UCF opens spring camp looking to improve in Year 2 of Big 12

When UCF kicked off its spring football camp last March, the electricity surrounding the school’s first season in the Big 12 was palpable. This time around, the only thing felt in the air was the unseasonable chill that descended Monday on Central Florida.

Nearly three months after wrapping up a 6-7 campaign in the program’s first year in a Power 5 conference, the Knights began Year 2 with a little less fanfare, but that doesn’t mean they were lacking plenty of reasons to be excited.

“I really liked our energy and our method,” said coach Gus Malzahn, who is coaching his fourth spring camp at UCF. “We’re rotating everybody, getting everybody a chance to run the base offense and base defense and learning to practice and be a great teammate and everything that goes with it.”

UCF releases 2024 spring football roster, new jersey numbers

The roster has undergone a transformation. More than a dozen transfers, led by former Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, took to the practice field along with 11 true freshmen as part of the 2024 recruiting class — the highest-ranked class in school history.

There also was a bevy of returning fifth-year starters such as running back RJ Harvey, receiver Kobe Hudson, defensive tackle Ricky Barber, and offensive tackle Marcellus Marshall.

“Those guys are what I call impact players,” Malzahn said. “They’ve proven what they can do at a high level. You can tell they’re desperate. They’re desperate to win and desperate to be leaders to help our team and everything that goes with it.”

Harvey is coming off a career year in which he rushed for 1,416 yards.

“Everybody has been working hard this offseason,” Harvey said. “Every single day in winter workouts, everybody has been improving. We need to take that to the practice field and get better every day.”

Hudson, who…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ucf-opens-spring-camp-looking-233100396.html

Author : Orlando Sentinel

Publish date : 2024-03-11 23:31:00

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