College football bowl schedule set
UCF draws Marshall in Gasparilla Bowl; Alabama faces Michigan.
The UCF Knights will conclude their 2019 season in the state of Florida against a familiar foe and in the house of their rival.
The Knights will face the Marshall Thundering Herd in the 2019 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 23 at Raymond James Stadium, the home of the South Florida Bulls, in Tampa.
Wide receiver Jacob Harris grew up in nearby Palm Harbor and said the dozens of Florida natives on UCF’s roster are looking forward to playing close to home after ending the past two seasons at bowl games in Georgia and Arizona.
“All the Florida guys are definitely excited to be in their home [state]. It brings some extra juice to a game, especially a game in the postseason,” Harris said.
Before the War on I-4 really became heated, Marshall was seen as arguably UCF’s fiercest rival. The two programs were pitted against each other often as members of the Mid-American Conference from 2002-04 and then in Conference USA from 2005-12. The Knights have triumphed in the past eight meetings and are 8-3 overall. They last played in 2012, a 54-17 road victory for the Knights.
The two programs went their separate ways a few years before senior center Jordan Johnson became a Knight, but he does know a little something about their shared history. He once did a research project about the history of UCF football for one of his communications classes and thus had to familiarize himself with some of the battles between the Knights and the Thundering Herd.
“I know that this is going to be a big game,” Johnson said. “Just knowing that it has history, it’s really cool to go out there and do what we do in the present and reflect on what the history of it was.”
Marshall went 8-4 this season and 6-2 in C-USA. This is its 16th bowl bid and its second consecutive appearance in the Gasparilla Bowl. The Thundering Herd got past USF in the 2018 game, celebrating a 38-20 win.
Meanwhile, UCF (9-3, 6-2 in the AAC) is aiming for its third consecutive campaign with at least 10 wins. The matchup has left many UCF fans on social media disappointed as they wanted to see the Knights line up against a power-conference program. But according to Harris and Johnson, any chance to play and earn that 10th win is all the motivation this team needs
“Some people would be disappointed about our season, but a 10-win season is a good season by any means,” Johnson said.
Harris added: “I would always say there’s a whole bunch of teams out there that don’t get to play in the postseason, that don’t get an opportunity to play in a bowl game. … We have an opportunity to go 10-3, end with doubledigit wins and go into next year off a positive note and hopefully kill it next season.”
Another driving force for these Knights is sending out the program’s most successful senior
class with one final victory. Johnson said Sunday that sophomore running back Bentavious Thompson has already told him, “‘Bro, I’m gonna go out there and ball for you because it’s your last game.’
“That’s just really uplifting and encouraging … knowing that people want to go out there and play hard for us, knowing that this is our last opportunity to put on the UCF emblem,” Johnson said.
The Knights have played in three previous editions of what is now the Gasparilla Bowl. Their most recent visit came in 2014 when they lost to NC State in the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field. They also fell in 2009 to Rutgers in the same bowl and stadium. However, they defeated Ball State in the 2012 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl.
UCF’s all-time record in bowls is 4-6 while Marshall is 12-3 and has won seven in a row.
This will be the first time since 2016 the Knights aren’t playing in a New Year’s Six Access Bowl. The Group of Five’s automatic bid went to the Memphis Tigers, who beat the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday to claim the AAC championship. The No. 17 Tigers will match up against No. 10 Penn State in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 28. UCF will get a bigger postseason revenue share as a result of an AAC team going to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Harris gets a sixth year
Harris, a redshirt senior, confirmed Sunday night that he has been granted a sixth year of eligibility and will return for one more season at UCF.
“It was up in the air pretty much the whole season until recently,” he said. “… I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”
Harris has caught 19 passes for 448 yards and one touchdown in his first full season on offense. He will be looked upon to help replace Gabriel Davis’ contributions in 2020. Davis, a junior wideout, declared for next spring’s NFL draft on Monday. Davis told the Sentinel then that “as of right now,” he plans to play in UCF’s bowl game.
Harris said he can’t wait to begin his offseason training regimen and improve at his position.
“I know I’m raw at receiver and I have a lot to learn, but I’m always ready to attack it,” he said.