Former Midshipman happy to be a Knight
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Greg McCrae was in a familiar environment this weekend when the Knights traveled to the U.S. Naval Academy. The former Miramar High standout signed with the Midshipmen out of high school last year, but he only lasted a semester in Annapolis.
He figured out the military life wasn’t for him. He reconnected with UCF assistant coach Jovan Dewitt, who recruited McCrae when he was on the coaching staff at Army. Dewitt helped McRae find a new home at UCF.
“I love it here, love playing ball here, love going to school here … everything … I just love being at the school a lot,” McCrae said. “Coach Dewitt … I reached out to him and I’m happy and I’m having the time of my life.
He transferred to UCF amid little fanfare and sat out a season in compliance with NCAA transfer rules.
Few knew who McCrae was when he scored a touchdown during UCF’s season-opening win over FIU. McCrae has since made the most of his opportunities as a freshman and led all UCF rushers last week during a 63-21 blowout of East Carolina.
“We got a lot of athletes that can do a lot of things, so any time they call my number I just want to be ready,” McCrae said.
Niumatalolo impressed: Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo has been impressed with the job UCF coach Scott Frost has done in revitalizing the Knights program in such a short period of time. He was even more impressed with Frost’s athleticism on display this week when the second-year coach ran the scout team to help his team prepare to face Navy’s option-based offense.
“This dude can still play,” Niumatalolo said to his staff this week after seeing the viral video of the former Nebraska quarterback practicing with the team. “He still looks like a strong safety that can come and hit you.”
He added with a laugh, “I wish I could do that. I don’t know if there’s any coach in the country; Coach [Nick] Saban ’s a hell of a coach. Coach [Urban] Meyer is a hell of a coach and [Jim] Harbaugh in his day was a phenomenal quarterback. I don’t think there’s anybody else in the country who’s a head football coach who could have done what he did.”
ETC.: UCF officials said the school sold 1,000 tickets for Saturday’s showdown with Navy, but they expected 2,000-3,000 Knights fans to attend the game. The announced attendance for the contest was 35,277. … UCF lost the opening coin toss for the sixth consecutive time. … UCF’s captains for the game were McKenzie Milton, Tre’Quan Smith, Tre Neal and Rory Coleman.