Clarke eager to avenge last year’s defeat by Temple
About midway through his thoughts, UCF cornerback Nevelle Clarke broke away from his cliché script about keeping last year’s loss to Temple in a mental vault.
“I can’t even explain the things I’m thinking about for this game,” Clarke said, his eyes slightly narrowing at the thought.
It’d be dishonest to call UCF’s road contest against Temple Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field just another game on the schedule. This one is a revenge match, particularly for Clarke.
Rewind the tape to Oct. 15, 2016, which also happened to be homecoming weekend for UCF.
The Knights lost starting offensive lineman Tyler Hudanick for the season in the first half and struggled to push past the Owls’ tenacious defense. But UCF managed to hold onto a 25-20 lead with 32 seconds remaining. Coaches had the defensive backs playing a little too passively and too far off their players and Temple’s quarterback, Phillip Walker, connected on four consecutive passes — the final resulting in a 8-yard touchdown strike to receiver Ventell Bryant to win the game.
Clarke, then a redshirt freshman, played on that final gut-wrenching drive.
“I’m just thinking about us going there as a team and everyone remembering this game and knowing what we have to do to beat them,” Clarke said. “It’s going to be a good one. I can’t wait for it.”
That moment has served as motivation for not just Saturday’s contest, but ever since Clarke returned to game action following a six-game NCAAmandated drug test suspension Oct. 28 against Austin Peay.
“I make sure I remind him every day. I really do,” UCF defensive backs coach Travis Fisher said of last year’s Temple game. “I want it just as bad as he does. I just keep the fire going so he can be ready to play.”
It doesn’t take too much metaphorical lighting fluid to spark Clarke. He’s got a reputation for being one of the best trash-talkers on the field — offering a nice counterbalance to the more quiet, reserved cornerback Mike Hughes.
“A lot of people talk about their offense, but defensively, they’re very, very solid,” SMU coach Chad Morris said of UCF during his teleconference Monday. “I think they’ve got a defensive line that’s as good as we’ve seen. They’ve got a secondary with two corners, in my opinion, that are AllAmericans and are going to play a long time in the league.”
Coming back midseason presented some challenges, but Fisher and the weight room coaches made sure he ran significant reps with the scout team during practice to keep his legs game ready. It also didn’t hurt that Clarke had to defend receivers from the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense every day.
“Really, I just wanted to get back out there with my teammates and have fun with them,” Clarke said. “I saw them out there having fun and playing together as a team — out there winning — and I couldn’t wait to be a part of that.”