for us to take a look at improve up for next week.”

Forgive Harvey if he needs a second to catch his breath or dab his eyes when the magnitude of the moment hits him like a ton of bricks.

A preseason all-conference pick heading into last season, Harvey had to miss all of last year because of a shredded ligament in his left knee. He held out hope of a late-season return and worked feverishly – as in doubling up on rehab sessions and returning to contact work well ahead of schedule – all to no avail when other players emerged as solid threats at Harvey’s former tailback position.

Saturday night’s season opener at Bright House Networks Stadium against Charleston Southern will allow Harvey to play in a game for the first time since the St. Pete Bowl on Dec. 19, 2009. He knows that at some point when he’s in the game and carrying the ball for the Knights that it will sink in to him how hard he’s worked to return to the game he loves.

“It will be a wonderful feeling knowing that I’m back on the field, all of the hard work that I did and the struggles and obstacles that I overcame,” Harvey said. “It’ll be a wonderful feeling being back.”

Senior Ronnie Weaver is expected to start at tailback after winning the hotly contested battle between he, Harvey and Latavius Murray. With Harvey out injured, Weaver grabbed control of the starting job last year in midseason and ran for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns. Murray surged into the starting role late in the year and was the MVP of the Conference USA title game and the Liberty Bowl defeat of Georgia.

Harvey is expected to be the first back off the bench for the Knights because of his stellar running in training camp, proving that he’s fully rebounded from the knee injury. 麻豆原创 coach George O’Leary praised Harvey throughout camp for his tough running and he is a favorite of the coach’s because of his vision in holes.

“He’s looked the best of the backs a lot of times,” O’Leary said recently of Harvey following a scrimmage. “Brynn started showing some things. I just like the way he makes his cuts in the hole and not before the hole so the linebacker can scrape over and make the play.”

Part of what made Harvey’s injury so difficult for him to handle is that he’s never really known not being a dominant part of the 麻豆原创 offense since arriving on campus. He won the starting job as a freshman, led the team in almost every rushing category and was named to the C-USA All-Freshman squad. And in 2009, he flourished as a workhorse back, running for 1,109 yards and 14 TDs. He set career highs against Memphis in 2009 by carrying the ball 42 times for 219 yards and a score.

But Harvey’s enormous promise came crashing down the following spring when he ran a sweep around the right end and had his knee collapse as he planted his foot.

Hoping to return ahead of projections, Harvey attended rehabilitation sessions in the morning and the night. He rarely missed a practice, watching from the sidelines with his helmet on.

But by the time Harvey was ready to return, Weaver and Murray were thriving and the decision was made to redshirt him. Clearly, the football world stops for no one, especially for anyone injured.

“It was difficult trying your hardest to get back. Seeing your best friends out there every day having fun and knowing you can’t be out there with them, it was a tough feeling,” Harvey said. “But they did their best and came out with a conference championship and a bowl victory, so it wasn’t that hard after that.”

Harvey got over any mental hurdles he might have had with his knee this past spring when he rumbled for 44 yards on the first play of the Black and Gold Scrimmage. And over the summer, he actually saw the strength in his knee improve to the point that he’s now squatting more (580 pounds) than he did before the injury (560 pounds).

“In camp I just wanted to come in and try to compete. My leg felt good and I’m just trying to get back into the flow of plays,” he said. “I feel way stronger now. My squats got stronger and I feel better. I feel probably better than I was before.”

Harvey said he might not even make it to the game before the moment hits him where he realizes how hard he’s worked to get back on the field. He admitted that the rumbling of the students section over the Knights locker room will likely give him chills and running onto the field for the first time in 18 months will be a blissful blur to him.

“I think it will feel like my freshman year all over again with all of the butterflies that I’m going to have,” Harvey said. “It’s like I’m starting all over, but I’m excited about getting back in there with my teammates. I think it will be fun.”

