UCF Knights Prepare For Matchup Against East Carolina On ESPN Thursday Night
By Chip Fontanazza, UCFKnights.com // November 17, 2015
ABOVE VIDEO: UCF Interim Head Coach Danny Barrett and the team captains talk about the Knights’ upcoming home contest against the East Carolina Pirates. (UCF Knights Video)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA (UCFKnights.com) – The Knights will enter Thursday’s home contest against ECU following a much needed bye week. The bye broke up a stretch of 10 consecutive weeks UCF had played on the gridiron and gave the players and coaches some much needed rest to get refocused to finish strong in the final two games of the season.
“Sometimes you have to take a step away and just relax and try to take your mind off of all of the negative activity going on and work on the positives that we have,” said senior captain Cedric Thompson.
“We’ve been struggling with that this season, [but] we’re just trying to find a way to put it all together for a game or two so we can go out on a high note.”
The Knights finished on a high note last season against the Pirates, winning their second consecutive American Athletic Conference championship on Breshad Perriman’s Hail Mary touchdown catch as the clock hit zero.
While the Knights won’t be playing for a conference championship on Thursday, a win against the Pirates would knock ECU out of bowl contention.
A goal that is on every player’s mind this week and the team expects this to be a physical contest, like many matchups against the Pirates have been in the past.
“I feel like every time we play them I think both teams are all jacked up and ready to go play,” said senior H-back Joseph Poupolo.
“I know that both teams are ready to go out there and ready to hit and ready to go play some football.”
To hear more from the players and Interim Head Coach Danny Barrett, check out the video above.
