2006 UCF Golden Knights football team

The 2006 UCF Golden Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, in his third season with the team. They played in Conference USA, in the East Division.

2006 UCF Golden Knights football
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionEast
2006 record4–8 (3–5 C-USA)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTim Salem (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorLance Thompson (3rd season)
Home stadiumCitrus Bowl
(Capacity: 65,000)
2006 Conference USA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Southern Miss x  6 2     9 5  
East Carolina  5 3     7 6  
Marshall  4 4     5 7  
UCF  3 5     4 8  
UAB  2 6     3 9  
Memphis  1 7     2 10  
West Division
Houston x$  7 1     10 4  
Rice  6 2     7 6  
Tulsa  5 3     8 5  
SMU  4 4     6 6  
UTEP  3 5     5 7  
Tulane  2 6     4 8  
Championship: Houston 34, Southern Miss 20
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

After a surprise showing in 2005, where they went 7–1 in C-USA and 8–3 in the regular season overall, UCF suffered a bit of a letdown, going 4–8 in 2006 under the new 12-game regular season schedule, and 3–5 in-conference. Their sole non-conference win came against I-AA Villanova. Part of the problem was the transition from a pass-dominated offense led by graduated wide receiver Brandon Marshall to a run-dominated offense led by sophomore running back Kevin Smith.

2006 was the final season that UCF would play at the aging Citrus Bowl. Already under construction was a new 45,000-seat on-campus stadium, which would open in time for the 2007 season. It would also be the final year that UCF would play under the "Golden Knights" nickname. They would drop "Golden" before the 2007 season, becoming simply the UCF Knights,[1] and would soon unveil an updated logo.

One of the highlights of the season was a last-second, nationally televised victory at Marshall on October 4. UCF kicker Michael Torres kicked a go-ahead field goal with eight seconds left, but removed his helmet on the field of play, suffering an excessive celebration penalty. Despite the tense moment, the UCF special teams was able to hold off on the ensuing kickoff. The Golden Knights upset Marshall on the night they celebrated the release of the film We Are Marshall, with the film's star Matthew McConaughey in attendance.

Schedule

The Citrus Bowl, the Knights home field
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 26:00pmVillanova*W 35–1629,398
September 96:00pmat No. 7 Florida*PPVL 0–4290,210
September 162:30pmSouth Florida*
CSTVL 17–2446,708
September 267:30pmSouthern Miss
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
ESPN2L 14–1923,540
October 47:30pmat MarshallESPN2W 23–2227,572
October 138:00pmPittsburgh*
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
ESPNL 7–5235,858
October 214:00pmRice
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
L 29–4030,307
October 283:30pmat HoustonCSTVL 31–5113,242
November 44:00pmEast Carolina
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
L 10–2331,414
November 118:00pmat MemphisCSTVW 26–2420,611
November 182:00pmat TulaneL 9–1015,341
November 2512:00pmUAB
  • Citrus Bowl
  • Orlando, FL
CSSW 31–2223,755
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

References

  1. "UCF Athletics Reveals New Logo and Font". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
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