RB Bowser will return for extra year
One of UCF’s most productive players will be back next season.
Senior running back Isaiah Bowser is returning to school one more year, he announced. Bowser is taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility granted to players by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Northwestern transfer was a game-changer for the Knights when on the field, leading the team with 9 rushing touchdowns while averaging 88 yards on the ground.
He finished second on the team with 703 rushing yards, just 30 behind Johnny Richardson, but likely would have led the team had it not been for missed time.
Bowser suffered a knee injury at Louisville on Sept. 17 that cost him two games and dealt with an ankle injury that forced him to miss the final three weeks of the regular season.
Bowser returned for the Gasparilla Bowl and helped the Knights win their first game in program history over the Florida Gators, carrying 35 times for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns.
It was the first time Bowser carried the ball more than 30 times since the season opener vs. Boise State when he topped 170 yards.
After the game, Bowser wasn’t sure if he would return but certainly spoke as if he was thinking strongly about it.
“We’re going to do great things,” Bowser said following the Gasparilla Bowl. “We have an opportunity to win all of our games, honestly. We’ve just got to stick together, play as a team and I think the sky is the limit for UCF.”
Bowser spent three years at Northwestern, where he totaled 334 carries for 1,300 yards and 7 touchdowns in 23 games played.
As a true freshman in 2018, he recorded 866 yards and 6 touchdowns on 197 carries, the thirdmost rushing yards in a season by any first-year player in Northwestern history.
He made his impact known immediately at UCF by rushing for 172 yards and 1 touchdown in his first game. Knights coach Gus Malzahn continually referred to him as an NFL-caliber back.
Now, Malzahn will have Bowser back for one final season in hopes of winning an American Athletic Conference championship and returning to a New Year’s Six Bowl.