Super seniors say goodbye on emotional Senior Day after loss
Anthony Montalvo took a moment before exiting FBC Mortgage Stadium for the final time.
For the 6-foot-3, 250-pound UCF nose tackle, who had just spent the past 60 minutes in a dogfight in the trenches against Navy, it was the final time he would play in front of the home crowd at the Bounce House. What was supposed to be a celebration for Montalvo and the 25 other seniors on Senior Day Saturday turned into disappointment after the Knights suffered a 17-14 loss to the Midshipmen.
“When [Navy] took that knee [to end the game], I just stood there and took everything in,” said Montalvo. “It was my last moment there.”
Montalvo is among a group of four sixth-year seniors who were the remaining links to UCF’s perfect 13-0 season in 2017, which was capped with a program-defining win over Auburn in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. It would be the start of the Knights’ incredible 25-game winning streak that ended with the program’s second New Year’s Six bowl appearance.
Offensive lineman Samuel Jackson (41 starts), defensive tackle Austin Camden (19 games played), long-snapper Alex Ward (23 games played) and
Montalvo (31 starts) have seen it all over the last six years: two coaching changes (Josh Heupel, Gus Malzahn), two conference championships (2017-18), a claimed national championship (2017) and a shortened pandemic season.
No. 20 UCF (8-3) was on track to make its third NY6 bowl game if it could capture the American Athletic Conference Championship and be the highest-ranked Group of Five champion when the final College Football Playoff rankings are released Dec. 4.
The loss to the Midshipmen sent those plans spiraling.
“It sucks, but you’ve got to take it to the chin and move on,” said Montalvo, who finished with 7 tackles.
While Scott Frost recruited Jackson and Camden as part of his first entire recruiting class, Montalvo and Ward joined the team as walk-ons that season before earning scholarships.
“Those are great leaders,” said Malzahn. “They’ve done so much for this program and I just wanted to get those guys out on a high note in their last home game. I was disappointed we couldn’t do that for those guys.”
Malzahn wasn’t the only one disappointed.
“Guys like Sam and Montalvo have been around here a long time,” said senior running back Isaiah Bowser, who transferred in from Northwestern in 2021. “It’s very emotional for those guys, especially with this being their last home game.”
Some of that emotion came out in the locker room when, according to Montalvo, Jackson spoke to his teammates following the loss.
“He came up and said he loved us,” Montalvo said. “You could tell by the crack in his voice that he was emotional and got everybody emotional, too. As a senior, this is your last one here, and you want to go out with a bang and win. I went up to Sam and talked to him because we felt the same way. We were both sad and we were both emotional.
“We hate losing and we’re both competitors.”
Even though it was a bittersweet moment for Montalvo, he couldn’t help but feel good about the program’s direction.
“I’m excited for the younger guys like [defensive lineman] Ricky [Barber], who had 13 tackles, and Lee [Hunter]. They’re going to do great things and I’m looking forward to them playing and being in the Big 12 Conference.”