The UCF Knights begin their 2022 football season tonight at 7 PM EST on ESPN Plus when they face the South Carolina State Bulldogs in Orlando, Florida. UCF leads the series 3-0. Head coach Gus Malzahn is in his second season at UCF. They finished last year 9-4, including winning six of their last seven games and defeating the Florida Gators 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. UCF returns fifteen starters, including eight on offense and eight on defense.
The Bulldogs enter its 21st season under head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough. Pough has led his team to eight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships and two HBCU National Championships during his time at South Carolina State. Last year, the Bulldogs went 7-5, winning the MEAC Championship, and finished the season with a 31-10 victory against Jackson State in the Cricket Wireless Celebration Bowl.
The Knights return their top three running backs from last season. 5th year senior Isaiah Bowser (159 Attempts, 703 yards, 9 TDs), junior Johnny Richardson (104 Attempts, 733 yards, 3 TDs), and redshirt junior Mark-Anthony Richards (48 Attempts, 309 yards, 5 TDs) all look to have a big game tonight.
While sophomore Quarterback Mikey Keene had a good year as a freshman (1,730 passing yards, 17 TDs), it’ll be senior John Rhys Plumlee starting the game. This will be Plumlee’s first start, but he has returning leading receiver Ryan O’Keefe to take some of the pressure off. O’Keefe pulled in 84 receptions for 812 yards and 7 TDs.
The Bulldogs are looking to pull off the upset and will try to do so with graduate student QB Corey Fields. Last year Fields threw 18 TDs for 2,310 yards. The Bulldogs will need somebody to produce in the running game as their top two backs from a year ago (Kendrell Flowers and Donte Anthony) are gone. Leading the team in receptions last year, redshirt junior Shaquan Davis is back. In 10 games, Davis had 43 receptions for 864 yards and 8 scores.
Written by Garin Turner
