UCF focused on having fun
Players try not to be so serious to return to their successful ways.
UCF players are a tight-knit group and that familiarity can be seen in various ways throughout the season. The Knights like to have fun with each other in different ways. On team road trips, for example, the position groups roam the hallways of the team hotel looking for unsuspecting teammates to pounce on. “It’s like who runs the hotel,” senior linebacker Nate Evans explained. “The linebackers, we’re always beating up on Otis [Anderson] and them [running backs]. We might catch one of the receivers and … that’s just how this team is; we just have fun with each other.”
“If I look back on this season, there were some times when we got a little bit lost and were too focused
and too serious on what we had to do this season. We had a lot to accomplish. Looking back at it, we just need to get back to having fun on the field and doing what we do. That’s when we see all the success.” —UCF redshirt senior wide receiver Jacob Harris
Evans and his teammates share the good times away from football, but lately they haven’t brought the same energy to the football field.
UCF won 25 of 26 games from 2017-18, including back-to-back American Athletic Conference championships and two appearances in New Year’s Six Access Bowl games.
So it made sense that the Knights would be preseason favorites to win a third straight AAC title and remain part of the College Football Playoff semifinal discussion.
But losses to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Tulsa have sent this season in a different direction. And it’s safe to say the Knights lost their way as well.
“If I look back on this season, there were some times when we got a little bit lost and were too focused and too serious on what we had to do this season. We had a lot to accomplish,” redshirt senior wide receiver Jacob Harris said when asked whether the team was still having fun. “Looking back at it, we just need to get back to having fun on the field and doing what we do. That’s when we see all the success.
“We’re always going to feel pressure, but if you put too much pressure on yourself, it takes the fun out of the game. Being able to ease some of that pressure off and enjoy the moments of the game when a teammate scores or when you make a good block or make a good catch, just having fun with it.”
Evans said at times players were too worried about making a mistake.
“I feel like sometimes when we’re out there, the guys are focused, but they may be focused on the wrong thing,” Evans explained. “The wrong thing, for instance, is not messing up. You’re going to mess up. I mess up. Just be free. Just go out there and do what you do.”
UCF, which traditionally excelled at creating turnovers during the past two seasons, ranks No. 72 in turnover margin in 2019, with the Knights managing just 13 takeaways to 14 turnovers.
Anderson said that, while growing up, football was more like a business trip, but as his love of the game grew, so did his appreciation for what it meant to so many players.
“I realized that having fun makes it a game. When it’s not fun, it’s a business,” Anderson said. “So once you have fun, you can make it a game and you have the opportunity to play with your brothers on Saturday. Not many people have that opportunity. So we just have to go out and smile and have some fun. The more we smile and the more we laugh, even if it seems immature on the sidelines, that’s keeping us loose and that’s helping us to the best of our abilities, so we need to keep doing that.”
While players have danced along the sidelines celebrating big plays this season, they’ve also argued and pushed each other around on the field. During postgame interviews, they have said they quickly made up and remain brothers.
Anderson admits sometimes it’s easy to lose focus on the fun part of playing football.
“I think that happened in the years past. We were so focused on winning that we lost sight of how blessed we are to play — especially this year,” he said.
“This year we were so focused on winning we didn’t want to slip up and if we did, that’s what would cause a commotion between each other. … We have these high expectations and standards that we don’t want to mess up at all.
“I think that could have hurt us a little bit because we wanted to be so perfect. That can create small arguments that we didn’t need to happen.”
For many of the senior leaders on this team, including Evans, the message to the younger players has been a simple one.
“Just go ball. When you make plays, roll around [on the ground] and do what you do because I’m going to be right next to you. I’m going to be right beside you doing the same thing. Go out there and have fun and be a kid again.”