Written by Manuel DeLeon
Orlando may be the home of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, but play time gets thrown out the window when UCF (6-6, 4-4 AAC) and Arkansas State (7-6, 6-1 Sun Belt) clash on the gridiron for the 2016 edition of the AutoNation Cure Bowl.
Both teams come into the contest evenly matched, with each team relying heavily on its defense to set the tone.
“I think our football team and their football team are similar. They’ve got a streak right now of bowl games going. I think its impressive what they’ve done.” UCF Head Coach Scott Frost said, at a bowl press conference Thursday afternoon. “Taking nothing away from the rest of the team, I think the strength of their team is their defense. Their defense and our defense, are I think, the two most improved in the country, coming off of last year.”
The similarities don’t stop there as both units boast a Defensive Player of the Year in their respective conferences. Arkansas State defensive end Ja’von Rolland-Jones was named Sun Belt player of the year after racking up 11.5 sacks, moving him to first all time in sacks in conference history. Junior Shaquem Griffin, you may have seen his story featured on College Gameday for only having one hand, was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, leading the conference in sacks with 11.
Most would’ve wrote UCF off after a winless 2015 campaign, but your greatest triumphs come after being tested. Enter Scott Frost, and the Knights take on a mindset. Senior linebacker Mark Rucker spoke on what it was like coming into the 2016 season. “Coming off that season nobody wanted to remember it I think that made us all stronger coming into the offseason. That made us work even harder; Push each other.”
Arkansas State, came into the season having been to five bowl games in a row, but were on the brink of having that streak snapped after starting 0-4. This Red Wolves team showed a lot of fight and grit to get back to a bowl game after an uncharacteristic slow start. Watching his team battle back from adversity week after week, made Head Coach Blake Anderson proud of the way his team came together saying “I think it’s a great way to finish our season. We’ve struggled a lot to get to this point. To win a conference championship and be bowl eligible after starting 0-4, I’m really proud of how this group came together. What they did to even have us bowl eligible, to capture a share of the title to go along with that, it kind of speaks for itself.”
For the UCF players, staff and fans, making a bowl game was well over due. For some players, this will be their first bowl experience, so they are just taking it all in, but not forgetting what it took to get here with Griffin stating “It’s a great experience right now, and just coming off last season and the losses we had, it just a blessing to have the opportunity to be here”
Both teams come into the contest evenly matched, with each team relying heavily on its defense to set the tone.
“I think our football team and their football team are similar. They’ve got a streak right now of bowl games going. I think its impressive what they’ve done.” UCF Head Coach Scott Frost said, at a bowl press conference Thursday afternoon. “Taking nothing away from the rest of the team, I think the strength of their team is their defense. Their defense and our defense, are I think, the two most improved in the country, coming off of last year.”
The similarities don’t stop there as both units boast a Defensive Player of the Year in their respective conferences. Arkansas State defensive end Ja’von Rolland-Jones was named Sun Belt player of the year after racking up 11.5 sacks, moving him to first all time in sacks in conference history. Junior Shaquem Griffin, you may have seen his story featured on College Gameday for only having one hand, was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, leading the conference in sacks with 11.
Most would’ve wrote UCF off after a winless 2015 campaign, but your greatest triumphs come after being tested. Enter Scott Frost, and the Knights take on a mindset. Senior linebacker Mark Rucker spoke on what it was like coming into the 2016 season. “Coming off that season nobody wanted to remember it I think that made us all stronger coming into the offseason. That made us work even harder; Push each other.”
Arkansas State, came into the season having been to five bowl games in a row, but were on the brink of having that streak snapped after starting 0-4. This Red Wolves team showed a lot of fight and grit to get back to a bowl game after an uncharacteristic slow start. Watching his team battle back from adversity week after week, made Head Coach Blake Anderson proud of the way his team came together saying “I think it’s a great way to finish our season. We’ve struggled a lot to get to this point. To win a conference championship and be bowl eligible after starting 0-4, I’m really proud of how this group came together. What they did to even have us bowl eligible, to capture a share of the title to go along with that, it kind of speaks for itself.”
For the UCF players, staff and fans, making a bowl game was well over due. For some players, this will be their first bowl experience, so they are just taking it all in, but not forgetting what it took to get here with Griffin stating “It’s a great experience right now, and just coming off last season and the losses we had, it just a blessing to have the opportunity to be here”