Sports: Knights have shotat big time

Knights have shotat big time

By JAMAL THALJI

Central Florida turned the ball over six times in the first half. One fumble came on the opening drive. Then there were four interceptions. And the 313 rushing yards the defense gave up.

All of which led to a 44-21 loss to Virginia Tech last season at the Citrus Bowl, crushing UCF's fledgling hopes of being invited to a bowl game.

Just days after UCF got its first win of the season, 36-29 over Tulane, thoughts of last year's rout against Virginia Tech are still fresh in the Golden Knights' minds before Saturday's rematch with the No. 8 Hokies at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.

"Our guys remember last year pretty vividly," UCF coach Mike Kruczek told the Orlando Sentinel. "We had about a five- or six-game winning streak (actually four) and felt we could do some things against them, but we turned the ball over and never gave ourselves a chance.

"I don't think focus will be a problem this week in practice."

UCF picked a perfect time to blossom against Tulane.

Alex Haynes rushed for 148 yards and four touchdowns; his last touchdown run was the decisive score, a 23-yard run with 2:20 left. The defense gave up a season-high 406 yards, but forced Tulane to kick three field goals. Quarterback Ryan Schneider was precise, completing 20-of-29 for 338 yards and one interception.

And UCF got a break from the officials as well, as they ruled Roydell Williams' reception in the end zone late in the game incomplete -- though replays showed he had a foot inbounds when he made the catch.

GOING DOWN: Florida State and Florida A&M have ridden high in their respective polls in recent seasons. But now each finds itself in an unfamiliar spot: No. 18.

Though not as improbable or embarrassing as FSU's 41-9 loss at North Carolina, FAMU's 27-7 loss to Tennessee State on Saturday in front of a Georgia Dome crowd of 64,100 is just as painful.

As FSU dropped 12 spots in the Associated Press poll, FAMU fell nine spots to No. 18 in the Sports Network Division I-AA poll. FAMU tumbled five spots to No. 7 in the Sheridan Broadcasting Historically Black College Football poll, too.

FAMU hasn't scored so little on a I-AA foe since a 16-9 loss to Jackson State in 1996. Against I-AA foes, FAMU has scored in single digits four times in the past decade.

FAMU coach Billy Joe is fond of saying that the only thing that can stop the Gulf Coast offense is itself. But Saturday, as a communications outage forced Joe to abandon the press box for the sideline for the first time in 12 years, that's how it happened.

"The problem is twofold," Joe told the Tallahassee Democrat. "The opposition is making us sputter, and we're not helping ourselves either. We're dropping the football and missing blocking assignments."

HE'S BACK, THEY'RE BACK: Allen Suber and Bethune-Cookman rebounded from the embarrassing loss two weeks ago to first-year Florida Atlantic with a 32-7 victory over Norfolk State.

Suber combined for 337 yards, rushing 22 times for 108 yards and completing 10 of 22 passes for 229. He threw two first-half touchdowns, as the 'Cats stormed to a 26-0 halftime lead. And they did it with the wishbone offense, which coach Alvin Wyatt hadn't run since the North Carolina A&T loss last October.

But B-CC's offense faltered in the second half and the defense gave up the shutout.

"We've got to learn how to kill a mosquito with TNT if necessary," Wyatt told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

B-CC is unranked in I-AA but rose a spot to No. 9 in the Sheridan poll. Added Suber: "There's no way Florida Atlantic would line up and beat us again now."

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.