2020 UCF Knights football team

The 2020 UCF Knights football team will represent the University of Central Florida (UCF) during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights will be led by third-year head coach Josh Heupel and play their home games at Bounce House in Orlando, Florida. They will compete as members of the American Athletic Conference.

2020 UCF Knights football
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 21
2020 record0–0 (0–0 The American)
Head coachJosh Heupel (3rd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorAlex Golesh (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinatorAnthony Tucker (1st at OC, 3rd overall season)
Defensive coordinatorRandy Shannon (3rd season)
Home stadiumBounce House
(Capacity: 44,206)
2020 American Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Cincinnati  0 –0     0 –0  
East Carolina  0 –0     0 –0  
Houston  0 –0     0 –0  
Memphis  0 –0     0 –0  
Navy  0 –0     0 –0  
SMU  0 –0     0 –0  
South Florida  0 –0     0 –0  
Temple  0 –0     0 –0  
Tulane  0 –0     0 –0  
Tulsa  0 –0     0 –0  
UCF  0 –0     0 –0  
Championship: December 5, 2020
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
As of August 16, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll.

Previous season
Main article: 2019 UCF Knights football team

After consecutive undefeated regular seasons in 2017 and 2018, the Knights were looking for their third consecutive conference championship, and third consecutive appearance in a New Year's Six bowl game. However, they suffered three road losses (by a combined total of 7 points) to finish 10–3 and in second place in the American Athletic Conference East Division. The Knights were invited to the Gasparilla Bowl where they defeated Marshall by the score of 48–25. At season's end, they ranked 24th in both final polls.

UCF finished the 2019 season riding a 21-game home winning streak at Spectrum Stadium.[1] The team also enters the 2020 season on an active streak of 39 consecutive games scoring at least one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown, the longest such streak in the nation.[2][3][4]

Preseason

Spring game

The 2020 UCF Spring exhibition game was originally scheduled for Saturday April 4, 2020 at Spectrum Stadium. However, the game was postponed indefinitely on March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of all 2020 spring athletic activities,[6] including spring football practice, which had begun on February 28.[7] On June 1, student-athletes were permitted to return to campus for voluntary workouts, and sixty football players would be back to begin training as early as June 8.[8] In mid-June 2020, it was reported that three Knights football players had tested positive for COVID-19.[9] A second wave of approximately thirty additional players arrived on campus on June 22.[10]

On August 7, Sports Illustrated reported that fall camp practices had been temporarily paused at UCF after players expressed concerns over COVID-19 safety protocols. A document titled "Proposal for Change" was circulated to at least four AAC schools, outlining ten player-driven issues.[11][12]

Stadium

The Knights home stadium was renamed Bounce House for 2020. Previously it was named Bright House Networks Stadium (2007–2016) and later Spectrum Stadium (2017-2019) after Charter Communications acquired Bright House.[13] Spectrum's naming rights deal expired after the 2019 season, and a tentative naming rights deal with RoofClaim.com was cancelled after drawing controversy.[14] As a result, the stadium was officially renamed Bounce House on August 1, 2020.[15][15] The comes from the facility's longtime nickname "The Bounce House", as it was found to be susceptible to considerable shaking when its crowd jumps in unison.

Schedule

UCF had games scheduled against North Carolina (September 4) and Florida A&M (November 7), which were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16][17]

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 12 FIU*
September 19 at Georgia Tech*
September 24 at East Carolina
October 3 Tulsa
  • Bounce House
  • Orlando, FL
October 16 at Memphis
October 24 Tulane
  • Bounce House
  • Orlando, FL
October 31 at Houston
November 14 Temple
  • Bounce House
  • Orlando, FL
November 21 Cincinnati
  • Bounce House
  • Orlando, FL
November 27 at South Florida

[18]

Rankings
Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP  
Coaches 21  
CFP Not released Not released

References
  1. "American Athletic Conference Football Report" (PDF). 2019 Season, Final release, Page 3. American Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  2. "2017 UCF Knights Gamelog". College Football. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. "2018 UCF Knights Gamelog". College Football. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  4. "2019 UCF Knights Gamelog". College Football. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  5. "AAC Announces Cancellation of Competition and Championships for Academic Year". UCFKnights.com. March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  6. "AAC Announces Cancellation of Competition and Championships for Academic Year". UCFKnights.com. March 16, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  7. Murschel, Matt (February 28, 2020). [hhttps://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-sp-ucf-football-20200229-jtpahudah5d57kphytdkgjgohm-story.html "UCF football kicks off spring practice aiming to improve on 2019 season"]. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  8. "UCF Allowing Athletes Back On Campus June 1". Spectrum Sports 13. May 29, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  9. Murschel, Matt (June 9, 2020). "3 UCF football players test positive for COVID-19 after return to campus". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  10. Murphy, Brian (June 22, 2020). "An Update on UCF Athletes Returning to Campus". Black and Gold Banneret. SB Nation. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  11. Dellenger, Ross; Forde, Pat (August 8, 2020). "AAC Student Athletes Voice Concerns Over COVID-19 Safety, Scholarship Security and More in Proposal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  12. Murschel, Matt (August 8, 2020). "UCF pauses football camp after players reportedly voice COVID-19 safety concerns". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  13. "Frost: Offense had their 'best day' in Wednesday scrimmage". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  14. Bianchi, Mike (February 4, 2020). "After UCF scrutiny, state politicians kill FAU naming rights deal with Roofclaim.com". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  15. Murphy, Brian (5 August 2020). "UCF's Football Stadium Has a New Name". Black and Gold Banneret. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  16. "MEAC suspends all fall sports for indefinite period". ESPN.com. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  17. "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  18. "2020 UCF Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
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