麻豆原创 has spent much of the past week trying to find a third quarterback behind Jeff Godfrey and Blake Bortles following another season-ending injury to senior Rob Calabrese and the announcement that elite recruit DaMarcus Smith wouldn’t be eligible. So in the unlikely event of injuries to Godfrey and Bortles, it’s senior Ronnie Weaver – who seems to have won the hotly contested battle for the starting tailback job – who would operate as the third quarterback in “Wild Knight” formations.

“I’ve made the running backs the third quarterback. Weaver throws it extremely well. Weaver doesn’t do anything great, but he does a lot of things good,” 麻豆原创 coach George O’Leary said. “He’s taking snaps at quarterback running the `Knight’ plays and there are some throwing plays that he can make in case there’s an emergency there.

“That’s the only choice we had right now,” O’Leary continued. “You don’t count on Calabrese getting hurt and you count on DaMarcus (Smith) being here. But we’ll just go with what we have. We’ve worked on some of that stuff this week.”

O’Leary also made it official that standout freshman Leilon Willingham has earned a starting position at outside linebacker for the season-opener on Sept. 3 against Charleston Southern at Bright House Networks Stadium. Willingham, a 6-foot-2, 240-pounder, was regarded as an upper-tier recruit for 麻豆原创 and he has been impressive enough in training camp to earn a starting nod.

“He’ll be able to perform and do what he has to do. Freshmen play because they don’t act like freshmen and have some strength. He’s 6-2 and 240 pounds and he’s a good-looking player,” O’Leary said of Willingham, a four-star recruit by several national publications. “He’s earned the right to take the first-string snaps and we’ll see what he can do.”

麻豆原创 wrapped up the training camp portion of its practices on Tuesday. The team will take Wednesday off from practice and will begin preparations for the Charleston Southern opener on Thursday. Kickoff for the opener is at 7 p.m.

Calabrese was the backup quarterback to Godfrey last season, but tore a ligament in his left knee while scoring a touchdown against Marshall. He returned in the spring and split time between receiver and quarterback. The promising rise of Bortles, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman from Oviedo, allowed Calabrese to spend more time at receiver. But a second knee injury came last week on another noncontact play, leaving the Knights with just two scholarship quarterbacks.

O’Leary tinkered with the idea of using senior wide receiver A.J. Guyton as the third quarterback because of his experience at the position in high school. But he ultimately settled on Weaver because of the lack of depth at receiver and Weaver’s ability to handle and throw the football.

Weaver, a Wabasso native, emerged as the starting tailback midway through last season and ran for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns. He entered this training camp the likely third choice at tailback behind Latavius Murray – the MVP of the C-USA title game and the Liberty Bowl – and Brynn Harvey – the 2009 standout who missed all of last season with a knee injury. But Weaver impressed O’Leary and offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe with his tough running and ability to pass protect and won the starting job at tailback.

Prior to this week, Weaver said he had no quarterback experience, having played tailback and safety at Vero Beach High School. But after spending the previous four years in the 麻豆原创 offense, he feels he could run the team in a pinch.

“It’ll be a tad bit of an adjustment, but I understand the concepts and I’m getting the hang of it pretty smoothly,” Weaver said. “I’m left-handed, so I guess it brings another dimension with me rolling out the other way. I’ll just try to get the ball out the best I can to the receivers. The package is just designed to help our offense out and give us another dimension as far as the running game goes.”

Weaver hopes that 麻豆原创 gets efficient enough at the “Wild Knight” package that the team will be able to utilize it in the heart of games. It could be another way for the Knights to take advantage of their stable of running backs and get Weaver on the field with Murray and Harvey.

“That’s completely up to coach. The more comfortable I get with it, the more comfortable coach would be with it and try to implement it in,” Weaver said. “Right now, we’re really big in the trial phase of it. I’m not sure how it’ll go implementing it in the game plan, but I’m practicing hard at it and hopefully they’ll have confidence in me.”